Mental health

Mental health

Everybody knows this coworker-the one who spirals about cost-cutting layoffs when snacks vanish from the break room. The one who thinks they're getting fired because their boss hasn't been using emojis with them lately. The one who's the office Chicken Little: anxious, somewhat frantic, often misguided . . . and who can't stop talking to others about whatever it is they're anxious about.

I write this post with a clear but demanding purpose. I aim to apply insights from animal behavior research to gain a deeper understanding of how humans behave, struggle, and adapt. As a clinical psychologist, much of my work centers on two closely related questions. Why do people do what they do? And why is changing what does not work for them so often more difficult than it appears?

David's story is more than just dodging a bullet it is a powerful testament to the critical importance of suicide prevention strategies that focus on encouraging temporarily limiting firearm access whether through secure storage at home or transfer away from home. Fresh approaches are desperately needed, since U.S. suicide rates have been steadily rising for two decades. To reverse this trend, we must address access to firearms, which account for 55% of all U.S. suicide deaths.

The real transformation happens when you open a fresh page, choose a handful of habits that matter to you, and commit to noticing them day after day. I recently did this with two friends over coffee, and what unfolded felt less like a productivity exercise and more like a gentle act of intention-setting. If you'd like to build your own version of that ritual, here's where to start.

One of the biggest surprises of not drinking was realizing how much social anxiety I have. And I'm a pretty social person. Back in 2022, after COVID pushed me into remote work, I noticed something: my only social life outside work usually involved drinks at a bar. Unlike school or office life, home meant being clear-headed; out meant being drunk.

A common misconception is that people who remain in toxic or abusive relationships are weak, dependent, or oblivious to the harm. In reality, many people who struggle to break free from relationships that are no longer working are intelligent, capable, high-functioning, and empathic. They see the dysfunction clearly and can even articulate what is wrong, and yet they struggle to leave, get frustrated with themselves, and do not understand why that is.

The cultural narrative is familiar: Set ambitious goals, push past discomfort, and emerge transformed. For some people, this framing feels energizing and hopeful. For others, it feels out of sync—especially if their nervous systems are already working hard just to keep things steady. Before committing to New Year's resolutions, it may be worth asking a quieter, but often more clinically meaningful question: Is this a year for bold reinvention, or is it a year for gentle reflection?

Knowing grants a sense of safety and certainty. It provides us with knowledge and a degree of control-the direction we believe we need to go and the way to get there. Yet, considering the chaos, anxiety, distress, loneliness, and existential challenges that most of us live with, we continue clinging to what we were taught to believe is "the truth." And while safety and certainty are illusory, we cling to them in powerful ways.

Calling clients resistant often implies the client is intentionally blocking progress, as if they alone are the reason therapy isn't working. That framing has always troubled me, because more often than not, what gets labeled "resistance" isn't a client problem at all. I've found that it's usually a relationship problem ( between client(s) and therapist or in their interactions/dynamic), and often, it's actually a therapist problem.

To start resolving our hurt, it helps to pause and ask ourselves a different question: What kind of wound am I dealing with? Many painful experiences-rejection, disappointment, humiliation, betrayal, exclusion-do not leave traumatic injuries. They leave emotional wounds. These wounds are real and impactful, even when they do not necessarily involve threat, terror, or a nervous system focused on survival. And yet, they can linger for years, shaping how we see ourselves and others long after the event has passed.

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I have no clue how to help her because every time I say that she is beautiful, she says I'm only saying that because I'm her mother. She is surrounded by social media images, unrealistic beauty standards and constant comparisons, and I fear that these influences have shaped how she sees herself way more than I ever could. I feel helpless watching her struggle with such intense self-criticism at such a young age.

Every January, millions of us set goals that promise control: eat better, exercise more, stress less. Yet the most transformative resolution may not be about controlling life-it's about expanding our capacity to engage with it. Stress isn't something to eliminate-it's something to train for. Just as we lift weights to strengthen our bodies, we can stretch our emotional tolerance to strengthen our minds.

One common approach involves audio-recording therapy sessions so the clinician does not have to take detailed notes during the meeting. AI software can then analyze the recording and generate written documentation. Before agreeing to this practice, it is important that you understand how audio-recordings and AI-generated notes may be used, how your information will be protected, and what choices you may have.

Calls to the clinic helpline are being used to train an AI algorithm that researchers hope will eventually power a chatbot offering therapy in local African languages. One person in 10 in Africa struggles with mental health issues, but the continent has a severe shortage of mental health workers, and stigma is a huge barrier to care in many places. AI could help solve those problems wherever resources are scarce, experts believe.

A recent study published in Biological Psychiatry identified a distinct subtype of psychiatric illness marked by brain inflammation, one that cuts across traditional diagnoses and may explain why standard treatments fail for some people (Tang et al., 2025).This new brain imaging study offers an interesting clue. It turns out that across different psychiatric disorders, some people show clear signs of brain inflammation, visible on scans and confirmed through immune system tests.

The term was first coined in the 90s by psychiatrist Jonathan Shay, who defined moral injury as having three components: "Moral injury is present when (i) there has been a betrayal of what is morally right, (ii) by someone who holds legitimate authority and (iii) in a high-stakes situation." Moral injury is a form of deep psychological and emotional distress that arises when someone is subjected to actions that violate their core moral values or sense of what's right.

The mental health needs of asylum-seekers and people awaiting deportation are not being adequately met, with services "scraping the tip of the iceberg" of what is needed, according to a leading charity.

From the time it opened in 1937 to 2024, a period of more than 85 years, the Golden Gate Bridge was the number one suicide site in the world. Confirmed suicides topped 2,000; the real number is likely higher, as other deaths were left unconfirmed-often because a body wasn't recovered or it was recovered too far away to be connected with certainty to the bridge.

When a young child pulls their hair, picks their skin, or bites their nails to the point of injury, it's natural for the adults in their lives to want to focus on stopping the behavior. Parents want to prevent their child from experiencing harm, and clinicians want to help the child gain control and relieve their parents of worry. But with body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), especially in young children, control is rarely the place to start.

This increase has been especially pronounced among children and adolescents. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among youth aged 10 to 14 years and the third leading cause of death among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years (Flores et al., 2024). Studies indicate that although male adolescents (and adults) have significantly higher rates of suicide, females have shown the greatest rate of increase in the last decade.

Every January, leaders are told to do the same thing: set ambitious goals, map out the year, and commit to executing harder than before. We frame this as discipline or vision, but more often than not, it is a ritual of pressure. The assumption is that success comes from wanting more and pushing faster.

Migraine is an "invisible illness," which means you can look totally fine on the outside while dealing with symptoms that make it nearly impossible to think clearly, see straight, or tolerate light and noise. And despite how often it's dismissed as "just a headache,", migraine is actually a chronic neurological disease - one that affects how the brain processes pain and sensory information, says Dr. Zarmina Mufti, a neurologist, headache specialist, and migraine educator who regularly shares educational content about living with migraine on social media.

It starts at the front door when your parents pummel you with questions. Before you can even get your coat off, they also ask you to sort through an old bag of clothes from high school, and the next morning, you wake up from the slam of the vacuum cleaner against your bedroom door at 6 a.m. To put it bluntly: Being home is overwhelming.