Understanding and Coping with Emotional Flashbacks
What is an emotional flashback? Posttraumatic emotional flashbacks go by several different names including: emotional “triggers”, flashbacks or simply “triggered.” Emotional flashbacks are intrusive thoughts or mental images of a lived traumatic experience where it may feel like a replay button is causing you to relive the trauma over and over. Certain scents, noises, tastes, images, places, situations or people may create a flashback of the emotional or psychological trauma, making it feel as if it were happening all over again. For example, if you were at an airport awaiting your flight and witnessed an active s...
Source: World of Psychology - May 17, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Dr. Annie Tanasugarn Tags: Memory and Perception PTSD Trauma emotional flashbacks traumatic experience Source Type: blogs

Quarantine as an Opportunity: Embracing the ‘ Pause ’ and Coming Back to Yourself
For some of us, the heavy “pause” mandated by quarantine is the first time we’ve had down time in ages. What if this forced down time is a gift? What if it’s an opportunity to get the rest and clarity we so desperately long for and need? What can we learn from disruptions like this? How can we transform a shocking event into an opportunity for self examination and care?   It’s an odd time, to be sure. We find ourselves forced into unexpected isolation. But there is a difference between being lonely and being alone. I wonder what healing we would find if we shifted our perspective and saw this as a gift of solit...
Source: World of Psychology - May 17, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Hilary Porta Tags: Inspiration & Hope Mindfulness Self-Help Spirituality coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic social distancing Source Type: blogs

Are You Experiencing Quarantine Brain?
Another term is being added to the lexicon in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: quarantine brain. It takes many forms, from confusion and fogginess to limited executive functioning. Those who fall prey to it may find themselves unable to complete tasks, manage their time and routine, and make sound decisions. This occurs even if the person has no prior history with attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Some report a lack of motivation to get out of bed, let alone engage in their daily activities. What helps them is knowing that their boss, teachers, and family are counting on them to launch...
Source: World of Psychology - May 16, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW Tags: Dreams Memory and Perception Personal Coping Skills coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic Resilience social distancing Source Type: blogs

Psychology Around the Net: May 16, 2020
I remember back when the coronavirus pandemic was first sweeping the world; it hadn’t yet hit America with full force, states hadn’t yet started issuing state-at-home orders, and most people hadn’t yet started working from home. Back then, I thought I could keep Psychology Around the Net fairly coronavirus free — after all, Psych Central’s contributors were and still are doing a fantastic job of handling the subject. However, it eventually did hit America full force, we’ve been under stay-at-home orders for a while (and some of us are coming out of them), and many people are working at ...
Source: World of Psychology - May 16, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Alicia Sparks Tags: Psychology Around the Net Children coronavirus COVID-19 death awareness kids pandemic Parents psychopathic traits Psychopaths Psychopathy quarantine work from home Source Type: blogs

Using Quarantine to Reflect On Values, Worth & Life
With many of us at home, it’s time to let our lives catch up to us and envision a new future. The unbridled spread of COVID-19 has caused all but essential service providers to drop what we were doing and settle in at home. This forced slowdown is very uncomfortable for most. Notwithstanding the stress we increasingly feel about our financial security, for many of us, our mental health is maintained by our participation in meaningful work. Without that work to direct our attention, effort, and even passion towards, we are left floundering to find stability and juggling myriad possibilities with indecisiveness. How t...
Source: World of Psychology - May 15, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Psych Central Guest Author Tags: Publishers YourTango coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic quarantine Reflection self-worth values Source Type: blogs