Anxiety is a mental health condition. One of the symptoms of anxiety for many people, however, is fear over the person’s health. Anxiety causes such a wide variety of physical symptoms related to the heart – such as a rapid heartrate, trouble breathing, and lightheadedness – that it’s easy to understand why so many people have heart-related anxieties develop. Rest assured, your heart is designed to handle this. While everyone’s individual heart health may vary,…
read moreWithin our brain are chemicals, called neurotransmitters, that affect mood and mental health. When they’re functioning properly, we typically feel decent, we can cope with stress, and we respond properly to different emotional experiences. But many of us have neurotransmitters – especially serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine – that are not balanced properly. You may have too many of one, you may have not enough of another, but they are out of balance to what your…
read moreThe last post we made spoke about how and why addressing our phobias is important, even if it’s a phobia of something we do not often encounter. Today, let’s expand on the ways that phobias can affect our long and short term mental health. Let’s talk for a moment about social anxiety. Social anxiety is, itself, often considered a phobia. It is often referred to as “social phobia,” though it is sometimes treated differently than…
read morePhobias are a form of anxiety where a specific “thing,” called a stimuli, results in significant and extreme anxiety. For example, a person could have “Acrophobia,” which is a fear of heights. Or they could have “arachnophobia,” which is a fear of spiders. A person experiences a phobia when there is a specific living thing, item, event, or situation that causes them this fear. These anxiety responses can be intense – so much so that…
read moreWe live, in many ways, in a society built around being neurotypical – being a person whose brain develops and functions in a way that we expect them to function on average. Not only are there very few resources and support systems for someone that doesn’t fit the mold of what an individual should be, but the way that we’re taught to do teach, train, parent, and more are all designed around neurotypical individuals. If…
read moreFor many of us, December is the peak of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), more commonly known as “seasonal depression.” Seasonal depression is a condition where a lack of natural sunlight, holiday stress, trauma, isolation, and other mental health issues cause depression that tends to get worse in late fall, and continue until the weather gets warmer. For those with untreated seasonal depression, the development of symptoms is as reliable as… well… the seasons. It is…
read morePanic disorder can be overwhelming, leaving those who experience it feeling frightened and confused by the sudden and intense physical and emotional symptoms. Panic attacks are also unique in that they are very physical and difficult to understand. While panic attacks can be brought on by extreme stress during major life events, many times they appear to be first triggered by almost nothing at all. While environmental factors and personal experiences often contribute to the…
read moreMost of us know, at least in a general way, that our mental health can affect sleep. We know that on days we’re feeling anxious, for example, it may be hard to fall asleep. On days that we’re feeling depressed, it may be hard to get up, etc. But this connection goes much, much deeper. Mental health has a sizeable, significant affect on sleep. And that’s a problem for a variety of reasons, not the…
read moreWe’re entering holiday season, and that means that many of us are going to see family that we either haven’t seen all year, or have not seen in such a group setting. In some cases, these may be individuals we haven’t seen in *years* and in other cases it may be the only time that an entire family is located in the same place at the same time with nowhere else to go. We were…
read moreWork stress is a pervasive issue that affects professionals across industries. From high-pressure deadlines to interpersonal conflicts, work-related stressors can lead to significant physical and mental health concerns if left untreated. While many individuals may believe that stress is simply a part of professional life, prolonged and unaddressed work stress can negatively impact job performance, personal relationships, and overall well-being. Working with a psychotherapist can provide effective tools and strategies to manage and alleviate work-related…
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