Can depression be used for manipulation?

Some behaviors are unacceptable. Some people are unacceptable. Just what should you accept and what should you do when you can't? Emotional abuse has a tendency to make you feel completely powerless, unable to make such decisions. 

Some relationships end but continue leaving destruction in their wake. Some don't end and you suffer through the daily drip-feeding of emotionally abusive behaviors until you lose your sanity. When there's no way away from all the toxicity, what can you do? 

We can create our own dysfunction but be so jaded by those around us that we can't think clearly enough to stop toxic or hurtful behavior. There's a time when you have to get away from other people so that the fog can lift and you can think clearly. It is during those times when ...  Show more

Is the ability to endure hardship and adapt to difficult life situations always a good thing? Psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker Lourdes Dolores Follins revisits the concept of resilience — and explains why it's OK to let yourself feel angry or frustrated sometim ...  Show more

Are mental illnesses real in the same way that HIV, cancer, or the flu are? Some psychologists say no. 

Nothing is more damaging to your confidence and self-esteem than being in an emotionally abusive relationship. So often you make excuses for their behavior, think that it is your fault or feel that you can change their ways. In this episode I offer practical techniques so that yo ...  Show more