Mental Health Topics

Perhaps the most stressful part of the holidays: brainstorming gifts for your loved ones. You pester them for weeks about what they want, but they fail to give you any good ideas; instead, they insist they don’t need a thing. Which you match with an eye roll and a sigh,…

The infamous “Big 5” personality traits make up a five-factor model (FFM) in psychology, which is often used to evaluate an individual’s core qualities. These traits include openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—you can easily remember these with the acronym OCEAN. We all possess the “Big 5” traits…

If we’re being technical, therapy is the process of meeting with a counselor to tackle unhealthy or troubling behaviors, beliefs, feelings, and issues. But if we’re being honest, therapy is so much more than a straight-forward definition: it’s healing and revealing; it’s a life-changing journey; and it’s difficult… yet oh-so…

When asked to picture a happy life, many don’t only envision themselves but a partner standing next to them, hands intertwined. Many of us hope to one day find that other half, that person that somehow makes sense of everything, the one that brings everything together. And if we’re lucky,…

Christmas is a billion dollar holiday in the United States. People save throughout the year to to make sure they are able to purchase the gifts that their family members have requested. This is especially true for adults who have children. Children are conditioned through the media and their peers…

My friend started falling off. He no longer responded to text messages within the hour, or even within the day. Often times, he never answered at all. On the rare occasion that I did get a response, he typically rejected any invites to hang out—he was always “too tired”. He…

Owen carefully studies the revolving fan above him, while his girlfriend Cristina sleeps silently next to him. Finally, he drifts into what appears to be a peaceful sleep. But later, Cristina awakes under the pressure of his body and due to a severe loss of breath—Owen is straddling her, with…

I know a decent amount of people who would pay a pretty penny for some solid relationship advice—they’re dying for a formula that would solve all their problems and explain how happy couples are, well, so happy. Unfortunately, I can’t provide this formula… nor do I believe it exists. But…

Each relationship we enter is like a puzzle we have to find the right pieces for. It takes time and experimentation to figure out what makes each person happy and what makes the overall relationship a healthy one. Take, for example, two past relationships of mine: the first was a…

Our relationships should be cherished—they’re a main source of love, happiness, and support in our lives. Sometimes, however, we lose sight of that thanks to a plethora of reasons: we’re swamped at work, we begin to take our partner for granted, we get hung up on an ongoing conflict, we…

Humans are social creatures. Growing up, you probably never wanted to sit alone in the lunchroom or go to the school dance without a date. However, going solo, living alone, and being independent doesn’t mean you have to be lonely. Spending time alone has been shown to offer benefits like…

Christmastime is known as the greatest time of year—bright, twinkly lights are strewn across town, Santa Claus sits jolly on every corner, and the cheesy (yet catchy) holiday music is aplenty. Now, we all love a full-belly Santa laugh and singing along to “Jingle Bells”, but it’s easy to forget…