Mental Health

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than a quarter of adults in America suffer from depression, anxiety, and other related mental illnesses each year. In today’s world, so many forms of therapy are available to us, and many who suffer from a mental illness may choose to seek out someone who can help them work through these deep-rooted issues. There are therapists that specialize in certain areas, which can be incredibly helpful for helping us feel safe and secure, to know that we are being taken care of by someone who is very knowledgeable. With a variety of methods available, psychotherapy is a common choice to help a person lead happier, healthier, and more productive lives.

There are several types of personality disorders, and many people suffer from their characteristics, affecting nearly every aspect of their lives. Having a personality disorder may also be difficult for family, friends, and those around them. Educating yourself on the various personality disorders may help you detect potential characteristics in yourself or your loved ones, leading to a possible diagnosis and closer step towards treatment and recovery. As of today, there are ten identified personality disorders, and they are grouped into 3 main clusters. Cluster A is characterized by a combination of “odd” or “eccentric” personality disorders.

Between learning about one’s addiction or mental illness, building a support network, working through deep-rooted issues, and optimizing one’s health, recovery can make anyone feel a slew of emotions. We may feel a sense of hope, but also fear. Dedication, but also exhaustion. Recovery is a notable journey to embark on, but knowing which emotions can slow down our success is important. The Addiction Recovery Network, a health information website, notes 4 main emotions that can hinder our success in recovery:

Nobody likes experiencing a bad mood – that sunken feeling of despair, hopelessness, negativity, and so forth can make it appears nothing will get better. Bad moods may last just a few short minutes or could impact our entire day – no matter the length, a bad mood effects not only the person who has it, but those around them as well. When we’re feeling grouchy, we may not even think about what led us to this feeling. Amanda Chan, Managing Editor of Healthy Living, provides in a 2014 Huffington Post article several factors that may be contributing towards a bad mood:

Dependent personality disorder is one of the most common types of personality disorders, and typically consists of feelings of helplessness, loneliness, and abandonment. Anxiety seems to be a major contributing factor to this, as all those feelings lead back to anxiety. A person who suffers from dependent personality disorder depends too much on others to meet their physical and emotional needs. They may feel very afraid of losing important people in their lives, and may appear to be “clingy”. They may also belittle themselves often, be pessimistic and filled with self-doubt, accept criticism and disapproval as proof of their worthlessness, and not have much faith in themselves. If you or a loved one suffer from dependent personality disorder, there are ways to better manage this. MD Robert London from Psychology Today has described a very workable plan to help people begin their road to recovery. The first step is to make a commitment to learn more about your disorder. Seek out a doctor and psychologist to help you learn more about the symptoms that you experience and what you are feeling. Psychotherapy is a terrific way to learn more about yourself and to even develop more tools to help you overcome your symptoms. Secondly, create a goal-oriented action plan. Write down some things that are really overwhelming to you. Write down activities that fill you with anxiety, dread, or helplessness, and focus on one item at a time. Next, remember that it will take time to improve your symptoms. Every worthwhile process takes time, and it will take you much challenging work and dedication to overcome your problems. That’s okay. Keep going! Once you have established your list and reminded yourself to be patient, establish a concrete goal for how you can solve one specific problem on your list. For example, if a manager at work has assigned you a big project, practice breaking that project down into manageable steps. Focus on the first step that you need to complete to move on. In doing this, you are lessening the chances that you will feel overwhelmed because you have a small, concrete step that you only need to focus on for now. Continue this process each day until you have all the steps that you need complete. The symptoms of dependent personality disorder can feel overwhelming, and you may feel as though you will never get better. Do not believe this – it is simply your anxiety causing you to feel this way. Utilize this plan of action and contact a doctor and therapist to begin working through your problems. There is an entire team of support ready to help you get through this.

We’ve all experienced the moment where we forgot our keys, missed a deadline at school or work, and argued with a family member.  These moments can be challenging, especially when we have a lot of other responsibilities on our plate. We may feel our heart racing fast, sweaty palms, back and neck aching, racing thoughts, and more. While many of these symptoms are shared by both stress and anxiety, it is important to understand the difference between the two because they each have distinct causes, which will make it easier to identify what is happening. If we can easily tell what we are suffering from now, we will be able to take preventative measures to ensure that we do not develop worse symptoms or an anxiety disorder.

“Your baby seems so happy one minute and is crying the next…are they bipolar?” Most people have heard something to the extent of this phrase before. Whether the term was used to describe another person or the weather, our culture tends to use these words casually, as if they are simply an adjective to describe how something or someone is. Those words may seem harmless in the moment, but the way those words are used truly shape the way individuals perceive one another and mental illnesses. When someone uses “bipolar” to describe something other than a serious health concern, they are lessening the effect of the seriousness and giving it meaning elsewhere. Such as in the phrase first listed, using “bipolar” in that context does three things: 1) gives the impression that it is not typical for a baby to be happy one minute and crying the next, and 2) places a serious stigma around “bipolar” and what it really means to have bipolar disorder, and 3) labels the person instead of viewing them as someone who suffers from an illness. Bipolar disorder is much more than crying one minute and smiling the next – it disrupts sleep patterns, relationships, and causes mood swings, but to a much higher extent. According to Dr. Matt Goldenberg, these mood swings typically involve the person experiencing extreme highs and lows over the course of a few days or weeks – not typically over the course of a single day. Misconceptions of what bipolar disorder involves provides a tendency for people to misdiagnose themselves. In addition to the stigma of bipolar disorder, calling someone “bipolar” doesn’t give that person room to be themselves. Just as someone may not like to be labelled as “mean” or “annoying”, no one enjoys being placed in a category, because each person has so many things to offer and is more than their illness. By understanding the meaning behind the language that is used, one can develop a sense of unity and can help uplift others by portraying mental illness for what it is – an illness that deeply affects the individual. Remembering the appropriate usage of these words and gently correcting our loved ones is a great start to changing the way our culture perceives mental illnesses. Here are some tips on combating incorrect use of mental illness terms:

Many people prefer not to be alone at times, and will call on friends for support. Likewise, most people find being criticized or judged and ridiculed to be an unpleasant and uncomfortable experience they’d rather avoid. For people with dependent personality disorder, however, they grow extreme in their need to be around someone all the time, while someone with avoidant personality disorder will withdraw from society entirely as their fear of being seen as inadequate takes over. According to the American Psychiatric Association, a personality disorder is a way of thinking, feeling, and behaving that deviates from the expectations of the culture, causes distress or problems functioning, and lasts overtime. Two of these types of personality disorders are classified as dependent and avoidant. Each of these disorders has their own unique causes, characteristics, and treatment methods.

Oftentimes, individuals may feel or have been told that they exhibit signs of either a mental illness or addiction, but do not know where to begin. Discovering a mental illness or uncovering an addiction is best when consulted with a healthcare professional for official diagnosis. Here are several effective ways to determine if someone may need professional help:

The negative symptoms of a mental illness can be overwhelming. Sometimes people are diagnosed at an early age, but oftentimes people discover that they have a mental illness as they get older. As one enters recovery, treatment is individualized and focused on what that person needs to better cope with the symptoms of their mental illness. There are different options for recovery regarding length of treatment, depending on the needs of the individual. Here is a few (but not exhaustive)

Almost everyone has that person in their life that seems overly dramatic. A friend who is known as a “drama queen”, a partner who seems to over-react at a small inconvenience, etc. While over-reacting is quite common, how does one know whether their friend suffers from histrionic personality disorder? Histrionic personality disorder is characterized as constant attention-seeking, emotional overreaction, and suggestibility (easily influenced by others). A person who suffers from this condition tends to over-dramatize situations, and can develop depression as their relationships may suffer. Here are several symptoms to look out for:

There are many reasons why a person may fall into addiction – biology, genetics, environmental factors, trauma, and more. Mental health is another worthy cause to consider – many individuals do not realize that they suffer from a mental illness and choose to self-medicate through drugs or alcohol. Conversely, some individuals may fall into addiction and then symptoms of mental illness emerge later. Suffering from an addiction or mental illness does not mean that the person has failed or cannot recover. Many people do not know the resources available for discovering the status of their mental health and thankfully there are several tools that one can utilize to learn more about what they may be going through. Identifying the characteristics of a mental illness may help someone discover similar symptoms that they are experiencing. By exploring some of the symptoms to mental illness, one can become more active towards their well-being and can take steps to overcome their addiction. Here are a few underlying mental health concerns that may provide insight into addiction: