disorder

The spectrum of Mental Health disorders is incredibly vast; we showcase the multitude of conditions that affect mood, thinking and behavior.

Interviews with a Big Black Broad: Session #1
Interviewer: When were you diagnosed with BDD? BBB: I was twenty-eight years old. Only after suffering several bouts of debilitating depression did I succumb to the idea of being honest about the cause. I had no other choice. My depressive episodes where becoming a little manic. Scary. Unpredictable. Unacceptable. I saw several therapists for a few years up until that point. Honestly, I didn’t trust that any of them would understand if I were honest with them about what my problem really was. They would never be able to conceive of it. You see, I had mentioned my issues with self-image to a few people I knew, and they all laughed at me. They were used to me saying awful things about myself since I was a kid. They couldn’t fathom what it really meant. Neither could I. So, I told a forth therapist that I’d seen two weeks after my twenty-eighth birthday what I felt about myself, and he asked me if I knew what Body Dysmorphic Disorder was. I shook my head and told him that I was never an anorexic, bulimic, that I would never sit and stare at myself in any reflective surface for any longer than I had to. That I was too scared to go under the knife for plastic surgery because I was afraid I’d never be able to stop. I shook my head “no” at him when he suggested that this was my problem. Any other reason? He asked. “I’m Black.” I said without hesitation, “Black people don’t suffer from body dysmorphia.”
By Anarda Nashai7 years ago in Psyche
Dating Someone with Severe OCD
Like many of you, I had no idea what OCD really entailed until I started dating Lucy. In the beginning, I was oblivious, completely so. Years of friendship had not been enough for her to disclose the thing she was so utterly ashamed of. And now, having been with her a year, I understand.
By James Waters7 years ago in Psyche
My Headmates and Other Things
I have a few headmates. I have named them and personified them in hopes that it will satiate them, make them leave. They didn't. So here is a list of them.
By steriotypical Outlaw7 years ago in Psyche
Sleep Hallucinations
Imagine lying in bed next to your partner, deep within the blissful realm of your mind, allowing your body the rest it so desperately craves. The room is pretty quiet. There's nothing else to be heard besides the fan you use as a white noise to help you sleep. Everything seems to be going so swell when BOOM! Suddenly you are staring at a person in the corner of the room, a girl with long dark hair. She starts moving towards you using a speed far more superior than human speed. You need to get away from her as fast as possible so you dive on top of your partner, the direction furthest away from her. Your partner wakes up and has no idea what just happened. You blink a few times and look over and realize there's nothing there.
By Holly Anne7 years ago in Psyche
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Oppositional Defiant Disorder, otherwise known as ODD, sounds extremely scary. I was scared when those words came out of the psychologist’s mouth during my 3-year-old son’s evaluation. The one thing I kept thinking about was a character on Degrassi named Hunter Hollingsworth who went to a psychiatric center for ODD. Visions of horrible things kept coming into my head. Will my son shoot up a school? Is my son going to become a criminal? Will I have to send him to a psychiatric center? After I left the psychologist appointment I decided to do my own research which helped me calm down. I’m going to answer some basic questions for you so that if you or someone you love is diagnosed with ODD you can better understand it and hopefully lessen your fears.
By CinKay7 years ago in Psyche
I'm Not Crazy
Mental illness. A label I never thought I'd carry. But I do, and that label doesn't define who I am. My depression, anxiety, and insomnia are just another part of me. Please don't ever call me crazy because I'm not. I have my good days and bad just like you, except my bad days result in me sleeping more often than usual, being very moody, easily agitated, messy room that piles up for days while I'm in a funk, and strangely gets cleaned when I'm triggered and am in a rage of anger. I noticed I was having symptoms of depression shortly after I started high school. Then my high school days started to take a toll on me. First, it started with new teachers, more homework than I had last year in the eighth grade. Then it escalated to stress from friendship issues to completing projects for my drama, music, and photography classes on time. Lastly, it was stress overload from trying to graduate and my boyfriend at the time. One chilly day after school at the end of my first semester in my senior year I just snapped. I ran to my bathroom, pulled out scissors from the first aid box and cried a bit as I put the scissor blade near my arm. I can't do it. My mom will be very angry, but I have to do it. I'm overly stressed and hurt by all that my boyfriend has done to me thus far, from cheating on me four times to lying to me to yelling at me. My thoughts kept racing, I wanted the thoughts to stop, so to make them shut up I took a slice at my arm. I felt relieved, the "high" I got was phenomenal. I cleaned up my arm with the good old makeup trick. I did this about four more times. May of twenty fourteen comes around and I find out I'm pregnant with my boyfriends' kid. I immediately go into mother mode and no longer cut. But then the anxiety of all the challenges I'd face ahead kicked in. Few short months later in November, I gave birth to my daughter. She made me happy. Gave me a purpose in this world. However, my "boyfriend," also her father, was still in and out of the picture. He ran away from us quite a bit when I was pregnant with her and after I gave birth to her. By this time now insomnia tagged along with the anxiety. I was up until the wee hours of the morning. My boyfriend was very controlling of me and my daughter. He was also a well-known liar, manipulative, controlling, and mentally abusive. A classic narcissist. His behavior towards me and my daughter really amplified my anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Three and a half years later he's out of our lives but my mental illnesses are stuck with me, and they are worse than ever. My ex left so many wounds in my heart and did damage to my head and soul. I view my mental illnesses as big demons that are always at war in my head. Depression is when you just let things go, and don't really care about things. Anxiety is when you care way too much about everything. Having both is like hell. My depression demon will leave me so depressed at times all I can do is sleep. My room will accumulate clutter. I am also moodier when in a funk, but yet if I get angry I'll obsessively clean. Vacuuming, cleaning the windows, organizing my daughter's toys and clothes. I no longer cut, I clean like crazy rather than cut. As for my anxiety demon, it has two demon friends that tag along, insomnia and my new diagnosis, body-focused repetitive behavior disorder. My mind is always racing; it never rests, thinking if I said the right things to people that day. Did I say anything to offend them? If the anxiety is really bad that day or that week I go into anxiety attacks. Hands tingle, heart tightens and races, pacing the room, lots of pacing, and shaky. Then my body focused repetitive behavior comes into play. I start picking away at the skin on the nail bed till my fingers are raw and bleeding. Also picking off my nails. I'll do this when my anxiety is bad, or even absentmindedly while watching the television, or putting down a book I'm reading to pick to get that relief. Because of all the open sores on my fingers, I have to wear band-aids just to peel an orange because if the acid gets on an open cut that stings. Those hangnails on my fingers are always there and never go away. Telling me to stop picking, or making comments that my nails are gross, hurts me. I'm working on controlling my urges to pick just give me time to heal. I've been picking for about three plus years, undiagnosed till my therapist told me I have all these issues. I've been seeing her since I first cut years ago. She's a great asset to the healing process of my broken past and mental illnesses, though I know I'm the one that has to really do most of the fending off demons on my own. I struggle every day and celebrate good days and small victories. Like today, for example, I was cutting an apple for my daughter's lunch. I didn't have to wear band-aids on my finger since I fought off my urges to pick the night before. I was proud of myself and she was proud of me; she exclaimed: "wow Mama, no ouchies, good job!" For those suffering from mental illnesses, you are stronger than you think. We must fight to go to work, care for our families, and be there for our friends, all while acting 'normal' when we are battling unimaginable pain. All that you are is enough. I love my beautiful, broken brain.
By Tess Q8 years ago in Psyche
Week Log of Living with BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder)
In this post, I will be letting you in on my feelings on a day-to-day basis. Not many people know that I have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Day-to-day life is a struggle, but I have lived with this for so long, I am finally able to speak about it.
By Lauren Rose8 years ago in Psyche
A Brief Summary on Misophonia
Google definition: Select sound sensitivity syndrome, sound-rage. People who are sensitive to certain sounds sometimes cope by blocking them out. Misophonia, literally "hatred of sound," was proposed in 2000 as a condition in which negative emotions, thoughts, and physical reactions are triggered by specific sounds.
By Alex8 years ago in Psyche
What I Know About Insomnia
What everyone knows about insomnia is that it means you can’t sleep. So people see something like a Lunesta commercial and think, “Oh sometimes I have trouble sleeping. I must be an insomniac.” People think insomnia is lying in bed feeling wide awake, like you have too much energy. That’s what it is. You have too much energy, so you just need to do something like exercise or take a bath or have a bowl of cereal at 2 AM. Your body and brain are clearly not in sync, that’s what it is.
By Andie Pabon8 years ago in Psyche
Pedophilia and the Brain
Can we prevent pedophilia or rehabilitate people who have pedophilic behavior? Studies have shown that differences in a person's brain can have an effect on their sexual behavior. Do these differences in the brain (that we are not in control of) account for someone being a pedophile, or is there an aspect of voluntary will towards being attracted towards children? There is more research that needs to be done to determine if it is possible to prevent pedophilia and rehabilitate, rather than punish pedophiles, for something they might not even be in control of.
By Sam Bridge8 years ago in Psyche
Do You Have OCD?
I joke with my friends and family about "My OCD" trait, so I wanted to take a good look at this pesky trait and find out what I could about this so-called disorder that may plague me sometimes and many other people.
By Carolann Sherwood8 years ago in Psyche
Living with OCD—It Is Not About Being Clean
I started a new job a couple of weeks ago, and already two of my new colleagues have told me they “are” OCD. One of them "is" OCD when it comes to his shoes; he likes buying expensive, quality trainers and keeping them clean. The other "is" OCD when it comes to being early; he likes to arrive to everything whether it’s work, appointments, social events, about an hour early. He thinks tardiness is extremely rude and can’t stand people who don’t care enough to be on time.
By Kat Jay8 years ago in Psyche