Stress and depression can look and feel very similar to each other. Some of the common symptoms for both include issues with sleeping, eating, concentration, and mood, as well as difficulties performing daily tasks.

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One afternoon, during a particularly low slump, I was getting out of the shower. Quickly reaching for something on the sink, I knocked an old glass off the counter, shattering it onto the floor.

This is the familiar arc that Jonathan Sadowsky traces in his new book The Empire of Depression: A New History.

“About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all.” ~Rita Mae Brown The stigma associated with mental illness has improved in recent years, but there is still work to be done.

In our body, deep within the gut, live trillions of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. Collectively, this diverse community is known as microbiota. The human microbiome is the aggregate of this internal ecosystem.

Dating can be tricky for anyone, but for those living with mental illness things can get a little more complicated.

What if mental disorders like anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder aren’t mental disorders at all? In a compelling new paper, biological anthropologists call on the scientific community to rethink mental illness.

That’s one of the cruelest ironies about mental health. When you’re in a dark place, everyone around you — all your friends and family — they just want to see you doing what you love again, being happy, being “the old you.” 

This has been a hell of a year, and you’re not alone if you’ve found pandemic life has affected your mood. But are you suffering from a mild case of lockdown blues, or do you have depression that could benefit from seeing a professional? A depression screening could help.