Most of us have at least a general understanding of mental health. We understand that we can develop conditions like anxiety and depression that cause us to feel worried, sad, stressed, and overwhelmed. We also tend to recognize that these symptoms are not something we easily control, and often benefit from treatment from an experienced NYC psychologist.
But, despite this general understanding of mental health, not all of us can fully process the idea that our thoughts and feelings when we struggle with anxiety and depression may not be genuine – and that the way that we process the world with a mental health condition is affected by these same conditions.
How Mental Health Creates Negative Thinking, Hopelessness
We tend to believe that the way we feel and the way we think are logical and genuine. Even when we struggle with a condition like depression, we still tend to feel like the way that we experience things is how they *are*.
We can see this show up in many different ways:
Neutral Interactions – When we experience an emotionally neutral interaction, such as ordering a coffee from a coffee shop, those with mental health struggles may process it as a negative event. We may feel like it was unenjoyable, or part of a bad day, or a negative experience, even if nothing specifically negative occurred.
Limited Tolerance – With our stress levels high, we have very little capacity for discomforts of any kind, which can lead us to feeling easily annoyed, irritable or stressed. Yet we do not always realize that our stress levels are high, so that intolerance feels like a general annoyance with others.
Fewer Positive Experiences – When you have mental health struggles, the things you enjoy are unlikely to feel as enjoyable, while the things you don’t enjoy feel even worse. If you look back on a day of ½ enjoyable, ½ unenjoyable activities, the day is going to feel like a bad day simply because the enjoyable activities were not able to be enjoyed as often.
But perhaps the most problematic symptom is that depression and anxiety are conditions that feed themselves.
For example, a symptom of depression is a feeling of hopelessness. What this means is that, if a person tries to treat their depression, they are naturally and organically going to feel like the treatment will not work – because the depression causes them to process it as hopeless. That hopelessness feels so genuine, that even a person that knows they have depression may not associate it with their mental health.
The way that psychology affects how we think and how we process the world is fascinating, yet it also means that struggling with a mental health condition can affect us in ways we do not always realize or understand.
Treating Thoughts Can Change Mental Health
All of this is about recognizing that the way that we think isn’t just our personality, our character, or our natural emotions and thought processes. Sometimes, the way that we think and the way we feel is affected by our mental health.
Yet, perhaps what is most fascinating about mental health, in general, is that it’s possible to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions by systematically altering how we see our thoughts and behaviors. Just as depression can cause you to think negatively, so too can learning to think positively help cure depression. It is one of the many ways that mental health is fascinating, and also why anyone struggling with their mental health should consider seeing a therapist for support.
Learn more about our psychotherapy services at Flourish Psychology, today.
As we navigate the new year, one of the things that we may look for is an opportunity to enhance our relationships, from friendships to romance to how we connect with our coworkers. As human beings, relationships play an important role in the way that we see ourselves, and when we reflect on the new year, it is often how our relationships progressed and the experiences we enjoyed with others.
However, often, in order to find and grow in these relationships, we often have to focus on ourselves, and to do that, you may want to ask yourself what it is that makes you interesting.
Qualities of an Interesting Person
There’s a cliché in the dating world that you are more likely to meet someone when you spend time working on yourself. But this isn’t entirely untrue. That is because when we take on activities for ourselves, we also answer an important question: What makes us interesting?
When we take on activities for ourselves, we are able to:
Maintain interesting conversations. The more experiences we have with cool, fun, or unique things, the more we are able to give other people an experience as our friend or partner that they cannot get from others.
Grow our self confidence. When we engage in activities for ourselves, we often find that we grow our self-esteem and self-confidence. This helps to make sure that we’re feeling our best about who we are, making us more fun to talk to.
Find like-minded people. When we engage in activities that we enjoy and are learning from, we also meet people that are interested in the same activities. These are people that likely share your traits – people that will be more interested in you, and vice versa.
“Finding ourselves” by taking on new hobbies and activities and prioritizing self-care has benefits that extend far beyond ourselves. It makes us more interesting to others, and helps you find and meet people that you connect with better.
As we embark on a new year, it also has the added advantage of making life more fulfilling, slowing down time, and ensuring that – at the end of the year – you can look back fondly on who you are and what you accomplished.
Therapy to Help Increase Motivation and Self-Esteem
Still, despite all these benefits, it can be hard to give yourself the motivation to engage in these activities. Poor self-confidence, low energy, stress – these are all issues that can hold you back from committing to activities that will enhance your life. If you’ve been struggling with these issues, call Flourish Psychology today to learn more about our therapists or to schedule an appointment.
It is important to have as healthy a relationship as possible. That is why so many partners seek out therapists that specialize in enhancing and growing relationships. Couples therapists, like our team here at Flourish Psychology, create a comfortable space for both partners to talk about their needs, desires, hopes, and goals, in order to be better understood and put on a path toward strengthening the relationship.
Within this field, you’ll often see several different terms used to describe this process:
Couples Counseling
Couples Therapy
Relationship Counseling
Relationship Therapy
Marriage Counseling
Marriage Therapy
You want what is best for your relationship, so it’s not uncommon to find yourself unsure about the differences between these services and which one is best for you.
Language with Distinctive Definitions
Luckily, for the average couple, these terms have no distinctive meaning. They are used interchangeably to describe the same process – a type of therapy that revolves around your relationship in order to help you grow stronger as a couple. Most of the time, couples counseling vs couples therapy (and most variations) refer to the same thing, and you’ll often find them used to describe the same process.
However, it should be noted that the word choice may have implications for the type of therapy and approach, particularly the choice between “counseling” and “therapy.”
Relationship Counseling and Relationship Therapy
When we use a phrase like “couples counseling,” we are talking about the idea of receiving guidance and feedback from a trained therapist that can help you grow your relationship. Couples therapy, while used in similar situations, tends to imply a more structured type of approach, typically provided by an experienced psychologist that has been trained specifically in effective modalities.
However, since all couples are different, a structured approach is not always best for every situation, in which case a less structured couples counseling may be used instead.
Contact Flourish Psychology for Relationship Help and Support
Most of the time, the terms couples therapy and couples counseling are used interchangeably to refer to the same or a similar process. However, relationship therapy has been extensively researched, and there are structured approaches that therapists – especially clinical psychologists – may use to help address your relationship struggles and concerns. No matter the term, our therapists at Flourish Psychology are available to support you and your relationship, helping it grow and giving you the tools you need to move forward. Learn more about our relationship counseling or get started by calling Flourish Psychology, today.
We are only a few days from the new year, and while we hope that 2022 was one of the best years in your life, we also know that, for many of us, there are things that we want to work on and ways that we want to personally improve.
That is why, so often, we take January 1st of a new year as an opportunity for resolutions – new changes that we’ve set out for ourselves that we plan to continue through 2023 and beyond.
Making Resolutions is Easy
Making resolutions is very easy. It’s keeping the resolutions that is the problem. Anyone can make a resolution. But keeping the resolution is the most important part of the resolution.
On that front, most of us fail. Even the most noble of goals tends to be easily forgotten or put off after January or February. We promise to exercise more, eat healthier, or engage in some type of activity, and then life catches up with us and we get back into our own habits.
No one can force you to keep your resolutions. But there are strategies and techniques that can help you make resolutions that last. This year, consider the following:
Choose Genuine Resolutions – Yes, you may want to exercise more. Yes, you may want to eat healthier. These are things you may want to do. But how badly do you really want to do them? Do you want to do it because you think you should, or is it a genuine interest? Choose only resolutions that you have a very strong interest in, so that you are passionate about pursuing them.
Be Specific – Do you really want to “exercise more” or is there something specific you want to do? Maybe you want to go hiking more, or train for a marathon, or lose exactly 15 lbs. The more specific you are, the easier it is to make progress towards those goals. The more generic the goal, the harder it is to feel focused or accomplished.
Create Sub-Goals and a Plan – Once you have resolutions in mind, turn them into smaller goals and make sure they’re scheduled into your calendar. For example, if you plan to eat healthier, set a goal of cooking dinner 5x a week, make a list of healthy foods, and plan them on your calendar in advance so you know what to do and when.
Create Habits – Let’s say you plan to floss every day. Saying “I’m going to floss” doesn’t always work. Instead, you need to turn it into a habit – a regular part of your routine. You can do this by tying it to another habit (for example, brushing teeth at night), making sure you do it before you brush your teeth, keeping floss visible at all times so you never forget, and setting alarm reminders. You can do this with many other resolutions that you’re considering.
Find a Buddy – Accountability plays a strong role in the ability to keep resolutions. You are far more likely to continue with one if you know that someone is waiting on you or depending on you. For example, don’t join a gym alone, but go with a friend, and make a plan to schedule it in together. Instead of meals for yourself, share meals with a friend, where you both take turns eating them together.
Above all else, make sure that you’re also addressing any issues in your life that may be keeping you from achieving your goals. Stress, anxiety, relationship issues – these are all things that can create challenges that affect your ability to keep your resolutions and make the changes that you’re looking for in your life. If you haven’t yet, let self-care and therapy be a resolution that you strongly consider keeping this year. Learn more by contacting Flourish Psychology today.
We often talk about the different symptoms of anxiety, from rapid heartbeat to sweating to tension and more. But anxiety affects your entire body, inside and out, and the longer you live with anxiety, the more you might start to notice more unusual symptoms that do not always fall under what we typically think about with mental health, but are still directly related to how you feel.
That is especially true of symptoms of the eye. Anxiety is known to cause a variety of eye problems. Both short term anxiety attacks and long term anxiety can lead to challenges related to sight, pain, and more. It’s not uncommon for the symptoms to appear even when you do not feel like you are struggling with anxiety in the moment.
How Does Anxiety Affect the Eyes?
Our eyes are surprisingly sensitive to change. Some of the effects of anxiety have a direct impact on the eyes through neurotransmitter changes in the brain. Others are related to the ways that anxiety affects the muscles surrounding the eyes. At any time, both during anxiety attacks and others, you may see eye symptoms of anxiety that include, but are not limited to:
Eye Pain – Your eyes themselves may feel pain for many reasons. Lack of sleep can cause your eyes to ache and hurt. During anxiety attacks, your pupils dilate, which may cause them to experience sharp pains if they take in more light than they need. Migraines, which can be triggered by stress/anxiety, can also lead to eye pain.
Headaches Around the Eye – Sometimes, it’s not the eye itself that hurts, but a soreness near or surrounding the eye. This can be caused by muscle tension, as any causes the muscles around the eye to contract. It can also be caused by a lack of sleep, which is especially common for those with anxiety.
Vision Problems – Anxiety doesn’t just cause pain. It can also lead to vision problems. These may include tunnel vision (which are common during anxiety attacks), blurry vision, twinkling in your vision, and a sensitivity to light. Vision issues can also lead to further eye pain, as your eyes may not know how to adjust to them, causing you to squint or experience eye strain.
Eye pain and discomfort are typically not the most problematic of anxiety symptoms, which is why not everyone even realizes it may be related to anxiety at all. But it’s important to realize that long-term stress and anxiety can touch almost every single part of your body, inside and out, and some of the strange or uncomfortable issues that you may be experiencing with your eyes, or with some other part of your body, may be directly related to the stress of living with long term anxiety.
Reduce Anxiety, Reduce Symptoms
Rarely is any symptom related to anxiety permanent. If you’re able to control your anxiety and stress, you should also be able to reduce your eye pain, eye headaches, and other issues that are related to that anxiety. Talk to Flourish Psychology today for anxiety treatment in NY, with services for anyone in the entire state.
Location: 300 Cadman Plaza West Floor 12 - Brooklyn, NY 11201
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