All posts filed under: Mental Health

Mental health awareness, tips, and facts from psychologist and psychotherapist Dr. Michael Kinsey.

Mental health governs our psychological, emotional and social well-being. It impacts our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. It also influences our ability to manage stress, make decisions, and relate to others. It is equally important in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

Psycho-emotional problems can impact our moods, thoughts and actions. There are many contribution factors, including:

Genetic factors, such as inherited traits or family history.
Biology, such as brain chemistry
Experiences, such as abuse or trauma.

Many people experience mental health challenges. With support, it’s possible to develop management strategies and, in many instances, make a complete recovery.

Some of the early warning signs of mental health problems are:

Changes in sleeping habits.
Changes in eating habits.
Having low or no energy.
Feelings of helplessness or hopelessness.
Increased feelings of fear, anxiety confusion, forgetfulness, worry or anger.
Withdrawing from people and regular activities.
Mood swings that lead to problems in relationships.
Aggression toward family and friends.
Believing things that are not true.
Feeling indifferent, numb or like nothing matters
Experiencing mysterious aches and pains.
An increase in smoking, drinking, or drug use.
Recurring thoughts, memories and flash backs.
Hearing voices in your mind.
Thoughts of self harm or harming others.
Unable to maintain daily routine, such as going to school or work, or taking children to school

Mental Hygiene

Some ways to maintain mental hygiene include:

Seeking professional help.
Peer support.
Positive mind set.
Movement and physical exercise.
Volunteering and helping others.
Healthy sleeping habits.
Developing healthy boundaries.
Building coping skills.

Mental Wellness

Positive mental health allows people to:

Achieve their full potential.
Stay productive.
Navigate stressful situations.
Contribute positively to their community.

The Montessori Method: The 5 Principles

Published by Sophie Fleetwood

What do Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow and His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge all have in common? They are the beneficiaries of the century-old student-focused Montessori education, which has produced some of the most innovative thinkers on the planet. Little Bets author Peter Sims wrote in his Wall Street Journal blog, “Ironically, the Montessori educational approach might be the surest route to joining the creative elite, which are so overrepresented by the school’s alumni that one might suspect a Montessori Mafia.” “You can’t understand Google unless you know that both Larry and Sergey were Montessori kids.” Yahoo CEO and former Google vice president Marissa Mayer told Wired magazine, “In a Montessori school, you go paint because you have something to express or you just want to do it that afternoon, not because the teacher said so. This is baked in how Larry and Sergey approach problems. They’re always asking, ‘Why should it be like that?’ It’s the way their brains were programmed …

Charmed by deception: Why we love to believe the lies others tell themselves

Published by Michael Kinsey, Ph.D.

Why are people who lie to themselves so charismatic? Everyone lies to themselves. Self-deception (a.k.a., denial) is a necessary defense mechanism. However, some people overuse denial and/or deploy it as a defense in a rigid, maladaptive way. So what does charisma have to do with self-deception? To answer this, I’ll rephrase the questions ever so slightly: What is it about people who believe their own lies that makes them so charismatic? The answer to this question is quite simple. If someone believes their own lies, then most other people will believe them, too. Humans are amazingly sophisticated when it comes to interpreting social behavior. We’ll naturally spot any incongruity between what a person says and how they behave. When someone lacks conviction in something, most people can detect the discrepancy between the words and the delivery. Narcissists are masters at this. They can often speak their grandiose notions of themselves into existence. How can they do this? Remember The Little Engine that Could? Simply believing you can actually can sometimes actually make it happen. But …

5 Secrets to a Healthy Work-Life Balance

Published by Madelaine Claire Weiss

5 secrets to a healthy work-life that unlock your creative flow, connect you to your personal power and unleash a transformation of your life as you know it. Sounds like a tall order but stop and consider this: the Japanese invented the word karoshi to describe death by overwork. In the west, we call it work stress and it’s equally dangerous to our health. Work stress describes the destructive physio-emotional responses that arise when the demands of a job are not aligned with the abilities or needs of the worker resulting in ill health and/or trauma. There are 120,000 work stress-related deaths per year in the US, with 77% of professionals reporting they experienced burnout that significantly impacted their work and quality of life. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of work stress include: Developing a cynical attitude toward work Procrastination Irritability and impatience Sluggishness Difficulty concentrating Dissatisfaction with achievements Disillusionment Numbing through substance- or food abuse Changes in sleep patterns Unexplained headaches, stomach or bowel problems, etc. Moving from misery to self-mastery I help high achievers master their minds so they can …

Are the parents of individuals suffering from BPD aware of the role they had to play in the development of this disorder?

Published by Michael Kinsey, Ph.D.

The most widely held theory of etiology for BPD is that sufferers of borderline personality disorder have both a temperamental predisposition (genetic emotional sensitivity and receptivity to one’s emotional environment) AND an emotionally invalidating environment during sensitive developmental periods. I would add that the larger context for both of these etiological factors is an intergenerational history of trauma. Explaining this is beyond the scope of this question, but an important point to hold in mind. This context is necessary to answer the question, since we have to consider how likely parents are to really empathize with the pain of their children. And, the short answer is that parents are not likely to fully comprehend how they have contributed to their child’s BPD. The reasons for this are as follows: Parents don’t tend to be aware of their contributions to the disorder without significant soul-searching because they are the source of the emotionally-invalidating environment. “Awareness” as used in the original question, in my reading, implies more than just intellectual understanding. Parents can cognitively “understand” that they …

How does the modern world promote schizoid personality disorder?

Published by Michael Kinsey, Ph.D.

Schizoid Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of asociality, and is what many people refer to when they colloquially describe someone as “antisocial” (in the sense of lacking interest in socializing with others). Before getting into factors in modern society that promote the schizoid personality type, here are a few things to understand about schizoid PD: Schizoid PD has been grouped with other “Cluster A” personality disorders. Cluster A personality disorders are marked by “odd or eccentric behavior.” Other Cluster A disorders include Paranoid Personality Disorder & Schizotypal Personality Disorder Schizoid PD is theorized to be on the Schizophrenia spectrum, meaning that the genotype and phenotype of schizoid PD are “cousins” of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Recent estimates suggest that 1% of the population meets criteria for schizoid personality disorder Identical twin studies show that there is a 30% concordance rate of schizoid PD between twins While there may be a significant genetic component of schizoid pd, many have speculated that aspects of modern life may be responsible for a growing number of cases …

Forgiveness Part II: Why forgiveness is important to your mental health and wellbeing

Published by Bex April May

Granting forgiveness can be one of the most difficult things you ever do. But, despite its challenges, forgiveness isn’t simply something you are giving to someone else. It can actually be just as important and powerful to your own wellbeing, aside from the feelings of the person who is being forgiven. We’re previously spoken to experts about how you would define forgiveness – and if you’re wondering “What is true forgiveness?”, you can read our article redefining the term here. Now, in Part Two of our exclusive series exploring forgiveness through the expertise of qualified psychologists, relationship experts, marriage counselors, psychiatrists, and spirituality experts, we delve into the importance of forgiveness, with particular regard to one’s own mental and spiritual health. Here, Mindsplain’s network of experts weigh in on the benefits of forgiveness when it comes to your own wellbeing… Why is forgiveness important? Award-winning licensed clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Dr Michael Kinsey, Ph.D., explains that, first of all, is a must, but requires work, saying, “It’s essential and very difficult. Pain and loss transform …

Covid-19: Building Coronavirus Resilience

5 Ways To Build Pandemic Resilience

Published by Mahevash Shaikh

According to a UN report, we are collectively living in the hardest time since World War II. Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic is responsible for an ongoing economic and health crisis. In challenging times like these, building resilience is crucial to surviving and thriving. What Is Resilience? Psychology Today defines resilience as “the psychological quality that allows some people to be knocked down by the adversities of life and come back at least as strong as before.” In simple words, resilience is a quality that enables an individual to bounce back from challenges like death, unemployment, and trauma. What is resilience theory? Resilience theory is a psychological framework used to understand what makes a person resilient or strong enough to withstand hardship in their life. Psychologist Catherine Moore thinks “it’s not the nature of adversity that is most important, but how we deal with it.” How Is Pandemic Resilience Helpful? While some people are naturally more resilient than others, anyone can build resilience. Having the ability to bounce back is essential to get through all kinds …

Are psychopaths aware of their condition? Do they care?

Published by Michael Kinsey, Ph.D.

Why are we so interested in psychpaths? Cold-blooded psychopaths and criminals are fascinating (and terrifying!) creatures. They fascinate us so much because they seem to express normal animalistic feelings, like rage, without much fear of social consequences, shame, or rejection.So what is the subjective world of the psychopath really like? Admittedly, it seems quite foreign to me, but let me take a stab (figuratively speaking–no one was harmed in the writing of this post) at an explanation. Psychopathy and antisocial Personality disorders are personality pathology Psychopathy and antisocial traits are fundamentally deficiencies in personality (i.e., they are personality disorders). A defining feature of personality disorders are that the “symptoms” are baked into someone’s day-to-day experience, and are therefore invisible–like water to a fish. The psychology jargon for this is that the traits are “egosyntonic”. In treating personality disorders, the first step is to build a discrepancy between the patient’s sense of social reality and a more widely-held feeling of social experience. Personality disorders bloom in families that are both extreme, harsh, and/or abnormal in their …

So, You Matched With Someone On Your Dating App. Now what?

Published by Kylie Feller

We all know that slight flush and exciting vibrations you get when you have matched with someone. Those sensations associated with the possibilities of meeting someone special never really goes away. What you do next is what sets the stage for your future connection. Although we like to believe we are original many of us rely on the same formula to strike up a conversation with our matches. Maybe these are not working, or you have gotten tired or just relying on “Hey” or “How’s it going”. These lines will not land well with a lot of people and could show you are not that interested. Plus, they often end in dead conversations. Asking the right questions after you have matched with someone online is important because it will help you determine if you are compatible with them enough to want to go on an actual date. There is no point in meeting up with someone if there is a limited chance you will actually get along. Online dating is awkward enough, by asking the …

“My truth”: Why Sufferers of Borderline Personality Disorder Treat Feelings as Facts

Published by Michael Kinsey, Ph.D.

People with a Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis can often seem to overvalue their own thoughts and feelings. In the cognitive behavioral therapy tradition, this phenomenon gets labeled as “emotional reasoning.” The logic of emotional reasoning goes like this: what I feel or think with conviction MUST be true because I feel so strongly that it’s true. The problem, of course, is many things feel true that aren’t. For example, the earth feels flat, but isn’t. A watched pot may feel like it takes forever to boil, but it always does given the burner works and is turned on. Here’s where it gets complicated. People with BPD treat their thoughts and feelings as facts because: Caregivers historically have not taken their thoughts and feelings seriously at all (i.e., invalidating emotional environment) The invalidating emotional environment makes sufferers of BPD self-invalidate; this means, they don’t take themselves seriously! Why would someone who doesn’t really believe that their internal world matters treat their thoughts and feelings as factual? The answer is quite simple: it’s too painful to relive …