Therapist Unlimited Blog

ALCOHOLISM or the habit of drinking too much liquor is a global problem affecting both men and women.
Although a huge number of those persons addicted to alcoholic drinks are men, a substantial number of women are also hooked into the drinking habit.
The information campaign against drinking too much liquor had been going on for years through the efforts done by the government and private sectors but the number of those hooked on drinking liquors continues to rise in different pars of the globe.
What is more alarming and surprising is the fact that more women each year are getting addicted to drinking too much liquor.
As more women are hooked into alcoholism, a new medical study has shown that drinking too many glasses or liquor can cause cancer among women.

To protect their health women should do their best to kick their drinking habit or face the possibility of being inflicted with cancer.
 

The latest study conducted by Naomi Allen of the University of Oxford and her colleagues showed that those women who are drinking too much alcohol has higher chances of developing breast cancer or any other type of cancer than those who do not drink at all.
Allen and her team found out that the cancer risk is set at 13% and that even one drink of liquor could put the woman at risk for cancer.
Furthermore, the study showed that consuming one alcoholic beverage per day was associated with 11 additional breast cancer cases per 1,000 women each year.
The findings in this study have clearly shown the world that more than the benefit it offers drinking too much liquor should be avoided to protect your very own life.
People especially women had reasons why they are hooked into alcoholism but the latest finding should serve as eye opener to women to always take good care of their health and do their best to avoid drinking too much alcohol to avoid possibility of cancer.
Women play a very important role in this planet, which is why it would be best that these people perform their roles efficiently to create greater impact in this planet.
If kicking the habit of alcohol is hard just make it a motivation within yourself that the consequence of continuing your unhealthy activity is death, which could put an end to all your dreams and happiness in this planet.

One of the most horrible things a person could experience in his or her lifetime is to see someone injure itself or the so-called "self injury".
It is hard for ordinary people to comprehend why some people would go the extent of injuring themselves for reasons only known to the affected person.
"Self injury" is a form of personality disorder wherein the person involves would resort to harm his or her own self just to accomplish a certain purpose in that action.
To better understand the people who commit "self injury” here are four reasons cited by medical experts why people resort to "self injury".
 

People who engage in "self injury" should not be condemned but helped.

A. To release intention within
 

Medical experts said one primary reason why some people engage in self-injury is to release tension within them.
If a person had too much emotion inside like anger or sadness he or she thought of a way to release it by self inflicted injury like cutting or burning their very self.
The pain they experience from doing the self-injury made them tend to forget what is bugging them on the inside since their mind and heart will not be focussed on their self-inflicted injury.
The act of self-injury might be hard to swallow for some but for the patient involve it is the only way to express the emotions and tensions they felt inside them.

B. To beat out the numbness

Another interesting reason why people commit self-injury is to beat out the numbness they are experiencing within themselves.
To cope up with numbness or trauma some people resort to dissociation, a mental and emotional state where the normal unitary experience of consciousness is chopped up into disconnected parts.
One method of dissociation for some is self-injury.
Some people who experience a traumatic experience in life that made them numb to certain situation move to resolve such numbness by harming their very own self.
People who are suffering from numbness will once again regain back their senses and feelings once pain set in when they start harming their very own self.

C. Communicate themselves

Another interesting reason why some people harm themselves is simply to communicate.
Sometimes when people experience trauma they suffer a huge emotional burden within themselves that made them lose words to describe and communicate it to other people.
In order to express themselves to other people who are carrying a huge emotional burden within themselves resort to self-injury just to tell the world their feelings.
People carrying a huge emotional burden within them find self-injury as means to cope up with the feeling since it viewed pain as a form of relief for them.

D. Punishment to own self
 

Experts said some people resort to self-injury as a form of self-punishment for some bad behaviour or personal tragedy that occurs within their lives.
To make him or her pay for the bad experiences that happen in life that person decides to resort to self-injury.
Based on actual research most people who harm themselves as a form of punishment are those suffering from any form of abuse.
To make themselves pay for their traumatic experience the victim decides to harm him or her.
Sometimes the decision of the abused person to engage in self-injury could also be blamed on the abuser to make his her victim believe that they are worthless person who do not anymore deserve to be happy.

With these four reasons, why people engage in self-injury the public can now have a much better understanding on these persons and offer them the care and treatment that they deserve.
 

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder pertains to those persons who are not open and flexible to their daily activities, interpersonal relationships and expectations.
Persons having this type of personality disorder are also concerned with too much orderliness, perfectionism and control of their lives and relationships.
This type of medical condition is hereditary and could be transmitted to any family members.
Based on research Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder occurs more frequently to men than women.
The affected person is also easily gets angry when things go out of control.
Furthermore, anyone who is suffering from this type of personality disorder is someone who has difficulty expressing tender feelings, and rarely pays compliments.

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder is hereditary and could be transmitted to any family members.

Symptoms
 

A. Is preoccupied with details, rules, lists, order, organization, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost
B. Shows perfectionism that interferes with task completion (e.g., is unable to complete a project because his or her own overly strict standards are not met)
C. Is excessively devoted to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure activities and friendships (not accounted for by obvious economic necessity)
D. Is over conscientious, scrupulous, and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, or values (not accounted for by cultural or religious identification)
E. Is unable to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value
F.  Is reluctant to delegate tasks or to work with others unless they submit to exactly his or her way of doing things
G. Adopts a miserly spending style toward both self and others; money is viewed as something to be hoarded for future catastrophes
H. Shows rigidity and stubbornness.

Treatments

The overwhelming preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism and control of their lives and relationships means that most types of treatment are going to be, at best, difficult. Treatment options that do not fit within the client’s cognitive schema will likely be quickly rejected rather than attempted.
Individuals who suffer from this disorder have difficulty in incorporating new and changing information into their lives, so new learning takes place only over a great deal of time and  with as much effort on both the clinician’s and client’s part. Their ability to work with others is equally affected, since they see the world as black and white — their way of doing things and the wrong way of doing things. Naturally, this faulty logic will also be translated into their therapeutic relationship with the clinician and their treatment. It is therefore unlikely the clinician will have much success in using techniques or treatment modalities, which have not first been approved by the patient for use. Sometimes, simply stating the effectiveness of a given treatment for a specific problem citing relevant research studies may help the patient be more open to certain treatments. More often, though, this technique won’t be effective.
When this disorder is combined with the presentation of a medical illness, physicians should expect a logical and coherent presentation of troubling symptoms with little emotionality attached to their physical discomfort. Treatment is most effective when the nature of the disease process is first discussed with the individual, as well as typical and accepted treatments.
A physician in this instance is best sticking with the facts of the presenting problem and underlying disorder rather than offering vague impressions of their opinion.
Since the individual with this disorder tends to be meticulous and concerned with details, the treatment regimen — once accepted — will likely be adhered to rigorously, without incident.

Psychotherapy

As with most personality disorders, individuals seek treatment for items in their life that have become overwhelming to their existing coping skills.
These skills may be somewhat limited, in the first place, because of their disorder. While they may be generally effective enough in most instances to shield the client from stress and emotional difficulties, during times of increased stress, work pressure, family problems, etc. the underlying disorder will become more evident in day-to-day behaviours.
 As with most personality disorders, treatment is often focused on short-term symptom relief and the support of existing coping mechanisms while teaching new ones.
 Long-term or substantive work on personality change is usually beyond most clinician’s skill levels, and patient’s budgets.
 Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is especially resistant to such changes, because of the basic makeup of this disorder.
Short-term therapy will most likely be beneficial when the patient’s current support system and coping skills are examined. Those skills that are not currently working could be reinforced with additional skill sets. Social relationships can also be examined, reinforcing strong, positive relationships while having the client re-examine negative or harmful relationships.
 One important aspect is to try to have the individual examine and properly identify their feeling states, rather than just intellectualizing or distancing themselves from their emotions.
This can be accomplished through a variety of techniques, such as feeling identification (e.g., the "feeling faces") at the onset of every therapy session.
 Homework might include writing feelings down in a journal, especially as they notice them. Proper identification and realization of feelings can bring about much change in and of itself.
Individuals suffering from obsessive-compulsive personality disorder often are not in touch with their emotional states as much as their thoughts.
Leading the client away from describing situations, events, and daily happenings and to talking about how such situations, events and daily happenings made them feel may be helpful.
 Sometimes the patient may complain he or she doesn’t remember or know how he or she felt at the time; the journal becomes a useful tool at this point.
Therapy with people who have this disorder can sometimes be trying, since they can see the world in a very "all-or-nothing" manner.
Beck’s cognitive therapy does not seem to be very effective in treatment, and cognitive approaches in general probably aren’t useful in this case.
Clinicians must be willing to undergo verbal attacks on their professionalism and knowledge; as such, scepticism about a therapist’s treatment approach from the client with this disorder can be expected. Clinicians should also be careful about engaging the client within these verbal attacks or intellectual discussions, as they continue to distance the patient from his or her feelings, and take the focus off the client and onto unrelated matters (e.g., a therapist’s professional training).
Most people who suffer from this personality disorder (and the different, but related, obsessive-compulsive disorder) lead relatively normal lives, may have a family, friends, and work regularly.
 Clinicians should be careful not to overgeneralize psychopathology and look to change aspects of the patient’s personality he or she is not ready or willing to change.
This means, in effect, that if the way they relate to others in their environment (which a clinician might characterize as a personality disorder) is working for them, a clinician should not seek to change it 180 degrees without the client’s purposeful consent. Therapy will most often be most effective when it focuses on correcting short-term difficulties currently being experienced.
 It will become increasingly less effective when the goal of therapy is complex, long-term personality change.
Although a group therapy, modality may be helpful and an effective treatment option, most people who suffer from this disorder will not be able to withstand the minimum social contact necessary to gain a healthy group dynamic. They may quickly become ostracized by the group for pointing out other people’s deficits and "wrong-headed" ways of doing things.

Hospitalization

Hospitalization is rarely needed for people who suffer from this disorder, unless an extreme or severe stressor or stressful life event occurs which increases the compulsive behaviours to an extent where regular daily activities are halted or present possible risks of harm to the patient.
 Hospitalization may also be needed when the obsessive thoughts do not allow the individual to conduct any usual activities, paralyzing them in bed or with their accompanying compulsive behaviours.

Medications

Medication for this disorder is generally not indicated unless the individual is also suffering from an associated psychological disorder such as anxiety or depression.
 

Self-Help

The medical profession often overlooks self-help methods for the treatment of this disorder because very few professionals are involved in them.
 Support groups, though, offer an excellent adjunct to continuing medication check-ups once a month, and a way to gain emotional and social support through the community.
These groups also allow others to ensure the client is doing well and promotes the client’s independence and stability.
 Many support groups exist within communities throughout the world that are devoted to helping individuals with this disorder share their commons experiences and feelings.
Such support groups are recommended to individuals suffering from this disorder, especially if they have found therapy unhelpful or too expensive.  

Source: http://www.mentalhelp.net

Medical experts define Histrionic Personality Disorder as those people who have intense, unstable emotions and distorted self-images.
Persons who are suffering from histrionic personality disorder usually depend their self-esteem on the approval of others and do not arise from a true feeling of self-worth.
Patients who have this type of personality disorder have an overwhelming desire to be noticed, and often behave dramatically or inappropriately to get attention.
The word histrionic in itself means “dramatic or theatrical.”
This type of disorder is also more common in women than in men and usually is detected in early adulthood.
 

Symptoms
 

A. Is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention.
B. Interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behaviour.
C. Displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions.
D. Consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self.
E. Has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail.
F. Shows self-dramatization, theatricality and exaggerated expression of emotion.
G. Is suggestible, that is, easily influenced by others or circumstances.
H. Considers relationships more intimate than they actually are.

 Persons suffering from Histrionic Personality Disorder usually loved to be notice at all times.

 Treatments
 

Personality disorders are typically some of the most challenging mental disorders to treat, since they are, by definition, an integral part of what defines an individual and their self-perceptions.
Treatment most often focuses on increasing coping skills and interpersonal relationship skills through psychotherapy.
 

Psychotherapy
 

As with most personality disorders, people present for treatment only when stress or some other situational factor within their lives has made their ability to function and cope effectively impossible. They are, however (unlike other people who suffer from personality disorders), much quicker to seek treatment and exaggerate their symptoms and difficulties in functioning. Because they also tend to be more emotionally needy, they are often reluctant to terminate therapy.
Psychotherapy, as with most personality disorders, is the treatment of choice. Group and family therapy approaches are generally not recommended, since the individual who suffers from this disorder often draws attention to themselves and exaggerates every action and reaction. People with this disorder often come across as "fake" or shallow in their interpersonal relationships with others. Patients often express all of their feelings with the same depth of emotion, unaware of the subtleties of their own emotional states and of the vast range available to them.
Therapy should generally be supportive and good rapport will usually be easily established with the patient early on. Clinicians may often find themselves placed in a "rescuer" role, in which the therapist will be asked to constantly reassure and rescue the client from daily problems. Every problem is usually expressed in a dramatic fashion. Many times the therapist will be perceived as sexually attractive to the patient. Boundary issues in relationships and a clear delineation of the therapeutic framework are relevant and important aspects of therapy.
Approaches that take advantage of matter-of-fact and realistic assessment of situations and problems can also be important. Solution-focused therapy is often appropriate with this client. Most therapy approaches should not be focused on the long-term, personality change of the individual, but rather short-term alleviation of difficulties within the person’s life. Few people could afford the time or cost required to "cure" someone of this disorder. This should be explicitly stated up-front at the onset of therapy to dismiss any thoughts the client may have of a "magical" cure for this disorder.
Suicidal behaviour is often apparent in a person who suffers from histrionic personality disorder. Suicidality should be assessed on a regular basis and suicidal threats should not be ignored or dismissed. Suicide sometimes occurs when all that was intended was a gesture, so all such thoughts and plans should be taken with the same seriousness as with any other disorder. A suicide contract should be established to specify under what conditions the therapist might be contacted in case the client feels like hurting him or herself. Self-mutilation behaviour may also be present in this disorder and should be taken seriously as an issue of importance to discuss within therapy.
Therapists will find that taking a somewhat skeptical stance within therapy to be useful, due to the usual exaggeration of events and problems by the patient. By following a line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, the client can usually discover the unrealistic expectations and fears associated with many behaviours and thoughts. Since many people who have histrionic personality disorder will emphasize attractiveness ("style over substance") in their lives and relationships, discussing alternatives and trying out new behaviours may be helpful. The therapist can also help by pointing out, in session, when the client is using shallow criteria in which to judge another. The patient should eventually look to be able to do these themselves throughout their lives.
Insight- and cognitive-oriented approaches are generally largely ineffective in treatment of this disorder and should be avoided. People with this disorder are often incapable of examining unconscious motivations and their own thoughts to a degree where it is helpful. While these approaches can be a part of a larger treatment plan, they should not be the focus. Helping the client to examine interactions from a more objective point of view and emphasizing alternative explanations for behaviour is likely to be more effective. Examining and clarifying a client’s emotions are also important components of therapy.
Clinicians will often experience reactions to treating this disorder, because of the dramatic nature of the patient. Because of this possibility, therapists should be more attuned to their own feelings within the therapy setting and ensure that they are treating the patient fairly and with respect. As with Borderline Personality Disorder, individuals with histrionic personality disorder often find themselves discriminated against by mental health professionals because of the symptoms of their disorder. Clinicians and patients should be aware of this possible discrimination.

Medications
 

As with most personality disorders, medications are not indicated except for the treatment of associated disorders such as anxiety or depression. Care should be given when prescribing medications to someone who suffers from histrionic personality disorder, though, because of the potential for using the medication to contribute to self-destructive or otherwise harmful behaviours.

Self-Help
 

There are not any self-help support groups or communities that we are aware of that would be conducive to someone suffering from this disorder. Such approaches would likely not be very effective because a person with this disorder is likely to be very dramatic in their interactions with others, coming across as "artificial" or shallow.
As with many of the other personality disorders, encouraging those with Histrionic personality disorder to learn self-help tools such as stress and anxiety reducing techniques may aid them in managing some of their crisis-oriented feelings. Learning stress management skills such as deep breathing and consistent exercise may help someone with Histrionic personality disorder to cope better during stressful times.
 

Sources: http://www.mentalhelp.net, http://www.psychologytoday.com, and http://my.clevelandclinic.org.

Borderline Personality Disorder pertains to those persons who suffer labile interpersonal relationship characterized by instability.
Persons suffering from this type of medical disorder are viewed by many as "delusional" or those people who have a hard time distinguishing reality from their own misperceptions of the world and their surrounding environment.

This type of behaviour might be viewed as negative for many but experts explains it as  related to their emotions overwhelming regular  cognitive functioning, which is likely to create many conflicts with others.
Borderline Personality Disorder also pertains to persons having fears of being abandoned by others in relationships, which oftentimes lead these persons to engage in many extreme and confusing behaviours of over-possessiveness or being unavailable, which ultimately makes their partner leave them in the end.
 

Here are some common symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder:

A.  Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.
B.  A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.
C.  Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.
D. Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating).
E. Recurrent suicidal behaviour, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behaviour.
F. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days).
G. Chronic feelings of emptiness.
H. Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights).
 I.   Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms.

Persons suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder need immediate treatment and understanding from their lover, family and friends.

Treatment

Psychotherapy is nearly always the treatment of choice for this disorder; medications may be used to help stabilize mood swings.
Controversy surrounds overmedicating people with this disorder.

Psychotherapy

Like with all personality disorders, psychotherapy is the treatment of choice in helping people overcome this problem.
 While medications can usually help some symptoms of the disorder, they cannot help the patient learn new coping skills, emotion regulation, or any of the other important changes in a person’s life.
An initially important aspect of psychotherapy is usually contracting with the person to ensure that they do not commit suicide.
Suicidality should be carefully assessed and monitored throughout the entire course of treatment. If suicidal feelings are severe, medication and hospitalization should be seriously considered.
The most successful and effective psychotherapeutic approach to date has been Marsha Linehan’s Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.
Research conducted on this treatment have shown it to be more effective than most other psychotherapeutic and medical approaches to helping a person to better cope with this disorder.
 It seeks to teach the client how to learn to better take control of their lives, their emotions, and themselves through self-knowledge, emotion regulation, and cognitive restructuring.
A comprehensive approach is most often conducted within a group setting. Because the skill set learned is new and complex, it is not an appropriate therapy for those who may have difficulty learning new concepts.
Like all personality disorders, borderline personality disorder is intrinsically difficult to treat. Personality disorders, by definition, are long-standing ways of coping with the world, social and personal relationships, handling stress and emotions, etc. that often do not work, especially when a person is under increased stress or performance demands in their lives.
Treatment, therefore, is also likely to be somewhat lengthy in duration, typically lasting at least a year for most.
Other psychological treatments, which have been used to lesser effectiveness, to treat this disorder include those that focus on social learning theory and conflict resolution.
These types of solution-focused therapies, though, often neglect the core problem of people who suffer from this disorder — difficulty in expressing appropriate emotions (and emotional attachments) to significant people in their lives due to faulty cognitions.
Providing a structured therapeutic setting is important no matter which therapy type is undertaken. Because people with this disorder often try and "test the limits" of the therapist or professional when in treatment, proper and well-defined boundaries of your relationship with the client need to be carefully explained at the onset of therapy.
 Clinicians need to be especially aware of their own feelings toward the patient, when the client may display behaviour that is deemed "inappropriate." Individuals with borderline personality disorder are often unfairly discriminated against within the broad range of mental health professionals because they are seen as "trouble-makers."

Hospitalization

Hospitalization is often a concern with people who suffer from borderline personality disorder because they so often visit hospital emergency rooms and are sometimes seen on inpatient units because of severe depression.
People with this disorder often present in crisis at their local community mental health center, to their therapist, or at the hospital emergency room.
While an emergency room is an immediate source of crisis intervention for the patient, it is a costly treatment and regular visits to the E.R. should be discouraged.
Instead, patients should be encouraged to find additional social support within their community (including self-help support groups), contact a crisis hotline, or contact their therapist or treating physician directly.
Emergency room personnel should be careful not to treat the person with borderline personality disorder in blind conjunction with another set of therapists or doctors who are treating the patient for the same problem at another facility. Every attempt should be made to contact the client’s attending physician or primary therapist as soon as possible, even before the administration of medication that may be contraindicated by the primary treatment provider. Crisis management of the immediate problem is usually the key component to effective treatment of this disorder when it presents in a hospital emergency room, with discharge to the patient’s usual care provider.
Inpatient treatment often takes the form of medication in conjunction with psychotherapy sessions in groups or individually.
 This is an appropriate treatment option if the person is experiencing extreme difficulties in living and daily functioning.
 It is, however, relatively rare to be hospitalized in the U.S. for this disorder. Long-term care of the person suffering from borderline personality disorder within a hospital setting is nearly never appropriate. The typical inpatient stay for someone with borderline personality disorder in the U.S. is about 3 to 4 weeks, depending upon the person’s insurance.
Since this treatment is so expensive, it is getting more difficult to obtain. Results of such treatment are also mixed.
While it is an excellent way of helping stabilize the client, it is usually too short a time to attain significant changes within the individual’s personality makeup.
Good inpatient care facilities for this disorder should be highly structured environments, which seek to expand the individual’s independence.
Partial hospitalization or a day treatment program is often all that is needed for people who suffer from borderline personality disorder.
 This allows the individual to gain support and structure from a safe environment for a short time, or during the day, and returning home in the evening. In times of increased stress or difficulty coping with specific situations, this type of treatment is more appropriate and healthier for most people than full inpatient hospitalization.

Medications

As with all, the Personality Disorders there are no medications specifically prescribed to treat Borderline personality disorder.
However, some medications may be helpful to alleviate some of the associated disorders of anxiety, depression, and/or sometimes-psychotic symptoms.
It is, however, clear that low doses of high potency neuroleptics (e.g., haloperidol) may be helpful for disorganized thinking and some psychotic symptoms.
Depression in some cases is amenable to neuroleptics. Neuroleptics are particularly recommended for the psychotic symptoms mentioned above, and for patients who show anger, which must be controlled. Dosages should generally be low and the medication should never be given without adequate psychosocial intervention."
Antidepressant and anti-anxiety agents may be appropriate during particular times in the patient’s treatment, as appropriate.
For example, if a client presents with severe suicidal ideation and intent, the clinician may want to seriously consider the prescription of an appropriate antidepressant medication to help combat the ideation. Medication of this type should be avoided for long-term use, though, since most anxiety and depression is directly related to short-term, situational factors that will quickly come and go in the individual’s life.

Self-Help

The medical profession often overlooks self-help methods for the treatment of this disorder because very few professionals are involved in them.
 Encouraging the individual with borderline personality disorder to gain additional social support, however, is an important aspect of treatment.
 Many support groups exist within communities throughout the world that are devoted to helping individuals with this disorder share their commons experiences and feelings.
Patients can be encouraged to try out new coping skills and emotion regulation with people they meet within support groups.
They can be an important part of expanding the individual’s skill set and develop new, healthier social relationships.
Patients should also be encouraged to learn stress and anxiety reducing techniques as well as increased coping skills.
By learning how to utilize some of these tools on their own, they may be able to cope more effectively on their own possibly preventing situational crises from developing.
Even incorporating a consistent exercise regimen may help someone with this personality disorder regulate his/her emotional mood swings or release anger, thereby helping to produce more stability in the person’s life.

Source: http://www.mentalhelp.net