Sometimes we all get a little lazy with our language. We say, “Hey, guys,” to a group made up of more than one gender. We say, “He has less apples than he needs for that pie,” when we mean “fewer apples.” And we say, “I literally exploded after eating that whole pie,” when, of course,...Read More

During the public health emergency that led to so many of us working from home during 2020 and the first half of 2021, a good number of us found ourselves in the awkward position of having to reveal parts of our living space to our coworkers. Everything Seems Fine Here There we all were in...Read More

Obsessive compulsive disorder (often referred to as OCD) is all too frequently played for laughs in popular culture. What Is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? The most notable example of this is the television series Monk, a show about a man whose OCD makes him hard to be around—but also seems to be the key to his...Read More

The American novelist William Faulkner once wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder The idea that the past is never dead nor past is tragically familiar to anyone who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Commonly known as PTSD, this anxiety disorder keeps a person’s traumatic past experiences front and...Read More

Introverts vs. Extroverts A case could be made that it can be challenging to be an introvert in an extroverted world. Extroverts are the people who love to socialize, love to meet new people, love to kick around new ideas in brainstorming sessions, and love to be the first to arrive at a party and...Read More

The word “general” can make something sound like it isn’t very serious or very specific. Generally Speaking For example, someone who tells you they were a “general studies” major in college might seem as though they really aren’t telling you anything at all. It seems sort of, you know, general. Maybe even kind of generic....Read More

Specific Types of Depression In a recent post, we started the process of differentiating among the various kinds of depression. The word “depression” is too often used as a catchall. We use it to describe everything from a feeling of sadness to major depression. This overly general use of the word can make it harder...Read More

What’s in a Word? Sometimes we use a general word to describe something when a specific word would be much more helpful. Imagine, for example, that you’d like to get a gift for a young person who is taking up a new activity. You might ask their parent for ideas. If the parent says, “They...Read More