Are You in Control? The Answer May Feed Your Anxiety

Many people downplay emotionality as weak and dramatic. Fearing emotion leads to overthinking and anxiety. Regularly avoiding emotions can leave a lot of unprocessed baggage that can feel overwhelming when confronted, but no emotion lasts forever. It’s common to hear well-meaning helpers telling you to “trust your feelings,” or “go...

Psychoanalysts don't view anxiety as merely a symptom, but as a universal phenomenon that shapes all characters and behaviors. Psychotherapy examines underlying causes of anxiety: early relationships, traumas, beliefs, and impulses that lie outside of one's awareness. CBT focuses on changing thoughts and beliefs that lead to feelings of anxiety...

Not everyone realizes how powerful words can be. One negative statement can negate thousands of kind and thoughtful words we have said to someone. It's important to consider how our words—both negative and positive—will affect others and ourselves before we use them. I think everyone agrees that words...

Borderline personality disorder is typically regarded as a disorder making its first appearance before the age of 30, if not earlier. New research challenges this conventional wisdom, showing that cases can arise for the first time well into the years of adulthood. Early attachment issues reawakened by key events, especially...

People who suffer from depression can try new coping strategies to gain different outcomes and personal victories. Depression might be associated with a particular place and time and a solution to ‎that predicament is to travel and immigrate.‎. Since language is central to thought and emotions, learning a new...

Prolonged Grief Disorder is a new DSM diagnosis for grief lasting longer than 1 year. It's OK to mourn; grief helps us recognize the preciousness of each moment. Grief affects family members differently, and it's important to respect how others grieve. As a psychotherapist, I’ve often worked with clients who...

Patients with facial paralysis have an impaired ability to communicate and express their emotions. Depression and anxiety have been found to be much more prevalent in this patient population. Prompt diagnosis and treatment can help mitigate the impact of long-standing disease. Bell’s palsy, or idiopathic facial paralysis, can have a...

Burnout is a distinctive occupational phenomenon caused by chronic work-related stress. Chronic exhaustion is a primary symptom of burnout. People also become noticeably more negative and cynical. Burnout can make an individual feel unsatisfied with a job that may actually be a good fit. Does burnout just mean feeling really...

Why is it so challenging for adults to find joy in the everyday, yet so easy for children? We enter the world with a sense of wonder and curiosity. Because we are constantly in the present moment, our eyes see only what is right in front of us, making us little masters of mindfulness. We engage freely and smile easily. As we move from infancy through toddlerhood, we play ceaselessly and ask endless questions.

Entering the new year means saying goodbye to the holiday season, a time typically regarded as the happiest time of the year, associated with things like traveling, food, family, friends, gifts galore, and more. After the holidays, you may have struggled to transition back to business as usual, and you may have found yourself experiencing some feelings of depression and anxiety following the holidays (post-holiday blues). You may have not felt ready to adjust back to your normal routine after spending time with relatives and friends. Maybe you felt slightly more sluggish or unmotivated after the holidays. You, like many other people, may have had a case of the post-holiday blues.

People diagnosed with ME/CFS must manage extreme fatigue, and their experiences have implications for those with long COVID. A challenge of managing an illness like ME/CFS is its invisibility to others, despite its severe impact on a person's ability to function. Ensuring people feel believed is central to managing both...

People often co-opt mental health terminology to describe everyday behavior. These terms are used loosely, although the mental health community is specific about how they define these conditions. This can trivialize complex conditions and perpetuate harmful and misleading stereotypes and myths. People often borrow terminology from the language of mental...

Psychiatric medications can be a godsend, but they aren’t without their drawbacks. It’s normal to feel very disappointed when a medication doesn’t live up to its promise. Ambivalence about medications may lead to the realization that other recovery options are also available. It was love at first...

During the pandemic, TikTok served as a way for teens to connect with others over sharing a mental health illness. Predatory advertising and popularity incentives drove creation of content that promoted self-diagnosis and misinformation. Parents and clinicians can assist teens who are identifying with mental illnesses with non-judgmental questions and...

Grief takes as long as it takes; there are no shortcuts. It is a good idea to talk with someone you trust when you are hurting. It helps to accept that whatever you think, feel, or do is part of a new normal, at least for now. Experiencing a loss...

Despite anecdotal evidence across cultures, mainstream psychology knows very little about spontaneous spiritual awakenings. They are often pathologized by the medical community due to overlap with symptoms found in mental disorders like schizophrenia. Spontaneous spiritual awakenings can result in a number of positive long-term outcomes. A recent study published in...

A new book offers the latest research about reptilian biology, behavior, cognition, and emotions and what they need to live high quality lives. Countless reptiles greatly suffer when held captive and subjected to "controlled deprivation" for much of their lives. Reptiles should not be treated as lesser beings than dogs,...

Cannabis use is common during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. THC concentrations in a fetus are one-third of the concentration found in the mother's blood. THC interferes with a fetus's natural cannabinoid chemistry guiding axon growth necessary for proper brain development. Adverse consequences for cognition and attention throughout childhood...

I've learned that when my autistic son has an outburst or meltdown, we must summon our empathy. Our focus must not be on making him stop. When he is upset, we must listen wisely to find the key to calming him. Our response must be "can do," not "we can't."...

Values represent a direction and associated behaviors that have the potential to bring joy and fulfillment. There is no finish line. The focus on values is at the core of a therapeutic intervention called acceptance and commitment therapy. A classic ACT exercise for accessing values is to think about your...