“Stop Crying Like a Girl” – Growing up with Toxic Masculinity
As a child I was, as my peers so often liked to call me, a bit of a crybaby. I had always been prone to emotional expression, whether it was after watching a sad movie or because I was feeling lonely. I even recall crying once after my teacher broke it to me that a...
It’s Spring! Why You Don’t Have to Feel Happy
Spring is finally here. People are wearing shorts, the birds are infectiously happy, flowers are blooming everywhere. In the grocery store today, a man told me, “You look so sad. Be happy! The weather is beautiful.” While there’s always room for gratitude in our days,...
Social Anxiety
Have you ever felt scared, sick, or worried before you gave a presentation at work or school? Typically, anxiety in this type of situation is called “performance anxiety,” and it is extremely common. The symptoms of performance anxiety - which, again, are widely...
Academic Pressure and Mental Health
I got good grades in High School. I didn’t understand how important this was to my self-esteem until I got to college and stopped getting good grades. Now, I had always maintained, even from an early age, that I hated grades on principle. I despised “track systems”...
Guilt and How It Affects Us
Guilt is an incredibly powerful emotion. There is a wide range of things to feel guilty about - from feeling guilty about eating the last piece of pizza to feeling guilty about someone you hurt in your childhood. Some may wonder how guilt affects our mental health....
The Importance of Sleep
In an age of flashy distractions and round-the-clock information, it has become increasingly difficult for many to maintain a healthy and consistent sleep schedule. According to a 2015 National Sleep Foundation study, individuals between the ages of 18-64 should be...
DEMYSTIFYING ASEXUALITY
Asexuality can be a rather confusing term - and if you’ve never heard of it before, or even if you have, chances are you're not 100% sure what it means. Asexual (also commonly referred to as “Ace”) can be translated to “not sexual”. It’s a sexual identity that is most...
February Mental Wellness Tip – Take Time to Enjoy
For many people, acknowledging their enjoyment of something is as simple as saying, “I like this.” If you were, for example, eating a delicious, perfectly ripe pomegranate, you may say to yourself or another person, “This is delicious,” and then move on to thinking...
Bisexual Erasure
Bisexuality is a sexual identity that some people, unfortunately, just flat out don’t believe in. It’s somewhat understandable - if someone only has the ability to love one sex, it may be hard to see the other side. Additionally, media representation of bisexual...
Struggling with OCD
What is OCD? Chances are you know someone - likely multiple people - that struggle with a mental disorder. Although not uncommon, mental disorders can take a huge toll on someone. It can interfere with work, school, or otherwise. It can even affect a person’s ability...