Tagged: mental health

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Challenging All or Nothing Thinking

All-or-nothing thinking is just like what it sound:s when we view things as black or white with no gray in between. All-or-nothing thinking is a cognitive distortion or negative thought pattern that influences how we feel.

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Why Do Plants Improve Our Mood?

The cliched image about someone having a “green thumb” typically involves someone in their backyard, their overalls covered in dirt, hands protected by thick gloves that are rough to the touch. The garden can be filled with colorful plants, various kinds of produce and herbs, or vivid greenery with large leaves. Typically, it can include all three!

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Staying Active

The weather in Pittsburgh is getting warmer again and it’s been a good reminder for me to get outside more and try to stay active. I have seen the huge positive impact exercise has on my personal mental health and it can also help me control the weight gain side effects of my current medications. I often neglect physical activity because I feel like I don’t have time in my busy schedule or I’m too afraid of “gymtimidation.” I’m working to care less about what other people think of me or my body, but in the meantime, I’m finding ways to stay active outside of the gym.

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Mental Health and Dream Jobs

Relationships with celebrities and public figures on social media can be complicated, to say the least. They’re glamorous, rich, and doing their dream careers, but are also relatable and remind us that even the most extravagant of people are human. It’s a combination of helping us realize what we can achieve and what we can do with our lives, but makes it very easy to compare ourselves to those with makeup and stylist teams, not to mention making us vulnerable to developing parasocial relationships with them.

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Weekend Reads: Support for Your Mental Health this Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a tricky holiday to navigate. Although it’s meant to be, well, a thankful time of year, it can still be painful for many. The history behind the holiday, the emphasis of being around family, and the potential of being around all kinds of triggers can make the upcoming week mentally taxing.

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YA Books about Mental Health

We often use fictional novels as a means of escaping, to explore new worlds and living the lives of characters as a means of getting away from our own. And although fictional books are just that, fiction, stories are almost always reflective of things going on in reality.

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“Tools to Thrive”

As Mental Health Awareness Month hits the halfway point today, it feels like there couldn’t be better timing to explicitly have a conversation focusing on the topic as daily life continues to be a constant series of unknowns and stressors given the pandemic, staying at home, and adjusting for those where places are starting to slowly open back up.

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Tackling Stigma

The topic about how stigma affects how we view mental illness is not new. The way that people talk about mental illness can not only impact how we view those with mental illness, but how we can view our own. We’ve talked about stigma several times before, because it’s important to change this mindset and the harmful effects that it can have.

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How Mental Health Affects Second-Generation Adolescents

The demographics in the United States have shifted significantly. The Pew Research Center reported that there were 44.4 million immigrants living in the country in 2017, making up 13.6% of the total population. The increase in the immigrant population in the United States also means an increase in second-generation Americans – those who are born in the United States to immigrant parents (some people may also refer to these people as first-generation Americans, however).