Mental Health

Have you ever been to an art museum? If you have, you know that there are many amazing, beautiful works of art that have been created over the history of human life…

Every parent wants their child to succeed and be happy. Seeing children sad, frustrated, or disappointed can tug at our parental heart strings like nothing else and our impulse is to protect…

Most people have experience a certain behavior or feeling or combination of both they desire to eliminate or change. There are many theories within psychotherapy that would focus on the behavior or…

Apophenia is to make connections between seemingly unrelated things. It happens in the way people see images in the clouds in the sky or people see Mother Theresa’s face on a potato…

Post traumatic stress disorder may result from a single encounter with trauma or from a series of traumatic episodes.  PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can greatly impact a person’s quality of…

The technological advances in recent years have been stunning; you cannot look far without seeing some kind of screen or technological device that peaks interest or excitement. The evolution of cell-phones from…

Locus of control is a person’s perceived amount of control they possess in their daily life. There are two types of control people have: internal and external. Internal locus of control focuses…

The word “food” can mean many different things to a person, depending on their relationship with it. For some, food is comforting. For others, food is stressful. Similarly, the art of cooking…

The term “brain zaps” refers to a withdrawal symptom common for individuals who cease taking certain medication for depression and anxiety. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) as well as selective serotonin and…

Contrary to the beliefs of some, crying is an important component of mental health and wellness. The benefits of crying are often unrecognized, overlooked and under- appreciated, as it can be good…

Charisma can be equated to magical fairy dust.  Both are shiny, sparkly, and instantaneously capture attention.  When the fairy godmother flicked her magic wand, Cinderella illuminated in shimmery silver sparkle and Bippity,…

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a type of therapy works to help people alter the emotional distress they feel from highly negative or painful life experiences. EMDR works with individuals…

Psychologists and other researchers have long studied the impact that colors make on human life; color has been found to influence people’s ideas, perceptions, and preferences for things both obvious and discreet.…

We all know that weather can affect our mood; depending on the climate in which you live, a person may have a personal preference for a particular kind of weather. If you…

Mental health has become a public health issue. Increasingly, individuals all over the world continue to suffer from one or more form of depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorders. These conditions are debilitating…

Kleptomania is a relatively rare mental health disorder characterized by the recurring inability to resist stealing. People with this condition have experienced repeated, unsuccessful attempts to quit stealing. The urges and actions…

Nightmares are very realistic and distressing dreams that wake you from sleeping. Nightmares occur more frequently during REM sleep which is the deepest part of sleep and where most dreaming takes place.…

In today’s society, there seems to be more pressure than ever before.  We are ruled by the clock–to get to places on time, to make our deadlines, and to get as much…

Perception is individualized, subjective, and varies from person to person.  When you look in a mirror, what do you see?  Do you see an accurate reflection of yourself, or is it skewed? …

As I’ve indicated in past articles on this page, smiling is good for physical and mental health. It causes a cascade of supportive chemicals to fill the human body. They include neurotransmitters,…

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is utilized to help individuals identify, understand, and manage difficult emotions. The major areas of focus in DBT include: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. The…

At one time or another, most of us can admit that we paid for a gym membership for way too long without ever having stepped foot into the premises.  It always seems…

One of the most humorous and widely recognized fictional scenes about travel takes place in the movie, Home Alone.  The power goes out the night before the McAllister family is scheduled to…

The annoying answer to this question would be, “It depends.” In reality, when you think about it, faking it until you make it really depends on the situation. Also, what does faking…

In this day and age, trauma and crisis seem to be the norm as opposed to the exception.  If you watch the nightly news, you will be immediately bombarded by stories of…

Sex and sexuality have been studied for centuries and different cultures have their own unique perspectives about what constitutes appropriate and “normal” sexual expression and sexual conduct. What has been learned when…

When someone experiences a severe or traumatic event in their life, they can begin to develop disruption in their mental health and overall functioning. Mental health professionals describe these mental, physiological, and…

One of the most popular Disney movies of all time is about a “street rat” turned prince.  With the assistance of a witty genie and a magical lamp, Aladdin morphs from a…

Reality television shows have become a hallmark in today’s pop culture.  Some of these shows offer the public an exclusive glimpse into the private lives of those suffering from various kinds of…

Onychophagia is a nail biting habit on more of an extreme level. Some nail biting habits are temporary or not very damaging. However, onychophagia is a long term and destructive habit that…

A narcissist is a person who shows a disproportionate interest in themselves.  They have a strong desire to be admired by others, strive for attention, and have difficulty enduring criticism or setbacks. …

A common goal in life as we age and grow involves beginning to develop a solid sense of self; this is the development of identity, values, and self-worth that become stable over…

The human brain is comprised of two hemispheres that are connected by a grouping of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum.  The corpus callosum functions to help both sides of the brain…

Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is unique experience that describes a tingling sensation on the skin. People describe the sensation that begins at the scalp and moves down through the back of…

There are physical and mental health benefits to keeping with a daily routine, particularly as it relates to sleep.  The natural patterns and activities that occur in a 24 hour period are…

We all have at least one person in our lives who makes a big deal over nothing.  This is the person who literally cries over the proverbial spilled milk.  You tend to…

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) involves the mental and emotional stress a person experiences after going through some sort of trauma. Trauma can occur in one major event (like war or sexual assault)…

The Type A/B personality theory is popular and commonly referenced in the mainstream.  Understanding people and their personalities is complex and sophisticated.  Many factors contribute to our personality.  The Type A/B model…

Theory of the mind references the ability to think about the mental state of ourselves and others. It includes understanding how thoughts, beliefs, desires, intentions, perceptions and feelings impact behavior. An important…

When Scientific American publishes an article entitled Are Intellectuals Suffering a Crisis of Meaning? you’re being alerted to a serious reality for all people, not just the super-smart population. Well-adjusted people, at…

Mass media undermines everybody by portraying believable people having the times of their lives. Their problems are solved before the story ends, or you don’t care if they continue. Social media worsens…

Bitterness and resentment are not uncommon feelings to experience. We experience those feelings when we feel we have been treated wrongly or unfairly by someone else. It can be a signal that…

The Centers for Disease Control and the Social Security Administration have noticed the rise in mental health problems, including suicidal efforts among youngsters and teens, since 2004. The numbers worsened with the…

In January 2019, a story broke of a twenty-nine year old woman who gave birth to a baby boy in a long-term care facility in Phoenix, Arizona.  This story by itself would…

The quick answer is yes, we really do repress painful memories. Not all bad memories are repressed. People still remember things like someone close to them passing away or abuse during childhood.…

Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test in the 1940’s.  The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was established from the work of Carl Jung, who…

As mentioned in my previous article about sanguine temperament, Hippocrates, a Greek physician that lived from 460-370 BC, had a theory that connected the inner workings of the body to a person’s…

We’ve all heard of Type A personalities; these are characteristics in people’s personalities that include: competitiveness, neurotic, perfectionism, strict organization, ambitiousness, aggressiveness, impatience, and meticulousness. People who have Type A personalities generally…

Historically, therapy has gotten a bad rap.  Before mental health was researched or understood, individuals were deemed crazy if they displayed or admitted a mental health condition.  Moreover, it was assumed that…

To understand “quiet” Borderline Personality Disorder, it is helpful to understand the general diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). BPD is a disorder marked by intense emotional reactivity. Individuals with BPD are…