How much of your busyness is an effort to not miss out and to look like you have an interesting life? Meet Ali Cornish, who realized she was not at all happy being overly busy, and find out how she found true fulfillment: In my early 20s, I breezed through life in a state of constant movement and engagement. I lived in five separate cities, two different countries, and held a grand total of 11 jobs in the span of 4 years. With a serious case of the dreaded FOMO (fear of missing out), I felt the grass was greener elsewhere. Just like everyone I knew, I was always out-and-about, rarely spending a night in watching television, reading a book, or cultivating a hobby. Each new “Yes!” and each new connection were meant to boost my self-esteem. I thought if people saw that I was doing so much, they might […]
Take it seriously – hoarding is a psychological disorder
Wow. When I wrote my first post about hoarding, I had no idea it would generate such passion and interest. I started to write individual responses to all of you who have posted your comments, but there were so many common themes in the comments that I realized it was time for me to write a new post that includes updated information about hoarding. All of you who posted have really educated me. In my original post, I suggested strategies like, “give your hoarder his or her own room,” or “set rules about common spaces,” and so on. From all of you, I realized that strategies like these don’t work. Here’s why. Hoarding is a serious psychological disorder, and until that issue is addressed and treated, nothing will change. It’s plain and simple. Hoarding is so serious that it now has it’s own designation in Psychiatry’s standard guidebook—the Diagnostic and […]
How Susan Merrill got to the bottom of her anxiety and depression
Susan Merrill had the perfect life on the outside – intact, midwest family growing up, straight-A student, married Mr. Wonderful right out of college, and a perfect job. But she was depressed and anxious. “My awakening started when I had my son,” she says. “I started to realize that here was this human being I brought into the world and in so many ways, I had been faking my life. I wasn’t that in love with my husband, I didn’t really like my job, but I was being what the American dream is – good job with benefits, marriage, buying a home in California – yet it was all kind of false. “It was the love for my son that made me realize I didn’t want to pretend any more. I wanted a more authentic life. I had no idea what that meant, but I knew at some level I […]
Ready for raw honesty in your relationship? Find out why its the key to marital happiness
By Norelle Done How honest are you with your partner? My husband and I have been together for 11 years, married for 7 1/2, and I firmly believe that the most important thing that’s kept us together and happy has been the depth and openness of our communication. After all, surveys show that poor communication is the number-one reason couples break up. We got married quite young: I had just turned 21, and he was nearly 22. This was nice for us because we had the opportunity to ‘grow up’ together, but it also meant that we had a lot of learning to do. We looked at the relationships of couples around us, with their varying degrees of success (and failure), and noticed some big issues to avoid in our own relationship. For example, dishonesty was a problem for many couples, and not always to the extent of lying outright. […]