I took a psychiatry class years ago, and during lectures my professor used to say, " We all have a diagnosis." We used to laugh at that. It sounded provocative. But what if he wasn't joking? What if diagnosis is not something "they" have, but something that exists on a spectrum we all live on? When we started our practice at a psychiatric facility, I saw an unsettling scene in the hallway.
Once, after surviving yet another round of redundancies in a former job, I did something very odd. I turned off the lights in my room and lay face-down on the bed, unable to move. Rather than feeling relief at having escaped the axe, I was exhausted and numb. I'm not the only one. Fatigue, apathy and hopelessness are all textbook signs of burnout, a bleak phenomenon that has come to define many of our working lives.
Henry McGowan was last week found not guilty of his father's murder by reason of insanity When Henry McGowan disembarked a flight from London at Dublin Airport shortly before 11pm on November 11, 2024, he should have been unmissable in his big pink coat. The wealthy 31-year-old American, who worked for a tech firm in New York, had quit his job and come to Europe.
I recently went home for two weeks and I did not really tell anyone. I just went to see my family. I wanted to see how hard it would be for me to get in and out of the country. I wanted to feel what it felt like.I wanted to hold my children again. And I hadn't been home in over a year.
I love my fiancée so much that I proposed to her twice. It wasn't because I didn't believe my lover - who is admittedly far out of my league - the first time she said yes, nor was it my pesky perfectionism rearing its demanding head because not every detail went according to plan. Rather, certain aspects of our engagement didn't quite meet our expectations.
Henry McGowan killed his father John in Ballyfin Demesne after the 66-year-old had flown to Ireland to help him The son had travelled widely in Europe, his experiences transforming him into an "exhaustless mine" from which his father could draw inspiration. But as he aged, the son's health turned friable. Time spent in France to recuperate lent no lasting improvement and he found himself as an adult back in the care of his father, to whom he had always been close.
Bear with me, please. Good morning. I just want to start off by acknowledging my wife, Kayla, who is not only the strongest person that I know, but a support system for me every bit as I am for her. Part of what I'm here to share is on behalf of both of us,
What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other? Since then, I have never treated my relationships the same. I struggle with depression, which can make maintaining balance in a relationship extremely difficult. But if I can say to myself at the end of the day that I have done one thing just one little thing to make his life better, then I feel as if I haven't failed the day entirely. Brandi, North Carolina
Any composer's relationship to music is intense, but Sarah Kirkland Snider, whose debut opera, Hildegard, receives its world premiere at the LA Opera this week, ratchets that intensity up to a higher, more metaphysical level. When Snider hears music, she says, she sometimes wants to eat it that's how deep the desire goes. She's not traditionally religious, but she has come to see music as a mysterious, divine force within her.
We're experiencing chronic stress, which blocks our ability to hope. Here's why: the amygdala, the brain's alarm center, reacts with fight, flight, or freeze (Akil & Nestler, 2023; LeDoux, 1996). This reaction can save our lives in an emergency. When we're in a crosswalk and see a car speeding toward us, we can react by stopping or jumping out of the way.
Police identified the suspect in the deadly Tumbler Ridge shooting in Canada as an 18-year-old local woman who had a history of police visits to her home to check on her mental health. She is suspected of shooting dead six people at the local high school on Tuesday after killing her mother and stepbrother at home. Police revise death toll down The suspect killed eight people, police clarified, and not nine as had been previously reported.
The world was a scary place for her, as a transgender, autistic woman. It should not have been. It should have seen her for the wonderful, radiant, and deeply empathetic person she was. Nothing can make up for Summer's death, but we hope that it at least can be used as a catalyst to make the world a kinder place, and to prevent anyone else from dying in this way.
Suicide is a cause of death that haunts the living in perpetuity. After a suicide event, those left behind are tormented by questions. "Could I have done something?" "What did I miss?" "How could this happen?" "Was it my fault?" Even the best answers fail to return the person lost, and natural grief is often compounded with unnecessary blame. Discussions about suicide prediction and prevention primarily focus on known risk factors such as mental illness and suicidal ideation. 1
The world's largest social media companies have been accused of creating "addiction machines" as a landmark trial began in California examining the mental health effects of Instagram and YouTube. In his opening argument before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl and a jury, Mark Lanier argued that his client, plaintiff "K.G.M.," suffered from mental health issues as a result of her social media addiction.
You get sick from staying inside, breathing the same germ-filled air. Open your windows, even for five minutes, to circulate the old air out and let in fresh air. Also, if you're taking your child to the doctor, don't wait to treat their fever because you want 'the provider to see the fever.' Your child might wait two hours to be seen, meanwhile their temperature goes up, and they might have a seizure. If you say they've been having fevers, we believe you.
We live in a fast-paced world that glorifies productivity. That often means prioritizing work ahead of your mental health or even your personal life. There's a constant push to do more, achieve more, and get it done more quickly - and the clock starts ticking the moment you wake up. It's hard to break free from this mindset and put yourself first, often leading to burnout. Enter morning journaling.
On Instagram, under the handle @will.this.make.me.happy, she posted a photo of a craggy yellow pastry that fit perfectly in her palm. "No. Buttermilk scones with lemon zest do not alleviate anxiety," she captioned it. On December 4th, she posted again, declaring, beneath an image of a sugar-ringed cookie perched between her thumb and forefinger, "No. Pecan shortbread did not help me reconcile my massive ego with my meager sense of self."
Over the course four months, Thomas lost his job as a funeral director, began living out of a van out in the desert, and completely emptied his savings. It all started after he began talking to AIs like ChatGPT for advice, and he soon got hooked. It "inflated my worldview and my view of myself" almost instantly, he told Slate. Eventually, he found himself wandering the dunes of Christmas Valley, Oregon, after an AI told him to "follow the pattern" of his consciousness.
Get to know and be friends with other gays," said one. "Meaningful, genuine, healthy romantic relationships come from friendship. Not from passionate s*xual encounters with strangers. And focus on your health, your style, hobbies, mental clarity through expunging all the toxins built up from ... mistreatment in your childhood.
I noticed this shift in my own life when I started having dinner with my partner most nights, phones deliberately tucked away in another room. We made this change after too many evenings disappeared into "just checking one thing" that turned into hours of parallel scrolling. The difference was immediate and profound. Conversations went deeper. We actually looked at each other. Time seemed to stretch in the best possible way.
If you've been feeling weary or discouraged lately, you're not alone. Many people are moving through their days exhausted, overwhelmed, and out of alignment, carrying a growing sense of despair for a world that feels increasingly divided and uncertain. We're living in a time where we're more connected than ever, yet many feel deeply alone. Mental health challenges are rising. Burnout is common. Climate anxiety is real. The systems meant to support us often feel fragile or failing.
It hurts. All of it. For many of us who have dedicated ourselves to this career, journalism isn't just a job. It's a calling built on service, sacrifice and a belief in the public good. Losing this job, and watching others lose theirs, is extremely disheartening. And of course, losing a job doesn't just disrupt income, but also shakes up our routine, our connections and our general sense of usefulness and belonging. What do we do when that sense of purpose is suddenly gone?