“The worst guilt is to accept an unearned guilt,” said philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand. What makes unearned guilt so bad? When you accept unearned guilt, you hurt yourself. You take responsibility for something you did not cause. Many things … Continue reading
According to Edward Hallowell, M.D, the Harvard psychiatrist who wrote the highly influential “Driven to Distraction”: …You can’t have intimacy without attention. This sounds obvious but it’s worth emphasizing because in today’s world attention can’t be taken for granted. We … Continue reading
The latest up and coming psychological disorder? It’s called “shame attraction.” The idea is that if you aren’t attracted to a given person for whatever reason, you should be shamed for it. Everyone is supposed to be attracted to everyone … Continue reading
Most psychiatrists and psychologists insist there’s no such thing as laziness. Everything is depression, they claim. Others say there’s no such thing as depression, and that it’s all laziness. What’s the truth? Is there such a thing as being lazy? … Continue reading
Dear Dr. Hurd, While waiting in line recently, a woman and I were having a casual conversation. In response to my question, she said she was a Job Coach and worked with students with ED, then further defined the acronym … Continue reading
A lot of depression arises from a chronic feeling that one is a victim. A victim of what? The emotions never really specify. The fact that you feel like a victim of some unnamed, unidentified “cause” creates a sense that … Continue reading
According to parenting expert and author John Rosemond, the problem with American parenting today “is the 1960s.” He offered a simple solution: “America needs a ‘Make American Parenting Great Again!’ movement.” Writing in his syndicated column at Omaha.com, Rosemond said … Continue reading
With a huge spring snowstorm hitting the Northeast U.S., a reader asked me to write about “weather anxiety.” When we talk about “weather anxiety”, it’s not really the weather we’re anxious about. It’s our thoughts about the weather causing the … Continue reading
Some troubling statistics on the mental health of millennials: A 2016 UK survey found that, since 1990, rates of depression and anxiety among the young have increased by 70%, while the American Counseling Association has reported a “rising tide of … Continue reading
Newsmax reports that the use of social media has skyrocketed from 7 percent of American adults in 2005 to 65 percent in 2015. For those in the 18-29 age range, the increase is larger, from 12 percent to a whopping … Continue reading
Thomas Merton wrote, “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone — we find it with another.” How you interpret this quote, if you agree, will determine whether love brings you joy … Continue reading
“Discussions are always better than arguments, because an argument is to find out WHO is right and a discussion is to find out WHAT is right.” I don’t know who said this. But it’s far more profound and accurate than … Continue reading