Mental health

Mental health

Believe it or not, emotional reasoning is neither rare nor uncommon. It is present when we feel jealous and conclude that our partner is cheating on us, with no reason or evidence to back this assumption up. It is in play when we feel judged and scrutinized, without a single remark or event as proof. It can negatively impact our impression when meeting a prospective employer triggers anxiety.

Who says our opinions of ourselves are accurate? After nearly 20 years in practice as a therapist, I've seen how easily those opinions can be shaped-or misshaped-by life experiences. Some clients grew up in families that repeatedly communicated things, directly and indirectly, that weren't true about their worth. Others, who seemed confident for years, found their self-esteem derailed when self-doubt or impostor phenomenon crept in.

Within three months, this capable professional was questioning their entire career, and the isolation bled into relationships with their partner, family, and friends. Then came the turning point: seeking help through their Employee Assistance Program, working with their GP, and finding the language to name what was happening. Today, they report stronger team bonds, restored creativity, and clarity of thought.

A mental health trust says it is planning to install CCTV following the death of a patient in mysterious circumstances. Maria Morris, 44, was found unresponsive at Bethlem Hospital in south London on 21 September 2021 with four socks down her throat, and a large unexplained bruise on her back. She died hours later in hospital from a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen.

"Having that haven, a roof over your head-it is the most important thing in the world." That's how Richard, the first resident of the Fulton Community Reentry Center in the Bronx, described what it felt like to walk through our doors after leaving prison. Recently, Fulton reached a significant milestone: more than 75 formerly incarcerated men have moved into permanent homes and reintegrated with society as productive community members.

Somewhere in the process of parenting, you begin to see your younger self in your child-and you are forced to face the parts of yourself you have either buried or never fully understood. I started noticing this mirror effect when my daughter became a teenager. Suddenly, her behavior-makeup, boyfriend, confidence -was triggering emotions I did not expect.

Mental health patients are among the most vulnerable in society, but services in England have been under huge strain for more than a decade, with sometimes fatal consequences. A public inquiry backed by the government is focusing on deaths in Essex as a starting point, but what is it and what does it hope to achieve? Solicitors representing a growing number of families who have lost loved ones say the Lampard Inquiry is as important as those surrounding the Post Office and infected blood scandals.

Everything feels heavier for them. School days are longer. Homework starts earlier. What we now call "free time" is often filled with organized sports, tutoring, or screens. Schedules, routines, and pressure have replaced the easy rhythm of childhood. It has taken a toll on the mental health of our children over the past 50 years. Anxiety, depression, and attention problems have risen sharply.

An asylum seeker who took his own life on the Bibby Stockholm barge would still be alive were it not for failures in his care by the Home Office and NHS mental health workers, his family has said. Leonard Farruku, 27, was found dead in December 2023 on the government's former accommodation vessel for migrants, which was moored at Portland Port, Dorset.

Take Action First and Sit With Your Emotions Later Your brain can be devious. It tells you to wait until anxiety subsides, until courage emerges, and for that "perfect moment." Learn to tune out those whispers of self-doubt. Your emotions are temporary and change rapidly after you take courageous action. You don't get into shape by signing up for the marathon; you do it by practicing. Slowly first, then slowly building speed.

First up is reassurance. It can help to think about a situation, or maybe more than one, that you struggled with in the past, something that felt endless, yet you found ways to move through it. Even if sleep challenges have been with you for a long time, new layers of healing and understanding are always possible. This might be a chapter that's asking for patience and new tools, but you can learn to support yourself through it and find resources that help.

On the surface, our life was great. My husband and I both had thriving businesses. I was an accountant, and he was a home inspector. We had a lot of external things that defined success, like two brand-new cars sitting in the driveway, a beautiful 2,000-square-foot two-story house that we spent a lot of time renovating to be perfect. From the outside, it looked like we had it all together. But the truth is, we weren't really happy.

Young people are in a bad way; they feel very sad, completely depressed. The worst thing isn't the anxiety, or being glued to their phones, or feeling lonely, or being unemployed, or even knowing that it's impossible for them to buy a house; the worst part is that, until just a few years ago, none of them expected to find themselves in this situation.

If this sounds familiar, the reason you stay stuck in this cycle likely has to do with your mind's tendency to disguise rumination as "problem-solving." You might be under the impression that you're figuring out what went wrong or making sure you will not repeat the mistake. However, in reality, you're just reinforcing the guilt and trapping yourself even further in the same emotional cycle. Over time, this habit can end up chipping away at your confidence, relationships, and most importantly, your sense of self.

A few weeks ago, a viral tweet perfectly captured a phenomenon familiar to many of us. The post ― a response to someone's question "what's your biggest ick about yourself?" ― read simply: "i can be really mean when i'm overstimulated." Judging by the retweets, it seems 55,000 people could relate. If you've ever snapped at your partner after a bad day, or had an outburst during a frustrating call with a customer service agent, you may understand the meaning behind the tweet. We're not exactly at our best in moments like these, but they're part of the human response to being overstimulated.

"My ex-boyfriend killed himself. My friend who goes to the same college called to tell me. I knew he was feeling depressed when I broke up with him last month, but he never mentioned wanting to kill himself. He was seeing a psychiatrist and said he was starting to feel better. What if the breakup triggered this? I feel like it's my fault."

Since then, through my own experience parenting a child with PANDAS/AE and sitting with hundreds of parents raising children with complex medical, developmental, or psychiatric needs, I've learned this: We've been approaching it all wrong. This week, as we commemorate PANDAS Awareness Day, I'm reminded that behind every child's battle with neuroimmune illness is a parent fighting a parallel one, often invisible, misunderstood, and dismissed. Parental PTSD is real, and recognizing it is an essential part of raising awareness.

Debt doesn't just sit quietly on a balance sheet. It carries emotional weight, often heavier than the numbers themselves. People in long-term debt may find that the stress, guilt, and constant worry affect their daily lives just as much as the financial strain. Even when someone considers options like debt settlement to manage what they owe, the emotional side of debt lingers. Staying in debt is not only about money-it is about how it shapes confidence, relationships, and overall well-being.

Many Muslim families struggle when a child comes out as LGBTQ. Some respond with silence, fear, or rejection, believing they must choose faith over love. Yet this belief is not Islamic. It goes against the essence of Islam, which is mercy and justice. When religion is used to justify cruelty, it loses its soul. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is described as Rahmat al-lil Alameen, a mercy to all worlds.

The council's committee of the whole passed a resolution on Sept. 10 pledging up to $2.25 million towards the project but the hospital needs $30 million for an initial investment. "We just can't accept that people are suffering on our streets on a daily basis, said Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter, who moved the motion. I've been committed to this from day one, and I'm not going to give up until I get it done."

The concert was a collective exercise in nostalgia - that powerful emotion triggered by the intersection of experience and memory. Some people think of nostalgia as a sort of bittersweet feeling, an aching reminder of what we have lost. It is joy tinged with sadness, but primarily a positive emotion that is part of the human experience. It is a feeling that sneaks up on you, and not just at massive concerts.

"Midlife adults meet the same diagnostic criteria as younger patients ― struggling with symptoms such as restricting, bingeing or purging," said DeCaro, who also co-hosts the podcast All Bodies. All Foods.