Mental Health Topics

Like a great many people, I struggle just to complete daily tasks, such as cleaning my bathroom, or installing a light fixture, without incorporating an accompanying distraction. I have read about Zen Masters who encourage their charges to focus solely on the task at hand, without distraction, giving themselves to…

Living with ADHD: Early Diagnosis I vividly remember, when I was ten years old, sitting in a fifth-grade classroom waiting on a message over the intercom. Every day right before lunch, I would be summoned to the main office. Once I walked in the office, our school secretary would reach…

Is there a real difference between love and addiction? A colleague brought up an interesting topic for discussion the other day. He asked the simple question, “Is love the same as addiction?” This is one of those questions that, on the surface, I believed I had thought of before, though I…

Pica is an eating disorder in which someone suffers from the recurring urge to eat non-food items. Many of these compulsive cravings involve harmless items, but in some cases, pica disorder can cause fatal reactions to poisonous objects and substances that someone eats. Adults may be aware of the risks…

Editors note: Some people have what could be called a magnetic personality. You don’t know why, but you feel good when you’re around them. You enjoy the experience of being with them. In the article you’re about to read, the Author reflects on her personal experience and attempts to identify…

If you’re human, you’ve probably found yourself needing to apologize to someone at some point. Apologies are a bedrock of healthy human interactions. But in spite of the most sincere intentions, our sorry sometimes proves inadequate. If your apologies tend to fall short, it could be that you’re only focusing…

What is going on with my child!? This is probably the question that you have asked yourself a few hundred times before finally scheduling an appointment. Your teenager has recently been struggling in school , has been exhibiting defiant behavior at home or has been withdrawn lately. The first appointment…

We all have those guilty pleasures that we don’t like to admit- sneaking an extra piece of cake, listening to bad pop music or watching a television drama that is meant for a younger audience. Mine is The Vampire Diaries. Between shuttling the kids to school and trying to make…

It’s 7am. You haven’t had your coffee. Your three-year-old is clinging to your leg like a Kuala bear because he’s hungry. You make your way to the kitchen, trying to blink away the lack of sleep from your eyes, when a sharp object sinks into the bottom center of your…

I have lost a friend today. And now where there used to be love, and friendship, and laughter, and tears, and joy… there is now a big empty hole. What the #($%*&$# do I do now? I feel lost, hopeless, helpless, scared, sad and lonely. What do I do? The…

Bad Thoughts Sometimes Come from Out of Nowhere You’re standing at the sink peeling a carrot. You have a paring knife in your hand. You’ve peeled carrots dozens of times with the same knife. Why this time do you have the thought you might stab your husband in the back?…

Everywhere I go I find that a poet has been there before me. – Sigmund Freud Freudian Ideas and the Test of Time If anyone has increased our consciousness about the mind it is Sigmund Freud. He is synonymous with the exploration of the psyche and undoubtedly was one of…