January 15, 2019
I learned a long time ago you can’t take away someone else’s guilt.
As a clinical psychologist, I’d often see clients try to do this for other clients, to no avail. In fact, the person whose guilt they were trying to alleviate frequently became angry at their intrusive efforts. Trying to remove someone’s guilt, you see, is akin to trying to remove their addiction. It can’t be done without their willingness and consent.
To make matters worse, while…
December 20, 2018
I can vividly recall lying in my bed at night, during middle school, thinking through the events of the day, scrolling through images and pieces of conversations. I recall enjoying this time alone, in the dark. I recall thinking, contemplating, remembering up until the point I drifted off into sleep. There was something deeply relaxing and fulfilling about this private time. It was in the quiet of the night that I could consider ideas, question feelings,…
December 4, 2018
The treatment of Internet Addiction is similar to the treatment of any other serious addiction. It generally begins when the individual reaches a “bottom” – a place where the negative consequences of the addiction are so severe and damaging that he or she decides to seek or accept help. With Internet Addiction the bottom often involves a sense of disconnection or alienation from physical experience; a breakdown of physical relationships; impaired performance in school, work and other important instrumental…
November 27, 2018
In my first post on Internet Addiction, I began with a distinction that is central to defining and classifying addictions: The distinction between addictions to substances such as drugs or alcohol, and addictions to behaviors or processes such as shopping or gambling. In this post, I’d like to introduce a second important distinction, one that is relevant to issues of prevention and treatment. The distinction is that some of the things that we become addicted to are not essential…
November 21, 2018
There are two broad categories of addiction. The first category, of course, is Substance Abuse, where the individual is driven to take a physical substance, like alcohol or drugs, into the body. The second category is called a “Process or Behavioral Addiction,” where the person has a relentless need to engage in a behavior or process such as shopping, sex, or gambling, or to participate in Internet-based activities such as surfing, checking, posting, chatting, texting, and…
June 18, 2018
Social Anxiety or “social phobia” is becoming increasingly prevalent. Social Anxiety is defined as a mental health condition in which social interactions cause irrational anxiety. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that roughly 7.1% of the U.S. population has experienced social anxiety in the last year. While anxiety is an important coping mechanism, it can be considered a disorder when it becomes excessive or irrational and interferes with normal functioning. For individuals suffering from social anxiety, everyday social…
