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Buying textbooks for your psychology courses can be very expensive, with some texts costing hundreds of dollars each. While you certainly cannot eliminate this expense, there are a few questions you can ask yourself at the start of each semester to help control your textbook budget. Before you buy a psychology textbook, ask yourself these important questions: Do You Plan to Keep the Book After the Completion of the Course? If you are majoring in psychology, keeping all of your course textbooks can be a great idea, especially if you plan to attend graduate school in psychology....

If you are pregnant, your obstetrician has probably told you that you will need gestational diabetes testing. Don’t worry—gestational diabetes testing is an important part of routine prenatal care. Most women are tested during weeks 24 through 28 of pregnancy. If you have any risk factors for diabetes, your doctor may consider testing your blood sugar as early as your first prenatal visit. Purpose of Test Certain hormones increase during pregnancy, transferring valuable nutrients from the mother to the baby so that the fetus develops and grows....

When a transgender or non-binary individual begins hormone replacement therapy (commonly referred to as HRT), excitement and nervousness may abound. While not all trans people choose to utilize hormones, those who do often cite the beginning of HRT as a high point in their life, memorializing their start dates similarly to other anniversaries. But what is HRT, and what should parents and teenagers know before embarking on this journey together? Researching HRT can feel daunting and overwhelming, so let’s break down the basics....

Spotting or bleeding during early pregnancy is understandably scary, but also very common. While spotting does not always mean that you are having a miscarriage, it can be a symptom of miscarriage. As a result, upon first sight of vaginal bleeding in pregnancy, or any other miscarriage symptoms, many women drop everything and head to the emergency room. But is this the best course of action? Why You Should Go to the ER Some, but not all, doctors advise women to the emergency room if they notice any bleeding in early pregnancy....

There are very few things more important than family time. Whether you’re going on a week-long family vacation or making sure to eat dinner with your kids every night, taking the time to bond and form meaningful connections with your kids is one of the most important things you will do as a parent. But spending time together doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive. It could be as simple as watching a movie you know the whole family will enjoy....

Contractions are the one thing that most people focus on when it comes to deciding what is labor and what isn’t labor. But, simply having contractions is not the same thing as being in labor. You might find yourself wondering: What are the causes of contractions? Did you know that there are many things that can cause contractions? Contractions occur in pregnancy when you have a certain level of oxytocin flowing in your blood....

It is no secret that school bullying can be an overwhelming issue to deal with, especially when your child is the victim. Aside from trying to help your child navigate the situation and overcome the pain, you are also faced with how to address the issue with the school. Many times, the first person you will speak with is the teacher. However, for older students, there may not be a specific teacher for you to contact, especially if the bullying occurred on the bus or at lunch....

Many people who have emotional difficulties in adulthood, including addiction, wonder whether the cause was abuse in their childhood that they have forgotten or repressed. In particular, many wonder about the possibility of sexual abuse having occurred, but been blocked out. They may have memories that are incomplete but feel uncomfortable, particularly when recalled with an adult perspective. Not being able to clearly remember, particularly when there are hints that something may have happened, can be frustrating, and people can become quite distracted with speculating about what may or may not have happened to them, and asking themselves the question, “Was I sexually abused?...

For many women, the word “sad” doesn’t even begin to describe the feelings that follow pregnancy loss. “Devastated” is likely closer to the truth, and “feeling like your soul was run over by a steamroller and put through a paper shredder” can be even closer (although it may still not come close to doing verbal justice to the experience). Suffice it to say, it’s normal to feel bad after a miscarriage or stillbirth....

The cross-cradle hold for breastfeeding is one of the most commonly used positions because it gives the most support to your baby. Plus, you have complete control over your infant with just one arm. Learn why this position, also called the crossover or traditional hold, is so useful and how you can use it the next time you feed your baby. When to Use the Cross-Cradle Hold The cross-cradle hold for breastfeeding is an easy nursing position to learn....

Exercise is generally seen as a virtue; therefore, you may wonder how it could possibly be bad for you. For most people, exercise does confer significant health and mental health benefits. However, for those with eating disorders, excessive exercise is a common symptom and can play a role in the development and maintenance of the disorder. Our culture’s celebration of exercise makes it so that excessive exercise is often not recognized or taken as seriously as it should....

Four states currently have laws prohibiting or limiting the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom, and it looks as if Florida is set to join them, prompting concerns for LGBTQ+ children and parents in the state. Key Takeaways Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis is set to sign the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law.The bill bans teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity between kindergarten and the third grade....

Follow Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts Every Friday on The Verywell Mind Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Amy Morin, LCSW, shares the “Friday Fix”—a short episode featuring a quick, actionable tip or exercise to help you manage a specific mental health issue or concern. Friday Fix: Episode 189 Boundaries involve setting rules that make it clear how you want to be treated. Sometimes, that means saying no to something like, “No, I won’t loan you my car....

If you’ve spent any amount of time online this past January you’re probably aware of the mass layoffs occurring across the tech and media industries. Key Takeaways Mass layoffs have impacted thousands of workers across the tech and media industries.In some instances, employees have been given little to no notice.People who have been laid off or fear they could be deal with poor mental health. The first month of the year has been just as bleak for the media industry....

There she was—seven pounds and eleven ounces of squishy, baby goodness. Our second daughter, Autumn, made her entrance into the world on the day before Halloween after 12 hours of labor. Just like that, we were a family of four. We were elated! My husband wiped a tear from my cheek as Autumn was prepped for her post-delivery check-up. She was quiet…almost too quiet. My husband and I stared intently at the exam table across the room, where Autumn was hidden behind a team of attentive nurses....

Often prescribed to treat mood and anxiety disorders, serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are one of the most common treatment options for panic disorder. What Are Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors? Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are one class of antidepressant medications. Some of the most common SNRIs include Effexor (venlafaxine), Cymbalta (duloxetine), and Pristiq (desvenlafaxine). These antidepressants are frequently prescribed to treat mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder and depression in bipolar disorder....

One common concern for many women, especially early in pregnancy, is the risk of miscarriage. If you’re newly pregnant and trying to make sense of the myriad statistics about miscarriage, here’s an explanation of each one that may ease your mind. Miscarriage Rate for All Conceptions If taking into account the number of known miscarriages and the number of unknown miscarriages, there is a greater chance of miscarriage than not. As alarming as this statement may be, it illustrates that pregnancy loss is a commonly occurring event....

Over the past several decades, increasing focus has been placed on the MTHFR genetic mutation and its association with a host of health conditions. Some of these proposed links are strongly supported, but others are speculative at best. In recent years, a handful of scientists have suggested that the mutation could explain why certain women have recurrent miscarriages. While the theory is far from conclusive, it does highlight the role that genetics may play in otherwise unexplained pregnancy loss....

Hindi Zeidman, MSW is “figuring out how to do life” with her daughter. That’s how The Ollie World founder describes her day-to-day as a single mom, adding that she is actively learning to be the parent she truly wants to be. “There are days when I fear the world in which I am raising my daughter,” Zeidman, who lives in Upland, California, shares. “What grounds me is holding onto my part and my role, which is to raise her to be kind, inclusive, empathetic, resilient, and with a strong voice to stand up for others and for what she believes in....

While the stress and isolation of the pandemic has spared no one, it has had a disproportionate detrimental impact on the mental health of teen girls, a new study published in The Lancet Psychiatry has found. Key Takeaways A new study found that the mental health of teen girls may have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.Surprisingly, substance use dropped amongst 15 to 18 year olds in the study.Disconnection from friends, changes in routine, and isolation are all partly to blame....