var title = 'Psychology and Mental Health Forum Psychology Feed';
		var url = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/random_blogs_c-3.html';
		var site_url = 'https://www.psychforums.com';
		var site_desc = 'Psychology and Mental Health Forum';
		var time = 'Tue, 02 Sep 2025 06:52:17 -0400';

		var data = new Array();
		

		data[0] = new Array();
		data[0]['title'] = 'Psychology';
		data[0]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/psychology_c-3_u-70825_b-397.html';
		data[0]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/psychology_c-3_u-70825_b-397.html';
		data[0]['username'] = 'whatispsychology';
		data[0]['blog_id'] = '397';
		data[0]['blog_message'] = 'What is your definition of psychology ?';
		data[0]['blog_time'] = 'Sat, 16 Jul 2011 17:53:03 -0400';
		

		data[1] = new Array();
		data[1]['title'] = 'Urge to bite....';
		data[1]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/urge_to_bite...._c-3_u-269745_b-7695.html';
		data[1]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/urge_to_bite...._c-3_u-269745_b-7695.html';
		data[1]['username'] = 'hiding_the_broken';
		data[1]['blog_id'] = '7695';
		data[1]['blog_message'] = 'I'm a 16 year old girl. I never bit anyone as a kid or anything like that. I have been diagnosed with OCD, Severe Clinical Depression, and a Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I am on medication for those things. But I have been having the urge to bite things lately. It doesn't matter what mood I'm in. I just randomly have the urge to bite things. I mostly bite myself; I could never bite another person. Yes, I have been self-harming for a little over 4 years, so maybe it's just another form of self-harm, but it's getting pretty bad. The bite marks last about a half hour. I've only broken through skin once. What is going on with me..why am I biting all of a sudden...';
		data[1]['blog_time'] = 'Sun, 23 Nov 2014 23:28:08 -0500';
		

		data[2] = new Array();
		data[2]['title'] = 'My Life';
		data[2]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/my_life_c-3_u-258173_b-6791.html';
		data[2]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/my_life_c-3_u-258173_b-6791.html';
		data[2]['username'] = 'imustbecrazy';
		data[2]['blog_id'] = '6791';
		data[2]['blog_message'] = 'Okay, I&#039;ve been searching for help. I have a problem. Let me start from the beginning. <br />My eldest brother suffers from cerebral palsy, and my entire childhood- my mom did not stay with me (parents are not separated) and my dad isn&#039;t exactly the loving type.<br />I have been a liar (without meaning to) from my childhood, and I have been sexually abused when I was a child (it didn&#039;t feel like an abuse, though)<br />Growing up, my elder brother (another one) kept dominating me or comparing me with my cousin brother who stayed with us. My brother would even force me to do things I didn&#039;t want to. He literally used to twist my arms.<br />Slowly, I feigned love for him. It happened on it&#039;s own. I actually believed myself. I knew I found him irritating and unwanted but still I respected him.<br />The somewhere around highschool, I got into a relationship and got cheated on. Yes, it was my first love.<br />It hurt. I was in a boarding school, I felt alone but never cried. I tried to take my life for reasons I can&#039;t remember. That phase of my life is a blur.<br />I thought everything would be okay. <br />It didn&#039;t.<br />My dad took me to a therapist, but my mom felt I was possessed by a spirit. <br />I&#039;m 16 now, but I still haven&#039;t rebelled or gone against my parents.<br />Anyway, I never met the therapist again but I had to take part in rituals and what not.<br />Back to my brother, he manipulated me and made me look bad in front of my parents.<br />Being the weak, submissive sister I was, my parents never thought it was my fault.<br />Moving forward, he even made me lift up my shirt because he wanted to see my body type. I was obsessed with losing weight, I was dumb, I did it. <br />Now he would hug me weirdly and said I never hugged him properly. It sounds funny but he said my butt was too outwards, it should be inwards towards the person I was hugging. <br />Now, back to my elder brother, I know that he is suffering. But he does so many things to get attention. Shouts, screams, cries all day long. I&#039;m suspecting that he even feigns illness. It isn&#039;t that we don&#039;t love him, we do. We do everything he asks, but still...<br />My father has never been affectionate. But he has always been there for me. We&#039;re good friends.<br />My mom, I don&#039;t know. She always makes me feel that marrying dad was a mistake. We&#039;re good friends, but... I feel trapped. Everything I do has to be under her. <br />I can&#039;t do anything on my own. <br />I feel suffocated.<br />So, around five months ago, my elder brother died. He was an alcoholic. He hit me, we fought. I never spoke to him again. I guess, I never will. I hadn&#039;t seen his face for a week or so, and when I did... I knew it was lifeless but it didn&#039;t look that way. I can&#039;t accept what happened. I&#039;m angry that I couldn&#039;t be angry at him anymore. I don&#039;t know.<br />Now, I&#039;m rude to people. My teachers say that I have lost that shine. My writing suddenly improved. I can laugh but still I feel different. None of my friends talk to me. I only have online friends. <br />I feel so alone. <br />Sadly, I think I like it that way.';
		data[2]['blog_time'] = 'Sat, 26 Apr 2014 08:44:01 -0400';
		

		data[3] = new Array();
		data[3]['title'] = 'Is this Hocd anymore?';
		data[3]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/is_this_hocd_anymore%CA%94_c-3_u-466025_b-12760.html';
		data[3]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/is_this_hocd_anymore%CA%94_c-3_u-466025_b-12760.html';
		data[3]['username'] = 'Hi12123';
		data[3]['blog_id'] = '12760';
		data[3]['blog_message'] = 'Sorry this is very long but please read this because i need help...<br />Hi, I am a 16 year old girl and have been struggling with hocd for about 2 years. It all started in 7th grade when I had an intense crush on a boy. Whenever I was around him I had butterflies and I actually wanted to marry him. He liked me too but he soon developed a crush on another girl and I wasn&#039;t even jealous because I didn&#039;t like him as much anymore. One night I was at a sleepover with my friend and I was laying on the couch when a thought popped into my head, &quot;you don&#039;t like **** anymore, are you gay?&quot; After that one thought, it has changed my life. ( I am not homophobic but I was always kinda uncomfortable around gay people at that age. But now I am not at homophobic or uncomfortable around gay people anymore)<br /><br />A couple weeks later, I was seeking reassurance on being lesbian and stumbled across the term hold. I had all of the symptoms and felt better. But, the worrying didn&#039;t stop. In 7th grade I was only scared about &quot;becoming&quot; gay, I knew i wasn&#039;t but I was just scared i was &quot;changing&quot; into being gay. I went to my school guidance counselor and she told me that it was ok if I was gay and should learn to accept it, this heightened my worrying because I couldn&#039;t handle the fact of being gay. There were times where I was not worrying and then times where I was. After a while of being worried I didn&#039;t worry about it at all. I had some thoughts here and there but ignored them. It was the start of 8th grade (the grade I am in now) and I didn&#039;t worry about it. Then it was triggered again, (I forgot how). Soon my mind made me think I had crushes on every single one of my friends (who were girls). My mind said &quot;If you aren&#039;t attracted to him, you&#039;re gay.&quot; It also started to change my past and say &quot;you like her&quot; even when I felt nothing for her when I was with her. Recently, I had a small panic attack at a restaurant where i couldn&#039;t eat any single thing (not even a small piece of rice) because I was worrying so much. My mind kept screaming &quot;your bi!...&quot; That night at the restaurant I planned to come out to my mom (my mom knows about my hocd) but the problem was that I didn&#039;t like any girls. I would also look at my friends (who were girls) and become jealous of them because they do not have to go what I go through. I would say in my head, &quot;they are so lucky that they are straight. They are going to have the best relationship&quot; <br /><br />I then began to dig into my past (i still am) and there are some things that I have done as a child that i can use as proof that I am gay. Keep in mind that I have never been attracted to anyone of the same sex besides false attractions (which is not even real attraction). My mind would also say &quot;All the girls think your older brother is cute, but you don&#039;t. This means your gay.&quot; And now that I am writing that, what on Earth was I thinking, am i stupid? Lol. I would also have false attractions for people on TV shows and have dreams and wake up feeling aroused and feeling that I liked it. I know that arousal doesn&#039;t mean your gay so it doesn&#039;t worry me at all.<br /><br />I know that I like boys but I am just scared that I like girls to. I always wanted to have a boyfriend but now I do not as much. My mind is now saying &quot;being with a girl isn&#039;t so bad.&quot; &quot;it will be fun to be in a relationship with a girl&quot; I have never dreamed about girls the way I have dreamed about boys and the only relationship I want with girls is friendship. But as i am writing this my mind is saying, &quot;you wouldn&#039;t mind it, it would be fun!&quot; Whenever I go out, it is just natural for me to want to impress a guy. I have never wanted to dress to impress a girl. I cant picture my future with a girl because its just not me. I also don&#039;t think it is necessary to come out because deep down I know i&#039;m not.<br />I used to have bad intrusive thoughts, but now those thoughts aren&#039;t even...<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/is_this_hocd_anymore%CA%94_c-3_u-466025_b-12760.html" class="postlink-local">[ Continued ]</a>';
		data[3]['blog_time'] = 'Sat, 27 Apr 2019 03:06:40 -0400';
		

		data[4] = new Array();
		data[4]['title'] = 'Art Therapy &amp; Addiction: As a Treatment For Substance Abuse';
		data[4]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/art_therapy_addiction_as_a_treatment_for_substance_abuse_c-3_u-102283_b-3709.html';
		data[4]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/art_therapy_addiction_as_a_treatment_for_substance_abuse_c-3_u-102283_b-3709.html';
		data[4]['username'] = 'mnlfoojan';
		data[4]['blog_id'] = '3709';
		data[4]['blog_message'] = 'Usually people who struggle with drug and alcohol abuse or other forms of addictive behaviors come from a background of abuse or neglect or have experienced some kind of trauma when they were younger. Being in these situations, a child and/or a young person can experience various painful feelings such as fear, helplessness, shame, guilt, sadness and eventually hopelessness. Becoming overwhelmed by these emotions and not having anybody to help them and validate their feelings may lead to them learning to run away and avoid such feelings to protect against pain or become consumed by those feelings and act upon them impulsively. Later in life, they may use substances or engage in addictive and destructive activities to numb those painful feelings. Despite their effort in avoiding these emotions, they are stored implicitly in a deeper level of the brain and will be triggered more often than they may have expected.<br /><br />These emotions that have been stored in a less conscious part of the brain may not be accessible verbally, but can be found symbolically in images that the person creates. Therefore, the goal of art therapy is to access these hidden and avoided emotions that once had the purpose of protecting the individual, but either have been denied or exaggerated and lost its purpose to rediscover their adaptive qualities.<br /><br />Images in an art therapy session can simply be composed of a few lines, colors or pictures from a magazine to more elaborate drawings, clay sculptures and other forms of creativity. These images will give an expert art therapist the opportunity to help the recovering person uncover meanings behind the symbolic images, discover more information about oneself than just talking and open many deep thoughts and emotions. Participants in art therapy don’t need to have any skills in art.<br /><br />Talking about feelings can be very frightening and painful for a person who has been avoiding them for a long time. This person may not even be able to verbally express him/herself, but may be able to express thoughts and feelings about past and present events and situations non=verbally through lines, shapes and pictures. Creating them can become a new form of communication which is less threatening and safer for the recovering person.<br /><br />Individuals struggling with addiction are usually very judgmental of themselves and are flooded with shame and guilt. Creating art can give them a tangible, concrete perception of their feelings and thoughts and give them the opportunity to observe themselves from a distance which can help them gain a new, less judgmental and more compassionate understanding of self.<br /><br />Recovering individuals may engage in a simple art project whenever they feel overwhelmed or have an urge to take drugs/alcohol or engage in an addictive activity to distract and sooth themselves. Creating can give them a sense of control over the situation and a tool to accept and manage overwhelming feelings. Using their hands while using art materials such as colored pencils, markers, crayons, clay, paper and scissors can help them release some of their avoided feelings such as anger and lower its intensity, and to sooth and calm themselves when they are anxious.<br /><br />In general, in art therapy sessions, the recovering person will be given permission and opportunity to experience and express those feelings that he/she has been running away from and avoiding for a long time in a safe and supporting atmosphere, with the presence of an empathic professional psychotherapist /art therapist who will help him/her understand and make sense of those painful feelings, acknowledge and accept them with compassion, reduce their intensity and tolerate them, and finally use them effectively to fulfill their needs and goals.';
		data[4]['blog_time'] = 'Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:30:45 -0500';