How to Accept With Your Mind, Body, and Behavior

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.

"Manifesting" is a powerful trend in the world of self-help that belongs to a much older tradition of "mind cure" writings. Manifesting massively overestimates our agency and ability to control the external world, advocating magical thinking. It also ignores socioeconomic and psychological reality and may leave people feeling ashamed and...

When our caring is overstretched, we can’t be part of the solution. We need an effective way to nurture our own vitality. Being present can help you change your approach to over-caring and stay energized. There is a common misconception in our society that martyrdom is heroic and to...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is considered the fourth most common mental illness in many Western countries. Patients or medics regularly fail to recognise the disorder's symptoms, especially in its very early stages. Individuals with OCD may often realise that their thinking and behaviour are not logical, but they still may find it...

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...

Megan Fox wants her kids to express themselves however they please. In a wide-ranging interview with Glamour U.K. for their April cover story, the 35-year-old actress opens up about how she teaches her children, Journey River, 5, Bodhi Ransom, 8, and Noah Shannon, 9, about gender identity and encourages them to be confident in who they are.

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...

"Not unreasonable," a Mumsnet user commented. "If it was your husband at home, then it's his call, but you're not her mother."

Fellow parents and teachers were disturbed by the man's behavior and praised the mom for stepping in to protect her daughter.

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;...

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.

Technologies can worsen your work motivation. Psychology expertise should be used when designing and implementing technologies in work environments. Motivation that stems from meaning and enjoyment will be increasingly important in the future of work. Have you ever conducted a job interview through video?. Do you work remotely and mostly...

Don’t assume that stiffer discipline always results in better behavior. When you have conflict with your child, empathy can help you better understand the situation and provide better discipline. Approaching kids with an empathic mindset can yield better outcomes. Today, I’ve asked Jason A. Okonofua to share his Tip...

Antone Martinho-Truswell's analysis of birds' behaviors shows that, in many ways, a human is "the bird without feathers." Four key traits that are essential to what it is to be human are shared with parrots and other birds. When a species, even one totally different from us, falls into one...

Gardening has a positive effect on well-being, and the results seem to be enhanced when the gardening is communal. Gardening may also be a therapeutic intervention for disorders such as cognitive impairment. Repetitive tasks like watering and weeding may help prevent people from focusing on their problems or sources of...

Our reactive thoughts to tasks create barriers to action; they promote procrastination. We are not our thoughts, and not identifying with our thoughts frees us to act. Ancient Zen wisdom in the form of a koan can help us discover this simple truth. Continuing with my focus on mindfulness and...

Middle-aged women (age 40-55) have been found to be at higher risk for depression. Part of it stems from the natural hormonal alterations of perimenopause and menopause. However, it tends to be about more than just hormone changes: Midlife can be a time marked with greater losses, like empty-nest syndrome, ailing and/or deceased parents, career changes, and a loss of former friendships, marital and love partnerships. Additionally, women in midlife have reported higher rates of pain and physical ailments.

Source: Cover of book reviewed here, authors (photo by Rob Ewing), and authors' children (photo by Doug Kenrick), all used with permission. If a family from a traditional hunter-gatherer society were transported into the modern urban world, they would think they’d landed in paradise: Self-driving cars, hand-held electronic devices that can prevent you from getting lost and even direct you to a nearby supermarket stocked with colorful, fresh blueberries, strawberries, and bananas, homes with air conditioning and plush mattresses, and refrigerators to store all that produce from the supermarket. Wow. Not to mention the ability to call in an order of fresh-baked pizza and some double-chocolate-fudge ice cream for dessert.

American adults as a group are enduring excess panic, anxiety and stress recently. Stress is not just an individual occurrence happening to some individuals, families and workplaces. It has hit most of us. The annual Stress in America survey conducted by the American Psychological Association in February and March of 2022, says that “The vast majority of adults (87%) agreed it feels like there has been a constant stream of crises over the last two years, and more than seven in 10 (73%) said they are overwhelmed by the number of crises facing the world right now.”

Suicide has always been part of the human experience. Although suicide is believed to be a matter of pure choice, social and psychological factors suggest this might not always be the case. Motivations to suicide are typically lost to the ether. Of the eight billion people on our tiny blue...