Repetition Compulsion: Repeating the cycles of childhood abuse. — He was the epitome of a narcissist, my father. Dominating, intimidating, charming, arrogant. And he was a sexual predator. Women used to fawn over him like drunk and dizzy bees swarming around a honeypot. I remember him once slapping the bottom of my best friend, we were 14 years old…

A True Story: The artful skill of spotting a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. — I sit down on the sofa first, my husband sits in the seat opposite before standing up to remove his jacket and stare idly around the room looking I know, for somewhere to hang his expensive clothing. I note our therapist clocking this. …

Dis-order in the mental health ward. — There is a common misperception amongst humans, that we must be orderly to be worthy of existence in mainstream society. Orderly as in, one must show courtesy and respect to others, one must exercise judicious judgement of others, (lest thou be judged), one must comply with legal and moral code…

The absurdity of depression. — Little has been said or documented about the fact that depression is ridiculous. Just when I thought I was emerging from one dark place; clouds parting and vitality starting to make itself known, I unpredictably slip quietly back into the black hole. …

The adaptive function of dissociation, personality parts and amnesia. — Dissociative disorders involve problems with memory, identity, emotion, perception, behavior and sense of self. Dissociative symptoms can potentially disrupt every area of mental functioning. Examples of dissociative symptoms include the experience of detachment or feeling as if one is outside one’s body, and loss of memory or amnesia. Dissociative disorders…

Passivity drives us deeper into our past. — When trauma was imprinted in childhood, repetitive and interpersonal, the damage is profound and far reaching. Sadly it’s often not until we are truly broken, deep into our adult years that we come to recognise or understand the true extent of damage owing to what happened in our infancy. Victim-hood is an inevitability of trauma but feeling like a victim does not have to be a…

It’s the marker of a very shallow soul. — The need to speak of others negatively; to benefit or get a kick out of somebody else’s misfortune, or character failing is a glaring signal of one’s own weakness and frailty. I had friends around for dinner the other night and one of them took me to one side to ‘discuss’ our mutual friend and her current woes. …

And not losing your own self if you love somebody with one. — I was brought up in what may be aptly termed as reigned chaos. I have a borderline mother, narcissistic father, schizophrenic middle brother and narcissistic elder brother. Don’t laugh. Thanking my lucky somethings, I have managed to muddle through life sans personality disorder; but not without a few healthy scoops…

Functional impairment and the loss of memory. Can we get it back? — Cognitive functioning in many mental illnesses runs the full breadth of human potential. In particular with regard to mood disorders. Where some people with bipolar accomplish poignant landmarks in human achievement, others experience significant difficulties in managing the tasks of daily life. The disparate functional variability in mood disorders points…