Browse every article on stress, anxiety, depression and real-life emotional difficulties, written by Adewale Ademuyiwa.
You pride yourself on being composed. Professional. The person who delivers, no matter what. So when your manager asks how you're doing in a routine catch-up meeting, the last thing you expect is to break down in tears..…
You're exhausted despite sleeping enough. You used to care about your work, but now you can barely drag yourself out of bed. Your concentration is shot-you read the same paragraph three times and still don't absorb it...…
Your operation is tomorrow. You've been to the hospital twice a week for months, watching them redress your wound, applying artificial skin that still hasn't closed the way it should. The doctors won't tell you exactly w…
You're driving toward the hospital for your eighth surgical procedure. Your hands are sweating on the steering wheel. Your chest tightens like someone's wrapped a band around it. You tell yourself this is routine-the sur…
You get back from holiday feeling lighter than you have in months. Even though your partner and daughter were ill during the trip, something about being away shifted your thinking in a positive direction. You felt more p…
Your daughter refuses the vegetables on her plate. Again. You feel your back tighten. That familiar wave of anxiety rising. You've set the rule-finish what's on your plate-and you know what happens if you back down now.…
You're sitting at the dinner table, and it's happening again. Your daughter makes that sound while eating. Or she's got that clingy, pawing thing going with your partner. Or she's looking right at you while doing the exa…
You've done the work. You've identified your patterns-maybe a dozen of them. The problem-solving madness that keeps you fixing everyone else's issues. The always-available trap that has you saying yes when you need to sa…
You're lying in bed, and instead of sleeping, you're rehearsing tomorrow's conversation with your new manager. You play out what you'll say, how they might respond, what you'll say to that response. You run through three…
You know the cycle by now. Six days of perfect control. Every calorie calculated, every meal planned, every moment of hunger pushed through with discipline. Then day seven arrives, and something shifts.…