Category: Mental Illness
-
Who Cares?
Sandra Parker Ph.D. Climate disasters, power-hungry narcissists, fake news, identity theft, rising food prices … Has a sense of overwhelm begun to permeate as you scroll through your feed? Do you feel a certain weariness around caring? If so, you are not alone; compassion fatigue has worsened for many people post-pandemic, leading to sleep difficulty, irritability, and numbing. Many of…
-
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Relapse Prevention
Rubin Khoddam Ph.D. Incidence of Concurrent Conditions A significant statistical connection exists between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction. In the general population, approximately 3-7 percent of people grapple with a substance use disorder (SUD). However, when examining those with PTSD, the prevalence of SUD escalates to as high as 35 percent, while alcohol use disorder (AUD) stands at 52 percent.…
-
Empowering Your Anxious Child’s Voice
Veronica Raggi Ph.D. Some children speak abundantly and easily at home but demonstrate minimal speech in social settings outside of the home. These kids are often chatty and have good communication with people they feel comfortable with but restrict their speech when anxious. They carve up the world into distinct boundaries for who, where, and…
-
“Back to School Blues” May Be Worse Than Just Blues
Peter Gray Ph.D. Schooling has a halo around it in society’s eyes, and halos tend to interfere with perception and judgment. Maybe that’s why nearly everyone, including journalists, whose job it should be to keep their eyes and minds open and report honestly to the public, continues to ignore the ever-growing evidence that school is…
-
How the U.S. Is Failing Moms on Maternal Mental Health Care
Melissa Rampelli Ph.D. The journey of motherhood is often romanticized, but beneath the surface lies a complex landscape of challenges that can significantly impact a woman’s mental health. Up to 20 percent of pregnant individuals and new mothers are affected by maternal mental health (MMH) conditions, including anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (1). Approximately 75 percent of MMH conditions…
-
How to Tell That Drugs for Depression Are Starting to Work
Samuel L. Pauker, M.D., and Miriam Arond If you have been depressed and finally decide to have your doctor prescribe an antidepressant for you, it’s natural that you want it to take effect quickly. But it can take many psychiatric medications up to three months to become fully effective and, unfortunately, many doctors don’t prepare their patients…
-
The Story of Your Life
Phil Stark, AMFT Sometimes clients have to change therapists. They might be receiving free or reduced-price mental health care at a university or training site, and when the student or trainee therapist they work with graduates or moves on to private practice, they are assigned a new therapist. I was in this situation once with…
-
The Vicious Cycle of Health Anxiety
Brittney Chesworth Ph.D., LCSW Health anxiety is the excessive worry about becoming seriously ill. Health anxiety is associated with maladaptive thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. If you have health anxiety, you know the routine. It can go a little something like this: This is an example of the vicious cycle of health anxiety. See the diagram below. You…
-
Grounding Techniques for Anxiety
Rubin Khoddam Ph.D. In the hustle and bustle of modern life, anxiety has become an all-too-familiar companion for many individuals. The constant pressures and uncertainties can leave us feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, and lost in a whirlwind of worries. Fortunately, there’s a lifeline that can help us regain control and find calm amidst the storm: grounding techniques. Understanding…
-
How to Balance Self-Care and Productivity
Alice Boyes Ph.D. You might’ve heard of the TikTok trend “bed rotting,” meaning to stay in bed all day relaxing. The trend promotes spending the whole day in bed for self-care, and to resist pressures to be productive. To avoid the downsides of bed rotting—like it potentially disrupting your sleep rhythms—consider these alternative ways to…