“The most maddening—and the most common—response I get when I write about the daughters and sons of unloving mothers is that people point out that the ones I write about were “only” (quotations marks mine, and meant ironically) verbally abused. Science knows better, but the culture does not; the mantra seems to be that if…
“Fewer men than women are formally diagnosed with depression, and in Western countries, rates of male depression are half that of females. Experts suggest that the lower reported rates of men’s depression are due, in part, to men’s reluctance to express concerns about their mental health and reticence to seek professional mental health care services…
Unless you live with post-traumatic stress disorder, it can be hard to understand why an event from the past can still affect someone now. You may wonder why they just can’t “forget about it,” or get confused when seemingly low-stress situations evoke a strong reaction. But for people with post-traumatic stress disorder, their brain actually…
“One of the most pernicious results of Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) is also, amazingly, the most directly fixable. Who hasn’t, at some moments of their lives, wondered what it’s all for? What’s the point? Why am I here on this earth? What am I supposed to be doing? Does anything really matter? I have noticed…
“One in six men are sexually abused as boys, according to multiple studies. But a much smaller number ever talk about it. Most suffer in silence. I want this story to reach those who have gone through any form of sexual abuse, from the teenager struggling with his own silence to the man who has…
“It sounds simple; just get a hug a day and you’ll be releasing oxytocin all over the place and you’ll enjoy steady health. The catch is that the above study was done with healthy adults–presumably adults who did not suffer from a major emotional disorder. But what happens if you are unhealthy? People who suffer…
