Premarital counseling might seem like the last item you want on your wedding to-do list, but consider it the best gift to your marriage. Couples counseling isn’t just for those in crisis, or who are experiencing relationship difficulties. Learning to…
Posts published in January 2018
Talkback To Gabe Howard & Psych Central: Using the comments below, talk about a time when you had to explain that, while you live with or advocate for mental illness, it’s not all you are. Share how you educated the…
If every person in the world was temporarily stripped of their daily purpose in life — if they were torn away from their responsibilities and daily routines, like going to work, taking care of children, keeping house, doing laundry —…
With all of your good-intentioned resolutions in place, you might have already reneged. If so, don’t sweat it! Chances are if you follow the mind and body tips below, you will be able to think more clearly, be more focused,…
We often praise people who give ultimatums, who say things like “By such and such date, if I don’t have a ring, this relationship is over.” Or “I want ______, and if you’re not willing to give that to me,…
Most of us want the clean house just like we desire the perfect life or at least happy one. But we also want to get there without dealing with the mess. Just like we can’t wiggle our nose and wave…
Category labels matter. On the color spectrum, blue transitions gradually into green. But at some point we place a dividing line between the blue wavelengths (to the left) and the greens (to the right). Once we do so, equally different…
Most of us are sanguine about the fact that some things are out of our control. We know, for example, that we can’t avoid death or taxes or do much about how tall we’ll grow. For much of everything else,…
Low self-esteem can turn our lives into a series of self-fulfilling prophecies. Lack of belief in ourselves — the feeling that we are unworthy, or destined to fail — often goes hand in hand with self-sabotage, and this link can…
I wrote Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death, and Surviving because I was angry. Angry that so many of the bereaved clients that came through my door, were suffering more than necessary because they felt they should have been coping better,…
Scientists have deciphered the molecular structure of a widely-prescribed antipsychotic docked in its key human brain receptor. The discovery may hold clues to designing better treatments for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. Source: NIH
Redesigned web section adds interactive tools, sharing features. Source: NIH
NIMH leadership has defined a set of principles to help compare the quality of research proposals across the full breadth of the Institute’s portfolio; Dr. Gordon explains how these principles can help ensure that NIMH prioritizes excellent science while assuring…
The goals of this concept are to encourage research to test the feasibility and effectiveness of a stepped-care intervention model; to improve symptoms and functioning for individuals at “clinical high risk” (CHR) for psychosis; and to reduce rates of transition…
The primary goal of this initiative is to encourage research that would develop and validate new screening methods for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that can be used in infancy (0-12 months of age). Source: NIH
Over lunch recently, a friend told about taking a firearm course, which enabled her to carry a concealed pistol and thus, she presumed, to live at less risk of harm. Isn’t it obvious: If more of us have guns,…
A gene crucial for learning can send its genetic material from one neuron to another by employing a strategy commonly used by viruses. Source: NIH
Happy Saturday, sweet readers! This week’s Psychology Around the Net has the latest in Apple investors calling on the company to take steps to reduce the psychological risks of too much phone time, why it’s important to stop using mental…
A poetry retreat got it all started. It was an emotionally intense retreat about finding our voice in response to the world’s brokenness. After we read a poem about the rocks crying out to us, I wrote a poem about…
I’ve been thinking a lot about a growing trend in divorce — one that seems to happen right after the holidays. The case of spouse abandonment, aka when you thought the marriage was fine and you were looking forward to…