Mental health

Mental health

The death of Marshawn Kneeland is a tragic reminder that athletes, even those rising to the top of their game, are human beings first. The best highlight reels can mask the weight of expectations and the psychological pain many athletes carry in silence. Sport psychology holds the power to support athletes as they navigate these pressures and sustain both their performance and their well-being.

In the past week, I have had three clients tell me that they have received letters from their insurance companies stating that their premiums will increase in the new year due to the changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, if ACA premium tax credits expire at the end of the year, which seems more likely as the government shutdown continues, "premiums are predicted to increase for 2026 by an average of 75 percent."

If they tried to set [boundaries] as a kid, there would either be intense pushback to the point where it becomes not worth it, or a blow up to the point where it becomes not worth it,

According to the American Psychological Association's latest Stress in America™ 2025 survey, societal division has emerged as a major source of stress for U.S. adults. Conducted online by The Harris Poll, the survey found that 62% of 3,000 adults, ages 18 and older, identified societal division as a significant stressor in their lives. As we head into the holiday season, this finding feels especially relevant. The same gatherings that promise warmth and connection can also stir tension, particularly when social and political differences arise.

There's a moment in Black Panther (2018) when T'Challa stands before his father in the ancestral plane, wrestling with what kind of king-and what kind of man-he's supposed to be. He's torn between duty and doubt, between the world's expectations and his own quiet hopes. That scene captures something I've seen, and lived, in real time. Many of us were raised to believe that strength is the only language we're allowed to speak.

Infertility magnifies every communication challenge a couple already carries, as stress can distort our perception. Even simple differences of opinion can suddenly feel like rejection or blame. Spare me the Pain Our minds are wired to spare us from pain and uncertainty. Thought fallacies are the brain's way of managing that fear. When we face something unpredictable or beyond our control, the mind scrambles to restore order where none exists.

A few, for sure. About four times, actually. And my family's rather small. Suicide has impacted my old friend group quite a bit. I've lost friends. I've lost family. My older brother. My sister's youngest. I never thought I'd have that many people. Alcohol and depression, it comes hand-in-hand. One day the smiles stopped. I don't mind talking about it. You guys are actually talking to the right person.

The lawsuits filed Thursday in California state courts allege wrongful death, assisted suicide, involuntary manslaughter and negligence. Filed on behalf of six adults and one teenager by the Social Media Victims Law Center and Tech Justice Law Project, the lawsuits claim that OpenAI knowingly released GPT-4o prematurely, despite internal warnings that it was dangerously sycophantic and psychologically manipulative. Four of the victims died by suicide.

Imposter syndrome doesn't signal weakness-it signals you're exactly where you should be. That's the counterintuitive message from Scott Galloway, a NYU marketing professor and serial entrepreneur who has built and sold multiple companies for millions of dollars. In a recent episode of his podcast, The Prof G Pod, Galloway reframed one of professional life's most common anxieties as evidence of ambition, not inadequacy.

I have two YouTube videos in my Watch Later that I have ironically been procrastinating on watching: replacing doomscrolling with writing (how to finally write your novel) and Self Education: Your Best Defense Against Brain Rot. Both videos take an almost combative stance against the use of social media, largely because spending time on the platform du jour often devolves into doomscrolling for hours until your brain rots.

For these individuals, extreme emotional distress, panic, anger, frustration, and even disgust have been noted (Brout, 2018). Misophonia is a neurophysiological condition in which the amygdala becomes activated by sounds that should not be alarming or dangerous (Kumar, 2017). The context of triggers-such as whether or not something is rude, offensive, or otherwise disgusting can affect the emotional aftermath of a trigger, but it does not change the aversive fight-flight-freeze response.

Westmeath GAA player Luke ­Loughlin has told TDs and senators that he "could not believe" the response when he spoke about his struggles with alcohol and substance abuse four years ago.

Westmeath GAA player Luke Loughlin has told TDs and senators that he "could not believe" the response when he opened up about his struggles with alcohol and substance abuse four years ago.

Pop's ex-wife was my biological grandmother, and there is no generation in our family that was not touched by her emotional, physical and financial abuse. In 1980, she kicked my teenage parents and me out of her house when I was an infant. She'd decided on a whim that my underemployed father and postpartum mother were able to make it on their own, without a single resource to their names.

The behavior has gained cultural visibility. On TikTok, the hashtag "hyper-independence" has racked up millions of views in videos tagged "hyper-independence is a trauma response" and "signs of hyper-independence." For many viewers, the content is striking because they assumed this was simply how success was achieved, not a survival strategy with hidden costs. That viral visibility makes it even more important for workplaces to recognize the pattern and promote healthier interdependence, rather than rewarding the unsustainable behaviors it reinforces.

I used to think it was a con, too. During my psychiatric residency, therapy was defined by patience and silence. I was taught to listen quietly, encourage patients to vent, and maybe prescribe an antidepressant. We didn't set measurable goals, and we certainly didn't expect recovery anytime soon. Progress was supposed to take months, or years. And it did! But now that I've been in practice with TEAM CBT for many decades, my experience is the opposite.

The holiday season can be stressful for many reasons. For those who struggle with their family or certain family members, this time of the year can be especially anxiety-provoking due to increased expectations for family togetherness. One of the challenges of being around family is that they can trigger many past hurts in us, making it difficult to manage these strong emotions.

Indeed's survey of 1,551 UK adults aged 18 and over, all in part-time or full-time employment, found that while 87% believe work can be more than a paycheck and 94% believe it is possible to be happy at work most of the time, only 23% report currently thriving at work. In this survey, thriving reflects those with high work wellbeing, which is measured across four key indicators: happiness, stress, sense of purpose, and overall satisfaction.

When Sam, the founder of a fast-growing tech company, came to see me, he was exhausted. For over a dozen years, he had poured everything into his startup, building it up to hundreds of employees and revenues nearing a hundred million. But as market shifts and new technologies gave rise to fierce competitors, growth had stalled... and so had Sam. In our sessions, Sam vacillated between two poles. At times, he would slump in his chair, shoulders collapsed, voice flat: "I'm thinking of just quitting."

For the children of Gaza, front-line victims and witnesses to unspeakable violence, Israel's more than two-year genocidal war has left deep wounds, both physical and psychological, ones that will remain long after it comes to an end. Tens of thousands have lost parents and siblings while many others have suffered life-changing injuries. Some are also experiencing trauma from witnessing the deaths of other children. They have been displaced numerous times, lost their homes and had their educations stamped out.

That was the mindset I had when I decided to take a job opportunity in Pittsburgh and live alone for the first time, shortly after graduating from Syracuse University. Although I'm used to pushing myself outside my comfort zone - I moved halfway across the country for college and studied abroad alone - this move felt different. My friends were supportive, saying that if anyone could move and start over, it'd be me,

In my practice, I see many young men who claim to be "addicted" to online porn. This notion of being an addict carries a lot of negative connotation and stigma, as well as a sense of inevitability that creates obstacles to change and growth. After assessment and some treatment work, most young men I see don't fall into severe categories of addiction. Most use porn problematically, in a way that interferes with their aspirational sex life.

A relatively large body of research suggests that women who struggle with body image and eating issues are likely to abuse substances ( Bahji et al., 2019; Robinson, Walter, Deane, & Larance, 2023). For example, in a recent retrospective chart review of 182 women in treatment for an eating disorder, MacNeil and colleagues (2025) found that 34.6 percent reported using substances, with alcohol and over-the-counter (OTC) medications being most common.

When the bill came, it sat on the table for a while; neither of us touched it. Eventually, I picked it up and asked if she wanted to split it, and she said yes immediately. I was caught off guard because she had clearly said beforehand that she wanted to treat me, so I hadn't expected to pay. It's not about the money

A core developmental task of adolescence is to explore the question, "Where do I belong?" Finding "your people" is central to that journey. This is why peers and peer friendships play such a critical role in the emotional lives of adolescents. Our early social experiences teach us something essential about being human. They help us learn to tolerate discomfort, navigate complexity, and grow through feedback and accountability. The teenage brain is built to learn from these social experiences.

Have you ever googled a health question that you'd normally ask a doctor or therapist? Today, more information is available than ever. People can privately access guidance through AI chatbots that feels like talking to a real provider. With mental health care still difficult to access for many, it's understandable that many turn to free, anonymous, on-demand chatbots for support. While AI tools can be trained to simulate therapy, relying solely on them leaves significant gaps in mental health care.