Psychological Disorders & Behaviors
A series of in-depth guides examining psychological conditions through two lenses: modern clinical research and neuroscience, and the depth psychology of Carl Jung — asking not only what each disorder is, but what the psyche is expressing through it.
Each page in this series follows the same structure: DSM-5 clinical criteria, peer-reviewed neuroscience, evidence-based treatment approaches, and a Jungian depth psychology perspective that reaches beneath the diagnostic surface to the deeper psychic dynamics at work. The clinical and the symbolic are not in opposition — they are complementary lenses on the same human reality.
All pages include a medical disclaimer, text-to-speech audio, peer-reviewed citations, and crisis resources where appropriate. All content is free. No registration required.
The Series — Nine Pages
Antisocial Personality Disorder — the clinical distinction between psychopathy and sociopathy, the Hare PCL-R, amygdala neuroscience, and the Jungian Shadow without integration.
Read Page →Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Complex PTSD — amygdala and hippocampal neuroscience, EMDR treatment, and the Jungian Trauma Complex and Wounded Inner Child.
Read Page →GAD, panic disorder, social anxiety, and phobia — the BNST and amygdala fear circuit, HPA axis dysregulation, CBT treatment, and anxiety as a signal from the unconscious.
Read Page →Substance Use Disorder — the hijacked dopamine reward circuit, MAT and CBT treatment, and Jung's spiritus contra spiritum: addiction as misdirected spiritual hunger.
Read Page →NPD — grandiose vs. vulnerable subtypes, the nine DSM-5 criteria, empathy deficit neuroscience, and the Jungian Myth of Narcissus: persona inflation and the hollow Self.
Read Page →OCD — six subtypes including Pure O and Scrupulosity, the CSTC brain loop, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and compulsion as symbolic communication from the unconscious.
Read Page →BPD — nine DSM-5 criteria, splitting and idealization cycles, amygdala hyperreactivity, DBT treatment, and the Jungian wound in the capacity to hold opposites.
Read Page →Major Depressive Disorder — HPA axis dysregulation, neuroinflammation, hippocampal neurogenesis, and the Jungian Shadow's demand: the unlived life and the alchemical nigredo.
Read Page →The Self lost in the Other — origins in childhood dysfunction, core patterns, healthy vs. codependent dependence, CBT and CoDA recovery, and the Jungian anima/animus projection toward individuation.
Read Page →About This Series
Each page in this series is the result of research into both peer-reviewed clinical literature and Jungian analytical psychology — written to serve two audiences simultaneously: someone arriving in distress who needs clear, compassionate clinical information, and someone seeking a deeper understanding of what the psyche is doing beneath the diagnostic surface.
Jung's insight — that psychological suffering is not random but carries meaning, that the symptom points toward what the psyche is attempting to express or integrate — runs through every page. This does not minimize the clinical reality of any condition. It places it within a larger context: the human psyche's lifelong drive toward wholeness that Jung called individuation.
All pages include DSM-5 clinical criteria, peer-reviewed neuroscience citations, evidence-based treatment overviews, a medical disclaimer, and crisis resources where appropriate. Power of Dreams has provided free Jungian psychology resources since 1998. No registration, no cost, no advertising.
Jungian Dream Psychology → The Shadow Archetype → Return Home →
