Anxiety Archives - Heather Hayes & Associates https://heatherhayes.com/category/anxiety/ Interventions & Treatment Consulting Fri, 24 Jul 2026 18:03:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 https://heatherhayes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-HH_logo-32x32.png Anxiety Archives - Heather Hayes & Associates https://heatherhayes.com/category/anxiety/ 32 32 From Silos to Synergy: Building Trauma Responsive Ecosystems in the Age of AI https://heatherhayes.com/from-silos-to-synergy-building-trauma-responsive-ecosystems-in-the-age-of-ai/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 18:03:07 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=7772 Behavioral health clinicians are practicing in a moment of extraordinary complexity. Severe mental illness is rising, and substance use disorders continue to evolve in potency and presentation. Families are overwhelmed. Providers are burned out, and social determinants of health widen disparities. Artificial intelligence is entering care faster than ethical frameworks are solidifying. Yet our systems […]

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]]> Before They Leave: What Every Student, and Every Parent, Needs to Know Before College https://heatherhayes.com/before-they-leave-what-every-student-and-every-parent-needs-to-know-before-college/ Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:00:18 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=7761 Every August, millions of parents load up SUVs with comforters, mini refrigerators, laundry baskets, and enough snacks to survive a natural disaster. We make one last trip to Target. We hang pictures on dorm walls. We hug our children goodbye and tell them how excited we are. Then we get back into the car. Some […]

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]]> Benzodiazepine Addiction: The Quiet Epidemic Hidden Inside Modern Anxiety Treatment https://heatherhayes.com/benzodiazepine-addiction-the-quiet-epidemic-hidden-inside-modern-anxiety-treatment/ Fri, 29 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=7595 By the 1960s, medicine believed it had found a safer answer to anxiety. The era of barbiturates, which carried high overdose risks and profound sedation, appeared to be ending. In their place came a new class of medications that promised calm, sleep, and emotional relief with far less danger: benzodiazepines. What began as a pharmaceutical […]

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]]> Why Multidisciplinary Approaches Matter in Complex Mental Health Cases https://heatherhayes.com/why-multidisciplinary-approaches-matter-in-complex-mental-health-cases/ Fri, 27 Feb 2026 11:40:12 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=7299 Every individual’s path to healing is different, particularly when complex mental health challenges are involved. What appears to be anxiety or depression may be layered with trauma, dysfunctional family dynamics, medical conditions, substance use, and ongoing social stressors. While two people can share the same diagnosis, they can have entirely different histories, triggers, coping strategies, […]

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]]> ADHD, Trauma, and the Nervous System: Making Sense of the Connection https://heatherhayes.com/adhd-trauma-and-the-nervous-system-making-sense-of-the-connection/ Tue, 07 Oct 2025 14:39:11 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=7118 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Originally, ADHD was a diagnosis given only to children who struggled to pay attention, especially in school; however,  in recent years, the criteria have been expanded to include adult diagnoses, and many individuals from all walks of life are making […]

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]]> Challenges of Adolescence: Coping with the Pressure to Be Perfect https://heatherhayes.com/challenges-of-adolescence-coping-with-the-pressure-to-be-perfect/ Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:45:16 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=6741 The teen years can be extremely challenging. We tend to romanticise adolescence once we have left it behind, remembering it as a time when we were carefree and had many paths open to us. In reality, the years between thirteen and nineteen are fraught for many young people as friendships emerge and erode, academic pressures […]

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]]> What Is Looksmaxxing? The Tiktok Trend With Harmful Potential for Teenage Boys https://heatherhayes.com/what-is-looksmaxxing-the-tiktok-trend-with-harmful-potential-for-teenage-boys/ Fri, 25 Oct 2024 07:00:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/incongruence-in-family-systems-how-can-we-better-understand-teen-development-copy/ In a TikTok video which has over two hundred thousand views, a young man explains how looksmaxxing for eight months has changed his appearance completely. He goes on to explain in detail how he went about looksmaxxing and advises viewers that they can achieve these results, too, if they remain committed to the series of […]

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]]> Forest Bathing: Understanding the Very Real Psychological Benefits of Nature https://heatherhayes.com/forest-bathing-understanding-the-very-real-psychological-benefits-of-nature/ Fri, 12 Apr 2024 07:00:32 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/living-with-bipolar-disorder-copy/ It will come as no surprise to anyone who enjoys spending time outdoors that being in nature has significant mental health benefits. The serene feeling of being surrounded by the natural world has been written about by countless authors, poets, and songwriters, captured by artists in paintings and photographs, and increasingly showcased in documentaries and […]

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]]> The Link Between Psychological Homelessness and Addiction https://heatherhayes.com/the-link-between-psychological-homelessness-and-addiction/ Thu, 25 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/difficult-months-raising-awareness-around-seasonal-affective-disorder-copy/ Recovering from addiction requires a great deal of inner work. It is a lifelong process and not merely a matter of stopping the problematic behavior that characterizes addiction. It entails healing from the trauma that so often lies at its center. But, how do we begin this process of healing which is so critical to […]

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]]> Difficult Months: Raising Awareness Around Seasonal Affective Disorder https://heatherhayes.com/difficult-months-raising-awareness-around-seasonal-affective-disorder/ Tue, 16 Jan 2024 08:00:18 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/grit-what-it-is-and-why-you-need-it-copy/ After the bustle and activity of Christmas and New Year, transitioning into the new year can seem particularly gloomy. In fact, many of us experience what is known as the January blues. Last month, we explored the difference between the winter blues and the serious mental health condition known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Those […]

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]]> GRIT – What It Is and Why You Need It https://heatherhayes.com/grit-what-it-is-and-why-you-need-it/ Sun, 31 Dec 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/the-dangers-of-toxic-positivity-why-its-okay-to-not-be-okay-copy/ The final day of the year is a time to take stock of what’s behind us and consider the year to come. Some people will set goals for New Year’s Day by making resolutions about how they’ll change their lives; others will simply try to make the next year a little better than the last. […]

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]]> The Dangers of Toxic Positivity: Why it’s Okay to not be Okay https://heatherhayes.com/the-dangers-of-toxic-positivity-why-its-okay-to-not-be-okay/ Sun, 24 Dec 2023 08:00:53 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/the-co-addicted-tango-a-look-at-pia-mellodys-theory-of-love-addiction-and-love-avoidance-copy/ “Everything happens for a reason. Always look on the bright side! It could always be worse!”  In the face of adversity, we often hear such well-intentioned positive phrases thrown our way to comfort us. Whether we cynically brush them off as meaningless platitudes or take them more seriously, positivity at the expense of acknowledging real […]

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