depression | The Health Sessions

6 Short-Term Strategies to Stop Overthinking Now

All day long, thousands of thoughts are running through our minds. Funnily enough, most of them are exactly the same thoughts as the day before: we ponder about performing well at work, spending enough time with our family and what we’ll have for dinner. Overthinking is the tendency to constantly monitor and analyze your thoughts. … Read more >

The Nuance of Trauma: Why It's So Important to Treat Unhealed Trauma | The Health Sessions

The Nuances of Trauma: Why It’s Important to Treat Unhealed Trauma

This article is written by Frankie Wallace.

Stiff upper lip. Keep calm and carry on. Soldier through. Put on your big girl/boy pants. Let it go. Our society is filled with platitudes about trauma.

But while these catchy little tropes might make for a good bumper sticker, they certainly don’t make for a good — or healthy — life strategy. The truth is that, contrary to yet another popular cliche, time does not, in fact, heal all wounds.

Quite the contrary. Attempting to simply ignore or “move on” from your trauma is an almost guaranteed way to never truly heal — and the long-term effects, not only to your mental wellbeing but also to your physical health, can be devastating.

You deserve better. You deserve to live your life healed from your trauma. And it can be done.

Emotional Loneliness: 5 Things to Do When Nobody Understands You

You can be in a room full of people and still feel incredibly lonely. No one really sees you, hears what you’re trying to say, or understands what you’re going through. When you feel this way, what can you do?

People often think that loneliness and being alone are the same thing. But that’s not necessarily true. You can be on your own and have a great time, curled up on the couch with a good book, playing the piano or taking yourself on an artist date. If you’re introverted, you probably even need alone time to recharge.

That’s why loneliness isn’t so much a state of solitude as it is about feeling alone, while you crave human connection. That emptiness can be caused by having a limited social network, with little (close) family and friends to talk to and spend time with. But there’s a second kind of loneliness that’s often overlooked: emotional loneliness.

The Importance of Your Surroundings for Your Mental Health & Motivation

This article is written by Thomas Lanigan.

Mental health is not just determined by what is happening inside your head. Your environment plays an important role in shaping you. From a poorly lit office to a cluttered bedroom – all these impact your mental health.

The physical environment affects your psychological health directly. External stimuli like natural light and noise trigger a psychological response in your body. In turn, the kind and amount of neurochemicals that are released into your bloodstream strongly influence your mood, energy level and mental focus.

Another major reason why your surroundings matter is that we spend a lot of time thinking about our living environment. Maybe the dishes haven’t been done or the laundry hasn’t been folded in a week. And it bugs you every time you see it.

Changing your environment can improve your health dramatically. Here are some solutions that you can use to improve your environment and mental health.

How to Talk to Your Boss about Your Mental Health

This article is written by Sara Anderson.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), mental health conditions are amongst the most troublesome health distresses in the United States, and 63% are part of the workforce. Mental health problems impact many workers, a fact that is usually ignored because the disorders can be hidden at the work place. Unfortunately, the stigma involved in having a psychiatric disorder in workers may make them hesitant to seek treatment, especially in the current economic statuses.