When Falling Asleep Feels Like Falling Apart: Understanding Fear of Sleep and Its Ties to Insomnia, PTSD, Anxiety, and OCD

By Courtney Worley, Ph.D., ABPP, DBSM, M.P.H.

Posted: September 12, 2026

Most people who struggle with sleep are afraid of NOT sleeping. But there is a smaller, less-discussed group of people for whom the dread runs in the opposite direction. For them, the frightening moment is not the hours of wakefulness.: it is the instant sleep starts to take hold. They fight to stay awake, not because they cannot sleep, but because some part of them does not want to.

Teenage Development and Mental Health

By Virginia Rediker, MSW, MPH, LICSW-S

Teenage Mental Health

Anxiety Depression ADHD Autism Treatment Young Adults

Posted: August 17, 2026

Growing up is tough, and being a teenager brings huge changes inside and out. While teens grow taller on the outside, massive shifts are happening inside their brains. At the same time, teenagers are dropped into a world full of big expectations and new daily pressures. All of these outside stresses mix with how their brains grow to shape how they feel every day.

Beyond "Failure to Launch": Understanding and Supporting Young Adults Who Are Struggling to Take Flight

By Susan Rathmell, Ph.D., ABPP

Transitions

ADHD Anxiety Autism Depression Social Skills Training Treatment Young Adults

Posted: July 29, 2026

Few phrases in popular culture are as unhelpful—or as unkind—as "failure to launch." It conjures an image of a young adult stalled on the runway while everyone else soars past, and it places the blame squarely on the individual, as if the only missing ingredient were willpower. At Upward Behavioral Health, we see something very different when we sit down with these young adults and their families. We see capable, often deeply thoughtful people who are navigating a genuinely difficult transition with brains and nervous systems that may not be well served by conventional expectations. When we replace judgment with understanding, a new path forward becomes possible.

The Paradox of Hope: Navigating Uncertainty and Possibility in Infertility

By Megan Keyes, Ph.D.

Infertility

Anxiety Depression Hope Treatment

Posted: June 20, 2026

When we think about maternal mental health, our minds often go to pregnancy and the postpartum period. Far less attention is given to what comes before - the often long, complex, and emotionally-taxing journey of infertility and fertility treatment. Host Elex Simon recently invited me to discuss this topic on the Mental Mixology podcast as part of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month. During that conversation, I shared both my professional perspective as a psychologist and portions of my own family-building journey. While my husband and I spent 13 years navigating infertility and exploring assorted options, what stood out most to me in reflecting on that experience were not the details of our story, but the broader psychological lessons it offered.