var title = 'Psychology and Mental Health Forum Psychology Feed';
		var url = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/random_blogs_c-3.html';
		var site_url = 'https://www.psychforums.com';
		var site_desc = 'Psychology and Mental Health Forum';
		var time = 'Wed, 06 Aug 2025 15:26:16 -0400';

		var data = new Array();
		

		data[0] = new Array();
		data[0]['title'] = 'I can haz a blog?';
		data[0]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/i_can_haz_a_blog%CA%94_c-3_u-94420_b-3275.html';
		data[0]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/i_can_haz_a_blog%CA%94_c-3_u-94420_b-3275.html';
		data[0]['username'] = 'lbailey71';
		data[0]['blog_id'] = '3275';
		data[0]['blog_message'] = 'I am notoriously self absorbed, so the idea that others will be able to read what I right tickles me.  It more than tickles me, it gratifies me.  Right now I am struggling unsuccessfully with a gambling addiction.  It goes against the public persona that I have created for me to struggle this way, so I was actually thinking of setting up an alter account for my alter ego on a main blog site.  This will work just dandy.  Now I get to be my own dirty doppelganger and still be on the downlow with what a #######5 person I am.';
		data[0]['blog_time'] = 'Sat, 01 Sep 2012 01:45:36 -0400';
		

		data[1] = new Array();
		data[1]['title'] = 'Loving relationship has been destroyed by a PD, help required';
		data[1]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/loving_relationship_has_been_destroyed_by_a_pd_help_required_c-3_u-116128_b-3884.html';
		data[1]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/loving_relationship_has_been_destroyed_by_a_pd_help_required_c-3_u-116128_b-3884.html';
		data[1]['username'] = 'Devastated-husband';
		data[1]['blog_id'] = '3884';
		data[1]['blog_message'] = '*Trigger* This is a long story but I will try to be as brief as possible. I am very new to forums and anything I say is without judgement of any form of disorder, as I am all to aware of the impact it has on all parties and how the sufferer is impacted. Please do not take any offence as I&#039;m still trying to understand, accept and work with its far reaching concsecuences and would ask all posters to remain non-judgementa. Thank you.<br /><br />My wife and I have been in a relationship for 16years, married for 4 and have 3 year old Daughter together.<br /><br />Most of the revelations from the events of the past two months have made me realise that in hindsight my wonderful true love has suffered from more than the diagnosed general anxiety and depression that has been interwoven in our lives for all this time.<br /><br />Two months ago my mother in-law lost her on/off 10 year battle with cancer. We were all left devastated, but my wife who has always been considered the most emotional member of the family showed little grief, despite being greatly consumed for the entire decade of this fight.<br /><br />Two days after her passing, my wife had a memorial tattoo and immediately confessed she had fantasised over the artist and made sexual advances towards him. My wife has always despised adultery and we had talked openly about friends who had committed this most &quot;despicable&quot; of acts. My wife has also always been very timid around strangers, sexually unadventurous and incredibly attached to myself.  I put this down to the trauma and suggested that some form of therapy for her grief, along with open discussion would help and that I would support her all the way.<br /><br />The situation became worse on the day of her mothers funeral, as the following day she confessed she had been awake all night sending naked pictures of herself to men she had never met.  She made in her own words &quot; throw away &quot; comments that she would be better off dead, how a massive hole was consuming her and how she was unable to love anyone or inflict her &quot;issues&quot; on me anymore.  <br /><br />Her family although unaware of the full facts all agreed she should see her GP immediately, who subsequently referred her directly to A&amp;E.  The Doctors fortunately could see the full picture and my wife&#039;s reluctance to open up, or even admit she had a problem.  They talked to both her sister and I and after discussions at board level, generally agreed she suffered from a personality disorder and offered immediate therapy and support, this has sadly been refused and ignored by my wife.<br /><br />During this period our daughter was also suffering from pneumonia and my wife was unable to fully cope with this and embarked on offering herself for NSA sex via the Internet, sleeping with 6 unknown men (at least) in a period of weeks, all of the encounters potentially dangerous given the unknown quantity of the individuals and the environments the acts were taking place. <br /><br />My wife has always suffered from angry outbursts, issues of social acceptance, &#039;living in and blaming the past&#039;, fear of abandonment and an inabilty to focus on positive aspects of life.  Its also important to teveak that she was beaten by her father as a child, along with her sister and mother and her fathers family also had a history of sexual abuse, although my wife claims she was never assaulted in this manner.<br /><br />Whilst this has left me devastated and whilst an exact diagnosis is not possible without therapy and dialogue from my wife, I know the most caring and loving person I fell for all those years ago, now has some form of explanation as to why she feels like this, as do I for the roller coaster relationship we have experienced.<br /><br />As a footnote, not only does my wife not accept their is a problem with her actions or health, she has also started drinking heavily and vilifies me to anybody that she is able to convince, normally those who have infrequent contact with her or myself and are unaware of the full picture . These individuals are now validating...<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/loving_relationship_has_been_destroyed_by_a_pd_help_required_c-3_u-116128_b-3884.html" class="postlink-local">[ Continued ]</a>';
		data[1]['blog_time'] = 'Fri, 28 Dec 2012 17:59:48 -0500';
		

		data[2] = new Array();
		data[2]['title'] = 'Urge to bite....';
		data[2]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/urge_to_bite...._c-3_u-269745_b-7695.html';
		data[2]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/urge_to_bite...._c-3_u-269745_b-7695.html';
		data[2]['username'] = 'hiding_the_broken';
		data[2]['blog_id'] = '7695';
		data[2]['blog_message'] = 'I&#039;m a 16 year old girl. I never bit anyone as a kid or anything like that. I have been diagnosed with OCD, Severe Clinical Depression, and a Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I am on medication for those things. But I have been having the urge to bite things lately. It doesn&#039;t matter what mood I&#039;m in. I just randomly have the urge to bite things. I mostly bite myself; I could never bite another person. Yes, I have been self-harming for a little over 4 years, so maybe it&#039;s just another form of self-harm, but it&#039;s getting pretty bad. The bite marks last about a half hour. I&#039;ve only broken through skin once. What is going on with me..why am I biting all of a sudden...';
		data[2]['blog_time'] = 'Sun, 23 Nov 2014 23:28:08 -0500';
		

		data[3] = new Array();
		data[3]['title'] = 'Be more 'social' they tell me!';
		data[3]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/be_more_%CA%B9social%CA%B9_they_tell_me%C7%83_c-3_u-123057_b-3977.html';
		data[3]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/be_more_%CA%B9social%CA%B9_they_tell_me%C7%83_c-3_u-123057_b-3977.html';
		data[3]['username'] = 'therestorativeniche';
		data[3]['blog_id'] = '3977';
		data[3]['blog_message'] = 'Until recently, I never viewed my introversion as much of problem.  I was told at work that I &quot;need to be more social&quot;. This really struck a cord with me because I never thought that as I began my adult life my introversion may limit my success . So I decided to start this blog and chronicle my journey of becoming &#039;more social&#039;. <br /><br />Why are you so quiet? He must me hiding something...<br /><br />Now this is easier said than done of course. My whole life people have been telling me, &#039;you&#039;re so quiet&#039;,  &#039;you should talk more&#039; or my new favorite &#039;be more social&#039;. It&#039;s gotten to the point where some people feel uncomfortable around me because I&#039;m so quiet. What is it that makes them so uncomfortable? Is it that my behavior or lack there of, is so unusual they just can&#039;t stand it? Is it that I&#039;m some psycho who&#039;s going to snap at any moment? Is it the natural human tendency to be afraid of someone who&#039;s not like you? Not my problem right? They should be more understanding. Well unfortunately in a world of extroverts it is my problem. As much as I would love to live in a world where everyone accepts each other the way they are, that&#039;s just not reality. It&#039;s an extroverts world and if I&#039;m going to thrive and not just survive, I&#039;ve got to get to work and figure something out. So I&#039;m going to be more &#039;social&#039;. I&#039;m not sure what that will look like, but in the following months, if not years, I will try and look deeper into the complex relationship that introverts and extroverts have and attempt different strategies for becoming more &#039;social&#039;.  <br /><br />Why is it that quiet people make others feel uncomfortable?<br /><br />Please share your thoughts.';
		data[3]['blog_time'] = 'Fri, 11 Jan 2013 01:53:30 -0500';
		

		data[4] = new Array();
		data[4]['title'] = 'Art Therapy &amp; Addiction: As a Treatment For Substance Abuse';
		data[4]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/art_therapy_addiction_as_a_treatment_for_substance_abuse_c-3_u-102283_b-3709.html';
		data[4]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/art_therapy_addiction_as_a_treatment_for_substance_abuse_c-3_u-102283_b-3709.html';
		data[4]['username'] = 'mnlfoojan';
		data[4]['blog_id'] = '3709';
		data[4]['blog_message'] = 'Usually people who struggle with drug and alcohol abuse or other forms of addictive behaviors come from a background of abuse or neglect or have experienced some kind of trauma when they were younger. Being in these situations, a child and/or a young person can experience various painful feelings such as fear, helplessness, shame, guilt, sadness and eventually hopelessness. Becoming overwhelmed by these emotions and not having anybody to help them and validate their feelings may lead to them learning to run away and avoid such feelings to protect against pain or become consumed by those feelings and act upon them impulsively. Later in life, they may use substances or engage in addictive and destructive activities to numb those painful feelings. Despite their effort in avoiding these emotions, they are stored implicitly in a deeper level of the brain and will be triggered more often than they may have expected.<br /><br />These emotions that have been stored in a less conscious part of the brain may not be accessible verbally, but can be found symbolically in images that the person creates. Therefore, the goal of art therapy is to access these hidden and avoided emotions that once had the purpose of protecting the individual, but either have been denied or exaggerated and lost its purpose to rediscover their adaptive qualities.<br /><br />Images in an art therapy session can simply be composed of a few lines, colors or pictures from a magazine to more elaborate drawings, clay sculptures and other forms of creativity. These images will give an expert art therapist the opportunity to help the recovering person uncover meanings behind the symbolic images, discover more information about oneself than just talking and open many deep thoughts and emotions. Participants in art therapy don’t need to have any skills in art.<br /><br />Talking about feelings can be very frightening and painful for a person who has been avoiding them for a long time. This person may not even be able to verbally express him/herself, but may be able to express thoughts and feelings about past and present events and situations non=verbally through lines, shapes and pictures. Creating them can become a new form of communication which is less threatening and safer for the recovering person.<br /><br />Individuals struggling with addiction are usually very judgmental of themselves and are flooded with shame and guilt. Creating art can give them a tangible, concrete perception of their feelings and thoughts and give them the opportunity to observe themselves from a distance which can help them gain a new, less judgmental and more compassionate understanding of self.<br /><br />Recovering individuals may engage in a simple art project whenever they feel overwhelmed or have an urge to take drugs/alcohol or engage in an addictive activity to distract and sooth themselves. Creating can give them a sense of control over the situation and a tool to accept and manage overwhelming feelings. Using their hands while using art materials such as colored pencils, markers, crayons, clay, paper and scissors can help them release some of their avoided feelings such as anger and lower its intensity, and to sooth and calm themselves when they are anxious.<br /><br />In general, in art therapy sessions, the recovering person will be given permission and opportunity to experience and express those feelings that he/she has been running away from and avoiding for a long time in a safe and supporting atmosphere, with the presence of an empathic professional psychotherapist /art therapist who will help him/her understand and make sense of those painful feelings, acknowledge and accept them with compassion, reduce their intensity and tolerate them, and finally use them effectively to fulfill their needs and goals.';
		data[4]['blog_time'] = 'Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:30:45 -0500';