Psychotherapy

To these belong panic attacks which appear out of the blue (fear of death with racing heart, difficulty in breathing, attacks of sweating etc.), phobias (claustrophobia, acrophobia, fear of certain animals like spiders, insects, dogs or situations like flying (aviophobia), leaving the house, going shopping, being in a crowd of people or using public transport), social anxieties (lack of self-confidence in contact with others, exam anxiety, fear of blushing or being evaluated by others and to shame oneself in front of other people) and generalized anxieties (enduring anxiety states concerning different situations and issues). Also belonging to this category is the fear of suffering from a certain disease and therefore persistently undergoing a medical check which is called hypochondria. You can find further information by clicking on this link.

This term summarizes strong disturbances in emotional life. This category also includes the unipolar depressive disorder, a disorder which is widespread and recently reports an increasing probability of occurrence. It is characterized by sadness/glumness that lasts several weeks as well as joylessness, lack of interest, drive and concentration disorder and a feeling of fatigue right up to suicidal thoughts. One disorder appertaining to this category is burn-out syndrome. Furthermore, this category includes manic-depressive syndromes, also defined as bipolar disorder. This involves symptoms like an emotional ride on the rollercoaster (“On top of the world or in the depths of despair”) that contains days or even weeks of depression and then rapidly changing to extreme euphoria, exaggerated self-confidence, driveness, disinhibition or even strong petulance right up to aggression. Further information are available when you click on this link for depression and on this link for bipolar disorder.

This category includes schizophrenia and other diseases related to it like e.g. acute psychotic disorder, schizoaffective disorder or the persistent delusional disorder. These clinical pictures are characterized by symptoms like bizarre thoughts (e.g. being followed or being spied upon, being bugged, being a famous person, referring everything to oneself), social withdrawal, performance impairment, concentration and sleeping problems, hallucinations (primarily hearing voices from people that are not present) and lack of self-care. You can seek further information by clicking on this link.

This category of syndromes includes intrusive and undesired thoughts which must be thought even though you don’t want to think them. These thoughts can be followed by partly bizarre actions that are meant to reduce the feelings of fear, guilt, sadness, disgust and tension. Examples are obsessional washing, compulsive control or compulsive counting. Further information are available by clicking on this link.

This term includes clinical pictures that occur as a consequence from a fatal live event (e.g. threat of the own life, military intervention, serious accident, rape, sexual abuse in childhood or adolescence, torture and abuse, diagnosis of a severe illness like cancer or HIV, separation from life partner or death of a close relative). It is likely that there are afflictions that are accompanied by fear and depression or that can result in a temporary personality change either right after the traumatic event or even some time later. Being an observer of the fatal life event of another person could be enough for the onset of this disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder as well as adjustment disorder and dissociative disorders belong to this class of disorders. For further please click on this link.

Summarized under this category are all kinds of pain that are persistent and life impairing (somatoform stress disorder) or other physical afflictions (somatisation disorder) that cannot be explained medically. This also includes medical illnesses with psychological involvement (e.g. Colitis Ulcerosa, Morbus-Chron, hypertension, tinnitus). Please also have a look at this link and at this one.

This term includes disorders of sexual lust (sexual desire disorder, sexual aversion), of erection (erectile dysfunction) or of orgasm (ejaculation disorder, orgasmic disorder), but also includes sexual identity disorders (transsexuality) and disorders of sexual preferences (fetishism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, sadomasochism, paedophilia). For further information see this link.

Disorders of sleep behavior like e.g. disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep or early waking in the morning (insomnia), augmented sleep (hypersomnia), disorders of sleep-wake cycle, nightmares, screaming at night or sleepwalking (parasomnia) are counted among this category. For further information please click on the following link: https://psychcentral.com/disorders/sleep/

This term summarizes substance-related disorders like e.g. alcohol abuse or –addiction, or abuse and addiction of hard drugs like e.g. heroine (or other opiates), cocaine, amphetamines and marihuana. Even nicotine addiction belongs to this category. For further information please click on the following link: https://psychcentral.com/addictions/

This category includes persistent and recurring disorders in interpersonal relationships like e.g. partnership, friendships, domestic relationships, relationships with workmates or with law. Typically, these disorders stress the affected patient so that they don’t feel understood, loved, appreciated, acknowledged or needed. Some even feel a persistent and overwhelming fear of getting abandoned. For that reason those patients are very keen to harmony and avoid conflicts or they are afraid of conspiracies. On the other hand, other patients have problems with their social relationships because of obsessive behavior, striving for perfection, being in secure (feeling of inferiority) or because of manipulative behavior for the own benefit. Most people who are affected by these disorders have a co-morbid disorder as described above like prolonged and treatment-resistant depression or persistent and strong anxiety states or a permanent feeling of blankness. Even people with an extreme instability in identity, career choice, self-awareness, relationships, friendships, emotional life and attitude towards life (including self-harm like e.g. scratching forearms) are belonging to this category. For further information please click on the following link: https://psychcentral.com/personality/

This group of disorders consists of very different clinical pictures, like e.g. not substance-related addictions (pathological gambling, sex addiction, purchase addiction, internet addiction etc.), the compulsion to repeatedly rip out the own hair (trichotillomania) or to start the fire (pyromania).