A Dark Genome Link to Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

For a century, categorical diagnostic systems of mental health (e.g., DSM-5 & ICD) have dominated the mental health industry and society. Despite their benefits and popularity, categorical diagnostic systems are inaccurate and problematic. State-of-the-art scientific evidence supports the superiority of dimensional systems for the science of psychology. The Hierarchical Taxonomy...

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) affects approximately 5% of the population. While social media has been blamed for an increase in narcissistic tendencies, these aren’t indicative of an NPD diagnosis. Narcissists can inflict great emotional and psychological harm on their partners, parents, and children. As social media has made all...

People who self-sabotage may be repeating patterns and habits that were learned and conditioned earlier in life and have become automatic. Trauma, self-esteem, and self-worth affect the probability of self-sabotage in work and relationships. There are both conscious and unconscious patterns of self-sabotage. While it may surprise many of us,...

Happy couples experience positive and negative interactions during a conflict in a 5-to-1 ratio (5 positive for every 1 negative). The concept of negative sentiment override suggests that feeling negative emotions can cloud one's ability to see things clearly. According to the Stimulus-Value-Role theory, what someone finds important in a...

People typically use one of two systems when they think and make choices. System 1 is a fast decision approach that relies on intuition, while System 2 is a slow decision approach that relies on conscious deliberation. System 1 thinking leaves you vulnerable to bias, but System 2 thinking comes...

Multiple studies measuring brain activity have demonstrated the memorization benefits of handwriting. Digital note-taking isn’t more efficient. One study showed that handwriting notetakers completed the task 25% faster than digital notetakers. Digital calendars and notes do have some advantages, such as sharing, reminders, alarms, and searchability. Most people swear...

Focused attention and open awareness practices are two important subcategories of mindfulness. Focused attention practices help us hone skills of concentration and cognitive control. Open awareness practices help us develop equanimity with the ups and downs of life. Mindfulness is commonly referenced but frequently misunderstood. It is often discussed as...

Learning online can become detached from experience and evade corrective feedback. When this happens, people are more vulnerable to bias, fakes, and falsehood. To avoid these risks and learn effectively online, humans and machines must collaborate as co-creators. Much human learning comes from experience. People encounter problems and situations in...

Going on a "low news diet" is easier for those with greater privilege (often men), whose lives aren't as impacted by certain events. Advice to "negotiate" can sometimes backfire for women. Telling women to engage in "more self-care" can make their real struggles feel invisible or self-made. I'll preface the...

While under the influence you’ll probably act differently, but that doesn’t mean your drinking reveals—or can reveal—who you really are. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions, leading you to act more impulsively and care much less about how others might adversely regard your behavior. The dangers of excessive...

A challenging issue involves parents who ignore, minimize, or deny their kids' experience of mental health issues. Unhelpful suggestions from parents can result in a sense of loneliness for the child or teen and a loss of trust in the family. South Asian kids often have an urge to please...

People who suffer unfair treatment from others can carry their inner wounds for years, even for the rest of their life. Case studies and empirical studies confirm that anger, depression, and lost hope can accompany the unjustly treated person. Scientific studies show that forgiveness therapy can lead to emotional healing...

Kindness is of utmost importance. Hence our name, humanKIND. Without kindness, we wouldn’t survive. Think how vulnerable newborn babies are and how utterly dependent they are for So Long. Often I talk about kindness to others, but first I would like to talk about self-kindness. Some like to call...

The “repetition compulsion” is a basic concept in all psychotherapies. Freud believed the repetition compulsion was a reflection of the death instinct—an unconscious drive toward self-destruction. The repetition compulsion is acted out through processes such as displacement and projection. The “repetition compulsion” is a basic concept in...

Cognitive biases are pre-wired shortcuts our brain takes when making decisions or analyzing new information. Many of the decisions we made during the pandemic were influenced by these cognitive biases. The key to overcoming cognitive biases is to educate ourselves about our thinking and better understand why errors in judgment...

According to research from the National Institute of Health, “Emotional distress is a state of mental anguish that can take a wide variety of forms. It may result from a mental health issue or particular circumstances, such as relationship difficulties or financial strain.”. When you have an issue going...

Part II or III: Being kind to your mind means coming to the present moment. Here are additional tips to get there. Move. Yoga, meditation, walking in nature, singing, dancing, and prayer are all powerful ways of coming into the now. What works for you may not work for others; make this part of your routine.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and it offers an opportunity to increase awareness about mental illness and mental health conditions, and to provide information about what you can do if mental health is a cause for concern for you or a loved one. Together, we can replace the stigma surrounding mental illness with hope.

Autism spectrum condition (ASC) encompasses a complex and diverse area of need that is not well understood. The brain serotonin pathway has a key role in a range of essential functions such as sensory processing, cognition, mood, and sleep. Psilocybin is known to act on serotonin receptors; it is being...

A new study shows how AI machine learning can detect whether or not small spots on chest imaging scans are cancerous tumors. The study evaluated the impact of AI on clinicians’ assessment of lung nodules and their management recommendations. The study found that the AI-aided diagnosis tool improved the...