Many people notice that their tinnitus seems louder when they’re stressed. Learn why stress can make tinnitus feel more noticeable, intrusive, and distressing, even when the sound itself hasn’t changed.

Orthographic dyslexia is often used to describe a pattern of reading difficulty involving weaknesses in recognizing and retaining written word forms automatically.

Individuals with this pattern may:

• rely heavily on sounding words out

• read slowly and effortfully

• struggle with rapid word recognition

• have difficulty remembering spelling patterns

• read accurately but inefficiently

• expend substantial mental energy during reading

Reading may be accurate while still feeling exhausting and slow.

Existential OCD is a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder involving repetitive, distressing questions about existence, reality, consciousness, identity, or the meaning of life. The problem is typically not philosophical curiosity itself, but the compulsive need to reach certainty, resolution, or complete understanding.

People with existential OCD may become stuck in repetitive mental loops involving questions such as:

• What if nothing is real?

• What if life has no meaning?

• How do I know other people truly exist?

• What if I can never feel certain about reality?

• What if consciousness itself is dangerous or unstable?

These thoughts are often experienced as intrusive, distressing, difficult to disengage from, and highly repetitive.

Most people can look back on mistakes, awkward moments, poor decisions, or times they hurt someone and eventually place those experiences into a broader context of being human.

In real event OCD, however, the mind becomes trapped in obsessive guilt, doubt, reviewing, and self-punishment surrounding something that actually happened.

Dysgraphia is a learning disorder that affects written output.

Writing difficulties can arise for different reasons. For some individuals, handwriting and written production are the primary concerns. For others, weaknesses in spelling, language formulation, executive functioning, attention, or other underlying skills contribute to the difficulty.

Understanding the source of the problem is often an important part of effective intervention.

Health anxiety involves persistent worry about illness, symptoms, or medical conditions. Although reassurance and checking may provide temporary relief, they often keep anxiety going by reinforcing the search for certainty.

POCD is a form of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder related to the possibility of being sexually attracted to children, becoming a danger to children, or having hidden desires that the person finds horrifying.

The core problem in OCD isn’t the presence of the thoughts themselves, but the compulsive attempts to achieve certainty, eliminate fear, or prove something with absolute confidence.

People with POCD often become trapped in cycles of fear, hypervigilance, mental checking, reassurance-seeking, avoidance, self-monitoring, and compulsive analysis. The experience is often emotionally consuming and profoundly isolating.

CBT helps reduce this alarm response over time. Most people who successfully adapt to tinnitus don’t reach a point where they literally never hear it. Instead, the sound gradually becomes less important, less emotionally charged, and less likely to capture attention automatically. In many cases, people find that they can hear the sound when they listen for it, but it no longer dominates their attention or emotional life.

For many years, autism was primarily understood through research and diagnostic models based largely on boys.

As a result, many girls and women on the autism spectrum were overlooked, misunderstood, or diagnosed much later in life, sometimes not until adulthood.

Everyone experiences intrusive thoughts from time to time. The difference between normal intrusive thoughts and OCD often isn’t the thought itself, but the meaning attached to it and the compulsive attempts to eliminate uncertainty, distress, or risk.

CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) is the gold-standard treatment for chronic insomnia. Rather than creating temporary sleep, CBT-I helps address the behaviors and patterns that keep insomnia going over time.

Many parents describe feeling as though they are constantly walking on eggshells. They may find themselves reorganizing routines, avoiding certain situations, or spending large amounts of time trying to prevent distress before it escalates. These efforts come from love and a desire to help. The problem is that some of the things families do to reduce anxiety in the short term can unintentionally strengthen it over time.

SPACE treatment was developed to help families change those patterns.

Contamination OCD involves intrusive fears about contamination and compulsive attempts to eliminate uncertainty about safety. Although many people associate Contamination OCD with germs and cleanliness, the core issue is often persistent doubt about contamination, illness, exposure, or harm.

Many people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) experience intrusive thoughts about harming themselves or other people.

These thoughts are often deeply unwanted, frightening, and emotionally devastating. People may become terrified that the thoughts mean something dangerous about who they are or what they might do.

This presentation is commonly referred to as harm OCD.

For many people, repeated reassurance can unintentionally teach the brain:

• uncertainty is dangerous

• anxiety must be resolved immediately

• reassurance is necessary to feel safe

• confidence should come from other people rather than from one’s own ability to tolerate uncertainty

It can be scary to worry that someone you care about may be thinking about suicide.

Many people hesitate to say anything because they are afraid of:

• making things worse

• saying the wrong thing

• offending the person

• “putting the idea in their head”

• overreacting

• not knowing what to do next

These fears are very common.

But avoiding the conversation entirely can leave someone feeling even more isolated.

If you are concerned about someone, you don’t need to handle the situation perfectly to make a real difference. Often, the most important step is being willing to notice, ask, and stay connected.

When a child is anxious, offering reassurance often feels like the most natural response in the world.

Parents want to comfort their child, reduce distress, and help things feel manageable again. In the moment, reassurance often works. A child may calm down temporarily after hearing things like:

• “You’re going to be okay.”

• “Nothing bad is going to happen.”

• “I’m sure everything will work out.”

• “Yes, I checked already.”

Psychoeducational testing is a structured, evidence-based process used to evaluate how a person thinks, learns, and processes information. It typically includes standardized testing, clinical interviews, and a review of academic and developmental history to assess for things such as:

• Dyslexia

• Dysgraphia

• Dyscalculia

• ADHD

• Executive functioning challenges

• Psychological and emotional issues

Anxiety therapy can be intimidating. You’ve got to open up to a stranger, put everything you’re feeling into words, and try different things with the hope one of them will improve your life. But with Virginia Lindahl, Ph.D., therapy for anxiety is straightforward—and more supportive—than...