Mental Health Topics

I’ve been in survival mode for the past 6 months.  It started with a swollen knee, regret that I ever played soccer, and the fear of possibly undergoing my first-ever surgery — but ultimately, the promise of an end to a bizarre chapter of my life. It quickly turned into…

Staying motivated is one of the biggest challenges remote workers face. After working remotely for one year, job motivation stats show a drop from 56% to 36%. Most workers cite lack of interaction and distractions as the biggest factors affecting their motivation. Changing habits can increase motivation and reduce the…

Family constellation therapy (FCT) is a way of helping individuals heal from family trauma and suffering that’s been passed down unconsciously through generations of their bloodline. Constellation work explores these intergenerational dynamics through body, mind, and spirit. The therapeutic approach is rooted in psychoanalytic thought as well as family systems…

Nothing else has the ability to power us through our workouts and make awkward elevator rides a little bit more bearable. That’s right; it’s hard to imagine a world without music. It’s probably an understatement to say that music is taken for granted; we don’t always recognize the mental sway…

For every Taylor Swift flourishing artistically during the pandemic, there are millions of suffering and burnt-out people who aren’t composing songs or painting portraits or writing novels. What have they been doing instead? Well, if they’re anything like me, they’ve been drowning in domestic labor, work, anxiety, childcare, and other…

Dopamine is probably the only neurotransmitter that could be considered a household name. News sources, tech bros, and mental health outlets toss the word around like a frisbee. Everyone and their dog seems to know what dopamine is—a feel-good chemical that’s produced in the brain, which rewards us for performing…

Memory can make learning difficult, but the good news is that you can work to improve your memory. There are three main types of memory: working memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.  Working memory and short-term memory allow you to store and use temporary information, while long-term holds your lifelong…

Last week the Twitter user @KingBraize asked the World Wide Web for advice on how to talk to his two teen daughters about boys. He Tweeted (paraphrasing), “Ladies, what are some things you wished your dads had said to y’all during these stages, like first love/first heartbreak, etc. I don’t…

Do you remember the last time you rode a roller coaster? Unfortunately for me, it has been over 20 years. I have developed vertigo as I have gotten older, and I’m scared to go on one now. However, I can still remember the nervous butterflies as the ride creaked higher…

You’ve read it a thousand times: Social media apps can wreak havoc on our mental health. Many of us (if not all) have heard that distant “ding” that resonates off the kitchen counter and experienced the sudden surge of curiosity — only to discover it’s a spam message, or worse,…

In case you missed it, there’s a place on the internet called r/AmItheA**hole (AITA) which aims to determine which party should be blamed in ethical disputes. For example, someone posts the following (paraphrased) moral quandary on Reddit’s AITA forum: “My friend’s baby was crying, so I gave her a sip…

On January 3rd, a snowstorm pummelled the East Coast, and Fredericksburg, Virginia (my home) got the brunt of it. The first couple hours of snowfall were idyllic. I enjoyed the white, winter backdrop in the window behind me, as I sipped my coffee and completed the day’s journal entry (hello,…