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You may believe that if you have bad credit, mortgage refinance is something your mortgage company considers impossible. You may think this because you are embarrassed and feel guilty about getting into financial trouble. You may just be surprised though. Your mortgage company may very well be willing to help you out of your bad situation since interest rates have recently plummeted to an all time low.

All they want is their money and if they have to agree to take a little less in interest paid they are willing to do that. They do not want to have to start foreclosure proceedings because they will never get any thing close to what the house is worth if it goes to auction. If, for some reason, the house does not sell then they will have to sit on it and lose more money everyday.

So, take the time to ask if you would qualify for a bad credit mortgage refinance. You could end up saving hundreds of dollars off your current monthly mortgage payment because interest rates are a lot lower these days.

Although your lender will not make this decision lightly you can get them to refinance your mortgage even though it is risky for them. Your mortgage company is going to look at your current income level, your income to debt ratio, and your current credit score before they make their final decision.

The interest rate you end up paying may be lower than what you are paying now but not as low as someone with good credit would pay. This is understandable. The mortgage company will also want to make sure that they are protected and you will have to provide multiple papers to prove you can make even these smaller payments. You also may have to escrow your property taxes and home owner’s insurance which could make your monthly payment even higher than it was to begin with.

You can rest assured though, to know that your property taxes and home owner’s insurance is getting paid. If you have been paying your home owner’s insurance all along and you can prove it, your mortgage company will adjust your monthly mortgage payment amount accordingly.

It is possible that after all is said and done, your mortgage company will decline your application for refinance. What do you do then? Well, be prepared for the impending foreclosure proceedings to begin. Foreclosure can take as long as up to a year to become final and you have to move out, so you do have some time to get things under control.

At this point you need to take a good look at your finances and your options and probably make some tough decisions. If it comes down to you having to give up the house because you can no longer make the payments, you need to gather up as much money as you can to find a rental. Your life will definitely change if your mortgage company declines you for a bad credit mortgage refinance.

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Summary:
Personality disorders are like tips of icebergs. They rest on a foundation of causes and effects, interactions and events, emotions and cognitions, functions and dysfunctions that together form the patient and make him or her what s/he is.

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Article Body:
Personality disorders are like tips of icebergs. They rest on a foundation of causes and effects, interactions and events, emotions and cognitions, functions and dysfunctions that together form the patient and make him or her what s/he is.
The DSM uses five axes to analyze, classify, and describe these data. The patient (or subject) presents himself to a mental health diagnostician, is evaluated, tests are administered, questionnaires fulfilled, and a diagnosis rendered. The diagnostician uses the DSM’s five axes to “make sense” and meaningfully organize of the information he had gathered in this process.

Axis I demands that he specify all the patient’s clinical mental health problems that are not personality disorders or mental retardation. Thus, Axis I includes issues first diagnosed in infancy, childhood, or adolescence; cognitive problems (e.g., delirium, dementia, amnesia); mental disorders due to a medical condition (for instance, dysfunctions caused by brain injury or metabolic diseases); substance-related disorders; schizophrenia and psychosis; mood disorders; anxiety and panic; somatoform disorders; factitious disorders; dissociative disorders; sexual paraphilias; eating disorders; impulse control problems and adjustment issues.

We will discuss Axis II at length in our next articles. It comprises personality disorders and mental retardation (interesting conjunction!).

If the patient suffers from medical conditions that affect his state of mind and mental health, these are noted under Axis III. Some psychological problems are directly caused by medical issues (hyperthyroidism causes depression). In other cases, the latter are concurrent with or exacerbate the former. Virtually all biological illnesses may provoke changes in the patient’s psychological make-up, behavior, cognitive functioning, and emotional landscape.

But the machinery of life – both body and “soul” – is reactive as well as proactive. It is molded by one’s psychosocial circumstances and environment. Life crises, stresses, deficiencies, and inadequate support all conspire to destabilize and, if sufficiently harsh, ruin one’s mental health. The DSM enumerates dozens of adverse influences that should be recorded by the diagnostician under Axis IV: death in the family or of a close friend; health problems; divorce; remarriage; abuse; doting or smothering parenting; neglect; sibling rivalry; social isolation; discrimination; life cycle transition (such as retirement); unemployment; workplace bullying; housing or economic problems; limited or no access to health care services; incarceration or litigation; traumas and many more events and situations.

Finally, the DSM recognizes that the clinician’s direct impression of the patient is at least as important as any “objective” data he may gather during the evaluation phase. Axis V allows the diagnostician to record his judgment of “the individual’s overall level of functioning”. This, admittedly, is a vague remit, open to ambiguity and bias. To counter these risk, the DSM recommends that mental health professionals use the Global assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale. Merely administering this structured test forces the diagnostician to formulate his views rigorously and to weed out cultural and social prejudices.

Having gone through this long and convoluted process, the therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, or social worker now has a complete picture of the subject’s life, personal history, medical background, environment, and psyche. She is now ready to move on and formally diagnose a personality disorder with or without co-morbid (concurrent) conditions.

But what is a personality disorder? There are so many of them and they strike us as either so similar or so dissimilar! What are the strands that bind them together? What are the common features of all personality disorders?

Hey, even if you’ve had some financial problems in the past and have bad credit, that doesn’t mean that you don’t need a car loan, but getting auto loans with bad credit can be something of a challenge. There are several things you can do to make the process a little smoother and one of them is to try and start the process early. The fact of the matter is that if you have credit problems it will generally take time to find a lender who is willing to work with you, they are out there but it might take some searching to find them.

Of course, if possible hold off on getting your auto loan for a while until you can get your credit score up a little bit. Sometimes it can be done in as little as a few months. Not every one can wait, but if you can it might well be worth your while since it will be easier to get a loan with good credit and you will get a lower interest rate.

Here are some specific steps you can take to increase your chances of getting a loan if your credit is less than great;

1. First things first, if your credit is bad you will pay more for any loan you do get… period. If the current loan rates are around 5% you should expect to pay at least 12% or higher. It’s not uncommon to have to pay upwards of 25%. The higher the interest rate is the less car you can afford because more of your monthly payment will be going just to the interest portion of your payment.

2. Be willing to do some research, both online and off. Even with bad credit you can find differences from one place to another in the amount of interest they will charge you. Spending time trying to find the best deal, even though it may not necessarily be a ‘good’ deal, will ensure that you get the lowest interest rate possible.

3. With the current recession more and more dealers will help their customers find financing, even those with challenged credit.

4. It is possible to refinance a car loan so even if your interest rate is ridiculously high, you may be able to finance it in 6 – 12 months if you’ve been making all your payments on time.

5. The more money you can use for a down payment the more likelihood you’ll have of being approved. It just creates a higher level of confidence that you are solvent and will be able to pay your payments.

Even if you’ve had some financial challenges in the past, don’t think that that means you can’t get a new, or newer car. There are many places that offer to give auto loans with bad credit, it may just take some time to find them. Be willing to be patient, be willing to understand that you will pay more in the beginning and be willing to put some money down, all of these will increase your odds.

It may seem like anyone with bad credit has a bulls eye on their forehead when it comes to looking for auto loans for people with bad credit. You just know that finding a loan will be challenging enough but if you do find a loan you’ll have to pay big when it comes to your interest rates.

Still, what can you do? You need a car to get you around and to and from work. I found myself in that exact situation a few years ago. After a particularly nasty divorce my credit was ruined. I was driving a ten year old car (it was extremely reliable though and I really loved that old car) that just started to need too much maintenance. I simply couldn’t afford to keep it any longer.

I didn’t have any money saved, well not enough for a car anyway, but I needed a car. So I threw caution to the wind and went to a local car dealer to see what, if anything, they could do. I was very surprised and impressed that they were able to work out financing for me on a very nice used car.

My monthly payments were something I could comfortably afford and I had a car that I knew I could count on. The dealership even offered a short term warranty of my ‘new’ used car.

The only problem was that my interest rate was insane. Rates for people with good credit were around 5% but mine was over 20%!! How was that even legal? But what could I do, I needed a car.

The good news is that I made all my payments on time and after only about 6 months I was able to improve my credit score enough to sell that car and buy myself a brand new car. My interest rate still wasn’t the absolute lowest it could have been because I still didn’t have perfect credit, but it was much better than my first auto loan. I was moving forward and improving my financial situation… and I had a new car too!

If you find yourself in the situation where you need a new car but have bad credit here are some other tips that might help a little;

1. Don’t limit your search for a loan to only your local bank. You can often find better deals with an online bank. No matter what, don’t limit yourself to only one or two lenders.

2. Do anything and everything you can to improve your credit score before you start your search. Sometimes you may even be able to find a mistake or two on your credit report and that can increase your score almost immediately.

3. Try to come up with at least a small down payment. That will let the lenders view you as someone who does have some resources even though your credit is bad. It will also mean you’ll have to borrow less which will make you more attractive to the lender.

There are such things as auto loans for people with bad credit, it just takes a little more time and effort to find them.

Most people know that their credit score will have a major impact on the auto loan interest rates they will qualify for. The more dings on your credit report the higher the interest rate will be on your new car loan, if you can get a loan at all. Unless you can wait for a year or more to clear up your credit report before you get your new car, you’ll just have to face the fact that you will have to pay more in interest if your credit report isn’t good.

You should go over your credit report very carefully and make sure that all the information included in it is accurate. There is no point in having to pay a higher interest rate just because your report has mistakes on it. Once you’ve corrected any mistakes on your report you can then address the ugly, though accurate, information on your report.

Offer the potential lenders viable explanations as to why you were late on the bills you were late on. If you can show them that at the time you were late on the bills you had been laid off or had some other household emergency, you may not get hit as hard on a higher interest rate.

The bottom line is that the creditors want to feel confidant that you will repay your loan on time and the only way they can be ‘sure’ of that is how well you did in the past on repaying your loans.

Another thing that can help you get lower rates is to make a big down payment. The higher amount you put down the less overall risk the bank is taking (the more money down means the less they have to lend and it’s therefore less of a risk for them). Even if you have some issues on your credit report, if you can put down a hefty down payment you still might be able to get away with a more tolerable interest rate.

When it comes time to find the perfect auto loan you should shop around. Even with a less than perfect credit score there can be a wide difference in the interest rates banks will offer you. Get the best rate you can by shopping around.

Generally, it’s better to find a loan before you start your car shopping. Banks and credit unions will generally offer better rates than if you try to get financing through the car dealers. It’s much quicker and easier when you get pre approved before you hit the dealers. That way you have more negotiating power, you’re already approved and you know just what you can afford to spend on your dream car.

It’s almost like going into a dealership with a blank check, they don’t have the ability to play the games that they do if you are relying on them for financing. For example, they may say that the price on the car is great but in reality you are paying much more in interest. The bottom line is that the dealership will make sure to get what they consider a fair price for the car and they will make sure they reach that mark whether it’s from an increased interest rate, a decrease in the amount they give you on a trade, etc. which is why you need to find the best auto loan interest rates before you go into the dealer.

How can you be addicted to a substance you have to consume to stay alive? Is it possible to be addicted to food? Researchers say yes.

When scanning the brain of a food addict thinking about food, the scan shows changes nearly identical with the brain changes of a drug addict or alcoholic thinking about drinking or drugs. Most of the time the food being contemplated by the food addict is rich and calorie dense, such as pizza, chocolate cake and ice cream, or pasta with cream sauce.

Another similarity is that food addicts like drug addicts, and alcoholics, have fewer receptors for dopamine, the feel good hormone. It could be that in order to feel good, food addicts have to eat more in order to reach the same state as normal people.

Over eating leads to the brain over emphasizing the sensation and pleasure of eating by decreasing the awareness of other body parts, than the mouth. Food addicts often go through similar withdrawal symptoms like drug addicts. These symptoms include anger, depression, irritability and moodiness.

Food addiction can be controlled. Even if you’re not addicted to food the tips below can help you lose weight.

Keep a journal. Writing down what you eat and how you feel when you eat can help you pinpoint danger areas. Seeing what you’ve eaten in a 24 hour period brings home just how much of your life is controlled by food.

Know your triggers and avoid them. Certain foods are triggers to out of control eating. If you know what they are you can avoid them. Triggers can also include events, such as holidays, and people. If you know someone irritates you and your reaction is to eat, avoid that person if possible.

Focus on the food. It sounds counter productive to emphasize food when that’s all you can think about. The idea is to focus on foods that you sincerely enjoy, not just on filling up your stomach with whatever is at hand. Food addicts in some ways have it rougher than other addicts, they can’t just give up food.

Slow down when you eat. Use small plates. Put your fork down between bites. Have multiple courses rather than everything on the table or on your plate at once. Drink water between bites. Take at least 30 minutes to eat your meals.

Join a support group. People who are facing the same challenges as you are can provide the positive support you need. Knowing you’re not alone can boost your morale.

Don’t give up. Your first efforts at controlling food consumption might not be successful, but that doesn’t mean all your efforts will fail. See the positive progress you’ve made rather than the back sliding.

When looking into investing in your future, you may want to include alternative investments in your portfolio. If you started out investing in real estate you may just want to diversify and get multiple streams of income adding to your net worth.

Have you ever known anyone who collects stamps or coins? How about anyone who collects art or antiques? Baseball, football, or basketball cards? These are some forms of alternative investments. Traditional investments are investments that include stocks, bonds, and T-bills, and real estate.

If you are currently a real estate investor or invest in the stock market, you may have been told by your personal investment broker that you should be more diversified. If your portfolio is a little one sided you probably should listen to them. Heck, it couldn’t hurt. You may find you actually like going out and finding new treasures to add to your collection.

The big disadvantage of this type of investing is the fact that it may be difficult to liquidate if you should find yourself in need of some quick cash. Your broker may be able to help arrange a deal to sell but it will probably take some time to accomplish.

If your traditional investments are not bringing in adequate cash flow, you may be able to use your non-traditional investment assets as collateral for a loan from your friendly, neighborhood lending institution.

In this present economy, investing in stocks, bonds, and T-bills can be quite risky and you could stand to lose everything. If you are diversified then at least you have some net worth left when all is said and done. When the housing bubble burst, a lot of people lost their homes to foreclosure and this housing crisis continues even as we speak.

Another disadvantage of diversifying and getting into non-traditional investment opportunities is the fact that determining the full worth of your collection is difficult at best. There is no structured agency or agencies to help figure out what a certain collection is worth. Your best bet is to take it to an appraisor for a ball park idea of what it might be worth.

Criteria for determining the worth of a certain collection depends on several factors. Mainly, the condition of the various pieces of the collection and how well they are preserved. If the pieces have dates on them or some type of insignia they may be worth more than other collections. Investments like these are usually obtained only to increase someone’s net worth and not as a form of positive cash flow.

Diversifying your portfolio is the best way to go. Having assets that can be liquidated easier than others in times of crisis to give you access to quick cash is preferred. Having real estate investments that give you positive monthly cash flow make the inability of the alternative investments in your portfolio to become liquid quickly a non-issue. Some things in this life you are just supposed to be able to hold onto forever.