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.

‘While medicalizing mental health softens the stigma of depression—if a disorder is inheritable, it was never really your fault—it also disempowers the patient….

This week, we’re finding the humor in our woes with help from John Moe, host of The Hilarious World of Depression podcast.

Because I have a lot of experience with depression, I approached George Scialabba’s How to Be Depressed with an almost professional curiosity.

Emotions, they are running high right now. We’re living in a time of fear and sadness and anger, grieving the loss of normalcy in our day-to-day lives as the pandemic has redefined normal.

“Marie” had been helping her 10-year-old navigate an escalating pattern of acting out against himself and his family when things came to a head in one of his therapy sessions.

Among many unanswered questions right now is what effect this pandemic will have on the mental health of children. A recent paper, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, documents elevated anxiety and depression in children under lockdown in China.

In addition to the physical violence associated with systemic racism, it also has major implications on mental health.