When it comes to counseling and therapy, almost everyone feels anxiety. Before stepping into an office for the first time, you feel unsure and stressed. Some people don’t think they need to be going to therapy and feel forced. Some people don’t believe that therapy will help and that it is simply a waste of time. Sometimes, it takes numerous sessions before any kind of opening up happens. One thing that is concrete about therapy is that it never hurts to try.

So often, people ask me the question "Am I imagining the abuse? Is it just in my head or is there a problem with my marriage?" Sure, sometimes problems are just in our heads, and we might also make mountains out of molehills. I suppose you could be imagining problems where there are none, and you could be imagining abuse. But if outside of your relationship your judgment seems sane, then I really doubt you are imagining the abuse. More likely, the effects of abuse are messing with you.

We know that adjectives are descriptive. We welcome adjectives and what they have the power to do: paint a mental picture, create an emotional response, fill in the blanks when an explanation is needed and so much more. What about when a normally positive adjective is used to describe us? When can an adjective intended to be a positive become a negative and a label instead? Allow me to explain:

In the past few weeks, three people with mental illness appeared in the media's pictures of violence, which is no surprise given that the media and mental illness have a long history together. Ultimately, the media defines what mental illness looks like in the public's mind. If one were to gauge by the past few weeks, it would seem that mental illness and violence go hand in hand. But does it?

There comes a time in your life when you just have to say, “ENOUGH!” There IS something wrong with me. Life isn’t meant to be this dismal… is it? Perpetual sadness, prolonged fatigue, joint pain, headaches, muscle ache, lack of motivation, lack of decision-making ability, lack of focus, indifference, being antisocial, moody, emotional, guilty, having low self-worth, thoughts of suicide, planning suicide… all symptoms of depression.

Loss is an immense landscape for those living with psychological trauma and its consequent posttraumatic stress. Not always clear and obvious to us, because we can be good at avoiding painful facts, the pain of the stress itself further distracts us from what we will, in healing if not before, come to know: something was taken from us, and it won't be regained easily, if at all.

Do you know that Barbie or Brats dolls can damage self-esteem? The Brave Girls Alliance and APA are teaching consumers and advertisers about what all girls need, healthy role models.

We have known for some time about genetic predisposition to various forms of mental illness, snarkinuss eruptus and clinical depression to name only two. But if an illness is to be passed down from one generation to the next, it must have a point of origin. Now, researchers at the Department of Anthropological Psychology at the University of Basingstoke-on-Trent think they have discovered the answer. Professor Chumley Meriwether Throckmorton announced that a recently completed in-depth study demonstrates conclusively that Neanderthals were the first humans to experience what is now referred to as clinical depression. Professor Throckmorton elaborated at a recent press conference. “Neanderthals looked upon the world very differently than modern man. For them the world was vast and unknowable, an endless expanse of hostility and weirdness. Animals, inclement weather, and a noticeable lack of indoor plumbing loomed malevolently, providing an ongoing cavalcade of hazards.

Summer movie blockbusters are upon us and local theaters are showcasing another season of superhero action flicks. Raising two sons, I have watched my share of superhero movies - from Star Wars to Spiderman - and confess that I know quite a bit about superheroes – the struggles that led them to use their talents and gifts to fight for good and prevent evil. I am intrigued by these stories and characters because when you look closer, it seems that beneath the cape or the mask, these remarkable heroes are really ADHD adults in disguise.

This August, I was the victim of two burglaries by four rumored gang members.  The perpetrators were caught in the act by the Cincinnati Police Force at the scene of the crime.  A plea agreement was reached and sentencing will soon be carried out. Being the victim of a serious crime can be a traumatic event for anyone.  The experience was even more difficult for me because it helped to aggravate my Schizophrenia symptoms.  Paranoia began to set in soon after the crime, some justified and some unfounded.  The boundaries between justifiable paranoia and irrational paranoia began to blend together.  Real and imagined danger became one, and I was left cowering in my room.