The effects of depression can be trying and unpredictable. Have you ever planned to take on a bunch of important tasks for the upcoming week? But when it’s time do these things all you want to do is lie down and turn off the world. One of the hardest parts about depression is how it interrupts our ability to carry …
Anxiety is the body and mind’s threat-detection system going off. It deserves credit for helping the human species survive. Here’s one way anxiety has been helpful: alerting us when the connection to a parent is in jeopardy. Early baby humans who experienced and listened to this anxiety when their play carried them too far away from a parent, likely scampered …
Is this familiar to you? John woke with a startle. His stomach was knotted in dread. He felt like something beyond terrible was still about to happen. Gradually he realized he was awake but felt punctured. His nightmare was all too familiar to him: he is taken captive by a terrorist group and forced to undergo torturous treatments. “John” has dreams …
Social anxiety reflects the belief that other people are not safe. We can learn that others are unsafe from receiving a rejecting or indifferent response at the very moment we need someone’s caring interest and recognition. In the wake of such lack of attunement to our inner worlds, the insidious feeling of shame can flood our systems. Shame feels like …
As an undergraduate, I took a course on African-American Psychology and my professor, Howard C. Stevenson always ended each class with a touching aphorism. The one that remains with me to this day is “Don’t minimize your trauma”. This phrase is especially relevant for racial minorities in a society that privileges whiteness while simultaneously denying the existence of that privileged status. …
