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Psychiatrists Draw Parallel Between Bitterness, Mental Illness
I thought this article was VERY interesting. The first few paragraphs appears below....
5/19/2009, 3:25 p.m. PDT Los Angeles Times
The Associated Press (AP) — We all know them, and, increasingly, psychiatrists know them: People who feel they have been wronged by someone and are so bitter they can barely function other than to ruminate about their circumstances.
This behavior is so common -- and so deeply destructive -- that some psychiatrists are urging it be identified as a mental illness under the name post-traumatic embitterment disorder. The behavior was discussed before an enthusiastic audience Monday at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association meeting in San Francisco.
The disorder is modeled after post-traumatic stress disorder because it too is a response to a trauma that endures. People with PTSD are left fearful and anxious. Embittered people, however, are left seething for revenge.
"They feel the world has treated them unfairly. It's one step more complex than anger. They're angry plus helpless," says Dr. Michael Linden, a German psychiatrist who named the behavior.
Embittered people are typically good people who have worked hard at something important, such as a job or a relationship or activity, Linden says. When something unexpectedly awful happens -- they don't get the promotion, the wife files for divorce or they fail to make the Olympic team -- a profound sense of injustice overtakes them.
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The article goes on to say that such folks can not "let go" of these bitter feelings and continue their lives in this "hopeless" and "hateful" state.
Some estimate 1 to 2 percent of the population are "embittered."
Additionally, folks who were once kind and loving, but suffer an unfair experience and become bitter, might suffer from post-traumatic embitterment syndrome.
THOUGHTS????
I thought this article was VERY interesting. The first few paragraphs appears below....
5/19/2009, 3:25 p.m. PDT Los Angeles Times
The Associated Press (AP) — We all know them, and, increasingly, psychiatrists know them: People who feel they have been wronged by someone and are so bitter they can barely function other than to ruminate about their circumstances.
This behavior is so common -- and so deeply destructive -- that some psychiatrists are urging it be identified as a mental illness under the name post-traumatic embitterment disorder. The behavior was discussed before an enthusiastic audience Monday at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association meeting in San Francisco.
The disorder is modeled after post-traumatic stress disorder because it too is a response to a trauma that endures. People with PTSD are left fearful and anxious. Embittered people, however, are left seething for revenge.
"They feel the world has treated them unfairly. It's one step more complex than anger. They're angry plus helpless," says Dr. Michael Linden, a German psychiatrist who named the behavior.
Embittered people are typically good people who have worked hard at something important, such as a job or a relationship or activity, Linden says. When something unexpectedly awful happens -- they don't get the promotion, the wife files for divorce or they fail to make the Olympic team -- a profound sense of injustice overtakes them.
------------------------
The article goes on to say that such folks can not "let go" of these bitter feelings and continue their lives in this "hopeless" and "hateful" state.
Some estimate 1 to 2 percent of the population are "embittered."
Additionally, folks who were once kind and loving, but suffer an unfair experience and become bitter, might suffer from post-traumatic embitterment syndrome.
THOUGHTS????
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