Anxiety can be good, like when it alerts you to danger, or motivates you to complete tasks. However, anxiety becomes a problem when it makes you so fearful that it affects your life negatively. You might have physical symptoms, like a rapid heartbeat or shortness of breath, or have difficulty doing the things you need […]

Can your diet really help put you in a good mood? And can what you choose to eat or drink encourage bad moods or mild depression? While certain diets or foods may not ease depression (or put you instantly in a better mood), they may help as part of an overall treatment plan. There’s more […]

Emerging research from the University of Colorado Denver explores the relatively new experience of being unfriended on Facebook. One study clarifies the most common type of “friend” to be unfriended while another looks at the emotional impact of the action. The studies, published earlier this year, show that the most likely person to be unfriended […]

We take the power of scent too lightly. To surround self or surroundings with scent, even demurely, has tremendous potential. Aromatherapy can play a part in wellness, but its applications go way beyond the massage room at the spa. Some new takes on good smells — even some that you may recognize — follow below. […]

Julie Fast’s friend went to the hospital for a terrible colitis attack. “It was so serious they sent her straight to the ER.” After reviewing her medical records and seeing that her friend was taking an antidepressant, the intake nurse said, “Maybe this is all in your head.” When it comes to mental illness, people […]

…continuing from Part 1 of The Empty Nest: Opportunity or Crisis It can be a crisis: If the kids have been the primary focus of your life. As important as it is to love our children and love the job of parenting, it’s also a stage of life, not the whole of it. Those who have thrown […]

Feelings of loss and anxiety about change when the last child leaves home are normal. But it often has been pathologized in popular culture as a disorder, disease or condition that needs treatment. Usually it’s not and it doesn’t. In fact, the “empty nest syndrome” usually doesn’t exist at all. For most families, the last kid going […]

Intervening early to stop bullying is important because the health effects – including anxiety, depression and impaired self-worth – can persist even after bullying stops, a study shows. The study examines “how the effects of bullying can compound over time or snowball” by focusing on students’ past and present bullying experiences, says Laura Bogart, a […]

The conversation began abruptly, with the anonymous teenager getting straight to the point: She had just told her family that she was really a boy trapped in a female body. “Now my family hates me,” she told a crisis counselor. The counselor was empathetic. She asked for more detail about the family, offered encouragement and […]