Mental Health Topics

When a pet dies, it is a loss that feels just as big and real as losing a friend or family member-sometimes it is bigger and more real. Pets and animals give us a type of love that humans usually don’t. When a dog follows us around, and waits on…

Social media has gotten a bad rap lately: it’s been blamed for growing feelings of low self-esteem, loneliness, and bouts of depression. And not without warrant. Not only have users of the platforms reported these negative effects, but studies have shown that social media is, indeed, a likely culprit of…

When asked my biggest flaw, the first thing that comes to mind (if I’m being honest) is my indecisiveness. This issue dates back to when I was just a little kid. I experienced extreme distress over choosing between the chicken nuggets or the mac & cheese and could never pick…

It’s no secret that the teenage years are often characterized by rebellion—there is, however, an ongoing argument about how parents should properly handle this phase. Should they step in or back off? Do they need to crack down on the rules or prove their trust? What’s the most effective approach?…

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,…

Are you feeling a little overwhelmed today? Is your head on the verge of exploding? Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask for any details, a simple yes or no will do—because I know the feeling, and I know it well. Every couple months of college, I would start to…

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…

Depression affects our best friends—our mothers and our daughters and our brothers. It’s a woman smiling because she just got the promotion she’s been wanting. It’s a little boy wondering why he doesn’t have the energy to play today. It’s a teenage girl who just got into the college of…