Mental Health

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common mental health condition. Individuals who suffer from it have reoccurring thoughts — called obsessions — followed by repeated behaviors (compulsions). Living with OCD can be debilitating, overwhelming, and confusing. The most common treatment for OCD is called exposure and response prevention (ERP), in which the individual is repeatedly exposed to fears and obsessions without engaging in compulsions. This is something a therapist can support you with as you learn to make peace with living with OCD.

Perfectionism is an insidious force that makes one believe that they — and others — can achieve perfection. A perfectionist may even understand that perfectionism is an illusion, yet they still cannot let that notion go. Learning how to remove the need to always be or appear perfect can have a powerful effect on your life. Here are some tips that can assist you.

Do you have a loved one who is struggling with anxiety and are unsure how to help them? What anxiety feels like, and the impact it can have on a relationship is different for everyone. How best to support someone struggling with anxiety depends on the individual, but there are general ways you can help your loved one.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a condition in which individuals experience obsessive thoughts that are intrusive in nature.  They can lead to the urge to perform repetitive and compulsive behaviors. We often hear about certain types of OCD — such as the fear of germs and contamination, or the need for everything to be in perfect symmetry — but these are just a couple of the vast subtypes of OCD.

Living with anxiety can cause physical and emotional discomfort. The combination of uncontrollable thoughts, intense worry, and physical symptoms — like a fast heartbeat or dizziness — can create even more stress for those struggling with anxiety disorders. If you have experienced anxiety for any length of time, it can be hard to remember a period when you were not consumed by it. You may want to run away from the feelings it produces and pretend as though it does not exist. Although running away from the discomfort of anxiety may seem like the best solution, it is what causes anxiety to continue. Remember that whatever we resist persists. To free yourself from the grips of anxiety, you must lean into the discomfort instead of resisting it. Although this may sound scary, embracing the feelings we are experiencing teaches us that they cannot hurt us. How do you lean in when you want to lean out?

How does change affect you? Does it give you a sense of excitement, wonder, and curiosity? Or does it cause anxiety and dread? For most people, uncertainty breeds a sense of discomfort and can lead to feelings of fear and doubt. Although it can be uncomfortable, uncertainty is a constant in life, and there are ways you can feel safe while facing it.

A binge eating disorder is a complex disorder with a number of mental and physical detriments. However, despite the hurdles that it can present, binge eating disorders are common and can affect anyone. While one’s eating habits may be the main focus of one’s concern when coping with the various effects these disorders can present each day, binge eating still has its roots in complex psychological needs that are just as important to address as one’s dieting habits.

Long-term alcohol usage and binge drinking can cause long-term deficits and effects on brain function similar to malnutrition. Binge drinkers or heavy drinkers may neglect their health and make poor dietary choices such as not eating enough or only eating foods low in nutritional value. This can cause Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, also known as “wet brain.”

Living in zen doesn’t mean you need to stop talking. On the contrary, zen is a state of mind you create within yourself. We think we can’t live without something too often, but if we give ourselves a chance to enjoy the silence, we can.

Before you strive for perfection, forget perfect. Drop your baggage, leave self-defeating thoughts or people behind, and ready yourself for healing.

Anger is a natural response to some situations. For example, in the heat of a stressful or hurtful moment, we can use our anger to endure what we are experiencing. However, uncontrolled anger is destructive for your physical and mental health.

Everyone is afraid of something. Some, however, have phobias, an extreme fear of an object, place, thing, or person that can cripple their ability to function in certain situations. Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder that most people will experience at least once in their life.