The American Psychological Association states that depression is one of the most common mental disorders. According to Healthline,  although we think of depression as being a mental and emotional disorder, it can have various effects on our physical well-being. Untreated depression can cause many undesirable physical problems. Here are a few to watch out for. 1. Loss of appetite or overeating...

Sometimes my skin doesn’t quite fit. I wriggle inside of it, like there’s some kind of alien being trying to get out. I look in a mirror and wonder who I am. I can be at home yet still feel lost; feel emptiness even with a full life. The safe zones that anchor me can sometimes become destabilized in my mind, making those secure spaces feel exposed, leaving me vulnerable even to myself. Some days I...

Recently, whilst walking through town, I became temporarily dissociated. My physical presence felt detached from my surroundings and my senses shut down to the point of numbness. Nothing beyond my self felt real, and even the self felt curiously alien. WebMD describes dissociation as: “...a break in how your mind handles information. You may feel disconnected from your thoughts, feelings, memories,...

As it turns out, our little furbabies are more than just cute and loyal companions; they improve our mental health too! Have you ever come home from a bad day and instantly felt better after seeing your pet? If so, you’re not alone. A Survey conducted on the human-animal bond found that 74% of pet owners reported improvements in mental health from pet ownership! Recently there has been a growing body...

When digital technology is misused, it's not only a waste of company funds, but it can highlight problems in communication within your team. It helps to think of your team or organization as a living system, because in many ways, it really is. How Healthy and Robust is Your Digital Nervous System? As described in a previous Painted Brain article, the “digital nervous system” is a phrase describing...

By Matthew Permuy and Kevin Naruse “What Google and Facebook knows about you.” Both Google and Facebook have been known for many years to collect and store many pieces of information on you and about you.  Google stores your location (if you have location tracking turned on) every time you turn on your phone. You can see a timeline of where you’ve been from the very first day you started using Google...

One of the classic hallmarks of depression and anxiety is ruminating, which is an inability to stop dwelling on gloomy thoughts and what-if scenarios played over and over.