“Our body image plays a huge role in how we all feel about ourselves,” says Alexis Conason, a psychologist specializing in overeating and body image in New York City who does research at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. She says youths are developing their sense of self and body shaming can warp self-image and launch eating […]
The most common issue that women present with is feeling not good enough. This often manifests in body image dissatisfaction and eating concerns, as well as insecurities about career, marriage, parenting…” explains Clinical Psychologist Alexis Conason, Psy.D. She says that an important step in turning these negative thoughts around is, “decreasing shame and judgment around these issues, […]
Let’s just say zen would not be the first word I’d use to describe myself. I fall more into the high-strung, nervous-about-everything camp. So mindfulness—a mental state achieved by focusing your awareness on the present moment—felt like a long shot for me. But living mindfully is having a major moment, billed as a cure-all for […]
What’s more important for a healthy relationship: sleep or sex? The answer may surprise you. Earlier this year, I was in a state of extreme sleep deprivation. I was stressed, and my young children were restless. For 18 months straight, I barely slept. My only opportunity to sneak in some shut-eye was the two-hour window […]
Mary and Joyce met while in nursing school, just a few months after their high school graduation. The year was 1957, when gas cost 23 cents a gallon and the Frisbee was invented. Mary and Joyce quickly became best friends, like peas and carrots, as Forrest Gump might say. They double-dated, were in each other’s […]
Everybody loves a good fixer-upper, and this applies just as much to dating as it does to interior decorating; the inclination to date people who need to be “saved” is a common one. Unfortunately, unlike homes, people aren’t as easy to flip. In fact, Dr. Alexis Conason, a licensed psychologist from New York City, says trying to […]
Mini cupcakes might be cute, but Google’s disregard for the wellbeing of people with eating disorders isn’t. I was nine when I first started trying to lose weight, a crash diet designed for heart patients. I was only supposed to follow for a week, and it involved eating a lot of terrible cabbage soup. For […]
We’ve all been there: You’re at a family reunion and your great aunt who you see once a year asks, “When are you going to have a baby?” or you’re out with your girlfriends and Tina remarks, “Is he ever going to propose?” You want to clap back, but by now, you’ve learned to grin […]
I don’t recognize the bedroom. The walls are black and bare, except for a chaotic painting hanging in a random corner. From the doorway, I see two people laced together on a bed. I’m embarrassed, because they’re naked, but I don’t think they know I’m here. There’s a woman whose voluptuous silhouette is blurred by […]
Happiness may be a state of mind, but it’s also a state of body. We already know that stress is bad for our health, and in recent years, a growing collection of research has taken things a step further, suggesting that beyond a simple lack of stress, it’s happiness that holds the key to health. […]
