Car accidents. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Things that are out of our control take us by surprise, leaving us shell-shocked for days, weeks, or longer. These traumatic events and others like them cause significant stress and stir up feelings of helplessness, fear, and prolonged anxiety. In the early 1990s, experts labeled those reactions “acute stress disorder” and put a time frame on …
You’re scheduled to speak in front of a group, and you get increasingly tense before the big day. Are you just nervous, or do you have anxiety disorder? You’ve been feeling down for a solid week—do you have true depression, or are you simply feeling blue? We all encounter challenges that affect our moods. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell when …
Blue skies or gloomy weather. Hot, cold or just right. Tidy or cluttered. We’ve all been in places or conditions that make us feel a certain way, that help us feel comfortable or contribute to our discomfort. As our environment changes, our mood changes, swinging from calm to agitated, down to upbeat. Environment affects our mood and impacts our well-being …
Stress is part of life. We all experience stressful situations from time to time. But when stress builds beyond your ability to cope, when it starts to affect your mental and physical health, it’s time to find ways to manage it. Causes and Types of Stress Stress has increased globally in recent years. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, 35% of …
“Mental health is the overall wellness of how you think, regulate your feelings and behave. A mental illness, or mental health disorder, is defined as patterns or changes in thinking, feeling or behaving that cause distress or disrupt a person’s ability to function.” (The Mayo Clinic) While the focus is often on teens and adults, preteens also experience mental health …
Mental illness affects over 50 million adults in the US every year. That’s one in five people of all races, ethnicities and ages. Serious mental illness affects one in 25 adults. While it occurs in both women and men, fewer men are diagnosed with mental illness. But men are also less likely to seek or receive treatment, which means they …
Each year in the US, one in five adults experience mental illness. One in six children age 6–17 experience a mental health disorder. Fortunately, there are multiple treatment settings that offer choices appropriate for the circumstances, the disorder involved and each person’s needs. The most available, and most common, treatment setting is outpatient therapy. Of the 11.6+ million mental health …
When someone has a broken leg, the evidence is visible. They have a cast, possibly crutches; people can witness their struggle with opening doors or navigating furniture. But when someone has a mental illness or disorder, the evidence may not be obvious—if others can see it at all. And no can see “inside” the struggle of trying to navigate a …
College should be a time of discovery, freedom and independence. But sometimes those perks of the college experience can become a source of mental distress. Students can also struggle with mental health issues they bring with them to college. College can still be a time of growth and independence if students attend to their mental health and get help when …
You can’t imagine your child would hurt herself. And yet you’re seeing disturbing signs. She’s become withdrawn, spending more time than usual in her room. She’s wearing long-sleeve shirts, even in summer. And you’re seeing bloody tissues in the wastebasket. If you suspect self-harm, there are things you can do—and things you shouldn’t do. Self-Harm and Children Self-harm is not …
