Dietary Supplement: Folate

Learn about the dietary supplement folate and signs and symptoms of folate deficiency.

Learn about the dietary supplement folate and signs and symptoms of folate deficiency.

Folate: What is it?

Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin that occurs naturally in food. Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate that is found in supplements and added to fortified foods [1].

Folate gets its name from the Latin word "folium" for leaf. A key observation of researcher Lucy Wills nearly 70 years ago led to the identification of folate as the nutrient needed to prevent the anemia of pregnancy. Dr. Wills demonstrated that the anemia could be corrected by a yeast extract. Folate was identified as the corrective substance in yeast extract in the late 1930s, and was extracted from spinach leaves in 1941.

Folate helps produce and maintain new cells [2]. This is especially important during periods of rapid cell division and growth such as infancy and pregnancy. Folate is needed to make DNA and RNA, the building blocks of cells. It also helps prevent changes to DNA that may lead to cancer [HealthyPlace.com Mental Health Communities]. Both adults and children need folate to make normal red blood cells and prevent anemia [4]. Folate is also essential for the metabolism of homocysteine, and helps maintain normal levels of this amino acid.

What foods provide folate?

Leafy green vegetables (like spinach and turnip greens), fruits (like citrus fruits and juices), and dried beans and peas are all natural sources of folate [5].

In 1996, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published regulations requiring the addition of folic acid to enriched breads, cereals, flours, corn meals, pastas, rice, and other grain products [6-9]. Since cereals and grains are widely consumed in the U.S., these products have become a very important contributor of folic acid to the American diet. The following table suggests a variety of dietary sources of folate.

References

Table 1: Selected Food Sources of Folate and Folic Acid [5]

Food	Micrograms (Î¼g)	% DV^
*Breakfast cereals fortified with 100% of the DV, ¾ cup	400	100
Beef liver, cooked, braised, 3 ounces	185	45
Cowpeas (blackeyes), immature, cooked, boiled, ½ cup	105	25
*Breakfast cereals, fortified with 25% of the DV, ¾ cup	100	25
Spinach, frozen, cooked, boiled, ½ cup	100	25
Great Northern beans, boiled, ½ cup	90	20
Asparagus, boiled, 4 spears	85	20
*Rice, white, long-grain, parboiled, enriched, cooked, ½ cup	65	15
Vegetarian baked beans, canned, 1 cup	60	15
Spinach, raw, 1 cup	60	15
Green peas, frozen, boiled, ½ cup	50	15
Broccoli, chopped, frozen, cooked, ½ cup	50	15
*Egg noodles, cooked, enriched, ½ cup	50	15
Broccoli, raw, 2 spears (each 5 inches long)	45	10
Avocado, raw, all varieties, sliced, ½ cup sliced	45	10
Peanuts, all types, dry roasted, 1 ounce	40	10
Lettuce, Romaine, shredded, ½ cup	40	10
Wheat germ, crude, 2 Tablespoons	40	10
Tomato Juice, canned, 6 ounces	35	10
Orange juice, chilled, includes concentrate, ¾ cup	35	10
Turnip greens, frozen, cooked, boiled, ½ cup	30	8
Orange, all commercial varieties, fresh, 1 small	30	8
*Bread, white, 1 slice	25	6
*Bread, whole wheat, 1 slice	25	6
Egg, whole, raw, fresh, 1 large	25	6
Cantaloupe, raw, ¼ medium	25	6
Papaya, raw, ½ cup cubes	25	6
Banana, raw, 1 medium	20	6

* Items marked with an asterisk (*) are fortified with folic acid as part of the Folate Fortification Program.

^ DV = Daily Value. DVs are reference numbers developed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help consumers determine if a food contains a lot or a little of a specific nutrient. The DV for folate is 400 micrograms (Î¼g). Most food labels do not list a food's magnesium content. The percent DV (%DV) listed on the table indicates the percentage of the DV provided in one serving. A food providing 5% of the DV or less is a low source while a food that provides 10-19% of the DV is a good source. A food that provides 20% or more of the DV is high in that nutrient. It is important to remember that foods that provide lower percentages of the DV also contribute to a healthful diet. For foods not listed in this table, please refer to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Database Web site: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl.

References

What are the Dietary Reference Intakes for folate?

Recommendations for folate are given in the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) developed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences [10]. Dietary Reference Intakes is the general term for a set of reference values used for planning and assessing nutrient intake for healthy people. Three important types of reference values included in the DRIs are Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), Adequate Intakes (AI), and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL). The RDA recommends the average daily intake that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97-98%) healthy individuals in each age and gender group [10]. An AI is set when there is insufficient scientific data available to establish a RDA. AIs meet or exceed the amount needed to maintain a nutritional state of adequacy in nearly all members of a specific age and gender group. The UL, on the other hand, is the maximum daily intake unlikely to result in adverse health effects [10].

The RDAs for folate are expressed in a term called the Dietary Folate Equivalent. The Dietary Folate Equivalent (DFE) was developed to help account for the differences in absorption of naturally occurring dietary folate and the more bioavailable synthetic folic acid [10]. Table 2 lists the RDAs for folate, expressed in micrograms (Î¼g) of DFE, for children and adults [10].

Table 2: Recommended Dietary Allowances for Folate for Children and Adults [10]

Age (years)	Males and Females (Î¼g/day)	Pregnancy (Î¼g/day)	Lactation (Î¼g/day)
1-3	150	N/A	N/A
4-8	200	N/A	N/A
9-13	300	N/A	N/A
14-18	400	600	500
19+	400	600	500

*1 DFE = 1 Î¼g food folate = 0.6 Î¼g folic acid from supplements and fortified foods

There is insufficient information on folate to establish an RDA for infants. An Adequate Intake (AI) has been established that is based on the amount of folate consumed by healthy infants who are fed breast milk [10]. Table 3 lists the Adequate Intake for folate, in micrograms (Î¼g), for infants.

Table 3: Adequate Intake for folate for infants [10]

Age (years)	Males and Females (Î¼g/day)	Pregnancy (Î¼g/day)	Lactation (Î¼g/day)
1-3	150	N/A	N/A
4-8	200	N/A	N/A
9-13	300	N/A	N/A
14-18	400	600	500
19+	400	600	500

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III 1988-94) and the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (1994-96 CSFII) indicated that most individuals surveyed did not consume adequate folate [12-13]. However, the folic acid fortification program, which was initiated in 1998, has increased folic acid content of commonly eaten foods such as cereals and grains, and as a result most diets in the United States (US) now provide recommended amounts of folate equivalents [14].

When can folate deficiency occur?

A deficiency of folate can occur when an increased need for folate is not matched by an increased intake, when dietary folate intake does not meet recommended needs, and when folate excretion increases. Medications that interfere with the metabolism of folate may also increase the need for this vitamin and risk of deficiency [1,15-19].

Medical conditions that increase the need for folate or result in increased excretion of folate include:

pregnancy and lactation (breastfeeding)
alcohol abuse
malabsorption
kidney dialysis
liver disease
certain anemias

References

Medications that interfere with folate utilization include:

anti-convulsant medications (such as dilantin, phenytoin and primidone)
metformin (sometimes prescribed to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes)
sulfasalazine (used to control inflammation associated with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis)
triamterene (a diuretic)
methotrexate (used for cancer and other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis)
barbiturates (used as sedatives)

What are some common signs and symptoms of folate deficiency?

Folate deficient women who become pregnant are at greater risk of giving birth to low birth weight, premature, and/or infants with neural tube defects.
In infants and children, folate deficiency can slow overall growth rate.
In adults, a particular type of anemia can result from long term folate deficiency.
Other signs of folate deficiency are often subtle. Digestive disorders such as diarrhea, loss of appetite, and weight loss can occur, as can weakness, sore tongue, headaches, heart palpitations, irritability, forgetfulness, and behavioral disorders [1,20]. An elevated level of homocysteine in the blood, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, also can result from folate deficiency.

Many of these subtle symptoms are general and can also result from a variety of medical conditions other than folate deficiency. It is important to have a physician evaluate these symptoms so that appropriate medical care can be given.

Do women of childbearing age and pregnant women have a special need for folate?

Folic acid is very important for all women who may become pregnant. Adequate folate intake during the periconceptual period, the time just before and just after a woman becomes pregnant, protects against neural tube defects [21]. Neural tube defects result in malformations of the spine (spina bifida), skull, and brain (anencephaly) [10]. The risk of neural tube defects is significantly reduced when supplemental folic acid is consumed in addition to a healthful diet prior to and during the first month following conception [10,22-23]. Since January 1, 1998, when the folate food fortification program took effect, data suggest that there has been a significant reduction in neural tube birth defects [24]. Women who could become pregnant are advised to eat foods fortified with folic acid or take a folic acid supplement in addition to eating folate-rich foods to reduce the risk of some serious birth defects. For this population, researchers recommend a daily intake of 400 Î¼g of synthetic folic acid per day from fortified foods and/or dietary supplements [10].

Who else may need extra folic acid to prevent a deficiency?

People who abuse alcohol, those taking medications that may interfere with the action of folate (including, but not limited to those listed above), individuals diagnosed with anemia from folate deficiency, and those with malabsorption, liver disease, or who are receiving kidney dialysis treatment may benefit from a folic acid supplement.

Folate deficiency has been observed in alcoholics. A 1997 review of the nutritional status of chronic alcoholics found low folate status in more than 50% of those surveyed [25]. Alcohol interferes with the absorption of folate and increases excretion of folate by the kidney. In addition, many people who abuse alcohol have poor quality diets that do not provide the recommended intake of folate [17]. Increasing folate intake through diet, or folic acid intake through fortified foods or supplements, may be beneficial to the health of alcoholics.

Anti-convulsant medications such as dilantin increase the need for folate [26-27]. Anyone taking anti-convulsants and other medications that interfere with the body's ability to use folate should consult with a medical doctor about the need to take a folic acid supplement [28-30].

Anemia is a condition that occurs when there is insufficient hemoglobin in red blood cells to carry enough oxygen to cells and tissues. It can result from a wide variety of medical problems, including folate deficiency. With folate deficiency, your body may make large red blood cells that do not contain adequate hemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen to your body's cells [4]. Your physician can determine whether an anemia is associated with folate deficiency and whether supplemental folic acid is indicated.

Several medical conditions increase the risk of folic acid deficiency. Liver disease and kidney dialysis increase excretion (loss) of folic acid. Malabsorption can prevent your body from using folate in food. Medical doctors treating individuals with these disorders will evaluate the need for a folic acid supplement [1].

References

What are some current issues and controversies about folate?

Folic Acid and Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease involves any disorder of the heart and blood vessels that make up the cardiovascular system. Coronary heart disease occurs when blood vessels which supply the heart become clogged or blocked, increasing the risk of a heart attack. Vascular damage can also occur to blood vessels supplying the brain, and can result in a stroke.

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in industrialized countries such as the US, and is on the rise in developing countries. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health has identified many risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including an elevated LDL-cholesterol level, high blood pressure, a low HDL-cholesterol level, obesity, and diabetes [31]. In recent years, researchers have identified another risk factor for cardiovascular disease, an elevated homocysteine level. Homocysteine is an amino acid normally found in blood, but elevated levels have been linked with coronary heart disease and stroke [32-44]. Elevated homocysteine levels may impair endothelial vasomotor function, which determines how easily blood flows through blood vessels [45]. High levels of homocysteine also may damage coronary arteries and make it easier for blood clotting cells called platelets to clump together and form a clot, which may lead to a heart attack [38].

A deficiency of folate, vitamin B12 or vitamin B6 may increase blood levels of homocysteine, and folate supplementation has been shown to decrease homocysteine levels and to improve endothelial function [46-48]. At least one study has linked low dietary folate intake with an increased risk of coronary events [49]. The folic acid fortification program in the U. S. has decreased the prevalence of low levels of folate and high levels of homocysteine in the blood in middle-aged and older adults [50]. Daily consumption of folic-acid fortified breakfast cereal and the use of folic acid supplements has been shown to be an effective strategy for reducing homocysteine concentrations [51].

Evidence supports a role for supplemental folic acid for lowering homocysteine levels, however this does not mean that folic acid supplements will decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. Clinical intervention trials are underway to determine whether supplementation with folic acid, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6 can lower risk of coronary heart disease. It is premature to recommend folic acid supplementation for the prevention of heart disease until results of ongoing randomized, controlled clinical trials positively link increased folic acid intake with decreased homocysteine levels AND decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Folic Acid and Cancer
Some evidence associates low blood levels of folate with a greater risk of cancer [52]. Folate is involved in the synthesis, repair, and function of DNA, our genetic map, and there is some evidence that a deficiency of folate can cause damage to DNA that may lead to cancer [52]. Several studies have associated diets low in folate with increased risk of breast, pancreatic, and colon cancer [53-54]. Over 88,000 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study who were free of cancer in 1980 were followed from 1980 through 1994. Researchers found that women ages 55 to 69 years in this study who took multivitamins containing folic acid for more than 15 years had a markedly lower risk of developing colon cancer [54]. Findings from over 14,000 subjects followed for 20 years suggest that men who do not consume alcohol and whose diets provide the recommended intake of folate are less likely to develop colon cancer [55]. However, associations between diet and disease do not indicate a direct cause. Researchers are continuing to investigate whether enhanced folate intake from foods or folic acid supplements may reduce the risk of cancer. Until results from such clinical trials are available, folic acid supplements should not be recommended to reduce the risk of cancer.

Folic Acid and Methotrexate for Cancer
Folate is important for cells and tissues that rapidly divide [2]. Cancer cells divide rapidly, and drugs that interfere with folate metabolism are used to treat cancer. Methotrexate is a drug often used to treat cancer because it limits the activity of enzymes that need folate.

Unfortunately, methotrexate can be toxic, producing side effects such as inflammation in the digestive tract that may make it difficult to eat normally [56-58]. Leucovorin is a form of folate that can help "rescue" or reverse the toxic effects of methotrexate [59]. There are many studies underway to determine if folic acid supplements can help control the side effects of methotrexate without decreasing its effectiveness in chemotherapy [60-61]. It is important for anyone receiving methotrexate to follow a medical doctor's advice on the use of folic acid supplements.

Folic Acid and Methotrexate for Non-Cancerous Diseases
Low dose methotrexate is used to treat a wide variety of non-cancerous diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, asthma, sarcoidoisis, primary biliary cirrhosis, and inflammatory bowel disease [62]. Low doses of methotrexate can deplete folate stores and cause side effects that are similar to folate deficiency. Both high folate diets and supplemental folic acid may help reduce the toxic side effects of low dose methotrexate without decreasing its effectiveness [63-64]. Anyone taking low dose methotrexate for the health problems listed above should consult with a physician about the need for a folic acid supplement.

References

Caution About Folic Acid Supplements

Beware of the interaction between vitamin B12 and folic acid Intake of supplemental folic acid should not exceed 1,000 micrograms (Î¼g) per day to prevent folic acid from triggering symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency [10]. Folic acid supplements can correct the anemia associated with vitamin B12 deficiency. Unfortunately, folic acid will not correct changes in the nervous system that result from vitamin B12 deficiency. Permanent nerve damage can occur if vitamin B12 deficiency is not treated.

It is very important for older adults to be aware of the relationship between folic acid and vitamin B12 because they are at greater risk of having a vitamin B12 deficiency. If you are 50 years of age or older, ask your physician to check your B12 status before you take a supplement that contains folic acid. If you are taking a supplement containing folic acid, read the label to make sure it also contains B12 or speak with a physician about the need for a B12 supplement.

What is the health risk of too much folic acid?

Folate intake from food is not associated with any health risk. The risk of toxicity from folic acid intake from supplements and/or fortified foods is also low [65]. It is a water soluble vitamin, so any excess intake is usually excreted in urine. There is some evidence that high levels of folic acid can provoke seizures in patients taking anti-convulsant medications [1]. Anyone taking such medications should consult with a medical doctor before taking a folic acid supplement.

The Institute of Medicine has established a tolerable upper intake level (UL) for folate from fortified foods or supplements (i.e. folic acid) for ages one and above. Intakes above this level increase the risk of adverse health effects. In adults, supplemental folic acid should not exceed the UL to prevent folic acid from triggering symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency [10]. It is important to recognize that the UL refers to the amount of synthetic folate (i.e. folic acid) being consumed per day from fortified foods and/or supplements. There is no health risk, and no UL, for natural sources of folate found in food. Table 4 lists the Upper Intake Levels (UL) for folate, in micrograms (Î¼g), for children and adults.

Table 4: Tolerable Upper Intake Levels for Folate for Children and Adults [10]

Age (years)	Males and Females (Î¼g/day)	Pregnancy (Î¼g/day)	Lactation (Î¼g/day)
1-3	300	N/A	N/A
4-8	400	N/A	N/A
9-13	600	N/A	N/A
14-18	800	800	800
19 +	1000	1000	1000

Selecting a healthful diet

As the 2000 Dietary Guidelines for Americans states, "Different foods contain different nutrients and other healthful substances. No single food can supply all the nutrients in the amounts you need" [66]. As indicated in Table 1, green leafy vegetables, dried beans and peas, and many other types of vegetables and fruits provide folate. In addition, fortified foods are a major source of folic acid. It is not unusual to find foods such as some ready-to-eat cereals fortified with 100% of the RDA for folate. The variety of fortified foods available has made it easier for women of childbearing age in the US to consume the recommended 400 mcg of folic acid per day from fortified foods and/or supplements [6]. The large numbers of fortified foods on the market, however, also raises the risk of exceeding the UL. This is especially important for anyone at risk of vitamin B12 deficiency, which can be triggered by too much folic acid. It is important for anyone who is considering taking a folic acid supplement to first consider whether their diet already includes adequate sources of dietary folate and fortified food sources of folic acid.

Source: Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health

next: Botanical Dietary Supplements: Background Information

References

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55 Su LJ, Arab L. Nutritional status of folate and colon cancer risk: evidence from NHANES I epidemiologic follow-up study. Ann Epidemiol 2001;11:65-72.
56 Rubio IT, Cao Y, Hutchins LF, Westbrook KC, Klimberg VS. Effect of glutamine on methotrexate efficacy and toxicity. Ann Surg 1998;227:772-8. [PubMed abstract]
57 Wolff JE, Hauch H, Kuhl J, Egeler RM, Jurgens H. Dexamethasone increases hepatotoxicity of MTX in children with brain tumors. Anticancer Res 1998;18:2895-9. [PubMed abstract]
58 Kepka L, De Lassence A, Ribrag V, Gachot B, Blot F, Theodore C, Bonnay M, Korenbaum C, Nitenberg G. Successful rescue in a patient with high dose methotrexate-induced nephrotoxicity and acute renal failure. Leuk Lymphoma 1998;29:205-9. [PubMed abstract]
59 Branda RF, Nigels E, Lafayette AR, Hacker M. Nutritional folate status influences the efficacy and toxicity of chemotherapy in rats. Blood 1998;92:2471-6. [PubMed abstract]
60 Shiroky JB. The use of folates concomitantly with low-dose pulse methotrexate. Rheum Dis Clin North Am 1997;23:969-80. [PubMed abstract]
61 Keshava C, Keshava N, Whong WZ, Nath J, Ong TM. Inhibition of methotrexate-induced chromosomal damage by folinic acid in V79 cells. Mutat Res 1998;397:221-8. [PubMed abstract]
62 Morgan SL and Baggott JE. Folate antagonists in nonneoplastic disease: Proposed mechanisms of efficacy and toxicity. In: Bailey LB, ed. Folate in Health and Disease. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1995:405-33.
63 Morgan SL BJ, Alarcon GS. Methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis. Folate supplementation should always be given. Bio Drugs 1997;8:164-75.
64 Morgan SL, Baggott JE, Lee JY, Alarcon GS. Folic acid supplementation prevents deficient blood folate levels and hyperhomocysteinemia during longterm, low dose methotrexate therapy for rheumatoid arthritis: Implications for cardiovascular disease prevention. J Rheumatol 1998;25:441-6. [PubMed abstract]
65 Hathcock JN. Vitamins and minerals: Efficacy and safety. Am J Clin Nutr 1997;66:427-37.
66 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). HG Bulletin No. 232, 2000. http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/DietGd.pdf.
67 Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, United Stated Department of Agriculture. Food Guide Pyramid, 1992 (slightly revised 1996). http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/Fpyr/pyramid.html.

For more information about building a healthful diet, refer to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/DietGd.pdf and the US Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/Fpyr/pyramid.html.

Disclaimer
Reasonable care has been taken in preparing this document and the information provided herein is believed to be accurate. However, this information is not intended to constitute an "authoritative statement" under Food and Drug Administration rules and regulations.

General Safety Advisory

The information in this document does not replace medical advice. Before taking an herb or a botanical, consult a doctor or other health care provider-especially if you have a disease or medical condition, take any medications, are pregnant or nursing, or are planning to have an operation. Before treating a child with an herb or a botanical, consult with a doctor or other health care provider. Like drugs, herbal or botanical preparations have chemical and biological activity. They may have side effects. They may interact with certain medications. These interactions can cause problems and can even be dangerous. If you have any unexpected reactions to an herbal or a botanical preparation, inform your doctor or other health care provider.

Reviewers

The Clinical Nutrition Service and the ODS thank the expert scientific reviewers for their role in ensuring the scientific accuracy of the information discussed in these fact sheets: Lynn B. Bailey, Ph.D., University of Florida Jesse F. Gregory, III, Ph.D., University of Florida Mary Frances Picciano, Ph.D., NIH, Office of Dietary Supplements Irwin H. Rosenberg, M.D., USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University Richard J. Wood, Ph.D., USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University

next: Botanical Dietary Supplements: Background Information

APA Reference
Staff, H. (2008, December 3). Dietary Supplement: Folate, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 7 from https://www.healthyplace.com/alternative-mental-health/treatments/dietary-supplement-folate

Last Updated: July 8, 2016

ADHD Adults Struggle to Focus

Natasha Tracy

Some ADHD adults are actually adapting better to increasingly busy lives while other adults with attention disorders face challenges.

Some ADHD adults are actually adapting better to increasingly busy lives while other adults with attention disorders face challenges.

ADHD Symptoms Can Emerge as Life Gets More Demanding

Barbara Eddy is used to swiftly "spinning" from task to task, from tending to her twins, to her work, to her husband. It's in her nature as someone diagnosed with an attention deficit disorder.

So she feels right at home in this fast and fragmented age of cell phones, Googling, and hand-held e-mail.

"Society is finally coming up to fitting me," said Eddy, from Pasadena, California. "The world is coming up to be perfect for me."

Any parent can be challenged by the pace of modern family life -- the blur of dropping the kids off at tae kwon do, picking up dinner and doing catch-up work on the laptop. But it can present particular possibilities and challenges for adults with attention disorders. Some, like Eddy, can take to it.

But others, like her husband, she notes, lack a consistent way to maintain focus when jumping from task to task.

"It's getting worse all the time," said Melissa Thomasson, a psychologist who runs a support group. "Sometimes we see folks who could handle it through school perhaps, and through young adulthood," she said. "And as they marry and they have children and they're working and they're handling so many things, they're not able to hold it all together."

Hallmarks of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms can include a lack of focus and impulsiveness. It's also known as attention deficit disorder (ADD), a term many adults use because they are not hyperactive. Adults with attention disorders describe having great stores of energy and creativity, but trouble focusing it.

Attention disorders are usually associated with children; many people assume they just "grow out of it." But researchers say the conditions can persist into adulthood. Preliminary figures from a survey by Dr. Ronald Kessler of Harvard Medical School indicate adult ADHD affects about 4 percent of the population.

Some Adults with ADHD May Find Today's Technology-Driven World to be a Hardship

Some ADHD adults are actually adapting better to increasingly busy lives while other adults with attention disorders face challenges. There's no evidence our faster, more fragmented lifestyle results in more cases of attention disorders. But Dr. Arthur Robin, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at Wayne State University, said ADHD symptoms may create greater impairment in a technology-oriented, fast-paced society.

"People with ADHD, while they're hyperactive, the high-energy component is there so they can cope with a fast-paced situation, but they can't always multitask without dropping some of the balls," he said.

Adults with attention disorders typically find coping strategies to get through the days, things like keeping reminder lists or detailed planners. They often have a spouse handle the bills and keep track of birthdays. At work, they'll have an office assistant mind the books.

New York City resident Anita Gold, who was diagnosed with the ADHD, said she relied on a housekeeper and secretaries to cope when she was raising her children and working as a publishing executive. Eddy keeps color-coded notebooks keeping track of her family and professional lives.

But those strategies become harder in a dual-income family where both spouses are stretched for time. Thomasson notes that the proliferation of e-mail and hand-held communications devices has led to many workers essentially acting as their own secretaries.

For Some with Adult ADHD, Technology Is Helpful

Dr. Edward Hallowell, who has written books about ADHD, said a rapid-fire lifestyle can actually be a good thing for maybe half the people with attention disorders -- such as Eddy -- because they can easily shift from task to task.

"When they get stimulation they get adrenaline and adrenaline is nature's own stimulant medication. Chemically, it's very similar to Ritalin," he said.

But everyone is different, and that same combination of one thing after another, day after day can overwhelm anyone, whether or not they have an attention disorder. Hallowell said time management, priority-setting and organization are more important than ever.

"If you're not careful," he said, "you can get lost in the thicket."

Source: AP

next: How to Use A Day Planner
~ adhd library articles
~ all add/adhd articles

APA Reference
Tracy, N. (2008, December 3). ADHD Adults Struggle to Focus, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 7 from https://www.healthyplace.com/adhd/articles/adhd-adults-struggle-to-focus

Last Updated: October 29, 2017

Histrionic, Somatic Personality Disorders - Excerpts Part 4

HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

Excerpts from the Archives of the Narcissism List Part 4

HPD (Histrionic Personality Disorder) and Somatic NPD
Narcissists and Depression
Narcissistic Self-Absorption
Narcissists as Friends
PDs and Self-Mourning
DID and NPD
NPD and ADHD
Psychodynamic Therapies
Self-Pity and Grief
Should We Licence Parents?
BPD, NPD and Other Cluster B PDs

1. HPD (Histrionic Personality Disorder) and Somatic NPD

I "invented" another category between NPD and HPD which I call "somatic narcissists". These are narcissists who acquire their Narcissistic Supply by making use of their bodies, of sex, of physical of physiological achievements, traits, or relationships.

Click here to read the DSM IV-TR definition of the Histrionic Personality Disorder.

2. Narcissists and Depression

If by "depression" we also mean "numbness" then most narcissists are simply numb, emotionally absent, non-existent. Their emotions are not accessible, not "available" to them. So, they inhabit a grey emotional twilight zone. They regard the world through a glass opaquely. It all looks false, fake, invented, contrived, in hues of wrong. But they do not have a sense of living in prison. I have been to prison. Once in it, you remember there's an "outside" and you know there's a way out. Not so in narcissism. The outside has long faded into oblivion, if it ever existed. And there's no way out.

3. Narcissistic Self-Absorption

Narcissists are so abnormally self absorbed because:

They are constantly in pursuit of narcissistic supply (fishing for compliments, for instance).
They feel bad, sad, distraught most of the time. As opposed to common (and even wrong professional) opinion, narcissists are ego-dystonic (don't "live well" with their personality, the effect they have on others and what I call their Grandiosity Gap - the abyss between their grandiose and fantastic self-perception and the much less fantastic reality).

4. Narcissists as Friends

If your friend is a narcissist - you can never get to really know him, to be friends with him, and ESPECIALLY to be in a loving relationship with him. Narcissists are addicts. They are no different to drug addicts. They are in pursuit of gratification through the drug known as Narcissistic Supply. Everything and EVERYONE around them is an object, a potential source (to be idealised) or not (and, then to be cruelly discarded).

Narcissists home in on potential supplies like cruise missiles with the most toxic load. They are excellent at imitating emotions, exhibiting the right behaviours, and manipulating.

There is an abyss between knowing and feeling and between feeling and healing. Otherwise I - who knows so much about narcissism - would have been healthy by now (and I am NOT). So, it does not matter what you think - it matters how you feel and behave.

5. PDs and Self-Mourning

An integral part of every personality disorder is the all-pervasive feelings of loss, sadness, helplessness, and the resulting rage. It is almost as if people with PDs grieve, mourn themselves, or rather the selves that could have been theirs. This perpetual state of bereavement is oft confused with depression or existential angst.

6. DID and NPD

Is the False Self an alter? In other words: is the True Self of a narcissist the equivalent of a host personality in a DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) - and the False Self one of the fragmented personalities, also known as "alters"?

My personal opinion is that the False Self is a construct, not a self in the full sense. It is the locus of the fantasies of grandiosity, the feelings of entitlements, omnipotence, magical thinking, omniscience and magical immunity of the narcissist. It lacks so many elements that it can hardly be called a "self". Moreover, it has no "cut-off" date. DID alters have a date of inception, as a reaction to trauma or abuse. The False Self is a process, not an entity, it is a reactive pattern and a reactive formation. All taken into account, the choice of words was poor. The False Self is not a Self, nor is it False. It is very real, more real to the narcissist than his True Self. A better choice would have been "abuse reactive self" or something to that effect.

7. NPD and ADHD

NPD has been associated lately with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD or ADD). The rationale is that children suffering from ADHD are unlikely to develop the attachment necessary to prevent a narcissistic regression (Freud) or adaptation (Jung). Bonding and object relations ought to be affected by ADHD. Research which supports this conjecture has yet to be made available. Still, many psychotherapists and psychiatrists use it as a working hypothesis.

8. Psychodynamic Therapies

Dynamic psychotherapy (or psychodynamic therapy, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, psychoanalytically psychotherapy):

Let us start with what it is NOT. As opposed to (wrong) common opinion it is NOT psychoanalysis. It is an intensive psychotherapy BASED on psychoanalytic theory WITHOUT the (very important) element of free association. This is not to say that free association is not used - only that it is not a pillar and the technique of choice in dynamic therapies. Dynamic therapies are usually applied to patients not considered "suitable" for psychoanalysis (such as PDs, except the Avoidant PD). Usually, different modes of interpretation are employed and other techniques borrowed from other treatments. But the material interpreted is not necessarily the result of free association or dreams and the psychotherapist is a lot more active than the psychoanalyst.

These treatments are open ended. At the commencement of the therapy the therapist (or analyst) makes an agreement (a "pact") with the analysand (AKA patient or client). The pact states that the patient undertakes to explore his problems no matter how long it takes (and how expensive it becomes). The patient is made to feel guilty if he breaks the pact. I never heard of a more brilliant marketing technique. This is a prime demonstration of the "captive market" concept. On the other hand, this makes the therapeutic environment much more relaxed because the patient knows that the analyst is at his/her disposal no matter how many meetings would be required in order to broach painful subject matter.

Sometimes, these therapies are divided to expressive versus supportive.

Expressive therapies uncover (=make conscious) the patient's conflicts but study his/her defences and resistances. The analyst interprets the conflict in view of the new knowledge thus gained and the happy ending, the resolution of the conflict, is at hand. the conflict, in other words, is "interpreted away" through insight and the change in the patient motivated by his/her insights.

Supportive therapies seek to strengthen the ego. Their premise is that a strong ego can cope better (and later on, alone) with external (situational) or internal (instincts, drives) pressures. notice that this is DIAMETRICALLY opposed to expressive therapies. Supportive therapies seek to increase the patient's ability to SUPPRESS conflicts (rather than bring them to the surface of consciousness). As painful conflict is suppressed - so are all manner of dysphorias and symptoms. This is somewhat reminiscent of behaviourism (the main aim is to change behaviour and to relieve symptoms). It usually makes no use of insight or interpretation (though there are exceptions).

9. Self-Pity and Grief

I think that grieving is an emotional process intended to overcome the clear and irrevocable loss of a loved object (including one's self). It is a coherent, all-consuming, all-pervasive, highly focused emotion. As a result it is short lived (has an "expiry date") and highly efficient and functional in that it allows for the removal / suppression / repression of the representation of the loved object and its transformation into a memory.

Self pity seems to me to be a diffuse, general, though also all-pervasive, emotion. It has no clear emotional aim. It is non-coherent. It is long lived, inefficient and dysfunctional (disturbs proper functioning).

10. Should We Licence Parents?

When we want to drive a car, to become a bank teller, or a dental assistant - we need to study and to be licensed.

Only if we want to become parents - it is a free for all. I honestly do not understand why. Parenting is by far the most complicated human vocation (or avocation) in existence. It involves the exercise of the highest possible mental and physical faculties in combination. A parent deals constantly with the most fragile, vulnerable, susceptible thing on earth (children). You need a licence to educate or care for someone else's children - but not for yours. This is insane. Every future parent must go through a course and learn basic parenting skills before obtaining a licence to procreate. As opposed to well-ingrained common opinion, parenthood is NOT a natural gift. It is learnt and usually from the wrong role models.

Should the mentally disabled be prevented from getting such a license? Should schizophrenics have children? what about MPDs? Other PDs? NPDs like me? OCDs? AsPDs? Where should the line be drawn and by whom on whose authority?

I don't have children because I think I will propagate my PD through them and to them. I don't want to reproduce myself because I conceive of myself as a defective product. But do I have the right NOT to give life to my children? I don't know.

11. BPD, NPD and Other Cluster B PDs

If NPD and BPD have a common source (pathological narcissism) this could be very meaningful. It could open up new vistas of understanding, coping and treatment.

All PDs are interrelated, in my view, at least phenomenologically. True, there is no Grand Unifying Theory of Psychopathology. No one knows whether there are - and what are - the mechanisms underlying mental disorders. At best, mental health professionals register symptoms (as reported by the patient) and signs (as observed by them in a therapeutic setting). Then, they group them into syndromes and, more specifically, into disorders. This is descriptive, not explanatory science. Sure, there are a few theories around (psychoanalysis, to mention the most famous) but they all failed miserably at providing a coherent, consistent theoretical framework with predictive powers.

Still, observations are a powerful tool, if properly used. People suffering from personality disorders have many things in common:

Most of them are insistent (except those suffering from the schizoid or the avoidant personality disorders). They demand treatment on a preferential and privileged basis. They complain about numerous symptoms. They never obey the physician or his treatment recommendations and instructions.

They regard themselves as unique, display a streak of grandiosity and a diminished capacity for empathy (the ability to appreciate and respect the needs and wishes of other people). They regard the physician as inferior to them, alienate him using umpteen techniques and bore him with their never-ending self-preoccupation.
They are manipulative and exploitative because they trust no one and usually cannot love or share. They are socially maladaptive and emotionally unstable.
Most personality disorders start out as problems in personal development which peak during adolescence and then become personality disorders. They stay on as enduring qualities of the individual. Personality disorders are stable and all-pervasive - not episodic. They affect most of the areas of functioning of the patient: his career, his interpersonal relationships, his social functioning.
The person suffering a PD is not happy, to use an understatement. He is depressed, suffers from auxiliary mood and anxiety disorders. He does not like himself, his character, his (deficient) functioning, or his (crippling) influence on others. But his defences are so strong, that he is aware only of the distress - and not of the reasons to it.
The patient with a personality disorder is vulnerable to and prone to suffer from a host of other psychiatric disturbances. It is as though his psychological immunological system has been disabled by the personality disorder and he is left prey to other variants of mental sickness. So much energy is consumed by the disorder and by its corollaries (example: by obsessions-compulsions), that the patient is rendered defenceless.
Patients with personality disorders are alloplastic in their defences. In other words: they would tend to blame the external world for their mishaps. In stressful situations, they will try to preempt a (real or imaginary) threat, change the rules of the game, introduce new variables, or otherwise influence the external world to conform to their needs. This is as opposed to autoplastic defences exhibited, for instance, by neurotics (who change their internal psychological processes in stressful situations).
The character problems, behavioural deficits and emotional deficiencies and instability encountered by the patient with personality disorders are, mostly, ego-syntonic. This means that the patient does not find his personality traits or behaviour objectionable, unacceptable, disagreeable, or alien to his self. As opposed to that, neurotics are ego-dystonic: they do not like what they are and how they behave on a constant basis.
The personality-disordered are not psychotic. They have no hallucinations, delusions or thought disorders (except those who suffer from a Borderline Personality Disorder and who experience brief psychotic "microepisodes", mostly during treatment).

They are also fully oriented, with clear senses (sensorium), good memory and general fund of knowledge and in all-important respects "normal".

The bible of the psychiatric profession is the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual (DSM) - IV-TR (2000). It defines "personality" as:

"...enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself... exhibited in a wide range of important social and personal contexts."

Click here to read its definition of personality disorders

next: Excerpts from the Archives of the Narcissism List Part 5

APA Reference
Staff, H. (2008, December 3). Histrionic, Somatic Personality Disorders - Excerpts Part 4, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 7 from https://www.healthyplace.com/personality-disorders/malignant-self-love/excerpts-from-the-archives-of-the-narcissism-list-part-4

Last Updated: June 1, 2016

Narcissist Chemical Imbalances Excerpts Part 3

HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

Excerpts from the Archives of the Narcissism List Part 3

Narcissists and Chemical Imbalances
Personal Anecdote
Should I Leave Him?
Significant Others, Significant Roles
Lasch, the Cultural Narcissist
Humans as Instruments
NPD and Dual Diagnoses
Narcissists Imitating Emotions
From "Narcissism and the Search for Interiority" by Donald Kalsched
Sam Vaknin, NPD

1. Narcissists and Chemical Imbalances

The narcissist does have mood swings. But his moods do not swing, pendulum wise, on a regular, almost predictable basis, from depression to elation.

On the one hand, the Narcissist endures mega-cycles which last months or even years (see my book and website). These cannot, of course, be attributed to blood sugar levels.

The narcissist's moods do change suddenly as a result of narcissistic injury. One can easily manipulate the moods of a narcissist by making a disparaging remark about him, by disagreeing with him, by criticising him, by doubting his grandiosity, or claims, etc.

Such mood shifts cannot correlate to blood sugar levels which are cyclical in nature. It is possible to reduce the narcissist to a state of rage and depression AT ANY MOMENT, simply by employing the above "technique". He can be elated, even manic - and in a split second, following a narcissistic injury, depressed, sulking or rageful.

The reverse is also true. The narcissist can be catapulted from the bleakest despair to utter mania (or at least to an increased and marked feeling of well being) by providing him with narcissistic supply (attention, adulation, etc.).

Because these swings are totally correlated to external events (narcissistic injury or narcissistic supply) I find it impossible to attribute them to cycles of blood sugar.

What is possible, though, is that a THIRD problem causes chemical imbalances, diabetes, narcissism and perhaps more. There might be a common cause, a hidden common denominator.

Other disorders, like Bi-polar (mania-depression), are characterized by mood swings NOT brought about by external events (endogenic, not exogenic). The Narcissist's mood swings are only the results of external events (as he perceives and interprets them, of course).

Narcissists are NOT emotional. They are absolutely insulated from their emotions. They are emotionally flat or numb.

All mental health disorders exhibit a mood alternation component. But there is a specific mental health category of mood disorders and narcissism is not one of them.

2. Personal Anecdote

Just to show you how all-pervasive narcissism is and how ill-effected it is by insight:

Yesterday I downloaded all the messages posted to the list.

Being a narcissist, I was under the impression that I am THE main contributor (quantitatively). I expected to find that 600-700 of the 1200 messages we all exchanged over the past three months to have either originated from me or included me as a correspondent.

I am a VERY self-aware narcissist. I have VERY deep insights regarding my condition. I can identify every twist and turn of my disorder. I thought that I was immune to narcissistic excesses of grandiosity.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that less than 170 of the messages "met my criteria". ALL the other 1050 messages HAD NOTHING TO DO with ME. I was not a part of them, nor were they originated by me.

See what I mean by "incurable"?

3. Should I Leave Him?

First, you have to establish clear priorities. Who is more important to you (you or he)? What is more important to you (emotional wellness or something else)? What is your time frame (can you tolerate another 3 weeks like the past few ones?). Armed with the results, you should gather information: if you adopt behavior A - what will be the emotional, legal and material effects? And what about behavior B?

The result of all these deliberations should be a plan of action executed unhesitatingly and irreversibly.

IF you are not likely to be effected legally and materially, my advice to you would be: leave NOW. Pack your things and go. Contact him through your lawyers. Narcissists are poisonous. Stay away. There is no way to leave such a situation in stages. There is no respectable retreat.

Many women are worried about the possible consequences of such an act. "Will he not commit suicide?" is a frequent concern.

Narcissists do entertain suicide thoughts (suicidal ideation) in such cases. They usually do not act on them or act half-heartedly so as to fail. BUT, you should take into consideration a possible suicide and you should teach yourself, internalize, until you FULLY accept it, without ANY reservations that you have NOTHING to do with a possible suicide. The narcissist is autistic. He lives in a world all his own. You exist merely as a reflecting mirror. To think that your leaving would have anything to do with his suicide would be to flatter yourself. Morally, you owe nothing to such a person. But you owe everything to yourself.

4. Significant Others, Significant Roles

I have no interest in intellectual stimulation by significant others (it is perceived by me as a threat). Significant others have very clear roles: accumulation and dispensation of past primary narcissistic supply in order to regulate current NS. Nothing less but definitely nothing more. Proximity and intimacy breed contempt for reasons that I elucidate in my work. A process of devaluation is always in full operation.

All the above and a passive witness to my past grandiosity, a dispenser of accumulated NS, a punching bag for my rages, a co-dependent, a possession (though not prized but taken for granted) and much more. Being my partner is an ungrateful, FULL TIME, draining job.

5. Lasch, the Cultural Narcissist

see my: The Cultural Narcissist: Lasch in an Age of Diminishing Expectations

Kernberg made a very pertinent distinction between:

Saying that a specific society/culture is sick (pathologizing culture)
Saying that because a culture is sick - all its members are sick
Saying that in a specific society, certain disorders can be manifested more easily and find more fertile ground, as it were.

I support the third assertion and find the first two untenable.

Freud was the first to study the link between culture/society and pathology. Horney pursued it (as did Mead and many others). Specific pathologies, specific psychopathologies, and the very notion of pathology were always used as metaphors (Sontag) or as tools for social coercion (see Foucault, Szasz, Althusser and many others.) See my Althusser - a Critique: Cometing Interpellations.

To my mind, the following two statements are NOT equivalent, let alone identical:

Societal values are internalized by the child in the process of socialization and formation of his personality (-structures, such as the SuperEgo, to use psychoanalytic parlance) AND

A whole culture is internalized and BECOMES (=takes over) the individual

There is a cyclical argument in Lasch's writings. He is a determinist. If we adopt determinism, consciousness or will become meaningless. If a person is determined by his culture or society and later determines it - Lasch's approach becomes a tautology. Moreover: if psychopathology mirrors culture/society - how can its subject matter be determined by it?

6. Humans as Instruments

Humans are not instruments. To regard them as such is to devalue them, to reduce them, to constrain them, to prevent them from materializing their potential. Narcissists lose interest in their paintbrushes (no matter how valuable) if they cannot serve them in their pursuit of glory and fame through painting. Narcissists do not care about others (especially competitors).

7. NPD and Dual Diagnoses

NPD almost never comes isolated. It is usually diagnosed with other Cluster B Personality Disorders (especially Histrionic PD and Antisocial PD). A single, clearly delineated personality disorder is exceedingly rare. The norm is double or triple diagnoses from various axes (with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, for instance).

But a seductive behaviour is not an NPD trait.

Here is what the authoritative "Review of General Psychiatry" has to say:

"HPD must be differentiated from ... NPD. These disorders may coexist in some combination with HPD, in which case all relevant diagnoses may be assigned."

Elsewhere:

"... (NPDs) have far greater contempt for the sensitivities of others than those with HPD ..."

8. Narcissists Imitating Emotions

Narcissists are excellent at imitating emotions. They maintain (sometimes consciously) "resonance tables" in their minds. They monitor the reactions of others. They see which behavior, gesture, mannerism, phrase, or expression evoke, provoke and elicit which kind of empathic reaction from their conversant or counter party. They map these correlations and store them. Then they download them in the right circumstances to obtain maximum impact and manipulative effect. The whole process is highly "computerized" and has NO emotional correlate, no INNER resonance. The Narcissist uses procedures: "this is what I should say, this is how I must behave, this should be the expression on my face, this should be the pressure of this handshake to obtain this reaction". Narcissists are capable of sentimentality - but not of (experiencing) emotions.

9. From "Narcissism and the Search for Interiority" by Donald Kalsched

"In the family backgrounds of narcissistic personalities we find many variations of this pattern where the child is not 'seen' in his or her own spontaneous expressiveness but rather serves a particular function within the psychic 'economy' of the family system, for example, as mother's darling or father's 'queen'. This is especially true where there is a great deal of unlived life in one or another parent. Under these conditions, the child's frequently endless need for attention ... may arouse an envious or wrathful response ... Or, the parent will simply ignore the independent needs of the child and respond adoringly to those special abilities, talents, or endearing set of attributes with which he/she can identify and perhaps obtain vicariously, through the child, the needed appreciative mirroring from others. It very often happens that the 'audience' from whom appreciation is wanted is the spouse, as for example, in the case of a father who appropriates his son's endearing qualities and 'shows him off' to his own wife from whom he feels otherwise estranged. Or, the audience maybe the grandfather or grandmother from whom the narcissistically deprived parent may be able to evoke the appreciative 'gleam in the parent's eye' that was never seen in response to his or her own personal accomplishments but now appears as a ready mirror for 'my son' or 'my daughter'. Sometimes it is the very expressive lovingness of the child which is appropriated.

Andras Angyal has made a vital contribution to our understanding of the personality by reminding us that among the spontaneous capacities of normal children is a deep capacity for loving.

Children who have experienced what Winnicott calls 'good enough' mothering have to be carefully taught not to love or not to love totally. Such total expressiveness may be gobbled up by the emotionally deprived parent so that the child quickly realizes that his loving does not come back to him ... it does not make an impact 'out there' and return. It disappears. The parent cannot get enough. Or, what is often worse, the parent appropriates the very lovingness of the child itself as the earliest of the many special talents the parent eventually sees in the child. The parent calls attention to the child's loving gestures and asks others to watch. This is another way of taking the love away. Without knowing it, the child becomes aware that his very warmth and affection itself is made into something for the parents' aggrandizement. This is often the precursor to the superficial warmth and charm of the narcissistic individual, so frequently noted in the literature."

10. Sam Vaknin, NPD

Philosophically, an narcissist, who "warns" others about his disorder (most narcissists are men) is a paradox.

Remember the ancient Greek liar's paradox? "I constantly and invariably lie" says I. If I am telling the truth - than the sentence is a lie and so on.

Narcissists do EVERYTHING in search and pursuit of Narcissistic Supply. There is no other motive or motivation in their lives. If warning others is what's going to get them the attention they are seeking (or the adulation, in some cases) they will do it. Fame is better than notoriety but notoriety is preferable to lack of attention. A narcissist describing his NPD is seeking to secure narcissistic supply by doing so. Narcissists are primitive "machines".

It might be difficult to ignore the fact that I am a narcissist. But two observations may make it easier:

A narcissistic discussing NPD "scientifically" and in a "detached" manner will always be objective. It is his reputation that he is trying to preserve by becoming known as "an authority on ...". You can TRUST the narcissist if this is the role that he plays to be completely honest, open and objective.
Intentions don't count - actions do. What does it matter WHY I do what I do, as long as I am able to constructively contribute to the dialogue? By exposing myself I am asking to be accepted as I am. If I am accepted unconditionally - this, indeed, may be a first in my life.

next: Excerpts from the Archives of the Narcissism List Part 4

APA Reference
Staff, H. (2008, December 3). Narcissist Chemical Imbalances Excerpts Part 3, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 7 from https://www.healthyplace.com/personality-disorders/malignant-self-love/excerpts-from-the-archives-of-the-narcissism-list-part-3

Last Updated: June 1, 2016

Letter to a Narcissist - Excerpts Part 2

HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

Excerpts from the Archives of the Narcissism List Part 2

1. A Letter to a Narcissist

I am very happy that you found the power within you to share. I am a narcissist, probably even worse than you are. It took me eternity to talk about IMPERSONAL things like my shirt size, let alone my painful history, my inner world. I still do so with trepidation. You write well and from the heart.

This outweighs any stylistic advantages I or others might have. I was MOVED by your letter. It is a HUMAN letter.

Intuitively, you seem to have chosen a path of healing. I sympathise with you. I also try to give selflessly (my websites, etc.). It is the only way to fight malignant self love - by real self love. This is the chemotherapy of love.

Unrepentant and "true" narcissists (as you paint yourself, into a corner of unconsciously cunning egotism) - are EGO SYNTONIC. This means in human-speak: they feel GOOD with themselves, they feel whole (well, most of the time, anyhow, according to the latest research). When a narcissist begins to feel BAD, UNHAPPY, REMORSEFUL - he is shedding his narcissism. I am not at this stage yet. I am still ego-syntonic. I am still fairly content with my incredibly destructive path. I don't feel remorse, pangs of awakening conscience. Sure, I feel depressed at times - over lost chances for the obtaining further Narcissistic Supply. I envy you. The worse you feel with yourself - the closer your salvation. Healing is bought with pain, with reliving the old pains that made you what you are, with re-enacting the old conflicts that defined you.

2. Narcissists in the Family

To react emotionally to a narcissist is like talking atheism to an Afghan fundamentalist. Narcissists have emotions, very strong ones, so terrifyingly strong and negative that they hide them, repress, block, and transmute them. They employ a myriad of defence mechanisms: projective identification, splitting, projection, intellectualisation, rationalisation... Any effort to emotionally relate to a narcissist is doomed to failure, alienation and rage. Any attempt to "understand" (in retrospect or prospectively) narcissistic behaviour patterns, reactions, his inner world in emotional terms - are equally hopeless. Narcissists should be regarded as "stykhia", a force of nature, an accident. There is always the bitter question: "why me, why should this happen to me", of course...

There is no master-plot or mega-plan to deprive anyone. Being born to narcissistic parents is not the result of a conspiracy. It is a tragic event, for sure. But it cannot be dealt with emotionally without professional help and in an unplanned manner. Luckily, as opposed to narcissists, the prognosis for the victims of narcissists is fairly bright.

3. Narcissistic Identity

Narcissists very rarely acknowledge that they are narcissists. A MAJOR life crisis and a very prolonged and frustrating (for the therapist) therapy are needed before a narcissist admits that something MAY be wrong with him/her.

Narcissism is not an identity, it is a humiliation. To define oneself as a narcissist is to define oneself as a ridiculously pompous, unrealistic, predator of human emotions. This isn't very flattering and it is not much of an identity either because the narcissist has NO identity. He feeds off of his FALSE self as reflected by others. It is there, in others, that he lives.

4. Narcissists, Right and Wrong

Narcissists know the difference between right and wrong and to a large extent they do CHOOSE to do the things they do. They are lazy and have no empathy. To be considerate and understanding one has to invest effort and thought and to empathise. I don't know what is the attitude of the courts: do personality disorders constitute a "diminished responsibility" defence? NPD is NOTHING like BPD. It is FAR more cerebral, premeditated and controlled. In this sense it is much closer to the Antisocial personality disorder than to BPD (Borderline) or HPD (Histrionic).

5. In Defence of Narcissists

Fortunately, humanity is not a monolithic abstraction, or a dull formula. Its essence cannot be captured by symbolic representation. Humanity is elusive, it is diverse, it is vast. Without narcissists, or women, or blacks, or Jews, or Nazis, or the tribesmen of the Amazon - humanity would be a far less intriguing and successful proposition. It is in diversity that the secret of adaptation and survival lies. It is from adversity that resilience springs forth. We need narcissists because without them life itself would be - by definition - incomplete as narcissists are part of life. We need their drive to excel, their ruthlessness, their pathetic pursuit of our adulation, their neediness, their emotional immaturity - this is the stuff untrammeled ambition is made of. This is the stuff of life. Narcissists are beasts of prey lurking beneath a thin veneer of civilization. But it is thus that humanity first emerged. They are a reminder of our beginnings.

They are enamoured with their reflection, which is the reflection of us all. Staring deep into the lake that is our collective psyche, they reach for themselves, forever frustrated. Their death brings about a great flower of simple beauty. This is to teach us that in nature nothing is lost and everything has a reason, however cruel, however morally reprehensible, however tragic.

6. Narcissists Have Tables of Emotional Resonance

Narcissists are excellent at imitating emotions. They maintain (sometimes consciously) "resonance tables" in their minds. They monitor the reactions of others.

They see which behaviour, gesture, mannerism, phrase, or expression evoke, provoke, and elicit which kind of empathic reaction from their conversant or counter party. They map these correlations and store them. Then they download them in the right circumstances to obtain maximum impact and manipulative effect. The whole process is highly "computerised" and has NO emotional correlate, no INNER resonance. The narcissist uses procedures: this is what I should say now, this is how I must behave, this should be the expression on my face, this should be the pressure of this handshake to foster this reaction. Narcissists are capable of sentimentality - but not of (experiencing) emotions.

7. Contradictory Behaviours of Narcissists

To need to be loved is not synonymous to loving. The narcissist is looking for power, adulation, attention, affirmation, etc. This is called Narcissistic Supply. The narcissist experiences this as "love". But he is incapable of giving love back, of loving. And because he is afraid of being abandoned he initiates the abandonment. It gives him a feeling that the situation is under control, that he is the one who is doing the abandoning and that, therefore, it does not "qualify" as abandonment. He brings about his own abandonment to "get it over with" and to be able to say: "I made her leave me and good riddance. Had I not acted the way I did she would have stayed on."

A relationship is a contract. I provide intelligence, money, insight, fun, good company, status and so on. I expect Narcissistic Supply in return. The contract runs its natural course until it is terminated, as all business contracts do.

8. From "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho

VERY free translation from the French:

"The Alchemist took in his hands one book which was brought by someone from the convoy. The book was not bound but anyway he could find the author's name: Oscar Wilde. Leafing through the pages he came across a story about Narcissus.

The Alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, the beautiful youth who used to daily observe his own beauty reflected in the waters of a lake. He was so blinded by his reflection that one day he fell into the lake and drowned. Where he drowned, a flower sprouted which was named after him, a narcissus. But the Oscar Wilde story did not end this way. According to him, after the death of Narcissus, the forest deities, the Oreads (The author is mistaken.

The Oreads were mountain deities - SV), came ashore this sweet water lake and found it transformed into an urn filled with bitter tears.
- Why are you crying? Asked the Oreades.
- I am crying for Narcissus - the lake answered.
- That doesn't surprise us at all, they said. We often chased him in these woods in vain. Only you could observe his beauty closely.
- Was Narcissus beautiful? Asked the lake.
- And who else can know this better than you? Answered the Oreads, amazed. Didn't he bend over your waters every day!
The lake remained speechless for a moment. After that it said:
- I am crying for Narcissus but I have never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I am crying for him because every time he bent over my waters, I could have seen deep in the bottom of his eyes the reflection of my own beauty.
This is truly a nice story, the Alchemist said."

9. Narcissism's Gifts to Humanity

Narcissism is an awesomely powerful drive, force, compulsion. I know that when I get the urge to impress someone there is VERY little I won't do. It gets you places, though. Narcissism may be responsible for many scientific, literary, artistic and political achievements.

A wise person, whom I hold in high respect (not idealising, just respecting) once made two pertinent (I think) observations:

That perhaps narcissism is bad for the individual but good for the community.
That acts of self destruction may actually be acts of liberation from unwanted situations in life.

10. Narcissists and Manipulation

Narcissists are adept at manipulating what I call their Narcissistic Pathological Space ( country, family, friends, colleagues, workplace). They are excellent imitators ((Zelig-like types, chameleons). In the workplace they will project work ethic and the sharing of basic goals in a team work. To their spouse they will reflect "love", to their colleagues - collaboration and mutual respect. Scratch the surface though and out springs the ever-youthful narcissist: indignant, rageful, vengeful, dangerous, painful.

11. Narcissist Employer

To a narcissist-employer, his "staff" are Secondary Sources of Narcissistic Supply. Their role is to accumulate the supply (in humanspeak, remember events that support the grandiose self-image of the narcissist) and to regulate the Narcissistic Supply of the narcissist during dry spells (simply put, to adulate, adore, admire, agree, provide attention and approval, and so on, in other words, serve as an audience). The staff (or should I say "stuff"?) is supposed to remain passive. The narcissist is not interested in anything but the simplest function of mirroring. When the mirror acquires a personality and a life of its own, the narcissist is incensed. He may even fire the employee (an act which will help the narcissist recover his sense of omnipotence).

An employee's presumption to be his employer's equal (friendship is possible only among equals) narcissistically injures the narcissist. The narcissist is willing to accept the employee as an underling, whose very position as such serves to support his grandiose fantasies. But the grandiosity rests on such fragile foundations, that any hint of equality, disagreement, or of his needs (for a friend, for instance) threatens the narcissist profoundly. The narcissist is exceedingly insecure. It is easy to destabilise his impromptu "personality". His reactions are merely in self-defence.

Classic narcissistic behaviour is when idealisation followed by devaluation. The devaluating attitude develops as a result of disagreements OR simply because time has eroded the employee's capacity to serve as a FRESH Source of Supply.

In time, the employee is taken for granted by the narcissistic employer, and becomes uninspiring as a source of adulation, admiration and attention. The narcissist needs new thrills and stimuli.

The narcissist is notorious for his low threshold of resistance to boredom. He exhibits impulsive behaviours and has a chaotic biography precisely because of his need to introduce uncertainty and risk to what he regards as "stagnation" or "slow death" (=routine). Even something as innocuous as asking for office supplies constitutes a reminder of this deflating, hated, routine.

Narcissists do many unnecessary, wrong and even dangerous things in pursuit of the stabilisation of their inflated self-image.

Narcissists feel suffocated by intimacy, or by the constant reminders of the REAL, nitty-gritty, world. It reduces them, makes them realise the Grandiosity Gap (between their self image and reality). It is treated as a threat to the precarious balance of their personality structures (mostly "false" and invented).

Narcissists will forever shift the blame, pass the buck, and engage in cognitive dissonance. They "pathologise" the other, foster feelings of guilt and shame in the other, demean, debase and humiliate the other, in order to preserve their sense of grandiosity.

Narcissists are pathological liars. They think nothing of it because their very self is FALSE, an invention.

Here are a few useful guidelines:

Never disagree with your narcissist-employer or contradict him.
Never offer him any intimacy.
Look awed by whatever attribute matters to him (for instance: by his professional achievements, or by his good looks, or by his success with women and so on).
Never remind him of life out there and if you do, connect it somehow to his sense of grandiosity (these are the BEST art materials ANY workplace is going to have, we get them EXCLUSIVELY, etc., etc.).
Do not make any comment which might directly or indirectly impinge on his self image, omnipotence, judgment, omniscience, diagnostic capabilities, professional record, or even omnipresence. Bad sentences start with: "I think you overlooked ... made a mistake here ... you don't know ... do you know ... you were not here yesterday so ... you cannot ... you should ...(perceived as rude imposition, narcissists react very badly to restrictions placed on their omnipotent freedom) ... I (never mention the fact that you are a separate, independent entity. Narcissists regard others as extensions of their selves, their internalisation processes were screwed up in their formative years and they did not differentiate objects properly) ...".

next: Excerpts from the Archives of the Narcissism List Part 3

APA Reference
Staff, H. (2008, December 3). Letter to a Narcissist - Excerpts Part 2, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 7 from https://www.healthyplace.com/personality-disorders/malignant-self-love/excerpts-from-the-archives-of-the-narcissism-list-part-2

Last Updated: June 1, 2016

Dissociative Identity Disorder Conference Transcripts Table of Contents

Samantha Gluck

Chat conference transcripts dealing with all aspects of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) including abuse, trauma and dissociation, emotionally abused women, sexually abused men, how to live with DID, protecting children from sexual predators and more.

Coping with Memories Associated with Sexual Abuse
Guest: Dr. Karen Engebretsen-Larash
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): Working With Your Alters
Guest: Anne Pratt, Ph.D.
Dissociative Identity Disorder, Multiple Personality Disorder To Integrate Personalities or Not to Integrate
Guest: Paula McHugh
Emotionally Abused Women
Guest: Beverly Engel, MFCT
Living Day-to-Day with DID/MPD
Guest: Randy Noblitt, Ph.D.
Protecting your Children from Sexual Predators
Guest: Debbie Mahoney
Sexually Abused Men
Guest: Dr. Richard Gartner
The Damage Caused by Sexual Abuse
Guest: Dr. Heyward Ewart
Trauma and Dissociation
Guest: Sheila Fox Sherwin

back to: Abuse Homepage

APA Reference
Gluck, S. (2008, December 3). Dissociative Identity Disorder Conference Transcripts Table of Contents, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 7 from https://www.healthyplace.com/abuse/dissociative-identity-disorder/dissociative-identity-disorder-conference-transcripts-table-of-contents

Last Updated: September 26, 2015

About the Author Dimitri Mihalas

HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

A Primer on Depression and Bipolar Disorder

Dimitri Mihalas is a highly accomplished astronomer who suffered from Bipolar Disorder for many years. His experiences led him to write The Manic Depression Primer, a guide to recovering from bipolar disorder. Dimitri Mihalas was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1939. He majored in astronomy, mathematics, and physics at UCLA, receiving his B. A. with highest honors in 1959. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy and physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1963.

He first attended Quaker Meeting in Boulder, Colorado in 1974. By 1976 he became a convinced Friend, and joined the Boulder Monthly Meeting, which is still his home meeting despite the fact that he now lives in northern New Mexico.

He has taught and done research at Princeton University, the University of Chicago, the University of Colorado, and the University of Illinois, where he was the George C. McVittie Professor of Astronomy for 13 years. He worked for many years as a Senior Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and was an Astronomer at the National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak, New Mexico. Currently he is a physicist with the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

He is the author or coauthor of over 150 technical papers, 7 books on physics and astrophysics, coeditor of 4 volumes on astrophysics, and 7 chapbooks of poetry. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society (a recipient of the Helen B. Warner Prize, and currently serving on the Council) and the International Astronomical Union (formerly President of Commission 36, ``Theory of Stellar Atmospheres"). He was elected to the U. S. National Academy of Sciences in 1981, and belongs to the sections on Astronomy and Physics.

next: Lithium and Depakote in Bipolar Disorder Patients of Childbearing Age
~ bipolar disorder library
~ all bipolar disorder articles

APA Reference
Staff, H. (2008, December 3). About the Author Dimitri Mihalas, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 7 from https://www.healthyplace.com/bipolar-disorder/articles/about-dimitri-mihalas

Last Updated: March 31, 2017

The ABC's of Celebrating Love!

HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

The ABC's of Celebrating Love!

A Absolutely amaze your partner with adoration. Let them know in very special ways that you care. Exercise extravagant respect and devotion toward your lover. Accept them for who they are. Demonstrate your warm attachment and affection to them. Avoid taking your partner for granted.

B Believe in your instincts. Be spontaneous. Don't plan. . . just do something that you've wanted to do with your partner for a long time. Let your love occur naturally. Stop and pick a roadside flower and present it to your partner.

C Cuddle. Lie close and be cozy. Do spoons! Just hold each other. There is a very special healing power in a close, warm embrace. C is also for "considerate."

D Discover new ways of expressing your love for each other. Hire a skywriter. Put a message up on a billboard. Buy a radio commercial to say I love you. Record a special message on a cassette.

E Entice your lover to try a new way of making love. Always making love the same way can bring on boredom. Focus on pleasure. Enjoy each other to the fullest. Read, Red Hot LoveNotes for Lovers.

F Flirt for fun and frivolity. Be creative in your flirting. Pretend you are together for the first time or that you are trying to pick up your lover.

G Gaze into each other's eyes with a steady intention to say, "I love you" without words. Smile. Notice the eye color. Say something nice about them. Be generous with your love.

H Have a private party for just the two of you. Candles, music, the works. Talk. Listen. Express your love for one another.

I Indulgeeach other's desires. Write your secret desires on pieces of paper and trade. You may be surprised.

J Joke and have fun together. Lighten up. Be joyous. Release your sense of humor. Have fun with love.

K Kissy. . . kissy. . . kissy! Quick pecks on the cheek don't work. Give your partner an unexpected, looooooong, juicy kiss. Be keen on kissing!

L Love with all your heart and soul. Always remember to speak, "I love you" at least once each day. Express love in new and exciting ways. Remember to love yourself and do nice things for you too.

continue story below

M Massage away the day's tension and stress. Begin with the feet and work up. Surprise your lover with your magic fingers or tantalizing tongue. Buy some special massage oil; something that smells good.

N Nurture your need for nibbling. Nibble each other's earlobes or other parts of the body that feels good. Practice a soft, light, romantic nibble with your lover. Nibbling feels good.

O Offer breakfast in bed or some other surprise your lover might like. Be creative. Plan. Make it very special.

P Pretend you are long-lost, passionate lovers. Use your imagination. Think! What could you do that you haven't done for a long time? Do that.

Q Quote your lover a love poem or a special passage from a book or greeting card that expresses exactly how you feel.

R Remember the little things. Respect your partner by paying attention. Be aware when your partner's likes and dislikes. Notice what makes them happy and deliver more of that.

S Slow dance by candlelight or in the backyard in the moonlight. Get back to romance. Be sensitive to the romantic needs of your lover. Romantically impaired? Read, 1001 Ways to Be Romantic.

T Try a little tenderness. Be gentle. Practice the "soft touch." Go slow. Be intentional.

U Uncover your deepest feelings. Speak them or write them to your lover. Communicate them unwaveringly. Let your emotions express themselves with sensitivity, understanding and love.

V Vow your eternal love for each other. Renew your vows. Make some new ones. Look up the word "vow" in the dictionary. Live by your solemn promises.

W Watch a sunrise or sunset together. Bring a picnic basket with snacks and your favorite beverage. Let the warmth you feel for your partner be felt.

X X-plore your romantic dreams. Day dream about this one. Think. X-cellerate. Don't wait. Do something X-citing together; something you said you would do in the past, but you both have been putting off or making X-cuses about.

Y Yearn for each other's touch. Don't hold back. A hug-a-day pays dividends beyond your wildest imaginings. AND. . . it feels good to be touched by the one you love.

Z Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz in each other's arms. Zero in on being close. Touching feels good. Enhance your enjoyment by listening to your partner's breathing cycle and to their heartbeat. Inhale and exhale together. Become as one.

next: My Partner Cheat? Never! 29 Red Flags That May Suggest a Cheater

APA Reference
Staff, H. (2008, December 3). The ABC's of Celebrating Love!, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 7 from https://www.healthyplace.com/relationships/celebrate-love/the-abcs-of-celebrating-love

Last Updated: May 29, 2015

Memantine (Namenda) for Treating Alzheimer's

HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

Find out about Namenda, a medication for treating moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease.

What is Namenda?

Namenda (memantine) is a medication for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. It was approved by the FDA in October 2003.

What kind of drug is Namenda?

Namenda is classified as an uncompetitive low-to-moderate affinity N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, the first Alzheimer drug of this type approved in the United States. It appears to work by regulating the activity of glutamate, one of the brain's specialized messenger chemicals involved in information processing, storage, and retrieval. Glutamate plays an essential role in learning and memory by triggering NMDA receptors to allow a controlled amount of calcium to flow into a nerve cell, creating the chemical environment required for information storage.

Excess glutamate, on the other hand, overstimulates NMDA receptors to allow too much calcium into nerve cells, leading to disruption and death of cells. Memantine may protect cells against excess glutamate by partially blocking NMDA receptors.

Memantine's action differs from the mechanism of the cholinesterase inhibitors that were previously approved in the United States for treatment of Alzheimer symptoms. Cholinesterase inhibitors temporarily boost levels of acetylcholine, another messenger chemical that becomes deficient in the Alzheimer brain.

What is the evidence that Namenda may help Alzheimer symptoms?

In considering Forest Laboratories' application for approval of memantine, members of the FDA's Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drug Advisory Committee voted unanimously that the following two clinical trials support the safety and effectiveness of memantine in treating moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease:

(1)A 28-week U.S. study enrolling 252 individuals with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease and initial scores ranging from 3 - 14 on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). In this double-blind study, participants were randomly assigned to receive either 10 mg of memantine twice a day or a placebo. Those receiving memantine showed a small but statistically significant benefit in their ability to perform daily activities and on the Severe Impairment Battery, a test designed to assess memory, thinking and judgment in seriously incapacitated individuals. On the Clinician Interview-Based Impression of Change Plus Caregiver Input, a measure of overall function, memantine recipients also showed a benefit that was significant in one analysis but not in another.

When study participants with MMSE scores of less than 10 were considered as a separate group, memantine recipients showed no benefit compared with those who received placebo on either daily activities or overall function.

Results of a six-month extension of this trial were published in the January 2006 Archives of Neurology. All participants who chose to continue received memantine, but neither researchers nor patients knew who had originally been on memantine until the extension ended.

Results showed that participants who switched from placebo to memantine declined more slowly than on placebo in assessments of memory, daily activities and overall function. Those who stayed on memantine for the whole year maintained their slower rate of decline seen in the original trial.

(2) A 24-week U.S. study enrolling 404 individuals with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease and initial MMSE scores from 5 - 14 who had been taking donepezil (Aricept) for at least six months, with a stable dose for at least three months. In this double-blind study, participants were randomly assigned to receive either 10 mg of memantine twice a day or a placebo in addition to their donepezil. Those receiving memantine showed a statistically significant benefit in performing daily activities and on the Severe Impairment Battery, while participants taking donepezil plus placebo continued to decline.

Some advisory committee members considered memantine's effect modest, similar in scope to the effect seen with cholinesterase inhibitors.

In July 2005, the FDA declined to approve memantine to treat mild Alzheimer's disease. Forest has conducted three studies of memantine as a treatment for mild to moderate Alzheimer's. In one study, participants taking memantine fared better than those receiving a placebo on tests of memory and thinking skills as well as on assessments by their physicians and caregivers. In two other studies memantine failed to show any statistically significant benefit compared with the placebo. In one of the studies that failed to show benefit, participants were already on a stable dose of a cholinesterase inhibitor at the time they began taking memantine. The study included all three commonly prescribed cholinesterase inhibitors—donepezil (Aricept), galantamine (Razadyne) (Razadyne, formerly Reminyl), and rivastigmine (Exelon).

How is Namenda supplied and prescribed?

Namenda is supplied as an oral medication in 10 mg tablets. Forest provides prescribing information at www.namenda.com or by calling 1.877.2-NAMENDA (1.877.262.6363). Namenda side-effects include headache, constipation, confusion, and dizziness.

Sources:

Namenda prescribing information, Forest Laboratories, April 2007.
Forest Laboratories press release, "Namenda(TM) (memantine HCl), First Drug Approved For Treatment of Moderate to Severe Alzheimer's Disease Now Available Nationwide," Jan. 13, 2003.

back to: Psychiatric Medications Pharmacology Homepag

APA Reference
Staff, H. (2008, December 3). Memantine (Namenda) for Treating Alzheimer's, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 7 from https://www.healthyplace.com/alzheimers/medications/memantine-namenda-for-treating-alzheimers

Last Updated: January 17, 2019

Romantic Ideas to Make it Valentine's Day All Year Long!

HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

To be a special Valentine to your partner takes lots of energy, time, attention and Love. Let's all give some thought about who we are being in our relationship, what we can do to make them better and who we will have to become to have them be healthy and successful.

Romantic Ideas to Make it Valentine's Day All Year Long! Celebrate your relationship or reach out and touch someone you love. Consider celebrating with friends or family. Be creative. Take some time to give some thought to how your partner likes to be acknowledged, appreciated and loved.

You must consistently invest in your relationship to receive its dividends. No deposit. . . no return.

Make EVERYDAY Valentine's Day for your partner or someone you love.

1. I proposed to my wife on Valentine's Day. I went to the Olive Garden in the afternoon and left three red roses and a vase and asked the manager to have someone watch for us and when the waitress brought our drink order to have the roses and our engagement ring with a beautiful card delivered. Bring your own Valentine's candles, rose pedals, etc.

2. Send your partner a special note to their office telling them that tonight you are offering a full-body massage, with candlelight and favorite beverage. Let your fingers do the talking. It's a great way to express your love for your partner. Or, hire a masseuse to give your partner a professional massage at home.

3. Have a caterer deliver and serve a beautiful meal to your home for Valentine's Day.

4. If you plan to buy a dozen roses, put one on her pillow, one on the dresser, one on the TV; scatter them throughout the house and leave a special love note with each one.

5. Women: Do something WITH him that he wouldn't expect you to do. Tickets to a sporting event; plan a fishing trip. If you hate sports, go anyway and allow yourself to have fun just being with him. Show interest in his hobby, interests and pastimes.

6. Go for a special "hot-air balloon" ride, complete with picnic basket, a blanket, champagne, just for the two of you.

7. Plan a special date. Pretend it's your very first date. Have fun. Dance. Watch the sun complete your day in the arms of your significant other.

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8. Leave "Post-It" notes with special messages hidden all over the house for your lover to find when they least expect it. Hide them in a pair of pants they have in the closet, inside every pair of shoes, under things, inside books they read, inside folded towels they will use, in the car, taped inside the fridge, on the telephone, in the sugar bowl, etc. It may take them days to find them all and they will love every one.

9. Choose a lake resort or favorite beach. Rent a rowboat. Pack a picnic basket. Bring your favorite music, find a secluded area and have some fun.

10. LISTEN all-year-long for ideas or things your partner would like to have or do. Make notes to yourself and buy that special thing and surprise them with it when they least expect it (especially after they might have forgotten about it.).

11. Record a "love message" on a cassette or CD and use some very special words to express your love for your partner. Borrow some words from several greeting cards. Put the recording in the cassette or CD player of their car, stick a note on the rear view mirror that lets them know it's there. Try to make it long enough to last until they get to the office.

12. If you are giving your partner a ring, buy a large box of Cracker Jacks, unseal the bottom and the package with the tiny prize inside. Put the ring in the surprise package, seal it back up, wrap the Cracker Jacks with paper with red hearts, write a special love note on the outside and give it to them.

13. Make a copy of your wedding photo, put it in a special frame and write the words, "I love you more today than yesterday," and sign your name.

14. This idea takes some planning ahead. Create a "love journal." Jot down one special idea for each day of the year and present it to them on Valentine's Day.

15. Men: Put a note in her Valentine that says, "I love you and to prove it, I promise to give you the TV remote for 30 days!"

16. Buy some sidewalk chalk. Draw a large heart on the driveway with red chalk and write, "I love you" in the middle.

17. Make a colorful banner on your computer with hearts, etc., that expresses your love and put in on the garage door, so it's the first thing your partner sees when they come home.

18. Next year, buy 14 Valentines and beginning on the 1st of February, give them one for each day leading to Valentine's Day.

19. THINK AHEAD. Plan a romantic weekend get-away, away from the phone, the children, TV, etc. Just BE together. Taking time away from your usual environment and routine to go somewhere different and create quality time together. It is a wonderful way to keep romance alive.

20. It's easy to buy a card or gift in the store, but it is very special to take the time to make your own. This will have much more impact as it will be coming straight from your heart and therefore will go straight to the heart of the person you are sending it to. Just the fact that you took the time to stop and create something so personal for them is a gift in and of itself. Most likely they will cherish it and also realize how much they mean to you. Mail it to them with a "Love Stamp."

21. Instead of asking your love out the traditional way... kidnap her and take her away for a night of romance! For extra fun, use a squirt gun and play-cuffs! Blindfold her and take her somewhere really nice for dinner. Remove the blindfold when you arrive at the restaurant, but put it back on her when you leave. Take her to special places that you have been before, or places that hold memories (where you met, where you spent your first Valentine's Day, etc.). At the end of the night tell her how much you loved every place you have ever been with her and everything thing you have ever done and that you would do it all over again.

22. Surprise your sweetheart when they least expect it. Show up at work, school, on their lunch-break, etc., just to give them a rose, a kiss, a hug or a special card and tell them you love them.

23. Plan ahead. Find a nice hotel with a Jacuzzi suite with bubble bath, 2 glasses with sparkling wine, heart-shaped balloons, rose petals on the bed, a Happy Valentine's Day sign on wall, heart-shaped candles everywhere, chocolate kisses, roses (one for each year together), red and white Valentine lights and music.

24. Before your partner takes a shower, write a message to him in the mirror with your finger, like 'I love you' or 'I love it when you're clean!'. He won't see it when he gets in, but when he gets out of the shower and the bathroom is all steamy, the message will "magically" appear on the mirror. When the mirror fogs up the natural oils that were released by your skin will prevent that area from steaming over.

25. Keep a ready supply of several different colored dry-erase markers in your bathroom. Leave love notes for your partner on the bathroom mirror, and afterwards they wipe right off. It also may encourage a rather quiet and non-romantic man to leave some romantic notes of his own.

26. Long Distant Relationship: Write a very special love message on the back of a small jigsaw puzzle, then take the puzzle apart so he or she has to put it together to read the message. Mail the puzzle all at once or several pieces at a time.

27. Find a full picture of you or design a special love message and have it put on a t-shirt, pillowcases, or bed sheet, etc.

28. Put a note on the rearview mirror in their car on the anniversary of your first date. On the note ask if they remember the importance of this day. When they come home have a trail of flower petals leading them from clue to clue. At the final stop present them with an invitation for an evening of re-enacting your first date.

29. If you are giving your partner a bracelet, buy her a stuffed bear, and have the bear wearing the bracelet. Wrap it and have a waitress deliver it to your table during dinner.

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30. Here's a crazy idea. For dinner on Valentine's Day, make most of the food you prepare either red or pink. Red mashed potatoes, pink bread, red Jell-O, and a red tinted heart cake with pink icing. Use red potpourri. Scatter red candles of all shapes and sizes all over. Try to incorporate hearts in as many ways as you can

31. If you are Internet savvy, make a special Website for your sweetheart. Fill it with hearts, poems, "I love you" messages, pictures and whatever turns them on. Go to a site that allows you to create a free Website and make a Website for your sweetheart. There are many places that offer free Websites that are fairly easy to create!

32. Put love notes and Hershey Kisses in your sweetheart's cereal box.

33. Plan ahead. Fill a blank book with letters, scribbles, a few photos, and even poems of your feelings for your partner.

34. Buy 12 Valentines and plan to mail one each month so it arrives on the 14th day of the month. Celebrate Valentine's Day, all year long.

35. Plan ahead. The day before Valentine's Day, send flowers, a romantic card, chocolate, or a small gift to your loved one at work. Enclose a card saying you can't wait until tomorrow.

36. Plan ahead. Collect a box full of your favorite couple memories; the ticket stubs to the first movie you saw together, the dried corsage from your first dance, plane tickets from your honeymoon, some photos, love letters, whatever means something to you. Present it to your honey after dinner and have a wonderful time looking at each item and remembering. Add to this box of memories over the years.

37. Heart-shaped boxes can be the perfect container for your gift. Be on the lookout for them throughout the year. Fill the prettiest box with a handful of glittery heart-shaped party confetti, glitter, or red tissue paper, all hiding a little jewelry box that contains a heart-shaped necklace, bracelet, ring, etc.

38. Send Valentines to all the people on your Christmas card list. Everyone enjoys a jolt of cheer in the middle of dreary February.

39. Show up at a children's hospital with a load of toys, books and games.

40. Take flowers and candy to strangers in a nursing home or hospice.

41. Think of someone you know who's been in the doldrums lately and leave a secret Valentine's Day care package on his or her doorstep. Something as simple as a bottle of wine or a bunch of flowers from the supermarket can turn someone's whole day around.

42. Scatter a packet of Heavenly Blue morning glory seeds beside a rusty chain-link fence in a vacant lot. Post a tiny sign that dedicates this flower plot to your sweetheart.

43. If you do not have a partner, seize this day with gusto! Do something incredible for yourself. Do something that is personally nurishing and nurturing. Be your own Valentine: Buy yourself that painting or dress (or suit) or coffee-table book you can't get out of your mind. Take yourself to dinner at your favorite restaurant, or have the meal delivered. Take the day off work and spend it doing whatever you like to do most - even if it's absolutely nothing.

44. Put a drop of red food coloring in the bottom of your sweetheart's cereal bowl, underneath the cereal. When they add the milk, it will turn pink. When it does, wish them a Happy Valentine's Day!

45. If your sweetheart is going to be away from you on Valentine's Day, get several Valentine's Day cards and put them in different places in his or her luggage. You could sequence them with "Open Me on February 14th" or "Open Me on February 15th" to create some suspense.

46. Write, "I love you!" in lipstick or shaving cream on the bathroom mirror. You could also tape a heart with the words "I love you" if you prefer an easier clean up.

47. Give your sweetheart a "Love" coupon that says, "I'll do all the household chores for the next week!"

48. Put a note in your Valentine that says, "I promise to switch roles with you for one day!" If you don't know exactly what they do in a day, ask them to make a list. You'll gain new insights into your partner's life; insights that will help you make romantic gestures that are more personal, intimate, appropriate and appreciated. Time spent getting to know your partner better is usually more appreciated than money spent.

49. Buy your sweetheart a copy of "How to Really Love the One You're With" and read it together. You use a yellow highlighter and give your partner a pale blue highlighter and mark all the thoughts and ideas that are important to you. If you both happen to mark the same thing, blue and yellow make green. You know where you are on target and where to focus on what your lover considers important to the relationship.

50. Make a promise to your partner to create together a once-a-week, "date night!" AND, keep your word. Let nothing prevent your weekly get together. If you have children, have a trusted friend watch them at THEIR house. Return the favor.

51. Plan ahead for this idea. Take your sweetheart to a symphony concert, musical, or other type of theater production; one you haven't been to before.

52. If you are not married. . . propose! Give her a heart shaped box of chocolates, with one chocolate missing and a ring in it's place. If you are married. . . propose again! Plan a special "Renewal of Vows" ceremony. For a special "romantic" ceremony, click here.

53. Rent a horse drawn carriage. Take a ride - with champagne, glasses, special love songs that mean something special to both of you (bring a boom box), a warm blanket if it gets too cool - through the park or "lover's Lane" after dark.

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54. Write a love letter out of candy bar titles. Get a piece of brightly colored poster board and a bunch of your favorite candy bars. Write your love letter on the board in a contrasting colored pen. Replace key words with candy bars taped onto the poster board.

55. Have cupid send your Valentine's Day greeting card (or any other romantic card) to your sweetheart that bears a postmark from Loveland, CO 80537. This city is one of several cities that have a special name whose postmark can embellish your greeting card with romance. Special postmarks say, "I love you" because your partner will know that you extended some extra effort to make your greeting special.

56. Buy a tube of red lip stick, draw a large heart on the mirror she will use in the morning. Under the heart, write a note that says, "You are looking at the woman who has captured my heart!"

57. Cut out lots of hearts on colored construction paper, write down reasons you love your sweetheart on each heart. Borrow a few romantic sayings from greeting cards. Place them inside red, heart-shaped balloons and blow them up. Watch your sweetheart smile as they pop each balloon and read what's inside.

58. Carve a heart and your partner's initials (yours too) on a tree, then plan a surprise picnic under the tree. Let your sweetheart discover the surprise.

59. Ambush your sweetie with a Valentine's Day surprise. Make 3 or 4 small signs and scatter them around the yard. Make one larger sign with a personal message of love and romance to let the neighbors know how much you care. Tie several heart-shaped balloons filled with helium to each sign. Leave a gift arrangement at the front door filled with a stuffed animal, Valentine's day candy, a coffee mug filled with chocolate kisses and a candle. Put all this in your yard sometime during the night (or have someone else do it). When she wakes up, she'll see a nice surprise.

60. Buy 24 movie passes at a local theater and ask your sweetheart to pick one romantic movie to see together once each month for a year. Present them in a heart-shaped box with a very special love note. OR. . . make 12 special coupons good for a romantic movie each month. Rent them from the video store. Choose from my "Top 100 Romantic Movies" list and once each month spend a romantic night cuddling together, complete with candles, snacks and drinks.

61. Plan dinner out. Hop from restaurant to restaurant, having only one course at each establishment. Your "progressive dinner" should include drinks, salad, appetizers, the main course and don't forget desert.

62. Pull a surprise all-nighter. Book dinner at a quaint B&B and secretly reserve a room there. Bring over your stuff eariler in the day, remembering to pack your sexiest lingerie. Arrange with the owner beforehand to have him "offer" to show you a room after you've had dinner. Wait for the ear-to-ear grin you'll get when your partner sees your bag on the bed.

63. Renew your vows! Book at least one night in a hotel's honeymoon suite and whisper your vows to one another in bed or hire Larry James to perform a very romantic "renewal of vows" ceremony in front of a few close friends. It is an opportunity to reaffirm the tremendous love that has deepened with the passing of years.

64. When was the last time you shared a lazy morning breakfast with your partner? Substituting date morning for date night will make you see each other in, literally, a whole new light. Since you are both fresh - as opposed to end-of-the-day bushed - you're sure to have more connected conversations.

65. Go swimming - naked - under a full moon! Pool, lake or ocean. It doesn't matter. Just two lovers enjoying the peace and quiet in the shimmering night. It's an adventure, not to say anything about the adrenaline rush you get from doing something au naturel in nature together.

66. Titilate your partners tootsies with your tender touch. Take your time. A surprise foot massage will have you both feeling tingles. It builds intimacy and excitement.

67. Never walk too far ahead of your partner and never walk too fast. To wait for a partner is far better than to run off from them. It is a relationship courtesy to take your time and walk in sync with others when you are out and about. It says, "I want to be with you." When we out-pace others and leave them behind, we are telling them, "What I am doing is more important than being with you." People are sensitive to "Proximity" and want to feel that they are important to you, even more important then the event you are walking to or the task at hand. (From the book, "101 Rules for Relationships" by Billy Hornsby).

Remember. . . A thoughtful act or kind word may pass in a moment, but the warmth and care behind it stays in the heart forever!

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next: A Gift of the Heart

APA Reference
Staff, H. (2008, December 3). Romantic Ideas to Make it Valentine's Day All Year Long!, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 7 from https://www.healthyplace.com/relationships/celebrate-love/romantic-ideas-to-make-it-valentines-day-all-year-long

Last Updated: June 1, 2015

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