What it is and why it can be hard to diagnose. — PMDD is About Sensitivity Ever since I first started writing on Medium about two years ago, I have shared my multitude of experiences with my mental health. Within many of those articles, I have also spoken about “hormonal imbalance” and how this dysregulation sometimes further exacerbated my mental health symptoms. Recently I learned that…

The answer might surprise you. — I don’t know anyone who surfs. Though the closest beach is a fifteen-minute drive, it’s not a place that my family would visit often while growing up. Both of my parents grew up on a ranch with fine dirt, who later became accustomed to the big city. Things like salt…

The grieving process thereafter becomes a motivative state to… — In podcast episode number 74, The Science & Process of Healing from Grief, from the Huberman Lab Podcast, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, provides an overarching scientific overview of the process and function behind grief. Dr. Huberman begins by…

No perfect formula of routines and rituals will provide me with a perfect day. — I’m aware that I was born into a multitude of blessings that many other Latinos and Latinas have not had the privilege to have. Warm, clean, running water. Light switches that work. Enough food for every meal. …

A reflection from Dr. Muñoz’s ‘The Healthy Management of Reality’. — For almost a year now, I have been working under the wing of Dr. Ricardo Muñoz, a Distinguished Professor of Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University and Founder of the Institute for International Internet Interventions for Health (i4Health). In 1996, he wrote the book The Healthy Management of Reality as…

All the “one days” you have imagined for yourself can be possible. — I began going to my local gym again the day after my dad’s funeral. This was slightly over a year ago. Although public gyms in Los Angeles had reopened during the pandemic months prior to me going back, I decided against it. …

How emotions drive our most primitive parts. — You’ll often hear many professionals say that communicating with the people in your life is essential to building long and healthy relationships. Intuitively, you may believe that it’s simply the act of talking that builds a deeper connection as each person gets to know where the other is coming from…

We force ourselves to chase after an ideal of safety. — Recently I met with a co-worker that I hadn’t seen or spoken to in over two years. She had been one of my role models when I was working at a wellness center. A job I obtained after graduating from college. …

Recently one of my mom’s friends gave me a bag of their daughter’s clothes. My mom told me to choose what I liked and leave the rest for my godmother to sell in her yardsales. There were a few crop tops in the bag. A style of clothing I always…