depression
It is not just a matter of feeling sad; discover an honest view of the mental, emotional and physical toll of clinical depression.
When Silence Hurts More Than Words
Mia grew up in a quiet house. Her parents never screamed. Never threw things. Never called each other names or slammed doors. To anyone looking from the outside, they were the picture of civility—calm, controlled, perfectly composed.
By Ameer Moavia12 days ago in Psyche
The Psychology of Emotional Neglect
Sophie was eight years old when she stopped crying. Not because she stopped hurting. But because she'd finally learned what her parents had been teaching her all along: her pain was an inconvenience they didn't want to deal with. She'd fallen off her bike that afternoon, scraped her knee badly enough that blood soaked through her jeans. She'd run inside, tears streaming, looking for comfort. Her mother was on a work call. She'd glanced at Sophie, held up one finger—wait—and continued talking. Sophie stood there, bleeding and crying, while her mother discussed quarterly projections as if her daughter wasn't falling apart three feet away. After twenty minutes, her mother finally hung up. "What happened?" "I fell. It really hurts." Her mother barely looked at the wound. "You're fine. Go clean it up. I have another call in five minutes." Sophie went to the bathroom alone. Cleaned the wound alone. Bandaged it alone. And something inside her went quiet. My pain doesn't matter. My needs are a burden. If I want to be loved, I need to stop needing things. She didn't think those words consciously. She was eight. But her nervous system absorbed the lesson completely: To be acceptable, I must need nothing. By the time Sophie was ten, she'd perfected the art of emotional self-sufficiency. She stopped running to her parents when she was hurt, scared, or sad. Stopped sharing her excitement because they seemed annoyed by her enthusiasm. Stopped asking for help because they were always too busy. She became the "easy child." The one who didn't cause problems. The one who took care of herself. Her parents praised this. "Sophie is so independent," they'd tell relatives. "She never needs anything from us." They said it like it was a good thing. Like self-sufficiency at ten years old was maturity instead of survival. What they didn't see—what they never asked about—was the little girl inside who'd learned that her emotional needs were unwelcome. Who'd concluded that love was conditional on not requiring emotional support. Who'd started building walls around her heart to protect herself from the pain of reaching out and being ignored. Sophie wasn't independent. She was neglected. And she'd learned to call it strength.
By Ameer Moavia12 days ago in Psyche
Why Some People Feel Alone Even in Relationships
Lena woke up next to her husband of seven years and felt like a stranger was sleeping beside her. Not because Tom had changed. But because somewhere between the wedding and this Tuesday morning, they'd stopped being two people who knew each other and become two people who lived in the same house.
By Ameer Moavia12 days ago in Psyche
Consent in Photos
Some images rattle around your body. You catch it for a second. A fraction of a breath. And in that moment you know that it will stay with you forever. I just saw an image like that. It's an image I didn't agree to see. And I'll bet my life that the man in it didn't agree for it to be taken either.
By Kirstyn Brook13 days ago in Psyche
When Confidence Is Just a Mask for Fear
The Man Who Never Let Anyone See Him Sweat Jordan walked into the boardroom like he owned it. Shoulders back, chin up, that easy smile that suggested he'd done this a thousand times before. He made eye contact with each person at the table—firm, confident, just long enough to signal certainty without aggression.
By Ameer Moavia13 days ago in Psyche
Why Some People Apologize Even When They’re Not Wrong
Emma said "sorry" seventeen times before noon. Sorry for asking a question in the meeting. Sorry for walking through a door someone was holding. Sorry for her email being too long. Sorry for her email being too short. Sorry for needing to use the bathroom during a Zoom call. Sorry for existing in spaces that other people also existed in.
By Ameer Moavia13 days ago in Psyche
How Constant Comparison Slowly Breaks Self-Worth
It started with a wedding photo. Jessica was scrolling through Instagram at 7:23 a.m., still in bed, coffee cooling on her nightstand. The algorithm served her a picture of someone she'd gone to college with—Amber, who she hadn't thought about in years.
By Ameer Moavia14 days ago in Psyche
The Hidden Psychology of Why We Procrastinate (and How to Stop)
The Night Before Everything Falls Apart It was 11:47 p.m., and Daniel was finally opening the document. The proposal was due at 9 a.m. A proposal he'd had six weeks to write. Six weeks that had somehow evaporated into this single desperate night, his laptop screen glowing in the darkness like an accusation.
By Ameer Moavia14 days ago in Psyche
In This Dimly Lit Room Full of Emptiness
Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead. ― Charles Bukowski Nights are hard sometimes when my kids aren’t here. It’s not a loneliness, especially in the sense that I want someone here. Or want someone period. It’s a tiredness. I’m tired. Mentally and emotionally. Existentially.
By Jeff Barton16 days ago in Psyche
