LifeStance Insights

Ketamine-related deaths have sadly become a familiar headline. In 2023, the actor Matthew Perry died from what the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled the acute effects of ketamine. Now the drug is back in the news after the death of 27-year-old model Presley Gerber. His official cause of death has not been determined, and no toxicology results have been released, but some of the public conversation has already turned to ketamine. Separating what’s confirmed from what’s speculation, ketamine safety is a conversation worth having. So why do doctors still prescribe ketamine at all? The answer has less to do with the drug itself and more to do with where it is taken, how it is dosed, and who is watching. That difference is what separates carefully supervised treatment from ketamine taken alone at home. Is Ketamine Safe? Risks and Side Effects Ketamine is an anesthetic, a medication used to put people to sleep for surge...

You've decided to seek help for your mental health. You may have thought about it for months. Or a hard week may have led you to seek care. Either way, you have taken an important first step, and what happens next shouldn't be the hard part. But for many people, it is. And where you live may make that search easier or a lot harder. According to Mental Health America’s (MHA) 2025 State of Mental Health in America report, access to mental health care varies widely by state. The rankings place Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts at the top while Alabama, Texas, and South Carolina are at the bottom. That gap reflects differences in available providers, insurance coverage, and whether people can get the care they need. This article explores why access varies by state, how online care may help, and offers steps you can take to find mental health care. Why Mental Health Care Access Varies by State MHA's rankings score states acro...

Self-harm is far more common, and far more varied, than most people realize. It is often hidden, frequently mistaken for a suicide attempt, and reduced in the public imagination to a single act, when in reality it takes many forms. Research from Cornell’s Self-Injury and Recovery Resources program has documented more than 16 distinct self-injurious behaviors, and there may well be more. The most frequently reported include: Cutting or carving the skin Subdermal scratching Burning Hitting or punching oneself to cause pain Embedding objects under the skin Understanding what self-harm is, who it affects, and why it happens makes clear why effective, evidence-based treatment matters. Recovery is possible, and the right treatment can help address the emotional pain underneath the behavior. What Self-Harm Is and Who It Affects Self-harm, or non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), refers to the deliberate injury of one’s own bod...

There was a period of my life when I had a very reliable routine of dosing myself with little treats to get through the day. During a stressful workday in my Manhattan office (which was pretty much every day), I would pop out for a latte and a pastry to get through the afternoon slog as a little booster or reward for working hard. Maybe twice, if it was a doozy. And then, on more evenings than I care to remember, I’d stop at H&M or Zara on the way home to pick up a cute new look. I told myself I deserved it. And in that moment, I believed that. But what I couldn’t see then – and only really understood years later – was that I wasn’t treating myself. I was self-soothing. What I’d been calling treats was really a form of retail therapy: emotional spending I leaned on to get through the day. There’s a difference, and it took a complete lifestyle change for me to see it clearly. What Is Retail Therapy? “Retail therapy” i...

I love to road trip. It’s something that my husband and I have been doing for many, many years, and there have been so many joyful moments we’ve experienced between points A and B – stopping to watch a sunset in the desert. Making a detour to Dollywood. Looking at the turquoise-blue sea as we cruised along the Pacific Coast Highway. What I don’t talk about as much is the travel anxiety that rides along with me, because managing road trip anxiety is part of every trip I take. And since I don’t love flying, road tripping has been a wonderful alternative to still get out there and travel. According to Hilton’s 2026 Trends Report, 71% of Americans plan to drive on their next vacation, so my husband and I are far from alone in this form of traveling. But here’s another stat – as an American car dealership found through their survey of 500 travelers, 18% report feeling stress or exhaustion during road trips, and 16% say that they feel anxious during their travels. While I mostly feel excited or mellow as we’re on the road, taking in the sights as we drive by, there are times when I, like my fellow 16 percent-ers, feel anxious....

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...