Category: Mental Health

Being sick can be terrifying. Common illnesses like cold and flu can wipe us out, both physically and mentally. Diseases like cancer can change the course of our lives. And unfortunately, modern medicine sometimes fails us.  The question is: What can you do to battle sickness once modern medicine has reached its limits? The answer…

These days, everyone seems to be in therapy. And if you’re not, you just may one day try it. Don’t be embarrassed of this possibility. The days of the stigma associated with seeing a shrink have come and gone. But how do you know if therapy is actually working? When it comes to analyzing the…

Suicide: It’s the hidden danger that no one wants to talk about. And the number of lives lost is on the rise.  An April 2016 report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that suicide rates have risen significantly. In fact, statistics demonstrate a jump of 24 percent between 1999 and…

While childhood seems like a breeze, growing up can be anything but easy. Just like adults, kids get anxiety, too. Some anxiety is normal — like a fear of separation or the distress associated with doing something new for the first time. But other types of anxiety can be an indicator of an underlying anxiety…

Do you talk to yourself? If so, you’re definitely not alone. Research shows that 96 percent of adults talk to themselves on a regular basis. But most don’t know just what that conversation consists of. Ask the average person what they’ve said to themselves in the past hour and the answer usually is “I have…

Are you afraid of spiders? Do you dread speaking in public? What’s your reaction when you’re 30,000 feet in the air, and the plane starts shaking from turbulence? All of the above situations are phobias, which are clinically defined as unreasonable fear and overwhelming dread of a situation, object or thing. Phobias do not pose…

Compulsive skin picking is an obsessive-compulsive mental disorder in which someone constantly picks at the skin on his or her body. It is a serious problem, as many compulsive pickers wind up with bruises, bleeding, infections, scars and permanent damage to the skin. It is a form of self-mutilation that shows a serious psychological problem.…

There is a strong connection between nutrition and mental health, just as there is between nutrition and physical illness. Research in a field called nutritional neuroscience is proving the correlations between nutrition and behavior, cognition and emotions in humans. While depression is often thought of as biochemically caused, research has shown that the food consumption…

Let’s face it — no one likes to go to the doctor. That’s because the mere thought of medical care can be terrifying and overwhelming. Maybe your fear of going to the doctor is associated with the common belief that a simple visit to a physician is going to result in the diagnosis of a…

Your best friend is having a tough time. At first, she just seems moody. But then her behavior starts to become excessive. For starters, she asks you to go shopping and spends an excessive amount of money. She doesn’t just buy one pair of boots, she buys five. And then she buys three pairs of…