LifeStance Insights
Our team of expert clinicians give their perspectives across a range of subjects, touching on current topics, family and loved one issues, mental health struggles and the comprehensive services that can help you live a better life.
FEATURED STORY
Treating Treatment-Resistant Depression: Jane’s Story
When most people think of depression, they imagine a condition that can be relieved with therapy, medication, or both. For many, this is the case. But for about 1 in 3 people, traditional treatments are not enough. This is commonly referred to as treatment-resistant depression (TRD).
At LifeStance, clinicians see many people who feel discouraged after years of trying different medications or therapies without meaningful relief. This is the case of one such individual, whom we will call Jane. Her name and identifying details have been changed to protect her privacy, but her journey illustrates both the difficulty of TRD and the hope that innovative treatments can provide.
Jane’s Struggle with Depression
Jane is a 49-year-old woman who had lived with depression for more than two decades. Despite years of therapy and multiple medications, she found little or no relief. She battled chronic worry, insomnia, guilt, and a deep sense of hope...
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Mood Disorders
What Is Misophonia? Symptoms, Triggers, and Treatment Options
Imagine sitting at dinner and feeling a wave of rage wash over you because someone at the table is chewing. Not mild irritation. Rage. The kind that makes you want to leave the room, cover your ears, or snap at someone you love.
For people with misophonia, this is not an occasional bad mood or a quirk of personality. It is a predictable, involuntary reaction that can turn ordinary moments, shared meals, office environments, even quiet evenings at home, into sources of genuine distress.
Research published in 2024 examining a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults found that 4.6% of respondents met clinical levels of misophonia, while nearly 79% reported being bothered by at least one trigger sound.
Public awareness has grown alongside the research. Mad Men actress January Jones shared that she has been struggling with misophonia her whole life and that it has gotten progressively worse over the years, bringing a surge of public conversation around the condition. She joins Kelly Ripa, Kelly Osbourne, and Melanie Lynskey, who had already spoken openly about their own experiences with trigger sounds, helping chip away at the stigma and confusion that often surrounds the condition.
For the many people who had spent years feeling dismissed or misunderstood, hearing recognizable names describe the same i...
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What Is Misophonia? Symptoms, Triggers, and Treatment Options
Imagine sitting at dinner and feeling a wave of rage wash over you because someone at the table is chewing. Not mild irritation. Rage. The kind that makes you want to leave the room, cover your ears, or snap at someone you love.
For people with misophonia, this is not an occasional bad mood or a quirk of personality. It is a predictable, involuntary reaction that can turn ordinary moments, shared meals, office environments, even quiet evenings at home, into sources of genuine distress.
Research published in 2024 examining a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults found that 4.6% of respondents met clinical levels of misophonia, while nearly 79% reported being bothered by at least one trigger sound.
Public awareness has grown alongside the research. Mad Men actress January Jones shared that she has been struggling with misophonia her whole life and that it has gotten progressively worse over the years, bringing a surge of public conversation around the condition. She joins Kelly Ripa, Kelly Osbourne, and Melanie Lynskey, who had already spoken openly about their own experiences with trigger sounds, helping chip away at the stigma and confusion that often surrounds the condition.
For the many people who had spent years feeling dismissed or misunderstood, hearing recognizable names describe the same i...
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Psychiatry
Embracing Mindfulness: Top Four Benefits of MBSR for a Better Life
This content has been updated from the previous article published on August 9, 2023.
No matter who you are, life can be hectic, stressful, and overwhelming. In today’s modern age, digital distractions, day-to-day worries, and a never-ending onslaught of stress have become normalized, and it’s common not to know how to effectively manage it all. This is where mindfulness comes into play.
With its origins in Asian philosophies, such as Buddhism, mindfulness has experienced a surge in popularity over the past few decades. Between 2012 and 2017, the number of adults in the United States who practiced some form of mindfulness-based meditation or therapy increased from 4.1% to over 14%. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is one of the more popular forms of mindfulness-based programs.
What Is MBSR?
Created in 1979 by Jon Kabat-Zinn, MBSR is a form of meditation-based therapy used for a wide range of conditions, including depression,...
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Embracing Mindfulness: Top Four Benefits of MBSR for a Better Life
This content has been updated from the previous article published on August 9, 2023.
No matter who you are, life can be hectic, stressful, and overwhelming. In today’s modern age, digital distractions, day-to-day worries, and a never-ending onslaught of stress have become normalized, and it’s common not to know how to effectively manage it all. This is where mindfulness comes into play.
With its origins in Asian philosophies, such as Buddhism, mindfulness has experienced a surge in popularity over the past few decades. Between 2012 and 2017, the number of adults in the United States who practiced some form of mindfulness-based meditation or therapy increased from 4.1% to over 14%. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is one of the more popular forms of mindfulness-based programs.
What Is MBSR?
Created in 1979 by Jon Kabat-Zinn, MBSR is a form of meditation-based therapy used for a wide range of conditions, including depression,...
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Self-Help & Wellness
RAIN Meditation Is My Favorite Mindfulness Tool for Dealing With Big Feelings: Here’s How to Do It
A lot of the time, our emotions don’t arrive politely. They don’t lightly knock on the door and introduce themselves: Hello, I’m sadness, I’m here because XYZ and I plan to stay for a reasonable amount of time. This is what I need.
Instead, emotions tend to burst in unannounced, make a mess of your system, refuse to explain what they want from you, and overstay their welcome. Often the first tip-off that something is wrong is that you just feel bad, like something heavy is banging on the door, and all you know is it’s an unwelcome visitor you’d like to stay away from.
Coping strategies for these feelings frequently involve some kind of avoidance or numbing: Scrolling, snacking, pretending we’re fine, keeping busy, staying stuck in overthinking. Anything to avoid feeling that looming emotion. Or sometimes, the feeling just barges through the door and overruns us completely. We get overtaken.
That’s where RAIN meditation comes in. Here’s what it is, how to use it, and why it can be so helpful.
What is RAIN Meditation?...
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RAIN Meditation Is My Favorite Mindfulness Tool for Dealing With Big Feelings: Here’s How to Do It
A lot of the time, our emotions don’t arrive politely. They don’t lightly knock on the door and introduce themselves: Hello, I’m sadness, I’m here because XYZ and I plan to stay for a reasonable amount of time. This is what I need.
Instead, emotions tend to burst in unannounced, make a mess of your system, refuse to explain what they want from you, and overstay their welcome. Often the first tip-off that something is wrong is that you just feel bad, like something heavy is banging on the door, and all you know is it’s an unwelcome visitor you’d like to stay away from.
Coping strategies for these feelings frequently involve some kind of avoidance or numbing: Scrolling, snacking, pretending we’re fine, keeping busy, staying stuck in overthinking. Anything to avoid feeling that looming emotion. Or sometimes, the feeling just barges through the door and overruns us completely. We get overtaken.
That’s where RAIN meditation comes in. Here’s what it is, how to use it, and why it can be so helpful.
What is RAIN Meditation?...
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Psychiatry
Cymbalta for Pain: What It Treats, How It Works, and What a Psychiatrist Wants You to Know
If your doctor has suggested Cymbalta (the brand name for duloxetine) for your pain, it is fair to wonder how an antidepressant ended up on the prescription pad. Cymbalta is FDA-approved for major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), but it is also approved for three pain conditions: diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, and chronic musculoskeletal pain. The reason it shows up for both mood and pain is because of how it works in the body, and the honest answer to whether it can really help with pain is: It depends on the kind of pain you have.
Decades of research suggest that duloxetine can help quiet certain types of pain by working on the nervous system itself, not on the place that hurts. According to 2023 CDC data, nearly a quarter of U.S. adults are living with chronic pain, making it especially important to understand when Cymbalta could be a good fit, and when it may not be.
How Cymbalta Works for Pain...
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Cymbalta for Pain: What It Treats, How It Works, and What a Psychiatrist Wants You to Know
If your doctor has suggested Cymbalta (the brand name for duloxetine) for your pain, it is fair to wonder how an antidepressant ended up on the prescription pad. Cymbalta is FDA-approved for major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), but it is also approved for three pain conditions: diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, and chronic musculoskeletal pain. The reason it shows up for both mood and pain is because of how it works in the body, and the honest answer to whether it can really help with pain is: It depends on the kind of pain you have.
Decades of research suggest that duloxetine can help quiet certain types of pain by working on the nervous system itself, not on the place that hurts. According to 2023 CDC data, nearly a quarter of U.S. adults are living with chronic pain, making it especially important to understand when Cymbalta could be a good fit, and when it may not be.
How Cymbalta Works for Pain...
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Mood Disorders
Dark Empath: Meaning, Traits, and Signs, Explained by a Therapist
Most people think of empathy as a protective force in relationships. The capacity to understand someone else’s inner world, to feel what they feel, to recognize what they need before they say it out loud. But what happens when that same sensitivity gets fused with manipulation, control, and a quiet disregard for others? The result is a personality pattern researchers have only recently begun to name, one that is harder to recognize than outright coldness precisely because it wears the face of connection.
What Is a Dark Empath?
A dark empath is someone who possesses high levels of cognitive empathy while simultaneously displaying traits associated with the Dark Triad of personality psychology: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Unlike people who lack empathy entirely, dark empaths can perceive what others are thinking and feeling; they simply choose to use that awareness differently.
Where a typical empath uses emoti...
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Dark Empath: Meaning, Traits, and Signs, Explained by a Therapist
Most people think of empathy as a protective force in relationships. The capacity to understand someone else’s inner world, to feel what they feel, to recognize what they need before they say it out loud. But what happens when that same sensitivity gets fused with manipulation, control, and a quiet disregard for others? The result is a personality pattern researchers have only recently begun to name, one that is harder to recognize than outright coldness precisely because it wears the face of connection.
What Is a Dark Empath?
A dark empath is someone who possesses high levels of cognitive empathy while simultaneously displaying traits associated with the Dark Triad of personality psychology: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Unlike people who lack empathy entirely, dark empaths can perceive what others are thinking and feeling; they simply choose to use that awareness differently.
Where a typical empath uses emoti...
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Trends and Predictions
Looksmaxxing: When Self-Improvement Turns Into Self-Harm for Young Men
A teenage boy stares at his reflection, measuring the angle of his jaw against an algorithm’s ideal. He skips meals, hits a face-massage tool against his cheekbones, and scrolls a forum where strangers grade his face on a numerical scale. He calls it self-improvement. His parents call it concerning. Underneath both interpretations sits a quieter fear: without the right face, he will be invisible.
Looksmaxxing has moved from fringe message boards to mainstream TikTok and Instagram, where it is now a daily ritual for millions of young men. Most start with what looks like ordinary grooming advice. Some end up somewhere clinicians are increasingly worried about, where appearance becomes the only measure of personal worth and the line between motivation and self-harm gets thin.
Understanding how this trend works, and what young men are actually trying to solve when they reach for it, is the first step toward helping them.
What Is Looksmaxxing?...
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Looksmaxxing: When Self-Improvement Turns Into Self-Harm for Young Men
A teenage boy stares at his reflection, measuring the angle of his jaw against an algorithm’s ideal. He skips meals, hits a face-massage tool against his cheekbones, and scrolls a forum where strangers grade his face on a numerical scale. He calls it self-improvement. His parents call it concerning. Underneath both interpretations sits a quieter fear: without the right face, he will be invisible.
Looksmaxxing has moved from fringe message boards to mainstream TikTok and Instagram, where it is now a daily ritual for millions of young men. Most start with what looks like ordinary grooming advice. Some end up somewhere clinicians are increasingly worried about, where appearance becomes the only measure of personal worth and the line between motivation and self-harm gets thin.
Understanding how this trend works, and what young men are actually trying to solve when they reach for it, is the first step toward helping them.
What Is Looksmaxxing?...
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Anxiety
Celexa for Anxiety: When to Prescribe It and When to Avoid It
What Celexa (citalopram) Is and What It’s Approved to Treat
If you’ve been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, Celexa (citalopram) may be prescribed as part of your treatment plan. Celexa is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). In the United States, it’s FDA-approved for major depressive disorder. Using Celexa for anxiety is considered off-label, meaning a clinician prescribes it for a purpose not listed on its FDA-approved label. This is a common and legal practice, guided by emerging evidence, clinical studies, and a clinician’s expert judgment.
Can Celexa Help with Anxiety? What the Evidence Shows
Although Celexa isn’t FDA-approved for anxiety disorders, there is research, especially in panic disorder, showing potential benefits. Controlled and long-term trials report that citalopram may help reduce panic and phobic symptoms and is generally...
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Celexa for Anxiety: When to Prescribe It and When to Avoid It
What Celexa (citalopram) Is and What It’s Approved to Treat
If you’ve been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, Celexa (citalopram) may be prescribed as part of your treatment plan. Celexa is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). In the United States, it’s FDA-approved for major depressive disorder. Using Celexa for anxiety is considered off-label, meaning a clinician prescribes it for a purpose not listed on its FDA-approved label. This is a common and legal practice, guided by emerging evidence, clinical studies, and a clinician’s expert judgment.
Can Celexa Help with Anxiety? What the Evidence Shows
Although Celexa isn’t FDA-approved for anxiety disorders, there is research, especially in panic disorder, showing potential benefits. Controlled and long-term trials report that citalopram may help reduce panic and phobic symptoms and is generally...
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