Like many in our community, I’m also feeling anxious and fearful of the unknowns related to the current COVID-19 crisis. Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. For the next several weeks, everyone in our community will be practicing social distancing. The closure of schools, colleges, nonessential businesses, restricting gatherings, and other types of in-person interactions are efforts aimed at...[ read more ]
The fear response is part of our human nature. Fears and worry reactions to those fears arise uncontrollably within us. Sometimes these instincts serve us well. At other times, they complicate our lives in unproductive or negative ways. Many of the same things that help you manage your fears can help your children manage theirs. Information and coping strategies might...[ read more ]
At 57, I’m busy watching the next generation of folks feel their way along the path of their lives, and I’m wondering, “Do we have to make big mistakes to learn big lessons?” I know I did. Case in point, when I was 22, I moved to New York City. Life was hard there, but I managed to find a...[ read more ]
People often imagine that they would have done things differently if only they had known better. I would have bought Apple when it first came out. I would have majored in business, not art history. I would not have done what she wanted. I would have, I would have, I would have… It’s so easy to dwell on missed opportunities....[ read more ]
Social distancing, limiting our physical interactions with others, is one of the most important ways we can keep ourselves and others safe during the pandemic. Most of us find the inability to hang out with friends and family a hardship. That’s natural. People are by nature “pack animals” who are wired to interact with others. I read recently that the...[ read more ]
Hidden pain is difficult for anyone to manage without help, especially for those who are young. Nothing in ordinary life naturally prepares us for pain that cannot be expressed. Additionally, the outward world — what your child, teen, or young adult observes — often offers a distortion of what is really going on in the lives of others. Television and...[ read more ]
How are you handling the coronavirus pandemic? Most people are struggling right now, but for those of us with mental illness, these days can feel truly overwhelming. Fear, depression, isolation and loss of routine are just a few of the difficulties many of us are facing. In today’s podcast, Gabe and Jackie discuss what we can do right now...[ read more ]
Three years ago, on March 24, 2017, the mental health community lost a wonderful advocate and inspiring individual who created and started Project Semicolon. The project connected people in the mental health community where the organization encouraged others to remember that you have the power to continue your story, even when you think it is over, just like in a...[ read more ]
As a Licensed Psychologist working in New York City, I have worked with many clients in different places of work and life. I have the ability to see how many people are coping given the coronavirus pandemic. Among my clients I have noticed trends in their lifestyles, how they have been impacted, and exactly which parameters may account for those...[ read more ]
This week’s Psychology Around the Net updates you on the 2020 World Happiness Result, new research on how mindfulness skills and anxiety symptoms intertwine, how the interior of your home (or any room, really) impacts you psychologically, and more. (NOTE: You’ve probably noticed there’s hasn’t been a major presence of coronavirus-related topics in Psychology Around the Net. That’s because our...[ read more ]