Challenging the Fantasy Bond
In this blog, Dr. Robert Firestone shares the introduction and conclusion from his new book, Challenging the Fantasy Bond.
In this blog, Dr. Robert Firestone shares the introduction and conclusion from his new book, Challenging the Fantasy Bond.
An Interview with Dr. Daniel Zamir, the president of the Anxiety and Panic Disorders Clinic of Santa Barbara.
It’s impossible to overstate the way this pandemic has changed our lives. Chances are, at this very moment, you are right smack in the middle of that change yourself. Maybe you’re reading this article from your dining table when you’d normally be in your office. Maybe you’re cramming it in after a long day of supervising your kids on Zoom. Maybe you’re reading it because you’re worried about having to change jobs, or because you’ve moved, or because you haven’t been able to see certain friends or family in more than a year.
A universal truth on which most of us can agree is that pandemic fatigue is real. Despite this fact, crisis always has a way of unifying, strengthening, and making us more resourceful. So let’s talk about five ways to find meaning in the madness:
While there are real circumstances in our lives that are causing us concern, there are also real techniques we can and should use to calm down. It’s okay to give ourselves permission to seek a little bit of peace right now. Here are five ways to help you do it.
Watch an exclusive interview with Dr. Gia Marson on dealing with eating disorders during this difficult time.
In the United States, black people are almost guaranteed to be born into a life of trauma. It is a trauma informed by a long history of brutal inhumanity, repression, violence, and injustice that continues to firmly grip black men and women each and every day. This trauma is not something any of us who have not had the experience of being black in America can speak to in the same way as someone who has. Yet, acknowledging this trauma and casting it in a broad, unflickering light is all of our responsibility.
When Africans arrived in the New World, they weren’t allowed to read or write. Transmitting information orally was the only way that the slaves were able to retain their culture from generation to generation. Today, that oral tradition is reflected in storytelling, rap music, and spoken word performance. This type of expression is normatively accepted as non-threatening, as it is more insular to the African American community. But when issues related to racism, social justice, and personal truth have been voiced from a larger mainstream platform, there has typically been a white gatekeeping knee-jerk function in place to silence the commentary.
The current crisis we’re enduring with Covid-19 is taking a toll on more than our physical well-being. A recent Kaiser poll showed that nearly half of Americans feel the coronavirus crisis is harming their mental health. Suicide and crisis call and text hotlines have reported “unprecedented” spikes in the number of calls they receive, and many are concerned this could mean a rise in suicides.
With the coronavirus throwing us into an uncharted state of uncertainty, our anxiety is through the roof. Many of us are practicing social distancing or spending our time in isolation or quarantine. The mental health effects of these circumstances are likely to be vast as we know from prior research, but whatever state we may find ourselves in, self-care is essential. There are powerful tools and practices to adopt right away that can help us take care of ourselves and one another. Here are some tips to help us cope in this period of uncertainty.