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The Danger of Self-Diagnosis for a Fantastic Friday

The Danger of Self-Diagnosis for a Fantastic Friday

by | Feb 26, 2016 | Daily Life

This post about a penchant for self-diagnosis while researching and writing about mental illness is as timely now as 4 years ago when it first appeared.This week I’m preparing to speak about mental illness at our church on Sunday. No wonder this post, written four years ago this month while doing research for a book on PTSD in children, caught my eye. This post is as apropos now as it was then.

The Danger of Self-Delusion

During January and February, my days were consumed with research for a new book proposal about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in kids. Consequently, I learned just enough about several mental illnesses to endanger my own state of mind. All this new information sent me into a tizzy of worry and self-diagnosis, resulting in the following list:

  1. The great pleasure I find in the order and symmetry of the picture above is a sure sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
  2. My penchant for list making could be another sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or it could be a coping mechanism I employ to hide early onset Alzheimer’s.
  3. I probably have an eating disorder because one of the marks of an eating disorder is obsessively thinking about food. And I think of food at least three times a day, sometimes more.
  4. Kids can be traumatized in many ways, and one of them must have happened to me during childhood so I must have PTSD.
  5. Taking out all the garbage, cleaning the bathrooms, doing the laundry, and emptying the dishwasher before going on vacation points to a yet undiscovered, reverse housecleaning phobia which I hope they name “Philophobia” after me.
  6. The desire to name a mental illness after myself pretty much proves I have a  narcissistic complex.
  7. All this worrying about having a mental illness points to an anxiety disorder, don’t you think?

Believe me, that list is only the tip of the mental illness iceberg. If everything I’ve self-diagnosed was on that list, you’d think I was crazy. But I’m not.

8.  Time to add self-delusion to the list.

California Dreaming

California Dreaming

by | Mar 28, 2014 | Out and About

mental health and the church

I’ve been California dreaming, packing, and preparing for a quick trip west all week long. Today, I’m attending a conference about Mental Health and the Church hosted at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest. It runs from 8:30 AM – 9:00 PM (PST), so there’s no time to blog.

But you can find out what’s going on because the conference is being live-streamed. For more information, visit the Mental Health and the Church website or click on the image above.

So long until Monday, when I’ll be California recuperating!

The Danger of Self-Diagnosis

The Danger of Self-Diagnosis

by | Feb 27, 2012 | Daily Life

During January and February, my days were consumed with research for a new book proposal about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in kids. Consequently, I learned just enough about several mental illnesses to endanger my own state of mind. All this new information sent me into a tizzy of worry and self-diagnosis, resulting in the following list:

  1. The great pleasure I find in the order and symmetry of the picture above is a sure sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
  2. My penchant for list making could be another sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or it could be a coping mechanism I employ to hide early onset Alzheimer’s.
  3. I probably have an eating disorder because one of the marks of an eating disorder is obsessively thinking about food. And I think of food at least three times a day, sometimes more.
  4. Kids can be traumatized in many ways, and one of them must have happened to me during childhood so I must have PTSD.
  5. Taking out all the garbage, cleaning the bathrooms, doing the laundry, and emptying the dishwasher before going on vacation points to a yet undiscovered, reverse housecleaning phobia which I hope they name “Philophobia” after me.
  6. The desire to name a mental illness after myself pretty much proves I have a  narcissistic complex.
  7. All this worrying about having a mental illness points to an anxiety disorder, don’t you think?

Believe me, that list is only the tip of the mental illness iceberg. If everything I’ve self-diagnosed was on that list, you’d think I was crazy. But I’m not.

8.  Time to add self-delusion to the list.

 

Traumatized Children Impact Families

Traumatized Children Impact Families

by | Apr 20, 2010 | Reviews

The story of Justin Hansen, the Russian boy who was returned to his native country by his adoptive mother Torry Hansen, is receiving intense media scrutiny. But the general public will probably never learn the entire story. Even if the whole truth comes out, could the mother’s explanation excuse her actions?  Though the Hansens don’t live in a perfect world, couldn’t they have found a better solution to their problem?

Let’s face it. A whole passel of problems accompany the adoption of traumatized, orphaned children, whether they come from abroad or the United States. At the very least, they have abandonment issues to address and sort through. Depending on the level of care they received after being given up by their parents, they may have experienced much more – neglect, sexual or physical abuse, invasive medical treatment – which can lead to attachment disorders, PTSD, and other serious mental illnesses.

For too long, the adoption community has ignored these problems, suggesting that a stable home and loving parents will magically heal adopted children. But recent research shows that most children need intentional mental health treatment to help them recover. And for parents to persevere, they need an encouraging, deep support system populated by faithful friends, accepting family, compassionate teachers, perceptive therapists, and experienced health care professionals surrounding them. I don’t know what kind of support system the Hansens had, but obviously it wasn’t encouraging and deep enough!

If you want to learn more about what it can be like to adopt and parent a child who’s been severely traumatized, you should read Jayne Schooler’s new book, Wounded Children, Healing Homes. (NavPress, 2010) She realistically addresses the issues faced by foster and adoptive parents and their children. She even admits the truth. Not all adoptions work. In rare cases, the child’s needs are so great they threaten the whole family. The adopted child must leave, though not alone on an airplane with a note pinned to his shirt.

For information about how to help traumatized children heal, Peter Levine’s book Trauma Through the Eyes of a Child has techniques for parents to use and advice about when to seek professional help. But for the quickest, most effective treatment available, visit www.traumatherapy.us to learn about the Intensive Trauma Therapy Institute’s treatment model.

Remember, Justin Hansen’s story is the exception, not the rule. With resources like those listed above and by developing better support systems, maybe we can keep other families from making similar, desperate choices so detrimental to their children.