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…
Fear is built into our biology. In fact, it keeps us safe — alerting us to danger and saying, “Hey, you need to be careful.” A phobia, on the other hand, is an excessive or irrational fear. If you experience intense fear and anxiety in public, open, or enclosed spaces—such…
Do you freak out in tiny spaces? Are you deathly afraid of heights? Do you refuse to meet your friend’s pet snake? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have something in common with much of the population. As it turns out, many of us share fears…
In my experience, online dating in NYC was mostly a matter of meeting at the right bar. The bar couldn’t be your local. You wanted to keep your local to yourself in case the date went sour. But the bar couldn’t be far away either because you didn’t want to…
Buena Vista is as nice a neighborhood as you could imagine: Proper houses trimmed in white, all lined up in neat rows. It’s a labyrinth of new pavement and landscaping, baking underneath the Texas sun. Somewhere, the sounds of a lawnmower swirl together with a dog barking and a child’s…
We’ve all felt a little out of place before: Plenty of life events and transitions can leave us feeling uncomfortable and unprepared. Even when we’ve done the hard work and our efforts have been recognized, there are sometimes lingering feelings of inadequacy, an undercurrent that whispers, “You’re a fraud.” For…
We’ve all seen the articles about smartphone addiction and how being glued to an iPhone screen for hours a day can cause sleep deprivation, depression, and FOMO. But this blog is about a more analog phenomenon, one that dates back to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, the voice call. Terrifying. …
You can meet with one of our caring mental health professionals, including this presenter, by visiting us at https://thriveworks.com/online-counseling/ Hi, my name is Tori Mills and I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor for Thriveworks. I’d like to discuss the effects that discrimination has on one’s mental health. So, during…
Small talk can exacerbate social anxiety or simply make us feel uncomfortable; however, doing it well can aid success in our personal and professional lives. Get good at small talk by first asking questions; have a few generic questions handy to ask new friends or colleagues and tune in to…
It’s safe to say that many of us feel uncomfortable in certain social situations. Say, at a party with 100 people, almost all of whom we do not know. Or, when giving an important presentation at work. Or, on a blind date with someone that a friend set us up…
Everybody can benefit from some time spent alone—most even desire some peace and quiet to themselves. Too much alone time, however, can result in feelings of loneliness and negatively impact our mental health, as a healthy and happy life demands we maintain loving interpersonal relationships: with friends, old and new;…
Zoloft, or sertraline, is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) used to treat a multitude of mental illnesses, such as depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder. This medication works by restoring a chemical imbalance in the brain and offers many benefits, as it may improve…
