This Week in News You Can Use

Much is written about how certain phrases or conversational styles gives a clue to our emotional state. These articles help us be more aware of when someone's words might signal depression, and to recognize and move away from entrenched patterns of black-and-white thinking as a strategy to improve coping skills.   Image courtesy of iqoncept/123RF.com

• These Common Words and Phrases May Signal Depression
• Moving from Black-and-White to Dialectical Thinking

Youths, Bipolar, Treatment

A parent who has bipolar disorder is often on pins and needles, constantly worried and on guard for the earliest signs of the illness in his/her child. Early intervention is always the best course, and a newly developed algorithm provides guidance to clinicians about which interventions and medications will be most effective. From the Psychiatric Times, Treatment Options for Youths at Risk for Bipolar.

Break Myths of Borderline Personality Disorder

In a world that still harbors various degrees of stigma toward mental illness and behavioral issues, few are more misunderstood or maligned than Borderline Personality Disorder. One of the best ways to better understand the condition is to use our human perspective and get a peek into a person's experience of it. Three talented individuals give you that opportunity in Break the Myths of BPD.   Image courtesy of melpomen/123RF.com

Healing from Toxic Shame

Living with a feeling of toxic shame about one's self can be described as living in a "trance of unworthiness." Going beyond the basics of guilt vs shame, psychotherapist Tom Moon helps us understand the paradox of toxic shame and the underlying mechanism of healing from it in his 2-part series on Overcoming Toxic Shame: What Is It? and Tools for Healing.    Image courtesy of Eduardo Huelin/123RF.com

Help Your Child Manage Anxiety and Intrusive Thoughts

Anxiety is a shady character, often appearing in ways not immediately recognizable for what they are. This can especially be true for kids, who typically express anxiety in all sorts of ways other than saying, "I feel anxious." Here are two articles to help you and your child.

• 15 Things Kids or Teens Say That Could Mean "I'm Anxious" and How to Respond
• Intrusive Thoughts: 5 Ways to Help Your Child Take Back Control​

Tips from Therapists

A sign of a good therapist is one who helps you learn skills to navigate what's going on in your life. And the results of good therapy don't usually happen in the office...they show up in your day-to-day life. So, while a list of tips is no substitute for therapy sessions, here are 11 Little Mental Health Tips That Therapists Actually Give Their Clients.

Know Before You Go

You've decided to start seeing a therapist. Great! You have your list of what you want to work on. You might also have a vision of how certain aspects of your life could be different. But getting to this point and preparing to walk into the first appointment can be stressful. Help remove some of the stress about the "unknowns" of the therapeutic process and the business relationship with your therapist in 12 Incorrect Beliefs About Psychotherapy.      Image courtesy of 123RF.com

Talk So Doc Will Listen

No matter what type of doctor you see, he or she probably runs on a super-tight schedule that can leave you feeling rushed, not listened to, or not able to get through everything you wanted to talk about. An attending physician at Bellevue Hospital offers strategies and decodes "what you say" vs "what doctor hears and thinks" in We Asked a Doctor How to Talk So They Will Listen.  Image courtesy of Dmitriy Shironosov/123RF.com

Understanding Psychosomatic Symptoms

When neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan was assigned to provide treatment to patients whose epilepsy was not improving, she discovered that many of them experienced psychosomatic symptoms. Is This Why You Feel Awful Even If Your Doctor Says Nothing's Wrong? is a short Q&A to help us better understand psychosomatic disorders and their implications.

Self-Care in Codependency

Self-care is important for everyone, but it's especially important - and probably more of a struggle - for people with codependency traits. Sharon Martin, LCSW and author, shares insights and three self-reflection exercises to help understand 3 Reasons Codependents Struggle with Self-Care.