Cognitive Distortions and What to Do About Them
Certain patterns of thinking make you more likely to experience anxiety, depression, anger, and other problems. These patterns are called cognitive distortions, and you can learn to counter them….
How Long Should You Meditate For? And How Often?
There are a lot of different recommendations for how long you should meditate, as well as for how often you should meditate. Some sources say to do an hour every day, but you may not have that much time. Below you’ll find research-based recommendations for how long — and how often — to meditate….
Is My Boyfriend Gay? Or Is It My Anxiety?
It’s not uncommon to have a passing thought about your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s sexual orientation. If questions like “is my boyfriend gay” take over, it may be a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It’s natural to have doubts sometimes about our romantic relationships. It happens all the time. But what if you can’t stop trying to……
Compulsive vs. Impulsive: How to Know the Difference
A behavior is compulsive when you have the urge to do it repeatedly — until a feeling of anxiety or unease goes away. A behavior is impulsive when you do it without forethought and without considering the consequences….
Shy and Dating? Helpful Tips from a Psychologist
Have you always been a shy person? Have family members and friends have pointed out this quality about you? Most people find this an endearing quality, but when it comes to dating it can be a real obstacle. For shy people, talking to new people can be challenging. But if you’re shy and trying to……
How to Understand and Overcome Your Anxiety at Work
Having anxiety at work can be a big problem. It can impact your work performance and your overall wellbeing – your sleep, your mood, even your self-esteem. Learn how to recognize and address the problem….
Negative Reinforcement: How You Accidentally Worsen Your Anxiety
Last updated: June 14, 2025 Negative reinforcement plays an important role in anxiety and related problems. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety, panic attacks, and other related disorders can all be worsened by it. So what is negative reinforcement? Anxiety is relatively well understood in the 21st century. A mere 50 or 75 years ago, that wasn’t……
What Is Episodic Acute Stress?
Everyone has stress. But when is stress a risk to our health and well being? Episodic acute stress might be the most common way that stress gets out of hand and puts our mental and physical health in danger….
How to Stop Being a Hypochondriac
Do You Worry Too Much About Your Health? It can sometimes be tricky to determine whether you are focusing enough on your health. Are you obsessing about it? Or are you neglecting an important symptom? What’s the happy medium?…
POCD Arousal: What Does It Mean?
Last updated: August 28, 2023 Sexual arousal can feel terrifying when it happens in the context of POCD. Learn how to understand this nuanced phenomenon. What is POCD? Pedophilic obsessive-compulsive disorder (POCD) is a term used for obsessive-compulsive disorder when the primary symptom is obsessions around pedophilia….
Is it POCD or Denial? Will You Really Ever Know For Sure?
It’s one thing to be told you have POCD. It’s another to feel comfortable that your fears are “just OCD.” So is it POCD, or could you be a pedophile in denial? What Is POCD? POCD stands for pedophilic obsessive compulsive disorder. It’s not a separate condition from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the isolating and……
What is ERP Therapy? And What is ExRP Therapy?
ERP therapy (exposure and response prevention) and ExRP (exposure and ritual prevention) are psychotherapies used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). ERP was pioneered in the 1960s by British psychologist Vic Meyer. Edna Foa and her colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania further developed it and gave ERP its name in the 1970s and 1980s….