Updated on 4/14/21 The rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017 — a social movement against sexual abuse and sexual harassment — put the issue of sexual violence in the spotlight as individuals took to social media to publisize allegations of sex crimes and share personal experiences. Thanks in large part to this movement, we are all becoming more aware of the sexual harassment that is sadly pervasive in so many industries....
Updated on 9/20/2022 Experiencing negative emotions is never fun, but sometimes feeling absolutely nothing at all can be just as bad, if not worse. If you’ve never felt true emotional numbness before, it can be really scary the first time you go through it. Feeling numb can be an indicator that something deeper is going on. It could actually be a symptom of a mental health condition. It’s not healthy to feel emotionally numb or despondent....
Updated on 1/19/2022 The feelings of restlessness and irritability that accompany staying inside for too long are very common. So common that there is a name for it: ‘cabin fever.’Are you feeling a little trapped these days? Cooped up? Perhaps the walls seem as though they are closing in on you, and you feel an intense urge to do something wild and impulsive. While the term ‘cabin fever’ is often associated with winter blues or being stuck inside during the long winter months, the term is taking on new meaning for many....
Updated 2/22/2022 What Is Self-Care? “I see self-care very simply as intentionally doing things to take care of yourself,”Mikah Maly-Karros, LMFT, said. “Self-care can be very easily misconstrued as something that is superficial, but as a therapist, I see that the most important part of self-care is really doing that internal work. Because that’s really the only way you can know what your needs are and then find ways to provide for those needs....
It took me a decade after coming out to learn that there was a reason I and other bi women were experiencing so much sexual andintimate partner violence. In reality,we are at higher risk of gender-based violencethan both straight women and other LGBTQ+ people. That’s not the only increased risk bi women face relative to straight women and bi men. Likely because of biphobia both within mainstream society and theLGBTQcommunity, bisexual women are also more likely to live in poverty....
Updated on 4/20/2022 Whether you’re experiencingdepression,anxiety, panic disorder, stress-related physical issues, or any other mental health challenge, it can be helpful to know there are therapy treatments available to help you heal.Among the many psychotherapy options out there ispsychodynamic therapy— a proven form of talk therapy designed to help you experience relief from certain mental or emotional stress. Psychodynamic therapy is rooted in the idea that present-day problems are connected to unconscious conflicts from your past experience....
Racial inequality in mental health care is real — it’s present in the underfunded healthcare institutions in minority communities, in cases of misdiagnosed mental illnesses affecting Black Americans, the lack of culturally responsive care, and paucity of providers equipped to treat Black American. Black people and people of color are less likely to have their mental health problems addressed, mainly as a result of a dysfunctional healthcare system that isn’t fully equipped to serve people of minority race or ethnicity....
Updated on 9/14/2022 Mental health conditions don’t discriminate, so why are Black people and people of color at higher risk of experiencing one? Why are they more likely to have a condition go undetected or not receive adequate mental health treatment once a diagnosis is made? The truth is, much of it stems from things like racial trauma, racial disparities, the stigma of mental health in Black and minority communities, and the deep-rooted systemic racism woven throughout the fabric of American history....
What is the Oedipus Complex in Psychology? The Oedipus Complex, also known as the Oedipal Complex, can manifest in many forms. Licensed marriage and family therapist Nicole Arzt provides an example: “a young boy feels rage and anger towards his father. He wants to be the center of attention for his mother. aHe has unconscious fantasies of removing his father altogether, but he also experiences profound castration anxiety (which refers to the fear of his father castrating him)....
Often, after widely reported instances of racial injustice and discrimination, there are periods of upheaval. Among the Black population, the seemingly never-ending spate of brutality elicits mixed reactions — ranging from justified anger at the societal systems that allow racial prejudice to go unpunished, to the numbness, sadness, and trauma that hits each time that yet another Black person becomes a victim of unwarranted violence from law enforcement. These vile and violent events, which span across centuries, are now, however, being filmed and documented on a much wider scale....
A conversation with therapists from Black women-led community mental wellness group, Sista Afya. Brooks is right. Since the coronavirus pandemic swept the United States in early March, the country has been in a crisis of care. Women of color,who are disproportionately likelyto be essential childcare workers, health workers, and service employees, have been at the front lines of the crisis, even while Black peopleexperience the highest death tollsfrom the virus....
As Black Americans’ righteous resistance to racism and police brutality fills social media and the streets, many white Americans are in a period of reevaluation. We may find ourselves wondering what our role is in perpetuating systemic, anti-Black racism, and how we can take action that is actively anti-racist. This self-introspection is a fundamental starting point in the fight to build a more just society. It’s also an intense and deeply humbling process, at a time when a global pandemic has everyone stretched thin....
Updated on 2/22/2022 Racism has always starkly undergirded American life. While many white Americans have only recently become alerted to the realities of police brutality and other racist horrors against Black communities, people of color have always known and borne this burden.Racismis a form of traumaso it’s understandable why experiencing forms of brutality, harassment, and stigma can lead to PTSD symptoms. From police brutality tohealth inequalityandracist microaggressions, people of colors’ lived experiences of racism take a severe toll on mental health....
Talkspace Diversity and Inclusion Promise Mental health conditions do not discriminate based upon race, gender, or identity. One in five people in the U.S. will struggle with a mental health issue at some point during their lives. In the Black community, mental health challenges can also result from witnessing and experiencing systemic racism. As a result, according to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, members of the Black community are more likely than other groups to experience serious psychological distress....
We all fall into spiraling negative thought patterns from time to time, leading us to stress and even despair. One way to stop obsessing over the past or worrying about an imaginary future is to direct our attention to what we’re experiencing only in this moment. That’s essentially what mindfulness meditation is. And there’s now a growing body of research showing that this kind of meditation is really beneficial for our mental wellbeing....
