Mental health

Don’t Speak Up, Speak In

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If you’re in a workplace that’s sucking the life out of you, making you furious or otherwise driving you nuts, you might NOT want to speak up about it.

People who speak up about what’s wrong at work are often labeled negative.

If you have feelings about what’s going on in the workplace but you don’t want to make waves, telling yourself what’s up can calm you down.

Be Your Own Confidant

You may have friends at work, but can you trust them completely with sensitive information? Read More

Almost All Problems Are Emotional

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girl cryingWhen’s the last time you had a problem that wasn’t emotional?

Car broke down? You probably made a call or two and got it fixed; no real problem there except for the annoyance and/or frustration it caused you.

Couldn’t pay your mortgage? Losing your home to foreclosure would be an “oh, well” proposition without good old-fashioned fear, desperation and grief — emotional experiences, to be sure.

I recently wrote a post about how problems are almost always emotional (and so, therefore, are solutions) over at my new blog home-away-from-home on PsychologyToday.com. Read More

Make the Most of Being Down in the Dumps

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In an earlier post this year, Is Depression Hiding Your Career Path? I suggested that your passion, if you’ve lost it, might be hiding behind depression. We looked at a long list of symptoms. How many applied to you?

I think mild depression is a silent epidemic, like not-washing your hands after using the toilet, or reusing single-use makeup remover cloths. But worse.

How do you get past mild depression? In short, with self-compassion and truth. Read More

A Surprising Risk Factor for Depression

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Happy family with little girl
It seemed like a good idea at the time.

The results are in, and they’re sobering: 100% of all people who suffer from depression were once children.

Yes, childhood is the #1 risk factor for depression. Having been a child accounts for more depression than job loss, divorce, prison time and the loss of a loved one combined.

Until now, depression — especially of the mild to moderate variety — was considered mysterious. It was often attributed to unexplained chemical imbalances in the brain. Read More