The Disorders and Character Flaws Thread
 

Do any of you have one? I have "Avoidant Personality Disorder".. which gets split up into further subtypes in which I'm considered a "Self Deserting Avoidant". Can't really afford getting help so I just kinda deal with it.

I have a "Close Depressing Threads Disorder" (CDTD)
But lucky for you... I'm on my meds. (Beer)
:D

What? But why?? There's a thread on vodka eyeballing, what drugs you do, etc.. why not one about disorders?

I was only kidding.
:(

Oh.. sorry :o:

But in all seriousness, I have a bit of an anxiety disorder, but it's not overbearing. When I get used to situations, it's totally non-existent... but in new situations I'm not accustomed to or place importance on, especially where there are large groups of people involved, I'm overly anxious to the point of showing it physically.
I never noticed it until I had joined the military, so I'm not sure if that had something to do with it, but it's one of those things I worry about now because simple things like job interviews feel like they're going to be insurmountable because I want to be as relaxed as possible, which is when I'm my clearest and most articulate.
I think the more I worry about it, the worse the anxiety becomes... like a feedback loop... making things worse.
I don't want to go on meds, and I don't think I need them because I'm not debilitated in any way apart from just being self-critical in particular circumstances due to the anxiety, and I don't want the negative side effects of those types of drugs, but I don't really have any other options than to overcome the irrational fear which is A LOT harder than it sounds.

Wow. I could have written this word for word myself, including the military part, and the not wanting to go on prescribed meds.

I have some anger issues as well, which I have actually been thinking about trying to fix. I notice it much more when I'm not smoking bud.

Indeed. That sounds a lot like me. I'm iffy at first but once I get a good grasp of who's around and whatnot I'm more comfortable. If I'm with someone then I'm a LOT better off.

But if whoever I'm with doesn't talk to anyone then neither will I. Even if they do then I won't have much to say cause I don't have much of a social life. I could maybe talk about something like music but thanks to my tastes that doesn't tend to go over well.. "Umm I really love heavy metal like Rammstein and some hip hop like Lil Wayne but I don't like Country. What do you listen to?" "Uhh it all depends! Sometimes Trance or House and then maybe Ambient or Downtempo" "Ohh.." and I don't have much else to talk about. I couldn't talk about fragrances.. that's DEFINITELY not a common hobby

Yea I had the anger issues, especially when I got out of the military. I got to a point where one night I beat the crap out of my dad because he pissed me off beyond boiling point (and I was drunk) and after that night I was pretty ashamed of myself and I realized how much I'd been bottling things up because of the way the military is and how you really can't express any kind of anger or emotion to your superiors without severely negative repercussions.
It took that experience to kind of put myself in check and try to get out of the mindset that I have to hold my opinions back in fear of repercussion, and now I just say what I need to say before it gets out of control.

I'm doing a ton better in that regard.

I'm sorry to hear that Freebase :( I did a lot of research on anxiety in one of my psych essays during my undergrad and I really felt for the people who I interviewed, it seemed very frustrating for them. Totally understand what you mean about the meds thing too... I've been on a plethora of medications for mentally stimulated problems and they all have absolutely horrid side-effects. I hate being on meds.

As for disorders... as a late teenager I started becoming very impulsive, aggressive, and physically self destructive. My family thought I was just going through a moody teenager stage or battling mild depression or something but when I was 20 I was told by a mental health professional that I had Borderline Personality Disorder. To this day I still don't know if I believe the diagnosis, but it's characterised by psychological splitting, chaotic interpersonal relationships, unstable self-image, bouts of anger/rage or other extreme feelings, impulsive behaviour, and self-harm - all of which I do. In most people the condition is provoked by an extreme trauma which occurs in childhood or teenagehood, and yeah when I was 17 something pretty extreme and traumatic happened to me so I guess that would explain it.

Like I said... not sure if I believe the 'diagnosis' because I feel like health professionals try to assign everybody to some kind of disorder these days just to explain stuff. But there you go, there's some depressingly morbid information for your Saturday morning, stuff that I never tell anybody, ever! Ha.

I also have an anxiety disorder. I remember my mom took me to see a shrink when I was about 10 or 11 and I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Fits my symptoms almost to a T.

My symptoms are more pronounced during the school year because of essays, deadlines, practice schedules, rehearsals, etc. I stress over things that most people would just shake off. I don't have a problem in social situations though. In fact, I'll admit that I like to be the centre of attention.

For me, it's more of an internal thing. I'm not on any meds and I really don't want to be. Psychiatric medications just mask the problem and make you feel good about yourself when you're really not. They do not cure anything. However, there are very few side effects with these drugs. SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) like fluoxetine (Prozac) or sertraline (Zoloft) can slow down your body's ability to metabolize alcohol and caffeine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selecti...take_inhibitor). Buspirone (Bu-Spar) is a similar drug that is prescribed specifically for generalized anxiety disorder (Buspirone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

I've been keeping my anxiety symptoms under control during the school year by limiting my caffeine intake (stimulants just enhance the symptoms), and by keeping a daily agenda and breaking down my big goals and projects into smaller ones. For me, playing flute and guitar really help me to channel my frustrations and stress out of my body. Regular exercise also helps, and a healthy balanced diet. Well, fairly balanced for me since I don't eat red meat and I can't eat pork :)

It's hard to get sympathy from people (I'm not actively looking for it, this is just something that I've noticed over the years). Perhaps it's because this is such a complex thing to understand and only people who have it can fully understand what you're going through. I sometimes think that others are being judgemental towards people with anxiety, again probably because they don't understand it.

I definitely agree.

On a similar sort of note I remember mentioning something about Depression to my uncle Steve and he said "Depression? Give me a break. I'm 50 and a mason and I never complain. They shouldn't either. 'Boo hoo my life sucks' ". He made it sound as if Depression and being depressed were the same thing. As if people with Depression seek chronic sadness to get attention. The ignorance was astounding.

This is mostly the attitude I've received throughout the years. Either "boo hoo, a lot of people have it worse than you so grow up" or, "she just does it for attention."

It really shits me because I don't want to be the way I am and attention is the last thing I want in these circumstances.

Precisely. It's even more upsetting because that goes against the nature of what I have. I'm extremely mindful of everyone else. At one point I didn't even care about cleanliness and hygiene. I don't think I'll ever regress to that again though.

However the other day I felt uncomfortable even talking to my own cousin.. which I never thought would happen. In some ways I've made a lot of progress and in others I haven't really changed much at all.

I have bipolar I, I was diagnosed with it when I was probably 14/15, it didn't really manifest itself until I was 19. The second time I was institutionalised, they gave me a ****ty drug to deal with it and I got drug induced parkinsons, and nearly died. Pretty scary ****. I take a combo of meds to deal with it now, which my ex manipulated me into. It's not that bad, manic episodes can be pretty fun until I start flipping out at everyone and doing really stupid and impulsive things and think really awful things. Depressive episodes I could really do without, but it's something I gotta take one day at a time

I have social anxiety disorder. I have medication, but I am afraid of becoming dependent on it, and so is my doctor, so I use it "as needed". It's like a high dose of mental relaxers when I know I'm entering, or realized I entered, a high anxiety situation. I only go through approx 60 pills a year.

I use to see a psychologist but she was a twat.

I don't like people judging me. A lot of this is rooted in my weight issues and low self esteem because my father always commented on my weight, despite his own problems, and said I looked like a lesbian when I cut my hair short and wore baggy clothes. If my own father could say those things, what do other people think and not tell me? When I do let people close to me, specifically men, in the end when everything goes sour, they admit all their little thoughts about me, which only strengthens the fear of constant judgment.

You always feel as though you're under scrutiny, right? I have a bit of that too but it's specific to new situations. In totally brand new situations, it's near unbearable. And you know it's irrational, but you're unable to control it.
It tends to shape your life into not experiencing anything new because of the fear of having to go through it again. The thing that always helped me was alcohol, and it's probably why I enjoy it so much now. :D

My **** is nothing compared to you guys, but I have slight OCD about utensil and dishware cleanliness. I will sit at the spoons in the dining hall, examining each one until I find an acceptable choice. (spotless) Same for cups, plates, etc.

I know it's not really OCD, just a quirk. I also wash my hands after every meal because I hate having slimy/greasy/sticky hands.

Oh, but my dad does have a terminal brain disease. My psychologist says it's not genetic, but I don't think she knows what she's talking about, given that so little is known about the particular disease my dad has. I think she's just saying that so I don't spend my entire life worrying about it

That's exactly it. Like I want to go out and have fun, but I often cancel plans due to made up reasons to avoid things.

I have that too. Key word: avoid haha. It's even in the name of what I have!

I've never seen a psychologist because I don't believe I have any kind of nebulous disorder requiring attention or explanation.

Externally, I'm perceived as being completely stable and relatively free from neuroticism. I am however, mortally afraid of offending people and being negatively judged. This leads to me being somewhat obsessive and pedantic in the things I create, and over-analysing everything... I'm ashamed to produce anything substandard lest it negatively reflect on me, and I read into things and meditate over them faaaaar more than I should. I can also be extremely defensive as I hate being seen in the wrong although most people never see that side of me. This means that I dislike competition but when I do have to compete in something, I tend to do well because I'm afraid of losing. Sometimes it's just easier to avoid people you don't know well in order to avoid judgement and scrutiny.

Well it felt good to get that off my chest. Do you mind if I rename this thread so that it pertains to disorders and character flaws in general?

Not at all!

The girl I've liked for 6 years just got a new boyfriend.

Awesome

I don't have anything (as far as I know) but I grew up with two younger brothers who both have ADHD, Tourette's and one of them also has Asperger's. While they were the ones suffering from the syndroms and no doubt had it the worst, it sure wasn't easy for the rest of us either.

Honey, I have a ****tail of disorders. I'm practically a fountain of mental illness. And while I admire the courage of some members here, posting about their weaknesses and such, I'm simply too reserved and embarassed to go into detail about mine. :o:

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go listen to some Britney Spears and pretend my problems don't exist. :dj:

PS: ****tail is not a swear word!

Cock is, though.

Well, at least now I know how to circumvent the rule where appropriate. :thumb:

i've never been clinically checked but i'm sure they'd sign me up for a half dozen prescriptions because i'm not interested in following the status quo. it's like modern society wants you to feel 'wrong' for not wanting to be on TV like all those 'reality' stars... or at least behaving like them.

Seltzer pretty much sums me up too, on the outside most people think i'm fine, on the inside i'm kind of a mess.

I think everyones tough on the outside and a mess in the inside. I myself am a shambles on the inside, but won't admit it to one single person. Infact my eldest brother is crippled with worry about me, as he doesn't know if I'm okay as I don't talk about my feelings.

I have sarcastic bastard disorder.

From Wikipedia:
Avoidant personality disorder

So after CanwllCorfe's opening post, I decided to wiki all the diseases named on here. So that was the first one I wikied, and it seems I have 100% of these symptoms.

Anyway, I always thought of this as my "personality" and I don't think I'll ever refer to it as a disorder.
Not to mention my slightly autistic, paranoid, schizophrenic side.

Still, I'm pretty sure that's my personality. It might also be the reason why I get drunk nearly 5 days a week. And the reason I read books, listen to music, watch movies and draw, write, isolate my self and rarely sleep. Which I call "my way of life".

Still to find the negative side of things (other than never having a job in my life, for fear of interacting with costumers -I guess that's the one). Other thing would be, never being a friend with a person for more than 2 years... and another one would be, never being a bff or a gf to anyone.

So anyway, I guess I'm doing well.
In a way.

If you wasn't so young ;)

^ I gots me some sexy disorder lol.

I am recovering from depression, which has perhaps been passed down by my grandfather, mother, father and aunt who have all had it. I grew up with a highly emotional mother which made it near impossible for me to avoid picking up depressive tendencies at some point. Up until I was 18 I prided myself on being happy and bubbly, and then in my 20's it all changed. I've always been a deep thinker which I often express through writing, however it got to a point where I could no longer handle emotions, and certain events triggered off severe responses which I tried to block out. I used medication as a way to numb my situation but it had only made it worse.

Last year I was put on anti-depressants and it took 6 months before I felt somewhat normal again. These days I feel a lot happier, I can get out of bed, look after myself, eat properly (I got down to 45kg last year through illness) and am generally pretty happy. It's the can-do attitude of people around me that saved me. I am strong, I'm a fighter and I do my absolute best to express my feelings on paper to expel negative thoughts. I hope very soon to be able to no longer rely on medication and anti-depressants.

It took me this long to realise that I was also a highly anxious person. I used to worry as a child about getting stains on my school uniform because my mother would get so angry if I did. I worry about too much, but I am getting better at staying calm and just sorting out situations by doing rather than over-thinking.

Sometimes I wonder if I am 'crazy', like maybe I have a mental illness that I don't know of. I have some obsessive compulsive tendencies but only at certain points of my life, not all the time thank goodness. It's nice to share this with you guys, even if it leaves you thinking I'm a nut.

Wow, looks lke I have that AvPD sh*t.

everyone in the world has a disorder, the psychiatrists just haven't named them all yet

I'm full on manic depressive. I've tried all manner of drugs available, but little seems to curb it.

I've had numerous attempts at killing myself in the past and have no doubt i'll have a few more before one day I succeed and I have OCD where it comes to perfectionism.

I'll do the same job 20 times until I'm happy with it

Aww, I'd call you anything but autistic. All the autistic kids I work with are completely mathematically/logically obsessed with the world. You on the other hand are (I think, from what I've read :)) very creative and imaginative! Which is a marvelous thing by the way.

Autism is an interesting one - in fact, one of my friends in high school seemed to think that I was mildly autistic but then again, the crux of his argument was that I liked maths and he didn't see how any normal person could possibly do so (he's an arts student) :D Either way, it was bothering me enough to ask my flatmate for his honest opinion and he seemed to think that there was no way I was autistic.

I've read a bit about it and I'm not sure that autistic people are necessarily uncreative or unimaginative; after all, there have been many autistic artists/writers/actors/musicians. I think it's more that they crave novelty to a lesser extent than normal people, tend towards rigid routine and familiarity, obsess over certain topics and lean towards the mathematical/logical/structured side of things and most of these traits are seen as being adverse to creativity.

The thing with autism is that it's more a spectrum than a specific disorder and people can be affected to different degrees. Low functioning autistics are undoubtedly communicatively dysfunctional whereas high functioning autistics will often speak with perfect grammar, syntax and (possibly) delivery and excel in most lingual tests, but may struggle a bit with figurative language and comprehension. One theory regarding the poor comprehension is that they obsess over small scale details and have trouble seeing the bigger picture. Some autistics may be introverted or anti-social... high functioning autistics might even be sociable and function relatively normally in social situations but exhibit a few odd traits such as lack of eye contact, lack of empathy, or one-sidedness. One possible explanation is that they are initially socially dysfunctional but over time, learn to (or are capable of learning to) emulate the 'normal' social behaviour which is naturally built into other people.

And the thing with many disorders is that they're akin to horoscopes in that they're general enough to seemingly apply to many people. I guess what I'm saying is, a pedantic and introverted scientist with OCD may fit the autistic/Asperger's stereotype perfectly, but not all introverted and obsessive scientists are autistic. It's only too easy to slap a label on a bunch of symptoms, but where do you draw the line between personality variations and disorders?

We already have a blanket term:

Humanity.