Psychology – A contemporary log of fragmentary pleasures

Midweek Post

The first week of the year is halfway over. If you’re still doing your fitness resolution, congratulate yourself, because so many people didn’t even start! Push through those reps, eat those fruits, run that extra kilometer! It’ll be worth it when this time next year you look in the mirror and realize it’s no longerContinue reading “Midweek Post”

It’s Time to get Back and be Persistent

My word of the year for 2023 will be “persistent.” I have started to turn around my life these past few months, from work to health, when for a long time I couldn’t take the first step. I didn’t want to drive to the gym after work. I didn’t want to clean the kitchen. IContinue reading “It’s Time to get Back and be Persistent”

Navigating the Stormy Seas of Mental Health, pt. 2

See part 1 here I’d like you to remember that there are no medical cures for depression or anxiety disorders, only treatment to lessen or manage symptoms. Doctors or other healthcare providers who currently claim they have cures, whether scientific or pseudoscientific (aka “natural cures”) are being deceptive. With that in mind, let’s look atContinue reading “Navigating the Stormy Seas of Mental Health, pt. 2”

Interlude #2

Sometimes the happy face you wear slips but you catch it before it falls off. And for a moment you feel it in your hand: you run your fingertips across the sharpness of the ceramic. Then like a china doll you return to your preset position to please your owner, but the frequency of theContinue reading “Interlude #2”

Navigating the Stormy Seas of Mental Health, Pt. 1

In talking to my patients over the years and through dealing with my own experiences, I’ve found that getting help for conditions like depression and anxiety can be hindered by several obstacles. The main ones I find prevalent are stigma, time, money, and our own preconceived beliefs about what mental help is. Stigma Stigma isContinue reading “Navigating the Stormy Seas of Mental Health, Pt. 1”

“Worry Not?” Are You Sure?

Everyone gets anxious at some point. Maybe it’s on a first date, or during a class presentation, or maybe you’re starting at a new job. In all these cases, anxiety is an expected, normal reaction. But there are times when our anxious reaction is out of proportion to the situation. Though “out-of-proportion” is a measurementContinue reading ““Worry Not?” Are You Sure?”

Must I Choose between Pride or Shame?

The other day over coffee, my best friend and I were talking about our week and I brought up my blog. I told him about how I feel pride and shame are two sides of the same coin, like I wrote about some here. He immediately told me I was right on the money, andContinue reading “Must I Choose between Pride or Shame?”

This is me

I’m not naturally an extrovert, so I have to put in the effort to put myself out there. I used to think becoming a PA would be 10x more difficult because of my introversion. But it turns out I can turn my preferences into a strength if I understand them. Now I say preference ratherContinue reading “This is me”

Justice or Righteousness?

Consider the following: Hatred is not really the absence of love. Neither is love simply the absence of hatred. But effort, you see, is needed for either emotion to exist. The lack of one or the other could just mean indifference, an ideal state for some: that neutral, unbiased, and objective position that logicians reachContinue reading “Justice or Righteousness?”

When I Want to Give Up, pt. 6

Part 5 here I’ve written a little about Job here, and I recommend reading the short post before continuing. In summary, Job was afflicted with all sorts of calamity and pain he believed God unjustly sent. But in fact, the book affirms Job was never a sinner being punished by God, but rather it wasContinue reading “When I Want to Give Up, pt. 6”