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An open-ended question is a question that can’t be answered with just one word or phrase. Open-ended questions require longer explanations and more thought than a question whose answer can just be “Fine,” “Good,” or “OK.”

When therapists ask open-ended questions, it’s often to help people talk about their experiences and problems and build a therapeutic rapport with them. Open-ended questions for counseling allow people to express their feelings and share thoughts they might not otherwise explore.

If you’ve ever been in therapy, you have probably noticed that your therapist asks a lot of open-ended questions. In fact, this has even become a source of humor in pop culture. Bob Newhart’s famous question, “How did that make you feel?” has become a standard way to lampoon therapy.

But open-ended questions are not only a useful tool in therapy, they are also a good way to start conversations in day-to-day life.

This article explores some common types of therapist questions and the value of these seemingly vague kinds of questions. It also discusses open-ended questions for counseling that you might encounter during your sessions and how such questions can also be used in everyday conversations.

10 Common Open-Ended Therapist Questions

Every therapist is different, as are the approaches they may use. These are some common open-ended questions for counseling that your therapist may ask you at your first appointment:

• What brings you here today?
• Have you ever seen a counselor/therapist/psychologist before?
• What do you see as being the biggest problem in your life right now?
• How does this problem make you feel?
• What makes the problem better?
• Why does that make you feel angry/sad/[any particular emotion]?
• What positive changes would you like to see happen in your life?
• In general, how would you describe your mood?
• What do you expect from the counseling process?
• What would it take for you to feel happier or more at peace?

Some of these questions can be repeated any time you bring in a new topic or problem to therapy. They may help you start attacking the issue and really dig into how you are feeling.

Open-Ended vs. Closed-Ended Therapist Questions

Most therapists are trained to ask open-ended questions. Open-ended questions are ones that allow you to provide whatever amount of detail you want, rather than simply answering “yes” or “no.” Open-ended questions encourage you to share relevant material about your life, your way of thinking, and your beliefs.

Consider the following sentences:

1. Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
2. Tell me about your relationship with your parents.

The material covered is identical, but the answers will likely be very different. The first question is a closed-ended question. The expected reply is “yes” or “no.” If a therapist asks that question and gets one of those answers, the ball is back in the therapist’s court to encourage a fuller response. With a closed-ended question, a client may choose to say more, but often they do not.

There is another important difference between these two sentences. Number one is a leading question – it introduces the idea of “good” when maybe the client would not have used this term or thought about their relationship with their parents in this way.

This is not a particularly troubling example of a leading question, but consider a question like, “Did your father sexually abuse you?” Due to the fact that this question may prompt a certain answer, therapists generally avoid asking ones like that.

“Double-barreled” questions, or two questions disguised as one, often fall into this trap. Saying something like, “What is the problem and how does it make you feel?” might make the client feel pressured to answer both questions at once, which might lead to simpler or less informative answers.

Types of Open-Ended Questions for Counseling

Open-ended therapist questions are likely to feature the typical “who, what, where, when, why, and how” used in good journalism. These questions draw out different kinds of responses that can be useful for a therapist.

• Who: Elicits insight into relationships
• What: Most often leads to facts
• Where: Enables discussion about the environment in which the issue took place
• When: Brings about the timing of a problem, including what happened immediately before and after it
• Why: Most often brings about reasons
• How: Enables a person to talk about feelings and/or processes

The proper tone of voice is important when asking any question, specifically when asking “why” questions. Starting a question with “why” can seem accusatory and cause a person to respond defensively. Using a non-judgmental tone can prevent this response, as can starting the question with a phrase like, “It seems to me that you are feeling X way about this. Why is that?”

Using Open-Ended Questions in Daily Life

Therapists aren’t the only ones who benefit from using open-ended questions. Anyone can use open-ended questions in their daily life. The truth is, you’re much more likely to get a conversation flowing and connect with people when you ask open-ended versus closed-ended questions.

If you are talking with someone you don’t know very well, ask them open-ended questions. In fact, if you think of a question with a yes-or-no answer, see if you can change it into a more open-ended version and ask that instead. The conversation will likely move along more easily, and you will get to know that person on a deeper level.

A psychiatric disorder is a mental illness diagnosed by a mental health professional that greatly disturbs your thinking, moods, and/or behavior and seriously increases your risk of disability, pain, death, or loss of freedom.

In addition, your symptoms must be more severe than expected response to an upsetting event, such as normal grief after the loss of a loved one.

Examples of Psychiatric Disorders

A large number of psychiatric disorders have been identified. Chances are that, whether or not you or someone close to you has been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, you know something about one or more of the following examples:

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one in five adults in the U.S. has some type of mental illness. This includes conditions that can range from mild to severe.

NIMH distinguishes between any mental illness (AMI), which represents all recognized mental health conditions, and serious mental illness (SMI), which involves a small and more severe subset of illnesses.

Symptoms of Psychiatric Disorders

Examples of ongoing signs and symptoms of psychiatric disorders include:

• Confused thinking
• Reduced ability to concentrate
• Deep, ongoing sadness, or feeling “down”
• Inability to manage day-to-day stress and problems
• Trouble understanding situations and other people
• Withdrawal from others and from activities you used to enjoy
• Extreme tiredness, low energy, or sleeping problems
• Strong feelings of fear, worry, or guilt
• Extreme mood changes, from highs to lows, often shifting very quickly
• Detachment from reality (delusions), paranoia (the belief that others are “out to get you,”) or hallucinations (seeing things that aren’t there)
• Marked changes in eating habits
• A change in sex drive
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Excessive anger, hostility, and/or violence
• Suicidal thinking

A psychiatric disorder may also cause physical symptoms, such as ​a headache, back pain, or stomach pain. If you’re being evaluated for a psychiatric disorder, tell your doctor about any physical symptoms you’re having, including unexplained aches and pains.

Types of Psychiatric Disorders

Psychiatric disorders fall into one of the following main types (often called classes or categories):

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Neurodevelopmental disorders affect how your brain functions and can affect cognition, behavior, communication, and motor abilities. The many psychiatric disorders in this group usually begin in infancy or childhood, often before a child starts school. Examples include:

• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorders
• Learning disorders

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

Psychotic disorders cause detachment from reality. People with these diagnoses experience delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thinking and speech.

Schizophrenia is probably the best known of these illnesses, although detachment from reality can sometimes affect people with other psychiatric disorders.

Bipolar and Related Disorders

This group includes disorders in which episodes of mania (periods of excessive excitement, activity, and energy) alternate with periods of depression.

There are three types of bipolar disorder:

• Bipolar I: Characterized by episodes of mania and depression
• Bipolar II: Characterized by depressive and hypomanic episodes
• Cyclothymic disorder: Marked by depressive and hypomanic symptoms that are not severe enough to be considered mood episodes

Depressive Disorders

These include disorders characterized by feelings of extreme sadness and worthlessness, along with reduced interest in previously enjoyable activities. Examples include:

• Major depressive disorder: There are also different forms of major depressive disorder, including seasonal affective disorder and postpartum depression.
• Persistent depressive disorder (PDD): This involves mild to moderate depression that lasts longer than two years.
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD): This is more severe than the more widely known premenstrual syndrome (PMS). PMS is not classified as a psychiatric disorder.

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety involves focusing on bad or dangerous things that could happen and worrying fearfully and excessively about them. Anxiety disorders include:

• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): Causes pervasive anxiety about a wide variety of events, situations, or activities
• Panic disorder: Causes severe, frequent panic attacks
• Phobias: Extreme or irrational fears of specific things, such as heights)

Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders

People with these disorders experience repeated and unwanted urges, thoughts, or images (obsessions) and feel driven to take repeated actions in response to them (compulsions).

Examples include obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), hoarding disorder, and hair-pulling disorder (trichotillomania).

Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders

These psychiatric disorders develop during or after stressful or traumatic life events. Some of the conditions that are included in this category of psychiatric disorders include:

• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): A condition characterized by nightmares, flashbacks, hypervigilance, difficulty concentrating, and other symptoms
• Acute stress disorder: A condition that occurs after exposure to a traumatic event that causes severe anxiety for up to a month after the trauma
• Adjustment disorders: A condition marked by symptoms of anxiety, depressed mood, anger, and irritability in response to a sudden change, such as a divorce, breakup, or job loss

Dissociative Disorders

These are disorders in which a person’s sense of self is disrupted. This can affect a person’s identity and memory. Some examples of dissociative disorders include:

• Dissociative identity disorder: A condition marked by having two or more distinct personalities or identities (formerly known as multiple personality disorder)
• Dissociative amnesia: Characterized by memory loss that can be brief or long-lasting
• Depersonalization/derealization disorder: Involves symptoms of depersonalization (feeling outside of one’s body) and derealization (disconnected from reality)

Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders

A person with one of these disorders may have distressing and incapacitating physical symptoms with no clear medical cause. (“Somatic” means “of the body.”) Examples include:

• Illness anxiety disorder: A condition marked by an excessive worry about bodily sensations and a belief that one has or will get a serious medical condition
• Somatic symptom disorder (previously known as hypochondriasis): An excessive preoccupation with physical symptoms that create significant distress and make it difficult to function in everyday life
• Factitious disorder: Involves intentionally creating symptoms or faking symptoms of an illness

Feeding and Eating Disorders

These psychiatric disorders are disturbances related to eating. These conditions involve an excessive focus on weight or body shape that result in disordered eating patterns. These eating behaviors have a severe impact on both mental and physical health. Such conditions include:

• Anorexia nervosa: Involves food restriction that results in a very low body weight
• Bulimia nervosa: Involve binge eating followed by extreme methods to compensate for excessive calorie intake, including induced vomiting, laxative misuse, or excess exercise
• Binge eating disorder: Involves consuming large amounts of food in a short period of time

Elimination Disorders

Psychiatric disorders in this group relate to the inappropriate elimination (release) of urine or stool by accident or on purpose. Bedwetting (enuresis) is an example.

Sleep-Wake Disorders

These conditions interfere with a person’s ability to get adequate sleep, which then disrupts daytime functioning. These are severe sleep disorders, including:

• Insomnia disorder: Involves the inability to get enough sleep
• Sleep apnea: Involves breathing problems that disrupt sleep and lead to daytime sleepiness 
• Restless legs syndrome: A condition that causes sensations and leg movements that make it difficult to sleep

Sexual Dysfunctions

These disorders of sexual response include such diagnoses as premature ejaculation, erectile disorder, and female orgasmic disorder.

Gender Dysphoria

These disorders stem from the distress that goes with a person’s stated desire to be a different gender. The diagnostic criteria in this group differ somewhat among children, adolescents, and adults.

Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders

People with these disorders show symptoms of difficulty with emotional and behavioral self-control. Examples include kleptomania (repeated stealing) and intermittent explosive disorder (which causes extreme outbursts of anger).

Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders

People with these diagnoses have problems associated with excessive use of alcohol, opioids (for example, oxycodone and morphine), recreational drugs, hallucinogens, cannabis, stimulants, or tobacco. This group also includes gambling disorder.

Neurocognitive Disorders

These psychiatric disorders affect people’s ability to think and reason. The disorders in this group include delirium as well as disorders of thinking and reasoning caused by such conditions or diseases as traumatic brain injury or Alzheimer’s disease.

Personality Disorders

A personality disorder involves a lasting pattern of emotional instability and unhealthy behaviors that seriously disrupt daily living and relationships. Examples include:

Paraphilic Disorders

Many sexual-interest disorders are included in this group. Examples include sexual sadism disorder, voyeuristic disorder, and pedophilic disorder.

Other Mental Disorders

This group includes psychiatric disorders that are due to other medical conditions or that don’t meet all the requirements for any of the other psychiatric disorder groups.

When Does a Mental Health Concern Become a Psychiatric Disorder?

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably had a mental health concern from time to time, such as depression following ​the loss of a job. These concerns are typically time-limited, and eventually, you start to feel better.

That’s not true of a psychiatric disorder, in which your symptoms are ongoing and frequently upsetting to you and the people around you.

When the stress of trying to cope with your symptoms becomes more than you can handle, treatment typically involves a combination of medications and psychotherapy (also called talk therapy).

If you are in a relationship with someone who has depression, you are likely struggling with a mix of emotions and lots of questions. For instance, you might wonder:

• What does depression feel like for my partner?
• What can I do to help support them?
• How can I take care of myself?
• Will their symptoms impact our relationship and, if so, how can we navigate any issues together?

All of these questions are normal and it’s understandable that you’d want to support your loved one to the best of your ability.

While your questions are valid, it’s also important to understand that every person’s experience with depression is unique so here are a few things you can do to help your loved one and yourself.

Learn More About Depression

You can support your loved one by learning everything you can about depression, including its causes, symptoms, and treatments. Ask your partner’s doctor for some sources that provide the facts about depression, or do your own search. Start with these reputable sources:

Understand What Depression Really Means

There are many myths about depression. For example, depression is not simply the result of laziness or weakness. Your partner’s pain may not “just be in their head.” Depression doesn’t need a reason. If you are unfamiliar with depression, challenge preconceived thoughts, ideas, and stigma by educating yourself.

It’s especially important to validate your partner’s feelings and experience of this very real and biologically based illness. Know that just like any other illness, it can be treated.

Suicide is also a very real risk of depression, so it’s important to keep your loved one’s environment safe (such as removing any alcohol, drugs, or guns) and to take it seriously if your loved one is feeling suicidal.

Practice Self-Care

It can be very stressful coping with another person’s depression. It’s OK to take some time out for yourself. Self-care is not selfish. In fact, you’ll both be better off if you carve out time to safeguard your mind, body, and spirit with habits like:

Seek Therapy

When someone you care about is depressed, it’s OK for you to feel frustrated, angry, and upset. It is very important, however, that you don’t allow these feelings to fester and grow.

Therapists, counselors, and support groups are not only for people with depression. Seeking professional help for yourself can help you feel supported, vent your frustrations, and make you more aware of your own emotional needs.

Therapy can also provide answers to any questions you have about coping with the depression of a loved one. Even if you don’t go the mental health professional route, it’s important to lean on your support network during this difficult time.

Be There for Your Partner

One of the most important things you can do for someone who is depressed is simply to be there for them and verbalize your support. Hold them close or just listen while they share their feelings.

Offer to help them with making appointments or doing some of the daily chores that they are struggling to keep up with. Let them know that you are there for them in whatever way they need while they make their recovery.

Don’t Take Your Partner’s Depression Personally

Depression can make people behave in ways that they normally wouldn’t when they are feeling well. They may become angry, irritable, or withdrawn. They may not be interested in going out or doing things with you like they used to. Your spouse or significant other may lose interest in sex.

These things are not personal, and they don’t mean that your partner no longer cares for or about you. They are symptoms of the illness that requires treatment.

Help Out With Chores

Just like when a person has any other illness, they may simply not feel well enough to take care of paying the bills or cleaning the house. And, just like with any other illness, you may have to temporarily take over some of their daily chores until they feel well enough to do them again.

Encourage Your Partner to Seek Treatment

Treatment is vitally important to recovery from depression. You can help your loved one by helping them keep up with taking their medication and remembering appointments.

You can also help them by reassuring them that asking for help is not a sign of weakness or something to be ashamed of.

Offer Hope

Offer your partner hope by reminding them of their reasons to keep living, whatever they may be. Perhaps it’s their children, a beloved pet who needs them, or their faith.

These reasons, which will be unique to the individual, can help them hold on a bit longer until the pain subsides.

Demonstrate Your Love

Depression can make a person feel like a burden and unworthy of love and support. Proactively counteract those thoughts by telling and showing your partner that you love them.

Let them know that you understand that depression is affecting their thoughts, feelings, and behavior and that you (still) love them. Reassure them that you are here to support them in their journey to get better.

The negativity bias is our tendency not only to register negative stimuli more readily but also to dwell on these events. Also known as positive-negative asymmetry, this negativity bias means that we feel the sting of a rebuke more powerfully than we feel the joy of praise.

This psychological phenomenon explains why bad first impressions can be so difficult to overcome and why past traumas can have such long lingering effects. In almost any interaction, we are more likely to notice negative things and later remember them more vividly.

As humans, we tend to:

• Remember traumatic experiences better than positive ones.
• Recall insults better than praise.
• React more strongly to negative stimuli.
• Think about negative things more frequently than positive ones.
• Respond more strongly to negative events than to equally positive ones.

For example, you might be having a great day at work when a coworker makes an offhand comment that you find irritating. You then find yourself stewing over his words for the rest of the workday.

When you get home from work and someone asks you how your day was, you reply that it was terrible—even though it was overall quite good despite that one negative incident.

What the Research Says

Research has shown that across a wide array of psychological events, people tend to focus more on the negative as they try to make sense of the world.

We tend to…

• Pay more attention to negative events than positive ones.
• Learn more from negative outcomes and experiences.
• Make decisions based on negative information more than positive data.

Motivation

Psychological research suggests that the negative bias influences motivation to complete a task. People have less motivation when an incentive is framed as a means to gain something than when the same incentive will help them avoid the loss of something.

This can play a role in your motivation to pursue a goal. Rather than focusing on what you will gain if you keep working toward something, you’re more likely to dwell on what you might have to give up in order to achieve that goal.

Bad News

Additionally, studies have shown that negative news is more likely to be perceived as truthful. Since negative information draws greater attention, it also may be seen as having greater validity. This might be why bad news seems to garner more attention.

Politics

Differences in negativity bias have also been linked to political ideology. Some research suggests that conservatives may have stronger psychological responses to negative information than liberals. Some evidence, for example, has found that people who consider themselves politically conservative are more likely to rate ambiguous stimuli as threatening.

Such differences in the negativity bias might explain why some people are more likely to value things such as tradition and security while others are more open to embracing ambiguity and change.

Examples of Negative Bias

The negative bias can have a variety of real-world effects on how people think and act. Do any of these situations and events seem familiar?

• You received a performance review at work that was quite positive overall and noted your strong performance and achievements. A few constructive comments pointed out areas where you could improve, and you find yourself fixating on those remarks. Rather than feeling good about the positive aspects of your review, you feel upset and angry about the few critical comments.
• You had an argument with your significant other, and afterward, you find yourself focusing on all of your partner’s flaws. Instead of acknowledging their good points, you ruminate over all of their imperfections. Even the most trivial of faults are amplified, while positive characteristics are overlooked. 
• You humiliated yourself in front of your friends years ago and can still vividly recall the event. You find yourself cringing with embarrassment over it, even though your friends have probably forgotten about it entirely.

Where Negative Bias Comes From

Our tendency to pay more attention to bad things and overlook good things is likely a result of evolution. Earlier in human history, paying attention to bad, dangerous, and negative threats in the world was literally a matter of life and death. Those who were more attuned to danger and who paid more attention to the bad things around them were more likely to survive.

This meant they were also more likely to hand down the genes that made them more attentive to danger.

Are You a Pessimist? Take the Quiz

Try our fast and free test to help you identify if you or someone you know may have a pessimistic mindset.

Development

Research suggests that this negativity bias starts to emerge in infancy. Very young infants tend to pay greater attention to positive facial expression and tone of voice, but this begins to shift as they near one year of age.

Brain studies indicate that around this time, babies begin to experience greater brain responses to negative stimuli. This suggests that the brain’s negative bias emerges during the latter half of a child’s first year of life. There is some evidence that the bias may actually start even earlier in development.

One study found that infants as young as three months old show signs of the negativity bias when making social evaluations of others.

The Brain’s Response

Neuroscientific evidence has shown that there is greater neural processing in the brain in response to negative stimuli. Studies that involve measuring event-related brain potentials (ERPs), which show the brain’s response to specific sensory, cognitive, or motor stimuli, have shown that negative stimuli elicit a larger brain response than positive ones.

In studies conducted by psychologist John Cacioppo, participants were shown pictures of either positive, negative, or neutral images. The researchers then observed electrical activity in the brain. Negative images produced a much stronger response in the cerebral cortex than did positive or neutral images.

Effects

While we may no longer need to be on constant high alert as our early ancestors needed to be in order to survive, the negativity bias still has a starring role in how our brains operate. Research has shown that negative bias can have a wide variety of effects on how people think, respond, and feel.

Some of the everyday areas where you might feel the results of this bias include in your relationships, decision-making, and the way you perceive people.

Relationships

The negativity bias can have a profound effect on your relationships. The bias might lead people to expect the worst in others, particularly in close relationships in which people have known each other for a long time.

For example, you might negatively anticipate how your partner will react to something and go into the interaction with your defenses already on high alert. Arguments and resentment are often the results.

When it comes to relationships, it is valuable to remember that negative comments usually carry much more weight than positive ones. Being aware of our own tendency to fixate on the negative is also important. By understanding this natural human tendency, you can focus on finding ways to cut other people a break and to stop expecting the worst.

Decision-Making

The negative bias can have an influence on the decision-making process. In their famous work, Nobel Prize-winning researchers Kahneman and Tversky found that when making decisions, people consistently place greater weight on negative aspects of an event than they do on positive ones.

When imagining scenarios involving either gaining a certain amount of money or losing the same amount of money, the risk of loss tends to loom larger in people’s minds. People often fear the consequences of the negative outcome more than they desire the potential positive gains, even when the two possibilities are equivalent.

People have a stronger negative reaction to losing $20 than the positive feelings they have from gaining $20.

People Perception

When forming impressions of others, people also tend to focus more on negative information. For example, studies have shown that when given both “good” and “bad” adjectives to describe another person’s character, participants give greater weight to the bad descriptors when forming a first impression.

How to Overcome Negative Bias

The negativity bias can take a toll on your mental health, causing you to:

• Dwell on dark thoughts.
• Hurt your relationships with loved ones.
• Make it difficult to maintain an optimistic outlook on life.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to change your thinking and fight the tendency toward negative thinking, including:

Stop Negative Self-Talk

Start paying attention to the type of thoughts that run through your mind. After an event takes place, you might find yourself thinking things like “I shouldn’t have done that.” This negative self-talk shapes how you think about yourself and others.

Reframe the Situation

How you talk to yourself about events, experiences, and people plays a large role in shaping how you interpret events. When you find yourself interpreting something in a negative way, or only focusing on the bad aspect of the situation, look for ways to reframe the events in a more positive light.

This doesn’t mean ignoring potential dangers or wearing rose-colored glasses—it simply means refocusing so that you give fair and equal weight to good events.

Establish New Patterns

When you find yourself ruminating on things, look for an uplifting activity to pull yourself out of this negative mindset. For example, if you find yourself mentally reviewing some unpleasant event or outcome, consciously try to redirect your attention elsewhere and engage in an activity that brings you joy.

A few more ideas to get your mind off negative thoughts:

Savor Positive Moments

Because it takes more for positive experiences to be remembered, it is important to give extra attention to good things that happen. Where negative things might be quickly transferred and stored in your long-term memory, you need to make more of an effort to get the same effect from happy moments.

So when something great happens, take a moment to really focus on it. Replay the moment several times in your memory and focus on the wonderful feelings the memory evokes.

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs) are types of disorders that influence how the brain functions and alter neurological development, causing difficulties in social, cognitive, and emotional functioning. The most common NDs are autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD). Many NDs are not as well known or widely studied.

NDs usually onset during stages of development. This means that they usually first appear in toddlers, children, and adolescents. However, they continue to persist into adulthood or may go undiagnosed until adulthood. There are instances in which a child outgrows the symptoms associated with an ND. 

Types of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

There are many different types of NDs, below are a few of the most prevalent ones; 

• Attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• Cerebral palsy
• Communication disorders
• Conduct disorders 
• Intellectual disabilities
• Learning disorders
• Neurodevelopmental motor disorders

How Prevalent Are Neurodevelopmental Disorders?

NDs are more prevalent in males than females. This gender difference may be due to genetics, biology, and risk factors. Although NDs, like ASD, are more present in males, researchers determined not much of a gender difference in symptoms. 

Comorbidity is very common among people with neurodevelopmental disorders. This means that they are more likely also to have another mental health condition.

It is also common for an individual to be diagnosed with multiple NDs. In one study of children between 7 and 12 who had mental health conditions, 55% had a neurodevelopmental disorder.

Of the 181 participants with ADHD, almost 40% did not have a comorbid condition, 26% did however have an anxiety disorder, while others had a variety of other conditions. There appeared to be only 18 children with ASD, and of these boys and girls, 36% also had ADHD, 44% had a tic disorder (TD), 36% had an anxiety disorder, and the others had a variety of other conditions or no comorbidity. 

Although more boy participants were diagnosed with an ND, a greater number of girls with an ND had additional comorbid disorders. This study does have its limitations, a large one being that the only measure of the evaluation was parental interviews, which only consisted of just one interview. 

Symptoms of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Symptoms of NDs are dependent on the ND, but general descriptions usually consist of impairments with the following; 

What Causes Neurodevelopmental Disorders?

Neurodevelopmental disorders do not have a clear cause. There are various possible reasons for the onset of NDs. From the research that does exist on the cause of NDs, it is clear that both biology and environment play a role.  

Epigenetics is an important factor in the development of conditions like NDs. Epigenetics is when an individual’s environment and behavior can alter DNA and how genes operate within the body. Early childhood experiences, like trauma, neglect, or toxic environments, have recently been acknowledged as a prime risk factor in developing certain disorders, including NDs. 

Research also determined an association between prenatal events and the development of medical conditions. Maternal diet can influence whether an individual grows up to develop metabolic diseases like obesity and diabetes. Researchers believe that prenatal events, such as diet, could have similar influences on the development of NDs.

Treatments for Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Treatments for neurodevelopmental disorders depend on the nature of the condition. There are a variety of effective interventions, and the right type of support depends on the level of support that a person needs. Although there is no cure for NDs, there are methods that help with managing and coping with symptoms.

Behavioral Therapy

Different types of therapy may be helpful, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), speech therapy, and developmental therapy. CBT is an intervention that helps people learn to identify thoughts and change maladaptive ones. This can be helpful for managing certain aspects of some conditions.

Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) is an approach that has often been used to treat some neurodevelopmental conditions. While ABA may help some people with certain behaviors, many neurodiversity advocates suggest that this approach is dehumanizing.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a stimulation therapy that is commonly used for depression, but research trials have found prospects for rTMS to offer benefits for those with NDs. In a review of multiple studies, rTMS didn’t appear to have any severe adverse effects for children and adolescents with NDs. 

rTMS treatment improved social functioning and behaviors for some participants with ASD. There were also benefits in those with tic disorders, in which treatment helped lessen tics.

Unfortunately, rTMS did not show prospects for those with ADHD; it caused some irritation, hyperactivity, and inattentiveness in some individuals. Overall, rTMS has the potential to be an acknowledged treatment method for a few NDs. 

Medication

Medication is sometimes prescribed to both children and adults with NDs. For ADHD, specifically, physicians may prescribe medication to help in managing characteristics like hyperactivity, agitation, inattentiveness, etc. Medication may consist of stimulants, antidepressants, or other pharmaceuticals suited to enhance cognition.

Conventional and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

Nutrition, physical exercise, and recreational activities can also play a role in managing symptoms of NDs. It is important to develop healthy lifestyle habits for children and adults with NDs. 

Complementary and alternative (CAM) medicines like supplements and mind/body practices, such as acupuncture, yoga, etc., are other options that can be used alongside other evidence-based treatments.

Family Impact

A child being diagnosed with an ND can be a significant adjustment for parents and loved ones. It can take some adjustments, which can create some strain for a family as they adapt to these changes.

The fact is that it can be a really stressful experience. Research has found that parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders report feeling a greater amount of stress than those with children without an ND.

Researchers found that this form of stress can negatively influence the mental health of parents, most commonly mothers. For some couples, the added stress can create strain on the marriages.

Parents who are caring for a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder need to practice good self-care. Managing stress, staying healthy, and finding ways to relax are essential!

Can you join the military with depression or anxiety? If you wish to join the U.S. military, be aware that people with current mood disorders or a history of certain mental illnesses cannot serve. The U.S. Department of Defense has a directive that provides a detailed list of the mental health conditions that prevent a person from being in the armed services.

Disqualifying Mental Health Conditions

According to the Department of Defense, you’re disqualified from serving in the U.S. military if you have a current diagnosis or a history of most mental disorders. The presence of any disorder with psychotic features, such as schizophrenia or a delusional disorder, does not allow one to serve.

Mood Disorders

You’re also disqualified if you have bipolar disorder or affective psychoses. For depressive disorders (for example, major depressive disorder), disqualification from the service occurs if a person had outpatient care that lasted for more than 12 months or any inpatient care.

Anxiety Disorders

For anxiety disorders (for example, panic disorder), a person cannot enter the armed services if they needed any inpatient care, or outpatient care for more than 12 months cumulatively. They must not have needed any treatment for their anxiety disorder in the past 36 months. Other disqualifying mental health conditions include:

• A history of obsessive-compulsive disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder
• A history of or current dissociative, conversion, or factitious disorder, depersonalization, hypochondriasis, somatoform disorders, or pain disorder related to psychological factors or a somatoform disorder
• A history of an adjustment disorder within the last six months, or recurrent episodes of adjustment disorder
• A history of paraphilias like voyeurism or exhibitionism
• A history of or current alcohol or drug abuse or dependence
• A history of attempted suicide or suicidal behavior

Personality and Behavioral Disorders

Disturbances of conduct, impulse control disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, or other personality or behavior disorders characterized by frequent encounters with law enforcement agencies, and antisocial attitudes or behavior also warrant disqualification from service. 

Likewise, a person may be disqualified from enlisting if their personality, conduct, or behavior disorder is believed to be a serious interference in adjusting to the military.

Other Disorders

Other causes for disqualification include (but not limited to) a history of anorexia or bulimia, a history of encopresis (soiling your underwear) after the age of 13, or a history of an expressive or receptive language delay.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be a reason for disqualification if one has received treatment within the last two years or it has been significantly present since age 14. Autism spectrum disorders are also a disqualification.

Effects on Service Members

While currently having mental health conditions or a history of a serious mental disorder technically prohibits military service, research data suggests that many are skirting the rules.

The study also found that more than 11% of U.S. military enlistees had more than one disorder. Interestingly, intermittent explosive disorder was one of the most common conditions found.

How are people getting around the rules? It’s not entirely clear, but people find ways to circumvent the regulations, most in the vein of, “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The problem lies not in the disregard for the rules, but in the risk to the person who enlists. For instance, in the 2014 study, enlistees who had mental disorders prior to enlisting were more likely to have difficulty performing their job. In addition, the rules make it unlikely that someone who develops a mental health condition in the military will seek appropriate help.

An empath is a person highly attuned to the feelings and emotions of those around them. Empaths feel what another person is feeling at a deep emotional level.

Their ability to discern what others are feeling goes beyond empathy, which is defined simply as the ability to understand the feelings of others. Instead, being an empath extends to actually taking those feelings on.

Science is divided on whether or not true empaths—people who can tap into and take on the emotions of those around them—actually exist, though plenty of people claim to have such abilities.

We know that researchers have discovered what they’ve dubbed “mirror neurons” in the brain, which may help us mirror the emotions of those we come in contact with. And it appears some people may have more mirror neurons than others, suggesting that empaths may exist.

What Are Signs of an Empath?

How can you tell if you might be an empath? Some of the common empath traits include:

Empathy

There’s no doubt some people are more prone to empathy than others. We’ve all known someone in our lives who was just gifted at reading our feelings, just as we’ve all known people who seem completely disconnected from the feelings of those around them.

Intuition

Empaths also tend to have a great sense of intuition. They trust their instincts and often go with their gut when making decisions.

Because they are so attuned to how others are feeling, they may pick up on subtle information or cues that might help guide their decision-making.

Caring

People who describe themselves as empaths also tend to care greatly about others. They understand the needs, wishes, and fears that others face, so an empath may strive to make sure that other people have the things they need to feel safe, secure, and happy.

Because of this, people may describe them as tender or warm-hearted. However, this tendency can sometimes make it challenging for empaths to set boundaries with others.

Sensitivity

Empaths are not just sensitive to emotions but tend to pick up on other aspects of the environment. This means they may be more aware of sights, sounds, smells, and other physical sensations that other people might not notice.

As a result, an empath may be more bothered by certain scents or more easily distracted by noises in their surroundings.

Empath Tests

So assuming empathy and other empath traits exist on a spectrum, with some people being highly empathetic and others (psychopaths) lacking empathy entirely—how do you measure your own? And at what level would you qualify yourself as an empath?

Different empathy experts have their own quizzes that may help you to answer the question of whether or not you are an empath for yourself. Dr. Judith Orloff’s asks, “Do I often feel like I don’t fit in?” while self-proclaimed empath Tara Meyer-Robson asks if you have trouble watching the news or find sad movies overwhelming.

Try Our Free Quiz

Our fast and free empath quiz will let you know if your feelings and behaviors indicate high levels of traits commonly associated with empaths.

This quiz was reviewed by Ivy Kwong, LMFT

Benefits of Being an Empath

Is being an empath a good thing? There are some obvious benefits to being highly attuned to other people’s emotional experiences. If you can tap into the feelings of those around you, you should also be able to better support and care for the people who matter most to you.

Knowing that another person is feeling down, lonely, or scared, even if they don’t outwardly show it, puts you in a position of being able to help them through that—gaining their trust and becoming someone they learn to rely on in the future.

This can make you a better partner and friend and help strengthen your relationships.

Being this attuned also means you can spot a liar from a mile away. Empaths don’t have to worry about being taken advantage of because they aren’t easily tricked or manipulated. And when they are, it’s because they ignored their initial instincts about someone, not because they missed the signs altogether.

Challenges of Being an Empath

Of course, there are also likely to be some real downfalls to being this connected to others’ emotions. Most literature on empaths suggests they are easily overwhelmed in crowded spaces or at emotionally charged events (like weddings and funerals) because they soak up the emotions of those around them like a sponge. It’s not hard to imagine how quickly that could become exhausting in certain settings.

It may also be difficult for empaths to unwind if they are constantly carrying the emotions of others. Empaths may struggle with sleep or maintaining their own mental wellness if they don’t find a way to balance the outside inputs they are constantly receiving.

Finally, there may be some people who are uncomfortable with how easily you seem to read them. Not everyone wants to be an open book, and while you may think you are only trying to help, some may find your insights into their feelings and emotions to be invasive and unwelcome.

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Protecting Yourself if You’re an Empath

If you relate to the description of an empath, and if you find yourself constantly taking on the emotions of others, it’s important to learn how to protect your own psyche and separate yourself from the outside world so that you can breathe, heal, and experience your own emotions.

Find Time For Yourself

This may mean finding time to get away by yourself in nature, where you aren’t being bombarded by anyone else’s feelings or stress. Or it might mean finding music or a meditation routine that can help you to reset and establish your center again.

Empaths should also work on knowing when and how to build up personal walls so that they aren’t always so easily absorbing the emotions of those around them. This won’t be easy, as creating boundaries likely doesn’t come naturally to empaths who are so driven to help. But establishing healthy boundaries is necessary for everyone’s mental health and well-being—perhaps especially for empaths.

You may want to start practicing meditation to best learn how to do this. By focusing your mind and learning to shut out outside distractions, you can begin to strengthen your ability to do the same when the emotional input you are receiving from others becomes too great.

Be Selective With Who You Spend Time With

You will also likely learn over time that there are certain people you are better off distancing yourself from. Because empaths can soak up the feelings of others, spending too much time around toxic personalities can feel like poisoning yourself from the inside out.

Finally, seeking the help of a professional is never a bad idea. If you find yourself feeling constantly overwhelmed or drained by the emotions you experience when you walk outside your front door, you may need to develop some tools to help you work through that.

A trained mental health professional can help you to develop those tools, paving the way for you to become the happiest, healthiest version of yourself possible.

In that way, you can learn how to put those empath abilities of yours to good use when you do have the emotional bandwidth to support and care for those who need it most.

How to Be More Empathetic

If you want to improve your empath abilities, there are steps that you can take to become more empathetic in your everyday life. 

• Take an interest in others. Start noticing how others behave, including what they say and their body language. Talk to them and listen actively to what they have to say.
• Imagine yourself in someone else’s life. Empathy is all about being able to see a situation through someone else’s eyes. It allows you to truly feel what they must be feeling in their situation. Empaths can do this naturally, but you can also strengthen your ability to empathize by actively thinking about how it would be to be in another person’s place.
• Open up to others. If you want other people to share their feelings with you, it is important to make yourself vulnerable to others. Talk about your feelings and give others the space to share their emotions in return.