The new science of growing true wealth. KEY POINTS Chasing superficial happiness generally yields a poor return on investment and can lead to unhappiness. New research shows that we can invest in becoming psychologically rich—wealthy in perspective. Embracing all emotions and experiences can add zest, depth, and abundance to our lives. New research shows that…
Spiraling into loneliness and isolation. KEY POINTS Hiding human vulnerabilities can exacerbate them. During a global mental health crisis, the struggle to stay and do well is pervasive. Communication behaviors based on modern brain science can help prevent burnout and mental health spirals. Source: Shutterstock/Nicoleta Ionescu It feels like day 1 million of the pandemic….
Embrace your weirdness. KEY POINTS Well-being can feel elusive during times of global mental health crisis. The twists and turns of the pandemic require us to be agile in our mindsets and behaviors. Creative, nontraditional self-care strategies can serve to complement our existing wellness routines, bolstering optimism, awe, and gratitude. Unconventional times call for uncanny…
Stress is paradoxical. Here’s how to use it for good. 2020 has been provocative, heavy, and hard. Hypervigilance is the new normal. Our bandwidth has been stretched beyond belief. There’s so much to make sense of. Attend to. Contend with. Anxiety can feel inevitable. And the most unwelcome of guests. As we grapple with the…
Can brain science help change our unruly nature in the Age of Conspiracy? When times are uncertain, we are eager to find meaning. We find comfort in thinking we are in the know. As a species, we are imaginative beings with a wide range of capacities to interpret information. But, repetition of falsities can compromise…
Science shows taking fun seriously can boost your resilience. 2020 has delivered no shortage of tragedy. We’ve been stretched like Gumby and Friends and thrust into what feels like some weird dystopian social psychology experiment gone wrong. Like we’re characters being followed by hidden cameras in a daunting Groundhog Day/Humpty Dumpty/Survivor/1984/What Would You Do/Scared Straight…
5 tweaks when the term “self-care” feels cringeworthy. KEY POINTS Popularized self-care can have unintended consequences, creating aversions and distractions towards well-being practices that protect health. Scientifically grounded self-care can help us stay and do well during challenging times. Adopting new literacies in self-care can help reduce skepticism regarding practices that support well-being. There’s no…
Hint: It’s not rubbing their nose in their own messes. KEY POINTS Shaming and blaming are unlikely to lead to positive behavior change. Behavior change is more likely in the context of empathy, supervised skill practice, and conscious community. Human behavior is complex, with polarized times calling for us to consider what facilitates positive change…
Four things we can do to stay well and do well. It’s 24 hours post first presidential debate, and most of us are still stuck in SMH mode, cringing, horrified, and bracing ourselves for what’s next as The Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun” song dances through our heads while we’re Google searching “EMDR therapists” to…
Resisting “happy switch hype” can protect your mental health. KEY POINTS “Happy Switch Return-to-Normal Hype” can misguide and impede the healing and recovery process. Disaster recovery requires a trauma-informed lens that emphasizes attention to triggers, accessing trusting community, and relentless self-care. It’s okay not to be okay. Asking for help is the new imperative of…