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Although I never previously thought of my needle avoidance as a fear, I’ve always experienced anxiety about shots and blood work, and I’ve even had panic attacks before procedures. I never sought a formal diagnosis, but I know I have a needle phobia. What Is Needle Phobia? Jeffrey Cohen, PsyD, says according to the DSM, needle phobia is a blood-injection-injury type of phobia. Phobias are anxiety disorders. He explains that like many other phobias, evolutionary causes could contribute to needle phobia....

We’ve seen backlash for ads featuring Santa Claus, we’ve seen the UK ad regulator ban e-cigarette ads from Instagram, and yet a significant number of youth are vaping, upwards of two million in 2021 according to the CDC. According to new research done by a team based in North Carolina, there are a few tips and tricks that are useful in order to create effective anti-vaping advertising. The study published in the latest issue of Tobacco Control states that “Promising vaping prevention messages focus on the adverse consequences of vaping, use negative imagery and avoid speaking for teens using their vernacular or perspective....

This experience can be a distressing experience for some, triggering a host of physical and psychological symptoms. But it doesn’t mean that everyone will experience withdrawal in the same way. For example, people who quit “cold turkey” tend to have more severe nicotine withdrawal symptoms than those using an approach that involves counseling, support systems, and quit-smoking aids such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). What Is Nicotine Withdrawal? Nicotine withdrawal refers to what happens in the body when someone who has been using nicotine regularly stops or reduces their intake....

What Is Perfectionism? Before we talk about perfectionism and OCD, it’s important to define perfectionism. Perfectionism, to some degree, can be beneficial. When contrasted with the other end of the spectrum, perfectionistic tendencies are typically preferable to “slob” tendencies. So how can you know what is good (and not only good but ideal) and what is not? Research on perfectionism has indicated that there are two main types of perfectionism: adaptive/health perfectionism and maladaptive/unhealthy perfectionism....

These thoughts are often self-defeating and irrational. They tend to magnify a person’s feelings that they will not be accepted by others or that they will embarrass themselves in social situations. Treatments for social anxiety often focus on helping people learn to identify these negative thoughts, challenge their accuracy, and replace them with more helpful ones. Examples of Negative Thinking There are a number of negative thinking patterns that can play a role in maintaining anxiety....

Ritalin (generic name methylphenidate) is a central nervous system stimulant that is used to treat children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. It is also used to treat patients with narcolepsy. Since Ritalin is often used as a generic term for the whole range of ADHD medications, sometimes people attribute every negative thing they have ever heard about ADHD treatments to Ritalin. This is unfortunate because Ritalin has a good track record of helping a lot of children with ADHD....

Not all paraphilic interests make up a paraphilic disorder. It’s important to distinguish between paraphilia and a paraphilic disorder. While the former includes unusual sexual urges and behaviors, the latter features recurrent and intense unusual sexual urges and behaviors that can cause impaired functioning and harm to yourself or others. Symptoms of Paraphilic Disorders Symptoms of paraphilic disorders are wide and varying. A common thread in signs of paraphilic disorders is their potential to cause harm....

We decided to dig a little deeper to learn about the types of mental health concerns parents have about their kids. I also wanted to know how kids are doing in terms of the 13 Things Strong Kids Do—the subject of my most recent book. I wanted to better understand how kids might be struggling with their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during the pandemic. Parents Are Stressed and So Are Kids From school closures to job losses, most families have experienced serious disruptions to their lives this year....

Self-actualization is actually considered quite rare, which means that peak experiences can be equally elusive. Not all people reach the peak of Maslow’s pyramid. Peak experiences are not restricted solely to self-actualized individuals, however. Maslow believed that all people are capable of having these moments, but he also felt that self-actualized people were likely to experience them more often. Definition of Peak Experiences Peak experiences are often described as transcendent moments of pure joy and elation....

Researchers reviewed 511 American studies that took place between 1956 and 2017, including those that assessed for cooperation among strangers. There are so many 21st-century challenges—from climate change to global inequality—that require a collective effort, and this research could provide some hope for the future. A Surprising Increase in Working Together Researchers analyzed over 500 studies that occurred from 1956 to 2017, and found that increasing levels of cooperation were correlated with growing urbanization, societal wealth, income inequality, etc....

What Is Problem-Solving? A problem exists when there is a goal that we want to achieve but the process by which we will achieve it is not obvious to us. Put another way, there is something that we want to occur in our life, yet we are not immediately certain how to make it happen. Maybe you want a better relationship with your spouse or another family member but you’re not sure how to improve it....

The scale might be used in research studies to determine the level of social anxiety experienced by participants, in clinical settings to assess a particular patient’s symptoms, or by people who are concerned that what they are experiencing might be the signs of an anxiety disorder. Experts now recommend routine anxiety screening for all women and girls over the age of 13, so the LSAS is one type of screening tool that you may encounter during a routine doctor’s visit....

Even for those disorders such as anxiety and depression for which psychiatric medications exist, the development of new traditional psychopharmacology agents has slowed. To expand the arsenal of treatments for various psychological disorders, some researchers are now looking at psychedelic medicines as a treatment alternative. And most recently, researchers have begun to examine some of these as potential treatments for eating disorders. What Are Psychedelics? Psychedelics, sometimes referred to as hallucinogens, are substances that alter perception, mood, and cognitive processes....

But we don’t just consume news on our phones. Smartphones are used to study, read books, look up new information—it’s become common to make reading material digitally available for ease of access. But a recent study raises concerns around the trend of a smartphone version of page-turning. The findings suggest that reading on electronic devices actually reduces our comprehension. The Research For this study, researchers focused on visual environment and respiratory patterns, two factors known to be linked to cognitive function and performance....

The process was incredibly trying for her well-being. Wright lost friends who weren’t “mature enough” to help and had no support from her family. “In hindsight, I am fully aware of how depressed I was during that time,” says Wright. “I don’t remember anyone ever counseling me or asking me if I was okay. I do remember after the baby was born that the doctor loaded me up with a three-week supply of pain pills to sort of help me ‘numb’ my way back to life afterward....

Retrograde amnesia is sometimes temporary but can also be permanent or progressive. The severity and duration of this type of amnesia depend on what is causing it. Retrograde amnesia can also be contrasted with anterograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is a type of memory loss that makes it impossible to form new memories. People with this form of amnesia have difficulty forming new memories following the onset of their memory loss....

While people might typically pick their noses out of boredom, nervousness, or just because they are trying to get rid of a pesky booger, a person with rhinotillexomania feels compelled to pick their noses. A person with this condition might also experience severe stress and anxiety and engage in other habits like nail-biting. Rhinotillexomania has been linked to other co-occurring conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, and other similar disorders like skin picking....

Since Kryst’s death, her mother has shared that she was dealing with high-functioning depression. Unfortunately, when faced with “strong Black woman” stereotypes, seeking help may not feel like much of an option. How Black Women Conceptualize Self-Care With interviews with subject-matter experts on wellness for themselves and other Black women, these themes emerged: forces outside of self, the consequences of external forces, desired outcome, and making the change. In this way, Black women conceptualized self-care as necessary activities to cope with structural socio-cultural factors that harm them, including the American political system, and gendered roles that reinforce self-neglect....