Showing results by author "J. A. Snow" in All Categories

Many of us know people whom society and doctors would consider personality disordered or mentally ill. We often use these labels for diagnoses and treatment. Sometimes the labels aren't accurate due to difficulties in testing for disorders and due to the differing views of the physicians and psychoanalysts. But are these people really disordered after all? Is there truly a normal personality that exists, and if it does exist - what is it?

Many people have heard about the Peter Pan Syndrome. Dr. Dan Kiley used the term in his book The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up. He fondly referred to the women who were involved with these Peter Pan types as Wendy, Wendy Complex, or Wendy Syndrome. Wendy is the character in the Peter Pan story who falls head over heels hopelessly and romantically in love with Peter Pan, even though he will never be a suitable partner for her.

We have all met men who have the Peter Pan syndrome. Many of these men are also narcissistic and self-absorbed simply by the nature of the Peter Pan syndrome. A man who is stuck in his path through life as a boy never matures emotionally. He carries around his childhood sense of himself throughout his life. In many instances, his tastes do not grow or change. The way that he interacts with others does not grow or change. He is still stuck as a 12-year-old boy, or sometimes even younger, in his emotional development.

Bipolar is a serious mental disorder that exhibits itself as serious emotional ups and downs, or mood swings. Bipolar sufferers can have hallucinations and psychosis episodes, though not all bipolar persons experience these. Bipolar disorder was formerly known as manic depression. People who suffer from this disorder can have abnormally happy ups ("highs") and extreme depressive down days ("lows").