26th November 2024

Reaching the Swing – Low Entropy

Daniela Silva, Low Entropy Volunteer Writer
At 19, I got my first job as a gym receptionist. I was really excited; after all, I could finally go to university and pay for my bachelor’s degree in pedagogy.
Until then, I had no experience dealing with the public, nor multitasking at reception. But since I wasn’t the only receptionist on my shift (there were two other girls) the work became lighter and more relaxed as they taught me each assignment of my role at work.
Little by little I realized th...

OC87 Recovery Diaries • 12th June 2024

School OCD: Portraits of Perfectionism at an Early Age

My parents used to say that the only obligation I had in life as a child was to study. They cleaved to this premise because, as children, they had to stop their education before the sixth grade to start working very early to help support their family. In turn, they vehemently wanted both my sister and me to have an excellent education. For this, they spared no efforts so that the two of us did our best to achieve excellence in school activities and exams. This attitude mostly impacted me, as I h

The Ability Toolbox • 10th April 2024

Is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) the Best Therapy for HSPs?

The Ability Toolbox is a disabled-owned small business. We use affiliate links, which means we may receive commissions at no added cost to you. Thanks!

Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs) have unique experiences and sensitivities that can make navigating the world challenging. Often, HSPs find it difficult to manage their emotions, cope with stress, and maintain healthy relationships. In such cases, therapy can be a valuable tool for understanding and addressing the specific needs of HSPs. Dialecti

28th February 2024

https://lowentropy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Likeness-1-vol-2.pdf

My newest article: "Volunteering: from home to the world".

12th December 2023

Our Last Christmas – Low Entropy

Since my childhood, Christmas has always been a festive and magical time for my family. Whenever the date approached, my mother would break the piggy bank we had at home and go Christmas shopping.

Everything in our house was decorated with Christmas themes, from the front door with a beautiful garland to the living room, where there was a Christmas tree full of gifts of the most varied sizes, colors and shapes. On the bedroom door were embroidered socks, with requests for gifts inside each one,

13th November 2023

A Wise Mind – Low Entropy

The practice of mindfulness entered my life through dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which is recommended for patients with borderline personality disorder, as in my case. The disorder is characterized by instability in relationships and emotions.

Mindfulness skills are developed throughout DBT treatment, as they are considered key elements for emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness and tolerance to discomfort in people with high emotional dysregulation. I can say for myself that

8th November 2023

Letter #54 – Life Letters

Relief: When the Diagnosis Sets You Free!

“There is no greater pain than not knowing who you truly are; and such a relief when diagnosing what’s behind your Personality” (D.S).

In 2018, I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. The diagnosis came as a relief, as I had already gone through numerous psychiatric treatments, and different approaches in psychotherapy. I’ve even taken ten different types of medicine in one day, during years of treatment. However, medications were able to

Dreamzilla • 2nd October 2023

Mental Health Challenges that Neurodivergent Individuals Face.

Neurodiversity refers to the natural variability of neurological patterns that exist among individuals. This includes different forms of brain processing, which can cover a wide range of characteristics and differences, such as autism, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), dyslexia, and Tourette syndrome, among others. Neurodiversity recognizes that each person has a unique brain and, therefore, different abilities, needs, and perspectives.

The relationship between neurodiversity and

Single Parent Resource Center • 28th September 2023

The Importance of Balancing School Life with Childhood Routine

The Importance of Balancing School Life with Childhood Routine

Much is said about the importance of balancing work and personal life for a fuller and more satisfying life in order to avoid mental exhaustion, stress, and anxiety. But what about the children? How can they benefit from a lighter and healthier routine, learning to balance school life with personal life?

Here are some tips:

Teach the child to set priorities between home routine and schoolwork, extracurricular activities, chores, a

23rd September 2023

Seven Different Types of Intelligence and How to Encourage Them in Your Child – Low Entropy

Human intelligence is a complex and multi-dimensional trait, and researchers have identified various types of intelligence. One of the most widely recognized models of multiple intelligences was proposed by psychologist Howard Gardner in 1983. Gardner’s theory suggests that there are several distinct types of intelligence, each with its own unique characteristics. Here are some of the key types of intelligence:
• Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence: This type of intelligence involves the ability to u

Single Parent Resource Center • 24th August 2023

How to Incorporate Emotions in School Curricula

How to incorporate emotions in school curricula.

Have you ever heard of Emotional Pedagogy?

It refers to an educational approach that recognizes the importance of emotions in the learning process. It focuses on understanding and addressing the emotional needs of students to create a positive and supportive learning environment.

But how do we incorporate this into the school curriculum in a practical and effective way?

Incorporating emotions into school curricula is essential for fostering st

OC87 Recovery Diaries • 16th August 2023

How DBT's Radical Acceptance Helps Me Through My Grief

“If you want to be able to endure life, be ready to accept death” – Sigmund Freud

In March 2015, I lost my mother after a long battle with chronic kidney disease. As a consequence, grief tried to be part of my emptiness, and in an attempt to refuse it, I began to fill my routine with as many activities as possible—cooking, cleaning the house, grocery-shopping. I wanted to avoid processing the pain of her absence in my mind by keeping my body busy all day long. Unable to accept this grief, I sta

Single Parent Resource Center • 27th July 2023

How to get Children Back in the Mindset for School

How to get your children back in the mindset for school

Getting kids back to school after a break or vacation can sometimes be a challenge. Thus, this article aims to guide how parents can introduce activities and routines in order for their child to feel more confident and comfortable back at school.

Establishing a sleep routine is never an easy task, even during school hours. With the return to school, the subject is even more delicate, as some children may have changes in their biological c

Dreamzilla • 23rd July 2023

The Asperger’s Syndrome Debate: Rethinking the Terminology and Its Imp

Asperger’s Syndrome was incorporated into the Statistical and Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders 4 (DSM) in 1994 and described as a subtype of pervasive developmental disorders.

However, in 2013, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), one of the main references used by mental health professionals to diagnose disorders, made a significant change. The DSM-5 eliminated the category of Asperger’s Syndrome and used only the term “Autism Spectrum Di

Single Parent Resource Center • 13th July 2023

Psychomotor Approach to Writing: when to start teaching cursive handwriting?

Psychomotor Approach to Writing: when to start teaching cursive handwriting?

Teaching young children to write may be inappropriate as we ignore their natural development and may even harm their handwriting.

The learning of cursive writing goes through some stages of psychomotor development. This will serve as a basis for this process to occur hierarchically and, thus, not harm the child’s development. Let’s learn about the order of each of these steps. Alos, at what stage of child development

Dreamzilla • 5th July 2023

Neuroeducation-Based Strategies for Neurodivergent Students

Neuroeducation implies understanding how the student's brain works and how the nervous system affects their learning. Neuroeducation is an interdisciplinary field that combines neuroscience, psychology and education.

By integrating scientific insights into educational practices, neuroeducation seeks to optimize the learning experience for all students, including those with neurodivergent traits.

When it comes to neurodivergent students who have neurological differences such as autism spectrum

HiSensitives • 30th June 2023

Systematic desensitization from cognitive-behavioral therapy is the lesson that helped me endure loud noises as a highly sensitive person

Are you a highly sensitive person looking for ways to endure loud noises? In this article, guest writer Daniela Silva shares her experience with systematic desensitization.

For Highly Sensitive People, who due to sensory processing sensitivity, feel the world around them with depth and intensity, perceiving with more vividness the subtleties and details of the environment, footsteps on the ceiling can feel like intermittent pricks in the ears.

This was the situation I experienced with my husba

Psychreg • 19th June 2023

How Does Borderline Personality Disorder Contribute to My Sensitive Writing Skills?

For people with borderline personality disorder (BPD), expressing themselves artistically can be an outlet for dealing with emotional instability, managing emotions, learning to see the world in a palette of colours (rather than in black and white), finding creative solutions to problems, and thinking outside the box.

I would like to shed light on how positive characteristics of the borderline trait such as intensity and passion, creativity, high sensitivity, and reactivity have been the drivin

Dreamzilla • 19th June 2023

Embracing Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Guidelines for Employers an

Neurodiversity is a term coined in the late 1990s, by Judy Singer, an Australian sociologist, with the aim of promoting equality and social inclusion. According to the researcher, neurodiversity is not synonymous with neurological impairment, but has to do with the idea that not all brains process, think or react in the same way. Thus, the term neurodivergent refers to people who have neurocognitive functioning different from the standard expected by society, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (AS

The Ability Toolbox • 11th June 2023

How Body Image Distortion Affects Adolescents

Adolescence is a phase marked by hormonal, physical, and behavioral changes. It is also a period of many questions, and one of them (if not the most crucial) is the changes that occur in the body itself, which often lead to anguish and comparisons with others.

What is body image distortion and how does it affect adolescents’ body perception?

Dissatisfaction with body image occurs due to inaccurate communication between body and mind, according to the body experience that the person has had thr

Inspire The Mind • 25th May 2023

How to Cope with Borderline Emptiness: a singular experience

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a behavioural disorder marked by instability in relationships, exaggerated fear of abandonment, intermittent anger, sudden mood swings, and chronic feelings of emptiness. Discussing borderline states of emptiness is of great importance, as it is because of it that the person with BPD finds himself/herself in an unbridled quest to fill it with alcohol, drugs, sex, and/or self-injurious behaviour.

, the chronic feeling of emptiness is, without a doubt, the

Inkspired • 18th May 2023

Bygone Waters

It's 6 am and the alarm clock rings. Monah looks up at the ceiling that has a dream catcher, and wonders why the artifact failed to catch one of her recurring nightmares once again. In the dream in question, she is invited by a voice to enter the sea blindfolded, until she is completely floored. At the bottom of the ocean, her blindfold is removed with the force of the water, and she comes across a submerged city. The townspeople beckon to her, asking for her help, as they have their lips sewn s

Psychreg • 23rd February 2023

Homo Contemplativus: Exploring the 'Sacred' Within

When I was a kid, my mum used to tell me not to play with my food during meals because it was a “sacred” time. I still remember her saying this because I used to sit at the table and use my cutlery to make little drawings with my food. I’d turn a tomato into a nose, a carrot into cheeks, and a piece of meat into a mouth. I just wanted to make mealtime more fun and less stressful, without having to sit in silence or worry about leaving food on my plate.

Whenever my mum used the word “sacred,” it

Academy of the Heart And Mind • 13th February 2023

Lunara and the Kingdom of Memory

There was a time when they lived “happily ever after”. At Graceland lived a princess named Eudora, along with her (widowed) father, King Hadrian. She was given this name by her mother as it meant “good gift”. That was exactly what Eudora represented: a sweet and beloved princess who loved flowers and fruits and who enchanted everyone in the castle with her beautiful singing.

It is hard not to feel impacted by Graceland’s atmosphere. Flowers bloomed from the immense garden of the kingdom, which