Learning disorders usually present in children at a young age. However, that doesn’t always mean that a diagnosis will be made promptly. Often, parents wonder if their child’s delays or behaviors are normal (because what’s normal, anyhow?) or think they’ll “grow out of it.” Fortunately, there are other key figures…
Sleep is for the weak — right? While it might make us feel better to declare this adage after a late night, the opposite is true. Ideally, adults should get around seven or more hours of sleep per night. Sleep is essential to living a happy, healthy life, and even…
After experiencing a traumatic or emotionally scarring event, the fear, pain, and helplessness felt in that moment can linger and affect someone’s life in the weeks and months after it happens. This reaction is completely understandable, as events like those are extremely harmful and can certainly change the life of…
When it comes to getting sick from what we eat or touch, we know to avoid certain things—especially in a post-pandemic world. From experience, science, or what we’ve been taught since childhood, avoiding contaminated products is often second nature. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take things too far, which…
A delusion is someone’s unshakable belief in something untrue. It’s not a part of the person’s culture or subculture—and almost everyone else knows the belief is false. Delusions can also be linked to a mental health condition, known as delusional disorder. While delusional disorder is a single condition, people with…
There is a wide number of conditions that look very similar to others, and they can often be confused during the diagnosis process. Certain conditions can even co-occur, or happen at the same time, in certain patients, making it even more difficult to mark what separates one from the other. …
Exhibitionistic disorder is a condition that causes someone to compulsively expose their genitals to unsuspecting passersby, typically in a public setting. This behavior elicits sexual stimulation and pleasure but is a significant source of distress for the exhibitionist. Exhibitionistic disorder is classified as a paraphilic disorder, which means it’s a…
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental health condition that affects less than 1% of Americans. Symptoms of schizophrenia are often severe and can include hallucinations, non-linear speech and thought patterns, as well as mood swings and social challenges. While there is no current cure, psychiatric medication forms the backbone of treatment…
Most of us regularly have sexual thoughts and urges; sexuality is a unique and personal part of life. Our physical desires can manifest themselves in specific ways, and sometimes in the form of a sexual fetish, which is an attraction toward an inanimate object (or objects) or part of the…
People have different sexual preferences and fetishes are common, which create sexual excitement. In fact, they might be more common than you think: A survey conducted by CalExotics at Harvard Sex Week saw that 43% of respondents have (or believe they have) a fetish, and more than half have shared…
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marijuana is the most commonly used federally illegal drug in the United States (though it is now legal on the state level in the majority of states) – with 48.2 million people, or 18% of Americans, reportedly using it at least…
Nicotine-containing products, alongside caffeinated beverages like coffee, are some of the most commonly used psychoactive substances in the U.S.—though we rarely think of them as drugs. Even though tobacco and nicotine use has steadily dropped in the U.S. since 2005, many of us know someone who smokes, chews, or uses…
