#its more like. mental and sensory than eating disorder-y

[sparrowposting]

'if you can't fast at least abstain from meat'

bro I am like 75% of the way to being a vegetarian already, asking me to do anything to my already weird rituals around food is asking for trouble

[dikiyvter]

cognitive assessment.

bold all that apply to your muse’s current mental state; italicize any that apply to your muse’s past mental state — repost don’t reblog !

tagged by: nobody tagging: n o b o d y

alcoholism: or alcohol use disorder ( aud ), is a broad term for any drinking of alcohol that results in mental or physical health problems.

amnesia: a deficit in memory caused by brain damage, disease, or psychological trauma.

anxiety: a mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one’s daily activities.

appetite loss: a reduced desire to eat.

binge eating: a psychological illness characterized by frequently eating excessive amounts of food, often when not hungry.

co-dependence: dysfunctional and maladaptive relationship reliant on another person’s dependence on the affected individual.

cynicism: an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self interest ( skepticism ), or to question whether something will happen or whether it is worthwhile ( pessimism ).

defensiveness: the tendency to be sensitive to comments and criticism and to deny them. to constantly protect oneself from criticism, exposure of one’s shortcomings, or other real or perceived threats to the go.

depersonalization: a state in which one’s thoughts and feelings seem unreal or not belonging to oneself.

depression: a mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.

derealization: alteration in the perception or experience of the external world so that it seems unreal.

devaluation: defense mechanism used when a person attributes themselves, an object, or another person as completely flawed, worthless, or as having exaggerated negative qualities.

displacement: an unconscious defense mechanism whereby the mind substitutes either a new aim or a new object or goals felt in their original form to be dangerous or unacceptable.

dissociation: is any state of a wide array of experiences from mild detachment from immediate surroundings to more severe detachment from physical and emotional experiences, such as a disconnect from reality.

drug abuse: the extreme desire to obtain, and use, increasing amounts of one or more substances.

dysphoria: a state of unease, or generalized dissatisfaction with life.

emotional detachment: an inability to connect with others on an emotional level, as well as coping with anxiety by avoiding certain situations that trigger it; it is often described as “ emotional numbing ” or dissociation.

flashbacks: an involuntary recurrent memory, is a psychological phenomenon in which an individual has sudden, usually powerful, re-experiencing of a past experience or elements of said experience.

flat affect: a severe reduction in emotional expressiveness. they may not show the signs of normal emotion, perhaps may speak in a monotonous voice, have diminished facial expressions, and appear extremely apathetic.

guilt: a cognitive or emotional experience that occurs when a person believes or realizes — accurately or not — that they have compromised their own standards of conduct or have violated a universal moral standard and bear significant responsibility for it.

hallucinations: an experience involving the apparent perception of something not present.

hypersomnia: or excessive sleepiness, is a condition in which a person has trouble staying awake during the day.

hypervigilance: an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect activity.

hypochondria: ( also known as illness anxiety disorder ) is a condition in which a person is inordinately worried about having a serious illness.

idealization: the action of regarding or representing something as perfect or better than reality.

insomnia: a sleep disorder where people have trouble sleeping. they may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. insomnia is usually followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, and a depressed mood.

intellectualization: a defense mechanism by which reasoning is used to block confrontation with an unconscious conflict and its associated emotional stress — where thinking is used to avoid feeling. it involves removing one’s self, emotionally, from a stressful event.

introjection: regarded as the process where the subject replicates in themselves behaviors, attributes, or other fragments of the surrounding world, especially of other subjects. cognate concepts include identification, incorporation, and internalization.

isolation: a defense mechanism in psychoanalytic theory characterized by individuals defending themselves from possible threats by mentally and physically isolating themselves. by minimizing associative connections with other thoughts, the threatening cognition is remembered less often and is less likely to affect self-esteem or the self concept.

low self esteem: a person with low self esteem feels unworthy, incapable, and incompetent.

narcissism: is the pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one’s own attributes. narcissistic personality disorder ( npd ) is a personality disorder in which there is a long term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of understanding of other’s feelings. ( sort of?? he doesn’t have NPD by any stretch of the imagination but he is a narcissist and it’d feel wrong not to bold this in some way. ) 

night terrors: also known as a sleep terror, is a sleep disorder, causing feelings of terror or dread, and typically occurs during the first hours of stage three to four rapid eye movement ( nrem ) sleep.

obsessive compulsion: obsessive-compulsive disorder ( ocd ) is a common, chromic, and long — lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts ( obsessions ) and behaviors ( compulsions ) that they feel the urge to repeat over and over.

panic attacks: a sudden overwhelming feeling of acute and debilitating anxiety.

passive aggression: a tendency to engage in indirect expression of hostility through acts such as subtle insults, sullen behavior, stubbornness, or a deliberate failure to accomplish a required task.

paranoia: the irrational and persistent feeling that people are “ out to get you. ” the three main types of paranoia include paranoid personality disorder, delusional disorder, and paranoid schizophrenia.

phobias: an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something.

projection: psychological projection is a defense mechanism people subconsciously employ in order to cope with difficult feelings or emotions. it involves projecting undesirable feelings or emotions onto someone else, rather than admitting to or dealing with the unwanted feelings.

psychosis: a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality.

rationalization: a defense mechanism in which controversial behaviors or feelings are justified and explained in a seemingly rational or logical manner to avoid the true explanation, and are made consciously tolerable — or even admirable and superior — by plausible means.

regression: a psychological defense mechanism in which a person abandons age — appropriate coping strategies in favor of earlier, more childlike patterns of behavior. this regression is a form of retreat, bringing back a time when the person feels safe and taken care of.

risky sex: risky sexual behavior is commonly defined as behavior that increases the probability of contracting sexually transmitted infections, diseases, becoming pregnant, or making a partner pregnant. drug use is associated with risky sexual behavior.

somatization: the manifestation of psychological distress by the presentation of bodily symptoms.

splitting: ( also called black — and — white thinking or all — or — nothing thinking ) is the failure in a person’s thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both positive and negative qualities of the self and others into a cohesive, realistic whole.

sublimation: is a mature type of defense mechanism, in which socially unacceptable impulses or idealizations are unconsciously transformed into socially acceptable actions or behavior, possibly resulting in a long — term conversion of the initial impulse.

suicidal ideation: ( also known as suicidal thoughts ) is thinking about or an unusual preoccupation with suicide. the range of suicidal ideation varies from fleeting thoughts, to extensive thoughts, to detailed planning, roleplaying, and incomplete attempts.

sleepwalking: formally known as somnambulism, is a behavior disorder that originates during deep sleep and results in walking or performing other complex behaviors while asleep. it is more common in children than adults and is more likely to occur if a person is sleep deprived.

suppression: the act of stopping oneself from thinking or feeling something. it is generally assumed ineffective because even if you suppress or hold back an emotion, like anger, that feeling returns with a vengeance.

thousand yard stare: a phrase often used to describe the blank, unfocused gaze of soldiers who have become emotionally detached from the horrors around them. it is also sometimes used more generally to describe the look of dissociation among victims of other types of trauma.

triggers: something that sets of a memory tape or flashback transporting the person back to the event of their emotional trauma. triggers are very personal ; different things can trigger different people. the survivor may begin to avoid situations and stimuli that they think triggered the flashback.

trust issues: a person with these kinds of thoughts may construct social barriers as a defense mechanism to ensure that trust is not lost again. these barriers are often a person’s way of avoid the pain, rejection, or guilt associated with mistrust.

violence: the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.

temper: a reflection of irritation or rage, a propensity to be angered rapidly.

[metallic-girls]

If you know anything about autism, please read this!

I'm a 20 y/o girl with a physical disability. I've always been the "weird one" at kindergarten and school. But I was never diagnosed with a mental disorder. However, when I got into middle school, I learnt more about mental disorders and wondered if I could be affected. I considered having social anxiety, depression, ARFID, trauma and other unspecified disorders.

Some weeks ago, I started to get educated on autism. I'm a hobby author and wanted to write about an autistic girl, so I did some research. While writing and doing research, I started to relate more and more to my character's story. I could easily describe her having problems with and not being interested in social interaction with peers. I related to her while I wrote scenes where she felt left out like an alien for not being like the others, where she didn't know how to keep a conversation going without being boring, where she struggles to find out at what point in a conversation or phone call she can start to talk and when it's time to be quiet and listen. While writing about her needing a routine and not being able to accept even small changes in her life, I felt like I was writing about myself.

At some point, I decided to do more research and I read about typically autistic food intake problems. There are plenty of accounts, blogs,... for parents of autistic children about food. And I feel like these are exactly describing my own problems with eating. I've always been difficult when it comes to food, I'm considered a picky eater but I know it's more. Picky eating is different. My eating habits are terrible and I can't change it no matter how hard I try. For example, I need my mum to cut bananas in a certain way and remove brown parts of it so that I can eat it. And bananas are even a SAFE fruit for me, it's the fruit I can eat best on its own, there's actually barely any other fruit I eat in a "normal" way. Just for example.

I'm hypersensitive about sensory experiences. Many noises that others don't consider annoying maybe a little bit, literally hurt me. I'm very sensitive to smells, I feel sick if someone's eating a tomato or strawberry anywhere in the room and going by train is often almost making me throw up because of the many different smells. In a lecture hall, I notice the slight smell of smoke at people's jackets even though they are more than 10m away from me and I'm sitting next to the window.

I'm easily distracted: I can concentrate on a book I like for more than 1, sometimes even 3 hours, but if I'm not 100% into the thing I'm supposed to do, it's hard for me to stay focused for more than 5 minutes without help.

Even the less important symptoms like noticing many details and being fascinated by dates, patterns,... apply to me.

There are also other autism symptoms that I think apply to me, but I can't list them all.

I kinda suspect I'm autistic despite not being diagnosed during my whole childhood - even though I saw a psychologist a couple of times and I used to have doctor's appointments regularly.

I plan to ask my mum if I can see a professional to possibly get a diagnosis or get the confirmation that I'm NOT autistic. I think about not telling her details but I'm going to only say that I'm suspecting something and I want to see a professional to get it confirmed or not (it might not be the nicest way because she would worry but I know that I couldn't tell her before I spoke to a doctor).

Since I'm still insecure about the whole thing, it would really help me if you could tell me about your (or someone you know) story. How did you notice you're autistic? How does it show?

Even though I'm feeling like 95% of autism symptoms (that are mentioned online or in books) apply to me, I somehow feel like I'm exaggerating and maybe I'm just reading too much about it. I'm not really scared of getting the diagnosis - I would actually be relieved because it'd make sense and explain so much about my life starting from kindergarten until now.

I fear that my suspicion is ridiculous. I've always been different, shy, socially awkward and mocked by classmates. I've always wondered why I'm even different when it came to things that's couldn't be related to my physical illnesses. Why I couldn't have normal convos with classmates, why my ideas in houseplay were considered strange and dumb, why I never liked what my classmates were interested in, ...

But I'm scared that I'm over interpreting it and it's just me, not a disorder or something else, and that my suspicion is the most unrealistic thing my doctor will hear that week.

[dorkpsychology]

🩸 period hormones + brains 🧠

If you are reading this, you are probably a person who gets our not-so-loved ✨period✨, and if you are, you must be familiar with the feeling of having a hormone monstress (or monster) inside you that makes you feel bad physically and emotionally. 💀 You cannot get your tasks done properly, you feel like your hormones are going crazy (which also makes YOU crazy) and you just want to go and watch Netflix with a big ice cream pot during this special time of the month, am I right? 🤏 But why is that happening to us?

In case you have not heard about them, the hormones progesterone and oestrogen (both produced during our menstrual cycle, more specifically during its luteal phase aka the pre menstruation phase), as well as their co-dependent changes throughout the course of a female’s (or not 🏳️‍🌈) lifetime, have long been known to play an important role in the growth and equilibrium of people who have a menstruation cycle. 🩸

It is known that the variation of these two hormones can cause some physical discomforts such as, for example, acne, cramps, and tender breasts (as you probably know very well 😑). As stated by M. Guida, J. Y. Yen and others, we also have some neurovegetative matters (don’t freak out, this only refers to non-voluntary nerves’ distribution to the organs, on the word of the online free dictionary by Farlex) like sleeping and eating issues. 💤🍨

However, this hormones’ variation has lately been shown to have an essential importance in the neurological and psychological growth and function as well. 🧠 According to M. A. Farage and colleagues, brain function, our perception, mood, sensory sensitivity, anxiety, among other things are affected by our menstrual cycle (and probably we all can relate to this 😩). Btw, look at that beautiful and mean hormone monstress! 👇

A lot of people suffer from sex hormone based mental health disorders, for instance the premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which is now classified as a new depressive disorder in the DSM–5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).  😬 Yup, things are real, for the folks out there who thought we are just drama queens/kings...  💁‍♀️

As stated by the Cambridge University Press, it is considered PMDD when the different menstruation symptoms I have told you about, which emerge before the period starts and decrease when it comes, affect people in a debilitating way, what can significantly affect their quality of life as well. It tends to impact only five to eight percent of reproductive-age individuals so don't worry, you probably don't suffer from this specific disorder. Phew!  😮‍💨 🤞

We also have the premenstrual syndrome (PMS), which is known as way weaker than the PMDD but is still clinically relevant, as it should, because it also has an influence on the quality of a person’s life. As said by J. Gandy, it is estimated that thirty to forty percent of people who have a menstruation cycle suffer with PMS; however, a larger number of individuals describe emotional problems connected to this. Well, Jessie from New Girl definitely does!  😂👇

S. Tschudin stated that during the premenstrual stage of our cycle, nearly sixty percent of people feel at least minor "anger or irritability"/"tearfulness or mood swings" (personally, I just transform into a little Hulk 👺💢). Moreover, studies made by L. Dennerstein suggest that the presence of no less than one premenstrual symptom throughout someone's reproductive life might as well be drastically greater, estimated to be up to ninety percent. I know, our struggle is real, don’t you agree? 😭😭😭

To wrap things up, let's talk a bit about self-esteem and our cycle. Talking generally, the link between poor levels of self-esteem and depression is well known, as individuals who feel depressed tend to feel that way about themselves. 😟 Self-esteem and confidence have always been important to people since it enables individuals to manage more effectively day-to-day occurrences, among many other reasons. A person with bigger self-love = a happier person. 💌🤗

D. Taylor has shown in his research that levels of self-esteem were lower in the premenstrual phase in people who suffer from PMS. Multiple research (specifically done by U. Orth in 2008 and K. Dedovic in 2014, if you want to check them) also showed that poor levels of self-esteem may be seen as a clinical indication of a depressed mood, which can back D. Taylor’s research as, in general, we tend to feel more depressed in this cycle’s phase. 💔 Thanks to our period for murdering our self-esteem! 😤

The menstrual cycle is an important subject for researching how sex hormone variations affect us psychologically during our cycle. Though scientific studies on the menstrual problems that I have talked about, such as PMDD, are relatively not many, this information shows us that people who are most affected by these disorders may have more psychological issues that can debilitate them. 🙍 However, I want you guys to understand that, even with the existent studies we have, a link between any psychological changes observed and the menstruation cycle has not actually been confirmed yet. 🤔 

Although I made this post to give you more info about this topic, it is still unclear if the mood changes and other psychological symptoms affect our cognitive abilities, or if there is a specific and implicit hormonal disorder that is affecting them, but researchers are working on it and improving what we know about it day by day. Yay! 😃📚 I hope I was able to help you better understand how and why our bodies work like that. I’ll leave you with an awesome Ariel meme.  🤭 That's all for today friends, bye-bye!  ✌️💖