Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) also known as seasonal depression, causes those of us who struggle with it to feel more depressed during the winter. If you notice that in the winter months you feel fatigued, poor sleep patterns, weight gain, or irritable, you could be one of many who struggles with SAD. In this article, you'll learn some natural ways to fight Seasonal Affective Disorder.

If you’re seeking social anxiety help, a party escape route may be for you. Recently, I had a small gathering at my house. A friend who, like me, has depression expressed anxiety about attending. Her partner had already decided to come, so I devised and suggested an escape route plan for her to help minimize social anxiety. Here are the elements of a solid anxiety-reducing party plan.

Anxiety can take all of your attention, but you can take it back. You see, I had a really interesting learning experience this week. I was working to finish a manuscript, and I devoted a lot of time to this task over the course of the week. Initially, I felt very productive and like I was making a lot of progress. But as I came closer to completing the manuscript, I found myself feeling less focused on what I needed to be doing. The fewer steps between me and finishing writing, the less I thought about what I could work on next and the more I thought about what I didn't like about it. Perhaps unintuitively, as I thought more about what I didn't like about my writing, the less productive I became.

Quality of life in bipolar disorder varies depending on the type of mood episode being experienced. As a reminder, moods in bipolar disorder can be depressed (a severely low mood), manic (a highly elevated, energetic mood), hypomanic (a less-heightened version of mania), mixed (with manic/hypomania and depressed symptoms occurring at the same time) or euthymic (when no diagnosable mood episode is present; you might think of it as "normal"). Bipolar disorder is considered a cyclical disorder and euthymia is what happens between mood episodes; and quality of life in euthymia in bipolar disorder is important -- after all, it's our "normal" mood. It's what we're striving for. It's our version of remission. So what is the quality of life in bipolar disorder like in euthymic periods?

I learned, the hard way, about surrender in eating disorder recovery.

Eating disorders and pornography addictions have more in common than you might realize at face value. But when you break down the complex nuances, deep-rooted motives, and unaddressed traumas that often drive the symptoms of these issues, both eating disorders and porn addictions share many identical threads. In fact, I know firsthand this connection exists because I am a survivor of anorexia, and my husband is a recovered user of porn. Our two healing stories are uniquely our own, but the similarities between his obstacles and mine are also just too pronounced to dismiss as coincidental. So what do eating disorders and pornography addictions have in common? In case you are wondering, here is my perspective on this enmeshed and intricate dynamic.

Anxiety lessons come in all forms and sizes. Wisdom about anxiety, ways to understand it so we can begin to create our quality lives without delay, can come from from a plethora of sources. We can even  gain insight into anxiety by looking way back into the past. Gems of wisdom from fables written nearly 3000 years ago by a man named Aesop can teach us helpful little anxiety lessons. 

The challenge of coping with our depression can be more difficult when people make hurtful remarks to us. Often these hurtful remarks will fuel our negative thoughts and potentially send us into a major depressive episode. What are some of the comments we may hear? How can we use coping skills to keep the harmful comments of others from worsening our depression?

We must learn to say "no" because one of the ways that we lose self-respect is when we constantly say "yes" to people. We say yes even though we desperately want to say no. There are multiple reasons why we might do this. We might not want to seem rude. We might want to maintain our self-image as a people pleaser or as someone who is easy-going, agreeable, fun, and open to everything. But by saying yes all the time, we will inevitably act against your our desires and interests. By learning to say no instead, we can build self-esteem. Learning to say no can be a powerful way of respecting yourself.

I’ve always thrived in the cold weather. No heat, no humidity, watching the snow fall from my front window – these are things I look forward to every year. That being said, I understand millions feel the exact opposite, and in fact, many feel a heightened sense of anxiety during this time.