Searching for Self
“I used to spend hours when I was a kid just looking in the mirror, trying to figure out if I was handsome or not. It just depended on the day. If someone told me I was handsome, then I was handsome, and if someone told me I was ugly, then I believed that. I hardly ever look in the mirror anymore though, not if I can help it. It’s just too stressful.” – Jesse in In Treatment
When Dane de Haan (as Jesse) appears for his last session in the HBO series “In Treatment”, it’s a shock both for the audience and for his therapist. He arrives with Angelo, his adoptive father — a man with whom we feel...
Source: Psych Central - February 23, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Amanda Robins, MSW, PhD Tags: Borderline Personality Children and Teens Memory and Perception Narcissism Psychology Self-Esteem Child Development chronic emptiness Identity identity formation integrated identity Personality Disorder Self Awareness Source Type: news
Moms with ADHD Reveal Lessons They ’ ve Learned in Handling Parenting Challenges
You’re a mom who has ADHD, and you’re in the thick of mothering. Maybe you’re in the thick of toddlerhood, besieged by big tantrums and bleary-eyed after one-too-many sleepless nights. Maybe you’re in the thick of adolescence, trying to traverse schedules and emotional roller coasters. Maybe you have several kids, and find yourself frustrated and stressed out over all the logistics.
Maybe none of the above describes your situation. But you still feel utterly inadequate and unsure and panicked that you’re parenting all wrong.
You’re not alone.
Terry Matlen, an ADHD coach, author and mom to two daughters, vividly...
Source: Psych Central - February 19, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. Tags: Attention Deficit Disorder Disorders General Parenting Personal Stories Self-Help Women's Issues ADHD and parenting Adhd Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD gifts ADHD tips creative solutions Creativity kids with ADHD Source Type: news
Treatment of Hoarding-Induced Trauma and Perpetration
The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic Standards Manual, Edition V (2013) reports that between 2 and 6% of the general population have a hoarding disorder. Once considered a type of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), hoarding is now regarded as a serious clinical condition co-morbid with diagnoses of depression, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorders, attention deficit disorder, and sometimes psychosis given the delusional levels of denial that hoarders often present (Frost, Stekelee, Tolin, 2011).
Hoarders engage in excessive acquisition of items, whether those items have real world value or not, as ...
Source: Psych Central - February 15, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Graeme Daniels, MFT Tags: Addictions Anxiety Caregivers Children and Teens Essays Family Grief and Loss Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Personality Psychodynamic Psychology Psychotherapy PTSD Trauma Treatment Abuse Anxiety Disorder bullying Comorb Source Type: news
Codependency: The Helping Problem
Codependency is a behavior, not a biological illness. It can, however, run in families. By perpetuating the same type of behavior through several generations, dysfunctional relationships can emerge. Codependency can often stem from taking care of a close friend or family member with a substance abuse or chronic mental health issue. While the impulse to take care of another may be a virtuous and helpful decision, it may also arise from a need to control.
Codependency, or as some call it, “relationship addiction”, occurs when the care-taker needs to control his or her own anxiety through another person. There is usually...
Source: Psych Central - February 14, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Rebecca Lee Tags: Abuse Addictions Codependence Narcissism Relationships & Love Self-Esteem Stress Caretaking Codependency Couples Dating love addiction Relationship Addiction Source Type: news
Book Review: Insane Consequences
I have read Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill a couple of times and am still contemplating it. It also inspired me to research further into how we treat the seriously mentally ill in America.
In the book, author DJ Jaffe takes on what he calls the “mental health industry,” and I think that is a fair characterization. He is not the only writer to use the phrase, and he confronts that industry with a voice that reminds me of a prosecuting attorney on a mission.
Jaffe became involved in the mental health system in the 1980s when his wife’s 18 year old sister, Lynn, ca...
Source: Psych Central - February 14, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Stan Rockwell, PsyD Tags: Book Reviews Caregivers Disabilities Policy and Advocacy Psychiatry Psychology Schizophrenia Treatment DJ jaffe mental health policy Mental Illness mental illness violence serious mental illness Source Type: news
Book Review: Still Alice
Still Alice is a novel, not a work of nonfiction. Yet it probably offers one of the most accurate and gripping accounts of the experience of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease ever written.
At first, Lisa Genova, a Harvard PhD in neuroscience, self-published her book. Her story resonated, and Still Alice took off, selling so many copies that it was bought by the prestigious publisher, Simon & Schuster. Over time, Genova would go on to win multiple awards for her work, and Still Alice would be made into a major motion picture.
The Alice Howland we meet at the outset of the book is an esteemed professor of cognitive psych...
Source: Psych Central - February 11, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Bella DePaulo Tags: Aging Alzheimer's Book Reviews Disorders Alzheimer's disease books on alzheimers early-onset Alzheimer's still alice Source Type: news
Book Review: A Parent ’ s Guide to Teen Addiction
It’s true in this country that we do have a war on drugs. But for many parents, that war is waging in their own home with their own teenagers. According to Laurence Westreich, MD, who is an addiction expert, father, and author of A Parent’s Guide to Teen Addiction: Professional Advice on Signs, Symptoms, What to Say, and How to Help, defeating an enemy that is larger and more powerful than us will require unconventional tactics.
The first step is to know who the enemy is.
“Always remember that substance abuse – NOT your teenager – is the enemy,” writes Westreich.
What teenagers need is parents to react q...
Source: Psych Central - February 8, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Claire Nana Tags: Addictions Book Reviews Caregivers Children and Teens Family Parenting Self-Help Substance Abuse child addiction get help for addiction parenting guide Teen Addiction teenager addiction Source Type: news
Book Review: The DBT Solution for Emotional Eating
Do you eat because you are hungry? While our automatic response may be “yes, of course,” many of us, in fact, eat due to stress or to deal with other unwanted emotions. The truth is, the choice to eat is not always about physical hunger.
Perhaps the biggest challenge with a food addiction is that it is relatively acceptable when compared with other substance addictions. It is possible to be an emotional eater without anyone ever knowing about it. It does not impact your ability to drive a car, and likely will not result in financial ruin. Coworkers probably won’t notice because they, too, are grabbing donuts from...
Source: Psych Central - February 5, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tina Arnoldi Tags: Addictions Binge Eating Book Reviews Bulimia DBT Eating Disorders Mindfulness Self-Help Stress eating and DBT eating better eating mindfulness Emotional Eating Source Type: news
Book Review: Everyday Mindfulness for OCD
Despite the fact that many make light of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) by poking fun at minor compulsions or obsessions, OCD is a very serious illness. For those who have it, it can be debilitating and disruptive, upsetting life in very serious and insurmountable ways.
Everyday Mindfulness for OCD: Tips, Tricks, and Skills for Living Joyfully is for people who experience OCD at any level. Those who are newly diagnosed may benefit first from therapy before taking on this added tool. The book is also for professionals who treat patients with OCD, as well as for friends and family members of those diagnosed. Though no...
Source: Psych Central - February 2, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Dave Schultz Tags: Book Reviews Cognitive-Behavioral Habits Mindfulness Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Psychology Psychotherapy Self-Help Treatment help for ocd mindfulness for ocd treatment for ocd Source Type: news
Book Review: Being Ana
“What if I let go of it? What part of me will die? Why can I not let go of it for anything? What part of me does this disorder define? Who will I be without it? What will I be? Where will I be?”
These words are just a snippet of the thoughts captured in Shani Raviv’s journal, years into her anorexia. This journal entry captures the questions that readers may experience while reading her memoir. They also aptly depict the internal struggle that Raviv felt over the course of her illness. Raviv’s memoir, Being Ana: A Memoir of Anorexia Nervosa chronicles her journey into and out of her illness.
Raviv’s st...
Source: Psych Central - February 2, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Caroline Comeaux Lee Tags: Book Reviews Disorders Family Substance Abuse anorexia book anorexia nervosa book memoir about anorexia Source Type: news
Book Review: It ’ s Not What You ’ re Eating, It ’ s What ’ s Eating You
We live in a weight-obsessed world. Not only are we exposed to a constant barrage of images of the “perfect body,” but when it comes to attaining it we tend to focus on all the wrong things. We cut our carbohydrate intake, follow any exercise program that promises quick results, and even resort to fasting if we have to – all to attain the body that promises happiness.
But, according to Shari Brady, a licensed professional counselor who specializes in eating disorders and is herself recovered from anorexia, achieving freedom from eating disorders starts with stopping the focus on food as the answer to life’s problem...
Source: Psych Central - February 2, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Claire Nana Tags: Anorexia Binge Eating Book Reviews Bulimia Diet & Nutrition Disorders Eating Disorders Parenting Self-Help Treatment Weight Loss Carbohydrate Intake Losing Weight Source Type: news
Do I Have ADHD?
“Do I have ADHD?”
It’s a question traditionally asked of a person’s family physician, since that’s typically the only healthcare professional with whom most people have an existing relationship.
But in the past few decades, the question of whether or not a person has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been posed to the Internet. And the Internet has responded.
Psych Central was one of the first mental health websites to offer an online ADHD quiz to test to see if a person might qualify for a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder, back in the late 1990s. We developed our quiz...
Source: Psych Central - February 1, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. Tags: Attention Deficit Disorder Disorders Self-Help ADHD test Do I have ADHD how do I know if I have ADHD Symptoms Of Adhd what is ADHD Source Type: news
3 Pervasive, Persistent Myths about Seasonal Affective Disorder
Our society tends to dismiss seasonal affective disorder (SAD). We minimize it. We misunderstand it.
Oh, you just don’t like winter. And who could blame you? Winter is tough on everyone.
Oh, SAD is like the winter blues, right? You get grumpy or moody because you hate the freezing cold.
You’re just in a funk. It happens to a lot of people. It’s totally normal.
How can you feel depressed when the air is so crisp and it’s a winter wonderland out there?
We incorporate SAD into our vocabulary, flippantly using it in conversation. “Similar to someone saying “I can’t make up my mind, it’s like I’m schizoph...
Source: Psych Central - January 31, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. Tags: Depression Disorders General Seasonal Affective Disorder Stigma Light therapy Mental Health Stigma phototherapy SAD summer depression summertime depression winter depression wintertime depression Source Type: news
How Genetic Testing Saved My Life from Debilitating Clinical Depression
The psychologist’s qualifications are proudly displayed in frames on his wall: a doctorate in clinical psychology, board certifications in clinical psychology and clinical neuropsychology.
Maybe this means he can help me.
I need an expert on the human mind to help me figure out why mine cannot cooperate, why consciousness has become so unbearable for me.
I am sitting on the couch in his office. He sits in his desk chair, awaiting my gaze to meet his. When I do, he delivers his first question:
“Have you been considering suicide?”
I am at the brink of desperation, and I figure I must be totally honest for him to ...
Source: Psych Central - January 27, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Kristen Davis Tags: Antidepressants Depression Genetics Medications Mood Stabilizers Neuroscience Personal Stories Self-Esteem Stigma Suicide Treatment Blame Clinical Depression Compassion Disease Model Dopamine Genetic Research genetic test Source Type: news
Book Review: It ’ s Not Always Depression
Depression is thought to be one of the most common psychological ailments.
When clinical social worker Hilary Jacobs Hendel wrote an op-ed in the New York Times titled, “It’s Not Always Depression,” it was the most emailed article for 48 hours, and stayed in the top ten shared articles for more than a week.
Clearly, Hendel had struck a chord.
In her new book, It’s Not Always Depression: Working the Change Triangle to Listen to the Body, Discover Core Emotions, and Connect to Your Authentic Self, Hendel presents what we commonly label depression as a loss of the authentic self; a loss that not only keeps us from kn...
Source: Psych Central - January 25, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Claire Nana Tags: Book Reviews Depression General Happiness Psychodynamic Psychology Self-Help books about depression depression books emotional suffering Source Type: news
