When faced with a difficult obstacle, the natural reaction is the creation of stress. Stress can be beneficial in small doses as it may increase your awareness or give you the bolt of energy sometimes needed to accomplish a task. But chronic stress, which lasts for an extended period of time, cannot be brushed off and ... Read More
Behavioral & Mental Health
Approximately 18.5% of adults in the U.S. have experienced mental illness. These disorders include depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder among others. This learning center explores the reality of mental health and the treatment needed. The stigma surrounding this issue prevents people from reaching out for quality help when a better life is possible. Our mental health licensed professionals treat patients with a variety of conditions and inform our topics found in this section.
The Link Between Chronic Stress and Addiction
Gaming Addiction: A New Frontier in Addictive Disorders
In the past decade, the quality, depth, and selection of video games have increased so much that we're beginning to see the effects of "gaming addiction" on people of all ages in nearly every corner of the earth. Many people may brush off the mere existence of an addiction to video games. After all, gaming isn't ... Read More
Self-medicating PTSD with Drug Use
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD) often co-occur, meaning someone has both disorders at the same time. These people require a more complex course of treatment and have a less favorable outcomes than those with only one disorder. Researchers are actively developing treatments for ... Read More
Social Media and the Rise of Mental Illness
Updated March 16, 2022 The question of how social media use affects health continues to spur research. It's also a source of some controversy. To be sure, social media has positive and negative effects on our behavior, but is social media to blame for a reported rise in mental illness? The Big Picture of Social ... Read More
“That’s Insane”: How Our Language Stigmatizes Mental Illness
Updated on December 9, 2024 Words matter. The language that we use to talk about a particular topic can have a profound effect on how we think about and relate to it. Think for a moment about mental illness. It could be the only disease in which people who have it feel guilty for doing so or, in some cases, are ... Read More
Addicted to Perfection: Learning to Live Imperfectly
Perfectionism is defined as the consistent attempt to be faultless and involves a set of compulsive behaviors and attitudes employed to achieve this. Perfectionists establish very high parameters within which they live and are immensely critical of themselves when those standards are not maintained. The downfall of ... Read More
10 Ways to Help Someone Who Has Bipolar Disorder
About 2.6 percent of the United States population is diagnosed with some form of bipolar disorder. That percentage might seem low, but that means that 8.5 MILLION people suffer day to day with this mental illness. Chances are, you either know someone or will encounter someone with this disorder over the course ... Read More
Is Too Much Screen Time to Blame for Your Depression?
If you are struggling with depression and want help relieving the pain, one of the first things professionals have begun recommending is reducing the amount of time spent looking at your computer and phone screens. Studies now show that the impact from screen time has detrimental impacts on individuals struggling with ... Read More
















