Ruth-Ann
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) was once thought to be a fairly rare but serious mental problem. Specialists saw it as serious mainly because the behaviour of a person with this disorder appears quite abnormal to other people. Approximately 1 in 40 people suffers from OCD. However, many cases of OCD go undiagnosed. So we now know … Read more
Codependency is recognized by the destructive behaviors, attitudes and feelings which are directly linked to the way we were brought up. Families are described as dysfunctional when the needs of the parents are so overwhelming that the task of raising children is demoted to a secondary role in the life of the family. Codependency in adulthood emerges from these dysfunctional childhood … Read more
Grieving – Our Heartfelt Response to a Major Loss Grieving is a process of experiencing our reactions to loss. It is similar to mourning. The term bereavement means the state, not the process, of suffering from a loss. Normal grieving is an expected part of the process of recuperating from a loss. The intensity of … Read more
Everyone feels sad from time to time. It’s only natural. Most people go through blue days or normal periods of feeling down, especially after they experience a loss. But what specialists call clinical depression is different from just being “down in the dumps”. The main difference is that the sad or empty mood does not … Read more
Shyness and other forms of social anxiety are common – and they prevent people from fulling experiencing life. Ask people what they fear the most and many of them will say “speaking in public”. In surveys which ask people about their fears, about one person in five reports extreme fear of public speaking. Social anxiety, … Read more
The thoughts we have about ourselves, or how we define ourselves, contribute to our self-image. The feelings we have about these thoughts, whether these feelings are good or bad, are the building blocks of our self-esteem. Our self-image, and gradually our self-esteem, can be molded by our parents, family, friends, physical or intellectual abilities, education, and jobs. Just as we have … Read more