“The Queen is controlling, the Witch is sadistic, the Hermit is fearful, and the Waif is helpless”. Christine Ann Lawson, Understanding the Borderline Mother For those of us who grew up with mothers who suffered from borderline personality disorder (BPD), our childhoods were often painful and anguished. We found ourselves living in …
4 Types Of Borderline Mother : Witch, Hermit, Waif And Queen. Read More »
– lies spontaneously/impulsively – lies even though he may receive no benefit whatsoever from the lie (indeed, many lies s/he tells will be self-damaging) – has little or no control over his/her lying behavior Roots Of Pathological Lying (Originally Called Pseudologia Phantastica) In Childhood: Research has demonstrated that an individual is more likely to become …
Pathological Lying : Its Link To Childhood Trauma Read More »
In the 1940s, at the request of the Office of Strategic Services, a former incarnation of the Criminal Intelligence Agency (CIA), a psychiatrist by the name of Walter Langer produced a psychological profile of Hitler, including details about his childhood. Below, I summarize the most salient findings. Adolf Hitler’s father was described as frequently intoxicated, …
What Were The Effects Of Adolf Hitler’s Childhood And Did He Have BPD? Read More »
We have already seen, in other posts that I have published on this site, that significant and protracted childhood trauma can put the individual who suffers it at higher risk of developing various psychiatric problems later on in life, including obsessive-compulsive disorder. In this particular article, however, I will concentrate upon a variant of obsessive-compulsive …
Relationship Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (ROCD) Read More »
Having parents who treat us in a passive-aggressive manner can have an extremely adverse effect upon our mental health; indeed, Scott Wetzler PhD, an expert in these matters, based at Montefiore Medical Center, has said, quite unequivocally, that being on the receiving end of passive-aggressive behaviour can lead to the victim feeling as if …
Effects Of Passive-Aggressive Parents On The Child Read More »
The possible effects of childhood trauma on children under the age of six years are extensive and can be divided into three main categories. These three categories are as follows : BEHAVIOURAL EFFECTS COGNITIVE EFFECTS (i.e. effects on thinking and conscious mental processes) PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS (i.e. effects on physical health and biological processes) Below, I …
What Are The Effects Of Trauma On Young Children (0-6 Years)? Read More »
For example, an eleven-year-old child who was abandoned by his/her primary carer at age four may throw tantrums similar to those one might expect of a four-year-old when left with an unfamiliar babysitter. In other words, he may regress behaviorally to the developmental stage at which s/he became frozen. Such regressive …
Child Trauma, Arrested Psychological Development and Age Regression Read More »
According to DeYoung, author of the excellent book : ‘Understanding and Treating Chronic Shame : A Relational / Neurobiological Approach‘, the experience of shame comes about as a result of dysfunctional relationships with other people (in particular, of course, with our parents when we are growing up) who are of emotional importance to us as …
Feelings Of Shame Caused By Emotionally Distant Parents Read More »
‘Bottling Up’ Emotions: It is often said that it is psychologically unhealthy to ‘bottle up’ (suppress) feelings connected to trauma, loss and grief. But what does the research tell us? Bowlby’s Position : Bowlby’s (1980) work on the effects of suppression (he mainly focused on the suppression of grief) of such feelings proposes that grief …
Health Effects Of ‘Bottling Up’ Feelings Related To Trauma Read More »
How Does Dysthymia Differ From Major Depression? Children who experience significant and protracted trauma and/or stress during childhood are at increased risk of developing a condition known as dysthymia, which is sometimes described as a less severe/dramatic version of major depression. Because its symptoms tend not to be as obvious as those of major …
Trauma And Persistent ‘Low Mood’ (Dysthymia) In Children Read More »
Stith’s (2009) Meta-Analysis : A study carried out by Stith et al. (2009) reviewed 155 other studies (this is called a meta-analysis) that had already been carried out in order to identify factors that put the child at risk of physical abuse by his/her parents. In order to identify these factors, one part of …
What Types Of Parents Are More Likely To Physically Abuse Their Children? Read More »
One of the main hallmarks of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is the pronounced tendency of those who suffer from it to display marked rigidity in relation to both their thought processes and behaviours. This means that, when events occur, the way in which the BPD sufferer interprets them tend to be habitual and fixed and …
Why BPD Sufferers Find It Hard To Change : BPD And Rigid Thinking Read More »
Parental Maltreatment Of Children : Except in very extreme cases, such as severe physical abuse, the vast majority of parental mistreatment of children not only goes unreported, but is unacknowledged and, essentially, ignored (although this situation is gradually improving as people become more educated about the potentially devastating effects of bad parenting). Emotional Abuse …
Vast Majority Of Parental Maltreatment Of Children Unacknowledged Read More »
Above image: Creative Commons Licence Problems Relating To The Diagnosis Of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): In order to be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) an individual must suffer from AT LEAST FIVE SYMPTOMS out of a total of NINE listed in the DSM V (The Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition). …
The Study: A Mouse Model Of Early-Life Stress : This experiment was conducted to look at the effects on mice of early-life stress. It involved separating baby mice from their mothers for three hours per day for each of the first ten days of their lives. Results Of The Study : It was found that the …
Early-Life Separation From Mother : What Experiments On Mice Tell Us. Read More »
What Does ‘Diathesis’ Mean? The medical definition of ‘diathesis’ is ‘a hereditary or constitutional predisposition to a disease or other disorder.‘ (The word ‘diathesis’ itself derives from the Greek word for ‘disposition). What Is The Diathesis-Stress Model? The diathesis-stress model is a psychological theory that proposes that a psychiatric disorder is caused not by hereditary …
Explaining BPD In Terms Of The Diathesis-Stress Model Read More »
The Link Between Childhood Trauma, Psychopathology And Sexual Orientation Childhood Trauma And Sexual Orientation : A study, based on statistics and information derived from the National Longitudinal Study Of Adolescent Health (2001-2002) examined the link between sexual orientation and history of childhood maltreatment. This research involved analysis relating to 13,962 participants that comprised young people …
The Link Between Childhood Trauma, Psychopathology And Sexual Orientation Read More »
My Own Experience Of Blogging : I started this blog about eight years ago as I believed it would help in my recovery – it has certainly done so. It has introduced some structure into my life and has had a cathartic effect. Most importantly, it has helped me understand my past feelings and behaviors …
Writing To Heal: Start Your Own Mental Health Blog Read More »
When parents who separate feel extremely bitter, hostile, or, even, vengeful towards one another, it is a sad fact that some use their own children as pawns, or weapons, in an attempt to hurt and punish one another (or, of course, just one parent may act in this way). When this occurs, the distress …
Divorce: Signs Children Are Being Used As Pawns Or Weapons Read More »
The Trauma Model Of Mental Disorders : According to the trauma model of mental disorders (also sometimes referred to as the trauma model of psychopathology), many professionals involved with the treatment of psychiatric disorders (such as psychiatrists) have been excessively preoccupied with the medical model of mental disorders (the medical model stresses the importance …
What Is ‘The Trauma Model’ Of Mental Disorders And Psychopathology? Read More »
