“I have no friends,” said a recent high school sophomore during an emotional therapy session. She’s not alone—I hear it daily working with adolescent girls. As adults, we often scoff and wonder how this could be. But the truth is, teenagers today feel isolated and more alone than ever. Even in the age of social media, with constant digital connection, lack of deep friendships is creating a secluded void.

While everyone feels lonely from time to time, the number of teenagers who tell me they feel friendless is unnerving. When I probe deeper and ask why they feel this way, and how it happened, similar patterns emerge across the board.

• It starts to unravel in middle school, after successfully navigating friendships in elementary school.
• The unraveling tends to start with a friendship conflict. Sometimes it’s a jealousy situation, sometimes it involves peer pressure or fear, and sometimes it’s a popularity contest.
• Teens feel shunned by former friends, and they can’t seem to get the relationship back on track.
• Teens have a hard time making new friends because they are not sure who is trustworthy.
• Teens feel like social media are a blessing and a curse.
• Teens feel isolated, vulnerable, and alone.

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As adults, we are often quick to think, “Just go make a friend.” Today, it isn’t that easy. There are social media platforms to navigate, reputations to discern, disconnections to hurdle. It can feel overwhelming to start. Whether accurate or not, any perceived challenge can make a teen more likely to not reach out to someone as a friend. For instance, it’s a common perception among teens to view themselves as unlikable. “She doesn’t like me, she never even looks at me in the hallway,” I hear often.

Even in the age of constant virtual connectedness, we live with personal and intimate disconnectedness. Teens can have “friends” on Facebook but often feel left out when others are having fun on Saturday night and they weren’t invited. Classmates may comment on a teen’s Instagram photo but forget to invite them to join a movie night.

Teenage years are hard enough without the extra challenge of feeling friendless.

Social media also provide an inherent friendship killer—competition. That’s what social media are often used for—showing off, looking cool, and stirring envy. Taking a selfie is often work for teens. They may feel the need to look their best from every angle, and it often takes a few tries to get it “right.” When the end result turns out to be a fabulous photo, social media followers may forget that the person in the photo can also have zits, a broken heart, and family conflict.

How can teens learn to have healthy friendships in this competitive, disconnected culture we live in? Here are 10 suggestions you can give your teen:

1. Some people are popular only because everyone is afraid of them. That is no way to have friends; that’s a dictatorship! Look around at the people who are friendly, but not super popular—that’s where you’re likely to find the people who stay out of drama.
2. Understand that there can be levels of friends. You can have a class friend, a tennis friend, and a best friend. They are all important to your well-being!
3. You can’t always find friendship in your phone. Look up and outward. Put your phone away and connect in person. Start with a friendly smile and work up from there to a kind “hello.”
4. Have an acquaintance whom you like? Take a risk and ask them to do something with you. Go to Starbucks, see a movie, do a project. Even if you are scared, ask. Taking risks and asking often deepens relationships.
5. Try a new activity. If you are an artist, join Art Club! That is where your kind of people are probably hanging out.
6. Don’t be so quick to assume that everyone dislikes you. What do they know about you? Do you walk through the halls with your head down and a distressed look on your face? You could be inadvertently sending an inaccurate impression visually. Maybe lighten up a bit, walk to class with a friendly face, and take a chance by smiling at someone. See what happens as an experiment.
7. Look for evidence. Are you sure that person “hates” you? What are the facts? Feelings are not facts—we need to look for actual evidence to support your feelings. Maybe you’ll find you didn’t have all the facts and misread a situation.
8. Learn social skills. Find safe topics that everyone likes to talk about such as food, animals, weather, television shows, and holidays. Ask questions, don’t give one-word answers, and be polite. Learn the art of interviewing – it’s essential to get to know someone!
9. Be vulnerable. Tell someone something about yourself. Start with a small detail that you don’t care if people know and grow it from there.
10. Assume people are good and want to have a friend. Almost everyone wants to be connected.

Teenage years are hard enough without the extra challenge of feeling friendless. Understanding the impact of social media, lack of personal togetherness, and the absence of trust can help adults guide teenagers through the vulnerable emotions of friendship making.

When you are the spouse or partner of a person experiencing depression, you may feel stuck between wanting to help and realizing depression is a force larger than your love at times. You may be on edge, hypervigilant, worried, and feel hopeless when you cannot fix it for them.

First things first. If your loved one is in a depressive state lasting longer than two weeks characterized by sleep disturbances, lack of interest in once-enjoyed activities, weight gain or loss, sad feelings, fatigue, irritability, suicidal thoughts, and/or social isolation, you should get professional help immediately. You can start with your family doctor, who may refer you to a mental health professional. Depression is not something to “wait and see” on, and it’s not something just anyone can identify or diagnose. Keep in mind, also, it is common for a depressed person to not want anyone (especially a loved one) to worry, so they will often put on a good front and minimize their true feelings.

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When your spouse or partner is hurting, it is natural to want to solve it for them—to search for actions you can do to remove depression and replace it with happiness. While this is a valiant and tender-hearted gesture, it is also ill-fated. Depression doesn’t simply go away because you’ve loved more. Clinical depression can be a chemical imbalance, a residual effect of past trauma, a situational outcome, or a genetic predisposition, making treatment difficult in the best of circumstances.

So what does it feel like to watch your spouse or partner go through depression? Well, it’s depressing. It creates a situation that may feel out of control, hopeless, and heavy. You may become a watcher—watching what the depressed person says, what they look like, how they acted, and what didn’t happen. You may become a detective trying to identify something that will create change and bring lightness. “If only …” may become your new motto, “Why don’t you try …” your new daily suggestion.

As a partner and (at least to some extent) caretaker, you will need to keep yourself healthy. That may mean seeking your own individual therapy, seeing friends, doing activities you enjoy, exercising, eating healthy, and setting clear emotional boundaries about what you can change and what you must accept.

You may become consumed with fighting this depression and then, without realizing it and without meaning to, you may get angry—angry your loved one isn’t getting better, angry your life stinks, angry you can’t change this. You know it isn’t your loved one’s fault and they didn’t ask for depression, but you may get impatient anyway, wanting change to happen more quickly than they may be able to move. You may experience a grieving of sorts—for the loss of the life with your loved one that you once knew.

As a partner and (at least to some extent) caretaker, you will need to keep yourself healthy. That may mean seeking your own individual therapy, seeing friends, doing activities you enjoy, exercising, eating healthy, and setting clear emotional boundaries about what you can change and what you must accept.

It is not unloving to learn to maintain a distance from the depression; it may, in fact, be the only thing that keeps you healthy and available. Observing your loved one suffering while you live fully can be difficult to comprehend. You will no doubt ask yourself if you should be laughing, eating out, or seeing a movie. However, who will take care of you if you don’t? Finding lighter, more upbeat activities can create space that allows for some happy times for you. This space can fuel you when times are heavy and tough. As with all things, “this too shall pass” can be a mantra to absorb and hold true.

In time and with treatment, your spouse or partner can be happy again, and you can feel less worried and vigilant.

I hear from so many men and women whose marriages and relationships are in crisis. “How did I get here?” they wonder. We all know it takes two to tango. What we may overlook is our ability to ignore warning signs. Upon further analysis of the relationship in counseling, we may wonder what messages we missed and what we can learn from them.

Take, for instance, the woman who is thinking of divorce because she found out her husband is having an affair, one of many she has recently discovered. While her husband’s behavior and choices lend evidence to his lack of respect for her, we can also find small clues along the way that she may have dismissed—red flags, if you will, signaling danger.

One night, a few years back, her husband was on the phone late at night. When she asked who he was talking to, he gave a general answer about work. She immediately felt the hairs on the back of her neck go up, and her stomach flip-flopped. She had an intuitive feeling he was not being truthful. In order to keep the peace, however, she said nothing further.

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The next time she felt that same distressing sense, he did not call her for his nightly check-in when he was on a business trip. She had already been uneasy that he was going to dinner with both female and male colleagues and having after-dinner drinks. When he didn’t call her as usual, she called him but got no answer. She texted him but got no answer. She stayed up extra late to wait for his response, but it didn’t come. A nagging feeling told her something wasn’t right, but when he came home and minimized the missed calls and texts as her “overreacting,” she felt foolish for thinking anything could be wrong with their relationship.

Another time, she found a gift of female lingerie in her husband’s gym bag. She chose to say nothing, hoping the lingerie would wind up being a surprise for her. She waited. And waited. She eventually brought it up and received a strange answer that didn’t sit well with her, nor make any sense. Yet she ignored her feeling that danger was near.

When she eventually found out he was having affairs, she exclaimed, “I knew it!”

So why do we ignore the red flags in our relationships? I think there are several answers, and all of them are complicated by love, devotion, and sacrifice.

Often, we don’t want to know the truth. We would have to change something—our lives, the place we live, our finances, perhaps even ourselves—if we found out the truth.

First, we ignore red flags because we are afraid they are telling the true, painful story. We may ask questions of our partner about their behavior and receive answers, but we leave the answers alone even if they don’t quite fit. Often, we don’t want to know the truth. We would have to change something—our lives, the place we live, our finances, perhaps even ourselves—if we found out the truth. That can simply be too exhausting to think about. Even if we are certain it’s happening, we don’t want our partner to say they are having an affair because of what that would mean for us, our families, and our lives.

Second, we ignore red flags because we think our intuition is wrong. It simply cannot be right. So we engage in denial and carry on as if nothing is wrong because it’s easier to deny than to go through the pain of conflict. Surely your beloved partner would NEVER do that to you, right? They vowed they wouldn’t. We ignore our gut feelings, signs of disconnection, inappropriate conversations, and foggy details. We assume, after hearing our partner’s explanation, that we must be “crazy” and their explanation is the complete truth. Challenging our intuition is a dangerous game because it blocks us from knowing primal truths.

Third, we ignore red flags because we have been indoctrinated to believe that marriage and committed relationships are hard work. As a couple, you are supposed to struggle and compromise, right? Marriage and relationships are indeed hard work, but they shouldn’t be so hard that you feel disrespected and at war with your own intuition.

When I ask people in counseling, “What red flags did you choose to ignore?” most often I get a puzzled expression that turns into a knowing look and then to acknowledgment. Upon reflection, most of us know what we ignored and allowed.

For a clearer picture of your relational distress, ask yourself what you are ignoring and denying. Are you brave enough to see the red flags? And finally, do you have the courage to do the arduous work of repair or healing?

Do you feel compelled to remove flakes of dead skin from your nose? Do you have a hard time keeping your hands off pimples and blackheads? What about those random bumps on your arm that arise unexpectedly? For people diagnosed with excoriation disorder, skin picking is a common response to these and other generally harmless skin irritants.

According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, excoriation—which falls under the umbrella of obsessive compulsion—is characterized by recurrent skin picking resulting in some sort of skin lesion; repeated attempts to stop the picking; potential impairment or distress over the picking; and an inability to attribute the skin picking to a medical condition, substance abuse, or another mental health diagnosis. Like hair pulling and nail biting, research suggests that excoriation may be a body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB).

Most people who pick can typically find multiple sites on their body to pick, squeeze, or scratch. It is often a search-and-find mission using fingernails or some other designated instrument. The result of the picking can be inflamed, red, and sometimes bloody skin. When scabs develop, they may represent another reason to pick.

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People who pick their skin often are ashamed and feel the need to conceal excoriation through the use of makeup, extra clothing, or hats. The shame may add to the distress they feel regarding their appearance or their behavior toward their body. Often, there is an undercurrent of perfectionism with BFRBs, especially skin picking, and a deeply held belief that any imperfections must be eliminated.

Often, therapy will address underlying feelings and emotions that fuel the behavior, exploration of triggers that affect when and where the person picks, and soothing strategies to deescalate compulsive behaviors.

Would you be surprised to know that more than 75% of people diagnosed with excoriation are female? It is estimated that excoriation affects 1.4% of the general population, although many experts think the number may be higher. Most often, the condition begins at the onset of puberty and becomes chronic over time.

Skin picking may be triggered by tension, stress, or boredom and often has a compulsive element to it, meaning the person cannot stop themselves from picking and feels compelled to either relieve uncomfortable feelings or respond to minor skin irritations. Most often it occurs without full awareness of the behavior and when the person is alone. While reading, studying, on the phone, or watching television are all common scenarios for excoriation to occur. Many people spend up to one hour per day picking or resisting the urge to pick. Often, another person has noticed and mentioned the behavior.

Treatment for skin picking is often found in cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, rational emotive behavioral therapy, or acceptance and commitment therapy facilitated by a licensed mental health provider. Often, therapy will address underlying feelings and emotions that fuel the behavior, exploration of triggers that affect when and where the person picks, and soothing strategies to deescalate compulsive behaviors.

Those with BFRBs may also find relief with tactile and meditative strategies. Tactile replacements may be helpful in providing substitute relief and can include bubble-wrap popping, fidget toys, cooking, working with clay, painting, or even using a piece of ribbon as a soothing instrument to wrap, rip, and stroke. Meditative behaviors such as yoga, cleaning, walking, or listening to music can also be effective in soothing the urge to pick.

Although excoriation is a complicated and often distressing behavior, it is manageable with professional treatment and replacement behaviors.

References:

1. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
2. OCD & Related Disorders Program. (n.d.). Excoriation. Retrieved from https://mghocd.org/clinical-services/excoriation/

At an age when human development can be awkward and challenging, a large number of children are additionally burdened with their parents’ divorce and resulting implications. Parental strife, parent-child conflict, familial and residential changes, financial problems—these factors and more can create the perfect storm of adolescent angst. As divorce affects every person differently, it also affects developmental age ranges differently. Even as they transition toward independence, adolescents continue to be caught in the upheaval and end of their families as they knew them.

Although the groundbreaking 25-year study by Wallerstein and Lewis (2004) is now 12 years old, its findings are still relevant today. Divorced children of all ages eventually reach a conclusion that terrifies them: personal relationships are unreliable, and even the closest family relationships cannot be expected to hold firm. This realization creates a shaky foundation that adolescents then use as a touchstone and reference when making their way in the world.

As further noted by Wallerstein and Lewis, two-thirds of the children they studied experienced multiple marriages and divorces, plus the unrecorded broken love affairs and temporary cohabitations of one or both parents. Fewer than 10% of the children had parents who established stable, lasting second marriages in which the children felt fully welcome and included. The frequent discrepancy in the post-divorce adjustment of their parents was also a source of deep distress to the children well into adulthood.

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It makes sense, then, that the turbulence and resultant pain associated with divorce creates a barrier for adolescent children of divorce to feel stable and hopeful. When adolescents see their parents divorce, there may be either a sense of “it won’t happen to me (when I’m an adult)” or “all relationships end up broken, so I won’t even try.” Which is why, as noted in the study, divorce is not an acute stress from which the child recovers, but a “life-transforming experience” (Wallerstein and Lewis, 2004).

Often, a dramatic change in family structure accompanies divorce. Logistically, one parent must leave the family home. This parental absence creates an absence in the child’s life that is irreversible. Although adolescents are moving toward independence, the parental role is far from minimized at this age. Adolescents accustomed to two parents typically come to rely on them as moral guides, support systems, and physical presences in their lives. As written by Marquardt (2005), almost two-thirds of divorced children felt they lived in two families and inherited two worlds in which to grow up. This sense of division can be challenging if there are two sets of rules and standards to balance. It is almost as if children become travelers into the newly adopted lives of their parents, but without a road map to navigate the pathways.

Family dynamics often change drastically with the addition of significant others into the lives of newly divorced parents. Mothers get boyfriends, fathers get girlfriends, and sometimes these relationships come with additional children. Never do divorced adolescents feel more alone than when they come to see themselves as “third wheels.”

Divorce also may bring about an enormous reallocation of money. Some researchers have suggested that the economic hardship custodial parents face following divorce is the critical factor in predicting children’s post-divorce adjustment. Dramatic losses in income may contribute to additional life stresses such as moving to a smaller residence in neighborhoods with increased crime, lower quality schools, and loss of familiar and developed community supports. Lower income also forces many custodial parents to work additional hours to cover basic necessities and bills. Financial strain, by the way, is one of the strongest predictors of depression in single parents.

Another significant aspect of divorce includes child support. Even though parents have been supporting their children financially since birth, the divorce and resultant child support payments create the illusion children are now a mandated financial obligation, like a loan or a bill, which may become a contentious battle if payments are withheld or missed.

Family dynamics often change drastically with the addition of significant others into the lives of newly divorced parents. Mothers get boyfriends, fathers get girlfriends, and sometimes these relationships come with additional children. Never do divorced adolescents feel more alone than when they come to see themselves as “third wheels.”

Overall, according to Wallerstein (2004), adolescents from divorced homes acted out more than adolescents from intact homes. Twenty percent of girls in the Wallerstein study had their first sexual experience before age 14, and over half were sexually active with multiple partners during high school. As noted, it isn’t the sex itself that was relevant; it was the attention received. Divorce creates a void, and adolescents test themselves and their parents with their choices to fill it.

While divorce is often inevitable, its implications are far-reaching to all involved. Adolescents are particularly affected given they simultaneously want independence while needing nurturing and guidance. If parents are divided and conflicted, adolescent angst may be intensified, potentially causing lifelong issues.

References:

1. Marquartdt, E. (2005). Between two worlds: The inner lives of children of divorce. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.
2. Wallerstein, J., & Lewis, J. (2004). The unexpected legacy of divorce: Report of a 25-year study. Psychoanalytic Psychology, Vol. 21 (3).

Many little girls grow up dreaming of being in a fairy tale relationship, being swept off their feet by the perfect gentleman and living happily ever after. As boys get older, they, too, can develop idealistic thoughts about becoming someone’s knight in shining armor. Although Cinderella and Prince Charming’s enduring love story may be the stuff of fantasy, trying to create perfection in a real-life relationship can backfire.

When we fall in love, we want to be on our best behavior, look our best, and show our partner how much they mean to us. This is perfectly normal. As love develops and grows, it is also normal to expect love to change and evolve into a maturity and grace that allows for some imperfections to begin to show through.

Over time, all relationships weather ups and downs and highs and lows. Nobody’s perfect, and no partners are perfect together all the time. But in the quest for the “perfect” relationship, sometimes we expect more from our partner than is reasonable. This can mean nobody’s happy.

Perspective is important in relationships. In that spirit, you might want to check your expectations if you expect your partner to:

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• Read your mind—because if they love you, they should “just know,” right? Wrong.
• Hang out and get along with all of your friends.
• Meet your every emotional need, desire, and want.
• Never slip up, say the wrong thing, or make the wrong move.
• Never get angry or upset.
• Love you as intensely as you love them.
• Look a certain way 100% of the time.

When we allow for the idea that relationships are perfectly imperfect, we leave room for ourselves and our partners to be authentic and real.

When we are obsessed with the idea of a perfect relationship, we tend to work very hard to maintain what we think is “right” and “correct” without objective balance. We want to present to the world how solid and strong our love is by metaphorically riding off into the sunset. However, the idea of never having challenges and struggles is unrealistic and disingenuous. If the pattern of portraying perfection in your relationship becomes obsessive and intrusive, it may be time to seek help from a therapist.

Obsessive thoughts may be grounded in our own fear. We all fear abandonment and hurt, but some of us have a stronger inclination to create a sense of security. To begin loosening the grip on the compulsion to be “perfect” in relationships, try the following strategies:

1. Acknowledge that the quest to be perfect is exhausting.
2. Be mindful about when the obsession for perfection comes up in your relationship.
3. Ask yourself: What’s the worst that can happen if it isn’t perfect?
4. Ask yourself: What kind of love do I want?
5. Examine why perfection in a relationship appeals to you. Learn from your findings.
6. Allow your partner space to make mistakes. Acknowledge that they are normal.
7. Understand that the things you want most are almost always rendered less achievable by your perfectionistic tendencies.

The obsessional quality of perfection is that it is relentless! There is not much room in a fairy tale-like relationship for arguments, hurt feelings, forgotten promises, and repair—the trials all meaningful relationships go through (and typically emerge stronger for) at one point or another. When we allow for the idea that relationships are perfectly imperfect, we leave room for ourselves and our partners to be authentic and real. There may not be a perfect relationship, but a healthy one, in which two people can love, learn, and grow together, might be as good as it gets.

Would you work a highly demanding, fast-paced job Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., take a small break, then work another job that requires intense focus both mentally and physically from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.? Let’s say the pay sucked. Advancement was dependent on performance, and your coworkers were sometimes enemies. In addition, you had only 20 minutes to eat lunch in a loud, chaotic environment.

Sound appealing? I didn’t think so. But yet we ask our children to do it. Welcome to high school 2015.

Today’s kids are being asked—required, more like—to work in this kind of system. The amount of academic work in a given day, added onto extracurricular activities and homework, has reached an all-time back-breaking load.

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There is a general understanding with kids and parents today: The academic world has changed. When many parents today were in high school, they had homework, yes; but they also had part-time jobs, friends, went to social events, and basically had a life. An academically advanced high school student now has no time for going to the mall with friends, no time for a part-time job (unless he or she gives up a sport or other pursuit), and no time for rest and reflection. Add in social media with its false sense of connection and, simply put, teens are struggling with stress, anxiety, and depression at much higher rates than was experienced 30 years ago. The intended effect of helping our children compete globally by increasing curricula has indeed come at a cost.

Homework, hard work, and perseverance are all good things. Teens should learn to handle tough stuff. But should they learn it while being prescribed antianxiety medication to quell rising fear about not getting into the “right” college? Should they learn it while being prescribed antidepressants because they can’t imagine a happy future given their overwhelmed present?

We as parents and academia are missing the point: We cannot continue to ask teens to handle all of this without giving them the tools to handle it.

Here are eight ways to help your teen:

1. Ask about school pressures and then listen with the intention of understanding, not responding and judging. Ask your teen, “What’s it like to be you?”
2. Identify what is causing the most stress in your teen’s life. Is it a specific class, a certain friend, pressure from you? Your teen will answer honestly only if you are listening without judgment.
3. Check yourself. How are you handling stress in your life? If the answer is not very well, then this is a great time to learn better stress management for you and your teen. He or she is watching you.
4. Teach your teen time management and being focused without distraction.
5. Teach relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, stretching, walking, playing with the dog, drawing, or meditation.
6. Communicate with a teacher, the school, or the coach (make sure your teen knows you are doing this) to gain further insight into what’s happening. Sometimes this small act can make a huge impact.
7. Reduce pressure by discussing your expectations of your teen. Most teens think their parents want them to go to Harvard, but most parents just want their kids to be happy. Talk about it. Are you part of the problem?
8. Spend time with your teen doing fun things!

The goal of parenting and educating is to raise responsible and resilient kids. In today’s academic environment, mixed with social changes and pressure, childhood is becoming a stressful phase of life. It is our obligation to empower and teach our children both academically and emotionally how to navigate the challenges.

Reference:

Increased levels of anxiety and depression as teenage experience changes over time. (2012, March 14). Nuffield Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/news/increased-levels-anxiety-and-depression-teenage-experience-changes-over-time

Do you allow others to take advantage of you? Do you avoid speaking up for yourself? Well, now’s the time to build your backbone! One that works, doesn’t wobble, and gets stronger when used.

What is a backbone, anyway? A backbone is a symbol of strength in character, an unwillingness to be used or taken for granted, and a firm commitment to uphold one’s decisions and feelings. We’ve all seen and heard of people who have a backbone; they are the strong ones, the ones who get what they want.

How do you know if you have a backbone? Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you resent someone in your life?
2. Do you feel taken advantage of?
3. Do you often complain but nothing changes?
4. Do you keep all of your emotions in?
5. Do you avoid conflict?
6. Have you said yes when you meant no?
7. Have you allowed your anger to build up and come out in other ways?
8. Have you compromised self-care for others-care?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you could use a backbone adjustment!

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First, let’s understand why backbone building is so hard. Often, we’ve been hurt and have learned to give in to avoid a conflict or, worse, getting hurt even further. Another possible reason we may not use our backbone is that we lack self-esteem and confidence. But it costs us in the long run: we don’t speak up, we don’t make waves, and we allow ourselves to be treated disrespectfully in order to keep the peace.

The benefits of a backbone are many. A backbone, or confidence in our strength, allows us to feel:

• respected, not used and taken advantage of
• in control of our lives
• empowered, not belittled
• secure, not second guessing ourselves
• confident that we’ve created a life plan—and live it

We may feel a compromised sense of strength in our marriages, our parenting, our work, with our extended family, or with ourselves. In our marriages, our strength is compromised when we ignore important issues, stop communicating, and don’t speak honestly. Similarly, when we are disrespected at work or when parenting, and the issue isn’t resolved, we may feel walked on and relationships may suffer. Our extended family exposes a compromised backbone when we don’t communicate our needs properly to them, when we are available even when our schedule does not allow for it, and when others dictate our lives. We can be compromised with ourselves as well. Haven’t we all been irresponsible, ignored truths, and improperly cared for ourselves?

There are three easy steps to strengthening your backbone.

Deal, Heal, and Reveal

The first step, dealing, means observing when we are being backbone-less. Make a mental note when you shrink, when you feel lowered, and when you inappropriately compromise. Think of the consequences of speaking up, saying no, or quitting. What’s the worst that can happen? Can you deal with the discomfort? If yes, move to step two. If not, repeat step one until you feel stronger.

Step two is about healing. Using your instincts or your gut reaction, make a small decision and stand by it. Say no once. Next, make a few more decisions and say no a few more times. Do not ruminate on past mistakes and decisions. Keep going. Feel yourself getting stronger. Now you know better, and you’ll do better.

Step three is to reveal the new, updated version of you—backbone intact! Use your newfound character firmness to create a life plan with balance and reciprocity. As you gain strength and stand straighter, others will notice. You’ll be respected more, you’ll have more self-esteem, and you’ll no longer be allowing your life to be determined by others. Get out there and grow your backbone!

Perfectionism is one of those things that carry both positive and negative qualities, making it a tricky and complicated issue to understand. If you are detail-oriented or want the best for yourself, are you perfectionist or just ambitious? I think the answer lies in (1) the way you feel about yourself and (2) whether the idea of perfection is an obsessive thought that won’t let go or, rather, a repetitive behavior done in an attempt to succeed.

Of course, some amount of ambition is a good thing, right? We all want to do our best, to look our best, and to have life go our way. In that way, striving is a positive quality. However, it becomes harmful and maladaptive when we attempt to reach an invisible goal. What is perfection, exactly? Doesn’t it depend on your definition? What might be perfection for some may not be for others.

In a quote by Anne Wilson Schaef, she writes, “Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order.” Self-abuse is a strong wording choice that defines the obsessive quality of the idea. Perfectionism can run rampant on your self-esteem, your confidence, and your motivation to do more. If your first thought when you start an exercise routine is that you want to look like a supermodel, you may be experiencing perfectionist thoughts. Even supermodels don’t look like supermodels in real life. If you lose weight, get fit, eat healthier, and yet don’t look like a magazine ad, have you failed? Perfection is a deep whisper in our souls that we, alone, are not enough. Its invasive quality can be quite destructive to a healthy outlook on life.

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Perfectionism is most apparent in three areas of our lives. First, we are perfectionists with our bodies and minds. Every commercial, every advertisement, every billboard reminds us that we are not “right” in some way. We’re expected to believe that we must have a toned body, the longest, sleekest hair, acne-free skin, and white teeth. Second, we are perfectionists in relationships and especially parenting. We read the books, get on the preschool mailing list before our children are out of diapers, and kill all germs immediately. This quest for perfection in parenting leads to perfection-driven children who may feel they cannot measure up. Third, we are perfectionists with our environment. We want our homes to be HGTV worthy while we bake like Martha Stewart. An entire home-design-and-improvement culture was created on the perfectionist ideal.

So, what to do when perfection is running our thoughts? Here’s how to get un-perfect and still be OK:

1. Check yourself. Are you thinking perfection all the time? What if you don’t reach perfection? Will you be happy, healthy, and alive? Will others still love you? Will you still be a good person? If you understand that thoughts can come and go, you will start to realize that perfectionist thoughts can be harmful and they can be released. Check to make sure that while your standards are being met, you are not preoccupied with perfection. Flawed people are great, too.
2. Focus out, not in. Focusing on ourselves too much can breed insecurity, which in turn breeds perfectionism. Instead of focusing inward, reach out to family, friends, and strangers to see what else the world has to offer. Take a class, help a friend, volunteer, teach, garden, or build something to give away. Perfectionism loves inwardly focused people. Open yourself up.
3. Fail. Try something new with the intention of being bad at it. Paint a picture and laugh at how ridiculous it is. Talk to a stranger with the understanding that if he or she ignores you, at least you tried! Failing is a vital step to get rid of perfectionism because you learn that failing isn’t as bad as you thought. In fact, it can be fun! If you are always trying to be perfect, it can paralyze you to never try anything. So go out there and fail!

If you believe you cannot get a grip on obsessive thoughts and behaviors, please contact a mental health specialist who can help guide you to feeling more balanced.

You look over at your lovely daughter and think to yourself how time flies. Gazing at her with love, you notice red marks and lines on her youthful arms. Immediate panic sets in; you reach over with shock and say, “What is this?!” Your parental urgency sounds like terror, and your daughter pulls away quickly and rebuffs your concern. She retreats to her room, and you are left wondering where you went wrong and concerned that she’s in danger.

As much as it’s an unwanted membership, you’ve just joined with other parents who have children who cut. You may not even know that’s what you’ve exposed, but most likely it is. If your child has been acting more irritable, overwhelmed, and on edge, be aware of the signs of potential self-harm. Generally, the signs distinct to a person who cuts include:

• Wearing long sleeves in warm weather. People who cut themselves usually hide the evidence.
• Wearing a multitude of bracelets to cover their wrists. Again to hide the evidence, not necessarily to be in fashion.
• A teen who explains away marks and cuts in unlikely ways, such as “cat scratches” when you don’t own a cat.

The biggest question becomes, then, what do we do as parents? Here are some suggestions to help you parent through this challenging time:

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1. Don’t freak out. This is the hardest part for parents, but a necessary one with teens. If you freak out, they freak out. They are just as afraid of their behavior as you are, and if they see you unable to control yourself and handle it, how is there hope for them to cope? Instead, breathe, think it through, and speak calmly.
2. Check your anxiety. How do you handle your anxiety? Do they see you cope in healthy ways or do you create maladaptive behaviors as well? Are you stressed all the time, yell at everyone, and otherwise handle life poorly? Remember, they are watching you.
3. Ask them if they want to talk about it, and create opportunities for them to talk. Forcing teens to talk is a recipe for disaster. Instead, be available and let them know repeatedly that you are there to listen if they want to talk. They will appreciate that they can choose to talk or not, and that you are accessible. Create time and opportunities to engage with them.
4. Don’t embarrass them by telling all your friends. As much as being secretive is damaging, so is telling everyone you know because YOU can’t handle it. This is the time to put your teen’s feelings first and care for them without alerting the media.
5. Know your limits. If this is too much to handle, seek help for your teen. Self-harm is relatively newly acknowledged and understood as a coping mechanism. A mental health provider can provide guidance and teach appropriate techniques to help your teen handle life.
6. Don’t tell them to stop cutting. Telling your teen to “knock it off” or “don’t do it again” is simply asking for rebellion. Although that’s how we feel and what we want to say, it’s best to understand the behavior fully before seeking demands.
7. Create a plan. This is a great time to create a plan for healthy coping mechanisms. Brainstorm with your teen alternative solutions during stressful times. Maybe they can go for a walk, call a friend, bake a cake, draw, listen to music, watch a movie, or journal. This can be a fun activity to do together—use your creativity!
8. Spend one-on-one time with your teen. Kids spell love: T-I-M-E. Make time.

Discovering that your teen cuts may lead to panic and unease. How you handle yourself during this scary time can create a path to peace or leave a destructive wake. Checking yourself and your own anxiety can be a powerful tool to teaching your teen how to do it, too.