Just as physical health is supported by proper diet, exercise, and rest, our mental health is just as multi-faceted. Mental health consists of our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. In recognition of the importance of mental health awareness and treatment, World Mental Health Day is celebrated annually on October 10th. …
It’s uncomfortable (and even scary) to witness that one friend fly off the handle from a minor provocation or a stranger epically lose their cool in the grocery store. Big, aggressive behavior from our fellow humans can feel terrorizing, especially when they suggest physical violence. How can innocent bystanders wrap…
Why is there a bipolar 2 and a bipolar 1? There’s no depression 2 or depression 1. There’s no anxiety 3.0. What makes bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic depression) different? The quick answer is that people with bipolar 2 have enough variation in their symptoms from type 1 bipolar…
What if you were depressed for so long that you forgot what happiness felt like? What if your low mood started to feel permanent, like part of your personality? This is the reality for many people with dysthymia, or persistent depressive disorder (PDD), a chronic depressive state that lasts two…
Do you struggle with expressing your feelings? Instead of calmly communicating how you feel, do you resort to lashing out in anger instead? Finally, is there no real rhyme or reason for why you react with anger? Anger is a natural reaction in many situations. It’s healthy to recognize the…
It’s estimated that more than 50 million adults in America will experience some form of mental health condition in their lifetimes. That’s around 20% of the entire adult population of the United States. In addition, a recent Pew Research study found that, though self-reported religious affiliation rates have declined in…
Experts estimate that less than 2% of the general U.S. population has borderline personality disorder (BPD), but roughly 25% of people claim to have experienced a symptom or two of the condition. For example, most of us have felt emotionally volatile at one point or another. We may have become…
Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder characterized by extreme fluctuations in mood. These emotional shifts may take place over the course of hours, weeks, or months, and are often accompanied by drastic changes in behavior and functioning. There are three main types of bipolar disorder. People with bipolar I (type…
The other day I was watching an Instagram video of a woman’s nose job. (On Instagram, I’m always watching either cosmetic surgery before-and-afters or slow pans around dollhouse interiors.) The woman was adorable. Then she did this time-lapse thing with bandages on her nose and dark circles under her eyes….
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in every 5 adults in the US suffers from mental illness. And those who don’t suffer personally, likely know someone who does. This means that, inevitably, your kids will at some point encounter a mental illness, be it a personal…
First and foremost, the decision to begin therapy is highly personal. Sure, certain circumstances might mean that therapy can be incredibly beneficial to you — say, if you’re struggling with a diagnosed mental illness like depression or anxiety or other mental health issues such as an unhappy relationship or a…
New research found a link between poor air quality and higher rates of bipolar disorder as well as major depression in the U.S. and Denmark. Additionally, it found a link between exposure to poor air quality in the first 10 years of life and a two-fold increase in schizophrenia and…