Symptoms of Stress in Women

In keeping with Women’s History Month, we are shining a spotlight on stress in women. Women are twice as stressed as men. Researchers at the University of Cambridge studied stress in Western women taking into account factors like gender, age, and medical conditions. The researchers found that over 4% of all adults are stressed and for every stressed man there are twice as many women who suffer.

Women experience unique reactions to stress and the signs and symptoms might look different then what you would typically think.

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Female Pioneers in the Field of Mental Health

March is Women’s History Month and for many, it represents a time to reflect and celebrate the achievements women have made over the course of history. Among these achievements is the establishment of a voice and a place in the world of medicine and mental health.

It wasn’t until the late 20th century that people began to recognize and address women’s mental health needs. Many important female mental health advocates paved the way for women today and this month is the perfect time to recognize their pioneering efforts.

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Parenting a Highly Sensitive Child

Does your child often observe first in social situations and join later? Does she like her shoes tied a certain way or ask for tags to be cut out of clothing? Does she seem to identify how you are feeling very quickly or ask a lot of deep questions? Have others labeled your child as “emotional”? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may be parenting a highly sensitive child.

Dr. Elaine Aron is a Clinical Psychologist and researcher who first coined the term “highly sensitive child.” She reports that these children are born with a sensitive nervous system that is quick to react to both external and internal stimuli. According to her research, highly sensitive children make up 15 to 20% of kids. Things such as lights, sounds, smells, and even the moods and emotions of other people appear to affect them differently than other children.

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The Not So Usual Suspects: Less Common Signs and Symptoms of Depression in Kids

When parents think about signs of depression, they might first look to symptoms that friends or family have had. We typically think of someone who is depressed as being sad or down all the time.

There are some less common signs that might serve as clues that a child is depressed and these include: irritability, academic decline, changes in weight, and self-harm behaviors.

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DBT Skill: Opposite Action

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that was developed in the late 1990s by Dr. Marsha Linehan with the goal of treating Borderline Personality Disorder (BDP). Since that time, DBT has been found to successfully treat many different mental health problems, especially those that involve a difficulty regulating emotions such as ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Eating Disorders, Major Depression, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

The main goals of DBT are to teach people how to live in the moment, regulate their emotions, develop and maintain healthy relationships, and cope with distress. Because the goals are universally valuable, DBT skills have been well-established in the therapy community as a set of useful tools to develop no matter what brings a patient into treatment.

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