All Posts Tagged as 'Mental Health'

I need some help gaining perspective on my 15-year-old child’s whiplash approach to gender and sexuality. For the last three years, they have been on a journey with regard to their sexuality, declaring and changing identities one every few weeks or months, even when those identities have been both contradictory (how can one be both asexual and polyamorous?) and hypothetical (my kid isn’t dating and hasn’t dated). They are committed to being anything but cisgender and hetero, and that identity—whatever it turns out to be—appears from their actions and words to be the central part of their sense of self. They spent a lot of time on queer wikis, looking up new possible identities. They avidly “ship” fictional characters into same-sex couples, express anger/disappointment when shows/books have hetero couples, and talk constantly about LGBTQIA issues, representation, etc.

I have been, and want to be, supportive. My kid deserves to be loved and celebrated for who they are, and however their identity settles out is fine with me. But I am also struggling with these rapid changes. In the last two weeks, my kid has changed their name once and pronouns twice, colored their hair, worn exaggeratedly feminine eye makeup, pinned their hair up to look masculine, purchased a bikini and a dress and then asked me to buy them a binder (because they think it would be “fun” to look like a boy sometimes). At this point, it feels like they’re trying on identities like costumes, and that makes me very uncomfortable. None of it feels authentic—it seems more like a bid to stand out in a crowd or perhaps to find the limits of my acceptance.

I have worked so hard to make sure my kids know they are loved unconditionally, but if this kid is looking for a boundary, maybe I should set one? I literally squirmed when I wrote that sentence; setting a random limit on acceptance goes against everything I believe. But at the same time, I am so, so tired of hearing about their identity day after day after day and of trying to keep up with the changes. They’re a great, smart, interesting kid for a dozen different reasons; their gender/sexuality is just one aspect of their personality. Would it be wrong of me to say, in essence, “I love you, and will never not love you. When you figure out your identity let me know, and in the meantime can we maybe stop talking about it all the time?” Also, as the world opens up and my kid spends more time outside of our home, can I/should I ask them to be more thoughtful in how they present themselves? It seems to me that trans and nonbinary people cannot simply change their identities and expression for “fun,” so my kid’s behavior feels a little bit like cosplaying in a way that could be hurtful. Or do I just keep keeping my mouth shut, do my best to remember this week’s identity, and pray that this phase ends soon?

—Tired and Confused

A 17-year-old can’t believe her sister’s husband refused to take care of his own kids.

“My sister called me saying that her work had an emergency and she needs to get there ASAP and needed me to watch her kids because ‘no one else can.’ I rushed over there just to find her husband locked in his game room playing video games. I asked her why she called me over if he was home, and she said he didn’t want to ‘babysit’ because it was his only day off. [When] I was changing the baby’s diaper and the other kids wanted a snack, I told them to go ask their dad to make them a snack since the baby had a blowout and it was going to take me a while to clean him up. Their dad sent them back upstairs and told them to ask me again. After cleaning the baby up, I made the kids a snack, and their dad came out to eat and told me not to let the kids interrupt him on his day off,”

This Massachusetts restaurant has a tip for rude diners – be nice, or don’t eat.

The owners of Brewster-based Apt Cape Cod decided to shut down for a "day of kindness" after a slew of customers apparently mistreated its staff, cursed and demanded take orders before the restaurant even opened for business.

"There were a few incidents that were so horrendous – the cursing and not being understanding of our short staff and limited menu – we had someone call in at 6:30 a.m. before we even open demand take out saying, ‘I’m going to come in, and you're going to serve me," Emilia Povero, a manager at Apt Cade Cod told FOX News. "That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Our staff doesn't need to deal with this."

The future of The Batman and its potential sequels may now be in jeopardy, as a new rumor claims that Matt Reeves has refused to work with Robert Pattinson ever again after catching the actor having sex atop the film’s Batmobile prop.

“He literally told Pattinson, ‘You are the most entitled narcissistic actor I’ve ever worked with, you go back to work, we finish filming in March and then we are done. I don’t want to ever work with you after this film,’” wrote the supposed The Batman set worker. “He even said he refuses to do reshoots if they will be needed. I don’t know what they are gonna do but they try to keep this situation on leash before the media will make it official.”

A Michigan woman was shocked after accidentally receiving a hurtful message from her prospective employer, in which he described her as “not that cute.” A now-viral video detailing the incendiary application review — posted Thursday on TikTok — has amassed more than 1.3 million views on the streaming platform as of Friday morning.

He started off the viral thread by saying he took 'a medium dose of acid' a few days prior, and 'admitted some things to myself' about his financial situation, including admitting to himself that he resented his mother after she gave him $100,000 for his birthday last August when he was not working.

The acid version of himself, Yuan said, told him: 'You feel like you were told by society that the way making living works is that you do labor and are paid a fair wage for your labor, and that's how you earn the right to exist and be a member of society.

'The reason you're alive right now and not starving to death on the street even though you haven't had a job in three years is because your parents send you money because they love you.'

And like I kind of get why they did that, but it led to me being incredibly sheltered in a bunch of ways. They never even made me do chores. I was very spoiled, and in retrospect, it wasn't good for me.'

A newborn puppy born with no eyes was dumped at a shelter by her breeder after they deliberately bred two runts to try and create the smallest 'teacup' dog possible.

Teacup, who's a cross between a miniature schnauzer and wheaten terrier, was not only born blind, but also with her bladder attached to her uterus.

The tiny pup weighed only 1lb for the first four weeks of her life, struggling to stay warm due to her diminutive size.

On any given day, video footage documenting violent incidents in the famed Venice Beach neighborhood of Los Angeles – involving the homeless who have erected tents there – are uploaded online.

A video posted online Friday appears to show a homeless man being attacked by an unidentified man and woman as he sits on the ground near the boardwalk – while other people walk past without intervening.

Concerns from neighborhood residents, business owners and law enforcement have grown in the months since tent encampments on the beach expanded and quality-of-life issues continue to plague the area.

Bri, who asked The Post to publish only her nickname for fear of being branded a bigot and doxxed by transgender-rights activists, was horrified — not only by the insinuation her teen would commit suicide if she didn’t transition, but also the fact that the general practitioner issued the warning in front of them both.

But some experts now question the threat that they say is commonly used by medical professionals. They believe many doctors are so scared of the label “transphobe” that they automatically present skeptical parents with a doomsday scenario: “Would you rather have a dead son or a living daughter?” or vice versa.

By contrast, a 2011 study spanning three decades by the respected Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that people who underwent sex reassignment were 19 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. In the US, a yearlong survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality concluded that those who had transitioned were more likely to have attempted suicide than trans people who had not had medical or surgical treatments.

I often dread telling people I’m a psychologist, particularly outside of the office. Although I’m proud of my profession, I know that people often hold stereotypes and misgivings about what I do. These can be based on negative personal experiences with the field.

As a result of these influences, people often say things to psychologists that I’ve heard many of my colleagues characterize as “annoying.” Personally, however, I’m glad they say them. It gives us a chance to address their questions and concerns. In that spirit, here are three things that people say that sometimes annoy psychologists and some facts about the field to go along with each one.

1. “Are you analyzing me?”

A teen drowned his alcoholic father while trying to exorcize his demons through a late night baptism at a Massachusetts pond, a court heard.

"I am currently fighting for my basic human right to live a normal stable life with my daughter. Out of fear I have never spoken openly about the levels of suffering I endured from Luis D Ortiz and other members of his family," Singh writes in the description of the GoFundMe. "Though I managed to distance myself from him physically [by moving to the U.K.] he is now trying to use his money, connections and his powerful lawyers to crush me.

While appearing on Good Day NY Tuesday morning, Ortiz responded to Scotto questioning him about the situation by saying, "Regardless of what's been said, you've known me for millions of years, and everybody that's known me for millions of years... I am a saint."

In December, the High Court ruled that it is “doubtful” that children aged 14 to 15 could understand “the long-term risks and consequences” of taking puberty blockers, and “highly unlikely” that children under 13 would be competent to give consent. Judges said that clinicians should seek a court’s backing before prescribing the medication.

These hormones, Hyam told the Court of Appeal today, “may lead to loss of fertility” and have a “partial” impact on “sexual function”.

A New Jersey school board has scrapped the names of all holidays from its calender to avoid 'hurt feelings' after backlash over renaming Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day.

Randolph Board of Education members unanimously voted to remove all holiday names off of the school calendar, including religious holidays such as Yom Kippur and Christmas, at a meeting that drew over 100 people on Thursday.

A former New York sportswriter has revealed in an explosive emotional essay how she was raped by a Major League Baseball player in a hotel room 18 years ago.

Kat O’Brien was 22 and interviewing the unnamed player for a story about foreign-born sluggers adapting to US culture when he “moved suddenly to kiss me,” she wrote in a first-person column Sunday in the New York Times.

“I said, no, no, I don’t want that, but he pushed me over to the bed,’’ said O’Brien, a former Newsday reporter who was working with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas at the time.