What Does It Mean to Languish?

Our emotions are central to our life because they are felt. Our emotions have an impact on everything we do because they are fundamentally connected to our meanings and values. Our emotions have a strong psychological power because they are deeply connected with our self. What Are Our Emotions?. Emotions...

When we do the work to heal and grow, we can find gifts from the black sheep archetype. Seeking reparative experiences and relationships can give us nourishing things that may have been missing from our community of origin. Investing in therapy to move toward and craft the life you want...

Some European countries such as Spain are making tentative plans for when they might start treating COVID-19 as an “endemic” disease, but the World Health Organization and other officials have warned that the world is nowhere close to declaring the pandemic over. Diseases are endemic when they occur regularly in certain areas according to established patterns. A pandemic refers to a global outbreak that causes unpredictable waves of illness. The COVID-19 vaccines, medicines and other measures widely available in rich countries will likely help them curb their outbreaks before the virus is brought under control globally. That could lead them to declare COVID-19 to be endemic within their own borders long before the pandemic is over worldwide.

The biggest challenge of living with a resentful or angry person is to keep from becoming one yourself. Resentful, angry people see themselves as merely reacting to an unfair world. Narrow, rigid thinking magnifies the negative aspects of real and imagined situations. Resolving specific issues that invoke resentful, angry responses...

Rituals are found the world over—and there might be a psychological reason. Increasing cognitive load through ritualized behavior may decrease anxiety. Engaging in repetitive behaviors may similarly decrease anxiety. Human beings come in all shapes and sizes, as do the customs and social institutions we create around us. However,...

"Schema" are enduring thought patterns learned early on that filter our view of the world and how to interact with it. Understanding the maladaptive schema of personality-disordered people can help put their behaviors into perspective. Personality-disorder-related core schema include abandonment, incompetence, control, belonging, suspiciousness, entitlement, and status. Personality disorders (PDO)...

Psychosis does not always arise because of poor mental health. Writing a prescription does not always sort out a problem and can sometimes worsen it. Listening more closely to a patient can enable a doctor to determine the correct diagnosis. I first saw Clem when she was with her mother,...

The word "soul," in a psychological context, can be used to refers to each individual's unique, nuanced, and highly complex way of being. Our legitimate needs are often ignored because we focus instead on caring for and pleasing others. Pain, discomfort, and chronic stress are often signals of our "soul's"...

Almost everyone procrastinates, research has found, for reasons ranging from genetics to emotional avoidance. Self-study, or closely examining why one procrastinates, may be the most important step to overcoming it. Self-compassion, including self-forgiveness and perception shifting, can also help people take action. Most people procrastinate from time to time, and...

Social anxiety is common, correlated with childhood trauma, and predicts future depression. Depression with and without social anxiety is different in symptom presentation, severity, and treatment. Addressing underlying factors is likely to improve treatment outcomes and quality of life for those with combined social anxiety and depression. By Grant H....

When stresses (input) overwhelm your coping capacity (nervous system), your body will go into flight or fight physiology (output). You have choices regarding what you input into your nervous system. If your attention is on disturbing topics, you'll remain agitated, which fires up your whole body. When you focus on...

Change has been a constant in Vivek Shraya’s life. An artist based in Calgary, Canada, Shraya has moved through music, visual art, film, and writing. Her interests have transformed over her 40 years, as has her identity; she came out as trans at 35. Shraya’s most recent project, a pithy and powerful memoir aptly titled People Change, explores the motivations, fears, and lessons of self-evolution.

Enduring and persistent stressors can impact our lives, creating fatigue and a sense of loss of control. Cognitive control is motivated by our control system in the brain that is constantly evaluating the value in everything. Perceptions can devolve into simpler contextual evaluations that aren't completely true. Zhuang Zhou, a...

Anger generally arises when we don't receive something we want—"Give it to me!" Or do receive something we don't want—"Stop it!" Anger alerts us to a problem. Addressing problems in anger may get compliance but generates negative feelings in the receiver. People can end their needless anger with...

Thoughts are conditioned as habits, just like overt actions. Any habit is the brain's attempt to protect us from discomfort and make things easier. Mental habits of blaming others for our reactions disempowers us to change and grow. I’ve received feedback from a reader (my wife!) that my posts might...

Western capitalistic ideals can hurt one's sense of worth, resulting in negative core beliefs like inadequacy and unworthiness. Maslow defines self-actualization as the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized. Buddhists believe self-actualization, becoming enlightened by removing suffering and accepting oneself fully, needs to come first.

Acceptance requires “wrap-around services”–we need to do it with our mind, body, and behavior to get its full benefits. Next time you are faced with discomfort, silently say “yes” to the present moment’s reality. The next time you face something that you are having...

A new paper published in the academic journal Canadian Psychology attempts to define an important yet elusive concept in clinical psychology: emotion dysregulation. According to the researchers, it is best understood as the repeated encroachment of unhelpful emotional patterns. They suggest that emotion dysregulation is at the heart of many psychological disorders.

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. Self-care during chaotic times can...

Social anxiety is a common reaction to the current pandemic environment, as interpersonal skills become rusty and people fear crowded spaces. One meta-analysis of 13 studies of over 16,000 participants reveals that physical activity can reduce social anxiety. Other solutions such as planning and pacing can also dramatically reduce discomfort...