Mental Health @ Home book review: White Fragility

Book Review: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, whose background is education and who is white herself, looks at racism and why she believes white people don’t want to talk about it. I went into the book knowing that it was popular but having doubts about the effectiveness of the title at accomplishing the intended effect. White fragility […]

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Antidepressants, side effects, and delayed benefits

Antidepressant Side Effects & Delayed Therapeutic Effect

Have you ever wondered why antidepressant side effects seem to be worse at the beginning, or why it takes so long for them to actually start doing what you expect of them? There is actually some rhyme and reason for it, so let’s talk about it. Let’s talk serotonin People with depression don’t have enough

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Is Being Politically Correct Helpful or Ineffective?

The push to be politically correct drives some people crazy, while others think that being careful about language is necessary to keep from causing offence. There are all kinds of people out there being intentionally offensive (just look at Twitter), but to what extent should we as a society go hunting for it when it’s

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What Is... Series (Insights into Psychology)

What Is… Executive Functioning

In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms.  This week’s term is executive functioning. Executive functioning refers to higher-level cognitive processes related to organization and regulation. It’s the C-suite of your brain, or kind of like your brain’s air traffic control system. Tasks that fall under this umbrella include:

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Mental Health @ Home book review: The Suicidal Thoughts Workbook

Book Review: The Suicidal Thoughts Workbook

The Suicidal Thoughts Workbook by Kathryn Hope Gordon aims to support people experiencing thoughts of suicide to help manage their emotional pain, drawing on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) strategies. The book begins by guiding the reader through worksheets to reflect on reactions to the suicidal thoughts and identify risk factors and elements in the environment

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The UN’s Position on Human Rights and Mental Illness

In 1991, the United Nations General Assembly passed a set of principles for the protection of persons with mental illness and the improvement of mental health care. The international community will talk the talk when it comes to human rights and mental illness, but they’re still a long way from walking the walk. This post

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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Metaphors

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is really big on using metaphors to convey key concepts. This post will take a look at a few of them. Self-as-context metaphors Chessboard A core message of ACT is that our self is the context for what happens inside our heads, not the content of it. One metaphor for

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What Is... Series (Insights into Psychology)

What Is… Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a type of eating disorder that involves restricting food intake, not with the aim of weight loss, but more along the lines of picky eating twisted to

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Mental Health @ Home book reviews: Blackness Interrupted

Book Review: Blackness Interrupted: Black Psychology Matters

Blackness Interrupted: Black Psychology Matters by Nicól Osborne and Tamera Gittens is a passionate call for greater recognition of Black psychology, which pertains specifically to the experiences and culture of African American people. The authors explain the multiple barriers that face African Americans contemplating higher education in fields like psychology. They explain the impact of

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