Have you recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and are you thinking of disclosing your PTSD diagnosis to someone? This can be a stressful experience, as well as a positive one. When someone learns that they have PTSD, they may not be that surprised. Receiving a diagnosis can actually be a positive experience. People may be comforted by the fact that there is a name for the number of symptoms that they are experiencing....
Therapy can be a unique and mysterious process. It isn’t uncommon to have questions about your treatment and therapist. Each scenario can raise concerns about what is “normal” in therapy and what is necessary to receive the best results possible. But, while you don’t have to like your therapist as much as you would a friend, you certainly should like them. Read on to learn why! All Therapist-Client Relationships Are Different...
ESTP (Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving) is one of the 16 personality types identified by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). People with this personality type are frequently described as outgoing, action-oriented, and dramatic. ESTPs—also known as Entrepreneurs and Dynamos— are outgoing and enjoy spending time with a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. They are interested in the here-and-now and are more likely to focus on details than taking a broader view of things....
Getting ready to throw a tween birthday party? Need an idea or two for a fun tween birthday theme? It’s easy to coordinate a tween birthday when you have a theme to work around. Your theme can help determine decorations, activities, the birthday cake, and even the goody bags you’ll send home to all of the party guests. Pick a theme that appeals to your tween or their passions and hobbies....
Psychiatrists have speculated about a potential link between gluten and schizophrenia for more than three decades. In fact, the term “bread madness” was coined half-a-century ago to describe schizophrenia—there were reports of mental patients recovering spontaneously when bread products (that being, the bulk of gluten-containing foods in their diets) weren’t available. Although there have been some case reports of patients with schizophrenia improving with a gluten-free diet, even researchers in the field speculate that only a very small percentage of schizophrenics may ultimately benefit from dietary interventions such as a gluten-free diet....
Phrenology was a pseudoscience that linked bumps on a person’s head to certain aspects of the individual’s personality and character. Phrenology heads or busts were used by phrenologists to perform “skull readings” that supposedly revealed information about a person’s character and tendencies. The practice was based on the idea that certain functions were located in specific areas of the brain. Phrenologists suggested that the brain was composed of muscles that, like other areas of the body, grew bigger when they were used more often....
You may have heard that antidepressants can help treat panic disorder. One class of antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are often prescribed to treat panic disorder, anxiety, and panic attacks. Learn how SSRI’s are used for the treatment of panic disorder. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or simply SSRIs, refer to a specific class of antidepressant medications. When first introduced in the 1980s, SSRIs were used to treat depression. Now established to be effective in treating panic disorder, SSRIs include medications such as Prozac (Fluoxetine), Paxil (Paroxetine), Celexa (Citalopram), Lexapro (Escitalopram), Luvox (Fluvoxamine), and Zoloft (Sertraline)....
A sense of foreshortened future involves feeling as if life will be cut short without any real explanation as to why. People who experience this may also feel they won’t be able to reach milestones in their life, such as a career, marriage, or children. This sense of foreshortened future is a reaction that can occur following trauma. It is considered an avoidance symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to negative expectations about the future....
Have you ever considered that it might be a good idea to embarrass yourself on purpose? This practice, also known as “constructive embarrassment,” is similar to carrying out exposures in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). The idea is that by doing things that you find embarrassing on purpose, you will learn that you can handle your feelings in those situations. Follow Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts Press Play for Advice On Dealing With Embarrassment...
What’s your first response when you discover that your child is missing? If you are like most parents, you immediately feel terror as you imagine the one hundred and one bad things that could be happening to your child. It is important to remain calm though, as what you do first might mean the difference between whether or not you have a happy ending. In addition to calling for help, the first thing to do is to check the places in and around your home that pose the greatest hazard to your child....
Time-out can be an effective discipline strategy. But research shows that 85% of parents aren’t using time-out correctly. For instance, they are talking to kids during time-out, allowing them to play with toys, or giving them too many warnings. And those mistakes are making their time-outs ineffective for changing their children’s behavior. Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland suggest that for time-outs to be effective, they should consist of “two kinds of nothing....
Life skills are valuable lessons kids will use throughout their lifetime. Important life skills kids need to know include decision-making skills, problem-solving skills, personal hygiene, meal prep, and communication skills. However, many kids don’t learn these lessons and how to handle real-world situations until they’re in high school. Don’t wait until your kids are teens to teach them life skills. Get a jump start on teaching your children practical lessons. Start with decision-making and then build on each life skill lesson as your children grow....
Certain smells, both good and bad, have a way of transporting us back to specific moments in our lives. Likely, you can even call one to mind right now. Key Takeaways A recent study explored the power of scent in triggering memories.The findings suggest this ability comes from the connection between the olfactory system and the hippocampus in the brain.This could help us better understand broader brain dysfunction and advance intervention and treatment....
Minor head injuries are common in toddlers—they’re still developing their balance and coordination, and have a lower sense of danger than older kids. Little ones also have limited verbal skills, which leads to another problem—they can’t always let parents and caregivers know they have an injury. Key Takeaways It’s not unusual for young kids to bump their heads, which might result in minor traumatic brain injury (concussion).The problem is, toddlers can’t always communicate how they’re feeling....
Observational learning describes the process of learning by watching others, retaining the information, and then later replicating the behaviors that were observed. There are a number of learning theories, such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning, that emphasize how direct experience, reinforcement, or punishment can lead to learning. However, a great deal of learning happens indirectly. For example, think about how a child may watch adults waving at one another and then imitates these actions later on....
Individualized education plan (IEP) team meetings can be overwhelming, particularly if it’s your first. Sitting in a room and listening to a group of people talk about your child’s educational abilities can be difficult. But as the parent, you are a critical part of your child’s IEP. You have insight into your child that no one else does and it’s important to share what you know with the IEP team....
Many people mistakenly believe that grief is a single emotion, but normal grief is actually a powerful, multifaceted, and often uncontrollable response that human beings experience following a personally painful or traumatic event, such as the death of a loved one. Grief can affect us not only emotionally but also physically, mentally, and even spiritually. When you are experiencing grief, you may feel it both mentally and physically. During this time, you may experience a variety of physical symptoms that are part of the normal grief response....
When people think of an episiotomy during birth, they rarely think of anything beyond what a doctor or midwife can do to avoid it. While there are ways for you and your provider to help minimize the likelihood of severe tearing or episiotomy during labor, preventative steps can begin during pregnancy with prenatal perineal massage. What Is an Episiotomy? To aid with vaginal delivery, an incision may be made to the pregnant person’s perineum, the skin between their vagina and rectum....
Riley is a gender-neutral name with two meanings. One is derived from the original Gaelic word raghalach, which means “valiant.” This eventually became the surname O’Reilly. The other meaning is derived from the Old English words rye and leah, meaning wood, clearing or meadow. The surname O’Reilly was once also used to indicate someone who lives near a rye field or meadow. The surname eventually became a common Irish first name for boys, and its spelling was altered to Riley as it was adopted around the world....
Choosing to have a baby can be a big decision, especially when you need to explore in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a form of conception. Generally, IVF refers to the process of taking eggs and placing them in a petri dish with sperm cells to create an embryo. That embryo is then transferred to the uterus. Part of what helps ensure IVF is successful is to make sure the embryo is transferred at an ideal time....
