Research Suggests a Surprising Way to Reduce Social Anxiety

Walking at a brisk pace for just 75 minutes every week could cut your risk of depression, a new study finds. The World Health Organization recommends everyone should exercise for at least two-and-a-half hours every seven days. But researchers at Cambridge University, England, found adults who got half as much...

The impacts of narcissistic parenting can be unique to the individual who lives through it. An adult child of a narcissist may believe their worthiness depends on how they act and what they do, not on who they are. Learning what healthy boundaries are and how to set them with...

Jean-Guy Beauvoir is a thirty-something Inspector in the Sûreté du Québec, once married, loyal to his boss Armand Gamache, shot in the line of duty, and addicted to OxyContin. Most importantly, Beauvoir is a fictional character in Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache mystery series. His character sounds initially like a cliché: the wounded police officer, heroically refusing therapy, becoming an addict. Except that Penny explores the cliché in a multi-novel story arc, through all her characters' thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and interactions. She creates a seemingly stable character in Beauvoir and then, through novel after novel, unravels him. Through Beauvoir, I enter the mind of an arrogant, paranoid, traumatized addict with a severe case of literal self-centeredness, beloved by Gamache.

Trauma can lead to deep-rooted beliefs that prevent individuals from moving forward. Belief patterns known as victim mentalities set individuals up to fail and take away their empowerment. Recognizing common victim mentalities can help someone overcome them. A victim mentality—or a belief that one is a victim of external circumstances,...

A new concept called self-connection may be central to one's happiness, life satisfaction, and well-being. Self-connection has three components: self-awareness, self-acceptance, and self-alignment. Anyone can test their level of self-connection using a recently developed and validated scale. We often try hard to stay connected to others (e.g., to friends and...

Unfortunately, the 27-year-old mother and the 31-year-old father say their baby daughter has months to live. The 1-year-old child is suffering from a rare condition which was caused by a gene defect both parents carry. The parents knew something was wrong with their child when the baby started to go off her food at six weeks. The baby also started to lose weight, the couple said. The condition was confirmed with genetic testing and the doctors said it affects her ability to absorb the nutrients she needs from food. The condition is so rare it is thought to only occur in one in 79,000,000 people, the doctors said.

Though helpful for cleaning and disinfecting, Lysol contains a number of harmful chemicals that can irritate your eyes, skin, and respiratory system.

It’s a story many have heard before. COVID-19 enters a household whether through a spouse, parent, sibling or caretaker – but despite extensive exposure, not everyone gets sick. [. SEE:. Latest Coronavirus and Vaccine News ]. And it could be a more common occurrence than some think. The...

MILLIONS of Brits have been urged to take up a rapid test to see if they have bowel cancer. The Health Secretary has called on men over 60 to make sure they have the life-saving checkups. It couldn't be easier - with a home testing kit on offer, or use...

Tragic events like wars, famines, earthquakes, and accidents create fearful memories in our brain. These memories continue to haunt us even after the actual event has passed. Luckily, researchers from Tokyo University of Science (TUS) have recently been able to understand the hidden biochemical mechanisms involved in the selective suppression of fearful memories, which is called fear extinction. The researchers, who had previously demonstrated fear extinction in mice using the chemically synthesized compound "KNT-127," have now identified the underlying mechanism of this compound's action. Their findings have been published recently in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.

Shielding those vulnerable to COVID-19, while allowing the virus to spread, largely unmitigated, through the rest of the population, would have failed according to a new modeling paper published today in PLOS Global Public Health by University of Bath scientists. Shielding strategies or "focused protection", as advocated for in the...

Many people with chronic and difficult-to-treat medical conditions often feel invalidated by the medical community. Due to the high numbers of people with long COVID, it is now starting to be taken seriously. Regardless of what kind of physical condition you have, psychological and behavioral interventions can improve quality of...

Taking care of our dead in the home is a longstanding tradition in many parts of the world. When a baby dies, parents can benefit enormously from taking their baby home until burial or cremation. It is legally permitted to care for our dead loved ones at home until disposition;...

Increased socializing can also bring greater exposure to unwanted questions about sensitive topics, like relationships or pregnancy. Remember: You get to choose what to tell other people and when. No one else can decide that for you. Certain techniques, like replying with a question, changing the subject, or complimenting others,...

Our emotions make us belong to our cultures. Our emotions are not mere mental feelings; we need others to feel the way we do. Moving cultures can be hard, and our emotions tend to be out of step. I was born and raised in the Netherlands, and I had always...

Moving into the next stage of the pandemic requires taking stock of your personal tolerance for risk. Adjusting to heightened risk is nothing new. Budgeting for risk is a personal, ever-changing choice. In the early days of the pandemic, as the world was adjusting to a rapidly changing viral landscape,...

A study used machine learning to compare social, health, functional, and cognitive variables as risk or protective factors for depression. The strongest risk factors were self-reported social isolation and poor health. It may be valuable to screen for depression among older adults with those two risk factors. Depression is a...

Self-actualization is not a one-time event, but goes on throughout life as one is faced with opportunities. Intention, intuition, and action are all required to move toward an actualized life, and that process is not linear. While navigating toward actualizing an intention, one needs to continuously do a gut check.

Every parent has a unique take on what's needed in raising their children. They bring their own personality and life history to the job. Let it be OK that you and your partner have different perspectives on parenting. You may know best, but that's not what matters most. Calm, loving,...

Living things perform pattern-matching activities that call out differences. The perception of differences allows humans to predict and sort out cause and effect. Bias and prejudice seem to result from the impact of learning and experiences on the affect system. In a peaceful, secure world, differences can be a source...