What is Codependency? Codependency refers to a mental, emotional, physical, and/or spiritual reliance on a partner, friend, or family member. The term was originally coined in the 1950s in the context of Alcoholics Anonymous to support partners of individuals who abused substances, and who were entwined in the toxic lives of those they cared for. This is still true — but today, codependency covers a much broader spectrum. Codependency is not a clinical diagnosis or a formally categorized personality disorder on its own. Generally…
What are emotions? Emotions, often called feelings, include experiences such as love, hate, anger, trust, joy, panic, fear, and grief. Emotions are related to, but different from, mood. Emotions are specific reactions to a particular event that are usually of fairly short duration. Mood is a more general feeling such as happiness, sadness, frustration, contentment, or anxiety that lasts for a longer time. Although everyone experiences emotions, scientists do not all agree on what emotions are or how they should…
Discover the intriguing difference between self-esteem and confidence
December 19, 2021People tend to use the words self-esteem and confidence interchangeably. However, while the two are related, they are not exactly the same. It’s important to know the difference between self-esteem and confidence in order to develop both. Just about everyone struggles with low self-esteem or a lack of confidence at some point in their lives. In this article, I’ll aim to deepen your understanding of the differences between self-esteem and self-confidence. What is Self-Esteem? Self-esteem boils down to your opinion…
Rumination: when your thoughts just refuse to switch off and stop
December 12, 2021Rumination occurs when you have constant and repetitive thoughts about something; typically, a problem or situation. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, rumination is defined as “obsessive thinking about an idea, situation, or choice especially when it interferes with normal mental functioning.” Common phrases that describe what thought rumination feels like: “I’m always in my head” “I have racing thoughts” “I’m constantly dwelling on things” “I can’t shut my mind off” “I tend to overthink everything” It is important to point…
The differences between the emotions Guilt and Shame will surprise you!
December 5, 2021Guilt and shame are two words that we use almost interchangeably. They both describe a negative emotion in response to our actions, but they have very different meanings. In this article, we’ll discuss that difference between shame vs guilt in detail because it has a significant impact on how we view ourselves, each other, and the world. What is the emotion of guilt? When we’ve done something wrong, we feel the emotion of guilt. Maybe we had unhealthy thoughts that…
The truth about the emotions Empathy vs Compassion will surprise you!
November 28, 2021What is compassion? Compassion is the heartfelt wish to help others become free of their suffering. In Buddhist teachings on the Four Immeasurable qualities, compassion is the wish that everyone be relieved of suffering and the causes of suffering. Its twin sister, lovingkindness, is the wish to see everybody happy and endowed with the causes of happiness. And, of course, these two—lovingkindness and compassion—cannot be separated. The English word “compassion” comes from the Latin word compati, which means “to suffer…
Emotional abuse can look like many things. It can be one person trying to control another person. It can be a type of deceit in words that we sometimes call gaslighting. It can be one person habitually belittling another person. At the other end of the spectrum is emotional neglect. In a relationship, two people share words and ideas. They touch each other. They express their emotions with each other. The relationship becomes closer as they share more together. What…
So often, when you ask a couple, that has been married for a long time, what the key to a successful relationship is, they will say: Compromise. Compromise is often treated like the sacred cow of relationships. But it’s time for this outdated idea to come to an end. It’s time for people to change their definition of what a successful relationship is. And to see that if you want a relationship that feels good, compromise is to be intentionally…
The differences between the emotions Fear and Anxiety will surprise you!
November 7, 2021Anxious and frightening emotions can feel the same and be easily confused. Fear and anxiety are closely related. Both contain the idea of danger or possibility of injury. Fear and anxiety both produce a similar stress response to a real or a perceived threat.1 However, fear is an immediate response to a threat, whereas anxiety occurs in anticipation of a threat. Examining these different emotions can help you determine what you are truly experiencing. What is Anxiety? Anxiety is a…
In order to get our very important emotional needs met, we need to feel safe, to feel in control, to feel loved or cared about, to feel purposeful, to feel valued, to feel stimulated, to feel capable – these are some of the emotional needs that, when met will help you to flourish in you life. As part of our genetic make-up, we are born with an inbuilt drive to meet a set of physical and emotional needs. When the…