A study published earlier this year reveals that people with autism spectrum disorder avoid eye contact because it causes anxiety rather than because they lack empathy.

You might not even realize you're doing it. You pick, pick, pick at a scab or pimple mindlessly, sometimes breaking the skin and drawing blood, sometimes not. If you are aware, you likely are ashamed of your "bad habit."

What happens when social media becomes the weapon of choice for self-harm; when the cyberbully is also the victim?

After celebrity chef and bestselling author Anthony Bourdain died of suicide, his friend Val Kilmer took to social media to express his opinion on the matter. In a lengthy Facebook post, Kilmer called Bourdain’s actions “selfish.” Further elaborating, he wrote, “A spiritual guide once told me suicide is the most selfish act a human can execute and I was confused but she explained there’s just no mental place further away from humanity and purpose than the hypnotized numbness that creates the false picture of despair, that forces the victim, unaware, to believe, life’s legacy is over.” Kilmer is wrong — suicide is not selfish. I know because I once tried to take my own life.

Mental health advocates have routinely cautioned against describing suicide as selfish because it may trigger a vulnerable individual to act. Hollywood actor Val Kilmer, however, seems to give more weight to what a spiritual guide once told him than the warnings of the CDC, the American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Kilmer is now on the receiving end of fan disapproval after publishing a lengthy Facebook post in which he called Bourdain "selfish" for taking himself away from Kilmer and his fans.

How is it that we’ve all been conditioned to place the burden of action on the one with the mental condition that literally robs us of the ability to act?

Situational depression is defined as an adjustment disorder with a depressed mood, and it is a common occurrence for many people as a response to a specific instance, such as job loss or the end of a relationship.

I sometimes watch my husband sleep in the early morning hours. By tiny bits of light escaping through the cracks in the blinds, my eyes trace the lines of his face, and I smile at the sight of his tousled hair. Married for 15 years and together for 17 now, I am familiar with the signs he is waking up before his alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m.

At six years old, Charlie Hernandez is learning his numbers and letters. He idolizes his father and is obsessed with trains and organizing his toys. Charlie is a typical little boy, who happens to have special needs, says his mother, Anna Hernandez. He’s also the inspiration for Charlie’s Project, a clothing company built around leggings founded by Hernandez in 2012 with a mission to raise awareness for the conditions that affect her son: Down syndrome and Autism.

Editor's Choice Essay-- In the winter of 2011, in the dressing room at Target, I get caught up in an existential crisis. While trying on bathing suits, I find myself toggling between two drastically different views of myself: one is informed by the harsh words my mother verbalized so many years ago, probably without meaning to hurt me or realizing I was internalizing everything she said; the other by my young daughter’s unconditionally loving view of me.

Jenn Mclellan used to think her body was broken. She’d bought into the idea that, because of her size, she couldn’t be beautiful. She exists, she said, in a body that society finds unacceptable, and knowing this had a profound effect on her emotional relationship with her physical self. “Then I got pregnant with my son and had a natural childbirth that changed everything,” says the 37-year-old Albuquerque-based writer, who blogs at . “I realized the strength and beauty my body possesses.

When I was 22 years old, I was eating healthy and working out five days a week—and I still put on 50 pounds in a six-month period. Weight gain is one of the telltale symptoms of hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, a condition that occurs when your thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough of some important hormones. Because it’s more common in women, my then-boyfriend suggested I head to my doctor to get it checked out. I did, and my doctor diagnosed me with hypothyroidism, which I’ve controlle

I really wish other people would stop getting mad on my behalf. Every year, it’s the same thing… and every year, I find myself sighing with the frustration of being told my opinion is wrong —or worse yet, makes me a “problematic minority”— for having the audacity to tell my white friends I believe painting their faces for Día de los Muertos is not cultural appropriation.

Peas. I hate peas, I thought. I hate peas, and they are her favorite vegetable. I had been so worried my hatred of peas would somehow pass onto Eliana, that she would despise them if I had given her a reason. I wasn’t going to give her a reason to be afraid of swimming, though.

I'm the one with the emotional baggage. She's the one with the batwings.

If I hadn’t been diagnosed with ADHD, I don't think my daughter would have been diagnosed with high-functioning autism. I would have just nodded my head, setting aside my suspicions when friends texted links to articles about similarities between the gifted and autistic. I would have said things like “You’re right” and “What was I thinking?” when people asked me why I would want to chance sticking a label on my child for life.

The emotional damage of a hurricane: how one therapist is stepping in.

The day I found out I have ADHD was super-chaotic, but also made total sense.

Being a mom with ADHD is no walk in the park, but nevertheless, she persisted.

When it comes to creativity, ADHD is this woman's superpower.