LifeStance Insights

Any healthy relationship should have ebbs and flows between moments of fun and lighthearted connection, and moments of more serious or meaningful conversations. You and your partner can definitely build intimacy in more than one way, but having deep conversations with a partner can be one of the best ways to stay connected in a relationship. Knowing the right deep questions to ask your partner can turn an ordinary evening into a real moment of closeness. You might even learn new things about your partner – and yourself – in the process. How Deep Conversations Build Emotional Intimacy If you feel like you want to talk about more serious or deep topics with your partner, set aside time where you can both focus, stay off your screens, and really listen actively. These moments of connection are all about intention. In my own relationships, I have learned that some of the most core memories are often born from quality time jus...

It’s nearly impossible to scroll on social media or Google something without encountering content produced by AI. Whether it's ChatGPT-written posts on LinkedIn or AI videos made on TikTok, we truly are living in the most digital age. Daily use of AI has become so prevalent that some people are even using it within their human relationships, including on dating apps. Using AI on dating apps may seem like a win all around; you can put in minimal effort, just a simple prompt or two, and ChatGPT or another popular AI model can present you with a fully fleshed out bio and other pointers for how to fill out your profile on apps like Hinge or Tinder. Or, if you’re currently messaging a match, AI can facilitate the entire conversation for you, right? Well, sure. But there are absolutely downsides to using AI this way, and some of them may have real consequences for your mental health and how connected you feel to the people you’re trying to meet. Using AI for Dating: The Downsides...

September is Perimenopause Awareness Month, which makes it a good time to talk about the part of the transition that still gets overlooked. Most women know to expect the physical signs: hot flashes, night sweats, disrupted sleep, and irregular periods. Far fewer are told that perimenopause can affect mood, focus, and emotional regulation just as powerfully. The numbers make the case: women who enter perimenopause are twice as likely to develop significant depressive symptoms as those who stay premenopausal, according to the Harvard Study of Moods and Cycles. And in a 2026 LifeStance survey of 1,000 women, 66% rated their anxiety and 54% rated their depression as somewhat or extremely severe, yet 33% did not realize perimenopause could affect mental health at all. That gap between what women feel and what they were told to expect is exactly where symptoms get mislabeled. Why Perimenopause Affects Mental Health Perimenopaus...

Lexapro (escitalopram) and Zoloft (sertraline) are two of the most prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the United States, and they sit at the top of the different treatment options for nearly every individual starting treatment for depression or anxiety. Both medications primarily target the same neurotransmitter system, share a similar safety profile, and are considered first-line options by major treatment guidelines. On paper, they may look nearly interchangeable, but in practice, psychiatrists weigh a handful of factors when prescribing them, including diagnosis and FDA-approved indications, prior treatment history, side effect tolerance, age, and life stage. Lexapro vs. Zoloft at a Glance Lexapro and Zoloft belong to the same drug class, share a similar mechanism of action, and are both considered first-line treatments for major depressive disorder. The biggest difference is the breadth of t...

There's something almost primal about the way certain scents can affect us. Just-squeezed orange juice, your favorite shampoo, summer rain, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, a toasty campfire, your grandmother's perfume… One deep inhale is enough to evoke a certain feeling, a moment of mindfulness, a specific memory, or a somatic response – a slight smile, a sudden drop in your shoulders. That's why I love using scents as a self-care tool to boost my mood and promote relaxation, also known as aromatherapy. Plus, this underrated form of self-care is science-backed, too. Here are a few of my favorite aromatherapy products that I incorporate throughout my day to take advantage of the power of smell. What the Research Says About Aromatherapy and Mood So how does aromatherapy work, and does it actually change how you feel? While the connection between smell and how we feel is pretty intuitive, there's also some interesting s...

When I had my son two and a half years ago, I dealt with postpartum depression (PPD) and anxiety. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through. The kind of hard that’s difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t been in the thick of it. So when I found out I was pregnant with my second, I knew something had to be different. Not just a little different. Intentionally, structurally different. And honestly? It has been. I’m in a completely different headspace this time around. I’m able to be more present, to actually soak in those early moments, without that heavy cloud of PPD crushing me with overwhelm. I’m not just white-knuckling my way through the newborn season. I’m genuinely enjoying it. If you’re expecting or newly postpartum, I want to share what made the biggest difference for me. Not as a prescription, but as a starting point. Because PPD is far more common than we talk about. According to the CDC, 1 in 8 women in the U.S. experience postpartum depression symptoms after giving birth, and rates have doubled between 2010 and 2021. This decline in maternal mental health is something more new moms are quietly carrying than you might think. Here’s what actually helped me....

If you've ever wondered how to build consistency with ADHD, I've been there too. Consistency has always been an issue for me, in many facets of life. Ever since I can remember, I've gone through phase after phase and hyperfixation after hyperfixation – largely thanks to my ADHD brain. Sometimes I decide I want to pick up running, other times I want to learn Spanish. But I always go zero to 100 and then drop it quickly. Because of this, having structure in my daily life has always been a struggle. That is, until I established a routine. Or, rather, what I like to call my “rituals.” From waking up by 6am for a workout to sticking with regular meal times, this kind of structure really improved so many things for me. At the risk of sounding dramatic, building a routine literally changed my life. It helped me get a better hold on my ADHD focus issues and impulsivity, helped me feel more productive, and has pushed me so much further toward many of my big goals in life. Over the years, I feel like sticking to a routine has also helped me to better myself as a person. If you're curious to learn how I accomplished this, I have a few tips you can try....