167 SelfWork: Is It OCD, GAD, Bipolar, BPD or Perfectly Hidden Depression (PHD)?
The SelfWork Podcast
Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 21 February 2020
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There are certain diagnoses that may be co-occurring with perfectly hidden depression (PHD) or could be confused with PHD. And the last thing I want is for anyone to label themselves PHD or identify with PHD and stop there – when instead, you may need to recognize that you're experiencing another type of psychological issue that warrants understanding and even treatment. Those diagnoses are Bipolar II disorder, Obsessive Compulsive disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. We'll talk today about what traits PHD and these other disorders have in common and what makes them distinct from one another.
The listener email for the week comments on my habit of including research and ideas from other people on SelfWork -- and I respond about the "why" of that choice on my part.
Important Links:
The INFJ personality category or the Myers-Briggs
Don't Panic by Reid Wilson
Understanding the Borderline Mother by Christine Lawson
| Bipolar II Disorder | |
| Meets criteria for a current or past hypomanic episode | And meets criteria for a current or past depressive episode: |
| A distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood and abnormally and persistently increased activity or energy, lasting at least four consecutive days and present most of the day, nearly every day, and including at least three of the following symptoms:
| Five or more of the following symptoms present during the same two-week period:
At least one of the symptoms is either depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure. |
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder |
|
| Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder | |
| This disorder is characterized by the presence of obsessions, compulsions, or both. The obsessions or compulsions are time consuming (i.e., take more than one hour per day) or cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. | |
| Obsessions:
| Compulsions:
|
| Borderline Personality Disorder |
| BPD is characterized by a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five or more of the following symptoms:
|
You can hear more about PHD and many other topics by listening to my podcast, SelfWork with Dr. Margaret Rutherford. Subscribe to my website and receive one weekly newsletter including my weekly blog post and podcast! If you’d like to join my FaceBook closed group, then click here and answer the membership questions! Welcome!
My new book entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression has arrived and you can order here! Its message is specifically for those with a struggle with strong perfectionism which acts to mask underlying emotional pain. But the many self-help techniques described can be used by everyone who chooses to begin to address emotions long hidden away that are clouding and sabotaging your current life.
And there’s a new way to send me a message! You can record by clicking below and ask your question or make a comment. You’ll have 90 seconds to do so and that time goes quickly. By recording, you’re giving SelfWork (and me) permission to use your voice on the podcast. I’ll look forward to hearing from you!
Our Sponsors: * Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsTranscript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is self-work and I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford. |
| 0:13.0 | At self-work we'll discuss psychological and emotional issues common in today's world |
| 0:19.0 | and what to do about them. |
| 0:20.0 | I'm Dr. Margaret and self-work is a podcast dedicated to you taking just a few minutes today for your own self-work. |
| 0:29.0 | Hi there and welcome back to self-work. I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford, I'm a clinical |
| 0:34.4 | psychologist, and I work in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I've been living here since the |
| 0:38.3 | early 90s. I'm delighted and honored that you're here. I started podcasting back over three years ago because |
| 0:45.4 | I wanted to extend the walls of my practice to not only those who might already |
| 0:49.6 | be interested in psychological or emotional issues might even be in therapy. |
| 0:54.2 | To those of you who might have been initially now diagnosed with something that you want |
| 0:59.2 | more information about or you're a little scared about or anxious about and even to those of you who might |
| 1:05.0 | feel as if you would never darken the door of a therapist but you're interested in what |
| 1:09.6 | someone like me might have to say. Now self-work isn't therapy, but hopefully in this |
| 1:14.5 | podcast you'll get a sense of what therapy could feel like or at least what kind of |
| 1:20.0 | information you might hear there. In the last two or three weeks I've done some |
| 1:24.2 | wonderful interviews. I'm so delighted that some of my ideas about perfectly |
| 1:29.2 | hidden depression, a topic I've written a book about. People are asking questions and want to know more. |
| 1:35.0 | If you're interested you can jump over to my Facebook page where I am featuring those interviews. |
| 1:40.6 | That's Facebook.com slash Dr. Margaret, and I'd love to have you there. |
| 1:45.7 | Different people are interested in different aspects of perfectly hidden depression, so the interviews |
| 1:50.9 | are very different, but I did want to mention that you could go over there just to check it out |
| 1:56.3 | Today we are going to be talking more about perfectly hidden depression |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

