Therapist Unlimited Blog

If you find yourself more concerned about highly publicized dangers that grab your immediate attention such as terrorist attacks, while forgetting about the more mundane threats such as global warming, you’re not alone.
And you can’t help it because it’s human nature, according to a new study led by University of Colorado at Boulder psychology Professor Leaf Van Boven. That’s because people tend to view their immediate emotions, such as their perceptions
of threats or risks, as more intense and important than their previous emotions.
In one part of the study focusing on terrorist threats, using materials adapted from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Van Boven and his research colleagues presented two scenarios to people in a college laboratory depicting warnings about travelling abroad to two countries.
Participants were then asked to report which country seemed to have greater terrorist threats. Many of them reported that the country they last read about was more dangerous.
"What our study has shown is that when people learn about risks, even in very rapid succession where the information is presented to them in a very clear and vivid way, they still respond more strongly to what is right in front of them," Van Boven said.
With that in mind, Van Boven says one of the take-home messages from the study is that when communicating to the public, people must be mindful of how and when they publicize threats, which is a tall task in the around-the-clock news cycle of today.
"Whatever the threat of the season is can ‘crowd out’ concern about other threats even if those other threats are actually more dangerous," Van Boven said. "Because we are so emotionally influenced when it comes to assessing and reacting to threats, we may ignore very dangerous threats that happen not to be very emotionally arousing."

Be careful with your emotion since it could lead you to astray.

Human emotions stem from a very old system in the brain, Van Boven says. When it comes to reacting to threats, real or exaggerated, it goes against the grain of thousands of years of evolution to just turn off that emotional reaction. It’s not something most people can do, he said.
"And that’s a problem, because people’s emotions are fundamental to their judgements and decisions in everyday life," Van Boven said. "When people are constantly being bombarded by new threats or things to be fearful of, they can forget about the genuinely big problems, like global warming, which really need to be dealt with on a large scale with public
support."
In today’s 24-hour society, talk radio, the Internet and extensive media coverage of the "threat of the day" only exacerbate the trait of focusing on our immediate emotions, he said.
"One of the things we know about how emotional reactions work is they are not very objective, so people can get outraged or become fearful of what might actually be a relatively minor threat," Van Boven said. "One worry is some people are aware of
these kinds of effects and can use them to manipulate our actions in ways that we may prefer to avoid."
The study, which involved undergraduate students as subjects, was published in the August edition of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Michaela Huber, a doctoral student of psychology and neuroscience at CU-Boulder and Assistant Professor Katherine White of the University of Calgary co-authored the study.
Van Boven said the study would be of particular interest to policymakers.
"If you’re interested in having an informed citizenry you tell people about all the relevant risks, but what our research shows is that is not sufficient because those things still happen in sequence and people will still respond immediately to whatever happens to be in front of them," he said. "In order to make good decisions and craft good policies we need to know how people are going to respond."
 

Schizoid Personality Disorder is a condition characterized by excessive detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings.
This disorder is only diagnosed when these behaviours become persistent and very disabling or distressing.
The disorder should not be diagnosed if the distrust and suspiciousness occurs exclusively during the course of Schizophrenia, a Mood Disorder with Psychotic Features, or another Psychotic
 Disorder or if it is due to the direct physiological effects of a neurological (e.g., temporal lobe epilepsy) or other general medical condition.
Individuals with this disorder may have particular difficulty expressing anger, which contributes to the impression that they lack emotion.
  These individuals often react passively to adversity and have difficulty responding appropriately to important life events.
 Because of their lack of social skills and lack of desire for sexual experiences, individuals with this disorder have few friendships and often do not marry.
 Occupational functioning may be impaired, particularly if interpersonal involvement is required, but individuals with this disorder may do well when they work under conditions of social isolation.

Individuals suffering from Schizoid Personality Disorder have particular difficulty expressing anger, which contributes to the impression that they lack emotion.

Symptoms

A. Neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being part of a family.
B. Almost always chooses solitary activities.
C. Has little, if any, interest in having sexual experiences with another person.
D. Takes pleasure in few, if any, activities.
E. Lacks close friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives
F. Appears indifferent to the praise or criticism of others
G. Shows emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity

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

While there are many suggested treatment approaches one could make for this disorder, none of them is likely to be easily effective. As with all personality disorders, the treatment of choice is individual psychotherapy. However, people with this disorder are unlikely to seek treatment unless they are under increased stress or pressure in their life. Treatment will usually be short-term in nature to help the individual solve the immediate crisis or problem. The patient will then likely terminate therapy. Goals of treatment most often are solution-focused using brief therapy approaches.
The development of rapport and a trusting therapeutic relationship will likely be a slow, gradual process that may not ever fully develop as in seeing people with other disorders. Because people who suffer from this disorder often maintain a social distance with people in their lives, even those close to them, the clinician should work to help ensure the client’s security in the therapeutic relationship. Acknowledging the client’s boundaries are important and the therapist should not look to confront the client on these types of issues.
Long-term psychotherapy should be avoided because of its poor treatment outcomes and the financial hardships inherent in lengthy therapy. Instead, psychotherapy should focus on simple treatment goals to alleviate current pressing concerns or stressors within the individual’s life. Cognitive-restructuring exercises may be appropriate for certain types of clear, irrational thoughts that are negatively influencing the patient’s behaviours. The therapeutic framework should be clearly defined at the onset. Stability and support are the keys to good treatment with someone who suffers from schizoid personality disorder. The therapist must be careful not to "smother" the client and be able to tolerate some possible "acting-out" behaviour.

Group Therapy

Group therapy may be an alternative treatment modality to examine, although it is usually not a good initial treatment choice. A person who suffers from this disorder who is assigned to group therapy at the onset of therapy will likely terminate treatment prematurely because he or she will be unable to tolerate the effects of being in a social group. If, however, the person is graduating from individual to group therapy, they may have enough minimal social skills and abilities to tolerate group therapy much better.
People who suffer from this disorder see little to no reason for social interactions and often will be quite quiet in group therapy, contributing little to others and offering little of themselves. This is to be expected and the individual who has schizoid personality disorder should not be pushed into participating more fully in the group until he or she is ready and on their own terms. Group leaders must be careful to help protect the individual from criticism from other group members for their lack of participation. Eventually, if the group can tolerate the initially silent member with this disorder, the individual may gradually participate more and more, although this process will be very slow and drawn out over months. Clinicians should be wary of too much isolation and introspection on the part of the patient. The goal is not to keep the individual in therapy as long as possible (although they may appreciate, if not fully utilize, therapy). As in group therapy, the individual who suffers from this disorder may engage in long periods of not talking and silence in session. These may be difficult to bear for the clinician.

Medications

Medication is usually not an issue for someone who suffers from this disorder, unless they also have an associated psychological disorder, such as major depression. Most patients show no additional improvement with the addition of an antidepressant medication, though, unless they are also suffering from suicidal ideation or a major depressive episode. Long-term treatment of this disorder with medication should be avoided; medication should be prescribed only for acute symptom relief. Additionally, prescription of medication may interfere with the effectiveness of certain psychotherapeutic approaches. Consideration of this effect should be taken into account when arriving at a treatment recommendation.

Self-Help

The medical profession often overlooks self-help methods for the treatment of this disorder because very few professionals are involved in them. The social network provided within a self-help support group can be a very important component of increased, higher life functioning and a decrease in an inability to function in the face of unexpected stressors. A supportive and non-invasive group can help a person who suffers from schizoid personality disorder-overcome fears of closeness and feelings of isolation. 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 learn that social attachments to others don’t have to be fraught with fear or rejection. They can be an important part of expanding the individual’s skill set to develop new, healthier social relationships
 

Source: http://www.mentalhelp.net

Total madness would be the hitting result of that tension building up in your body with cold sweat and gritted teeth. Your temper is about to burst and you are almost crimson with that boiling blood of yours rushing toward your brain. The point here is, you are very angry at someone or at something, yet you have to restrain your feelings because you just can’t find a way to show it because of some issues.

Though it is good, when certain circumstances require it, to control strong emotions, it is still advised to express it with full conviction to lessen the stress. But even though you know this and are boiling mad, you still find yourself repressing your anger because you are just too kind-hearted to express it in a harmless way. In this case, you should find creative and yeah, harmless ways to release that anger.

1. Shout. Let the world know that you are mad by shouting at the vastness of the sea or the sky. Curse the people you hate and the situation you’re in. Or. If you can’t find an empty place, do it in your bedroom where you place your pillow above your head and then do the screaming thing.

2. Throw the tension. Use some trashy or unbreakable items at wall like crumbled papers or pillows to ease your stress. Though this methods appears silly or childish, it has been proven by some studies that doing this can release the tension.

Your officemate taps his fingers on his table. You grimace at this irritation action because it doesn’t allow you to concentrate on your work. And what makes it worse is that he continues to do his thing, and it annoys you more, triggering you to confront his barbaric stuff.

In this scenario, he’s either really annoying or you may just be stressed, where you tend to react at simple things in exaggerated manner. And when stress attacks you, you may not know what you really can do, since you are too irritated to care about the actions you’d do.]

Stress, as defined by Wikipedia, is “the condition that results when person-environment transactions lead the individual to perceive a discrepancy, whether real or not, between the demands of a situation and the resources of the person’s biological, psychological or social systems.” Its manifestations vary on the person’s capacity to express it. Some of them seem like everything is normal when insider, they are quite tensed and stressed, some manifest it with their appearance, while the others become bitchy about everything.

Here are some of stress manifestations:

1. You feel intensity in your body. This suggests that physical manifestations is also a way to signify that a person is in stress. Shaking, having rashes, body aches, and even having goosebumps are some of the things that may might happen when one is experiencing stress.

2. You get angry easily. It pisses you off when people talk, when problems, even the shallowest one, occur, when they have good time, when they move slowly, etc. When a person is burned out, he/she notices everything and has negative reactions to it. He/she might confront or shout at the person concerned just like the scenario mentioned above.

3. You become emotionally unstable. You feel a mixture of emotions such as anxiety, anger, doubts, and tension. When different kinds of feelings get into you, your reaction, apparently becomes unstable too.

Determining that you have depression can be a great help to solve your issues, but that won’t take away the fact that it won’t be easy in doing so. Clearly, that feeling of worthlessness might pull you down until you find yourself more depressed. It’s time to take actions – effective ways to get save you from being more psychologically crashed….. But how? Well, here are some tips….

1. Always remind yourself that you are also special. The feeling of being useless or a piece of failure has a large effect on depressed person. If your situation is similar to this, then always think yourself as someone who is also important, a person of significance – and you have to think this way - always.

2. Express your thoughts. Keeping it to yourself can only burden you more. Have a journal as a medium to release your emotions if you can’t talk to someone. Better yet, tell the person you trust about your problems. He/she might not be a big help, but the gesture you just made creates a difference.

3. Have a therapy. Undergoing a psychotherapy with the guidance of a professional is one of the best ways to heal those wounds. Since they are experts on this field, they can handle your situation with a vast knowledge about your depression, thus, helping you to do get through your healing process.

Once again, tons of tissue papers are piled in the trash can, filled with my tears. You see, I am a very emotional girl who gets deeply touched with almost everything. Show me a dead dog and I will weep like crazy. On the other hand, these days have been more emotional to me. My friend’s aunt just got coma. Visiting her with my friend made me realize what suffering looked like. No offense to my friend, but her aunt seemed quite lifeless. None of her body parts were responsive, except her head. All she can do is to make little glances and gentle moans to assure us that she’s understanding our talks.

Like me, my friend is emotional too. I know it’s really hard for her. And because I love her, I am also experiencing the same pain. God knows how poignant this can be, and I just can’t imagine what would I feel if that kind of situation struck my life. I just wish that would never happen.

Darn, even the thought of it is painful. But I realized that there are actually two things that I can call real suffering:

Losing someone you love. This is a living hell. You’d wish that it was you who’s dead, not the person you hold dearly. Nothing is as painful as staying alive without him/her by your side. Some people say that it’s okay because that person lingers in our soul. And I say that it’s nothing but a screwed up cliché to help us escape the fact that we lose something important that we will never gain.

Comatose. Clearly, my visit on my friend’s aunt influenced me on my perception about suffering. It’s a physical, psychological, mental, and emotional torture that affects both of the sick and his/her loved ones. If you had this, you’d wish you’re dead, because living in a world of corners, hospital machineries, and dextrose is a screwed up existence worse than hell. Furthermore, what would make you more hurt is seeing your loved one suffer because you are bed-ridden and idle, just waiting for Jack the Reaper to fetch you.

Since my old magazines are piled up on my desk, I decide to put them in my drawers to make my room cleaner, and also to kill time. However, while I scan the past issues of Time Magazine, my attention is caught by an issue regarding tsunami in Asia. Remembering the stories behind this tragedy, I can’t help but feel sorry for the victims. It’s a devastating occurrence that tortured those who were left behind, without their homes, without their loved ones. I remembered the time when I donated some of my old possessions. I know it can be of help, but I realize that what I did is just a matter material possession. It can help them survive a day, however it is not something that can really ease them. I know it’s the loss of the loved one that really struck them. Thinking that I wasn’t much of a help, I feel sorry for them, and worse, I pity them.

This tragedy is not the only thing that put me into a state of pitying the suffering.  In fact there are three things that really rip my heart because of pity:

1. The people in Africa…. We know how they suffer from extreme scarcity. Hunger is what kills them, leaving them with only their flesh and bones on their starving community. Angelina Jolie’s “Beyond Borders” shows the situation in Africa. I know what that film showcased is not an exaggeration, but a true depiction of its condition. It’s painful, knowing that there are people out there would be extremely joyful once they eat even a tiny piece of bread while we complain about having better than that.

1. Cyclone in India. A country that was once struck by a cyclone. It is similar to the Tsunami incident and I guess the sight of these people is heart-wrenching, as they clung to the branch of the tress so they wouldn’t get hit by the scorching wind.

1. Grave of the Fireflies. It’s a classic movie anime back in 80’s. Though it’s fiction, it perfectly portrays the condition of Japanese during World War II. This is a story of two siblings who struggled their way in order to survive from the destruction of war. I won’t go into further details but believe me, it would feel like you’d want to commit suicide after watching the film. The scenes are just poignant.

Something that impales you. Something that paralyzes you. Something that makes you stuck in the middle of nothingness. GRIEF…. I love how that sounds…. Something that I love to use in my write-ups…. Yet it is something that I never want to experience.

I have used the idea of grief in many fictions I wrote. Though they were just a creation, I can still feel the weight of it. I never experienced it, but since I have used that subject for a while, I guess I learn some stuff about it.

One of the things I learned is how to cope with it…..

1. Wallow – It’s not wrong to act childlike sometimes, crying yourself to sleep, not eating meals, locking yourself in your room. If it were your expressions of grief, then it’s okay. Some people say that it’s better to let your feelings out than to smile and let it inside for a long time. With this, the tendency is that you won’t be able to move on…..

2. Acceptance – Acceptance will be the only way to overcome grief. You lost something important…. You’re not going to take that back…. So just accept it. It can be hard to accept something you grieve about, but this is something that will make you stronger and better.

There are other things I learn about it, and I know someday, I would be the one experiencing it, not the characters I pulled from my mind. But hey, I am being optimistic, so when that comes, at least I have ideas on what to do.

It’s raining outside. The could is dark and drops of rain continue to knock on my roof. It’s just like this moment when I first moved from our home. It’s really bittersweet, knowing that I’d miss my family very much, but there were new adventures that would be waiting ahead. I remembered how I cried myself to sleep because I missed those times when I kissed my parents goodnight and when my little brothers sneaked in our refrigerator for late night snacks. But I had to deal with it, otherwise I wouldn’t be as independent as I am today. And since this day reminds me of the times when I experience homesickness, I decide to write something about it.

For those of you that have plans to leave you home, well, let me warn you that it’s not as easy as it sounds. It’ll be harder when you are a family person like me. But it’s not like forever that you will stay in your home. And one day, you’ll leave it for different purpose like marriage and job concerns. So, before you find a new dwelling place, here are some of my tips that you can keep inside your luggage to prepare you for what lies ahead…..

1. Entertain yourself. This is why I strongly recommend you to bring your source of entertainment when you leave. Bring DVDs, CDs, books, journals, sketch pad, and other things that can entertain you. When you are feeling lonely, you have to focus on other things and keep yourself busy.

1. Reminisce. For some, it hurts to reminisce your family bonding because they will feel their absence more. But for me, it can still ease your homesickness while you remember how your father plays a joke, how your mother prepares your things, and how your siblings play games. They may not be around, but at least your memories with them are not absent.

1. Communicate. With the progressing technology the world is establishing, a fast and convenient communication is just one step away. You can talk through phone, cell phone, send e-mails and text messages and even chat. By telling them your condition, they will no longer be worried about you. Besides, you can still feel their company while you communicate with them.

Since I already experienced the weight of homesickness, you can say that my tips are credible. These are the things that help me survive it until I finally accepted that things like this have to happen. Besides, your family will always be there for you, so they are not really leaving you. It just happens that you have to move to your new residence. ^_^