Mason: 1146 books

Our bodies are constantly reacting to mental stimulation. When reliving the winning goal you made in the hockey game, your face might flush, heart race, and muscles tense. A child who is being bullied at school might feel sick every morning before leaving home. A passionate kiss in the movies might...

Substance-related disorders are among the most prevalent of all mental disorders. They affect people in every part of society, and their consequences can be painful, traumatic, expensive, and even deadly. Furthermore, the negative consequences of substance-related disorders do not only affect the...

Mental disorders can affect people of all ages and backgrounds. But specific mental disorders may be more likely to affect certain groups of people than other groups. For example, some mental disorders, like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are more common in children and adolescents than...

A high school student allows herself to eat less than six hundred calories a day. Months go by as her body withers. Her friends and family are aghast at her emaciated appearance. Nevertheless, she still agonizes over being "too fat." A college student regularly downs six or seven thousand calories...

Different skin colors, different languages, different religions, different abilities--these are all things that sometimes cause us to judge other people unfairly. Asians are one group that has experienced continuing prejudice. From limits on immigration many years ago to modern stereotypes, Asians...

From tiny stages in art house theaters to Oscar-winning big-screen performances, more and more people are tuning in to see gay characters represented in new diverse and intriguing ways. And as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters become more common in mainstream entertainment,...

As an adolescent, you'll have to make up your mind about a lot of things. Drugs and alcohol are among the most important. Using chemicals recreationally is a common aspect of many teen parties. No one sets out to become addicted. No one plans on any harmful side effects. But these things do happen....

Sixteen-year-old Draven dresses like the un-dead. Thirteen-year-old Kristen slices her thighs. Fifteen-year-old Jamal rides BMX bikes in competition. What do these teens have in common? They are all taking risks. Though many teens seek independence and thrills through activities that can harm them,...

Discover how you can use loneliness to improve your life. Everyone feels lonely sometimes. Sometimes the feeling comes from being truly alone, but it has more to do with feeling alone, unconnected to other human beings. No one likes to feel lonely, but researchers have found that loneliness can actually...

Learn from your sad feelings. We all feel sad sometimes. Maybe your best friend moved away. Maybe you failed to do as well as you had hoped at something. Maybe it's just one of those gray days when everything seems sad! Those sad feelings come from chemical reactions inside your brain. They may not...

New parents who find out they're going to have a child with intellectual challenges are faced with many questions: Will she be able to function in the world? Will she have the same hopes and dreams as other children? Will her life be happy—or filled with sadness and failure? Along with the Brown...

Being a teenager is never easy. This phase of life is filled with changes, and new, unexpected challenges are always presenting themselves. For someone who has trouble controlling her emotions, these challenges can be especially hard to handle. As you read the story of Sheila, a teenager with an emotional...

Everyone told Sandra she would be happy. People described in rapt detail the overwhelming feeling of love and purpose that would envelop her at her daughter's birth. Nothing prepared Sandra for the heavy fog of dread and loss that descended upon her in the delivery room on the day she gave birth....

If you're like most people, you probably wish you could change at least one part of your body. Perhaps you think a makeover, a new you, will make all the difference in the world. Maybe you think that changing your looks will change your life. And if you believe the advertisements you see on television...