By: Jorge Arredondo Meza When I was a student at Duke University, meditation and yoga saved my life. The trials of academia consumed my mind to the point where I was constantly thinking about what assignment needed to be done next. I can confidently say that adopting a mindful practice—in my case, meditation—drastically improved the…
Speak Up: How to Talk to Your Family About Mental Health
by Nia Spencer Talking to your family about something personal is never easy, especially with touchy topics like mental health and sexuality. There is so much stigma around these subjects that often we hold things in—which usually causes more harm than good. One strategy is to write it out. When we can’t find the words…
Driving the Car Expectation through Disappointment City: Part Two
by Laura Harris, MS, LPC Illustrations by Kristy Southivilay In part one of this article, I shared the beginning of my allegorical story about disappointment. Here, I’ll finish the story and unpack it for readers. ___________________________________________ Depressed’s bus only stops on three streets: Indulgence, Despair, and Hope. You and your Feelings give the remainder of your…
Driving the Car Expectation through Disappointment City: Part One
by Laura Harris, MS, LPC Illustrations by Kristy Southivilay Disappointment is a feeling that doesn’t get enough respect. It’s the Jan Brady of feelings. Lately, I’ve found a community of disillusioned people, making a perfect sample to explore this feeling called “Disappointment.” This year, my favorite sports team (the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers) lost their last…
Hoarding Disorder Explained
It is incredibly and overwhelmingly easy to accumulate “stuff.” Everywhere we go, people are handing out free and useless junk: pens, keychains, water bottles, stickers, brochures. Every store we visit has beautifully designed displays luring us in and convincing us that we need brand new, seasonally appropriate stuff in order to feel happy. Most of…
Alzheimer’s Disease: Challenges and Advice
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative cognitive brain disorder that causes a loss in memory, thinking ability, and reasoning. It is a fairly common disease that usually affects the elderly population although cases of early-onset Alzheimer’s also occur in populations under 65 years of age. Five hundred thousand cases are added yearly, and it is the…
Postpartum Mood Disorders: Prevention & Treatment
When model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen gave birth to her daughter with her husband John Legend, she couldn’t figure out why she was so deeply unhappy. “Getting out of bed to get to set on time was painful,” she wrote. “My lower back throbbed; my shoulders—even my wrists—hurt. I didn’t have an appetite. I…
Mental Health Effects of Colorism in the Black Community
One great oversight of our modern generation is that we turn a blind eye to the subconscious colorism that occurs in our society. Colorism within the African American community is defined as the attitude among African Americans discriminating against other African Americans because of their skin complexion – for instance, being too light or too…
5 Ways to Help Cope with Trauma
Traumatic events happen to many people in many different situations. While the severity of the situation can differ, anyone who has gone through trauma will be able to relate to other victims to at least some degree. Everyone has their own ways of coping with trauma, but I have a few steps that I follow…
Music and Mental Wellness
In High School, I was proud to proclaim myself as a “band geek,” giving myself a derogatory label that somehow made sense of those awkward and uncertain years. The truth is, I never felt more content during that time of my life than when I was with my fellow bandmates, navigating the turbulent mix of…
Broken Vows: Emotional Abuse in Intimate Partnerships (part 3)
In part one and part two of this article, I discussed my early experiences of emotional abuse from my husband, including gaslighting and economic abuse–as well as my multiple thwarted attempts to leave the relationship. I disregarded a lot of awful things my husband did, such as him being mean and abusive to my oldest…
Broken Vows: Emotional Abuse in Intimate Partnerships (part 2)
In part one of this article, I discussed the different ways that my husband has emotionally abused me over the course of our relationship, including his attempts to completely isolate me. The scariest part to me now is the fact that if he had ever accomplished his goal of completing isolating me, he would’ve become…