Behavioral health professionals like myself are helping people adjust to spending so much time at home. Human beings are great at adapting to changing circumstances. But a lot of us are experiencing sustained stress, which can cause mental health issues to arise. The good news is we can take simple, daily steps to help reduce the worry caused by this pandemic and improve our overall health.

Q: I seem to be feeling more anxious as time goes on. I thought I would adapt better to staying at home. What’s wrong with me?

Most of us are doing a good job at social distancing, washing... Read More

Everyone loves summer in the Northwest—the sun, the warm days, cool nights, —and yes, the long days that stretch into evening. I know, we all like to complain, just a little, when a cloudy, cool, or rainy day shows up. Or when the temperature climbs. But today, the sky is blue, and the sun peaks through my window shades. I love it.

There’s still stuff to do—laundry, shopping, cleaning, kids, and cooking. But in summer, life slows down. The kids are out of school, so parents, who are homework cops during the school year, are on vacation too. There’s less chauffeuring. There’s just... Read More

Earlier this month, my wife and I attended a wonderful performance, “Season Encore,” at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. It was a retirement celebration for two of their soloists. I hadn’t been to the ballet for a long time and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful leaps, bounds, and spins.

But it was also disturbing.

Most of the women were stick thin and whittled down, while the men had normal, athletic bodies. I get it. There is a classical ballet aesthetic—skinny, long-legged ballerinas. But many of these women looked gaunt, otherworldly, and unhealthy.

I am the... Read More

In the 21st century, both time and energy are in short supply. Many of us have plenty of food, maybe even too much. A lot of us have decent shelter, although it’s gotten more expensive. But, we struggle getting everything done, day to day and week to week. And after time with our kids, our partner, work, laundry, the yard, the house, shopping, cooking and cleaning, we are short on time and energy for ourselves. After all of those “to do’s,” we’re out of gas. Each of us only has so much vitality, both physical and mental. Some of this is constitutional. Don’t you just hate your friend who... Read More