Personality Blog

The 4th article and quiz in our series on the Personality Disorders focuses on Schizoid Personality Disorder (SPD). We don’t know what causes the disorder, though we must assume that both genetics and environmental factors are involved. As with individuals with Paranoid Personality Disorder it is challenging to treat these solitary individuals. They may consider therapy either intrusive or threatening – or both. Some therapeutic techniques and medications have proved to be beneficial in treating some of the symptoms associated with this disorder. …

I have just added the third personality disorder in our series, Paranoid Personality Disorder (PPD). If you have not read the first two — Psychopaths and Borderline Personality Disorder — you are behind by two.

As Pat Conroy said:
I’ve always found paranoia to be a perfectly defensible position.

In some situations Pat is entirely correct, though there are individuals who trust no one under any circumstance. We don’t know what causes this disorder, however we are aware that the incidence is increased in families …

Two percent of the population, more women than men, suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Even mental health professionals are challenged in attempting to help these emotional individuals while maintaining their professional detachment and compassionate manner. Also, individuals who have been abused sometimes present with similar symptoms and their symptomology may be due to a trauma reaction or even Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

People with BPD are likely to have highly unstable patterns of social relationships. They may develop very passionate but unstable attachments; their …

Shyness can limit ones enjoyment of life, or if the symptoms are extreme, it can make life excruciating miserable. Symptoms of extreme shyness may meet the criteria for Social Phobia. Social Phobia is defined as (in the DSM IV TR): One strongly, repeatedly fears at least one social or performance situation that involves facing a stranger or being watched by others. Also, the person specifically fears showing anxiety symptoms or behaving in some other way that will be embarrassing or humiliating. The phobic stimulus almost …

If you are a post menopausal woman, it may not be a good idea to drink alcohol every day. Women in this age group, who averaged one to two drinks per day, were 32 % more likely to develop the most common form of breast cancer. For younger women, I would suggest being very careful.

Physical exercise, even 20 minutes per day–this includes all activates– improves our mental health. This is a good thing. Depression and anxiety respond well to physical activity–get busy and stay well.

A recent report by the nonprofit …

We were just getting used to the idea of eating “well.” Eating “well” means consuming foods that are nutritious and not heavily loaded with empty calories, the bad fats or dangerous additives. Learning to eat for your health is not an easy endeavor, for one thing every time a new wellness research study comes out– the rules change. Fortunately, for us they don’t change a lot, but we must adjust our eating behaviors ever so slightly to eat “well.” It is a challenge, and I congratulate each one of you …

As I was walking with my Great Dane, Sophie (you will hear a lot about Sophie), I was thinking about the job market. I see depressing TV news programs and read discouraging stories in my local newspaper. Jobs are hard to come by and the search is getting more difficult and desperate. There are many factors contributing to this nasty state of affairs, but the unemployed and underemployed aren’t particularly interested in the “why” they want to know the “how.” “How do I find a job,” is the upper most …

When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Do you have a unique awareness that is completely unrelated to your five senses? Do you sometimes know things, yet you cannot explain how you know them? It is said that some individuals are so exceptionally sensitive to their environment, they can perceive what most cannot — disembodied spirits. Perhaps, you are one of these “exceptional” people. All cultures have legends, told in hushed voices, as the tellers look …