Mental Wellness
Life After 50: The Trap of Perfectionism
I am a recovering perfectionist. The perfectionism I practiced for decades of my life nearly killed me. It was as if the sudden realization, following the death of my father, that perfection is an elusive and impossible goal plunged me into a months-long depression. My brand of perfectionism started at an early age. I won …
Not So Smart: How Your Smartphone is Making You Dumber
By Caitlin Schille Parents, teachers, pediatricians, and just about anybody else who spends time with children rails about the evils of smartphones. They say, with research to back them up, that smartphones are responsible for kids getting less sleep and less quality sleep, developing fewer social skills, and spending less time being physically active. We …
How to Get Out of the Social Media Vortex of Sadness
Written by McCall Mecham Have you ever noticed as you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed, double tapping on every other picture, feelings of jealousy, envy, and a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out)? Your friends went out to get ice cream, didn’t invite you, and have posted about it four times. It appears …
Speaking to Elephants: Three Questions to Help You Identify ‘The One’ From All the Other Ones
Written by Kieran James Cunningham Ben Franklin once said that those who choose security over liberty deserve neither. He was, granted, talking about matters of state, but his words hold true for relationships as much as they do politics. Many of us reach that stage in our relationship where we have to make a decision …
Why Nice Brains Finish Last
Depression studies find the “prosocial” brains are more prone to depression Written By Jack Turban Excerpt from ScientificAmerican.com We all like to think that being kind, responsible, and fair will lead to a happy life. But what if we’re wrong? What if nice guys really do finish last? A new study published in Nature Human …
Ketamine For Depression
People suffering from treatment-resistant depression, chronic pain, PTSD or suicidal tendencies are finding relief through a drug originally developed in the 1960s as a anesthetic. The drug is called ketamine. Ketamine continues to grow in popularity as an option for alleviating depression and other maladies. Clinics that administer the drug have opened around the country. …
Can Sugar Dissolve Your Memory?
Recent studies conclude that high glucose levels can negatively affect memory and impair cognition. One study of more than 4,200 people, conducted by the Boston University School of Medicine, found that those who consumed more sugary drinks had poorer memory and reduced overall brain volume, particularly in the area of the brain that stores short-term …
Questions About Grief That People Are Scared to Ask
If you were in conversation with grief what would you ask? What would you be curious about? Grief shows up in ways that we cannot imagine. It likes to grab you, hold you, and sometimes, if you’re not careful, keep you in its grip. Yes, when you meet grief, identify it as grief; you have …
Are You Loving Your Addict to Death?
One of the hardest situations that a family can face is having a loved one suffering from addiction. Families face a huge dilemma, in which they want to show love and support for their suffering loved one, but that loved one isn’t getting better and often seems to be getting worse. The question families need …
What Does It Mean to Die Well and Why Should You Care?
By Susan Ducharme Hoben What does it mean to “die well”? The simple answer is it means dying the way you want to. Of course that then leads to more complicated and thought-provoking questions: How do you want to die? And when is it time to start thinking about that? There is no one answer. …