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But perception is everything. For Robert, a 27-year-old living in New York, weight fluctuation was a common thread contributing to body dysmorphia and low self-esteem throughout his life. But after going through four periods of gaining and losing weight in the pandemic, something changed. He began to shift his focus away from feelings of self-hate. “[I] spent so much time hating my body in isolation that I am truly tired of it and refuse to anymore,” says Robert....

Kirk Martin is executive director of Celebrate!ADHD, an educational organization that provides training for educators, parents, and children affected by ADD, ADHD, autism, sensory integration disorder, oppositional defiance disorder, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other learning or emotional disabilities. “It is important to understand that children with ADHD have very busy minds,” says Martin. “Think of your child’s brain as a city with streets carrying information, impulses, sensory input, teachers’ lectures, and your directions....

People can experience a wide range of symptoms—ranging from mild to moderate to severe—that start and stop at different times for each person. Subscribe Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts Firsthand Experiences Almost 8,000 responses were gathered to the question, “What were your toughest withdrawal symptoms and how did you cope?” The comments reveal a wide variety of symptoms and experiences, even within the same days, from days one to 30 and beyond....

Understanding what is paranoia can help you decide how to cope with or get treatment for it. Symptoms of Paranoia Paranoia can take many different forms, including: Ideas of reference: Believing that messages of special personal significance are being transmitted to you through innocuous or irrelevant things such as the TV, newspapers, mailings, mass emails, or the internet Overestimating your role: Believing you have a special role or significance in the world that is unrecognized, unacknowledged, or is being thwarted by others Overthinking interactions: Thinking there is a special meaning in the way people look at you, their tone of voice, or other aspects of their behavior that do not actually have any special meaning in reality Suspicion: Questioning other peoples’ motives or actions (out loud or in your mind), wondering why people are doing what you observe them doing, or what you believe they are doing, but have not observed Trust issues: Unrealistic or exaggerated distrust of strangers, acquaintances, or loved ones...

For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database. Preoccupation with death can be a symptom of depression and other mental illnesses. Here’s why having a mental health condition can make you have these feelings and what you can do to address them. Suicidal Ideation Having suicidal thoughts (suicidal ideation) is a hallmark symptom of major depression and depressive episodes in bipolar disorder. Suicidal ideation can be passive (thinking about death often but not acting on these thoughts) or active (making plans to act on your suicidal thoughts)....

Overview Random assignment might involve tactics such as flipping a coin, drawing names out of a hat, rolling dice, or assigning random numbers to participants. It is important to note that random assignment differs from random selection. While random selection refers to how participants are randomly chosen to represent the larger population, random assignment refers to how those chosen participants are then assigned to experimental groups. Random Assignment In Research To determine if changes in one variable lead to changes in another variable, psychologists must perform an experiment....

When hormone levels are too high or too low, this can influence neurotransmitters, resulting in problems such as increased anxiety. People who live with social anxiety disorder (SAD) may find that levels of certain hormones related to feelings of increased or decreased social anxiety. Hormones That May Increase Social Anxiety There are three categories of hormones that may influence your social anxiety: stress hormones, sex hormones, and thyroid hormones. Learning more about how these hormones affect your body and mind is the first step to managing the impact of hormones on your anxiety levels....

For some people, the fear of driving in winter weather stems from a larger overall fear of driving. Others are afraid solely of winter driving conditions. However, not all instances of fear surrounding winter driving represent a true phobia. Normal Fear vs. Phobia A fear and a phobia of winter driving are not the same issues. What distinguishes a normal fear of winter driving from a phobia? If you have a phobia, you have an irrational fear that interferes with your ability to function efficiently at home or at work....

Ruth Hughes, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and former Chief Executive Officer and now special advisor of CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), the nation’s leading non-profit organization serving individuals with ADHD and their families. She is also the mother of an adult son with ADHD and learning disabilities. Here are her thoughts on ADHD awareness. Why ADHD Awareness Is so Important Estimates show there are over 10 million people in the U....

My mom had died several months earlier, and her death shredded me into tiny pieces of myself, wrecked by grief. Worse, I ground those tiny pieces down so hard with my self-loathing, until all that felt left of me was tiny grains of gritty, coarse sand. Out loud, I would absolutely say the opposite, but in my tangled brain, there was absolutely a grief hierarchy. Though I ranked my own grief above, say, losing a sibling, it definitely was outranked by losing a spouse, losing a child, losing a parent at a young age....

Clinical research suggests that OCD and bipolar disorder co-occur with each other at a higher rate than would be expected by chance. Importantly, the presence of bipolar disorder can affect OCD symptoms and treatment. This article discusses the link between OCD and bipolar disorder including the symptoms and how the conditions are diagnosed when they co-occur. It also covers common treatments for the two conditions and how their co-occurrence can complicate the treatment process....

Ahead, we will examine the controversial work and its impact on transgender and gender diverse individuals and families. What Is “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria?” The term “rapid onset gender dysphoria” was presented in a paper by Brown University’s Lisa Littman, MD, MPH, in 2018 in a journal called PLOS One. Littman wrote the paper as if rapid onset gender dysphoria were an actual condition, but it wasn’t based on studies, or even facts....

One by one states are allowing students to take time for themselves on days when the weight of the world becomes a little too much to carry. Below, we’ve outlined the current legislative stance on mental health days in all fifty states. This review excludes the discussion of private schools, which may have policies independent of state law. But for the most part, it should give you a sense of the progress we’ve made and how far we have to go in the fight to improve the mental health of America’s children....

Just as items of clothing or styles of tattoos drift in and out of fashion, so do different cosmetic surgeries and skin-rejuvenation procedures. And what was once taboo to discuss, has quickly become normalized for celebrities, influencers, and regular folks to talk openly about the procedures they’ve undergone. In many ways, it’s a good thing that people are becoming more comfortable with cosmetic surgery—people should be empowered to feel comfortable in their own skin, even if that means making physical changes....

Thought broadcasting is usually a symptom of a psychotic disorder like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Symptoms Thought broadcasting is primarily characterized by an unshakeable feeling that people around you can hear your innermost thoughts. In most cases, people who experience this phenomenon are in a constant state of distress because they think that people can hear their thoughts. For example, imagine you are waiting in line for a coffee and a person cuts the line....