Articles
Seasonal Affective Disorder Treatment Options
Does your mood seem to shift with the calendar, causing you to feel “down” more than usual during the winter months? Do shorter days and gloomy weather seem to zap your energy and make you feel blue? If so, you may be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. What is Seasonal Affective Disorder? Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression characterized by a recurring seasonal pattern that comes and goes at the same time each year. Symptoms usually begin and end when the seasons change. Typically, you start feeling “down” as the days get shorter in late fall or early [...]
Coming to Know the Presence of Beauty
As women, our sense of self-worth can be tied to our sense of beauty. Beauty is an undercurrent of desire that most of us just can’t get our hands on. Fleeting it is. Why does beauty flee? Run away? Refuse to stay? And why do we keep purchasing and purchasing and purchasing – begging beauty to stay – and it does not? Let’s see if we can use beauty to expand our sense of self-worth, and expand our sense of beauty (unpurchased). Definitions. One way I like to define self-worth is "Is it (x, y, or z) worth it to you (self)?" Many [...]
Recognizing Financial, Mental, and Emotional Abuse
And we urge you, brothers and sisters, to admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all. – 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Abuse is a horrible situation. The very word abuse may trigger shudders in you. Yet it is often a subtle situation as well. It’s not all hiding bruises or screaming matches. Many people experience emotional abuse, rather than physical abuse. Learning how to recognize the signs of abuse is important. If you can recognize toxic behaviors and abusive tendencies, you will be better able to help comfort those who are healing from abuse. You will also [...]
7 Ways to Manage Stress with Healthy Coping Mechanisms
Stress has a deceptive way of masquerading. It lurks behind fatigue. It shadows symptoms of illness. It merges with anxiety and the inability to quell panic. We all struggle with stressors in life, but not all stressors have to win the war of our spiritual, mental, or physical health. If you're looking for healthy ways to manage stress, this article is for you. Developing healthy coping mechanisms for stress is how we expose it for what it is – the enemy of balanced, good health. Stress is pretty much anything that causes tension, and its source may come from within or from [...]
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans and Possible Treatment
Every few days a new veteran is created here in the United States and as each veteran comes home, we see increases in suicides, family dysfunction, depression, anger, and maladjustment to society. Many of these things are attributed to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Even those who did not directly see combat might have PTSD, due to their interaction with those who have. These are sons and daughters, our fathers and our mothers, aunts and uncles, nieces, and nephews, all suffering due to lack of diagnosis or even receiving enough training to recognize what is happening to them, why they are [...]
Five Steps to Becoming a Non-Anxious Presence
Recently, during an online search for messages from pastor/author, John Mark Comer, I discovered a YouTube video entitled, “Becoming A Non-Anxious Presence.” I’ve listened to the message several times since and shared it with friends and family as well. Now, I would like to share it with you because if you have clicked on this article title, I am guessing that you are interested in becoming a non-anxious presence just as I am. This is what I have learned so far. The anxiety that permeates the air around us is nothing new. Western society projects the ideal that humanity is progressing [...]
Telltale Signs of an Emotionally Abusive Relationship
Emotional abuse is just as damaging to a person’s psyche as physical or sexual abuse. But it is often less understood and can be more subtle to detect. A qualified Christian counselor can help you understand if you are being subjected to emotional abuse. Your counselor can also guide you in breaking free from the destructive cycles of abuse and choosing freedom in Christ. The Emotionally Abusive Relationship Emotional abusers seek power over their victims. They are inherently self-absorbed and self-serving in all their behaviors. They treat people more like objects than individuals with the power to form their own thoughts, [...]
5 Pieces of Solid Marriage Advice
The world is full of marriage advice floating around in books, podcasts, pre-marital counseling, and in the words of wise friends and family members. Often, however, this is given before a couple has their wedding, and there are still stars in everyone’s eyes – long before the reality of being married to another sinner kicks in. Marriage is a glorious gift from God, created for companionship and children, and that gives us a tangible picture of God’s love for the church, his bride. In addition, the Lord uses it to achieve His purpose of making us holy. Perhaps you are about [...]
Achieving Personal Development Goals to Become Who You Want to Be
If you want to accomplish something meaningful, especially if it’s complicated, it takes time, planning, dedication, and a whole lot of effort. Having personal development goals can help you to set a direction for your life; they allow you to know how to apply your energy and talents. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. – C.S. Lewis If you don't set any goals, that doesn't mean that things won't happen in your life. But it does mean you might be more subject to the whims of circumstance as well as the plans other [...]