1)      Anger Control: There are a variety of temper and hostility issues which are brought to therapists’ consulting rooms on a regular basis. Although excessive anger can be a highly destructive and dangerous emotion, sufferers with it often seek counseling only because in one way or another they are forced to do so.

Anger can be a central component of a variety of clinical conditions, including substance abuse, sociopathy, perpetration of physical and sexual abuse, bipolar disorder, and depression. Astute clinicians find the source and general diagnosis of the condition as a way of structuring interventions appropriate to it (e.g., family therapy, marital therapy, relaxation, cognitive therapy, detox and rehabilitation).

2)      Bipolar Disorder: This is a severe condition in the Affective Disorder family, considered primarily due to aberrant psychophysiology and treated primarily with medication. It is easily missed or misdiagnosed due to range of variations observed in clinical practice; e.g., bipolar patients may be primarily depressed, primarily manic, or afflicted with some other combination or variation.

Patients in a manic state may talk excessively and urgently, need only minimal sleep, feel highly euphoric or irritable, have tremendous energy, and be prone to poor impulse control and poor judgment. When depressed, they may be prone to suicide attempts, hopelessness, insomnia or hypersomnia, anhedonia, dysphoria, and fatigue.

3)      Depression: This is a broad term and can refer to a fleeting emotion or to a serious clinical state. In clinical psychology, depression may be confined to an understandable reaction to a specific situation that most anyone would find upsetting (such as an injury or a loss). It may refer to Dysthymia, which is a chronic state of lethargy, listlessness, lack of interest or motivation, and generally feeling down or blue. This term also may characterize Major Depression, which is an acute change of functioning that may or may not be triggered by an external event. Major Depression is considered to be due to biological origins in many cases and may be accompanied by a variety of symptoms such as hopelessness, dysphoria, lack of ability to feel pleasure, low libido, suicidal thoughts, sleep disturbances, and fatigue.

4)      OCD: People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suffer from repetitive and unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or perform compulsive rituals which seem to be beyond control. Hand washing, counting, checking, or cleaning is done to prevent or cope with obsessive thoughts. Left untreated, obsessions and rituals rarely disappear and often may severely debilitate a sufferer’s life. OCD is often a chronic, relapsing illness best treated by behavior therapy and medication.

5)      Panic/Anxiety: Panic disorder is typically accompanied by transient episodes of extreme anxiety, known as panic attacks. Attacks may vary by intensity and symptomotology and include such reactions as a need to flee the immediate environment; feeling suffocated; sweating, numbness, tingling, heart racing, dizziness, nausea, shaking, and fear of catastrophe.

6)      PTSD stands for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Sufferers have typically undergone a highly traumatic or life threatening event such as rape, assault, or combat. The aftermath of this event may be severely crippling to activities of daily living and include signs and symptoms such as nightmares, startle reactions, sleep disturbance, substance abuse, flashbacks, lethargy, and negative emotion.

7)      Self-Help: Typically, self-help starts with reading a book about a problem and following its recommendations…or taking the advice of a friend or associate…or watching a videotape or DVD providing informed advice…or taking a supplement or using a product designed to assist with the difficulty. Research has shown that one’s own efforts to help oneself may be helpful whether or not a therapist is formally involved.

      Therapy: A process of talking with a nonjudgmental, professionally trained and licensed individual who will study the problem carefully and offer support and advice as a means of addressing it.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 7:39 pm and is filed under Panic Attacks, Mental Health, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Therapy, Agoraphobia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.