disorder
The spectrum of Mental Health disorders is incredibly vast; we showcase the multitude of conditions that affect mood, thinking and behavior.
Interviews with a Big Black Broad: Session #4
Interviewer: How did your collegiate aspirations relate to your experience with BDD? BBB: Before I begin, I should to warn you that this may be the most bizarre coming of age story you've ever heard. I chose a difficult major in college for two reasons: It was revered as prestigious and lucrative, and I was told that once I graduated from all those years of rigorous study, I would have little to no time for a social life while I practiced my trade. I wanted a career that would keep me so busy that I had no time to dwell on my awful appearance. I also wanted a preoccupation that would provide an understandable reason for why I had no time for romantic relationships—why I would never have children. My plan was to strictly focus on my studies, after which, I'd rely on my friends to satisfy whatever social needs I had. I loved to laugh and discuss politics, philosophy and art. So, I targeted those who majored in these subjects to help me indulge my interests when I wasn't studying my more conservative curriculum. Perhaps every now and then, I would enjoy a casual tryst or two if I was feeling up to it. I'd be a workaholic socialite from now on, I thought. Without time to focus on myself—to obsess over my ugliness, I could avoid what I referred to as "The cloud," which were my severely depressed episodes. My new distractions worked to steady my moods and lessen my obsessions. My grades were almost perfect. I'd even managed to acquire a small but well-coveted grant from the university strictly based on my academic merit. There are ugly people all over the world who are very prosperous, I thought. I studied the careers of very successful, powerful men who were also practicing the trade within the field I was studying. Most of them were single, with few or no children, and no one seemed to criticize their life choices. They weren't stigmatized for not living a conventional life. They were celebrated as playboys in fact. This was one of several observations that solidified my decision to become a playgirl. I could be satisfied with just a great career and friends. No husband. No children. I couldn't really conceive of living what all the other girls had coveted since holding their first doll baby: A "normal" life.
By Anarda Nashai7 years ago in Psyche
A Bit About BPD
BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) or EUPD (Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder) as doctors and psychiatrists now call it, is a disorder where individuals have unstable relationships with others, an unstable sense of self and have unstable emotions, causing long term abnormal behaviour characteristics.
By Keeley Seatherton7 years ago in Psyche
Interviews with a Big Black Broad: Session #3
Interviewer: How was your experience as a college student while suffering with crude BDD? BBB: My college experience was a slippery slope. The moment I graduated high school, I knew I was in for an entirely new set of challenges when it came to hiding my BDD symptoms. Or at least, I thought I knew. I spent my final year in high school listening to college graduates prepare me for this major shift into adulthood. What scared me shitless was the expectation that my social interactions would have to change. My mother was hopeful that I would finally find a boyfriend in college. As you can imagine, speculations regarding my sexuality were starting to take root since I never dated throughout my teenage hood. Of course, my makeshift friends at school knew I was straight, and understood clearly why I was dateless. My family, however, refused to accept what my friends and I had. Ugly girls don't date. Remember, some of them had actually introduced me to the unfortunate connection of being ugly and alone as a child, so these contradictory messages made their expectations unmanageable. As far as my personal life choices go, I stopped seeking their consensus right then and there. I'd just have to live my life the way I wanted and suffer the consequences of ending up as the cautionary tale. Besides, none of them will ever understand what it's like to be trapped in the mind and body of a big black broad like me. Period.
By Anarda Nashai7 years ago in Psyche
Paranoid Personality Disorder
Paranoid personality disorder is a paranoia-related personality disorder. People with schizophrenia get paranoid about who they can trust, as well as why they should trust people. People with PPD if that is even my case, can feel suspicious about whether or not they can trust a person. Paranoid people feel suspicious about the intentions of others. Paranoid people look for clues as to whether or not they can trust the person they are suspicious about. They see that the person in question is not trustworthy even if that person has proven to them they are.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in Psyche
Interviews with a Big Black Broad: Session #2
Interviewer: Can you remember when you first saw yourself as ugly? BBB: Actually, some of my earliest memories were of me being told how beautiful I was. Mostly by people in my immediate family. I remember posing for the camera when I was 5 and 6. I looked straight into the lens, struck a pose, smiled. She’s the cutest little thing, they would say. My teen aged aunties would take me places with them. Their friends would treat me like a doll. By the time I was 8 or 9, I was becoming “a big girl.” I was starting to pick up weight. My plump midsection warranted some light teasing from my play mates, but I still had my little childhood boyfriend, a funny-looking skinny boy a half foot shorter than I was who didn’t care that everyone thought I was bigger than the other little girls.
By Anarda Nashai7 years ago in Psyche
Interviews with a Big Black Broad: Session #1
Interviewer: When were you diagnosed with BDD? BBB: I was twenty-eight years old. Only after suffering several bouts of debilitating depression did I succumb to the idea of being honest about the cause. I had no other choice. My depressive episodes where becoming a little manic. Scary. Unpredictable. Unacceptable. I saw several therapists for a few years up until that point. Honestly, I didn’t trust that any of them would understand if I were honest with them about what my problem really was. They would never be able to conceive of it. You see, I had mentioned my issues with self-image to a few people I knew, and they all laughed at me. They were used to me saying awful things about myself since I was a kid. They couldn’t fathom what it really meant. Neither could I. So, I told a forth therapist that I’d seen two weeks after my twenty-eighth birthday what I felt about myself, and he asked me if I knew what Body Dysmorphic Disorder was. I shook my head and told him that I was never an anorexic, bulimic, that I would never sit and stare at myself in any reflective surface for any longer than I had to. That I was too scared to go under the knife for plastic surgery because I was afraid I’d never be able to stop. I shook my head “no” at him when he suggested that this was my problem. Any other reason? He asked. “I’m Black.” I said without hesitation, “Black people don’t suffer from body dysmorphia.”
By Anarda Nashai7 years ago in Psyche
Dating Someone with Severe OCD
Like many of you, I had no idea what OCD really entailed until I started dating Lucy. In the beginning, I was oblivious, completely so. Years of friendship had not been enough for her to disclose the thing she was so utterly ashamed of. And now, having been with her a year, I understand.
By James Waters7 years ago in Psyche
Sleep Hallucinations
Imagine lying in bed next to your partner, deep within the blissful realm of your mind, allowing your body the rest it so desperately craves. The room is pretty quiet. There's nothing else to be heard besides the fan you use as a white noise to help you sleep. Everything seems to be going so swell when BOOM! Suddenly you are staring at a person in the corner of the room, a girl with long dark hair. She starts moving towards you using a speed far more superior than human speed. You need to get away from her as fast as possible so you dive on top of your partner, the direction furthest away from her. Your partner wakes up and has no idea what just happened. You blink a few times and look over and realize there's nothing there.
By Holly Anne7 years ago in Psyche
