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fear of eating in front of others
Eating Disorder

Fear of Eating in Front of Others (Deipnophobia): What It Is and When to Get Support

You sit down at a restaurant, and your appetite disappears. A work lunch gets scheduled, and you spend the morning dreading it. A birthday dinner you actually want to attend starts to feel like something to survive. If eating in front of other people makes you anxious — not just mildly self-conscious but genuinely stressed, sometimes to the point of avoiding situations entirely — you are not alone. And the thing you are experiencing is more common and more understood than most people realize. What Is the Fear of Eating in Front of Others Called? The formal name

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compulsive overeating symptoms
Eating Disorder

Compulsive Overeating Symptoms: Signs to Know

Everyone overeats sometimes. A holiday dinner that went longer than expected. A stressful week that ended with too much takeout. That is part of being human. Compulsive overeating is something different. It is not about the occasional overindulgence. It is a recurring pattern where eating feels out of control — where you eat past the point of fullness, often in secret, often in response to emotions rather than hunger, and where the guilt and distress that follow do not stop the pattern from happening again. If that sounds familiar, this article is for you. What Is Compulsive Overeating?

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Eating Disorder

Food Anxiety Symptoms: Signs You Should Know

Most of us have complicated feelings about food at some point. Maybe you stress-eat when work gets overwhelming, or you feel vaguely guilty after a big meal. That is pretty normal. But for some people, food becomes a persistent source of anxiety—not occasional stress, but a pattern of worry, dread, and mental preoccupation that follows them through every meal, every restaurant visit, and every social event where food is involved. That pattern has a name. And if it sounds familiar, it is worth understanding what is actually going on. What Is Food Anxiety? Food anxiety is not a

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Borderline Personality Disorder

What does borderline personality disorder feel like?

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) isn’t just “mood swings.” It’s an intense, ongoing experience where emotions, relationships, and self-image can feel unstable and overwhelming. People with BPD often feel everything more strongly and more quickly than others, and those feelings can be hard to control once they start. To understand what it feels like, it helps to break it down into the different areas of life it affects. Living with emotions that hit fast and hard One of the core experiences of BPD is emotional intensity. Feelings don’t come in gently—they show up suddenly and at full force. A

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Depression

How Depression and Poor hygiene effect each other

Depression doesn’t just stay in your thoughts—it shows up in daily habits. One of the most noticeable areas it affects is personal hygiene. At the same time, poor hygiene can make depression feel even worse. This creates a cycle that’s easy to fall into and hard to break if you don’t understand what’s happening. To really get this, you have to look at how each one feeds into the other. When basic self-care starts to feel like a burden Depression drains energy in a way that’s hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it. Tasks that used to feel

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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

OCD and PTSD – and the relationship between the two

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are two different mental health conditions, but they can overlap in ways that are often confusing. Both involve intrusive thoughts, strong emotional reactions, and repetitive behaviors or mental patterns that are hard to control. To understand their relationship, you need to look at how each condition works on its own—and where they start to intersect. Two conditions with different starting points OCD and PTSD develop for different reasons, even though they may look similar on the surface. OCD is driven by obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images,

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Depression

Fictional Characters People With Depression Relate To

Depression is difficult to explain, especially to someone who hasn’t experienced it. It’s not just sadness—it’s a mix of emptiness, exhaustion, overthinking, and disconnection. Because of that, many people find it easier to relate to fictional characters who reflect those internal struggles. These characters don’t just tell a story. They give shape to feelings that are otherwise hard to describe. When someone sees their thoughts or behaviors mirrored in a character, it creates a sense of recognition—something that feels real and familiar. Why fictional characters feel more relatable than real explanations When people try to describe depression, it

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Behavioral Health

What is Behavioral Health?

Behavioral health is a term used to describe how your thoughts, emotions, and actions work together to influence your overall well-being. It looks at how you respond to stress, how you form habits, how you interact with people, and how your daily choices shape both your mental and physical health. It’s not limited to mental illness. Instead, it focuses on patterns—what you do consistently, how you think in different situations, and how those patterns either support or harm your life over time. A broader concept than mental health alone Many people assume behavioral health and mental health mean

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Depression

How to get FMLA for Depression

Taking time off work because of depression isn’t about weakness—it’s about recognizing when your mental health is affecting your ability to function. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) exists to give employees protected time off for serious health conditions, including mental health issues like depression. But getting approved isn’t automatic. You need to understand the process and handle it properly. What qualifies as depression under FMLA FMLA doesn’t cover every case of stress or low mood. For depression to qualify, it must be considered a serious health condition. That usually means your symptoms are interfering with your

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Borderline Personality Disorder

What Are the Different Types of BPD?

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a complex mental health condition that affects how a person experiences emotions, relationships, and their sense of self. While BPD is a single diagnosis, it does not look the same for everyone. People can experience it in different ways, with certain patterns becoming more dominant than others. Over time, mental health professionals and researchers have described different “types” or presentations of BPD to better understand these variations. These are not official diagnostic categories, but they are useful in recognizing how symptoms can show up differently in individuals. At Friendly Recovery, we often help

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Borderline Personality Disorder

What’s the difference between BPD and Bipolar

Understanding Two Often Confused Conditions Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Bipolar Disorder are frequently misunderstood and often confused with each other. Both conditions involve emotional intensity, mood changes, and challenges in daily life, which can make them appear similar at first glance. However, they are fundamentally different in how they develop, how they present, and how they are treated. Understanding the difference between BPD and Bipolar Disorder is important for individuals, families, and anyone trying to make sense of mental health symptoms. When these conditions are misunderstood, it can lead to incorrect assumptions, delayed treatment, and unnecessary frustration.

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Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia Aggression Towards Family

Understanding the Causes and Finding the Right Response Schizophrenia is a complex mental health condition that affects how a person thinks, feels, and interprets reality. For many families, one of the most distressing challenges is dealing with aggression from a loved one who is experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia. When this aggression is directed toward family members, it can feel confusing, painful, and overwhelming. It is important to understand that in most cases, this behavior is not intentional or personal. The individual is often reacting to a distorted perception of reality, not making a conscious decision to harm others.

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