Tagged: educate yourself

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Educate Yourself

Light Therapy for SAD

During the winter months, depending on where you live, moods can change. You may feel sad and down during the winter months. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a common type of depression that can happen during the cold, dark winter months. Being from Pennsylvania, I have almost 4-5 months of frigid and dark days each year. I never knew why I felt more down, tired, and fatigued during these months. Knowing what I know now, I most likely experience Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. SAD is thought to be related to the lack of light during the winter months.

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Be Positive / Educate Yourself

Long Road

I have been crushed by the weight of anxiety and trauma, as I’m sure many of you are familiar with. I’ve felt like I couldn’t possibly bear the weight anymore, unable to think, breathe, or function countless times. But I’ve been investing in my safety nets lately, like hugging myself, talking to friends and family, and doing my favorite hobbies which are always there for me.

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Educate Yourself / Social Media Guide

A Major Dilemma

The modern world is one of increasing interconnection and complication. With that comes diverse interactions with diverse people, both on and offline. It is up to each individual who they choose to associate with and which facts and opinions they choose to buy into. A recent conversation with my fellow twenty-somethings ended up focusing on the construct of social media. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter consume the daily attention of hundreds of millions of users. While neither inherently good nor bad (in my opinion), it is important that social media users realize why they see what they see when using most commercialized social media apps.

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Be Positive / Educate Yourself

A Misdiagnosis: What’s Next?

This past week, I experienced one of the darkest periods of my life which has left me in a pile of medical bills, lost friends, and rash behavior. It had been going off and on for years but was never bad enough to the point where it affected each and every part of my life negatively. I was not able to go to work, my friends were getting tired of my antics, and I lost way more than I ever could have imagined. As a result of this, I consulted a new doctor who told me the news: I had been misdiagnosed for years and was in fact bipolar.

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Educate Yourself

Journaling: What it is, Why it helps, and How to start

Journaling is a powerful mental health tool that you may want to consider trying (or may already be doing!). Journaling refers to the act of using pen and paper to put words to what you think and feel. Its positive benefits—such as helping with stress, anxiety, and depression—lie in the cathartic or therapeutic process of allowing self-expression in a safe, private space.

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Educate Yourself

Untwist Your Thinking

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps us notice our negative thought patterns, also known as cognitive distortions. After we are aware of these patterns, what happens next? UnTwist your Thinking is a helpful CBT tool for challenging these negative thoughts. There are several different ways to “untwist” these negative thoughts. Here are a few helpful examples and tips.

Advocate for Yourself 2

Educate Yourself

Advocate for Yourself

It can be difficult to speak up for what we need, whether in our personal or professional lives. Saying “no” can feel scary, and yet it can make a huge difference in setting good boundaries. If we don’t advocate for ourselves, or are passive, we run the risk of not having our needs met and not being listened to. This can lead us to feeling stressed and upset and can even lower our self-esteem. Aggressively asking for something can also be off-putting and set us back.

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Educate Yourself

Understanding our Strengths

When we are feeling low, we can easily forget our strengths. We can grow so used to our positive qualities that we stop acknowledging them. Reminding ourselves of our strengths can help improve our self-esteem, boost our mood, and even remind us of ways to push through rough times.

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Educate Yourself

Thought Stopping

Thought stopping is a skill that can be used to interrupt negative and anxious thoughts. The idea behind thought stopping is that we can replace our negative thoughts or worry thoughts with thoughts that are more neutral, or maybe even positive.

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Educate Yourself

Decatastrophizing

Cognitive distortions describe patterns of thinking that skew from the reality of a situation in a negative way. We have talked about different types of cognitive distortions as well as the importance of challenging them before. Although commonly experienced, cognitive distortions stretched to their extremes contribute to psychopathology.