exisdential

Dentist.PgDip Healthcare Ethics and Law. Pursuing career in Psychotherapy. Interests in psychological wellbeing for dentists/doctors. Love Film/Art.

[exisdential @exisdential]

An excerpt below from the brilliant ‘Personality Syndromes’ paper by @JonathanShedler

(reference https://t.co/T8BwVxUhHX )

I think about this often, and it really gets to the heart of what it’s all about. I’m in the infancy of my career in this field,but this is central 4me.

[Daily Stoic @dailystoic]

Psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais On The Problem With Stoicism

[exisdential @exisdential]

Mental health X is wild!……..but learned a lot about myself based upon my reactions to views expressed and comments made.
It’s a useful exercise to understand why you react in certain ways, we aren’t always aware of our own cognitive processing and subsequent behaviours!
Often ways of reacting are legacies of the past, which are now maladaptive and now hinder progress in all life domains!

[cinesthetic. @TheCinesthetic]

Björk, 1994

[exisdential @exisdential]

@grok Math basic and coding very minimal…want to learn though.

[exisdential @exisdential]

@grok what are the most sought after skills for the future, and what will be the most in demand jobs.

[exisdential @exisdential]

@grok Best introductory courses to take for A.I./Machine Learning?

[Maria Popova @themarginalian]

“If you can fall in love again and again… if you can forgive as well as forget, if you can keep from growing sour, surly, bitter and cynical… you’ve got it half licked.”

Henry Miller, who died on this day in 1980, on the measure of a life well lived: https://t.co/Mm7yb4asY5

[exisdential @exisdential]

I’m training as a psychotherapist but have worked as a dentist for 20 years, and have regularly seen manifestations of mental illness/disorder amongst patients. Paranoia, anxiety, dysthymia, body dysmorphia and much more.
What fascinates me looking in from the outside on the mental illness debate, is that how can one possibly say there is one overriding factor that is contributing to an individuals distress, I have seen people who have self managed debilitating OCD for years, without meds/therapy. Whilst others have managed existential distress manifesting as depressive symptoms, through prayer and self transcendent experiences, and others who have openly felt a new lease of life through taking medication for bipolar disorder and others who have disclosed schizophrenia to me, and have had excellent support in the community and with psychiatry, plus the vast swathes of people who have struggled with multiple major life events, but continue to function and have relied on philosophy or a social support network or the arts or nature to get through things, others meanwhile suffer in silence living a life of quiet desperation , and others maintain high function through achievements (work, family duties etc) yet they struggle with themselves, coping through busyness etc, solitude to them is not a psychological balm but a painful confrontation with themselves. There are so many examples of the complexity of mental disorder, not to mention the physical manifestations which are not always discussed that can diminish quality of life.

The purpose of this post is that the complicated interplay between genetics, our early life environment (social, physical environment, attachment patterns) shapes a lot, but isn’t deterministic of our overall life path, plus how small changes can have outsized effects (exercise for example). The best mental health clinicians understand how complicated things are, and understand somewhat the individual in front of them separate from the thousands of others they have seen previously, in this way they provide bespoke treatment for that individual, they tend to have a broader perspective on human distress and yes at times medication may be part of it, and may well be for a period of time. They also have an appreciation of art, film, poetry, our environment and how it shapes our reality, and how this can help alleviate suffering.

Mental distress is immensely complicated, and clinicians have to make decisions every single day weighing up a multitude of factors.
As in Dentistry with me I have to weigh up materials, age, aesthetic and functional demands etc, clinicians in mental health (infinitely more difficult than dentistry) have to similarly decide what is best for that patient at that time based upon the situation, and have to some extent forecast what may happen if they treat or not treat.

Anyone who says mental health distress is due to just one thing, is not serving the patient well.

Anyways that’s me done with my stream of consciousness!!

[Satchin Panda @SatchinPanda]

Spending time in nature (even virtual nature) is more than a pleasant escape. A meta-analysis spanning 3,870 studies and >10 million participants found that nature-based interventions reduce anxiety, depression, stress, and heart rate while boosting positive mood and relaxation. 🌿 #MentalHealth #NatureMedicine #Wellbeing
https://t.co/1uvnocfyOO

[exisdential @exisdential]

Perhaps you can see why I reacted to the term 'contributing personality factors, which implies that depression is separable from the personality dynamics that fuel it.

@JonathanShedler in the book ‘Conversations in Critical Psychiatry’ by @awaisaftab (2 of my fave writers!)

[Maria Popova @themarginalian]

Carl Jung, who died on this day in 1961, on how to live https://t.co/4DMIPnYhcM

[exisdential @exisdential]

Perhaps you can see why I reacted to the term 'contributing personality factors, which implies that depression is separable from the personality dynamics that fuel it.

@JonathanShedler in the book ‘Conversations in Critical Psychiatry’ by @awaisaftab (2 of my fave writers!)

[exisdential @exisdential]

Hi all! Would like some recommendations on quality Substack accounts on all things mental health/psychology/psychiatry etc…….oh and also anything related to film too! Thanks!

[Jim Beattie @JimBeattie18]

"A single sunbeam
is enough to drive
away many shadows"
(St Francis of Assisi)
•
Artist : Annie Remich.

[Allen Frances @AllenFrancesMD]

Steve's optimism is right on- self-destructive perfectionism is one of the best targets of psychotherapy. Learning that the excellent is the enemy of the good enough brings liberation from that punishing inner voice. Repeated 'corrective emotional experiences' seal the deal.

[exisdential @exisdential]

@Lovandfear What wasn’t said.

[Karim Wafa-Al Hussaini @DrKarimWafa]

Reading books is dangerous because books slow the mind down enough to notice how unnatural modern society actually is.

[✒️ @Literariium]

— Simone de Beauvoir

[exisdential @exisdential]

Disappointing result last night, but seeing the streets of North London in the red and white of #Arsenal is quite something #coyg

[exisdential @exisdential]

Inside 'The Odyssey,' Christopher Nolan's Most Epic Movie Yet

Great interview with director Christopher Nolan, ahead of ‘The Odyssey’ release on July 17th! https://t.co/VVJyLpf3H9