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The Exercise Pill: How Exercise Keeps Your Brain Healthy and Protects It Against Depression and Anxiety
Read More: The Exercise Pill: How Exercise Keeps Your Brain Healthy and Protects It Against Depression and AnxietyBy Arash Javanbakht, Wayne State University As with many other physicians, recommending physical activity to patients was just a doctor chore for me โ until a few years ago. That was because I myself was not very active. Over the years, as I picked up boxing and became more active, I got firsthand experience of…
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Suffering in Silence: Middle-Aged Women and Eating Disorders
Read More: Suffering in Silence: Middle-Aged Women and Eating DisordersFebruary 22-28, 2021 is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. When you think of eating disorders, you probably think of young, white, teenage girls. But women in midlife struggle with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder, too. In fact, 13% of women over 50 experience symptoms of an eating disorder. We…
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Anxiety, Body image, Depression, Eating disorders, mental health, Obesity, Real women real stories, Self-Care
I Had An Eating Disorder for 20 Years Before I Knew Anything Was Wrong
Read More: I Had An Eating Disorder for 20 Years Before I Knew Anything Was WrongAs told to Alex Fulton February 22-28, 2021 is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. My eating disorder started when I was 12. I was sitting in the kitchen eating some chips when my father came in and looked at me. “You’re getting chubby,” he said. Then he turned to my mom. “You need to watch…
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Women of Color Spend More Than $8 Billion on Bleaching Creams Worldwide Every Year
Read More: Women of Color Spend More Than $8 Billion on Bleaching Creams Worldwide Every YearBy Ronald Hall, Michigan State University The idealization of light skin as the pinnacle of beauty affects self-esteem for women of color around the world. In many cultures, skin color is a social benchmark that is often used by people of color and whites alike in lieu of race. Attractiveness, marriageability, career opportunities and socioeconomic…
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Breaking it Down
Read More: Breaking it DownJanuary was an exciting month for actress Mayim Bialik. Known for “The Big Bang Theory” (TBBT) and “Blossom,” Bialik stars in “Call Me Kat,” which premiered on Fox on January 3. In the second week of January, Bialik also premiered her podcast, “Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown,” which focuses on mental health. In addition to being an…
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Domestic Violence Hurts People With Disabilities, Too
Read More: Domestic Violence Hurts People With Disabilities, TooSince 2015, Shannon, a 40-year-old New York native, has lived in a domestic violence shelter for people with disabilities: Barrier Free Living (BFL), which has services in Manhattan and the Bronx. BFL is one of the few programs nationwide dedicated exclusively to serving survivors of domestic violence with disabilities. Her real name will not be…
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How I Learned to Love My Bald Self
Read More: How I Learned to Love My Bald SelfAs told to Liz Sauchelli As the elevator descended, my nerves got worse with every floor we passed. But I knew I was ready. Four years after I was diagnosed with alopecia, I was about to appear in public for the first time without a hat, head covering or wig. I was at the National…
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Abuse, Depression, Eating disorders, mental health, Obesity, Parenting, Real women real stories, Self-Care
I Recovered from Obesity and Bulimia Triggered by Sexual Abuse Once. And I Can Do It Again.
Read More: I Recovered from Obesity and Bulimia Triggered by Sexual Abuse Once. And I Can Do It Again.As told to Gila Lyons I’ve dealt with weight issues and bulimia since I was 16 years old. My weight’s gone up and down throughout my life, and today โ at 55 years old โ I’m 5’3″ and weigh 190 pounds. At times, I feel depressed and humiliated by my weight, but I have hope…
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Anxiety, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Depression, Energy, Fatigue, mental health, Self-Care, sleep, Stress
5 Ways to Cope With Seasonal Affective Disorder
Read More: 5 Ways to Cope With Seasonal Affective DisorderI dread daylight saving time. Each year when that November weekend approaches, I brace for the return of my seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression that typically recurs each fall and lasts through the winter (a smaller percentage of people have SAD symptoms during the summer). I am part of the estimated 0.5%…
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COVID-19 and Social Isolation This Winter: The Perfect Storm
Read More: COVID-19 and Social Isolation This Winter: The Perfect StormLast night I dreamed that I was trapped inside a strange house. I ran down coiled staircases through shadowy hallways, past room after room with locked doors or frozen-shut windows. There was no escape. I woke up in a panic, anxiety from the dream still thrumming in my chest. Reflexively, I checked my phone for…
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Unwrapping Depression for the Holidays
Read More: Unwrapping Depression for the HolidaysFor nearly 20 years, Kristy dealt with untreated depression on her own. She thought she could ignore her feelings. She pushed through โ even during her first divorce, when she began to wonder whether her family would be better off without her. It was only after her retirement 15 years later, when she struggled with…
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Anxiety, Depression, Medication safety, mental health, Prescrption drugs, Self-Care, sleep, Stress, Substance abuse
New Antidepressants Can Lift Depression and Suicidal Thoughts Fast, but Donโt Expect Magic Cures
Read More: New Antidepressants Can Lift Depression and Suicidal Thoughts Fast, but Donโt Expect Magic CuresBy Nicholas Mischel, Wayne State University Depression is the most common cause of disability in the world. Chances are high that you or someone you know will experience a period when depression gets in the way of work, social life or family life. Nearly two in three people with depression will experience severe effects. As…
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How I Learned to Love Celebrating My Disability
Read More: How I Learned to Love Celebrating My DisabilityDecember 3 is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I have never known a life without disability. I was born with cerebral palsy, which, in my case, impacts the right side of my body. This means delayed motor skills, reaction times, limited range of motion and walking with a visible limp. Cerebral palsy is and…
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Amid COVID and Racial Unrest, Black Churches Put Faith in Mental Health Care
Read More: Amid COVID and Racial Unrest, Black Churches Put Faith in Mental Health CareBy Aneri Pattani, Kaiser Health News Wilma Mayfield used to visit a senior center in Durham, North Carolina, four days a week and attend Lincoln Memorial Baptist Church on Sundays, a ritual she’s maintained for nearly half a century. But over the past 10 months, she’s seen only the inside of her home, the grocery…
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Meghan Markle and Me
Read More: Meghan Markle and MeI never imagined having anything in common with a royal, but with Meghan Markle’s announcement that she’d suffered a miscarriage this past summer, there it was. While it’s been two decades since I experienced three miscarriages, I felt an instant connection to Markle’s pain, loss and isolation. It’s that isolation — the solitary mourning Markle…
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Long-Term Care Workers, Grieving and Under Siege, Brace for COVIDโs Next Round
Read More: Long-Term Care Workers, Grieving and Under Siege, Brace for COVIDโs Next RoundBy Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News In the middle of the night, Stefania Silvestri lies in bed remembering her elderly patients’ cries. “Help me.” “Please don’t leave me.” “I need my family.” Months of caring for older adults in a Rhode Island nursing home ravaged by COVID-19 have taken a steep toll on Silvestri, 37,…
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Feeling Disoriented by the Election, Pandemic and Everything Else? Itโs Called โzozobra,โ and Mexican Philosophers Have Some Advice
Read More: Feeling Disoriented by the Election, Pandemic and Everything Else? Itโs Called โzozobra,โ and Mexican Philosophers Have Some AdviceBy Francisco Gallegos, Wake Forest University and Carlos Alberto Sánchez, San José State University Ever had the feeling that you can’t make sense of what’s happening? One moment everything seems normal, then suddenly the frame shifts to reveal a world on fire, struggling with pandemic, recession, climate change and political upheaval. That’s “zozobra,” the peculiar…
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Perimenopause Is Like the Weather: It Can Be Terrible, but It Will Pass
Read More: Perimenopause Is Like the Weather: It Can Be Terrible, but It Will PassThe trickle arrives at 11 a.m. A plum-colored stain on the toilet paper. A scarlet plume that heralds the end of my melancholic misery. “It came! It came!” I rush to the door and call down the hall to my husband, who is doing the dishes. “Congratulations!” he calls back, and I feel a surge…
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If You Live with Domestic Violence, Home May Be the Last Place that Feels Safe During COVID-19
Read More: If You Live with Domestic Violence, Home May Be the Last Place that Feels Safe During COVID-19COVID-19 has forced millions of Americans to practice social distancing and work or learn remotely from home. Unfortunately, for many who live with domestic violence, home is the last place that feels safe, as abusers often isolate their victims from friends, family and coworkers as a control tactic. Stacey*, a stay-at-home mom, didn’t realize the…
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Anxiety, Behealthiher, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Depression, Energy, Fatigue, mental health, Self-Care, sleep, Stress
How to Cope With 2020 Burnout
Read More: How to Cope With 2020 BurnoutOn a recent Houseparty call with my three best friends, I burst into tears. “I’m stressed about everything,” I sobbed, surprising myself. “I think I’m going COVID crazy.” Our calls are usually a hoot, but we were all feeling spent. Jessi’s husband had had heart surgery, and no one could visit him because of COVID-19…
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Anxiety, Depression, Estrogen, healthy aging, Hormones, Menopause, mental health, Perimenopause, Stress
Dealing With Rage During the Perimenopause Transition and Beyond
Read More: Dealing With Rage During the Perimenopause Transition and BeyondThe rage hit Juliet Doherty like a train. At 48 years old, Doherty had been in perimenopause for two years, living with daily headaches, sore breasts and irregular periods. But it had been manageable. “Naively, I believed that if that was all it was, I would be fine,” Doherty said. That suddenly changed when she…
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The Only Way Out Is Through: How I Healed From the Trauma of Chronic Pain
Read More: The Only Way Out Is Through: How I Healed From the Trauma of Chronic PainEight years ago, high on endorphins from a morning trail run, I tripped on a rock and flew through the air. Seconds from falling face-first and tumbling down the mountain, I twisted my body at the last moment. When I hit the ground, the lowest disc in my spine bulged and tore. My back pain…
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I Was Diagnosed With Adult ADHD. Hereโs What I Learned
Read More: I Was Diagnosed With Adult ADHD. Hereโs What I LearnedI was 21 years old when I finally discovered why I’d managed to do well in school and get into a good college but cried all the time in math class and never remembered where I left my shoes. I’d spent most of my life trying to “get it together,” always with the best intentions.…
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Family and Friends Can Be Key to Helping End Domestic Violence, Study Suggests
Read More: Family and Friends Can Be Key to Helping End Domestic Violence, Study SuggestsBy Krista M. Chronister, University of Oregon The COVID-19 pandemic and strategies to prevent its spread, such as self-quarantine and travel restrictions, have isolated families and intensified conditions that place people at greater risk for domestic violence. Reports of domestic violence are increasing around the world. Domestic violence is harm inflicted by a romantic partner…
