Opioid Addiction: Symptoms, Risks, and Impact

  Written by: Sabrina Sourjah Date Updated: 4/22/2021 Reviewed by: Patrick D. Randolph, Ph.D. Opioid addiction is a persistent crisis — also known as the opioid epidemic. In 2017, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared a public health emergency due to this opioid crisis. 10.1 million people misused prescription opioids in 2019, and […]

Self-Harm: All You Need to Know About Its Impact, Causes, and Risks

  Written by: Sabrina Sourjah Date Updated: 4/22/2021 Reviewed by: Patrick D. Randolph, Ph.D. Self-harm can come in various forms. Have you ever felt extreme emotional pain that you have considered doing anything to stop the pain? Even if that thing hurt you in the long term. When psychological pain becomes unbearable, one can turn […]

Nicotine Dependence: Symptoms, Causes, and Impact

  Written by: Sabrina Sourjah Date Updated: 4/22/2021 Reviewed by: Patrick D. Randolph, Ph.D. Nicotine dependence is the most common addiction in the US. The annual societal cost of smoking, including healthcare costs and productivity loss, is estimated to be $193 billion. Nicotine is a chemical with nitrogen and can be found in plants like […]

Why Quality Sleep Matters

  Written by: Sabrina Sourjah Date Updated: 4/22/2021 Reviewed by: Patrick D. Randolph, Ph.D. We barely get a night of quality sleep nowadays. You’ve heard about employees dropping dead after working continuously for more than 24 hours or the burnt-out manager who can’t seem to get enough shut-eye every night. According to the Sleep Foundation, […]

How the Body Mass Index (BMI) Affects You

  Written by: Sabrina Sourjah Date Updated: 4/22/2021 Reviewed by: Patrick D. Randolph, Ph.D. You may have heard of the Body Mass Index (BMI) during visits to your primary care physician, in weight watchers programs, or in health-conscious communities. But what exactly is this BMI, and how can it help us? The BMI measures the […]

Impact of Chronic Stress

  Written by: Sabrina Sourjah Date Updated: 4/22/2021 Reviewed by: Patrick D. Randolph, Ph.D. Chronic stress is sometimes ingrained into our lives so much that we don’t even notice its prevalence. In such circumstances, we witness the symptoms in our bodies and our behaviors before we identify the cause of the stress. In a 2019 […]

Somatic Symptoms: Impact of Perceived Burden

  Written by: Sabrina Sourjah Date Updated: 4/21/2021 Reviewed by: Patrick D. Randolph, Ph.D. Somatic symptom disorder is experienced by about five to seven percent of the adult population. Ten times more women than men experience these symptoms, most likely because one of its causes is childhood abuse and trauma that women are subjected to […]