May 10, 2015

What is the correlation between Personality Disorders and Womb Twin Survivor Syndrome?


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This question often comes up due to the common occurrence of misdiagnosis that happens for Womb Twin Survivors who are wrongly labeled/treated until they find the Womb Twin Healing Path as a solution which allows them a comfort level with living not previously achieved with other methods.

First, let’s look at the PD’s and their descriptions:


Millon's brief description of personality disorders[24]
Type of personality disorder
Description
Paranoid
Guarded, defensive, distrustful and suspiciousness. Hypervigilant to the motives of others to undermine or do harm. Always seeking confirmatory evidence of hidden schemes. Feel righteous, but persecuted. People with paranoid personality disorder are characterized by a pattern of pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others which last for a long time. They are generally difficult to work with.[25]
Schizoid
Apathetic, indifferent, remote, solitary, distant, humorless. Neither desire nor need human attachments. Withdrawn from relationships and prefer to be alone. Little interest in others, often seen as a loner. Minimal awareness of the feelings of themself or others. Few drives or ambitions, if any. Is an uncommon condition in which people avoid social activities and consistently shy away from interaction with others. It affects more males than females. To others, they may appear somewhat dull or humorless. Because they don't tend to show emotion, they may appear as though they don't care about what's going on around them.[26]
Schizotypal
Eccentric, self-estranged, bizarre, absent. Exhibit peculiar mannerisms and behaviors. Think they can read thoughts of others. Preoccupied with odd daydreams and beliefs. Blur line between reality and fantasy. Magical thinking and strange beliefs. People with schizotypal personality disorder are often described as odd or eccentric and usually have few, if any, close relationships. They generally don't understand how relationships form or the impact of their behavior on others.[27]
Antisocial
Impulsive, irresponsible, deviant, unruly. Act without due consideration. Meet social obligations only when self-serving. Disrespect societal customs, rules, and standards. See themself as free and independent. People with antisocial personality disorder depict a long pattern of disregard for other people's rights. They often cross the line and violate these rights.[28]
Borderline
Unpredictable, manipulative, unstable. Frantically fears abandonment and isolation. Experience rapidly fluctuating moods. Shift rapidly between loving and hating. See themself and others alternatively as all-good and all-bad. Unstable and frequently changing moods. People with borderline personality disorder have a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships.[29]
Histrionic
Dramatic, seductive, shallow, stimulus-seeking, vain. Overreact to minor events. Exhibitionistic as a means of securing attention and favors. See themself as attractive and charming. Constantly seeking others' attention. Disorder is characterized by constant attention-seeking, emotional overreaction, and suggestibility. Their tendency to over-dramatize may impair relationships and lead to depression, but they are often high-functioning.[30]
Narcissistic
Egotistical, arrogant, grandiose, insouciant. Preoccupied with fantasies of success, beauty, or achievement. See themself as admirable and superior, and therefore entitled to special treatment. Is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance and a deep need for admiration. Those with narcissistic personality disorder believe that they're superior to others and have little regard for other people's feelings.[31]
Avoidant
Hesitant, self-conscious, embarrassed, anxious. Tense in social situations due to fear of rejection. Plagued by constant performance anxiety. See themself as inept, inferior, or unappealing. They experience long-standing feelings of inadequacy and are very sensitive of what others think about them.[32]
Dependent
Helpless, incompetent, submissive, immature. Withdrawn from adult responsibilities. See themself as weak or fragile. Seek constant reassurance from stronger figures. They have the need to be taken care of by a person. They fear being abandoned or separated from important people in their life.[33]
Obsessive–compulsive
Restrained, conscientious, respectful, rigid. Maintain a rule-bound lifestyle. Adhere closely to social conventions. See the world in terms of regulations and hierarchies. See themself as devoted, reliable, efficient, and productive.
Depressive
Somber, discouraged, pessimistic, brooding, fatalistic. Present themself as vulnerable and abandoned. Feel valueless, guilty, and impotent. Judge themself as worthy only of criticism and contempt. Hopeless, Suicidal, Restless. This disorder can lead to aggressive acts and hallucinations.[34]
Passive–aggressive (Negativistic)
Resentful, contrary, skeptical, discontented. Resist fulfilling others’ expectations. Deliberately inefficient. Vent anger indirectly by undermining others’ goals. Alternately moody and irritable, then sullen and withdrawn. Withhold emotions. Will not communicate when there is something problematic to discuss.[35]
Sadistic
Explosively hostile, abrasive, cruel, dogmatic. Liable to sudden outbursts of rage. Gain satisfaction through dominating, intimidating and humiliating others. They are opinionated and close-minded. Enjoy performing brutal acts on others. Find pleasure is abusing others. Would likely engage in a sadomasochist relationship, but will not play the role of a masochist.[36]
Self-defeating (Masochistic)
Deferential, pleasure-phobic, servile, blameful, self-effacing. Encourage others to take advantage of them. Deliberately defeat own achievements. Seek condemning or mistreatful partners. They are suspect of people who treat them well. Would likely engage in a sadomasochist relationship.[36]



These descriptions read like classic Womb Twin Survivor symptoms/feelings/traits – the remarkably high incidence of similarities makes it plausible to ascertain that Personality Disorders (PDs) are clusters of womb twin phenomena previously characterized as such due to lack of Womb Twin Survivor Syndrome (WTSS) knowledge (established in 2007).



To single out one of the PD’s, Borderline Personality Disorder, its description sounds exactly like the inner life of a Womb Twin Survivor.  If this were true, and they are indeed the same thing, then these Symptoms of Disorder would actually be An Appropriate Reaction to Womb Trauma related to Twin Loss.  When we look at them that way, we dial-down the “crazy” aspect and dial-in the fascinating understanding of how the psyche copes with trauma, pre and post limbic.



So what are the chances these are the same thing?  When we look at research, it shows that BPD does appear to be a distinct diagnostic entity, although it co-occurs frequently with other mental disorders such as major depressive and bipolar II disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), substance use disorders, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and with several other personality disorders.3  Being that these are also textbook symptoms of Womb Twin Survivor Syndrome, this seems to further the case.



Going further into the correlation between the two, we must not only look at the symptoms – we must look at the cause.  It is generally held that biological and environmental risk factors interact to reach a critical level of brain dysfunction resulting in symptoms of BPD.  Further, it appears that this critical degree of disturbance of brain function can be achieved by a large amount of biological risk, sometimes combined with a low amount of environmental risk, or as low biological risk coupled with high environmental risk, or intermediate levels of both. http://www.bpddemystified.com/what-is-bpd/co-occuring-disorders

A logical explanation of Biological Risk which seems to fit perfectly, is the pre-natal loss of a twin and the grief trauma suffered by the surviving twin, who may also have also suffered Environmental Risk factors in utero.



It makes sense that a twin without a twin, who has nowhere to put their twin identity or express the unknown trauma their body memory holds, would show up with a label like

Multiple Personality Disorder because they are truly more than one person, who lost a twin or multiple in the womb, who is severely confused about whose life they are living.  Unaware singletons in charge of writing diagnostic codes and ordering courses of treatment can only do their best, but unfortunately it’s not enough given the twin/multiple epidemic we are facing… which brings us to the the real issue:  there aren’t enough practitoners in the know about pre-natal psychology and Womb Twin Healing.


According to  Theodore Millon, Ph.D., D.Sc. "PDs's are inflexible and pervasive due to the fact that such behavior may be ego-syntonic (i.e. the patterns are consistent with the ego integrity of the individual).  This behavior can result in maladaptive coping skills, which may lead to personal problems that induce anxiety, distress or depression".  
I would like to put forth the question:  What if the ego-integrity of the individual is already compromised/damaged at birth due to womb twin loss, resulting in anxiety, distress, depression which is then exacerbated as life continues without acknowledgement or remedy?  Are we sure we are putting the right horse before the right cart?




It’s my belief we can use Womb Twin healing techniques to get to the cause of the problem for many sufferers of PD’s who are wrongly labeled and mistreated because they are being misdiagnosed due to lack of a better explanation – until now.  Perhaps not all of them are WT’s, but based on my research and work in the field, I would guess many of these people are Womb Twin Survivors who don’t know they are.


The quickest way to confirm the relationship between WTSS and PD’s would be to treat these personality orders with the Womb Twin Healing Path, preferably without traditional medicine/psychotherapeutic approaches, in order to assess whether symptoms are alleviated.  If lessening or diminishment of symptoms is achieved, then we can prove a relationship exists between WTSS and PD’s and perhaps help people alleviate these symptoms, which may really just be manifestations of keeping their ‘dream of the womb’ alive (as well as expressing their twin nature, who uses these devices to make itself known until we can know it consciously). 



With open minds, we can see these symptoms as an innocent reaction, which need acknowledgment and release - rather than a label or disease to be medicated or institutionalized.  We can go beyond asking What If? to What Now? and strive to provide proper treatment.  The proof of the correlation will be in the healing and of course, this work may need to augment some traditional approaches in some cases, but at this writing too much research and support is needed to crack the true answer to this question, even though we probably already have the answer.