Blogs
Your time on social media messes with your confidence whether you're aware of it or not. You may think surfing Facebook, scrolling through Instagram or chatting with friends online is harmless, but recent research, and my own personal experience, says social media messes with your confidence and can damage your self-esteem.
Skipping meals is something that a lot of people do but skipping meals when you have binge eating disorder is not going to help you manage the disease. It seems like everyone has to skip a meal at one time or another, whether they're incredibly busy or they just forget to eat. But skipping a meal when you have binge eating disorder, as a long-term habit, is going to harm your body, not help it.
Mental illness stigma is probably most troubling within romantic relationships, because we believe that our partners should understand and support us more than anyone else in our lives. Many of us have likely experienced some form of mental illness stigma, be it from people that we know or from strangers who make assumptions about us based on our illness. There is more than one way that mental illness stigma affects romantic relationships.
I’ll be honest, when I was faced with buying a new phone a few months ago, a major factor in my decision was the selection of phone apps available for eating disorder recovery. I’d previously had a Windows phone, which offered very little in the way of available apps of any kind, much less for eating disorder recovery. So I finally joined the rest of the world and bought an iPhone. I’ve spent the last month or so downloading different eating disorder recovery apps and trying them out – here’s what I have found.
While social anxiety is often thought to be something for the introverted among us—after all, they tend to be quiet and reserved—extroverts can experience social anxiety, too. In fact, introversion and extroversion are aspects of personality have no bearing on social anxiety. Social anxiety is an anxiety disorder, a mental health challenge that can be faced by anyone regardless of personality type. Therefore, extroverts can, indeed, experience social anxiety, too.
Real men don’t cry. Be the strong silent type. Don’t be a wuss.
Starting when they are boys, men are bombarded with messages about how to “be a man.” Often these messages are filled with imperatives to be like a rock—unemotional, isolated, self-sufficient, and immovable. To varying degrees, men internalize these values and judge themselves according to how well they measure up. Unfortunately, though, attempts to live up to these values can have disastrous results.
My name is Ryan Poling, and I’m a clinical psychology doctoral candidate currently living in Chicago. During my studies and training, I have worked with many different people with a range of presenting concerns. I am passionate about helping people develop greater authenticity and joy, and I am honored to walk alongside them in their journeys.
Recently, someone wrote me and asked how to best handle a first psychiatric appointment. This is a good question because, essentially, people are walking into the vast unknown. If you’ve never seen a psychiatrist before, how could you possibly know what to expect? And, the kicker of that is, the doctor will be asking you why you’re there. So you’re supposed to know what to say when he says that. So how do you handle your first psychiatric appointment?
Self-esteem might help with happiness, but is self-esteem the key to happiness? In answering this question, let’s look at the similarities between self-esteem and happiness. Both depend on your thoughts, both come from inside of yourself and they often go hand in hand. For example unhappiness or depression can trigger self-esteem issues and vice versa. Neither self-esteem nor happiness depend on externals such as money, status, possessions or other people. You can be happy or have healthy self-esteem regardless of these. Self-esteem and happiness nurture each other, therefore, building self-esteem can help you to become happier.
Ashley Womble
Creating a wellness plan to prevent depression and depressive episodes is easier said than done. But having a wellness plan that can help you recognize the symptoms of depression and encourage you to use your depression coping skills can go a long way. Here's how to create a wellness plan to prevent depression.
I believe she will only be able to rid herself of her demons, and hopefully her BPD as well, when she's ready to confront the abuse of her father. If she can put the blame where it belongs, she may stop projecting that victim/perpetrator cycle on the present men in her life. These demons are a metaphor for the purgatory she has created for herself. That reality has consequences in the real world, but it need not be real in the tangible sense. Exorcising her demons will require the expenditure of real physical energy and probably the destruction of aspects of her personality. If this ever happens, and it's possible but not probable, then these demons will evaporate. They are only as real as one's personality is real. In short, reality is not the question, it's what you make of the things you feel to be real.