The holidays are usually a time for remembering—remembering your childhood and the excitement you felt during the holidays, remembering favorite traditions like baking cookies, or remembering little gestures of kindness from others that made past holidays special. Many of us look forward to the holidays as a time to gather family and loved ones together [...]
Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences distress at the thought of getting rid of the items. Excessive accumulation of items, regardless of actual value, occurs. View the rest of this article on the Mayo Clinic website.
Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. You might feel anxious when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or making an important decision. Anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear. For a person with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over [...]
Knowing how to help your partner cope with work-related stress is a valuable skill that can be learned, but only if couples are willing to work at it. "There's no doubt that working people face enormous stress in the workplace today," says Rosalind C. Barnett, PhD, a senior scientist in women's studies at Brandeis University. [...]
People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suffer from recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) or repetitive behaviors (compulsions), which they feel they cannot control. Rituals such as hand washing, counting, checking or cleaning are often performed in hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these rituals, however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing [...]
If you've ever caught an episode of the TV series Monk, you know about the strange behavior of Adrian Monk, the Defective Detective. The title character has obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. Without treatment, OCD is crippling and disabling. The average person with OCD suffers more than seven years before seeking help, often because he or [...]
These days, shopping is as much a form of entertainment as going to the movies or playing video games. Between mall culture and convenient credit, it's easy to spend your time spending money. Shopping shifts into high gear around the holidays. Some people view shopping as a sport, some as a chore. For others, the [...]
After a loss, family members often deal with their grief in different ways. Grief can draw families closer together. Sometimes, it can pull them apart. No one can adequately prepare you to handle your grief, let alone a spouse's or a child's grief. Learning about grief and how it affects your family can help you [...]
There are many things you can do to assist a bereaved person. These include: Sending cards or flowers Preparing food Providing child care Mowing the lawn Contributing to a cause which is meaningful to the family Offering transportation You may also consider the following when providing for the bereaved: Be available. Sometimes, grieving persons do [...]
You expect to grieve when a loved one dies, but grief also can occur following a divorce, a move from a beloved family home, being downsized from your job or any other loss that makes a major impact on the quality of your life and happiness. Whatever the nature of your loss, active grieving can [...]