The Parentified Child: Survival through Misalignment
The Parentified Child: Survival through Misalignment What is Parentification? Parentification is best defined by roles in the family system being reversed, where we see children, most often the oldest, sacrifice their own needs to ensure everyone else’s in the system are met. It can be common for children to care about the emotional well-being of their parents...Learn More
Antidepressants and Emotional Blunting
Antidepressants and Emotional Blunting Comfortably Numb? After starting an antidepressant, I often hear: “I’m not sad anymore, but… I’m also not really happy. I just don’t feel much at all.” The goal of antidepressants is to help you feel like yourself on a good day—less anxious, less weighed down by sadness, more motivated, more interested in life, and better...Learn More
The Arrival Fallacy: The Trap of the Dopamine Crash
The Arrival Fallacy: The Trap of the Dopamine Crash! The Arrival Fallacy, according to Malcomson (2025), describes a phenomenon where one anticipates immense happiness once a set objective is completed, only to find a sliver of joy before moving on to the next goal. Yet joy and celebrations are often all too fleeting. After achieving a major milestone, the...Learn More
Why Do We Talk Ourselves Out of Our Own Pain: Self-Gaslighting and Healing.
Why Do We Talk Ourselves Out of Our Own Pain? Self-gaslighting, as defined by Dandelet (2021) from the University of Chicago, stems from the act of invalidating one’s own thoughts, feelings, and actions based on the normative beliefs of others. It serves as a form of maladaptive defense mechanism against current triggers of past experiences. Such action typically...Learn More
Learned Helplessness: End the Cycle of Powerlessness
Learned Helplessness: End the Cycle of Powerlessness Learned helplessness, a psychological phenomenon discovered by psychologist Martin Seligman in the late 1960s, speaks to a state of mind where you believe you have no control over your circumstances. This leads to passive acceptance of negative situations even when opportunities for change exist, with profound...Learn More