Stop Hiding Your Gift: How Embracing Your Strengths Can Protect You From Burnout
The air in the room felt heavy. He sat across from me, head down, exhaustion etched into every line of his face. “I don’t know what’s wrong,” he said, voice barely above a whisper. “I’m doing everything they told me to. Hustling. Putting in the hours. But I feel… empty.” It wasn’t the first time I’d heard those words. As a psychiatrist, I’ve worked with countless professionals who come to me not because they’re failing but because they’re succeeding - and it’s destroying them. The truth?...
The 1% Shift: How Small Steps Create Big Change
I want to share a story with you. A story about airplanes, mental gardens, and how the smallest changes in your daily habits can transform your life. Imagine an airplane taking off from New York, bound for Los Angeles. The pilot adjusts the heading by just one degree - barely noticeable to anyone onboard. But by the time the plane reaches the West Coast, it’s not in Los Angeles. It lands somewhere in Mexico. One degree. That’s all it takes to change the destination entirely. This principle...
Turning Anger Into Healing: The Connection Between Trauma, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Mental Health
Anger can feel like a wildfire, unpredictable and consuming everything in its path. For those living with borderline personality disorder (BPD), anger often becomes a familiar, overwhelming presence. It spills over into relationships, decisions, and even how they see themselves. But what if this anger, instead of being a destructive force, held the key to healing? Let’s explore the deep ties between trauma, BPD, and mental health, and how anger can be transformed into a tool for growth. The...
The Truth About ADHD: 5 Myths and Misconceptions Unveiled
Let me take you to a scene I’ve witnessed countless times in my work. Imagine a middle-aged professional - let’s call her Anna - sitting across from me. Her posture is tense, her hands fidgeting with a pen. Her voice trembles as she confesses, “I’ve always felt like something was wrong with me. I can’t keep up. I forget things. I’m drowning at work, and no matter how hard I try, it feels like I’m failing everyone - my boss, my family, myself.” Her words are heavy with self-blame. She thinks...
Happiness Begins with Selfishness and Ends in Meaning
Clara sat across from me, her fingers wrapped tightly around her coffee cup. She looked exhausted. Not just physically, but the kind of exhaustion that settles deep in your bones. The kind that comes from living for everyone except yourself. “I should be happy,” she said, forcing a smile. “I have everything I wanted. A good job. A family. Friends who care about me.” She paused. Her eyes drifted toward the window. “But I feel... empty.” I let the silence stretch between us. Then I asked her...
True Addiction: When the Brain Hijacks Your Free Will
The smell of warm cinnamon rolls filled the kitchen. My friend Ana had been talking about her diet for weeks. “No more sugar,” she had said confidently. Yet, here she was, standing in front of the oven, eyes locked on the golden pastry. “I’ll just have one bite,” she whispered. One bite turned into a whole roll. Then two. By the time she looked up, half the tray was gone. Her face flushed with shame. “Why do I do this to myself?” It wasn’t about hunger. It wasn’t about willpower. It was...
Therapy Isn’t for the Weak – It’s for the Brave
Life has a way of testing us. Problems grow like shadows, stretching larger and darker, eclipsing the light we once relied on. When you’re in that place—lost in the overwhelm—it’s easy to wonder: Is help even for me? Is therapy for me? Let me start here: therapy isn’t for the weak. It’s for the brave. It’s for those bold enough to look at their challenges head-on, no matter how daunting they may seem. It’s not a retreat from the battlefield; it’s a recalibration. A safe space to refocus,...
Are We Treating the Person or the Label?
Have you ever wondered how many prescriptions are written, not for the person sitting across from us, but for the diagnosis they’ve been assigned? This question has been on my mind since a course I attended recently - a course that felt deeply personal to me, touching on themes that align with my heart and purpose. I’ll share more about the course in a future post, but today, I want to explore one idea that has stuck with me ever since. It’s an idea that challenges the way we approach mental...
Beyond Medication: How Your Diet Impacts Mental Wellness
I’ll never forget a patient I worked with early in my career. Let’s call her Maria. She came into my office, visibly exhausted, carrying years of depression on her shoulders. She spoke about her lack of energy, the fog that clouded her mind, and the frustration of trying countless medications that helped a little but never quite enough. As Maria described her daily routine, something stood out to me. Her diet. Breakfast was a quick pastry and coffee, lunch was often skipped or replaced by a...
Caffeine: Borrowed Energy or Hidden Saboteur?
Have you ever wondered how one cup of coffee or tea can make you feel alive and productive, yet exhausted and restless by the end of the day? What if I told you that caffeine, a substance we so readily consume, not only masks fatigue but also interferes with mental health, psychiatric medications, insulin regulation, and the body’s natural rhythm? I’m not here to tell you how to live or dictate what you should or shouldn’t drink. My role is to help you understand and make you conscious of what...
We Are the Sum of What We Take In and Think About
This winter, I made a promise to myself. I wasn’t going anywhere. Three weeks at home—just me, my family, and the quiet comfort of familiar surroundings. No airports. No packing. Just stillness. But life has a way of steering us to where we need to be. Two weeks later, I was walking along a beach in Tenerife, the sun warm on my skin, the waves rolling softly at my feet. My little boy ran ahead, giggling as he stomped tiny footprints in the sand. The air smelled of salt and freedom, and I...
The Car Crush That Changed My Life… and Why It Can Change Yours
Ten years ago, I had a brush with mortality that changed the way I see life. I was in a car accident. My friend was driving her car on a highway in Romania. It was a rainy day, the kind where the world outside the window feels blurry and muted. We were heading to a shopping mall in Bucharest, chatting about everything and nothing, when it happened. As we overtook a truck, my friend drove into a hole filled with water. She didn’t see it was a hole—just thought it was a puddle. When she tried to...
Navigating Depression: Finding Light During the Holiday Season
The holiday season arrives with glittering lights, festive gatherings, and joyful music. But for many, it also brings an undercurrent of heaviness. As others revel in the celebrations, you may feel a growing sense of disconnect. Depression, in its many forms, has a way of turning even the brightest moments dim. ✨🎄❄️ For me, the holiday season used to mean countless visits to relatives, big meals, and a lot of sugar and alcohol. It felt like a marathon rather than a mindful, relaxing time....
Pleasure and Health: Can You Have Both This Holiday?
The holiday season often feels like a whirlwind. We rush from one event to the next, checking off to-do lists and saying yes to every request—buying gifts, baking cookies, attending gatherings. Somewhere in the chaos, we forget about ourselves. By the time the celebrations arrive, we’re often too frazzled to truly enjoy them, let alone think about our health. But it doesn’t have to be this way. What if this year, we approached the holidays differently? Instead of being swept up in the rush, we...
When Knowing Isn’t Enough: Why We Struggle to Prioritize Ourselves
I used to think knowledge was power. If I knew better, I would do better. Simple, right? But life has a way of humbling you. Especially when you’re a professional, balancing the demands of work, family, and the expectations you place on yourself. It’s ironic, isn’t it? The shoemaker with broken shoes. The doctor neglecting their health. The mental health professional burning out. We dedicate ourselves to helping others—yet struggle to apply what we know to our own lives. Let me share a story...
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