Proposed Mental Health Diagnosis
 Lazy Sickness, Control Freak Disorder and Selfish Illness
An accurate mental health diagnosis is important because it lays the foundation of mental health treatment. It will determine the course of medication and therapy you receive. However, it’s not unusual for mental health clinicians to disagree on a person’s diagnosis .
Don’t be surprised. Mental health diagnosis is less of a science that you would think. Often subjective measurements such as questionnaires and observation are used as assessment tools. I have observed a number of common behaviors or character flaws that reach a pathological states, but are not recognized mental health disorders. You will probably recognize some of the proposed conditions which include Lazy Sickness, Control Freak Disorder and Selfish Illness.  Â
Lazy Sickness – Symptoms include an excessive presentation of lethargy, sluggishness, and a lack of goal directed activity.  Lazy Sickness  Sufferers  (LSS) typically have very little self control or discipline. Individuals who suffer from lazy sickness have often been enabled by family members. Lazy sickness sufferers are often financially dependent on another person  because they have not cultivated  an academic or professional career. This may result in an inability to live autonomously, even as adults. Much of their time is spent engaged in frivolous activities. These activities may have similarities to addictive behaviors ie unsuccessful attempts to stop activities. As adults, LSS have often been enabled for a period of time by their family members.  Treatment should include family therapy to help enablers learn how to stop enabling.
Control Freak Disorder (CFD) – Presenting symptoms include attempts to control the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions of the people around them.  The spectrum of dominating behaviors is often overbearing and may become intolerable. Therefore, one of the primary symptoms of the Control Freak is a lack of close relationships. The Control Freak often has few friends, is not liked by family members and may be isolated. The Control Freak often becomes angry or feels threatened  when others  act, emote or think differently than him. Due to his lack of emotional control and need to dominate others, the control freak often responds with insults, criticism and sometimes threats when others act as an individual. The Control Freak may cling very strongly to his beliefs and opinions  and harshly judges others who do not share the same beliefs.
Selfish Sickness – Symptoms include an obsessive focus of self. A person who presents with selfish sickness feels as though their experiences are very different, unique, or more difficult than they actually are. Their problems are often an obsessive focus, and are generally blown out of proportion. Selfish Sickness makes it difficult to empathize with the difficulties of another person. Other people’s problems are greatly minimized. If attention is not directed toward a person with selfish sickness they may get angry or engage in sabotaging behavior in order to draw attention back to themselves.  Selfish sickness presents with a great deal of sensitivity on special occasions such a Birthdays or Holidays. If a great deal of attention is not received, selfish sickness sufferers react with anger or are deeply hurt. While it is not impossible for an individual with selfish sickness to feel compassion for another, the compassion it is not sustained for very long. Selfish Sickness individuals often have little tolerance for other people who may be experiencing problems. Â
You probably know someone with one of these make-believe disorders because they are common personality traits.
I try to stress the importance of using mental health diagnosis as a term which uses broad strokes to define a cluster of symptoms. It is not you. It is not your essence. It is a label. Don’t attach to hard to your labels. Break out of them
How do these sicknesses relate to other conditions such as narcissism?
Hi Rex,
Sorry for the delay in replying. Website issues !!
Thank you for your question. Narcissism is associated with an extreme preoccupation with self and self-importance. Also, redirection, criticism or even gentle suggestions can be met with anger or rage.
Of the make believe, but seemingly real “conditions” that I blogged about, the biggest overlap is between Selfish Sickness and Narcissism. When I was writing about Selfish Sickness, I imagined personality traits such as minimizing the problems of hardships of others and blowing out of proportion personal problems. Self-sickness does not allow one to feel empathy.
A narcissistic might be able to feel empathy, but somehow it would be twisted to inflate self image. ie Do what I say to fix your problem, I have the answers, If you listened to me this would not have happened. etc.
I imagine self sickness lacking the emotion of rage as a reaction toward criticism. The selfish sick may be unable to even realize if they are being criticized.
But you are correct Rex, there are over-laps.
thank you for the question
be well – diane
Hi Rex
Sorry for the delay in responding. I have had some problems with my blog.
Of the make believe, but seemingly real “conditions” that I blogged about, the biggest overlap is between Selfish Sickness and Narcissism. When I was writing about Selfish Sickness, I imagined personality traits such as minimizing the problems of hardships of others and blowing out of proportion personal problems. Self-sickness does not allow one to feel empathy.
A narcissistic might be able to feel empathy, but somehow it would be twisted to inflate self image. ie Do what I say to fix your problem, I have the answers, If you listened to me this would not have happened. etc.
I imagine self sickness lacking the emotion of rage as a reaction toward criticism. The selfish sick may be unable to even realize if they are being criticized.
But you are correct Rex, there are over-laps.
thank you for the question
be well – diane
Can CFD be a symptom of some other mental disorder? My brother-in-law is driving me nuts for the last 12 years by insisting on things in my life and the life of my husband and daughter. He writes me lengthy emails in which he tells me I must change, I must be more humble, and makes strange assumptions based on nothing. I keep telling him that he’s no authority to me & I definitely won’t change anything in myself, that I came the long way to achieve the way I am now, and that my husband loves me just the way I am, but BIL keeps pushing and pushing… He constantly tells us- and our 10 y.o. daughter- how to behave around him, considering that he’s the one who ALWAYS finds a way to start an argument… It’s unbearable and our family doesn’t know what to do anymore!
Hi Gabrielle,
It seems the problems associated with this family members behavior is creating a lot of stress and difficulty for you. It sounds like a difficult situation. Gabrielle, I cannot provide advice for individual family issues unless you are a client. My license allows me to provide professional counseling services, but under certain (quite strict) scenarios. First, a person has to be a client, and sign a consent for treatment, which outlines the legal and ethical parameters of the relationship. Also, I wanted to clarify that control freak disorder is not recognized as a legitimate mental health disorder. In my blog, I was commenting on behavioral patterns that I see in people, that are fairly common and quite destructive.
Hi Gabrielle,
It seems the problems associated with this family members behavior is creating a lot of stress and difficulty for you. It sounds like a difficult situation. Gabrielle, I cannot provide advice for individual family issues unless you are a client. My license allows me to provide professional counseling services, but under certain (quite strict) scenarios. First, a person has to be a client, and sign a consent for treatment, which outlines the legal and ethical parameters of the relationship. Also, I wanted to clarify that control freak disorder is not recognized as a legitimate mental health disorder. In my blog, I was commenting on behavioral patterns that I see in people, that are fairly common and quite destructive.
This is so funny ’cause I was at an OSHO retreat and they played a recording of him being interviewed. He was he was SO lazy he went out of his way to avoid ever even getting out of his bed! And look where he got! I think the key for him was to awaken. ;^)
I have found that most mental disorders find their way back to one problem…selfishness.
When a selfish person doesn’t get their way, somebody else is always at fault. Pride destroys
relationships, job employment, faith, and economic stability. If one is a believer in Scripture, then he already knows that pride goes before a fall. The best way to have a quality mental health is to be humble, honest, hard working, and honor the Creator is obedience. The Scripture addresses this condition as demonic and lunatic, and repentance is the cure.
Hi Patty, Thank you for your response. Yes, selfishness is indeed a common trait in many mental health disorders. A selfish perspective does not recognize the nature of inter-being. Meaning, you are in me, and I am in you. What hurts you, hurts me. Again, thank you for reading the post and for your insightful comments. – Diane