5 mins read

Pros and Cons of Joining a Sorority or Fraternity

Now that college has started, the question for many is should they, or shouldn’t they, rush a fraternity or sorority? The decision can define many students’ collegiate experience – and the rest of their life. About 16% of college students sign up for Greek life, which translates to roughly 700,000 undergraduates across 800 campuses in the…

3 mins read

When Going To Work Feels Like A Vacation

We cocoon at home in order to retreat and recharge from the stresses of work, school, and crazy texting drivers on the highway, right? Once upon on a time that might have been true. Recent studies have shown that for American moms today, not so much. The study, conducted by researcher Sarah Damaske at the Council on Contemporary Families, measured the cortisol of 122 workers of various socioeconomic levels at work and at home. Across …

7 mins read

When the Bough Breaks: Ending the Stigma, Shame and Silence of Postpartum Mood Disorders

Contrary to the popular belief that pregnancy is a biologically protective and emotionally joyful time, women are actually quite vulnerable to a spectrum of psychiatric disorders throughout the perinatal period – the time around pregnancy and postpartum. This range of disorders, more commonly referred to under the umbrella term of postpartum depression, is more accurately reflected by the terms postpartum or perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). In fact, 1 in 7 women who become pregnant will experience a mental health disorder during the course of their pregnancy or in the postpartum period, making PMADs the most common complication of childbirth. Additionally, 50% of women diagnosed with PMADs postpartum had an onset of their symptoms during pregnancy.

2 mins read

Domestic Violence Linked to Later Mental Problems in Women

According to a new study in theJournal of the American Medical Association, women are much more likely to develop a mental disorder at some point in their lives if they have been the victim of rape, sexual assault, stalking, or intimate-partner violence. While this does not come as a surprise to most, the interesting aspect of the study is that it shows just how connected these two occurences are. It also emphasizes how important it is for doctors and health care workers to ask women about prior violent incidents, even if they are from years ago.