Understand the different personality disorders.
A person with bipolar disorder experiences episodes of mania and/or hypomania and depression. Mania is a state of high mood or energy. A bipolar in a manic state feels extremely positive, negative, or both. Hypomania has the same symptoms as mania but is less severe. In the depression phase, a bipolar experiences low mood or …
A person who has bipolar disorder goes through alternate phases of mania or hypomania and depression. Mania is a high-energy, emotionally-charged state in a bipolar person experiences the following symptoms: Hypomania is a less severe version of mania. It can be seen as a sort of ‘mad happiness’ that does disrupt a person’s life, but …
In Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), a person shows repeated outbursts of aggressive behavior that are disproportionate to the situation. While normal people show aggressive behaviors once in a while, those with IED show a frequent pattern of verbal and physical aggression. …
The term ‘hoovering’ comes from the popular vacuum cleaning brand. In relationships, hoovering is the tendency of a toxic person to ‘suck in’ their victim back into the toxic relationship dynamic. While it can happen in any relationship, it’s common in established romantic relationships. Toxic and abusive relationships tend to have this cyclical pattern to …
Avoidants are people who tend to avoid other people. The avoidant attachment style usually stems from early childhood interactions with one’s primary caregivers. While avoidants struggle with relationships, those with Avoidant Personality Disorder (APD) experience significant dysfunction and distress. Traits of APD include: High-functioning APD Usually, personality disorders and mental health conditions create dysfunction and …
In both males and females, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) has the following symptoms: Men and women with BPD symptoms show more similarities than differences. But some important differences do exist. They mostly have to do with the degree to which some of the above symptoms are present in men and women. Most of those differences …
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition characterized by the following symptoms: The term originated when psychiatrists noted that some people with schizophrenia were neither neurotic nor psychotic. They were on the borderline. They didn’t experience hallucinations, but still, their reality seemed distorted. Their reality was distorted by how they felt about certain …
Mania is a psychological and behavioral state where a person experiences abnormally elevated energy levels. Mania, or manic episode, is usually talked about in the context of bipolar disorder, but it can also occur in other mental health conditions and independently. A toned-down version of mania, hypomania, can occur with or without bipolar disorder. Bipolar …
Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD) is characterized by a pattern of hyper-emotional and dramatic behaviors aimed at getting attention. People with HPD or histrionics love drama and being the center of everyone’s attention. The word ‘histrionic’ is derived from Latin ‘histrio’, meaning ‘actor’. Histrionics like attention so much that they’re likely to become actors and performers. …
When watching a game on TV, have you noticed how some viewers shout at the players? “Make the pass, you MORON.” “You’ve got to hit the home run this time. COME ON!” I used to think these people were silly and that I could never do such a thing. To my dismay, I caught myself …