Mental Health Topics

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…

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,…

Ask anyone headed to watch the next Marvel flick: It’s hard not to idolize the heroines and heroes within the realms of popular fiction. Whether they’re on the silver screen, in books,  TV series, or even video games, many of us admire these depictions of larger-than-life characters. But, even though…

Workplace conversations and goals are often centered on productivity and team building. These are beneficial to building the right company culture, but it’s essential to address the mental health needs of the modern employee. Many businesses are doing more than ever to support employee mental health, and they’re finding that…

It sounds like a bad dream, but experiencing a breakup during the holiday season is common. The holidays are one of the most stressful times of the year, as we scramble to arrange our travel plans, find the perfect gifts, and try not to clash with all the different personalities…

Toxic relationships are everywhere: We can have an unhealthy attachment to our parents, our partners, even our phones— anything that we interact with, really. Yet rarely do we take a look at our friends. This might be important, considering they’re the people we often vent to about everything (and everyone)…

For tens of thousands of years humans have been passionate about their fur babies. The deep bonds between Homo sapiens and other animal species seem so common and obvious that they’ve only recently been studied scientifically. So how did we get from throwing food scraps to wolves at the outskirts…

I’m about to put myself out of a job. Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit, but I do think the following idea could decrease a lot of arguments and lead to better relationships. Introducing: The Internal Emotion Thermometer Let’s first think about the concept of having an internal emotion…