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…
If you want to get a quick picture of what a refugee or asylum seeker might feel, put yourself in their shoes for a moment: What would you carry if you had to leave your home abruptly, perhaps forever? Everyone is one major humanitarian crisis away from refugee status, no…
Any kind of abuse—whether it be physical, emotional, mental, sexual, etc.—can lead to PTSD, as abuse is a highly emotionally distressing experience. The overactivation of stress hormones causes the victim of abuse to experience a fight, flight or freeze response, which makes it near impossible for the individual to focus…
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….
Dreams are puzzling and cause us to question their root cause — especially when they’re violent and they keep us up at night. As it turns out, there are several common causes of violent dreams, one being the fear of violence. Another common source of violent dreams is your thinking…
New research finds that people with PTSD who do not receive treatment have a higher risk of developing dementia later in life. This research also finds that veterans diagnosed with PTSD (who are more likely to receive treatment for PTSD compared with the general population) have a reduced risk of…
As September 11 approaches, many Americans brace for impact. After 20 years, we have come to expect the grief, the sadness, the fear, the anger. Or, even an overwhelm of all of these emotions at once.Read: Grief Counseling 101 For some—especially those who lost loved ones on this fateful day—it…
New research suggests that MDMA (ecstasy) could improve trust and enhance the bond between patient and therapist, thereby enhancing treatment for PTSD. The team experimented with mice: They analyzed the effects of a low dose of MDMA versus saline solution and found that MDMA led to the mice being more…
In many cases, a mental illness goes undiagnosed, due to an individual’s failure or hesitance to seek treatment, as well as misdiagnosis from a mental health provider. There are three mental health conditions in specific that often of undiagnosed: bipolar disorder, post-traumatic disorder, and borderline personality disorder. When it comes…
We all cope differently with our struggles, but an effective, lesser-known method is humor. Humor can help us be more resilient when life doesn’t go our way; it enables us to make light of our situation and in the process even moderate the severity of a mental health condition. For…
College students face severe mental health challenges, which threaten to wreak havoc on their studies as well as their overall wellbeing. It’s important to keep a watchful eye on the college goers in your life, specifically if they exhibit harmful symptoms of a mental illness like anxiety or depression. In…
Posttraumatic stress disorder is a crippling disease that can have negative effects on one’s relationships. Triggers may cause the affected individual to lash out at loved ones. Avoidance symptoms may cause one to dissociate and neglect relationships. Hypervigilance can lead to sleep and concentration problems, which then can negatively affect…