We live in a hectic world which opens the door for unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits, lack of exercise, financial stresses, escalated work demands and information overload. This blocks the pathway to bliss and creates an internal stream of fear, stress, hurries, worries, and life land mines and negatively affect the mind. Given this, sometimes we catch ourselves mindlessly functioning on autopilot.

I think we've all heard it - people using mental illness terms to describe something other than mental illness. But if you say, "The weather is sure schizophrenic today," is that okay? How about if you say, "Man, that girl sure is bipolar," after your friend gets angry with you. Is that okay? In this video I look at ways that people using mental illness terms outside of talking about serious health issues and discuss whether this is acceptable or not.

Of all the months, January surely lays claim to the title of, “redheaded stepchild". Is there any month with such an image problem? The icicles which only weeks ago seemed to twinkle magically in expectation of fun, food, festivities, frivolity, and convivial camaraderie, now appear like menacing, pointed teeth in the jaws of a hideous beast intent on devouring us with short days, cold nights, bitter wind, and impassable roads. These are the days when you realize that watching your microwave oven heat a burrito is more edifying than watching TV. You gaze upon the walls of your home expressionless as a doll, unblinking eyes the size of pie plates, looking for anything, anything at all to relieve the ennui and postmodernist dread.

I have been solidly in recovery from anorexia nervosa for six months now. (Meaning, I discharged from residential treatment six months ago. I find it difficult to count toward my recovery time where I was "forced" to behave.) A lot of things about recovery are awesome and most of the time I really love it. Until I don't.

If given a choice, would you rather accept yourself with your anxiety or kick anxiety to the curb and simply accept yourself? Silly question, right? The idea of immediately ridding ourselves of anxiety, is extremely appealing. But imagine for a moment what it would be like to embrace your anxiety. What if you could accept yourself with anxiety and still feel the anxiety lessen?

So many people beat themselves up over the question "Why can't I just leave?" You want the easy answer? You aren't ready to leave yet. You haven't been convinced that the abuse warrants you leaving, or you lack financial resources, or you're in business with your abuser, or the kids are too small, or the kids are almost out of school, or the abuser needs you, or fill in your reason here. Notice I said fill in your reason here. These are not excuses. The reasons you stay may sound like excuses to someone else, but don't let anyone belittle your decision to stay. I really want to end that sentence with "to stay for now" but truth is that you may never leave. You could be 70 years old and wondering how your spouse is managing to exceed life expectancy, them being so miserable and nasty and all (lots of people are doing this right now). I want you to be okay with choosing to stay, because making decisions is empowering. Staying is a choice you can make.

Assess your level assertiveness with this blog and see what areas you need to improve in order to build healthy self-esteem.

Last week, I discussed the basics of postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis and how these conditions are more common in women with bipolar disorder. Today I’ll talk about screening for postpartum depression and postpartum depression as well as their severe effects on the child and the treatment of these conditions.

I absolutely love “Elvis Duran and the Morning Show”. If you’ve never listened to it – you should. It’s on bright and early in the morning and on the rare occasions when I don’t sleep in, I make sure to turn it on. They talk about everything: sex, celebrities, trending topics and have the best ‘phone-taps’ I’ve ever heard. They’re all very real people who say very real things that everyone can relate to. So, why would one of them put a picture of a razor on Instagram with a somewhat offensive caption?

Some say that art can be therapeutic. Music is no exception. Recently, I've discovered three songs that are, as far as I know, not about borderline personality disorder (BPD), but do a remarkable job describing it. The songs are Meredith Brooks's Bitch, Billy Joel's She's Always a Woman to Me, and Natalie Merchant's My Skin.