Mental Health Topics

Vacations are a wonderful and exciting part of life. They can expose you to new adventures and experiences that can change your life as you know it, or give you the relaxation and time off you need to be the best version of yourself.  However, returning to normal life after…

Avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a high sensitivity to perceived judgment from others and extreme discomfort with social contact and relationships. This distress is so great that a person will likely avoid any situation that may require a lot of socializing or closeness to others…

It is entirely natural to experience a range of emotions after a traumatic event. Most people recover from these initial reactions and feelings within a few weeks. However, if you have ongoing problems, there could be something else going on, like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This practical guide will help…

Eating disorders are serious conditions that affect both one’s mental and physical health, and they can be extremely difficult to endure alone. Not to be confused with bulimia or avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, anorexia nervosa, more commonly known as anorexia, causes a person to restrict their food intake with the…

There’s an old woman sitting on a bench, sobbing loudly into her hands. Surrounding her are countless people: a man sitting on the bench next to her, a few people standing at a nearby bus stop, and many walking right by. While some clearly notice the distressed woman, nobody asks…

How many of us have felt suddenly unwell for a time, and out of concern, googled our symptoms? Later on, when we’re better, we might feel a little bit embarrassed that we were so concerned—maybe our mysterious symptoms were all in our heads.  Experiencing this fear of illness or disease…

Individuals who suffer from obsessive-compulsive personality disorder seek to uphold a feeling of control through their meticulous attention to rules, details, procedures, instructions, schedules, or lists—to an extent where the behavior can interfere with everyday functioning, relationships, or quality of life.  They are very careful in all of their actions…

This guide is for parents who are struggling to understand their child’s ADHD symptoms or diagnosis of ADHD, and for the adults who grew up believing that something was wrong with them – because their brains didn’t work like other people’s. The ADHD mind has its own rules. When you know…

The definitions for anxiety, stress, and sleep are quite different: Anxiety is a feeling of fear or apprehension, stress is a response to a perceived threat or challenge, and sleep is a natural state of rest that is essential for physical and mental health.  However, these conditions might be more…

Most people struggle with self-esteem and perception at some point in their lives. During these times, it can be difficult to believe that those around us really do care about us. Sometimes, it seems more logical that they actually don’t like us, or may even hate us.  Other times, we…

Life can get stressful and overwhelming, and sometimes our methods of dealing with it are helpful in the short term but become more problematic over time. These unhelpful behaviors are referred to as “maladaptive behaviors” or, more specifically, actions or responses that are not suitable or effective in a given…

Humans subscribe to patterns of behavior that are influenced by their thoughts, and their thoughts are influenced by their patterns of behavior. For instance, we might wash our hands (an action) because we want to cleanse them of germs (a desire). Or we might start thinking of ourselves negatively (a…