While some sources of trauma are time-limited, others occur repeatedly over prolonged periods of time. The term complex PTSD is used to capture the profound psychological harm these people exposed to the latter have experienced, including changes in self-concept, problems with emotional regulation, distorted perceptions of the perpetrator, and impaired relationships with others. Diagnostic systems […]
Why Isn’t Complex PTSD in the DSM–5? Read More »
Content warning: This post talks openly about suicide and suicide attempts, in the context of exploring my own thoughts about suicide. It’s National Suicide Prevention Week, so it seems like an appropriate time to talk about suicide in all its ugliness. I have attempted suicide multiple times; most were associated with my first episode of
Up Close & Personal Thoughts About Suicide Read More »
Sleep—it’s so important to have, yet sometimes so hard to get. Mental illness can make getting a good night’s sleep particularly difficult. Whether it’s depression, where you’re exhausted but can’t sleep, or mania, where you have too much energy to feel the need for sleep, insomnia is something that spans across diagnoses. A key non-medication
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) Read More »
Wouldn’t it be nice if the treatment of depression was simple? Unfortunately, there’s nothing simple about depression treatment in the real world. Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) refers to depression that hasn’t responded to trials of adequate duration and dosage of at least two antidepressants. When determining whether the illness is treatment-resistant, it’s important to consider whether
Options for Managing Treatment-Resistant Depression Read More »
In Untangled: A Story of Resilience, Courage, and Triumph, Alexis Rose offers raw, forthright descriptions of the repeated abuse she experienced in childhood and into adulthood. I would caution anyone who has experienced abuse themselves to carefully evaluate whether they are far enough along in their own healing to feel safe while reading this kind
Book Review: Untangled Read More »
Some studies have shown that the quality of the therapeutic relationship between client and therapist is a stronger predictor of therapeutic outcomes than the type of therapy used. However, it seems logical that the type of therapy should at least to some extent match up with how you tend to conceptualize the problems you’re experiencing.
Psychotherapy Alphabet Soup: CBT, DBT, ACT, and More Read More »
If you have a mental illness and have a paid job or volunteer gig, chances are that, at some point, you’ll be faced with the question of whether to disclose your mental illness at work, and if so, how much to disclose. Yes, there may be laws in place to keep employers from discriminating against
Disclosing Mental Illness at Work: The Good and Bad Read More »
Mental illness is a health issue, not a criminal one, but the police role in mental health crises can end up blurring that line. In some places, people struggling with their mental health are routinely handcuffed to be taken to hospital by police. How is that appropriate? It seems like a practice that accomplishes little
Should People in Mental Health Crisis Be Handcuffed? Read More »
An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison is an intimate look into the havoc that bipolar disorder can wreak. The book captures her journey with bipolar, from its emergence in her late teens to its effects on her accomplished career as a clinical psychologist and university professor. The book contains rich descriptions, and it’s searingly
Book Review: An Unquiet Mind Read More »
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychological terms. This week’s terms are shame and guilt. Guilt and shame are sometimes used synonymously, but they’re actually two distinct constructs that focus on different things being bad or wrong. Both are social emotions in that they arise from the way we
What Is… Shame vs. Guilt Read More »
