Therapist Unlimited Blog

Avoidant Personality Disorder is defined as the long-standing and complex pattern of feelings of inadequacy, extreme sensitivity to what other people think about them, and social inhibition.

It typically manifests itself by early adulthood and is associated with perceived or actual rejection by parents or peers during childhood.

Whether the feeling of rejection is due to the extreme interpersonal monitoring attributed to people with the disorder is still disputed.

Persons suffering from this type of personality disorder are usually loners and report feeling a sense of alienation from society.

Common Symptoms

A.  Avoids occupational activities that involve significant interpersonal contact, because of fears of criticism, disapproval, or rejection.

B.  Unwilling to get involved with people unless certain of being liked.

C. Shows restraint within intimate relationships because of the fear of being shamed or ridiculed.

D. Preoccupied with being criticized or rejected in social situations.

E. Inhibited new interpersonal situations because of feelings of inadequacy.

F. Views self as socially inept, personally unappealing, or inferior to others.

G. Unusually reluctant to take personal risks or to engage in any new activities because they may prove embarrassing.

 Persons who are usually a loner or someone who love to be alone are probably suffering from Avoidant Personality Disorder.

Treatment

It is said that 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, the treatment of choice is psychotherapy. While individual therapy is usually the preferred modality, group therapy can be useful if the client can agree to attend enough sessions.

 Because of the basic components of this disorder, though, it is often difficult to have the individual attend group therapy early on in the therapeutic process.

It is a modality to consider as the patient approaches termination of individual treatment, if additional therapy seems necessary and beneficial to the client.

Individuals who suffer from this disorder typically have poor self-esteem and issues surrounding any type of social interactions.

They often see only the negative in life and have difficulty in looking at situations and interactions in an objective manner.

This can also interfere with their self-report when they present for an initial evaluation, which can lead to important life history and medical information being missed (because the patient deems it and him or herself too unimportant to bother).

It is necessary to take a more detailed evaluation than usual, while doing so in a relatively unobtrusive fashion.

The clinician should be sensitive to nonverbal cues of the client during this session, to evaluate when information is being withheld.

This is essential to making a differential diagnosis with similar-looking but vitally different disorders, such as someone who suffers from schizoid or borderline personality disorder.

As with other personality disorders, the individual is not likely to present him or herself to therapy unless something has gone wrong in their life with which their dysfunctional personality style cannot adequately cope.

As with other personality disorders, psychotherapy is usually most effective when it is relatively short-term and oriented toward finding solutions to specific life problems.

While self-esteem issues will undoubtedly present themselves in treatment, serious self-enhancement is unlikely.

 The negative self-valuation is a life-long, pervasive cognition not conducive to regular methods of increasing one’s self-esteem.

As with all therapy, a solid therapeutic relationship founded with good rapport and listening to the client is important to the therapist’s effectiveness.

 The therapeutic relationship in itself is used as a place where the client learns how to feel comfortable and safe in other social relationships. Forming initial rapport is likely to be more difficult with someone who has this disorder, since early termination is often an issue. Once rapport is formed, though, therapy is usually quite stable, unless issues are brought up that are extremely difficult for the client to deal with. Therefore, the clinician in exploring new material during the session should use care.

Termination of therapy is an important issue as well because a successful ending to therapy and the therapeutic relationship reinforces the possibility of new relationships.

Medications

As with all personality disorders medications should only be prescribed for specific and acute Axis I diagnoses or problems suffered by the individual.

Anti-anxiety agents and antidepressants should be prescribed only when there is a clear Axis I diagnosis in conjunction with the personality disorder.

Physicians should resist the temptation to over-prescribe to someone with this disorder, because they often present with complaints of anxiety in social situations or a feeling of disconnectedness with their feelings.

The anxiety in this instance is clearly situationally related and medication may actually interfere with effective psychotherapeutic treatment.

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 avoid attending such sessions, due to increased anxiety and difficulty interacting socially.

However, learning relaxation and stress management techniques, especially stress inoculation techniques would be helpful for someone with Avoidant personality disorder.

 By learning relaxation and other stress reducing tools, the person is more able to cope during times of stress and manage one’s own anxiety levels.

Source: http://www.mentalhelp.net

What is Nicotine and how is it used?

Nicotine is the stimulant found in tobacco products, and can be smoked in cigarettes and pipes, or chewed. It is highly addictive and can cause long term damage to the user, sometimes resulting in death. Why people begin to abuse Nicotine. Many people will begin to abuse nicotine in their early teens, and most will not stop until they are much older, if they are able to stop at all. Unfortunately this drug is often seen as a social drug, and the effects of the drug abuse are not thought about. Young teens will often begin to smoke and abuse nicotine due to peer pressure. The effects of the drug Nicotine Nicotine in tobacco produces a stimulation effect when a person first begins smoking it. This continues until the drug user it addicted. When addicted, the drug user will have to take in more nicotine to fend off the feelings of irritability and anxiety that can occur when the drug is stopped. Rather than taking the drug nicotine for its stimulating effect, the user now has to take it to feel ‘normal’. Nicotine now goes from being a drug that stimulates, to one that relaxes the user. How the drug Nicotine harms the user. Nicotine harms the drug user in a variety of ways. It can increase blood pressure, and in some cases, the heart rate can be raised up to 40 per cent. There is also the risks that taking nicotine in tobacco brings with it. The tar that tobacco produces releases chemicals known to cause cancer into the bloodstream. These increase the risk of the user contracting lung cancer, which in many cases can lead to death. Smokers who obtain nicotine in this way also run the increased risk of suffering from emphysema and other bronchial conditions. Nicotine can also harm people who do not abuse the drug. Smoking in a public place can cause second hand smoke to enter the bloodstream of others. This has been found to have a detrimental effect, with some developing the same health conditions as smokers. Fortunately there is an easy to administer drug test that can detect if someone is abusing nicotine. The Nicotine Screen-Cassette is easy to use and if used as part of a program designed to help a user give up nicotine, this can be helpful and beneficial to the user, by ensuring that regular checks can monitor their progress. A simple drug kit to test for nicotine can also be helpful for people who may be worried that they are suffering the consequences of second hand smoke from nicotine abusers close to them.

What is the drug ecstasy and how is it used? 

In its purest form, the drug ecstasy is a crystalline white powder. However, the drug ecstasy that is most often sold on the street and is the most common is sold in tablet form. These tablets will often be sold in a variety of colors, and may even have pictures on them. The drug ecstasy is usually swallowed (although it can be smoked). The effects of the drug ecstasy. The effects of the drug ecstasy are that the person who uses this drug will suddenly have a lot of energy. They will appear to be very alert, and may become very talkative and chatty to people they do not know. They will embrace strangers as friends. The drug ecstasy is often thought of as a social drug. Abusers of the drug ecstasy will often take it when they are having a night out. It has become part of the clubbing scene in many places and many people do not realize that it can be harmful to them. Because of this, it is important to drug test people close to you who you think may be abusing this drug. If they are exhibiting signs of the effects of the drug ecstasy and you want to test them for this drug, then it is possible to purchases drug testing kits. The harmful effects of abusing the drug ecstasy are that the person using the drug may be impatient and take two tablets for an added high, thus the effects are doubled. The persons heart rate will increase and they may experience panic attacks and confusion when they are coming down after the high. Ecstasy effects the body temperature, and there is a real danger of a person who abuses ecstasy overheating. They will often take in more water to compensate for this, and then there is a danger of the person ‘drowning’ as the body cannot cope. Taking ecstasy for prolonged periods of time has been linked with liver, kidney and heart problems. Purchasing drug testing kits is easy and discreet, and drug testing for ecstasy is easy and reliable.

What is benzo addiction and how is the drug taken?

Benzo is the commonly known abbreviation for the drug group known as benzodiazepines. These groups of drugs are tranquilizers, and the most commonly known ones of these are Valium and Xanex. They are legally available on prescription from medical practitioners, and they are commonly used to treat anxiety in patients. Benzo’s usually come in table form and are taken orally. When Benzo’s are being abused by drug abusers, they are typically used as a means of coming down from a high caused by another drug such as ecstasy, and therefore they are often seen as a social drug, forming part of a clubbing scene in some area. The effects of benzo’s (valium and xanex). The effects of benzo drugs will be the same as those of a sedative. Benzo drugs depress the nervous system and slow the body down. They also relieve any feelings of anxiety and tension in the person, and may promote a feeling of relaxation and general well being. Testing for Valium and xanex abuse is easy and reliable using a drug testing kit. The harmful effects of benzo drug abuse are that these drugs can be highly addictive. This is because of the nature of the effects. The abuser will feel pleasant and detached from their daily life and problems when they are taking it. Taking benzo drugs with alcohol is highly dangerous and may lead to an overdose. There are also unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when a person suddenly stops taking Valium or xanex. Another harmful effect of people abusing benzo drugs is that they or others can come to harm when taking them. Benzo drugs can cause confusion and acts as a sedative. This means that a person taking them does not always know what is going on around them. They could be robbed or attacked and not be able to defend themselves. There is also concern about benzo drugs being used in sex crimes, where a person will spike another’s drink with the drug. Testing for benzo drugs is possible using a drug testing kit which can be purchased easily, quickly and discreetly over the Internet.

There are a lot of reasons why people engage in psychotherapy. The most common reason for this is extreme depression. While it is true that every person encounters different problems of their own, there are people who are having difficulties handling the problems that hound them. This just means that from time to time, there are people who would be needing professional help to get them back on the right track.

There are a couple of formats that psychotherapists follow and a patient has the right to choose which one may possibly be the best choice.

Individual Therapy is a type of therapy wherein there is a one-on-one conversation between the patient and the therapist. This allows the patient to have the full attention of the therapist but it does not allow the therapist to assess the patient based on his social or family relationships.

Family therapy is a type of therapy that involves the family as a group.

Group therapy involves around 3- 15 patients. It gives the patients the opportunity to receive support from people with particular issues. The good thing about this type of therapy is that it may be less expensive and it gives the patients the feeling of belongingness.

Couple’s Therapy is geared towards the betterment of married couples or those who are in a significant other type of relationship who wants to improve their relationship and functioning as a couple.

It isn’t like the famous belief that pre-marital sex, especially among teenagers are caused by drugs and other negative factors putting them into situation. Or perhaps, it may bring them into illegal habits after performing an intimate act with their partner. But guess what, this infamous idea can be false since there is a solid study done to prove this wrong.

Lead researcher Kathryn Paige Hayden, a Ph.D candidate of clinical psychology from University of Virginia finds out that teenagers who have sex during their adolescence are more likely avoid delinquency at their early adulthood.

534 same-sex twin pairs of 1994 and 2002 were observed and from there, a result stating that teenagers who have undergone teenage sex can more easily have nurture socialization, is established.

To know about this research, go to:

http://www.dentalplans.com/articles/28509/

Hospitals may be the best place to keep your seniors healthy – doctors who will keep their conditions checked, nurses who will attend to their needs, and well-balanced diet. On the other hand, despite this well-observed treatment, seniors may prefer to just stay at home and have a seat in their backyard than to constantly check their physical state within the walls of the senior community.

Seniors don’t need a place where they will feel that they are always being observed. Of course, they still want to move freely without someone looking after them. They want to be in some place which they can call a home – the place where they can do want they want and spend their time with fun. On Lok Senior Health Services is one of those communities that keep the old folks into moving with smile on their faces.

Some of the seniors find a home here with their fellow seniors being nursed in their new haven. Social services are given to them, aside from other activities that provide them joy and socialization. And because their health is a precious concern among health professionals, their physical condition will be attended with medical care, visits from a therapist, and nursing supervision.

Read an article about this in:

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/68672.php