Spring cleaning is as much of a tradition as it seems to be a natural urge. With winter behind us, and sunny weather in the days ahead, it seems only right to create a spring cleaning checklist. Powering through our spring cleaning checklist can produce a variety of benefits, helping…
When searching for a health care provider, we consider education, years of experience, customer reviews… and perhaps whether or not that person is like us. For certain individuals, this last consideration can be an important one: Specifically for those in marginalized communities searching for a provider who truly understands what…
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This year, it provides the opportunity to celebrate and reinforce decreased stigmatization of mental health. Mental Health Awareness Month also serves to bring attention to the groups most susceptible to mental health conditions, including young women, people of color, and frontline and healthcare workers….
When we share an overly personal story that involves a traumatic experience we’ve endured, it’s called trauma dumping. Even though the experience may be something we’ve processed and accepted, others may not be open or ready to absorb such intensely personal information. Trauma dumping can become a way for someone…
Many people know the basics of bipolar disorder, but they may lack insight into how it actually feels to experience cycles of mania and depression. These quotes from memoirs, essays, and celebrity interviews on the bipolar experience can help shed light on what it means to have this mental health…
Black history month celebrates the progress and recognizes the tribulations of Black Americans, and many notable people of color have contributed to the fields of psychology and psychological research. Despite racial tension, bias, and discriminatory treatment, these Black psychologists paved the way for providers of color to continue expanding and…
There will come a time when someone with a mental illness — like depression, anxiety, or PTSD — needs your help. While mental health conditions require proper treatment from a mental health professional like a counselor or psychiatrist, you can provide help in the form of comfort, reassurance, and support….
Nostalgia is a familiar feeling, but there are actually two different types—reflective and restorative nostalgia. Restorative nostalgia involves happy memories and associations with the past. When we feel restoratively nostalgic, we’re likely to feel motivated to seek out new and rewarding experiences. Conversely, reflective nostalgia may often make us feel…
Trauma bonding is an intense emotional connection that is formed between an abused individual and their abuser. Abuse in a traumatic bond can be either physical or emotional. While traumatic bonding can occur in all types of relationships (friends and family included) the strongest are typically romantic. Traumatic bonds are…
Thriveworks analyzed over 54,000 data points to identify the Top Mental Health Terms for 2021, determined by usage growth over the past five years. Our findings indicate that many mental health terms are experiencing a surge in usage — overall, the use of mental health terminology has seen a 140%…
Americans love to drive—70 billion hours every year are spent driving in the US with 86% of us choosing to commute to work in our personal vehicles over other forms of transportation. Despite the prevalence of our car culture, we might be driving ourselves into a corner. Driving (and even…
The children of depressed parents could be at an increased risk of developing depression or other mental health disorders. Our external environment, in addition to our parent’s own experience with mental health conditions, may set into motion subtle shifts in our genetics; one allele, in particular, might leave kids vulnerable…