Mental health

Mental health

When we can't fully express ourselves to our friends and family, some of us decide to find a therapist. Therapists can hold up the mirror to show us the maladaptive patterns we're repeating over and over. The brave therapists risk our anger and resentment as they professionally and respectfully challenge us to consider the mistakes we're making. They help us overcome our shame and teach us that our depression, our anxiety, and our hate all find no purchase on the steep slope of emotional support,

The birth of a child comes with a swirl of positive emotions: awe, joy, relief. And yet, for many birthing parents, this postpartum period can also be accompanied by monthsor even yearsof debilitating depression. For some of these parents, traditional antidepressant meds like sertraline, better known as Zoloft, and fluoxetine, aka Prozac, have provided some relief. But many with postpartum depression have had little recourse.

Close to one-in-six American adults is currently prescribed an antidepressant. A serotonin, or "chemical," imbalance hypothesis remains one of the key justifications for antidepressant use. But many are now rejecting the term chemical imbalance and embracing the the identity of having a mental health condition. They're also asking whether antidepressants resolve a chemical imbalance or risk creating one. I recently spoke to Joanna Moncrieff, author of Chemically Imbalanced, about avoiding neuro-reductionism and thinking about mental states in ways that aren't disempowering.

I gave a simple answer, that yes, I did think there was overdiagnosis, that too many people were being written off, and too many people weren't getting the support they needed. I was then deluged with messages and emails of both enthusiastic agreement and visceral disagreement including from mental health clinicians on both sides of the argument. One angry patient messaged to say: Far from overdiagnosis, I can't even get an appointment to get a diagnosis.

This season can be dark and daunting, but it doesn't have to get the better of us.

When a parent dies, children feel the pain differently than surrounding adults do. A parent is the whole world to a child, so to have this bond suddenly stop forming instills a deep sadness. After all, they have bonded with their parent since they were born, and are used to exploring the big world with them. Now suddenly they have to try to figure out how to navigate moving forward without their parent. This is not easy for a child to do.

The last real party I threw was in 2019, back when I'd sometimes have odd groupings of women over to my tiny New York apartment. At that final one-after everyone was fumbling and drunk, overheated from proximity-I cracked a kitchen window so that one of my friends could smoke, and we all clustered around her to feel the air. There was such joy in bundling together like that. I made a new friend at that party. I learned a secret that was truly bizarre.

You just crushed that presentation to the board, or finally got that program funded, or solved the technical problem that had everyone stumped. But then your sister texts the family group chat about weekend plans, and suddenly you're back to being the "intense one" who cares too much about work. Your chest gets tight, your shoulders tense up, and you're 16 again, trying to explain why you want things they don't understand.

Individuals are more reluctant to lose something they possess than to acquire something of value that they presently lack. This leads to a massive difference in how motivated they become to accomplish new objectives. In psychology, this is referred to as loss aversion. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General illustrates what this looks like in everyday life. Across four experiments, it became clear that the fear of loss can often be a far stronger motivator than hope for gaining something new.

For anxious travellers everywhere, the gelatine dessert might just be the surprisingly sweet solution to surviving turbulence. The clip, posted by content creator Anna Paul, who has nearly eight million followers across her platforms, became a global sensation. Racking up more than 42 million views, Anna demonstrates a tip she claims to have learnt from a pilot. Using a pot of jelly to represent the air and a scrunched-up napkin as the plane,

People with personality disorders (PDs) have, by definition, a set of traits or enduring dispositions that aren't working for them. Everyone has a " personality," and everyone has certain traits. In personality disorders, these traits get in the way of an individual's ability to adapt to life's changing circumstances. When diagnosing PDs, mental health professionals in the United States now have little choice but to decide what category best fits an individual's symptoms.

In middle school, I was the textbook definition of awkward: braces, acne, a bad perm, and a body I didn't know how to dress or love. I was uncomfortable in my skin, and I'm sure everyone noticed. One afternoon in the hallway, a boy looked directly at me and said, loudly and confidently, that I was the "ugliest thing" he had ever seen.

Recently, my husband lost his job, and the timing was terrible. We had just purchased a new home in need of major renovations, and of course, we were running on a tight budget. We were paying a mortgage in addition to the monthly rent on our previous home and the renovation expenses. While not life-threatening, his unemployment was stressful for both of us. I've worked with clients facing similar stressors from being laid off or chronically unemployed.

It started young for me. I didn't really have anyone to talk with. My father was a sulky, silent brute and I couldn't risk getting yelled at or hit by speaking up. My mother preferred not to hear about turmoil and always told me to think happy thoughts, even as my older sister urged me to image the worst so that whatever did happen to me wouldn't be as bad as I imagined.

Living in a place where it's cold and dark for several months at a time can take a toll on even the toughest person. During Alaska winters, I'd go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. Summers bring almost 24 hours of daylight, but that doesn't necessarily mean sunshine, as Alaskan summers can also be quite rainy. The light made sleep extremely difficult, too.

I read that you shouldn't let a tragedy define you, but I feel that Sarah's death is such a big part of me that I'm surprised there is no outer sign of it, no obvious mark of grief. I have been changed by it, but there is nothing to see. Outwardly we live our normal lives, but there is an inner sadness. People who do know are unfailingly kind and have helped more than they will ever know.

Bipolar disorder I and II are each marked by lengthy periods of a depressive episode, which is expressed in a change in appetite (more or less eating), a change in sleep (more or less of it), anhedonia (i.e., the inability to experience pleasure in activities in which one did), and apathy (i.e., not caring about anything, including, at times, even pursuing treatment).

Like a gazillion other fans out there, I couldn't wait for the final season of "Stranger Things" to come out. I was devouring the headlines, watching all the teasers, and scrolling through the interview clips. Not only am I obsessed with the quirky characters and storyline, as a child and family psychologist, I appreciate how the young people grow, strategize, and show bravery against some really strange things.

In the weeks prior to my most recent suicide attempt 11 years ago, I denied I was suicidal to anyone who asked. I was in a partial hospitalization program (PHP), and my thinking was that I needed to get back to work, and that I did not want to be admitted to the psychiatric hospital-which is certainly what would have happened because not only was I thinking about suicide, but I had a definitive plan and time frame.

It is true that sometimes the black sheep is indeed different or problematic by anyone's standards (sometimes the result of a hidden mental illness). Or she may be a sociopath who violates the family's boundaries and care, so that the family has to exclude her to rightfully protect themselves. But surprisingly, very seldom is either of these scenarios actually the case.

Kids who owned a smartphone at age 12 were found to have about 31% higher odds of depression, 40% higher odds of obesity and 62% higher odds of insufficient sleep than their peers who didn't have one. The researchers analyzed data from the National Institutes of Health-supported Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study assessments conducted between 2016 and 2022. The study included responses from 10,588 youths.

"I have heard it all. I've heard every version of it, of what's wrong with me," she said. "And then you fix it, and then it's wrong for different reasons." As co-star Cynthia Erivo nodded supportively, Grande suggested that the "comfortability" people have with speaking about others' looks is "really dangerous" for all parties involved, adding that the "pressure of that noise" has been present since she was 17 but is no longer "welcome" in her life.

Like all friends, the Friends of Grace nonprofit smooths out the rough edges of life. The San Jose group accomplishes this through a combination of classes, community and hot, healthy meals a program known as Grace Art & Wellness that's held six days a week at the city-owned Northside Community Center. Breakfast and lunch aren't just meals they're a point of entry into healing and connection, said Shawna Scarpitti, president of the nonprofit.

Currently there are 12 people from the Rowing Ireland high performance team seeking help from a clinical psychologist; three of them are working with a psychiatrist and are on medication to improve their condition. Not many athletes are brave enough to speak up as everyone is afraid for their seats. How many more mental illnesses do we need in the high performance system for someone to look at this programme properly?

What's your favourite thing about yourself? Stylist's Love Yourself campaign asked over 400 women that, and published eight pages of their answers. People mostly picked low-key, quite specific stuff I can cook something out of nothing; I'm really strong; I can talk to anyone; I've got an excellent bum and it was lovely, and touching, to see women affirm what they like about themselves.

Research conducted by King's College London (KCL) and the Association of Clinical Psychologists UK (ACP) in partnership with the Guardian suggested that the AI chatbotfailed to identify risky behaviour when communicating with mentally ill people. A psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist interacted with ChatGPT-5 as if they had a number of mental health conditions. The chatbot affirmed, enabled and failed to challenge delusional beliefs such as being the next Einstein, being able to walk through cars or purifying my wife through flame.

According to Smash It Rage Rooms in south-east London, where a 30-minute solo session costs 50, each smash is a cathartic release, a burst of pure, primal joy. We are at capacity we were looking for another venue because we can't keep up with demand, said Amelia Smewing, who set up the business with her husband after exploring ways to help their son cope with PTSD.

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