Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! This is the fourth episode in a series about Depressive Personality Disorder, with a focus on treating the condition. We will talk about the importance of framing, countertransference reactions, and some comments on important goals. I end with a metaphor, should it be helpful.Note: This episode is more targeted at mental health providers, although it may be informative and curiosity-provoking for non-providers and consumers. Regardless, none of the content should be interpreted as medical advice, nor should it be used as a treatment guide. Please be mindful of this when listening.

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! Today we are talking about chronic depression and Depressive Personality Disorder. This is the third episode in the series, with a focus on what constitutes normal versus abnormal development. I begin by discussing the universality of depression, shift to potential signs of dysthymic, depressive personalities, discuss the ever-present dilemma of nature versus nurture, and end with a few notes on mediating variables.

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! Today we are talking about chronic depression and Depressive Personality Disorder. This is the second episode in the series, with a focus on subtypes of the personality disorder... well... sorta. As I discuss in the episode: depressive personalities, in my opinion, represent a pretty far-reaching and common aspects of our personalities. With that, it feels more difficult to list out defined and refined subtypes. I do the best I can, offering a few psychodynamically-informed theories, followed by two important differentials or "offshoots" of sorts: masochism/self-defeating personalities and the hypomanic defense.

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! Today is the first episode in a series about Depressive Personality Disorder, a since-eliminated diagnosis from our diagnostic manual but one that has existed in prior versions for some time. I will begin by discussing the differentiation from and - in my opinion - overlap with Dysthymia/Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD), followed by a diving into the diagnostic features in (a) prior versions of the DSM and (b) psychodynamic theory via the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM).CLARIFICATIONIt's worth mentioning that both mood AND somatic symptoms could help differentiate Dysthymia from Depressive Personality Disorder, but I would still argue we're talking about a similar underlying problem that simply presents differently across people.KEY QUOTE"Our current field focuses on a medicalized understanding of depression."

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! This is the fourth episode in a series about dependency and Dependent Personality Disorder, with a focus on treating the condition. We will talk about countertransference, ideologies that risk missing serious problems with dependency (linked to gender), and the general process/goal in the treatment process. This episode is more targeted at mental health providers, although it may be informative and curiosity-provoking for non-providers and consumers. Regardless, none of the content should be interpreted as medical advice, nor should it be used as a treatment guide. Please be mindful of this when watching.

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! This is the third episode in a series about Dependent Personality Disorder, with a focus on the development of the condition, including both how one might differentiate normal versus abnormal levels of dependency, as well as the "nature" and "nurture" that might contribute to abnormal levels. Spoiler alert: like all personality-related conditions, we are not really sure how precisely unhealthy levels of dependency develop. That is, we have a good idea of what all might contribute, but there is no one "path" towards the personality disorder. We will also briefly talk about the potential influence of culture on the notion of "dependency."

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! This is the second episode in a series about Dependent Personality Disorder, with a focus on subtypes of the personality disorder. As I mention in this episode, the subtypes are somewhat restricted, with one (Passive Aggressive subtype) being more of an extension of traditional Dependent Personalities, whereas the other (Counterdependent subtype) represents the exact opposite of traditional Dependent Personalities. With that, I begin the episode by differentiating passive aggressive behavior in more traditional versus subtype-worthy presentations of dependency. Finally, contrary to other personality disorder series, I will intertwine comments about things like gender and age/generation throughout.

Welcome to A Psychologist Talks! Today we are talking about Dependent Personality Disorder. This is the first episode in a series about Dependency, with a focus on key elements of this personality, ranging from diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual to how psychodynamic theory can aide in conceptualization.