Let’s face it: sometimes it’s difficult to clue your family or even some of your closest friends in during times of great stress or turmoil. Perhaps you may have reason to believe your loved ones will misunderstand you, or maybe you would feel more comfortable talking to someone who isn’t involved in your situation. Whatever your reason is, it’s perfectly okay to reach out for … [Read more...]
Start Loving Your Reflection
Some days, I look in the mirror and I see unbounded potential and greatness staring back. Other days, I look into that same mirror feeling hideous and insecure. Most teens struggle with insecurities, but seven years ago I stared into the mirror and absolutely loathed the girl looking back at me. I remember sitting in the corner of my bathroom bawling, wishing with my entire … [Read more...]
Good is Better Than Perfect: Managing Perfectionism Anxiety
Teenagers are faced with an immense amount of pressure to outperform their peers in academics and extracurricular activities. As students, they are encouraged from a young age to perform well in school, so they can attend a prestigious university and go on to lead a successful life. This mentality has been exacerbated by academic institutions putting students on the honors … [Read more...]
How I Found Help and Improved My Mental Health in College
When I was growing up, illnesses only existed if they could be seen. I was raised in a family that emphasized the importance of being tough and plastering a smile on your face, no matter the situation. At nine years old, I had my first panic attack. I recall tearing the house to pieces in search of a book that hadn’t even crossed my mind in months. I remember the tight … [Read more...]
How School ACTUALLY Made Me Sick
My struggle with mental health began long before I even realized what was going on. It started my freshman year of college. I was starting a new school that frankly I didn't even want to attend, and I only knew a handful of people. On top of all that I would be commuting to school, and I realize now that this was definitely one of the main contributors to the stress I dealt … [Read more...]
The Journey to Finding the Right Medication
After meeting with a health care provider and determining that you struggle with an anxiety disorder, you may be encouraged to start taking medication to manage your mental illness. Depending on the severity and persistence of anxious symptoms, a person may be prescribed short-term or long-term medication, which is just as natural as putting a cast on a broken leg or taking … [Read more...]
Test Anxiety: Ways to Overcome it
You’ve spent hours and hours cramming for that daunting exam, studying until it feels like your brain can’t take in any more information. With all your hard work behind you, you walk into the exam room, take a seat, flip to the first page of the exam… and your mind becomes a blank slate. The concepts and vocabulary that you thought you had drilled into your head the night … [Read more...]
Using Nutrition to Ease Anxiety
Anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness, affecting over 40 million adults in the United States, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. That’s around one-fifth of the population. There is a plethora of therapies and medications on the market nowadays, but only about a third of people suffering from anxiety will actively seek … [Read more...]
Understanding Panic Attacks: How Learning the Science Helped Me Manage
It was 2 am in the bedroom of my aunt's cabin a few hours north of the city where I grew up. With my heart pounding and my hands shaking, I turned to my mother and said, "I think I need to see a therapist, I cannot keep living like this." I was 12 years old at the time. This realization came to me while in the midst of another frightening panic attack. At the time I did not … [Read more...]
Love, Me & My Mental Health: 4 Steps to Dating with a Mental Health Disorder
As a teen or young adult, a romantic relationship can become one of the most sacred things to you. These partnerships can often be a clear representation of what one desires in another individual, expose them to the feeling of unconditional love, or quite honestly turn out to be their biggest mistake. Since most relationships are ever-changing it can be difficult … [Read more...]
Together, Let’s Clench Anxiety
The sole thing that surrounded my disheveled mind in high school were the bathroom stalls. Crouching in a puzzled state, the palms of my hands pooled with sweat, but for no particular reason at all. The room would spin while my hands tingled, my body attempting to frighten me with the possibility of fainting. My heartbeat grew abnormal; from a rapid pulse to palpitations, in a … [Read more...]
Why You Need to Help Yourself By Going to Therapy
The topic of therapy can often times be a tricky one. Many feel like it is the “last straw” or the route that you take when your situation becomes uncontrollable. But when it comes to dealing with symptoms of mental illness, often therapy can be one of your best friends and the start to your road to recovery. This negative view is one that I believe is dominating our society … [Read more...]
7 Ways To Support a Teen Coping with Mental Illness
As children grow up and out of their elementary school years, they begin the transitional state in life often associated with hormonal terrors and a variety of events that are rites of passage. That being said, a strained relationship with older family members - especially parental figures - is recognized as a common developmental experience. But what about instances where … [Read more...]
5 Mid-Year Resolutions to Re-Implement for Self-Care in 2018
It feels like just yesterday we were counting down to the new 2018 year. I was ready to face the new year with a brand new set of resolutions, but this year, it was time to actually keep them. Half what through the year, I'm reminding myself how far I've come and encouraging myself to keep going. Looking after yourself shouldn’t feel like a chore. Self-care is important, but … [Read more...]
The Power of Therapy
Personally, I was never really well-versed on therapeutic and emotional regulation interventions before I studied psychology in college. There is still a negative connotation associated with therapy and this is why a lot of people do not believe that therapy can actually be a very beneficial treatment option for people who need it. Not enough people are educated on the … [Read more...]