Diagnoses
Mental health conditions characterized by periodic, intense emotional states affecting a person's mood, energy, and ability to function. These periods, lasting from days to weeks, are called mood episodes. Mood episodes are categorized as manic/hypomanic episodes when the predominant mood is intensely happy or irritable, or depressive episodes, when there is an intensely sad mood or the ability to experience joy or pleasure disappears.
Bipolar Disorders
Have a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents).
Be preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
Believe that they are “special” and can only be understood by other special or high-status people.
Require excessive admiration.
Have a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment).
Take advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends.
Lack empathy: or is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of them.
Show arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
These are not meant to keep others out as much as they are meant to keep us in. That is true because when others are violating our space in some kind of way, it also means that we have not been able to define where they stop and we begin in some kind of way.
Boundaries
An often-debilitating anxiety disorder, marked by intrusive, disturbing thoughts (obsessions), and repetitive, counterproductive behaviors (compulsions) aimed solely at ridding oneself of the disturbing thoughts.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder/OCD
A physiological response of fight/flight or freeze, a response similar to the circumstances of the original distressing event. Some flashbacks are visual, as well as auditory and physical, so the person will see, hear, and feel the past abuse experience as if it was happening in the present. Sometimes the memories last a few seconds, sometimes minutes, and for some people who who have severe PTSD, flashbacks can last more than an hour.
Triggers
A chronic brain disorder that affects about one percent of the population. When it is active, symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, trouble with thinking and lack of motivation. However, with treatment, most symptoms will greatly improve and the likelihood of a recurrence can be diminished.
Schizophrenia
Decreased need for sleep (e.g., feeling energetic despite significantly less sleep than usual.
Increased or faster speech.
Uncontrollable racing thoughts or quickly changing ideas or topics when speaking.
Distractibility.
Increased activity (e.g., restlessness, working on several projects at once).
Increased risky or impulsive behavior (e.g., reckless driving, spending sprees, sexual promiscuity).
Manic Episodes
An emotional attachment that can form in an abusive relationship, specifically the connection the victim feels toward the perpetrator. It is characterized by cycles of negative reinforcement interspersed with occasional bursts of positive reinforcement; this so-called intermittent reinforcement makes it very difficult to leave an abusive relationship. But with support, healing is always possible.
Trauma Bond
A challenging mental health condition that is characterized by a collection of symptoms, including emotional dysregulation, fear of abandonment, self-harm, impulsivity, unstable moods, unstable relationships, and an unstable self-image.
Borderline Personality Disorder/BPD
A dramatically abrupt burst of acute anxiety that feels life-threatening but is not. They build into a crescendo of fear within minutes, but what they lack in duration they make up in distress. The body sensations of anxiety become extremely intense—pounding heart, racing pulse, the feeling of difficulty getting enough air—making it feel as if you are about to die. That interpretation is mistaken, but it nevertheless triggers even more anxiety.
Panic Attack
A rare condition in which two or more distinct identities, or personality states, are present in—and alternately take control of—an individual. Some people describe this as an experience of possession. The person also experiences memory loss that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.
DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder)
Feeling severed or alienated from your body. People experiencing this often report not recognizing themselves in a mirror, feeling like their body is not their own, or even being temporarily unable to talk. It’s the ultimate “out of body” experience. For many, there’s a sense of emotional numbing as well—feeling “meh” about things that should be emotionally intense.
Depersonalization
A dysfunctional relationship dynamic in which one person assumes the role of “the giver,” sacrificing their own needs and well-being for the sake of the other, “the taker.” The bond in question is not necessarily romantic; though the term is often used to describe couples, the same dynamic can occur just as easily between parent and child, friends, and family members.
Codependency
A continuing patter of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, occurring since age 15, with three (or more) of the following:
Failure to confirm to laws and social norms (repeatedly breaking laws).
Deceitfulness (repeated lying or conning others for personal profit or pleasure).
Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.
Irritability and aggressiveness (repeated physical fights or assaults).
Reckless disregard for safety of self or others.
Consistent irresponsibility (repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations).
Lack of remorse (being indifferent to having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another).
Antisocial Personality Disorder/Sociopath
Commonly misused to describe a "loner", clinically this term means to treat others badly, break trust and rule without remorse.
Antisocial
A person who uses a substance, or engages in a behavior, for which the rewarding effects provide a compelling incentive to repeat the activity, despite detrimental consequences.
Substance Use Disorders/Addiction
Feelings of worthlessness or guilt.
Fatigue.
Increased or decreased sleep.
Increased or decreased appetite.
Restlessness (e.g., pacing) or slowed speech or movement.
Difficulty concentrating.
Frequent thoughts of death or suicide.
Depressive Episode
This is characterized by negative patterns of behavior and communication that undermine the well-being and happiness of one or both partners. It often involves manipulation, lack of respect for boundaries, and emotional or psychological harm, creating a consistently stressful and damaging environment.
Toxic Behaviors
A psychiatric condition that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event or series of traumatic events. The individual often experiences the event or events as emotionally or physically harmful or life-threatening. Symptoms must last for more than a month and must cause significant distress or problems in the individual's daily functioning. Many individuals develop symptoms within three months of the trauma, but symptoms may appear later and often persist for months and sometimes years. It often occurs with other related conditions, such as depression, substance use, memory problems and other physical and mental health problems.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/PTSD
Exposure to other people’s suffering and can strike those in professions that are called on to respond to injury and mayhem, notably physicians, first responders, and law enforcement. Over time, such individuals are at risk for compassion fatigue, whereby they avoid investing emotionally in other people in an attempt to protect themselves from experiencing distress.
Secondary/Vicarious Trauma
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Feeling isolated from your surroundings, like being in the middle of a crowded party and feeling like you’re just vaguely watching it on TV. People will often say the world looks fake, or that they are seeing it through a veil. Some say that the world loses color.
Derealization
An insidious form of manipulation and psychological control. Victims of this are deliberately and systematically fed false information that leads them to question what they know to be true, often about themselves. They may end up doubting their memory, their perception, and even their sanity.
Gaslighting
A developmental disorder characterized by an ongoing pattern of one or more of the following types of symptoms:
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/ADHD
The book used by mental health professionals to evaluate people and identify a course of treatment associated with the problem.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders/DSM