The Painful Effects of Attachment Trauma
Bonding to a parent or caregiver is a critical part of a baby’s emotional development. In fact, the absence of love and of a strong attachment to a parent can …
Five Reasons Emotions Are Important
Emotions can play an important role in how you think and behave. The emotions you feel each day can compel you to take action and influence the decisions you make …
Understanding and Managing Anguish
Anguish is an intense and complex emotional state caused by mental or physical suffering. When people experience anguish, they often feel extreme distress, sadness, torment, turmoil, and inner pain. While …
How Helping Others Helps You
Helping others has been shown to activate the rewards area of our brain and reduce stress. Learn more about the benefits of altruism. It seems as though the entire world …
How to Set Boundaries With Friends, Why It’s Necessary
Setting healthy boundaries in friendships can help you protect your identity and personal space. It can also prevent others from taking advantage of you or limiting what you want to …
How to Set Boundaries With Friends, Why It’s Necessary Read More
What Is Bipolar Anger?
The rage associated with some bipolar episodes can be frightening. Here’s why and when it can happen, and how to deal with it, whether you’re experiencing the anger or it’s …
The Connection Between Mental Health and Physical Health
A growing body of research makes it clear that mental health and physical health are deeply connected, with studies showing that an improvement or decline in one can lead to …
The Connection Between Mental Health and Physical Health Read More
Time to Spring Clean Our Relationships
Are the People in Our Lives Here for a Reason or Just Here for the Season? As the weather warms up and the sun starts peeking out, you are probably …
It’s Time to Ditch Toxic Positivity
No matter how I curate my social feeds or dating profiles, it seems that never a day goes by without seeing “good vibes only” somewhere on my phone, expressed by …
Shift Your Mind From Crisis Mode to Calm
Unchecked stress may lead to overwhelm, unhelpful coping, and burnout. When you learn to recognize the warning signs, you can take wise action to manage your stress—with a little kind …
What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder that is characterized by symptoms that occur at the same time each year, usually during the darker, shorter days of fall and …
Navigating a New Relationship During the Holidays
Holidays can be a stressful time for new couples. Having different expectations can add strain and affect your moods. You might want to be together during these special days. Or …
How Stress Affects the Vagus Nerve
The Vagus Nerve The vagus nerve is a long nerve that runs from your brainstem all the way down to your abdomen. It is responsible for many different functions, including …
Unlocking The Power of Our Emotional Memory
Neuroscientists show that it’s possible to turn the volume down on a negative memory by stimulating other, happier ones. You may not realize it, but each time you recall a …
Let Your Mind Wander
When we’re waiting, we often have the urge to distract ourselves, but a new study finds we’d enjoy doing nothing but think. If you commute on a bus or train, …
Why Letting Go of Control Can Help You Enjoy Life
Feeling the need to be in control is natural. It’s something we all inherently want, and we feel best when we know exactly what is going on in all the …
Why Perfectionism Stops Us from Creating New Habits
When we decide to create a new habit — exercise, healthy eating, meditation, writing — we can get excited and optimistic, and have an idea of how it will go …
Why Perfectionism Stops Us from Creating New Habits Read More
What Is Conventional Wisdom?
Conventional Wisdom Conventional wisdom refers to commonly held and widely accepted ideas and beliefs. It can encompass ideas that are generally held by the majority of people as well as …
The Dangers of Bottling Up Our Emotions
Keeping our emotions close to our chest can often feel safer, but it isn’t always the healthiest way to move through life. This approach prevents us from discussing our needs …
How to Be Happy Again
Finding New Ways to Be Happy What does it mean to be happy? There are so many ideas and perspectives when it comes to being happy. By definition happy means …
What to Do When Your Summer Reality Doesn’t Live Up to Expectations
The new normal is coming just in time for a safe and social redo of last year’s isolated summer. With it, the answer to that question is going from a …
What to Do When Your Summer Reality Doesn’t Live Up to Expectations Read More
How to Rekindle A Relationship
There are many reasons why you may want to revisit a former relationship. Perhaps you’re seeing your ex in a different light or circumstances have changed in your own life. …
Quick Ways To Deal With Sudden Anxiety
If your anxiety is sporadic and getting in the way of your focus or tasks, there are some quick natural remedies that could help you take control of the situation. …
How To Tell Your Friends You’re Depressed
Deciding to tell the people you love that you’re struggling with depression is a big step. Not only is it challenging to find the energy to reach out to people, …
Common Misconceptions About Psychotherapy
What you can and cannot expect from psychotherapy In my experience consulting with patients who are considering whether or not to pursue psychotherapy to improve their mental health, the path …
Six Ways to Feel Better About Being Single
Sometimes being single can feel freeing or even empowering. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want without having to worry about what your partner is doing. But there …
How to Stop the Negative Chatter in Your Head
A neuroscientist explains how to curb unhelpful thoughts Did you make your New Year’s resolutions? I hope you put “cognitive reappraisal” on the list. Psychologists use this term to refer …
What Is Codependency? Recognizing the Signs
Codependency refers to a mental, emotional, physical, and/or spiritual reliance on a partner, friend, or family member. “The term was originally coined in the 1950s in the context of Alcoholics …
Is It Possible to Have Functional Depression?
There are many misconceptions about what depression looks like. You might envision someone who is too distraught to get out of bed. Or you may imagine someone who isn’t able …
What Is Ghosting?
Ghosting is a relatively new colloquial dating term that refers to abruptly cutting off contact with someone without giving that person any warning or explanation for doing so. Even when …
What to Do When You Have No Motivation
Whether you can’t get motivated to clean your house or you just aren’t feeling motivated to lose weight, a lack of motivation can be the biggest obstacle to reaching your …
Are You in (Sleep) Debt? Here’s How to Dig Yourself Out
Catching up on sleep: how to pay off your ‘sleep debt’ (and why it’s a big deal) Being in debt is never a great feeling, whether it’s staring at a …
Are You in (Sleep) Debt? Here’s How to Dig Yourself Out Read More
Check Yourself
Overconfidence in one’s predictions, knowledge, or ability can be hazardous, but so can needless self-doubt. What we all need is calibration. In his new book, Perfectly Confident, Don Moore, head …
Online Counseling
It’s Convenient, help is available at your time and place. Providing the same treatment as in person therapy sessions. Telehealth Video Therapy Sessions are HIPAA compliant, the simple & secure …
You’re Only as Old as You Feel
Simply asking people how old they feel may tell you a lot about their health and well-being. Not long ago, Stephanie Heller, a New Jersey realtor, was leaving her gym …
When Your Marriage Needs Counseling
If your marriage is having problems, do not wait too long to seek professional help. Marriage counseling (also called couples’ therapy) can be very effective, especially if couples seek it …
When Efforts To Eat ‘Clean’ Become An Unhealthy Obsession
Whether it’s gluten-free, dairy-free, raw food, or all-organic, many people these days are committed to so-called “clean eating” — the idea that choosing only whole foods in their natural state …
When Efforts To Eat ‘Clean’ Become An Unhealthy Obsession Read More
Stressed Out By Politics? Here’s How To Keep Caring Without Losing Your Cool
The political headlines have been relentless lately. Calls for impeaching the president. Debates over health care, immigration and gun control. Fights over who tweeted what. Discussions of these issues can …
Stressed Out By Politics? Here’s How To Keep Caring Without Losing Your Cool Read More
How to Find Your Happily Ever After City
The United States is “one of the most mobile countries in the world,” according to a 2013 Gallup survey in which nearly 1 in 4 adults reported that they had …
How Parents Can Stay Close to Grown-Up Children
Many parents sending kids off to college worry that their time as a family is over. But that isn’t always the case these days. The Sugerman family’s trip to Southern …
Optimists For The Win: Finding The Bright Side Might Help You Live Longer
Good news for the cheery: A Boston study published this month suggests people who tend to be optimistic are likelier than others to live to be 85 years old or …
Optimists For The Win: Finding The Bright Side Might Help You Live Longer Read More
Women May Be More Adept Than Men At Discerning Pain
The pathway to opioid abuse for women often starts with a prescription from the doctor’s office. One reason is that women are more likely than men to seek help for …
Women May Be More Adept Than Men At Discerning Pain Read More
Got Pain? A Virtual Swim With Dolphins May Help Melt It Away
Virtual reality is not new. But, as people search for alternative ways to manage pain — and reduce reliance on pills — VR is attracting renewed attention. Imagine, for a …
Got Pain? A Virtual Swim With Dolphins May Help Melt It Away Read More
The Swaying Power Of Scented Spaces Isn’t Always Right Under Our Nose
There’s a new smell tingling tourists’ noses in the Big Apple, far above the trash bag-lined sidewalks — and this scent is by design. Atop One World Trade Center, New …
The Swaying Power Of Scented Spaces Isn’t Always Right Under Our Nose Read More
How to Renew Your Compassion in the Face of Suffering
Mass suffering can make us feel helpless. Focusing on solutions, rather than emotions, may be the way out. If you’re concerned about the humane treatment of migrants arriving at our …
How to Renew Your Compassion in the Face of Suffering Read More
Getting a Good Night’s Sleep Without Drugs
Alternatives to prescription drugs for insomnia offer better, safer and more long-lasting solutions, experts say. Shakespeare wisely recognized that sleep “knits up the ravell’d sleave of care” and relieves life’s …
‘Guilty’ Pleasures? No Such Thing
Go forth and read that trashy novel We know them when we see them: The TV shows and movies we love, even though we just know they’re bad. The trashy …
How Our Body ‘Listens’ to Vibrations
We all know the feeling of a mobile phone vibrating in our hands when announcing an incoming call. If we perceive these vibrations so clearly, it is due to specialized …
How Hard Is It to Become an Expert at Something?
Expertise is what separates the amateur from the true master in almost any field, from medicine to science to sports to artistic performance. The idea of whether experts are “born” …
The Science Of Smiles, Real And Fake
The notion that you can smile your way to happiness is an enduring one. Back in the 1800s, Charles Darwin was among the first to come up with what modern …
What Are the Signs of a Midlife Crisis?
Midlife can be the unhappiest time in a person’s life People who are having a midlife crisis are thought to be struggling with their own mortality and, somewhere during midlife, …
Does Drinking Coffee Actually Improve Memory?
Coffee drinkers often wonder if caffeine can improve their memory. That’s because many who religiously consume the beverage notice that they seem more alert when they’ve had coffee. One coffee …
Not-So-Social Media: Why People Have Stopped Talking On Phones
Emma Wisniewski felt exposed. The New York-based actress had moments where she had to open up in a way that made her feel particularly vulnerable. She had to talk on …
Not-So-Social Media: Why People Have Stopped Talking On Phones Read More
Can Mindfulness Treat Chronic Back Pain?
A recent study reveals 8 weeks of mindfulness-based and cognitive therapies (MBCT) may ease chronic low back pain. If you’ve ever had back pain, you know it’s one of the …
Never assume you have the slightest clue what anyone else is feeling
We even smell things differently. Does this mean no amount of talking will ever clear things up? Every now and then, ambling through the day, you’re reminded with a jolt …
Never assume you have the slightest clue what anyone else is feeling Read More
How The Brain Shapes Pain And Links Ouch With Emotion
When Sterling Witt was a teenager in Missouri, he was diagnosed with scoliosis. Before long, the curvature of his spine started causing chronic pain. It was “this low-grade kind of …
How The Brain Shapes Pain And Links Ouch With Emotion Read More
We Gossip About 52 Minutes A Day, Not Be As Toxic As It Sounds
Almost everyone gossips. And a new study finds that people spend about 52 minutes per day, on average, talking to someone about someone else who is not present. But here’s …
We Gossip About 52 Minutes A Day, Not Be As Toxic As It Sounds Read More
Floating Away Your Anxiety And Stress
When I mentioned to a friend that my baseline neurosis has evolved from daily stress into anxiety, her response was – “Go for a float!” A float? Yes — spend …
How to Stop Your Smartphone from Hurting Your Health
You can manage your technology use to protect your health and happiness. As psychologist Chris Willard often says, our phones can be our greatest enemy or greatest friend. While they …
How to Stop Your Smartphone from Hurting Your Health Read More
Stress Takes A Toll On Health And Family
Stress is part of the human condition, unavoidable and even necessary to a degree. But too much stress can be toxic — even disabling. And there’s a lot of toxic …
Empathy seems like a good quality in human beings. Pure and simple.
It allows us to consider the perspective of others — to put ourselves in their shoes and imagine their experiences. From that empathetic vantage point, only good things can come, …
Empathy seems like a good quality in human beings. Pure and simple. Read More
Researchers Discover ‘Anxiety Cells’ In The Brain
Scientists have found specialized brain cells in mice that appear to control anxiety levels. The finding, reported Wednesday in the journal Neuron, could eventually lead to better treatments for anxiety …
Are We Ready For An Implant That Can Change Our Moods
Our thoughts and fears, movements and sensations all arise from the electrical blips of billions of neurons in our brain. Streams of electricity flow through neural circuits to govern these …
Are We Ready For An Implant That Can Change Our Moods Read More
Strategize To Catch Up On Lost Sleep
There are lots of reasons why many of us don’t get the recommended seven hours or more of sleep each night. Travel schedules, work deadlines, TV bingeing and — a …
Misophonia: When Life’s Noises Drive You Mad
For 18-year-old high school senior Ellie Rapp of Pittsburgh, the sound of her family chewing their dinner can be … unbearable. “My heart starts to pound. I go one of …
Do All Hipsters Look Alike?
The hipster effect: Why anti-conformists always end up looking the same. Science explains why efforts to reject the mainstream merely result in a new conformity. You’ve probably seen this effect—perhaps …
Are All Our Organs Vital?
Even the appendix and tonsils are less expendable than we thought. Medicine has not always shown a lot of respect for the human body. Just think about the ghoulish disregard …
What An Insect Can Teach Us About Adapting To Stress
What if we told you that you could learn a lot about handling adversity from the life of a bug? In their explorations of humans and how we interact with …
What An Insect Can Teach Us About Adapting To Stress Read More
How to Identify a Malignant Narcissist
While narcissism has been a personality trait that has been around for a long time, narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and narcissistic personality traits have been in the public eye more …
Ghosting: What It Is, Why It Hurts, and What You Can Do About It
You’re in a relationship. Suddenly, and maybe without any warning at all, your partner seems to have disappeared. No calls, no text messages, no connection made on social media, no …
Ghosting: What It Is, Why It Hurts, and What You Can Do About It Read More
Searching For Anger’s Animal Roots
For comedian Lewis Black, anger is a job. Black is famous for his rants about stuff he finds annoying or unfair or just plain infuriating. Onstage, he often looks ready …
Got Anger? Try Naming It To Tame It
Over the past three years, I’ve had one major goal in my personal life: To stop being so angry. Anger has been my emotional currency. I grew up in an …
How the Glorification of Busyness Impacts Our Well-Being
Being excessively busy can get in the way of you living your best life How many times have you started your day looking at a long to-do list, checking numerous …
How the Glorification of Busyness Impacts Our Well-Being Read More
What Does FOMO Mean and How Do I Deal With It?
FOMO, or “fear of missing out,” is a real phenomenon that is becoming increasingly common and can cause significant stress in your life. It can affect just about anyone, but …
The Unbearable Heaviness of Clutter
A cluttered home can be a stressful home, researchers are learning. Do you have a clutter problem? If you have to move things around in order to accomplish a task …
Channeling The Pain Of Depression Into Photography
In a particularly difficult season of depression, photography was one of the tools Tara Wray used to cope. “Just forcing myself to get out of my head and using the …
Channeling The Pain Of Depression Into Photography Read More
If You Feel Thankful, Write It Down. It’s Good For Your Health
Over this past year, lifestyle blogger Aileen Xu has kept a monthly gratitude list. Sometimes it was the big stuff: “I’m grateful that my family is so understanding. I’m grateful …
If You Feel Thankful, Write It Down. It’s Good For Your Health Read More
The Top Insights from the “Science of a Meaningful Life” in 2018
There is plenty of science to convince us that social connection is key to well-being. But relationships are complicated, bringing good and bad into our lives. This year’s top insights …
The Top Insights from the “Science of a Meaningful Life” in 2018 Read More
Could Depression Be Caused By An Infection?
Sometime around 1907, well before the modern randomized clinical trial was routine, American psychiatrist Henry Cotton began removing decaying teeth from his patients in hopes of curing their mental disorders. …
Scientists Improve Mood By Stimulating A Brain Area Above The Eyes
There’s new evidence that mild pulses of electricity can relieve depression — if they reach the right target in the brain. A study of 25 people with epilepsy found that …
Scientists Improve Mood By Stimulating A Brain Area Above The Eyes Read More
Breathing Through the Nose May Offer Unique Brain Benefits
Folklore, spiritual traditions and even mothers have for ages drawn an implicit connection between respiration and state of mind: Breathe in deeply through your nose, we are told, to clarify …
Breathing Through the Nose May Offer Unique Brain Benefits Read More
Do You Really Know Why You Do What You Do?
Experimental psychologist Petter Johansson researches choice blindness — a phenomenon where we convince ourselves that we’re getting what we want, even when we’re not. In an eye-opening talk, he shares …
Can’t Stop Worrying? Try Tetris To Ease Your Mind
If you’ve ever played Tetris — whether it was at an old-school Gameboy, or just on your iPhone — then you know: It’s 8-bit enchantment. “Years of my life were …
We Just ‘Fell Back’ An Hour, Tips To Stay Healthy During Dark Days
When it comes to turning back the clocks on our devices, technology has us covered. Our smartphones automatically adjust. But our internal clocks aren’t as easy to re-program. And this …
We Just ‘Fell Back’ An Hour, Tips To Stay Healthy During Dark Days Read More
A Toolkit for Unhooking from Criticism
Fact: Work Brings Criticism. Here’s how to detach the emotion from the comments. It’s happened to all of us: feedback on our creative work has, at one time or another, …
Own Your Behaviors, Master Your Communication, Determine Your Success
This speech is a call to action. We spend about eighty percent of our day at work, the rest is at home. If we have a bad day at work …
Own Your Behaviors, Master Your Communication, Determine Your Success Read More
7 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Mental Focus
Staying on task can be difficult, but it can be particularly challenging when you are surrounded by constant distraction. In today’s always-connected world, diversions are nothing more than a click …
A Brain Scientist Explains How She Stays Mentally Fit
As a specialist in Alzheimer’s prevention, Jessica Langbaum knows that exercising her mental muscles can help keep her brain sharp. But Langbaum, who holds a doctorate in psychiatric epidemiology, has …
A Brain Scientist Explains How She Stays Mentally Fit Read More
Can a Mood-Predicting Smartphone App Work?
Evidence behind a digital tech intervention remains scant In the world of digital health, Silicon Valley-based Mindstrong stands out. It has a star-studded team and tens of millions in venture …
Are You Struggling With Secondhand Stress?
Yes, stress is contagious. Here’s how to keep it from spreading. Rushing around the office or at the shopping mall, tapping a pen on a table, finishing other people’s sentences, …
The Benefits of PTSD Group Therapy
When it comes to seeking out treatment for PTSD (or any other psychological difficulty), you may wonder if it would be helpful to attend group therapy. There are many benefits …
On The Virtues of Sleep
In the sixth century, Pope Gregory I compiled an infamous list of seven deadly sins. Of these seven, sloth is the only sin that shares its name in English with …
Benefits of Group Therapy for Mental Health Treatment
Being part of a group can offer insights that you may be too close to your situation to see. Discover why participating could be a helpful type of treatment for …
Benefits of Group Therapy for Mental Health Treatment Read More
Why You Should Take Time to Mourn During Career Transitions
Grief is common when you leave a job you love. On my last day in the newsroom at a North Carolina alt-weekly, I found myself choking back tears. For the …
Why You Should Take Time to Mourn During Career Transitions Read More
Mono no Aware: The Transience of Life
Mono-no-aware is a challenging perspective to put into words successfully; it can be literally translated to “the ahhness of things” or to “the bittersweet poignancy of things.” What comes most …
The Theory of Mind Myth
‘I don’t understand what you think that I’m saying.’ (Marital argument, overheard at a local diner.) Following a mass shooting, the gunman’s next-door neighbours are stunned, and tell reporters that …
Can Mindfulness Help Your Brain Cope with Rejection?
A new study finds that rejection is less distressing to mindful people (and their brains). One of your best friends hosts a party without inviting you; your romantic partner seems …
Can Mindfulness Help Your Brain Cope with Rejection? Read More
Mood Changes To Muddled Thinking, Might Be Dehydration
Was it hard to concentrate during that long meeting? Does the crossword seem a little tougher? You could be mildly dehydrated. A growing body of evidence finds that being just …
Mood Changes To Muddled Thinking, Might Be Dehydration Read More
Hate Where You Live? So Does Everyone Else
I can’t help being suspicious of anyone who claims to be entirely happy with their surroundings. According to a recent survey, more than a third of New Yorkers want …
Heat Making You Lethargic? Research Shows It Can Slow Your Brain
Can’t cool off this summer? Heat waves can slow us down in ways we may not realize. New research suggests heat stress can muddle our thinking, making simple math a …
Heat Making You Lethargic? Research Shows It Can Slow Your Brain Read More
Are Work Friendships a Good Thing?
We tend to avoid work friendships, but connecting with colleagues can ultimately make us happier and more productive. How often have you had the following conversation at work? How are …
The Psychology Of Dealing With Change
Many people spend a great deal of effort trying to avoid change, but it will inevitably catch up to you. Whether it’s starting a new job, moving to a different …
Emotional Resilience Is a Trait You Can Develop
Those with a higher degree of emotional resilience are able to handle the stresses that come with daily life more effectively and calmly. They are also able to manage crises …
Opening Up About Depression And Suicide Could Help Someone Else
Fifteen years ago, I broke up with my very nice boyfriend and plunged headlong into a dark depression. I loved Marc but had known from the beginning that he wasn’t …
Opening Up About Depression And Suicide Could Help Someone Else Read More
Common Medications Linked To Depression
If you take Prilosec or Zantac for acid reflux, a beta blocker for high blood pressure, or Xanax for anxiety, you may be increasing your risk of depression. More than …
Imposter Syndrome Hits Men Harder Than Women
The idea that some of us experience “imposter syndrome” was first mooted in the 1970s by two US clinical psychologists who noticed the preponderance of high-achieving women who felt they …
How to Build a More Forgiving Community
As groups, organizations, and nations, we can find love and healing after being wronged. There are many ways to hurt another person. There are also many ways to forgive that …
What Is Consciousness?
Scientists are beginning to unravel a mystery that has long vexed philosophers Consciousness is everything you experience. It is the tune stuck in your head, the sweetness of chocolate mousse, …
At the end of the day, escape, don’t marinate in politics
One of the many baffling aspects of this baffling year has been the way people keep recommending cultural products – films, novels, TV shows – on the grounds that they’ve …
At the end of the day, escape, don’t marinate in politics Read More
The Secrets to a Happy Life, From a Harvard Study
What does it take to live a good life? Surveys show that most young adults believe that obtaining wealth and fame are keys to a happy life. But a long-running …
The Negative Effects of Feeling Out of the Loop
The Psychology of Popular Media Culture Celebrities are people famous for being famous. Have you ever given any thought to how it happens that pop-culture figures become so well-known, even …
Can Government Policies Make Us Happier?
World happiness expert Richard Layard explains why policymakers need to focus on improving mental health and human relationships, not just the economy. The World Happiness Report has been published every …
How to Build a Relationship Based on Interdependence
Most of us value connection with others, especially in our romantic relationships. In fact, we are wired for connection and it allows us to create bonds and intimacy with our …
How to Build a Relationship Based on Interdependence Read More
Addicted to digital technology? Here’s how to beat the habit
Banning yourself can have the perverse effect of making your phone more enticing. What you need to do is make it boring Recently, I bought a piece of digital technology …
Addicted to digital technology? Here’s how to beat the habit Read More
Do the Patterns in Your Past Predict Your Future?
On paper, Shon Hopwood’s life doesn’t make a lot of sense, not even to him. “I don’t have a great excuse as to why I did these things. And everybody …
7 Creative Insights To Give Your Career a Boost This Very Second
Catchy headline, huh? We swear it’s true, too. There’s gobs of merit in chiseling away at one of your bad habits for months in order to make a long-term improvement …
7 Creative Insights To Give Your Career a Boost This Very Second Read More
How To Make Stress Your Friend
Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may …
New Study Finds Tea Enhances Creativity
A study in the journal Food Quality and Preference suggests that tea-drinking benefits divergent thinking, a key element of creativity that’s associated with generating ideas or identifying patterns. The researchers …
How do you know if you’re a jerk?
I’m sure you don’t feel like a jerk. Nobody does. Few of us like to believe anything negative about ourselves. Do you think it’s possible you might be a jerk? …
Smart or Determined? Examining The Role of Motivation in IQ Tests
Intelligence tests are meant to tell you something about a person’s inherent abilities. But what if the results are distorted by the motivation to perform well? That would undermine the …
Smart or Determined? Examining The Role of Motivation in IQ Tests Read More
Why Change is Your Greatest Ally
Changes often hurt when they first emerge, but resisting them goes against the way the world works. In my teens and 20s I lived in a spiritual community where days …
Is Your Child Lying to You? That’s Good
Should parents be troubled when their kids start to deceive them? Odds are, most of us would say yes. We believe honesty is a moral imperative, and we try to …
Your Good Friend During Flu Season
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the Liberian elbow bump. When Ebola overtook the West African country in 2014, many people were afraid to shake hands and embrace in …
Yale’s Most Popular Class Ever: Happiness
On Jan. 12, a few days after registration opened at Yale for Psyc 157, Psychology and the Good Life, roughly 300 people had signed up. Within three days, the figure …
Maybe You’d Exercise More If It Didn’t Feel So Crappy
Some people love to exercise. But plenty more do not, and urging them on with information about how healthy exercise can be hasn’t exactly been shown to sway the masses. …
Maybe You’d Exercise More If It Didn’t Feel So Crappy Read More
When worry becomes a problem
Feeling afraid about life issues is common as you age, but if it takes over your life, you may have generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Everyone feels afraid or worried at …
Having A Vivid Imagination With OCD
At the heart of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are the intrusive, often distressing, thoughts. My skin is dirty… I must have left the gas on and my house will burn down… …
Am I the worst for looking at other people’s texts on the subway?
Imagine being eaten by a cave bear. Or a saber-toothed cat. Imagine, with that first gash of claw or incisor, instantaneously transitioning from being a person to being food. Imagine …
Am I the worst for looking at other people’s texts on the subway? Read More
Nobody’s Better Than You
Many years ago, when I was young and things didn’t go my way, my mother used to look at me with a fierce and piteous expression and tell me: “Nobody’s …
Why Your Brain Has Trouble Bailing Out Of A Bad Plan
You’re in your car, heading for an intersection. The light turns yellow, so you decide to hit the gas. Then you see a police car. Almost instantly, you know that …
Why Your Brain Has Trouble Bailing Out Of A Bad Plan Read More
Lonely? Short of friends? Try looking at it differently
Psychologists are regularly berated for spending their workdays reaching blindingly obvious conclusions about the world – an accusation that isn’t entirely unwarranted. (My favourite recent finding comes from the journal …
Lonely? Short of friends? Try looking at it differently Read More
Saving Lives Via Text Message
Elisheva Adler was 20 years old, sitting in pajamas in her childhood bedroom in Long Island, the first time she saved someone’s life via text message. Adler had just started …
Are our dreams trying to tell us something?
What are dreams for? It’s one of those bottomless questions where the answer tells you mainly about the person doing the answering. Those who pride themselves on being hard-headed and …
Do Intelligent People Make Less Effective Leaders?
Highly intelligent people tend to make good progress in the workplace and are seen as fit for leadership roles: overall, smarter is usually associated with success. But if you examine …
Do Intelligent People Make Less Effective Leaders? Read More
How to Silence Your Irrationally Harsh Inner Critic
Your harshest critic is often yourself. You might not even realize it, especially as you go around administering fair attention and wise advice to others. Yet anyone listening in on …
How to Silence Your Irrationally Harsh Inner Critic Read More
Better Than Ambien
A new book argues sleeping pills aren’t the answer to chronic insomnia. Instead, a simple, natural trick works better. There was a time not long ago when this reporter was, …
How do we fight right?
New research suggests that romantic conflict can hurt our health. How do we fight right? Robert W. Levenson, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, studies how …
Floating Away Your Anxiety And Stress
When I mentioned to a friend that my baseline neurosis has evolved from daily stress into anxiety, her response was – “Go for a float!” A float? Yes — spend …
APP THAT TRACKS MOVEMENT TO HELP RELAX, EVEN IN THE BACK OF A CAB
OF ALL THE places to meditate, the backseat of a yellow cab isn’t ideal. And yet, the other day I found myself stuck in traffic feeling tranquil, or at least …
APP THAT TRACKS MOVEMENT TO HELP RELAX, EVEN IN THE BACK OF A CAB Read More
Knocking Down your Creative Blocks
Don’t expect your best stuff to suddenly appear by magic. You can throw ideas up against the wall until somehow the fairy dust of your creative gift is released by …
Lets Dial Down The Hype About Grit
In 2007, the University of Pennsylvania psychologist Angela Duckworth authored a paper on a trait she called “grit” which went on to arrest the attention of anyone interested in the …
Coloring and Drawing Could Help You Boost Your Mood
In 2015, the mania for adult coloring books was at its peak. It was hard to walk into a bookstore and not find a table piled high with tomes of …
Coloring and Drawing Could Help You Boost Your Mood Read More
Having A Best Friend In Childhood Could Benefit You For Life
David Thomas and I met when we were about 5 years old. We celebrated his 26th birthday last weekend, marking roughly two decades of friendship. Once, while walking down the …
Having A Best Friend In Childhood Could Benefit You For Life Read More
Need A Happiness Boost? Spend Your Money To Buy Time
Money can’t buy happiness, right? Well, some researchers beg to differ. They say it depends on how you spend it. A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National …
Need A Happiness Boost? Spend Your Money To Buy Time Read More
How To Take Back Your Weekends
Weekends aren’t what they used to be. And it’s become a serious problem. That’s the message of Katrina Onstad’s new book The Weekend Effect: The Life-Changing Benefits of Taking Time …
A Perceptual Sensory Phenomenon
An experience some people have, similar to synesthesia, “except the tingles are associated with a feeling of relaxation.” Shhhhh! Come closer. A little bit closer. There you go. That’s better. …
An Interesting Way To Calm Ecoanxiety
If Everyone Ate Beans Instead of Beef. With one dietary change, the U.S. could almost meet greenhouse-gas emission goals. Ecoanxiety is an emerging condition. Named in 2011, the American Psychological …
Are Push Notifications Ruining Your Life
PUSH NOTIFICATIONS ARE ruining my life. Yours too, I bet. Download more than a few apps and the notifications become a non-stop, cacophonous waterfall of nonsense. Here’s just part of …
How to Deal with Social Awkwardness
Many of us have experienced awkward moments, where we don’t understand a particular social situation and put our foot in our mouths. While these social faux pas are certainly unpleasant, …
Dreams Replay Our Everyday Lives
Thanks to Sigmund Freud, we all know what it means to dream about swords, sticks and umbrellas. Or maybe we don’t. “For 100 years, we got stuck into that Freudian …
Skills for Healthy Relationships
People may know what a healthy romantic relationship looks like, but most don’t know how to get one. Psychologist and researcher Joanne Davila describes how you can create the things …