In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is paranoid personality disorder. Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) falls within the DSM-5‘s cluster A (odd/eccentric) personality disorders. People with PPD are distrustful and assume that others have negative intentions toward them. This pattern of suspiciousness is pervasive and …
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is borderline personality disorder. I’ve contemplated writing this post for a while, but I was somewhat reluctant because there are quite a few bloggers out there with borderline personality disorder (BPD), who can certainly tell it a lot better …
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is avoidant personality disorder. Avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) falls within the DSM-5‘s cluster C of anxious/fearful personality disorders. It’s characterized by intense feelings of inadequacy and fear of social rejection, and avoidance is relied upon as a coping …
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is shy bladder syndrome, also known as paruresis. Shy bladder syndrome, or paruresis, involves difficulty urinating in public settings due to fear of perceived scrutiny when others are present or anticipated to be present soon. It actually falls …
Reading Our Minds by Daniel Barron, a psychiatrist and pain management fellow, explores the incorporation of Big Data to improve the practice of psychiatry. The idea of supporting psychiatric assessment with solid data is an appealing one, but many questions come to mind. I was surprised by an apparent blind spot of the author’s that …
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week we’re doing a 2-for-1 looking at schizoid and schizotypal personality disorder. Both schizoid and schizotypal personality disorders fall within the DSM-5‘s cluster A, which is the odd/eccentric cluster. Despite the similarities in names (it took me a long time …
What Is… Schizoid & Schizotypal Personality Disorders Read More »
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is dependent personality disorder. Dependent personality disorder (DPD) falls within cluster C, the anxious/avoidant personality disorders, in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). People with DPD believe they’re unable to care for themselves, and they …
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is histrionic personality disorder. Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) falls within the DSM-5‘s cluster B of dramatic/emotional/erratic personality disorders. The primary characteristic is a pathological level of need for attention. People with this disorder are often charming and enthusiastic, …
Nobody’s Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness is written by Roy Richard Grinker, an anthropology professor at The George Washington University. Autism and cross-cultural psychiatry are listed as areas of expertise on his faculty page. He’s the father of an autistic daughter, who he refers to a number of times throughout the …
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is double depression. This post uses a lot of abbreviations, which are summarized down at the bottom of this post. The term double depression is sometimes used to describe the state when two types of depression (major depressive …
