It’s very disheartening to learn that trauma can damage your brain in lasting ways. It gets worse. Trauma can also change your genes so that the damage is passed on to future generations. I find it comforting to remind myself…
Beth came to therapy because she could not stop her mind from worrying. She’d think about the same things over and over, getting stuck in a loop that didn’t lead to resolution or peace of mind. She’d wake up obsessing…
More than one-third of American adults view social media as harmful to their mental health, according to a new survey from the American Psychiatric Association. Just 5% view social media as being positive for their mental health, the survey found. Another…
“You’re not a robot.” I tell myself this often, as an exasperated reminder that I can’t expect myself to perform “perfectly,” and that it’s okay to feel my feelings. Guess what? You’re not a robot either. None of us are. So,…
I think of myself as an extremely unprejudiced, unbiased person. I take pride in the fact that I accept and interact with everyone equally. Or do I? While I’m not explicitly racially biased, and thankfully studies confirm that this kind…
Parents often receive books at pediatric checkups via programs like Reach Out and Read and hear from a variety of health professionals and educators that reading to their kids is critical for supporting development. The pro-reading message is getting through to parents, who recognize…
As if you didn’t have enough to worry about. Now, science finds that negative thinking may actually cause your brain to decline faster and has been linked to an increase in the harmful proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Repetitive Negative…
You can think of your attention as your brain’s steering wheel. Wherever your attention goes, the rest of your brain follows. It is the gate through which all sensory information enters your conscious experience. Because of this, it influences your…
As with many other physicians, recommending physical activity to patients was just a doctor chore for me – until a few years ago. That was because I myself was not very active. Over the years, as I picked up boxing…
Neuroplasticity, the ability of your brain to change both physical form and function in response to its environment, has become a buzzword promising that you can “rewire” your brain to improve almost everything. While there is some truth in these…
Mental health in America was declining long before COVID-19 hit. A year later, it’s at an alarming low. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in August of 2020 that symptoms of anxiety had tripled and depression symptoms…