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Excoriation or skin-picking disorder is a psychiatric disorder where a person has a compulsion to repeatedly pick their own skin. Excoriation disorder is considered a condition related to body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs). BFRBs are self-grooming behaviors where a person pulls, picks, scrapes, or bites their own hair, skin, or nails. The frequency and intensity of these behaviors can damage the body and may lead to conditions such as trichotillomania and onychophagia....

Extroverts draw energy from social interactions. Do you love meeting new people? Does a big social event leave you feeling energized and renewed? If so, you might be an extrovert. Introversion (being an introvert) and extroversion are one of the major personality dimensions that make up the five-factor model of personality. Signs You May Be An Extrovert According to this theory, personality is made up of five broad dimensions. Each dimension exists on a continuum....

After experiencing a miscarriage, it is not unusual for couples to want to try again. In some cases, they may want to wait a few months. At other times, the couple may feel strong enough to want to start again immediately. By and large, there is nothing really barring a couple from doing so. Most of the time women only experience recurrent miscarriages 1% to 2% of the time. The only real limiting factor, therefore, is when ovulation will occur....

When you’re out and about, chances are, your child will have to use the potty at some point. You don’t want the progress you’ve been making in potty training to be hampered, but it will take some extra effort. Potty training on the go is a little bit like being a Boy Scout. No matter what your method is, you’ve got to be prepared. Try to get your child to use the bathroom before setting out on your trip, and make sure you’ve got everything you could possibly need before heading out the door....

Stress and sex are linked in several ways. Most of us instinctively know this and feel it unmistakably when a particularly stressful week or two zaps our sex drive—or when we successfully use sex to relieve stress. And scientific evidence supports these instincts. Sex can relieve stress and anxiety by triggering the release of “feel good” hormones including oxytocin. These hormones promote relaxation and can help relieve feelings of anxiety....

Why is it often so hard to get things started? For people with ADHD, tasks that need to get done can seem so overwhelming—the pile of laundry, the dusting, and mopping, the cabinet reorganizing. It often feels easier to do nothing. As more and more of these uncompleted jobs add up, tackling any of them seems to be an impossible chore. What Does It Take to Get a Job Done? Dr....

Psychodynamic therapy for depression refers to a type of therapy that involves examining a person’s past in order to fix their present situation. This type of therapy has its origin in Freudian psychoanalysis. During psychodynamic therapy, the client will become aware of emotions and feelings that may have been repressed. In addition, the client will make these subconscious elements part of their present awareness so that unresolved problems and feelings can be dealt with....

Attention is the ability to actively process specific information in the environment while tuning out other details. Attention is limited in terms of both capacity and duration, so it is important to have ways to effectively manage the attentional resources we have available in order to make sense of the world. In his 1890 book “The Principles of Psychology,” psychologist and philosopher William James wrote that attention “is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what may seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought…It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others....

Women in their 30s and beyond are having more babies than before, while their younger counterparts are experiencing a birth rate slow-down. This trend takes the 25- to 29-year-olds out of the top birth rate for the first time in over 30 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that there have been steady increases in births to women ages 30 to 34 and 35 to 39. But birthrates have declined by an average of 4% per year since 2007 for women under 30....

Have you ever been called an “adrenaline junkie”? The term was first popularly used in the 1991 movie “Point Break” in reference to people who favor high-risk activities for the rush that accompanies them. Related to this phenomenon, many people seek out high-sensation experiences for the neurophysiological effects. When dependence on these experiences is created as a way of managing stressful situations, however, it might be time to seek treatment....

Incarceration is a real risk for parents who fail to pay child support. If you’ve found yourself in this situation, use the tips below to learn more about what the courts typically consider, along with what to do while serving jail time for non-payment of child support. For non-custodial parents who owe back child support, it’s important to recognize the risks. While you may be able to get away with child support non-payment for a while, you can bet it will eventually catch up with you....

After what has seemed like an eternity of waiting for parents of young children, there is finally a COVID-19 vaccine available for kids 6 and under. On June 17th, the FDA authorized Moderna’s Spikevax for emergency use authorization (EUA). CDC advisors gave the green light for the vaccine on June 18th, and CDC director Rochelle Walensky signed off soon after. Parents can now get the vaccine for their children at their healthcare provider, local pharmacy, clinic, or health department....

Mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) is a form of treatment for alcohol and substance addiction that focuses on the period after standard treatment when individuals are most likely to relapse. MBRP applies the concept of mindfulness to the management of urges that can derail sobriety or maintaining moderation. It is an extension of regular treatment rather than a replacement for it. It takes over at the point where you’ve been through treatment and are now back to resuming life as normal; how do you cope?...

In statistics, a sample is a subset of a population that is used to represent the entire group as a whole. When doing psychology research, it is often impractical to survey every member of a particular population because the sheer number of people is simply too large. To make inferences about the characteristics of a population, psychology researchers can use a random sample. This article discusses how samples are used in psychology research....

When President Trump announced his positive COVID-19 diagnosis in early October, Merriam-Webster reported that schadenfreude, defined as “enjoyment obtained from the trouble of others,” was its top search, increasing by 30,500%. Key Takeaways Schadenfreude is an emotional experience of finding joy in another’s misfortune or struggle. This phenomenon has evolutionary roots, and feeling this way on occasion doesn’t make you a bad person—but it’s a slippery slope.Developing more constructive coping strategies will yield long-lasting benefits....

Did you make a breakthrough in therapy that you would like to share with your partner? Are you mulling over something your therapist said that you would like your partner’s input on? Have you and your therapist been working on relationship issues that you think you might want to talk to your partner about? Has your partner ever asked you about your therapy sessions? All of these scenarios can make you wonder whether you should tell your partner about what happens in therapy....

When the body feels overwhelmed by environmental stressors, it may respond in ways to protect itself from what appears to be threatening. As a defense, the body produces chemical reactions that prepare it to respond in the moment,, like an increase in blood pressure, altered breathing, and muscle tension. The body is built to undergo the reactions to stress, but when stress is chronic, it can place more pressure on the body than usual....

If you have alcohol use disorder and are seeking treatment for it, alcohol detox is often the first step. This is a process that involves stopping your alcohol intake and flushing out any alcohol that is remaining in your system. You may experience withdrawal symptoms such as sweating, shaking, and insomnia during the detox process, particularly if you drink heavily or regularly. Some people may experience a severe form of withdrawal, known as delirium tremens....

Many people immediately associate the color pink with all things feminine and girly. It might also bring to mind romance and holidays such as Valentine’s Day. Some shades of pale pink are described as relaxing, while very bright, vibrant shades can be stimulating or even aggravating. Color psychology suggests that different colors can have an impact on our moods, feelings, and even behaviors. The color pink, for example, is thought to be a calming color associated with love, kindness, and femininity....

What effect does day care have on a child’s success in grade school? One National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study found mixed results about how day care influences children throughout their academic careers. Starting in 1991, NICHD researchers tracked more than 1,350 children from birth through various childcare settings (at home with a parent, relative or nanny, or at day care) to elementary school. It found that children who spent time in “high quality” day care centers as youngsters had better vocabulary by the fifth grade than those who hadn’t....