Life in the time of coronavirus. We are living through a remarkably stressful time, with global scope and interventions unlike any health crisis we have ever seen. With so many rapid changes occurring related to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are understandably feeling anxious and stressed.
Anxiety
Anxiety is a Pushy, Self-Important, Exaggerating, Pain-In-The-Patootie
Anxiety can take a perfectly lovely, intelligent, capable person and turn them into a cowering, fearful mess. In fact, anxiety is infamous for its tendency to grossly over-exaggerate potential danger. To make its point, anxiety will hijack your nervous system and convince you that your life is in immediate peril, even when it’s clearly not. That’s just not nice. I think we can all agree that anxiety is a pain-in-the-patootie.
Why Am I Not Exercising When I KNOW It’s Good for Me? The Motivation to Exercise
The results are in and the findings are clear: exercise is good for us. Yes, I know, right now, there is a decent chance you thinking to yourself, “Thank you, Dr. Obvious. We’ve known that for a long time.” Go with me for a moment! My job today is not just to peddle the idea […]
The Mindfulness Boost for Anxiety: The Power of Letting It Be
Over the past 10 years, I think I’ve become much more adept at treating anxiety disorders and wonder if the boost is due to adding mindfulness-based therapies into my repertoire. I have read about research demonstrating that mindfulness-based therapies are at least as effective as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in treating anxiety, with some suggestive evidence […]
This Blog Is Gonna Have Typos: Reflections on Perfectionism
I often joke with my patients that there is evidence of my perfectionism hanging on my office wall in the form of my higher education degrees. You don’t have to attend graduate school, however, in order to be a perfectionist. Perfectionists tend to buy into the belief that they can always be better and do […]