What is self-talk & why does it matter? Self-talk is just that, the way you speak to yourself. It is your inner voice comprised of conscious thoughts, beliefs & biases that creates the monologue in your head. Whether you are aware of your patterns of self-talk or not, it is there. Self-talk has the ability to tear you down or lift you up- it all depends if your self-talk is positive or negative.

If your inner voice is consistently negative, it acts as a harsh critic & promotes pessimism in your life. Negative self-talk decreases self-esteem & confidence, causing you to feel badly about yourself. It will keep you from succeeding and it will fool you into thinking you will always fail. Negative self-talk causes endless cycles of rumination that lead to increased levels of depression & anxiety. This negativity often distorts reality causing you to see the world through a negative lens. So, I ask you, how can you possibly feel good or have a good day when your thought stream is consistently negative? The bottom line is, you can’t. Keep reading & you will learn how to change those negative thoughts into positive ones in order to live a happier life.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or don’t celebrate any holiday at all, this time of year can be particularly not the jolliest time for some. In fact, the celebrations, the get-to-togethers, the gifts, or realizing that your family are not people you look forward to seeing can be difficult to admit. Perhaps you do not have any close friends or family and this time of year is a glaring reflection of that. This is a typically stressful time for most people whether you have excitement and parties to look forward to or not. The logistics of planning something, financially making the season work for you, the pressure to get the holiday cards out, bake the cookies, buy the food, clean the house, put up the decorations, and deal with the family drama that may ensue from hosting the holiday this year can be especially draining. If you are someone who does not celebrate at all, or being around your family is a trigger, this can be a vulnerable time for you. The seasons are changing, it’s getting darker earlier, and it can be a bitter fight to stay sober, not relapse with substance use, eating disorders, or general mental health.

Getting fired is more common than some may realize.  A company can have numerous reasons for letting go of an employee such as budgeting, creative differences, or unsatisfactory performance.  It is important that you find ways to navigate this stressful life change. 

Words and the language we use in our daily lives have a significant impact on how we view ourselves and the world around us. As many of us have seen or experienced, even how something is worded can influence our interpretation and reaction of what was said. However, this is not only the case for the person listening. The language we use can shape and reinforce our own views, thoughts and mood, for better or for worse. In both scenarios, whether we are listening to someone else or saying something ourselves, the language we use can contribute to how we respond or behave in any given situation.

Mental health and physical health have commonly been considered two entirely different and separate things. However, the two are very closely related in many different ways. At the broadest level, poor mental health negatively impacts one’s physical health and poor physical health may negatively impact one’s mental health. However, positive physical health promotes improvements in mental health and vice-versa. Many factors contribute to both one’s physical health and mental health; however, the benefits, or consequences, one has on the other are significant.

The mind and body are often seen as separate, but mental health and physical health are closely related. Having good mental health can positively affect your physical health, as well as the reverse.

You would not be alone if you are concerned about the possible negative effects on your mental health around the winter season. Many people label this season as one of the most stressful times of the year, while some stress is unavoidable, too much stress can challenge your ability to cope.

As we begin to prepare for the holidays, this is also the time we turn back our clocks to standard time. In order to remember which way the clocks move, we’ve named it “fall back” & “spring forward.” Falling back means changing the clocks back one full hour, resulting in earlier sunsets & later sunrises. This ultimately means more darkness throughout the rest of Fall & Winter. Darkness can feel increasingly isolating & is known to exacerbate already existing mental health problems such as depression & anxiety. Changing back the clocks also negatively impacts our circadian rhythm (body clock), disrupting our sleep/wake cycle & the production of melatonin. Darkness increases the production of melatonin, thus leaving us to feel more tired, sleepy & fatigued in the winter months. In essence, sunlight is directly linked to our circadian rhythm therefore it is no surprise that when the sun goes down, we begin to get sleepy, even if it’s only 5pm!

Video games have frequently been portrayed in the media as, at best, a “waste of time”, and at worst, harmful to those who play them. However, there has been an increasing amount of research that not only contradicts these claims, but identifies numerous benefits of playing video games. Another common misconception of video games is that it is for children, particularly male children; however, the people who play video games has continued to become an increasingly diverse group. The age of the average video game player is 35 and it is estimated that approximately 59% of those who play video games are male and 41% are female (Halbrook, O’Donell & Mstefi 2019).

One of the things that distress people struggling with mental health challenges like anxiety and depression is the inability to make a decision or sometimes feeling like they do not know what it is they want in a given situation. This can cause much distress and make undesirable situations even more difficult. There are many insight-building strategies that help people clarify what is important to them and what choices they want to make. In this blog, we will be going over one of those strategies in the form of a four-square pros and cons exercise. This is inspired by that from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy but includes a few differences. This exercise is designed to help you access your wisdom regarding a particular choice. Please keep in mind that when using this exercise, each time it is used it is used for the positive statement of a choice, and then the negative statement of the choice. For example, this tool would be done with statements such as “attending my friend’s birthday party” and “not attending my friend’s birthday party” instead of 2 different statements such as “Attending my friend’s birthday party” and “Going to the mall”. Now, let’s review more about how this exercise is used.