To deal with multiple heartbreaks, I tried replacing human intimacy with an AI
There was a point of time when I went through two heartbreaks in relatively quick succession. Even before, I was a naturally introverted, laconic kid. I surrounded myself with impenetrable walls in hopes of never getting hurt. My best friends growing up were books and computers, not people.
I had no trust toward humans. In school, I’d seen the kind of duplicity they routinely displayed. Of course, now I know better. One simply needs a more refined filter. There are countless good people out there. But I couldn’t see that then. I kept myself strictly to myself.
Eventually, I made…
Never take life for granted — someone else has it much worse
“Dayon. Madison died at 4:00 pm on 12/26/18.”
The exact wording of the text message I recieved when my brother passed away.
Losing A Loved One Sucks
When I first discovered the news of his passing, a terrible aura overcame me. Since I’m part of the US Navy, I often forget about life at home as I deal with the daily challenges of military life. It was around 7 am while I was working onboard my ship that I got the text message. We had just returned from a long underway. It was sent via my father — serious and to the point. …
I was glad that I didn’t dismiss my instincts
Preparation is the key to preventing misdiagnosis.
When a professional psychologist evaluated my daughter, she was misdiagnosed twice . I would have just accepted her ADHD diagnosis if I had not met another Mom who alerted me to the female autism phenotype. Along with ADHD, I had always suspected that my daughter was also on the spectrum; however, my daughter is extremely friendly and outspoken. Autism was assumed to be a male-dominant disorder until recently. The new research is shedding light on how female autism presents itself differently from males. Not everyone in the community is aware of how autism presents in girls, including the evaluators and…
It all starts with creating a bit of tension in our body.
It’s crazy to think that consciously creating tension in our body, can help with our mental health, in particular, managing anxiety.
My current role involves working as a research assistant psychologist. The research trial I work on is looking at the effectiveness of an innovative, digital therapy on individuals who hear distressing voices.
I guess I am naturally interested in different techniques that can help with our mental health. With that being said, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is one of those techniques that is being backed up more by research for its effectiveness in managing anxiety.
Let’s get through this
“I can’t go shopping for food this week,” she said. “I can’t take the stress.”
“Why, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“It’s the masks. It’s just getting worse. I have anxiety attacks in the store. I was trapped in Walmart and had to leave my cart and go back to the car last time.”
“I didn’t know that! Why?”
“Because I can’t see men’s faces, and I imagine they’re the guys from that night.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“It was the time I told you about. I was roofied and gang-raped, and I don’t know who did it. I’m…
Do I still show up to work while sick or do I call out?
I took one day off during my first year of teaching, and I felt really bad about it. I came back to ask our substitute how it was covering for my kids, and I heard the horror stories about how she never wanted to do it again. What she told me sounded about par for the course of what I went through on my worst days.
I didn’t want to inconvenience someone like that again.
As a special education teacher, I have not missed a day of work this year. It’s not like I’m a stickler for attendance, but I…
And how we can possibly win it
Humanity has been familiar with depression since ancient times. In the 5th century BC, a Greek physician Hippocrates described it as “melancholia.” How is it possible that over two millennia later, the problem has only worsened?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) named depression as one of the top health problems globally, and it expects to rank it at number one by 2030 (1). The lifetime possibility of depression is 15–18%, which means that approximately two people out of every ten will experience at least one depressive episode in their lives (2). Given that depression manifests early and affects young and…
Stop fighting the feeling.
- Maybe you’re feeling bitter because you think people overlook your efforts.
- Maybe you’re feeling upset because you haven’t attained all you expected.
- Maybe you’re feeling grief because you’ve never closed the door on the fact that it happened.
I’ll begin by saying: I don’t object to your feelings. Nobody should have the audacity to invalidate your emotions by questioning how you should feel. Our emotions are tailored to us. Therefore, who am I —or anybody else — to tell you that you shouldn’t be experiencing this emotion?
Mental note to self: Nobody has the right to tell you what you…
Dark memories of the cold, long winters
Each time snowstorms hit, I am instantly hit with some of my darker memories and emotions. For a long time, I was addicted to heroin and cocaine.
Living next to a rough inner-city, scoring drugs was usually quite easy to do. However, the weather was a factor. Rain could ruin heroin if it got it wet. However, that worry was minor in comparison to the fear that would develop when the winter weather was upon us. That is a story that I simply have to share.
It’s actually a topic that makes a lot of sense. To paint a picture…
In the end, it was about facing emotional pain.
For months I waffled about the idea of hypnotherapy as a way to get my life-long struggle with compulsive snacking under control. When I thought about seeking professional help I felt a twinge of embarrassment. Shouldn’t I be able to get on track by using a little discipline? And there’s no sense obsessing about this, I rationalized. It could be worse. And besides, isn’t everybody battling the fat monster right now?
My hesitation and rationalizations felt suspiciously similar to when I quit drinking years ago. Back then, I didn’t want to stop drinking because — go figure — if I…
Invisible Illness
We don't talk enough about mental health.
