183 SelfWork: Clearing Up Confusion about Perfectly Hidden Depression
The SelfWork Podcast
Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 5 June 2020
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Wow. Questions about perfectly hidden depression (PHD) are pouring in! And of course that gives me a thrill. But also there's understandable confusion. Perfectionism is supposed to be about anxiety, not depression, right? (The answer is yes and a definite no -- not all the time.) Is the depression that’s covered up by perfectionism the same as classic depression? And so many others. The questions come from all age groups and describe very different kinds of reasons or pathways on how they fell into needing to look perfect. Your questions deserve my time and attention.
SelfWork isn’t therapy. I obviously don’t have a therapeutic relationship with people who write in, so I encourage each and every one of these listeners to seek therapy locally or online. If you need to take the book or a podcast into that therapist and begin the session with, “I’m very often not who I look like I am," then that’s where you start.
So we don't have one listener email today, but six. Thank you all so much for writing in.
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You can hear more about this and many other topics by listening to my podcast, SelfWork with Dr. Margaret Rutherford. Subscribe to my website and receive my weekly newsletter including a 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 it's available in paperback, eBook or as an audiobook!
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Transcript
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| 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 |
| 0:29.3 | Hi and welcome or welcome back to self-work. I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford. I'm a clinical |
| 0:34.8 | psychologist. I've lived in Fable, Arkansas for over 25 years now and I started self-work in order to |
| 0:41.7 | try to extend the walls of my practice. |
| 0:44.0 | To those of you who might already be very interested in psychological and emotional issues, |
| 0:49.0 | maybe you're in therapy, to those of you who have been just diagnosed with depression or anxiety or |
| 0:54.3 | you're having a relationship problem that just seems out of your reach. |
| 0:58.0 | Or the third group, those of you who might never consider darkening the door of a therapist but are just |
| 1:04.4 | curious enough to listen to someone like me. Most of you know who are regular |
| 1:09.0 | listeners to self-work that I've written a book called Perfectly Hidden Depression and |
| 1:14.0 | wow the questions about PhD as I like to call it are pouring in and of course this honors |
| 1:18.8 | me but also there's understandably a lot of confusion. Is the depression that's covered up |
| 1:24.1 | by perfectionism the same as classic depression and so many others? So I thought that |
| 1:29.3 | today I'd answer some of those questions. They're really good ones and deserve time and attention. |
| 1:35.8 | I need to say, however, that in this type of episode, self-work isn't therapy. I obviously |
| 1:41.3 | don't have a therapeutic relationship with people who write in so I |
| 1:44.9 | encourage each and every one of these listeners to seek therapy locally or online and |
| 1:49.6 | if you need to take the book or a podcast into that therapist and begin the session with, |
| 1:54.6 | I'm very often not who I look like I am, then that's where you start. |
... |
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