Ugh. September already? I have had ambivalent feelings toward this month for fifteen years! Dread of September and of school quickly replaces the dissatisfaction of spending yet another summer day doing nothing. June, July, and August often feel monotonous—you are finally meant to have all this time and yet it is nearly impossible to find a meaningful way to spend it. … [Read more...]
Mental Health In A World of Tech
In today’s world, you can’t get away from technology. It is a part of almost everything we do. As with anything, there are pros and cons. Of course, technology helps improve life, but it also can harm it if used incorrectly. When it comes to mental health, social media can be very harmful, especially if used in the way most people do today. Have you ever posted about how … [Read more...]
Mental Health Recovery is a Process
Although mental health stories are not all the same, they all have several stages. Nothing happens overnight. So if you’re in the midst of dealing with mental health issues, don’t beat yourself up! Mental health recovery is a process. These personal accounts from mental health survivors represent some common stages of mental health recovery: Admitting That There is a … [Read more...]
LABELS, LABELS, LABELS: How I Feel About Mental Health Diagnoses
Personally, I have conflicting feelings about labelling mental health conditions. On the one hand, mental health conditions are health conditions - they have signs and symptoms, medications, and health risks. How can you expect to treat a health condition if it remains a nameless entity? What’s more, labelling it can offer a sense of closure and community - finally, you are … [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...]
Anxiety Hacks While Bored – YouTube Scavenger Hunt
Feeling like you need to escape and try something new to ease your anxiety? You've probably already heard that Mindfulness has been demonstrated to reduce anxiety and stress time and again. But how does one put it into practice? A daily meditation practice may be challenging to startup and continue to do on a consistent basis, so taking it one step at a time with no … [Read more...]
4 Majorly Impactful Things I Saw at the Pride Parade
I grew up in a very conservative household. I fought with my parents about whether or not I should be allowed to listen to the Spice Girls (I lost, and I still feel a void where the lyrics of “Wannabe” should be), whether or not I should be allowed to read Harry Potter (I lost that fight, too, but read them in secret), and, among other things, whether I should be allowed to go … [Read more...]
Things I Do To Manage My Anxiety on Weekends
Weekends can be a stressful time for those of us with social anxiety- we want to have friends, be loved, and in the know (FOMO is real!), and yet we don't. I've often wondered what it would be like to live completely free of my social phobia and attend parties with classmates, crack jokes over drinks, and heck, maybe even be the life of the party one day. However, as it stands … [Read more...]
The Link Between Exercise and Mental Health: A Psychologist and Marathoner’s Perspective
By: Melissa Tanner, Ph.D., Guest Contributor Exercise can have a profound impact on mental health, in a variety of different ways. There are the obvious ways, such as the famed “runner’s high,” which refers to the euphoric sensation caused by endorphins released after strenuous physical activity. Exercise can also promote a regular sleep schedule, which is crucial to mental … [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...]
3 Mental Health Apps for Youth
Today, there are dozens of online tools and applications for adult mental health. More recently, however, there are has been an influx of tools and resources just for kids, teens and young adults. Here are three apps that offer digital support just for youth and teens: MindRight MindRight offers personalized, live coaching over text message for teenagers who could use some … [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...]
What to Say (And What Not to Say) to Someone with a Mental Illness
Despite the prevalence of mental illness in our society, it’s still incredibly misjudged, and because there is such limited public understanding, there are countless myths and stereotypes penetrating our thoughts, behaviors, and discourse. The truth is, the way we talk about mental illness perpetuates stigma and negative stereotypes, and can be detrimental to those vulnerable … [Read more...]
The Cyber World Around Us
We now live in the digital age, a time where social media has become more important than in-person relationships and communication. The culture of social media is mainly concentrated between the ages of 15-25 but spans across all ages. I am 19 years old which means I have been alive and understanding of most huge technological advances that have taken place over the last few … [Read more...]