NAMI Mercer County

Families Meeting the Challenge of Mental Illness

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The Object of All Desires

By

Bella Santulli, NAMI Intern

The definition of obsession is: an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind. In some lights, obsession can be beautiful–a devotion to a routine, a person, an object of desire, and others–the mere actions of making you whole again are also tearing you apart. To have someone kneel to your every want and emotional satisfaction while their gloom spreads over their heart. To twist the doorknob three times before opening, so the doors in your mind will not collapse around you. But how far does that insatiable light extend? What are the connotations attached to the extent of our illness that consumes our souls? 

In the realm of psychopathology, or mental health disorders, obsessions frequently look like fears about becoming contaminated by things, aggressive impulses that one fears acting on, thoughts about keeping things in order, doubts about whether something happened or is true, or sudden and intrusive sexual thoughts. As you might imagine, given the content of these thoughts, they are frequently experienced as upsetting, especially by people with diagnoses of obsessive-compulsive disorder or an anxiety disorder. 

While people with certain mental health disorders experience more frequent, long-lasting, and distressing obsessive thoughts than people without mental health disorders do, most people–as many as 90% of adults in the general population–report that they have had obsessive thoughts at least once. These obsessive thoughts tend to be similar in their nature to the obsessive thoughts of people with OCD or anxiety, but just not as intense and difficult to learn to cope with. For this reason, psychologists think of obsessive thoughts as existing on a spectrum from relatively harmless to extremely distressing or impairing.  

I find the stigma surrounding obsessions an interesting study due to the particular standards we uphold as a society. Why is it that obsessing over your craft or work in attaining greed, fame, or pleasure is deemed acceptable, but it is “weird” or you are framed as a “geek” if you have obsessions about special interests or comic books? I have always been seen as a nerd/geek since my younger years. Whether through my obsessions with the Marvel Universe, the genre of horror, or my love of reading, there have always been those comments that have spread into my life. I believe it is essential to ask ourselves why we always look to judge others when we should be looking at ourselves. Because in the end, we never know what someone else is going through or what thoughts corrupt our minds. 

Compulsions are repeated behaviors aimed at dealing with obsessive or intrusive thoughts. Obsessions differ from compulsions, but they often go hand in hand–some obsessions may even cause people to develop compulsions. However, compulsions can take on obsessive or extreme intensity. For example, here are some common examples of compulsions:

  • Reiterating the notion that you cannot hurt anyone—by removing all knives from your kitchen
  • Making sure appliances are turned off multiple times
  • Checking if doors and windows are locked various times before leaving home
  • Checking your body to make sure you don’t have physical symptoms
  • Reviewing or going over events or conversations that have happened

Sometimes, people develop compulsions because they feel they can keep negative things from happening by taking these compulsive actions.

The National Library of Medicine proposes that obsessions are caused by catastrophic misinterpretations of the significance of one’s thoughts (images, impulses). These obsessions will persist as long as these misinterpretations continue and diminish when the misinterpretations are weakened. On the contrary, weakening or eliminating these misinterpretations is expected to lead to a reduction in the intensity and frequency of obsessions. I recommend taking a look at a fellow NAMI Intern’s blog, Angelina Villalva, specifically the Observing OCD Post that outlines obsession in OCD and how to cope with intrusive thoughts. Additionally, multiple toolkits outline resources, help, and coping strategies for living with OCD/intrusive thoughts.  

Book of the Week: The Secret History by Donna Tartt 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt explores the psychological unraveling of a close-knit group of classics students at an elite college, driven by intellectual elitism and a growing obsession with beauty, power, and control. As their fixation deepens, moral boundaries dissolve, illustrating how obsession can distort reality and lead to destructive consequences—echoing the these themes of psychological fixation. “I am nothing in my soul if not obsessive.”

Resources

  • NAMI Mercer Helpline Phone Number: 609-799-8994 x17
  • NAMI Mercer Helpline Email: helpline@namimercer.org
  • https://iocdf.org/ocd-finding-help/other-resources/

References 

  • VanDerBill, Brittany. “The Psychology behind Obsessions.” Psych Central, 8 Apr. 2022, psychcentral.com/ocd/psychology-of-obsessions.
  • Rachman S. A cognitive theory of obsessions. Behav Res Ther. 1997 Sep;35(9):793-802. doi: 10.1016/s0005-7967(97)00040-5. PMID: 9299799.

Supporting Schizophrenia

By

Angelina Villalva, NAMI Intern

This summer I’ll be going into my third year of college, and when I reminisce on what it was like going into my first year, I can still remember how much more stressful it was to be starting out than to be returning. For a lot of incoming college students, their minds are teeming with anxiety for a million things at once. If you list it all out, you have to balance the pressure of taking harder classes, learning how to get to those classes, trying (and slightly failing) at making friends, joining clubs, learning the campus layout, living with a roommate, and maybe figure out who you are and what you’re doing with the rest of your life. All at 18. And a month after high school graduation. 

With all of those things bouncing around, the very last thing that any freshman would ever expect or be prepared for is to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. 

To clarify, I did not get diagnosed with schizophrenia. However, it would come as a surprise to many that schizophrenia has a track record of appearing amongst college students. Does this mean that all college students are prone to developing schizophrenia? No, not at all, in fact schizophrenia affects only 1% of the U.S. population. So, while the numbers might not be super small, they aren’t super large either. Nonetheless, it is still important to be aware of the symptoms and the signs of developing schizophrenia, especially since it arises in college students who may not have experienced or had the space to focus on their mental health. 

Most people are familiar with the basic overview of schizophrenia. We think of characters like Norman Bates and Donnie Darko, deeply disturbed and deeply affected by their deluded perceptions. In the movie Shutter Island, Andrew Laeddis/Teddy Daniels is stuck in a never-ending loop of psychosis, constantly tormented by his own head. While it is true that individuals afflicted with schizophrenia commonly deal with hallucinations and disorganized thinking, it is deeply ignorant to say that they are dangerous or that they are unable to be treated. 

Symptoms of schizophrenia are commonly grouped into 3 kinds: positive, negative, and disorganized. Positive symptoms refer to things that are abnormally present in an individuals life, while negative symptoms refer to things that are abnormally absent. Disorganized symptoms generally reflect behaviors and perceptions that are confused or disordered. 

Positive Symptoms: 

  • Hallucinations (hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, or feeling things that are not there) 
  • Delusions (fixed false beliefs that are held despite clear evidence that they are not true) 

Negative Symptoms: 

  • Lack of appropriate affect (unexpressive face, flat affect)
  • Poor motivation
  • Social withdrawal 

Disorganized Symptoms: 

  • Disorganized speech (word salad, loose associations) 
  • Unpredictable or inappropriate emotional response
  • Behaviors that appear bizarre

Schizophrenia tends to run in families, but others are prone to developing schizophrenia if they have one or more of these risk factors: 

  • Life experiences (living in poverty, stress, or danger)
  • Pregnancy and birth issues
  • Taking psychoactive/psychotropic drugs as a teen or young adult

Depending on the symptoms displayed, the severity of treatment may differ between individuals with schizophrenia. Typically, treatments involve a combination of both antipsychotic medication and psychosocial interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy. 

Stigma still persists among individuals afflicted with this disorder. As I stated earlier, schizophrenia is not dangerous. There are treatments available, and just as it is with any mental health disorder, the earlier it is addressed and the more support given, the better people tend to fare. 

As I’ve gone through these 12 weeks of posting, it has become more and more obvious that whether you are afflicted with a mental health disorder or not, whether you know someone who is or not, simply showing up and spreading kindness can go a long way. We don’t always need to understand to show support, and simply being a good listener can take someone from hurting to healing. 

I leave you for the last time with this final quote, a text sent to me today from one of my closest friends.

“We are all living this life together, and I’m so happy that we can be with each other and support each other through the ups and the downs.” 

Resources:

Citations: 

Processing PTSD

By

Angelina Villalva, NAMI Intern

Last Monday, I got into a car accident. I was driving home from my internship at NAMI, when suddenly I found myself sitting in a smoking car, wondering why I decided to get out of bed that day. My car ended up being totaled, and despite my insistence that I was uninjured, my family sent me to the hospital to get checked out. I was very lucky to have no major injury, and to be able to keep going on with my life as usual. 

Occasionally, I find myself thinking back to that moment of the crash. I can see the moment frame by frame– the sound of metal crunching and scraping, the smell of the smoke filling my car, the warm feeling of the airbag as it pressed against my chest. Although brief, that moment still takes up space in my day. I sometimes feel my hands start to sweat and my chest tighten when cars pass me by, and even the thought of driving back home is enough to make me nervous. 

These experiences are clearly a direct result of experiencing a traumatic event, but it is not to be confused with having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Commonly when we think of PTSD, we think of veterans, people who have seen and experienced things that the average person cannot understand. However, PTSD can arise from numerous types of traumatic events, including car accidents.

The next question that arises is then, what separates a traumatic event from PTSD? Why is one response to a car accident not considered PTSD, but another might be? The difference in discerning trauma responses, and therefore a separate disorder, from PTSD lies in longevity. 

Typically individuals experiencing PTSD have symptoms that can last for months or years, and greatly impair their ability to function daily. These symptoms can appear within the first 3 months after a traumatic event, but they may not appear until years later. But if these symptoms last more than 1 month and cause major issues in daily life, it may point towards PTSD. 

Symptoms are usually grouped into 4 types: intrusion, avoidance, changes in cognition and mood, and changes in arousal and reactivity. 

Intrusion: 

  • Involuntary thoughts 
  • Repeated memories
  • Distressing dreams
  • Flashbacks

Avoidance: 

  • Avoiding people, places, activities, objects, and situations that might trigger memories
  • Avoiding remembering or thinking about the traumatic event
  • Avoid resist talking about what happened
  • Avoid talking about how they feel 

Changes in Cognition and Mood: 

  • Low mood
  • Inability to feel happiness
  • Lack of interest in activities they used to enjoy
  • May have trouble with memory 
  • Ongoing fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame
  • Detached or estranged from others

Changes in Arousal and Reactivity: 

  • Having angry outbursts
  • Behaving recklessly 
  • Behaving self-destructive way
  • Being overly watchful of their surroundings
  • Being easily startled
  • Having problems concentrating or sleeping

Not everyone who experiences traumatic events develops PTSD. There are several other disorders that may present similar to PTSD, including acute stress, adjustment disorder, disinhibited social engagement disorder, or reactive attachment disorder. In the U.S., about 4% of U.S. adults and 8% of adolescents are diagnosed with PTSD. While the causes of PTSD may vary in each individuals, those with the following risk factors are more likely to develop the disorder: 

  • Prior history of trauma
  • Childhood adversity
  • Member of a marginalized group
  • Immigrant status

Treatments for PTSD will vary depending on the severity of the symptoms. Occasionally, symptoms of PTSD may subside and lessen over time. For individuals with more severe and persistent symptoms of PTSD, treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medications for comorbid disorders like depression may be used in combination. 

Recovering from any traumatic event, whether it results in PTSD or not, requires strong support. If you, or someone you know, is going through struggles related to trauma, it is important to reach out. Rely on the people around you, and share in your struggles together. If you don’t have someone to rely on, find local resources in the community. No one should be alone in their emotions and thoughts, and know that no struggle is too small or too big, you are worth it. 

Resources:

Citations: 

Observing OCD

By

Angelina Villalva, NAMI Intern

Have you ever entered a space and felt something was off? Perhaps it’s a slightly off-centered painting in a living room. Or some books haphazardly placed on a shelf without order. Sometimes it’s not even a space, but a thing, looking in the mirror and seeing that you have one hoodie string that is ever so-slightly longer than the other. 

While small, almost imperceptible to anyone else, to you these details scream out that something is markedly incorrect, and needs to be fixed immediately. To other people, these things may not matter, but for someone who strives for absolute perfection, it is imperative to have things the right way. As my mother liked to tell me growing up, “a place for everything and everything in its place.” 

Some may call it obnoxious, while others may call it obsessive. Most will say it is a clear sign of OCD, a Type A person who needs to have their whole life orderly and refined, all the way down to the laces on their shoes. 

The truth is, OCD is not as simple as needing to organize and keep things clean. It is distressing, and takes control over people’s lives in a way that causes them extreme anxiety and in some cases, physical harm. 

While exaggerated, it is true to some extent that individuals diagnosed with OCD may have issues with cleanliness and organization. However, this is not just due to a simple need to have things perfectionistic, but from feelings and thoughts referred to as obsessions and compulsions (which of course come together to an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). 

Obsessions consist of lasting and unwanted thoughts that keep recurring. These unwanted thoughts are similar to intrusive thoughts, often relating to fears and horrible imaginations that can completely take over your headspace. Some common themes of obsessions include: 

  • Fear of contamination or dirt
  • Having a hard time dealing with uncertainty
  • Needing things to be orderly or balanced
  • aggressive/horrific thoughts about harming yourself/others
  • Unwanted thoughts including aggression, sexual, or religious subjects

These obsessions then lead into compulsions, repetitive behaviors that are meant to reduce anxiety related to the obsessions. Compulsions are sometimes referred to as rituals, as individuals who have these compulsions often partake in them at specific times and must be completed in a specific way. While meant to reduce the anxiety of obsessions, compulsions often result in no pleasure and provide limited relief from the obsessions. Common themes of compulsions may be: 

  • Washing and cleaning
  • Checking
  • Counting
  • Ordering
  • Following strict routine
  • Demanding reassurance

Compared to obsessions, compulsions can result in physical harm. For example, obsessions revolving around cleanliness and contamination of germs can result in having compulsions of hand-washing until skin becomes raw. If an individual with OCD does not complete these compulsions, they will fear something bad may happen to themselves or the people around them (friends/family). 

Currently 1-2% of people in the US are affected by OCD. Anyone can be affected, although the average age onset is around 19 years. Causes of OCD can occur due to childhood trauma, genetics (family heredity), brain changes (damage to frontal cortex and subcortical structures) and PANDAS syndrome. 

Treatments for OCD include several types of therapy and medication. The three types of therapy treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure and response prevention (ERP), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).

  • CBT → helps to examine and understand thoughts/emotions
  • ERP → helps to expose individuals to feared situations 
  • ACT → helps to learn to accept obsessive thoughts as just thoughts and take power away from them

Current medication for OCD are SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). There are several types of SSRIs, and it is important to consult with a doctor to determine which one may be the right treatment for you or someone you know. When taking medication for OCD, it often takes 6-12 weeks to see improvement, so it’s important to allow for time for the medication to work. 

OCD is a lifelong condition. Similar to most other mental health conditions, ensuring that you take care of both your physical health and mental health will allow for the most influential positive change. Participation and support of others in treatment such as friends and family may improve the likelihood of treatment success. 

For anyone who is living with OCD, always remember that your struggles are not small. Your fears are not silly.  It is okay to receive help and support. And you will be able to take back control of your life. QOTD by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.” 

Resources:

Citations: 

Pages of Peace

By

Bella Santulli, NAMI Intern

I live, breathe, and love characters across a vast spectrum of worlds. From letters of passion from the soul by Jane Austen to a character stricken with mad obsession and loyalty to his craft of scents by Patrick Suskind, I find myself in love with knowing the ins and outs of thousands of stories. The words inked on the page shape a movie in my mind and deepen themselves in the grounds of my memory, where I find new perspectives on society and myself, a changed person. Not only do I enjoy reading literary fiction, classics, and horror, among other genres, but I also find the colossal impact on my mental health to be full of benefits: and so does science. 
Studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have demonstrated that reading is a complex task that engages various brain regions. 

  • Temporal lobe → which is responsible for phonological awareness and for decoding/ discriminating sounds
  • Broca’s area → in the frontal lobe, which governs speech production and language comprehension
  • Angular and supramarginal gyrus → links different parts of the brain so that letter shapes can be put together to form words.

By observing changes to blood flow, researchers can see that reading stimulates the brain’s neural pathways. This stimulation enhances brain activity, memory and cognitive function — ultimately boosting your creativity and expanding your capacity to learn. Additionally, I find the benefits to my emotional health & the capacity of my emotions increased from reading. Books can make you feel a scope of emotions, from pure joy, and surprise to fear, anger, or skepticism. Experiencing this variety of emotions helps to build your resilience and ability to face difficult situations & dilemmas. Furthermore, reading can help develop empathy and foster connections with others by learning about diverse experiences/cultures through storytelling. Not only does reading provide immense emotional health benefits there are multiple other mental health advantages as well. 

  • Stress relief: Speaking of stress relief, immersing yourself in the captivating world of books can help lower your heart rate and relax your muscles. Books are also a healthy way to help you compartmentalize when you focus on a story instead of a stressful event.
  • Cognitive health: Reading enhances your critical thinking skills and creativity. It also broadens your vocabulary, boosts your knowledge and stimulates your imagination.
  • Entertainment: There are many options for entertainment especially with digital devices and streaming services making shows, movies, music and podcasts more accessible now than ever before. Some of you may not consider books a form of entertainment, but they certainly can be. Books can make us laugh, cry, and create intrigue and excitement. Being entertained also has positive health benefits, including the release of endorphins in the brain. These feel-good hormones help you relax, manage pain, and relieve stress.
  • Social Engagement: Engaging with the world of books can enrich your social life. Staying social has significant benefits, including preventing isolation, which is a risk factor for depression and dementia.

Not only are there mental health benefits, but physical as well. Studies show that reading can help relax the body by lowering heart rate and easing muscle tension, with a reduction in stress of up to 68% in people who silently read a literary work for just six minutes. This results in an overall lower blood pressure and improved sleep quality. Similarly, researchers have found that, compared to using social media, reading helps improve concentration by increasing the capacity for longer attention spans. This can be particularly helpful for those who struggle with concentration or identify as neurodivergent. 

Especially with the rise of A.I. (Artificial Intelligence), it is critical to centralize physical media in our lives. A new study from MIT is raising concerns about how A.I. affects learning and how convenience may come at a cost to your brain. This study examined essay writing across three groups: individuals using AI, a search engine, or their own brainpower. The last group, with no tools at all, showed the most potent brain activity and better memory recall. They were followed by search engine users, and in last place, people relying on AI, who displayed a decline in neural connectivity, which can eventually lead to brain atrophy. Although the purpose of technology is to make our lives easier, is this worth the cost of our originality? Our humanity? The very essence of what makes us human, stripped away, to teach AI to think for us, not to think for ourselves. We attempt to teach AI the elements of our souls – something no machine can build or recreate in pursuit of less work, but how much less work do we need? In my active goal of prioritizing physical media in a digital era, these are recommendations that contribute to my overall well-being: 

  • Swap scrolling through your phone for reading just once a day.
  • Develop a routine, such as reading before bedtime or listening to your favorite band while reading.
  • Select books on topics you’re curious about and have developed an interest in (Comics/Manga counts:))
  • Research what people you admire read to connect with them through books, whether a celebrity, colleague, parent, or best friend.
  • Join a book club, either in person or online/Create a book swap with family and friends.
  • Participate in groups on social media with fellow bookworms or enthusiasts of specific book genres.
  • Opt in for “suggested reading” lists, such as through your e-reader or social media.
  • Check out your local library — frequenting a library can also give you a sense of community. (It is also an option for those not interested in economically contributing)

It is not just a hobby; it is a form of care. Through the written word, we heal, grow, and awaken parts of our humanity that no algorithm can replicate. So turn the page, and in doing so, turn inward. Your mind, body, and soul deserve that moment of peace.

Book of the Week: Perfume by Patrick SĂĽskind

Patrick Suskind’s classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man’s indulgence in his greatest passion-his sense of smell-leads to murder. In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift–an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille’s genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the “ultimate perfume”-the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.

A Verse in Motion: 

[The Harmatia of Jean-Baptiste] 

A spritz of beauty and innocence– 

A love I’ve never felt in my days. 

Something I have wanted to achieve

since birth, finally within my grasp.

And I am left with a sensation of nothing. 

For I did not know yet–

The curse of achieving my life’s work

brings an unredeemable burden.

A void of loneliness and despair; 

Seeping through the marrow of my bones.

A dark hole clogs my olfactory senses– 

For smell is a gateway to the soul, and I 

have manipulated those to believe I 

venture the steps above when really 

I will burn beneath the weight of beauty’s deceit. 

A simple perfume distilled from virgin skins

bathed Paris in its light–

But the essence of purity is a poison we all inhale.

How beauty and innocence have corrupted our hearts 

to beat in sync with the sins we attempt to hide. 

Bella Santulli

Resources

  • NAMI Mercer Helpline Phone Number: 609-799-8994 x17
  • NAMI Mercer Helpline Email: helpline@namimercer.org

References 

  • Wright, Paul. “Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Reading Books.” Www.nuvancehealth.org, Nuvance Health, 8 Aug. 2023, www.nuvancehealth.org/health-tips-and-news/physical-and-mental-health-benefits-of-reading-books.
  • Edwards, Scott. “Reading and the Brain.” Harvard Medical School, 2016, hms.harvard.edu/news-events/publications-archive/brain/reading-brain.
  • Nataliya Kos’myna. “CNN: AI’s Effects on the Brain – MIT Media Lab.” MIT Media Lab, 2025, www.media.mit.edu/articles/a-i-s-effects-on-the-brain/.

Facts From Fiction

By

Angelina Villalva, NAMI Intern

When I was in fourth grade, I had a fight with someone in my class. It was pajama day, and I remember that the boy had made a comment about my polar bear shirt. Looking back now, it was barely something to get worked up over, but at the time I was absolutely crushed. Overcome with emotion, there was only one goal in my mind: go back home. So, like any little kid would, I lied. I told my teacher that I was feeling sick and needed to go to the nurse. Granted permission, I went in, feigned a severe stomach ache, and waited for my mom to be called to pick me up and get me out of there. 

I’m sure that many people have been in a similar situation to this, even as adults. Something upsets you, or gets in your way of something in your day, and suddenly you’re faced with two options– you could either power through, or alternatively, find an escape. As a kid, maybe it was to get out of going to school (or in my case, staying in school). As a teenager, maybe it was a missed homework assignment or incomplete project. Now as an adult, I can tell you I’ve seen many cases of classmates who’ve clearly had a busy night, now left to deal with the consequences in the following morning (which also results in a poorly crafted email). 

While most people can relate to experiencing moments of poor decision-making and needing to feign an illness or two, I’m sure most of us would never imagine taking these lies and turning it into reality. For very few, it isn’t enough to only state that they’re ill. These individuals may lie, but also hurt themselves or others to garner special attention for problems that don’t actually exist.  

This is what is known as factitious disorders. There are two types of factitious disorders, factitious disorder imposed on self (formerly known as Munchausen syndrome) and factitious disorder imposed on another (formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy). 

Individuals with factitious disorder purposefully create symptoms of a condition to receive care, lying and faking whatever they need to in order to receive support and care. One of the most famous cases of a factitious disorder is the story of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and her mother, Dee Dee. 

For those unfamiliar, Gypsy-Rose grew up with her Mother, Dee Dee, who made severe false claims about Gypsy-Rose’s health for her whole life. These lies resulted in Gypsy-Rose not just being robbed of a normal life, but any control at all. She was forced to undergo surgical procedures and take medications for illnesses and issues that she didn’t actually have. 

Although never formally diagnosed in her lifetime, researchers have strong reason to suspect that Dee Dee had factitious disorder imposed on another. When compared to typical symptoms of those with factitious disorder, it becomes evident that Dee Dee exhibited numerous of these signs. 

Typical Signs May Include: 

  • Hurt yourself or someone else in order to create symptoms of illness or injury
  • Symptoms that occur only when you’re alone (or with a caregiver) 
  • New or additional symptoms after a healthcare provider tells you there’s nothing wrong
  • Conditions that get worse for no clear reason
  • Visiting hospitals, clinics, and providers’ offices, even in different cities from your residency
  • Inconsistent or missing medical history 
  • Extensive knowledge of medical terminology, illnesses, or hospital procedures
  • Refusing to receive a psychological evaluation
  • Refusing to have a healthcare professional meet or speak with previous providers

Factitious disorders are so dangerous in part because of how, at its core, it is pure deception. Individuals who have this disorder may not even acknowledge or realize that they have this issue, and will not acknowledge their lies despite clear evidence. It is extremely rare that anyone with this disorder properly acknowledges or understands the detriment of this disorder. 

It is unclear what sparks the beginning of a factitious disorder. However, there are a few risk factors that may play a role in developing this condition: 

  • Abuse
  • Neglect
  • Trauma
  • Frequent illnesses that affected you or a loved one
  • Family dysfunction
  • A lot of time spent in healthcare facilities

Because it is so hard to diagnose and furthermore for individuals to want to receive help, treatment is very unique and changes per case. The main focus of treatment, however, is to decrease harm (whether that be to self or victim). There may be a whole team of healthcare professionals assigned to help manage, in order to be very careful in taking care to not do unnecessary medical testing or treatment. Since factitious disorders are mostly related to psychological factors, it is very common that a psychologist or psychiatrist are assigned to help treat these individuals as well. 

This disorder is an incredibly tricky one. In the case of Gypsy-Rose, her mother appeared to be the perfect caretaker. She loved her, and wanted her to be supported, and yet was the one who was in charge of all of her pain all along. Individuals who inflict this pain onto themselves are also those who crave something missing in their lives, whether that be physical and emotional needs or even something as simple as attention.

Regardless of anything, harming yourself or others is dangerous. It is absolutely important to be aware of these signs, as they can lead to only worse and worse outcomes for the recipient of the unnecessary treatments. Look out for yourself and others, and remember that despite what you’ve gone through, it is never too late to begin anew and seek help. 

Resources:

Citations: