The novel coronavirus set in motion a global pandemic that the world is still attempting to understand, treat, and grapple with. The virus is a novel member of the coronavirus family of viruses, long associated with the common cold, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). The virus is believed to have existed in animals before recently mutating and undergoing transmission to humans.| Psychology Today
Memory is the faculty by which the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information. It is a record of experience that guides future action.| Psychology Today
The word “trauma” literally means wound, shock, or injury. Psychological trauma is a person’s experience of emotional distress resulting from an event that overwhelms the capacity to emotionally digest it. The precipitating event may be a one-time occurrence or a series of occurrences perceived as seriously harmful or life-threatening to oneself or loved ones.| Psychology Today
Everybody has a rich inner landscape contoured by emotions; they not only give meaning and color to everyday experience, but emotions commonly influence decision-making. They may be humanity’s earliest guide to how to get basic needs met. Yet science is not quite clear what emotions are. Whether they are inborn, genetically determined reactions, each with its own mechanism; patterns of response to stimuli, each distinctively etched into neural circuitry; or in-the-moment interpretations of ...| Psychology Today
Human development is influenced by, but not entirely determined by, our parents and our genes. Children may have very different personalities, and different strengths and weaknesses, than the generation that preceded them. Caregivers should pay attention to their children's distinct traits and the pace of their development, and not assume that the approach to parenting that worked for their mothers and fathers will be equally successful in their own families.| Psychology Today
Adolescence is the transitional stage from childhood to adulthood that occurs between ages 13 and 19. The physical and psychological changes that take place in adolescence often start earlier, during the preteen or "tween" years: between ages 9 and 12.| Psychology Today
Though our need to connect is innate, many of us frequently feel alone. Loneliness is the state of distress or discomfort that results when one perceives a gap between one’s desires for social connection and actual experiences of it. Even some people who are surrounded by others throughout the day—or are in a long-lasting marriage—still experience a deep and pervasive loneliness. Research suggests that loneliness poses serious threats to well-being as well as long-term physical health.| Psychology Today
Stress generally refers to two things: the psychological perception of pressure, on the one hand, and the body's response to it, on the other, which involves multiple systems, from metabolism to muscles to memory. Some stress is necessary for all living systems; it is the means by which they encounter and respond to the challenges and uncertainties of existence. The perception of danger sets off an automatic response system, known as the fight-or-flight response, that, activated through hormo...| Psychology Today
