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March 25, 2010
Self-Defeating Behavior Legitimate Target For Treatment, Psychiatrist Contends.
In the New York Times (3/23, D6) Mind column, psychiatrist Richard A. Friedman, MD, writes, "Of all human psychology, self-defeating behavior is among the most puzzling and hard to change."
Friedman theorizes that "a hidden psychological reward" may explain why some people "repeatedly pursue a path that leads to pain and disappointment." Still, "telling people they are the architects of their own misery doesn't go over very well," a position that "the American Psychiatric Association found itself in...when it included a category for self-defeating patients in an earlier version of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders." Friedman asserts that even though "the notion of masochistic character has disappeared from the manual altogether...the behavior is a source of considerable suffering and a legitimate target for treatment."
Related Links:
- Sabotaging Success, but to What End?," Richard Friedman, New York Times, March 22, 2010.
Posted by admin at March 25, 2010 11:32 PM