1. predisposing factors
a. genetics -- 1 sis had depression, another has anxiety
b. environment -- adverse childhood experience: dysfunctional household -- parents always fighting
2. precipitating factors
a. miscarriage
b. pandemics
c. marital conflict -- live-in partner has a third party
d. death of parents
3. perpetuating factors
a. stress
4. coping strategies
a. sit down
b. deep breathe
d. drink warm water
4. stroll
Re: Na PD Sx Fr: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10160770320224293&set=a.495528444292
Know a Narcissist? Learning how to self-advocate and set
boundaries is critical for your well-being.
By Kristen Hamling, PhD
"I’ve
been a psychologist for over 20 years, and I have a Ph.D. in the field of
psychology, and yet it took me two years of therapy to understand that I was in
an unhealthy relationship. Constantly trying to rescue a relationship by apologizing
and surrendering your needs to take care
of the other person can leave you exhausted—especially if the person has a
complex personality such as narcissism. The trauma bond, or the narcissistic
abuse cycle that accompanies narcissism, often results in post-traumatic
stress symptoms, anxiety, and depression.
Sometimes
you will have to walk away from the
narcissistic relationship because the short-term pain of ending the
relationship will result in long-term gain for your health and well-being.
What Is Narcissism?
When
someone displays extreme narcissistic characteristics, such as the case with a
narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), then problems can start to arise.
People diagnosed with NPD consider themselves as self-assured, intelligent,
confident individuals, with a strong sense of right and wrong. However, in
reality, someone living with NPD is often a deeply insecure person who has a profound lack of confidence and
self-esteem. This is often a result of childhood trauma, genetics, and an
insecure attachment style.
For
example, someone born with an anxious temperament who has self-absorbed and emotionally unavailable parents grows up fiercely
independent, believing that they have to take care of themselves and prove to
the world that they are worthwhile and special.
NPD is
a serious mental health condition with complex symptoms such as an inability to empathize, diminished self-reflection and insight,
and an excessive need for praise and
admiration. Although there are different types of narcissism (e.g.,
covert/vulnerable or grandiose) the root cause of the problem is often the
same.
Narcissism
does not allow people to fully understand or regulate their emotions.
You might know some people who must
control their environment or avoid
feelings such as shame or rejection.
Narcissists
are less interested in team harmony and success, and more interested in using others to pursue their own agenda.
Many
narcissists will take responsibility for
others’ accomplishments. They set perfectionistic standards and are
often workaholics. They may even use
bullying tactics to achieve their
goals. For example, withholding information to sabotage coworkers’
performance, persistently criticizing, and spreading gossip. The [covert
and vulnerable narcissist] is more likely to act vindictively—make sure you keep records of conversations and limit
information provided to them.
Narcissism
can lead to serious mental health issues such as burnout, compassion
fatigue, depression, and anxiety. A narcissistic boss can erode your self-esteem, make you feel incompetent, and cause
you to lose trust in yourself and others.
If you are not careful, narcissism can also damage your career.
Narcissists
aren’t just confined to the workplace—often, the people we love the most
display tendencies. In the following example, Barry, who is a very attentive
husband, is faced with his wife’s narcissistic
rage when he tries to change plans.
Barry:
“I know we planned dinner tonight, but I have an old friend in town, and I’d
love to go out to dinner with her—can we reschedule for tomorrow night?”
Fiona:
“You always do this; you never make me a priority in your life. You are so
selfish and inconsiderate. You knew I’ve been looking forward to tonight. Why
are you choosing to go out with another woman on our date night?”
Barry:
“But I hardly ever cancel plans. Of course I love you …”
In this
instance, even though Barry would love to see his friend from out of town he
decides to go out with his wife to
placate her. However, over time, this will cause him to lose sight of
himself. The narcissistic loop of manipulation, blame, gaslighting, etc.,
can derail constructive conversations and be mentally exhausting.
There Is Nothing Wrong With You
Truthfully,
having a relationship with a narcissist can make you feel like there is
something seriously wrong with you. But you’re not the monster they make
you out to be. Elinor Greenberg, therapist and author of the book Borderline, Narcissistic, and Schizoid
Adaptations: The Pursuit of Love, Admiration and Safety, explains that when
narcissists feel good about you (or more accurately that you are making them
feel good about themselves), they see you as special. Then you do
something “wrong” (e.g., say “no” to one of their requests), and suddenly
you’re bad and worthless.
Therefore,
people with NPD only see people (including themselves) in one of two ways: Either they are special, unique,
perfect, and entitled (High Status);
or they are defective, worthless, garbage (Low
Status). Boundaries are
your best friend if you want to stay connected to your truth when in a
relationship with a narcissist.
Boundaries, Boundaries, Boundaries
Maintaining
boundaries can be particularly challenging when communicating with a
narcissist. Narcissists are masterful at blurring
boundaries. Paul Mason and Randi Kreger, authors of the top-selling book Stop Walking on Eggshells, developed
what they call the broken record
technique to help people maintain boundaries when communicating with
difficult personalities.
The
broken record technique helps you avoid the white noise (gaslighting) produced by the narcissist by staying
focused on the issue at hand. Going back to Barry and Fiona, you can see how
Barry could have used the broken record technique to enforce his boundaries.
Fiona:
“You always do this; you never make me a priority in your life. You’re so
selfish. You knew I’ve been looking forward to tonight. Why are you choosing to
go out with another woman on our date night?”
Barry:
“I know you’re disappointed and I’m hearing that you want to spend time
together. We will have our date night tomorrow night, but right now it’s
important to me that I see my friend.”
Fiona:
“But you’re choosing to go out with another woman on our date night. Are you
having an affair with her?”
Barry:
“It’s concerning that you think that, and we can absolutely discuss these
issues later if you want. But as I said, right now it’s important that I see my
friend.”
Fiona:
“You’re not listening, I don’t want you to go out with her.”
Barry:
“I know you’re disappointed, but as I said, it’s really important to me that I
see my friend and we’ll have our date night tomorrow night.”
No
matter what Fiona throws at Barry, he’s going to repeat the same thing, just
like a broken record. Barry doesn’t get caught up in the white noise and he
remembers “just because they say it
doesn’t mean it’s true.” Fiona is triggered and stressed, and she is
struggling to manage her own emotions. By staying
calm, respectful, and assertive, Barry has a greater chance of getting his
needs met.
Safety and Self-Care
When
your boundaries stop the narcissist
from getting their needs met, it can result in a high level of stress and hurt
for them. Self-care is critical when
dealing with the narcissist because as the saying goes, hurt people hurt
people. If the narcissist is someone in your family or close circle, be
sure to spend time with other people, go to yoga, go to therapy, eat well, and remember, you are not responsible for their
emotions. Sometimes you will have to walk away from the narcissistic
relationship because the short-term pain of ending the relationship will result
in long-term gain for your health and well-being.
Julie
Hall, author of The Narcissist in Your
Life, argues that the narcissistic mentality of superiority and entitlement
results in scapegoating people who
are different. Scapegoating increases conflict
and tribal thinking and reduces
diversity, collaboration, and cooperation. Narcissism underpins significant
social problems, such as sexism, racism, and queerphobia, and, unsurprisingly,
wreaks havoc with workplace morale and team performance.
Remain objective, don’t approach the
narcissist with high emotions, and choose your battles. For example, know
when to play the game and know when to stand up to the narcissist. You may
benefit from aligning yourself with people you trust and who will support you
if the narcissist tries to undermine you or steal your ideas.
Recognizing
narcissism will not only protect your mental health, but it can help to protect
your career as well.
No
matter how much hurt we cause each other, we should default back to compassion, but with boundaries. Narcissism is actually a front for
deeply vulnerable and insecure people. Boundaries and self-care are
paramount when dealing with narcissism, but anger and retaliatory behaviors
serve no one well in the long run. It is possible to have a healthy
relationship with people who have complex personalities and maintain compassion
for their pain, but awareness and boundaries are advised.
Get away if you can, NOTHING
will ever be enough for them and everyone around them is seen as existing just
to meet their needs and extravagant demands. They are the center of a web in which anyone close
gets sucked in to cater to them. Woe to everyone around them if they aren't the
CENTER of attention.
It
will drain you till there is nothing left and you often loose everything else
in your life, even your own self.
People have a tendency to relapse from addiction to certain substances more than others. For example, 40%- 60% of people that suffer from alcoholism will experience alcoholic relapse within their first year of recovery.
61% of people that suffer from methamphetamine addiction will experience a relapse within their first year of recovery. 65%- 70% of people that suffer from cocaine addiction will experience a relapse within the first 90 days of their recovery, and 90% of people that suffer from heroin addiction will experience a relapse within the first year of their recovery.
Thus, no one should feel shame about relapsing from addiction. As long as you receive treatment and take the proper measures to avoid relapsing again, you’ve done what you can do.
The boy who was caged and scalded to death | Interactive - CNA (channelnewsasia.com)
>abusive father to mother & children
>mother abused (scaled with hot water as well) as a child
>5-yr-old child: pinched on buttocks with pliers, hit with hanger, pushed & hit head on wall & pillar causing fracture, punched on face leading to fracture on nasal bone, caged in their pet's cage, poured with hot water several times, cigarette ashes let down on him by father
>parents sentenced to life imprisonment
Depression, anxiety, and long-term behavioral problems are caused by yelling at children, recent studies have shown.
Learn all about the “No-Yelling Tools” on the link belowhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-fundamental-four/201209/the-mind-and-its-maladies-0
Today, we will take a look at all types of mental illnesses and see if we can put a structure over the apparently chaotic and unrelated/comorbid mental health conditions.
To start with, child and adolescent psychologists, at times, make a distinction between internalizing disorders and externalizing disorder.
Further factor analytical studies of both externalizing and internalizing disorders have revealed a factor structure of two underlying sub-factors in both domains.
Internalizing disorders, for example, have been consistently shown [pdf] to be made up of two factors—one labeled anxiety/fear and the other depression/distress. While phobias and panic disorder load heavily on fear/anxiety, depression (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) load heavily on distress/ depression. One easy way to remember the distinction is that while depression/distress is the "dislike" system—reacting to past or present real pain/trauma; fear/anxiety is the "distant" system—reacting to perceived danger/pain-in-future/dread of pain.
Similarly, externalizing disorders, have been shown to be made up of two sub-factors—one labeled (labels by me) mania/oppositional and the other anger/social norm violation. The first factor is characterized by hyperactivity, inattention, impulsivity, aggression, and perhaps alienation, while the second factor is characterized by disinhibition, rule-breaking, and anti-social, addictive, and violent tendencies. The mania/oppositional factor has disorders like ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) loading on it, while conduct disorder (CD), adult antisocial behavior (AAB), drug use, etc., load heavily on the anger/social norm violation factor. Again, to make things easy to remember, mania/oppositional factor can be thought of as a "like" system—driven by what is pleasurable in the moment, while anger/social norm violation is a "want" system—driven by passionate desires and addictions without respect for social constraints.
So far is well-established science. Today I want to speculate a bit and propose two new classifications of psychopathologies—a relational disorder cluster as opposed to a reality distortion cluster.
The relational disorder cluster has, to boot, people problems. To be more specific, they have deficits in theory of mind (ToM) abilities. This again has a two sub-factor structure—where the inability in relating to people is more emotional in nature, but not cognitive, we have the factor of (lack of) sympathy functioning. When the deficit is more cognitive in nature, but one does not lack capacity to sympathize, the deficit is in that of (lack of) empathy. It is my contention that though autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and psychopathy are related, as in both are mind-blind, the deficit in ASD loads on (lack of) empathy, while the deficit in psychopathy loads on (lack of) sympathy. While psychopaths perceive others as objects to be manipulated and used, an autistic considers the world as made up of only objects (including self) that need to be analyzed/investigated.
The reality distortion cluster is characterized by a willingness and ability to distort reality to suit one’s needs. This may entail loss of contact with objective, consensual reality. This again has a two sub-factor structure—the distortion of reality may limit itself to one’s self—or it may broaden to encapsulate the whole world of people and objects. While one factor is related to (lack of) insight about one’s own nature, the other factor is related to (lack of) insight about the world. It is my contention that though both dissociative disorders and psychotic spectrum disorders (PSD) are characterized by a loss of touch with reality, the former loads on (lack of) insight about self, while the latter loads on (lack of) insight about the world. While the depersonalization and de-realization experience of dissociation may be due to an emotional dissociation from one’s own self due to a past or present traumatic incident—leading to treating self as an object—the hallucinations and (paranoid) delusions of psychosis are mostly due to a cognitive dissociation from the world, due to an anticipated traumatic experience that is dreaded and avoided in this way, by turning away from the world.
So the final list of disorders looks like:
From the above, also note, that there is an opposition between mania and depression (good things are happening or bad things are happening); fear and anger (different and opposite (flight-fight reactions to looming threat); autism and psychosis (focus on things or focus on people), and thus I would say also between dissociation and psychopathy (using people or being used by others).
I would really love to see experiments done on the factor structure of relational and reality-distortion clusters to refute/support my hypothesis. In case such facts are already established, do let me know the relevant sources/pointers.
Re: Basic Emotions and Basic Psychological Disorders:
Eight
basic emotions that underlie eight psychological disorder clusters
Fr:
Sandeep Gautam | The Fundamental Four | (2013 July 8)
I have written in past about the
basic structure of emotions and
identified eight basic emotions- four of them paired together viz.
Fear-Disgust; Sadness-Anger; Joy- Love/Attentiveness and
Interest-surprise. I have also tried to carve psychopathology at its joints,
and come up with a
psychological disorders taxonomy that
places all major psychological
disorders on eight dimensions/ clusters
(2 internalizing clusters; 2 externalising clusters and 2 what I then named-
relational clusters and 2 what I then named reality-distortion cluster.
Further reading and thinking has made me realize that I can
synthesize both basic emotions framework and psychopathology taxonomy/clusters
into one comprehensive theory that also makes one realize the underlying
emotional issues involved in major psychopathologies and may shed light on
treatment and prevention. In my next post I will correlate the framework I
develop here with NIMH’s Research
Domain Criteria (RDoC) extensively.
First let me list the basic emotions in some particular
order (I believe that these emotions evolved/ differentiated along this order
and this is evident in how these emotions become differentiated in ontogeny in
infants’ facial expressions.
1. Fear
2.
Sadness
3.
Anger
4.
Disgust
5.
Interest (excitement)
6.
Joy
7.
Love (attentiveness)
8.
Surprise
Now let me delineate the eight major clusters of
psychopathology:
1.
Fear - Anxiety cluster:
(Phobia, panic disorder etc)
2.
Distress – Depression cluster
: ( Major depression (MDD), Generalized Anxiety (GAD), PTSD etc)
3.
Anger- Impulsive Non-Conformity :
( Conduct disorder,
anti-social disorder, Oppositional defiant disorder etc)
4.
Disgust – Dependence/ Addiction :
( ADHD, substance abuse,
addiction etc)
5.
Interest- Obsessive/Compulsive : (Obsessive compulsive disorder, pathological gambling etc)
6.
Joy- Mania: (Bipolar
disorder, dark triad ( Psychopathic, Narcissistic, Machiavellian)
)
7.
Love- Delusions (magical thinking/
suggestibility) : (Psychosis ,
schizophrenia, hypnotic trance)
8.
Surprise- Dissociation/paranoia:
(Dissociative identity
disorder (DID), Depersonalisation,
derealisation, amnesia, autism etc)
The first 2 clusters are the internalizing disorders
(internal emotion-laden problems) ; the next 2 clusters are externalizing
disorders (exhibited in outward behaviours) ; the next 2 are motivational
disorder clusters in which the motivation system goes for a toss; and
the last 2 are cognitive disorder clusters where thinking, memory etc cognitive processes go for
a toss.
How does this relate to DSM-V vs ICD-11 vs RDoC controversy. I believe NIMH RDoC is on the right
path: they have identified 5 domains: -ve valance system (mapping to my
Internalizing disorders clusters) ; +ve valance system (mapping to my
Motivational disorders clusters); Systems for Social processes (mapping to my
Externalizing disorders) and Congitive systems (mapping to my cognitive
disorder clusters) .
In the next post, I will elaborate, how the low-level
constructs defined within each RDoC domain correspond to each other and map
neatly to my psychopathology/ emotions clusters.
