http://www.asam.org/
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has released a new definition of addiction highlighting that addiction is a chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavioral problem involving too much alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex. This the first time ASAM has taken an official position that addiction is not solely related to problematic substance use.
When people see compulsive and damaging behaviors in friends or family members -- or public figures such as celebrities or politicians -- they often focus only on the substance use or behaviors as the problem. However, these outward behaviors are actually manifestations of an underlying disease that involves various areas of the brain, according to the new definition by ASAM, the nation's largest professional society of physicians dedicated to treating and preventing addiction.
"At its core, addiction isn't just a social problem or a moral problem or a criminal problem. It's a brain problem whose behaviors manifest in all these other areas," said Dr. Michael Miller, past president of ASAM who oversaw the development of the new definition. "Many behaviors driven by addiction are real problems and sometimes criminal acts. But the disease is about brains, not drugs. It's about underlying neurology, not outward actions."
The new definition resulted from an intensive, four-year process with more than 80 experts actively working on it, including top addiction authorities, addiction medicine clinicians and leading neuroscience researchers from across the country. The full governing board of ASAM and chapter presidents from many states took part, and there was extensive dialogue with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
The new definition also describes addiction as a primary disease, meaning that it's not the result of other causes such as emotional or psychiatric problems. Addiction is also recognized as a chronic disease, like cardiovascular disease or diabetes, so it must be treated, managed and monitored over a life-time.
Two decades of advancements in neurosciences convinced ASAM that addiction needed to be redefined by what's going on in the brain. Research shows that the disease of addiction affects neurotransmission and interactions within reward circuitry of the brain, leading to addictive behaviors that supplant healthy behaviors, while memories of previous experiences with food, sex, alcohol and other drugs trigger craving and renewal of addictive behaviors. Meanwhile, brain circuitry that governs impulse control and judgment is also altered in this disease, resulting in the dysfunctional pursuit of rewards such as alcohol and other drugs. This area of the brain is still developing during teen-age years, which may be why early exposure to alcohol and drugs is related to greater likelihood of addiction later in life.
There is longstanding controversy over whether people with addiction have choice over anti-social and dangerous behaviors, said Dr. Raju Hajela, past president of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine and chair of the ASAM committee on the new definition. He stated that "the disease creates distortions in thinking, feelings and perceptions, which drive people to behave in ways that are not understandable to others around them. Simply put, addiction is not a choice. Addictive behaviors are a manifestation of the disease, not a cause."
"Choice still plays an important role in getting help. While the neurobiology of choice may not be fully understood, a person with addiction must make choices for a healthier life in order to enter treatment and recovery. Because there is no pill which alone can cure addiction, choosing recovery over unhealthy behaviors is necessary," Hajela said.
"Many chronic diseases require behavioral choices, such as people with heart disease choosing to eat healthier or begin exercising, in addition to medical or surgical interventions," said Dr. Miller. "So, we have to stop moralizing, blaming, controlling or smirking at the person with the disease of addiction, and start creating opportunities for individuals and families to get help and providing assistance in choosing proper treatment."
To read the full Definition of Addiction, visit: http://www.asam.org/DefinitionofAddiction-LongVersion.html
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The Sex Addiction Epidemic
Valerie realized that sex was wrecking her life right around the time her second marriage disintegrated. At 30, and employed as a human-resources administrator in Phoenix, she had serially cheated on both her husbands—often with their subordinates and co-workers—logging anonymous hookups in fast-food-restaurant bathrooms, affairs with married men, and one-night stands too numerous to count. But Valerie couldn’t stop. Not even after one man’s wife aimed a shotgun at her head while catching them in flagrante delicto. Valerie called phone-sex chat lines and pored over online pornography, masturbating so compulsively that it wasn’t uncommon for her to choose her vibrator over going to work. She craved public exhibitionism, too, particularly at strip clubs, and even accepted money in exchange for sex—not out of financial necessity but for the illicit rush such acts gave her.
For Valerie, sex was a form of self-medication: to obliterate the anxiety, despair, and crippling fear of emotional intimacy that had haunted her since being abandoned as a child. “In order to soothe the loneliness and the fear of being unwanted, I was looking for love in all the wrong places,” she recalls.
After a decade of carrying on this way, Valerie hit rock bottom. Facing her second divorce as well as the end of an affair, she grew despondent and attempted to take her life by overdosing on prescription medication. Awakening in the ICU, she at last understood what she had become: a sex addict. “Through sexually acting out, I lost two marriages and a job. I ended up homeless and on food stamps,” says Valerie, who, like most sex addicts interviewed for this story, declined to provide her real name. “I was totally out of control.”
“Sex addiction” remains a controversial designation—often dismissed as a myth or providing talk-show punchlines thanks to high-profile lotharios such as Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Tiger Woods. But compulsive sexual behavior, also called hypersexual disorder, can systematically destroy a person’s life much as addictions to alcohol or drugs can. And it’s affecting an increasing number of Americans, say psychiatrists and addiction experts. “It’s a national epidemic,” says Steven Luff, coauthor of Pure Eyes: A Man’s Guide to Sexual Integrity and leader of the X3LA sexual-addiction recovery groups in Hollywood.
In fact, some of the growth has been fueled by the digital revolution, which has revved up America’s carnal metabolism. Where previous generations had to risk public embarrassment at dirty bookstores and X-rated movie theaters, the Web has made pornography accessible, free, and anonymous. An estimated 40 million people a day in the U.S. log on to some 4.2 million pornographic websites, according to the Internet Filter Software Review. And though watching porn isn’t the same as seeking out real live sex, experts say the former can be a kind of gateway drug to the latter.
“Not everyone who looks at a nude image is going to become a sex addict. But the constant exposure is going to trigger people who are susceptible,” says Dr. David Sack, chief executive of Los Angeles’s Promises Treatment Centers.
New high-tech tools are also making it easier to meet strangers for a quick romp. Smartphone apps like Grindr use GPS technology to facilitate instantaneous, no-strings gay hookups in 192 countries. The website AshleyMadison.com promises “affairs guaranteed” by connecting people looking for sex outside their marriages; the site says it has 12.2 million members.
This year the epidemic has spread to movies and TV. In November the Logo television network began airing Bad Sex, a reality series following a group of men and women with severe sexual issues, most notably addiction. And on Dec. 2, the acclaimed psychosexual drama Shame arrives in theaters. The movie follows Brandon (portrayed by Irish actor Michael Fassbender in a career-defining performance), a New Yorker with a libido the size of the Empire State Building. His life devolves into a blur of carnal encounters, imperiling both his job and his self-regard. In perhaps the least sexy sex scene in the history of moviedom, Brandon appears to lose all humanity during a frenzied ménage à trois with two prostitutes. “It’s a foursome with the audience,” says director and co-writer Steve McQueen. “What we were doing was actually dangerous. Not just in terms of people liking the movie, but psychologically.”
However powerful and queasy Shame’s odyssey into full-frontal debasement may be, the film only begins to tap into the dark realities connected with sex addiction. Take it from Tony, a 36-year-old from the affluent Westside of Los Angeles, who found his life thrown into turmoil by compulsive sexual behavior. “I was crippled by it,” he says. “I would go into trancelike states, lose track of what I was doing socially, professionally, spiritually. I couldn’t stop.”
He was ashamed of his tireless efforts to find women. “I was meeting girls on the basketball court, in the club, pulling my car over to meet them on the street,” Tony recalls. It took joining a Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous 12-step program for him to realize that he wasn’t alone.
He also learned that his fixation on sex was a way of avoiding his insecurities and tackling the emotional issues that first led to his addictive behavior. “The addiction will take you to a place where you’re walking the streets at night, so keyed up, thinking, ‘Maybe I’ll just see if there’s anybody out there,’” he says. “Like looking for prey, kind of. You’re totally jacked up, adrenalized. One hundred percent focused on this one purpose. But my self-esteem was shot.”
Most treatment programs are modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous, but rather than pushing cold-turkey abstinence, they advocate something called “sexual sobriety.” This can take different forms, but typically involves eradicating “unwanted sexual behavior,” whether that’s obsessive masturbation or sex with hookers. “We treat it very much like sobriety for an eating disorder,” says Robert Weiss, founder of the Sexual Recovery Institute in Los Angeles. “They have to define for themselves based on their own goals and belief systems: ‘What is healthy eating for me? Can I go to a buffet? Can I eat by myself?’ We look at your goals and figure in your sexual behaviors and validate what’s going to lead you back to the behavior you don’t want to do.”
Although sex addicts sometimes describe behavior akin to obsessive-compulsive disorder, research hasn’t directly correlated the two. But a growing body of research shows how hypersexual disorder can fit into other forms of addiction. At the Promises treatment centers, clinicians have observed a number of sex addicts who have relapsed with drugs or alcohol in order to medicate the shame they felt. Severe depression can also follow after an addict starts to confront the condition. “I realized I was not comfortable in my own skin,” says Valerie, who checked herself into four months of treatment for sex addiction at Del Amo, a private behavioral-health hospital in Torrance, Calif. “My depression came from the fear I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. Fighting the obsession and rumination, the fear of loneliness and abandonment.”
(Page 3 of 3)
Sex addicts are compelled by the same heightened emotional arousal that can drive alcoholics or drug addicts to act so recklessly, say addiction experts. Research shows that substance abusers and sex addicts alike form a dependency on the brain’s pleasure-center neurotransmitter, dopamine. “It’s all about chasing that emotional high: losing yourself in image after image, prostitute after prostitute, affair after affair,” says the Sexual Recovery Institute’s Weiss. “They end up losing relationships, getting diseases, and losing jobs.”
Here’s what the experts will tell you that sex addiction is most decidedly not: a convenient excuse for sexual indiscretions and marital truancy. Chris Donaghue, a sex therapist who hosts the show Bad Sex, says Tiger Woods, for example, does not qualify as a sex addict, despite his well-documented sexcapades and treatment at a Mississippi rehabilitation center specializing in sex addiction. “Because he didn’t honor his integrity and marital boundary does not make him an addict,” Donaghue says, adding that people will say, “ ‘Because I get in trouble, because I cheat, I’ll just blame it on sex addiction. That’s my get-out-of-jail-free card.’ ”
Contrast Woods’s wild-oats sowing against the experiences of Harper, an Atlanta-born television executive who found himself caught in the grips of sex addiction for four years. After joining an online dating service, Harper fell into a pattern of juggling multiple relationships, sexting incessantly and focusing almost singlemindedly on hooking up. He discovered he could usually get his partners into bed on the first date—sometimes within the first hour of meeting. “And these weren’t desperate women,” he says.
But the fleeting ego gratification Harper derived from his conquests came at a steep price. He describes himself as living in a “stupor.” Friendships suffered, and he felt “pathetic” about his sexual urgency. The worst part, he says, was that his sex drive ultimately changed “what I think is normal,” as his tolerance grew for increasingly hard-core forms of pornography. “It really is like that monster you can’t ever fulfill,” says Harper, 30, who has avoided dating for the past eight months and attends a recovery group. “Both with the porn and the sex, something will be good for a while and then you have to move on to other stuff. The worst thing is, toward the end, I was looking at pretend incest porn. And I was like, ‘Why is something like that turning me on?!’ ”
The potential for abuse of online porn is well documented, with research showing that chronic masturbators who engage with online porn for up to 20 hours a day can suffer a “hangover” as a result of the dopamine drop-off. But there are other collateral costs. “What you look at online is going to take you offline,” says Craig Gross, a.k.a. the “Porn Pastor,” who heads XXXChurch.com, a Christian website that warns against the perils of online pornography. “You’re going to do so many things you never thought you’d do.”
Exhibit A: “We see a lot of heterosexual men who are addicted to sex and, because culturally and biologically women aren’t as readily available to have sex at all times of the day, these men will turn to gay men for gratification,” says sex therapist Donaghue. “Imagine what that does to their psychology. ‘Now am I gay? What do I tell my wife?’ ”
That wasn’t the issue for Max Dubinsky, an Ohio native and writer who went through a torturous 14-month period of online-pornography dependence. He says a big problem with his addiction was actually what it prevented him from doing. “I couldn’t hold down a healthy relationship. I couldn’t be aroused without pornography, and I was expecting way too much from the women in my life,” recalls Dubinsky, 25, who sought treatment at the X3LA recovery group and is now married.
If discussion of sex addiction can seem like an exclusive domain of men, that’s because, according to sex therapists, the overwhelming majority of self-identifying addicts—about 90 percent—are male. Women are more often categorized as “love addicts,” with a compulsive tendency to fall into dependent relationships and form unrealistic bonds with partners. That’s partly because women are more apt than men to be stigmatized by association with sex addiction, says Anna Valenti-Anderson, a sex-addiction therapist in Phoenix. “We live in a society where there’s still a lot more internalized shame for women and there’s a lot more for them to lose,” Valenti-Anderson says. “People will say, ‘She’s a bad mom’ for doing these sexual things. As opposed to, ‘She’s sick and has a disorder.’ But very slowly, women are starting to be more willing to come into treatment.”
Addicts and therapists alike say they hope a greater awareness of the disease will eventually help addicts of all genders and ages come forward and seek treatment. Many are likely to find that “sex addiction isn’t really about sex,” as Weiss puts it; it’s about “being wanted.”
X3LA’s Steven Luff says, “Sex is the perfect match for that. ‘I matter right now. In this moment, I am loved.’ In that sense, an entire culture, an entire nation is looking for meaning.”
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Ross Rosenberg's DVD and Webcast Seminars
DVD and Webcast Seminars:
- Entangled by the Web: Romance, Fantasy, Social Networking and Cybersex Addiction
Buy the DVD
Sign up for the Webcast
- Emotional Manipulators and Codependents: Understanding the Attraction
Sign up for the webcasts (registration information is forthcoming)
http://www.rossrosenbergtherapist.com/trainings.html
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Internet, Cybersex, Romance, Social Media Addiction Training
CAUGHT IN THE WEB:
December 10, 2011
Internet, Cybersex, Romance, Fantasy
and Social Networking Addiction
and Social Networking Addiction
A joint AATP of Illinois and PESI training
Olson Auditorium,
Lutheran General Hospital,
1775 Dempster, Park Ridge, IL.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I would like to personally invite you to my next professional training. Of all my trainings, "Caught in the Web" is my favorite. It is both topical and clinically relevant to our work. As with my other trainings, I try to deliver a training experience that is informative, applicable to our jobs and entertaining. This is a 6 hour CEU training.
I hope you will consider contacting AATP of Illinois to attend this training or PESI to watch it via webcast or to purchase the DVD. If you have any questions about this or any of my other trainings, don't hesitate to contact me by email or visit my website for more information.
Training Description:
"A new and rapidly growing population of Internet addicts has emerged. The Internet has become the global "drug" of choice. As a result of the constant technological advancements of our computers, phones and tablet devices, the Internet has never been more enticing, alluring and compelling. Due to the proliferation of online social sites for recreation, dating and other "hook-ups," it is all too easy to log-in, tune-out and engage, while never leaving the comfort of one's own home. Apart from the seemingly harmless social Internet dating options, one can schedule a sexual affair in the amount of time it takes to pour a glass of water. The Internet has become the "portal" to a new reality - virtual reality. This training is designed to address the true costs of Internet Addiction Disorder. The training will explore the impact of the seductive and addictive nature of cyber sexual, romantic, social (i.e., Facebook) and fantasy websites. The diagnostic criteria, signs, symptoms, demographics, cause/etiology and biological/neurological aspects of IAD will also be examined. Gain a fresh and comprehensive perspective on a critical phenomenon of the 21st century. "
I would like to personally invite you to my next professional training. Of all my trainings, "Caught in the Web" is my favorite. It is both topical and clinically relevant to our work. As with my other trainings, I try to deliver a training experience that is informative, applicable to our jobs and entertaining. This is a 6 hour CEU training.
I hope you will consider contacting AATP of Illinois to attend this training or PESI to watch it via webcast or to purchase the DVD. If you have any questions about this or any of my other trainings, don't hesitate to contact me by email or visit my website for more information.
Sincerely,
Ross Rosenberg
Ross Rosenberg
Training Description:
"A new and rapidly growing population of Internet addicts has emerged. The Internet has become the global "drug" of choice. As a result of the constant technological advancements of our computers, phones and tablet devices, the Internet has never been more enticing, alluring and compelling. Due to the proliferation of online social sites for recreation, dating and other "hook-ups," it is all too easy to log-in, tune-out and engage, while never leaving the comfort of one's own home. Apart from the seemingly harmless social Internet dating options, one can schedule a sexual affair in the amount of time it takes to pour a glass of water. The Internet has become the "portal" to a new reality - virtual reality. This training is designed to address the true costs of Internet Addiction Disorder. The training will explore the impact of the seductive and addictive nature of cyber sexual, romantic, social (i.e., Facebook) and fantasy websites. The diagnostic criteria, signs, symptoms, demographics, cause/etiology and biological/neurological aspects of IAD will also be examined. Gain a fresh and comprehensive perspective on a critical phenomenon of the 21st century. "
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Online 12-Step Sexual Addiction Meetings
The following are links to online 12-step meetings for sex addicts. These meetings are especially helpful to individuals who are fearful of being recognized (despite the anonymity of the groups), who have driving/transportation limitations, medical issues, family/parenting challenges, and/or social anxiety. To be clear, I strongly recommend/prefer that my sexually addicted clients attend "live" meetings. But, when barriers are present, these online meetings are especially helpful
http://www.help4sexualaddiction.com/online-12-step-groups.html
http://saa-recovery.org/Meetings/ElectronicMeetings
http://www.sarr.org/addicts/support_groups.htm
http://www.slaaonline.org/
http://www.help4sexualaddiction.com/online-12-step-groups.html
http://saa-recovery.org/Meetings/ElectronicMeetings
http://www.sarr.org/addicts/support_groups.htm
http://www.slaaonline.org/
Saturday, September 17, 2011
I've Been Diagnosed with Bipolar - What's Next?
Link to Article
I've Been Diagnosed with Bipolar - What's Next?
Catherine Ness, MA, LCPC
Clinical Care Consultants
Arlington Heights, IL
A diagnosis of bipolar can seem overwhelming. You probably have many questions ranging from the prognosis to the disorder, to the medication your psychiatrist prescribed to how you ended up getting this diagnosis.
Bipolar disorder, like many disorders, is heavily based on genetics. It is likely that someone in your family has this diagnosis or demonstrates behaviors that are indicative of this diagnosis. There is nothing you did to give yourself this disorder; however, there is much you can do to manage this disorder.
Knowing about this disorder increases successful treatment outcomes. There are also various types of bipolar disorder with varying degrees of severity.
Types of Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar I Disorder
Many people who are diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder describe feelings of depression most of the time. Symptoms of clinical depression include feelings of hopelessness, lack of motivation, over or under sleeping and eating, crying spells, fatigue, irritability, inability to concentrate and negative thoughts about oneself which can include a desire to harm oneself.
What differentiates depression from bipolar is that persons diagnosed with bipolar have periods of time, lasting from days to months, where there is an observable change in behavior and thoughts. These unexpected changes in mood and energy level are referred to as a manic episode. For some people this change in behavior feels like complete euphoria; you feel like you can accomplish anything and you have endless energy. For others this manic state is less pleasurable and simply includes racing thoughts, inability to sit still, severe irritability, impulsive behaviors and in more severe cases psychotic episodes.
To be diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder only requires the experience of a single manic episode. Depression is not a prerequisite for this diagnosis, but is more often than not prevalent.
Bipolar II Disorder
Bipolar II Disorder involves shifts in mood from depression to hypomania. Hypomania is a term to describe manic episodes that last for four or less days. If symptoms persist longer than this it is considered a full manic episode and meets criteria for bipolar I.
Hypomania is characterized by a distinct period of persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting throughout at least 4 days, that is clearly different from the person's usual mood. Mania, on the other hand, includes symptoms of psychotic or impaired thinking, grandiosity, poor judgment and impaired day to day functioning
Rapid Cycling Bipolar
A term used to describe the rate at which mood swings occur is rapid cycling, which involves more frequent ups and downs; a significant change in mood occurring over a month, week or even in a day. It is not uncommon for people to have mood swings based on something good or bad happening throughout the day. Persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder, however, have extreme mood changes that meet clinical criteria for depression and mania. These individuals also have trouble finding a “moderate mood,” in other words, feeling neither depressed nor overly excited/happy for an extended period of time.
Cyclothymic Disorder
Cyclothymic disorder describes more moderate mood swings from hypomania to a more mild form of depression. Persons diagnosed with cyclothymic disorder usually notice more frequent mood swings than those diagnosed with bipolar I and II. With this disorder, there is a higher level of functioning (less impairment).
Treatment Options
The reason it is important to identify if someone has had even one single manic episode is most significant in finding an effective medication. An anti-depressant may be appropriate for a diagnosis of depression, but if someone has had a manic episode in the past, an anti-depressant may actually trigger a manic episode. In these cases, a mood-stabilizer tends to be a more effective option.
There are many different types of mood stabilizers available and, unfortunately, there is no way to know which medication will work most effectively for an individual. Therefore, it is important that you see a psychiatrist who will work with you to determine the effectiveness of the medication. Also, it is important to have a dialogue with a counselor about progress or possible need to change medication.
.
Psychotherapy or counseling for Bipolar Disorder is very similar to the treatment of depression. When I work with individuals who are experiencing depression, I try to understand how this profound sadness is affecting their lives. I connect with each client so that I can better understand their specific concerns. In addition, I help clients identify triggers for their depression or manic episodes so that they can feel more in control of their lives and no longer a victim of their emotions. I utilize cognitive behavioral techniques (CBT) to help manage the negative, anxious, and fearful thoughts that are common with Bipolar Disorder. CBT is an ideal therapy approach to help with negative thinking, feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness. I instill a hope that, even with this disorder, life can be manageable and happiness and success can be obtained.
Catherine Ness, MA, LCPC
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
Psychotherapist
(847) 749-0514 ext.15
nessccc@gmail.com
http://nesstherapy.snappages.com
I've Been Diagnosed with Bipolar - What's Next?
Catherine Ness, MA, LCPC
Clinical Care Consultants
Arlington Heights, IL
A diagnosis of bipolar can seem overwhelming. You probably have many questions ranging from the prognosis to the disorder, to the medication your psychiatrist prescribed to how you ended up getting this diagnosis.
Bipolar disorder, like many disorders, is heavily based on genetics. It is likely that someone in your family has this diagnosis or demonstrates behaviors that are indicative of this diagnosis. There is nothing you did to give yourself this disorder; however, there is much you can do to manage this disorder.
Knowing about this disorder increases successful treatment outcomes. There are also various types of bipolar disorder with varying degrees of severity.
Types of Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar I Disorder
Many people who are diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder describe feelings of depression most of the time. Symptoms of clinical depression include feelings of hopelessness, lack of motivation, over or under sleeping and eating, crying spells, fatigue, irritability, inability to concentrate and negative thoughts about oneself which can include a desire to harm oneself.
What differentiates depression from bipolar is that persons diagnosed with bipolar have periods of time, lasting from days to months, where there is an observable change in behavior and thoughts. These unexpected changes in mood and energy level are referred to as a manic episode. For some people this change in behavior feels like complete euphoria; you feel like you can accomplish anything and you have endless energy. For others this manic state is less pleasurable and simply includes racing thoughts, inability to sit still, severe irritability, impulsive behaviors and in more severe cases psychotic episodes.
To be diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder only requires the experience of a single manic episode. Depression is not a prerequisite for this diagnosis, but is more often than not prevalent.
Bipolar II Disorder
Bipolar II Disorder involves shifts in mood from depression to hypomania. Hypomania is a term to describe manic episodes that last for four or less days. If symptoms persist longer than this it is considered a full manic episode and meets criteria for bipolar I.
Hypomania is characterized by a distinct period of persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting throughout at least 4 days, that is clearly different from the person's usual mood. Mania, on the other hand, includes symptoms of psychotic or impaired thinking, grandiosity, poor judgment and impaired day to day functioning
Rapid Cycling Bipolar
A term used to describe the rate at which mood swings occur is rapid cycling, which involves more frequent ups and downs; a significant change in mood occurring over a month, week or even in a day. It is not uncommon for people to have mood swings based on something good or bad happening throughout the day. Persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder, however, have extreme mood changes that meet clinical criteria for depression and mania. These individuals also have trouble finding a “moderate mood,” in other words, feeling neither depressed nor overly excited/happy for an extended period of time.
Cyclothymic Disorder
Cyclothymic disorder describes more moderate mood swings from hypomania to a more mild form of depression. Persons diagnosed with cyclothymic disorder usually notice more frequent mood swings than those diagnosed with bipolar I and II. With this disorder, there is a higher level of functioning (less impairment).
Treatment Options
The reason it is important to identify if someone has had even one single manic episode is most significant in finding an effective medication. An anti-depressant may be appropriate for a diagnosis of depression, but if someone has had a manic episode in the past, an anti-depressant may actually trigger a manic episode. In these cases, a mood-stabilizer tends to be a more effective option.
There are many different types of mood stabilizers available and, unfortunately, there is no way to know which medication will work most effectively for an individual. Therefore, it is important that you see a psychiatrist who will work with you to determine the effectiveness of the medication. Also, it is important to have a dialogue with a counselor about progress or possible need to change medication.
.
Psychotherapy or counseling for Bipolar Disorder is very similar to the treatment of depression. When I work with individuals who are experiencing depression, I try to understand how this profound sadness is affecting their lives. I connect with each client so that I can better understand their specific concerns. In addition, I help clients identify triggers for their depression or manic episodes so that they can feel more in control of their lives and no longer a victim of their emotions. I utilize cognitive behavioral techniques (CBT) to help manage the negative, anxious, and fearful thoughts that are common with Bipolar Disorder. CBT is an ideal therapy approach to help with negative thinking, feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness. I instill a hope that, even with this disorder, life can be manageable and happiness and success can be obtained.
Catherine Ness, MA, LCPC
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
Psychotherapist
(847) 749-0514 ext.15
nessccc@gmail.com
http://nesstherapy.snappages.com
Going National!
I am happy to announce that PESI has hired me to give my training Emotional Manipulators and Codependents: Understanding the Attraction. These three day "training tours" will occur in February and March of 2012. The first tour will be in the Philadelphia PA area and second in the Seattle WA area.
The description of the training is as follows:
Emotional Manipulators and Codependents are perpetually and inevitably drawn to each other. The attraction dynamic is so strong that both partners pursue each other despite therapeutic interventions, multiple failed relationships and painful consequences. This seminar investigates the relationship dynamic that irresistibly draws emotional manipulators (Borderline, Narcissistic and Antisocial Personality Disorders) and Codependents together.
Using a unique, fresh and innovative approach, Mr. Rosenberg will explain the fundamentals of this attraction dynamic. He will describe the nature of these binding relationships, which are often immune to personal or professional assistance. He will introduce his “Continuum of Self” model, which ties together the complex web of underlying psychological forces that inescapably draws the Emotional Manipulators and Codependent into enduring and mutually inescapable relationship. The training will explore why these two personality types exist in an intense, fluid and self-correcting system that creates an enduring magnetic attraction.
This program familiarizes mental health care professionals with the destructive nature of this relationship type. Participants will learn what drives Emotional Manipulators and Codependents’ relationships. Most importantly, professionals will learn how to help the Codependent victims recognize their own propensity to be attracted to Emotional Manipulators while teaching them how to help minimize their victimization. With an understanding of this “magnetic" relationship force, psychotherapeutic efforts can be more focused and effective. At the end of the day, attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the Emotional Manipulation, Codependency and the relationship dynamic between the two, as well as with methods to assist Codependents in disengaging from Emotional Manipulators.
Registration Details are forthcoming
The description of the training is as follows:
Emotional Manipulators and Codependents are perpetually and inevitably drawn to each other. The attraction dynamic is so strong that both partners pursue each other despite therapeutic interventions, multiple failed relationships and painful consequences. This seminar investigates the relationship dynamic that irresistibly draws emotional manipulators (Borderline, Narcissistic and Antisocial Personality Disorders) and Codependents together.
Using a unique, fresh and innovative approach, Mr. Rosenberg will explain the fundamentals of this attraction dynamic. He will describe the nature of these binding relationships, which are often immune to personal or professional assistance. He will introduce his “Continuum of Self” model, which ties together the complex web of underlying psychological forces that inescapably draws the Emotional Manipulators and Codependent into enduring and mutually inescapable relationship. The training will explore why these two personality types exist in an intense, fluid and self-correcting system that creates an enduring magnetic attraction.
This program familiarizes mental health care professionals with the destructive nature of this relationship type. Participants will learn what drives Emotional Manipulators and Codependents’ relationships. Most importantly, professionals will learn how to help the Codependent victims recognize their own propensity to be attracted to Emotional Manipulators while teaching them how to help minimize their victimization. With an understanding of this “magnetic" relationship force, psychotherapeutic efforts can be more focused and effective. At the end of the day, attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the Emotional Manipulation, Codependency and the relationship dynamic between the two, as well as with methods to assist Codependents in disengaging from Emotional Manipulators.
Registration Details are forthcoming
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