The Difference Between My Sadness and Depression
I have experienced sadness and depression, and I know there is a big difference between the two. Even though I live with a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, sometimes I feel sad, and I recently began taking medication for depression. When I experience sadness, I drink more coffee, cruise the social network for something to inspire me, and I wish I had someone to ask, “What would you like to do on this lovely, Saturday?”
The last time I experience some depression, I was experiencing some suicide ideation for which, luckily, I did not have to be hospitalized. My psychiatrist, at the time put me on a low dose of...
Source: Psych Central - August 25, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Jason Jepson Tags: Antidepressants Depression Personal Stories Schizoaffective Disorder Suicide Antipsychotic Sadness Suicidal Ideation Suicide Ideation Source Type: news
Turning Pain into Meaning: Is There an Upside to Trauma?
Events are traumatic when they are highly stressful, frightening, or distressing. Such experiences can inflict deep psychological wounds, damaging our mental health and reducing our overall sense of wellbeing.
That being said, could there be a silver lining to trauma?
To even pose the question can seem insensitive to those who have suffered, or are suffering, acutely. Still, while the costs of trauma are well-documented, less consideration has been given to the counterintuitive possibility that trauma might contribute positively to our wellbeing in particular ways. And given that nearly all of us will experience traumatic ...
Source: Psych Central - August 10, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Joshua Bromley, PhD Tags: Psychology PTSD Trauma Martin Seligman Positive Psychology post traumatic growth Traumatic Experience Source Type: news
Coming to Terms with Unreality
When I was 14 years old, I entered my freshman year of high school feeling nothing but a dull sense of disquietude. I was not happy to be starting the new school year. I was always “the quiet kid”, and that label only rang truer over time, as I retreated further into my shell with each passing school year. I had few friends, and the ones I had were fair-weather, frequently passing up hanging out with me in favor of others. I knew in the back of my mind that I should feel stressed or upset when the year began, but I just felt empty.
My late childhood and early adolescence, meant to be a time of growth and learning, in...
Source: Psych Central - August 6, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Renee Consorte Tags: Dissociative disorders Personal Stories Adolescence Depersonalization Derealization Dissociation Resentment Social Anxiety Source Type: news
Relief from Anxiety: Right Here and Now, in the Middle of the Pandemic
Anxiety. Everyone is feeling it during the pandemic. Anxiety about the virus, anxiety about going places and not knowing how safe it is due to the virus, anxiety about the economy, anxiety about paying rent or medical bills when finances have been impacted by the virus, anxiety about sending kids back to school, anxiety about dating during the pandemic, anxiety about missing out on experiences, anxiety about the future, anxiety about having anxiety! Did I name yours yet?
As an expert in treating anxiety, I’ve seen the spike in anxiety caused by the pandemic for my clients, my friends and family and neighbors, and...
Source: Psych Central - August 3, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Amanda Good, LICSW Tags: Anxiety Coronavirus Self-Help COVID-19 Mindfulness pandemic Stress Reduction Source Type: news
Complex Trauma: A Step-by-Step Description of How it Develops
Ela was happily married — or so people thought — until the day her husband came home with a DVD he had bought. Not a common practice for him. The name of the movie was Sleeping with the Enemy with Julia Roberts. Ela loved movies and made some popcorn to watch it with her husband. “Who recommended it?” she asked.
“Myself,” he responded. “I think it’s time for you to wake up.”
That day marked the beginning of Ela’s understanding of her dissociation, her depression, her submissiveness, her lack of enjoyment, and many other symptoms that she had developed through several years of emotional abuse an...
Source: Psych Central - July 27, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Antonieta Contreras, LCSW-R, CCTP-II, BCN Tags: Abuse Psychology PTSD Trauma Treatment C-PTSD complex posttraumatic stress disorder complex trauma Depersonalization Dissociation Emotional Dysregulation Traumatic Experience traumatization Source Type: news
Collaborating with My Doctors to Treat Schizoaffective Disorder
The patient/doctor relationship has to be one of honesty and insight. I have to be honest with my doctors and tell them what is going on. If I am honest, I have nothing to hide. I know my doctors are here to help me and not to hurt me, so being honest with them about what is going on in my life, as well as what symptoms I am experiencing, will help both of us to do a better job.
I have confidence in my doctors’ ability to both diagnose and treat my severe mental illness. They have vast experience and knowledge in the treatment of schizophrenia. When I was first diagnosed I began to do online research myself to le...
Source: Psych Central - July 24, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Jason Jepson Tags: Antipsychotics Personal Stories Schizoaffective Disorder Schizophrenia Treatment long-acting injectables Source Type: news
What Is Trauma Therapy Like? Part 2: How Neurobiology Informs Trauma Therapy
Therapy and the Brain
It seems ironic that after Freud, as a neurologist, abandoned his studies on brain functioning to replace them with the studies of the unconscious — and that he actually abandoned his studies on traumatization — the trauma therapy world is arriving to a point comparable to the point where he started: the understanding of the brain as the basis of understanding the mind.
Trauma therapy is leveraging neuroscience because having an understanding of how traumatization affects the brain helps to not only dismantle common misconceptions and to stop victim-blaming statements, but it also explains...
Source: Psych Central - July 23, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Antonieta Contreras, LCSW-R, CCTP-II, BCN Tags: Neuroscience PTSD Trauma Treatment Autonomic Nervous System complex post-traumatic stress disorder Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Trauma Informed Care Traumatic Memories traumatization Source Type: news
What is Trauma Therapy Like? Part 1: Less Talking and More Doing
Freud called psychoanalysis the third impossible profession (the other two being education and government). It may be as valid to say that psychotherapy is another impossible profession. Many therapists desire to master several of the countless therapeutic modalities available today in their endless pursuit to feel more adept at offering hope, especially to the large number of individuals looking to alleviate the despair rooted in the experience of traumatization. Trauma therapy requires mastering several modalities and unlearning most of what therapy was before. Not “impossible” but definitely a fascinating and arduou...
Source: Psych Central - July 22, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Antonieta Contreras, LCSW-R, CCTP-II, BCN Tags: Abuse PTSD Trauma Treatment Violence & Aggression C-PTSD complex trauma Neurobiology Trauma Therapy Traumatic Experience traumatice memories Source Type: news
Moving Beyond the Anxiety and Perfectionism Feedback Loop
Forget everything you thought you knew about anxiety and perfectionism. Here’s an inside look at what actually works.
We all feel the need to be accepted, to fit in, feel loved, and that we matter to someone or something.
As someone who struggles with anxiety myself, I understand how hard it is to combat the anxiety feedback loop. As a psychologist who has worked with this material for nearly a decade, I supposedly know all the tricks in the book. I have a tool kit 10 pages deep ready to go whenever I experience a bout of anxiety. Even still, I struggle to practice what I preach.
Moving beyond this feedback loop indu...
Source: Psych Central - July 20, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Jennifer Anders, PsyD. Tags: Anxiety Perfectionism Psychology Intrusive Thoughts Self Worth Self-Esteem Source Type: news
How Do You Know if a Child Is Traumatized?
While working at a mental health clinic in Harlem years ago, I got used to hearing the most traumatic stories I could have ever imagined. They were the normal way to live for many of my clients.
One day a woman in her 40s, who lived in a drug den and had gone through a frightful marriage before her husband was imprisoned, asked me how she could know if her son was traumatized. As a then-inexperienced clinician, I took out the last version of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) off my shelf the same way a cowboy would take out his pistol from his belt, ready to shoot off a diagnosis.
Diagnostic ...
Source: Psych Central - July 9, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Antonieta Contreras, LCSW-R, CCTP-II, BCN Tags: Children and Teens Psychology PTSD Trauma C-PTSD Child Abuse Childhood Trauma complex trauma Developmental Trauma Developmental Trauma Disorder Emotional Dysregulation Hypervigilance Traumatic Experience Source Type: news
Coping with Voices
Like a lot of people with schizophrenia, I hear voices. I fully understand that these voices are one of the symptoms of my schizoaffective brain disease. Usually I hear these voices when I am alone. I hear voices throughout the day, even when I am driving my car. The medication I am prescribed helps me to manage the voices, but the meds do not make the voices totally disappear.
Some of the voices I hear are a running commentary of what I am doing at the moment such as: “He is at the computer,” or “He is walking.” If I am cooking then they might say, “He is cooking.” When I am cooking, these voices can distract ...
Source: Psych Central - July 7, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Jason Jepson Tags: Antipsychotics Personal Stories Schizoaffective Disorder Schizophrenia Coping Skills Delusions Hallucinations Music Therapy positive symptoms Psychosis Source Type: news
When Your Child Is Struggling with an Eating Disorder
In the Spring of 2018 my daughter began to want to “eat healthy.” There is nothing wrong with eating healthy, I thought. After all, I am a certified health coach and am a huge advocate of eating healthy.
My daughter began reading food labels on some things and I thought, I’ll keep an eye on that. This went on for a few months with no other signs of anything unusual. Until, one day we were riding in the van with my daughter and her two younger siblings and the two littles asked if we could grab some lunch. I happened to look in the rearview mirror at the same time. My daughter had a look of fear come over her face....
Source: Psych Central - June 23, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Ariel Selwyn Tags: Anorexia Bulimia Eating Disorders Parenting Personal Stories Adolescence Body Image Self Harm Self Injury Teenager Source Type: news
How PTSD, cPTSD and BPD Can Impact Relationships
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is defined as a fear-based disorder with several features necessary for a formal diagnosis which include: avoidance behaviors, re-experiencing, increased arousal and negative affect and/or cognition.1 Avoidance behaviors may include avoiding people, places or situations that could be emotionally ‘triggering’ of a traumatic event. For example, some veterans may avoid amusement parks or festivities that have fireworks or excessive noise as it may cause flashbacks or anxiety.
Re-experiencing behaviors often include emotional flashbacks, intrusive thoughts or nightmares. Someone who ha...
Source: Psych Central - June 16, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Dr. Annie Tanasugarn Tags: Borderline Personality PTSD Relationships & Love Trauma Avoidance Borderline Personality Disorder C-PTSD complex trauma Emotional Dysregulation Source Type: news
4 Types of Narcissism Share This Trait
Narcissism is many faceted and comes in several types. Narcissists will use a variety of tactics and defenses to keep you insecure and ensure their status and that their needs are met. It’s easy to be confused, but it’s important to understand and spot which type of narcissist you’re dealing with. Recently, two research teams have identified a common trait.
The Grandiose Narcissist
Although there are different kinds and degrees of narcissism, for years research mainly focused on the familiar — exhibitionistic narcissists who seek the limelight. These are the boastful grandiose narcissists who are public figures...
Source: Psych Central - June 5, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT Tags: Narcissism Personality Codependency Covert Narcissist entitlement grandiose narcissism Malignant narcissism Narcissistic Personality Disorder Source Type: news
Anorexia in Limbo
When I was sixteen years old, I met every requirement in the DSM-IV criteria for Anorexia Nervosa. My Body Mass Index (BMI) hovered just below 17.5, I was obsessed with counting calories and becoming skinnier, I was terrified of gaining even a single pound of weight, and I lost my period for longer than three consecutive cycles. My iron and ferritin levels fell below normal and I was tired all of the time. Before long, I was avoiding eating with my friends and family, and I had given up my favorite sports because I was too weak to run the warm-ups. I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder, however; I refused help beca...
Source: Psych Central - June 2, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Anna Beloborodova Tags: Anorexia Bulimia Diet & Nutrition Eating Disorders Body Image Source Type: news
