Shrink-o-Matic

The Drama of Human Neuroses: When Every Little Thing Matters

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Jan 15, 2009

Sign of the Times

Posted by Bella

Researching specific neurotic behaviors, I accidentally came across an article in Time Magazine stating, "In general, more highly developed personalities tend to develop neurotic quirks, more primitive personalities to go really crazy." Uh uh, they did not just say that! Time magazine qualified mental disorders as "crazy"? Is this a joke? Who wrote this? In my search for the un-PC (politically incorrect) author's name, I caught the date of the article: April 15, 1935. Oh, ok, that makes more sense. 1935. And on Tax day, too!

What fascinated me about this article is not only its elementary psychological language ("crazy"?) but its explanation of what psychotherapy means. Nowadays, there is hardly anyone alive who doesn't know what therapy is all about: to some, it's for the "crazies," and to the rest, it's a way of life! In either case, therapy is a staple of the medical field and neuroses don't even begin to describe the disorders that can creep out from the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) into your medical chart.


But at the end of the day, what does it all come down to? Do people today still uphold the ignorant stigma that psychotherapy/psychology is only for the "crazy"? You betcha! However, ignorance of the field aside, I admit I got a chuckle out of the Time magazine article. After all, according to that, my neurotic quirks are not only not bad, but a sign of a highly developed personality! In other words, if you're intellectually evolved, you're likely neurtoic. Otherwise, sorry - you so crazy!

How un-PC is that? And yet, I'm laughing.

Is that so very wrong?

Jan 2, 2009

Feast or Famine?

Posted by Bella

After such a lengthy absence from my blog, I'm back with a vengeance - two blogs in two days! I wow myself. ;)

But this is a typical behavior pattern for me. I actually believe myself nearly incapable of doing anything halfway: it's an ALL or NOTHING scenario here. This kind of behavior is somewhat compulsive and is one hairline away from being obsessive-compulsive in nature, but it's also one punctuation away from being dysfunctional. A fine balancing act, don't you think?

For instance, I was suffering from serious guilt for over-eating during the recent holidays, so instead of modifying my eating habits, I took it to the other extreme and didn't eat much but crackers for two days. Today, however, when a nice box of 6 (six), large, chocolate-dipped fortune cookies was delivered to my home from my attorney, I couldn't resist but eat one...or six. Initially, I put the cookies away in the pantry, determined to give them away or eat one every few weeks. However, by the time I'm done writing this blog...I will have eaten the entire box of cookies. I feel as if I've morphed into the Cookie Monster.

Yes, it was an unhealthy feast, alright, but it was so difficult to resist the (compulsive)urge. Okay, maybe I didn't try all that hard to resist. Like a scene straight out of "Alice in Wonderland," the cookies called my name, whispering "eat me". I did; oh, did I ever. Regardless, the guilt has set in once more.

How many of us exhibit compulsive behaviors in other areas of our lives? Clearly, eating is a big yo-yo struggle for many with a feast/famine pattern (and it is also the making of eating disorders). But what about love/hate patterns seen in a romantic relationships? Or excessive exercising versus doing the couch potato? Add to that the hourly compulsion to check email, or repeatedly log into popular social-networking sites, like Facebook or MySpace, and you have the making of a very neurotic generation of people.

Feast or famine themes seem more common in people's lives than most realize. And in a twisted fashion, since most of us suffer from one or another form of obsessive/compulsive behavior, it seems to "normalize" the existences of dysfunctional behavior in the rest of us: "Oh go ahead, have that extra cookie! We all do it!" Sure, but at what cost?

Then again, misery loves company...they say.

Jan 1, 2009

Happy New Year!

Posted by Bella


Firstly, I want to wish all of you a very happy 2009. May this year be the one where all your wishes come true.

I also want to thank all my readers for your wonderful support of my blog, and for guilting me into once again picking up my cyber-pen and addressing more neurotic thoughts.

Thirdly, I hope everyone is enjoying this first day of the New Year, now that the hula balu of Hanukkah/Christmas/New Year's Eve has worn off and reality is starting to set in in the form of: outrageous credit card bills, weight gain, and the most holiday-free time of the year.

Let's say it together: Hooray for January 1st!