Find Ways to Reduce Stress Daily

Colors can increase our visual memory and arousal level. The effect of emotions on memory can sometimes depend on color. We can use colors to brighten our winter days and make us feel better and healthier. Color is an important stimulus for the brain because 80 percent of our sensory...

A person’s stress is connected to the stress of the people in their social circle. The link is stronger when the people in a social circle have comparable levels of stress to each other. This may happen because people base conclusions on others’ reactions and because they try to...

Many people believe that they drink alcohol because they like the taste, yet their initial experience with alcohol tells a different story. This inconsistency may be explained by our need to resolve cognitive dissonance, an internal conflict between one's attitude and behaviors. We may trick ourselves into changing our opinion...

Managers impact employees’ mental health more than doctors or therapists—and even the same as a spouse or partner. Work stress can negatively impact employees’ home life (71 percent), well-being (64 percent), and relationships (62 percent). The culture of the workplace needs to shift systemically and become more...

Having high expectations is one thing, but expecting perfection only sets us up for failure and disappointment. There are three fundamental types of perfectionism: self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed. Demanding too much and being too critical can be harmful to the parent-child bond. Ever tried to do everything perfectly?. Maybe...

A common complaint from partners is that the other is passive, doesn't initiate, and needs to step up to handle responsibilities. Drivers may include seeing the relationship in terms of traditional roles, avoiding conflict, having ADHD, and feeling criticized or neglected. Changing these patterns means addressing their underlying problems, crafting...

From the very beginning of our lives, we need another person to reflect back to us that they see us in all of our complexity. We want to know that we can be loved even with our flaws, imperfections, and negative qualities. Mirroring is mutual. The person who reflects to...

Physiological and psychological function are mediated by biological clocks. Chronotherapy can take advantage of these clocks to improve efficacy of drug treatment in chronic disease. The search is on for biomarkers that can help physicians create personalized chronotherapies for their patients. Are you a night owl or an early morning...

Managing emotions means managing the situations we enter, our orientations to them, and our interpretations of what occurs. The most engaging situations are those where our personal qualities match well with the challenges presented there. Emotions register contrasts between our judgments of what is occurring and what we feel should...

Childhood hurts and competitive feelings often trickle into the workplace and could prevent one's career from flourishing. Understanding how old family dynamics influence you can be key to carving out a promising career. Untreated depression, ADD, and anxiety can endanger employment in some cases. We all know that the workplace...

Being able to read your partner's emotions is vital to having a satisfying relationship, and part of this is learning from your mistakes. People have a tendency in hindsight to over-estimate how well they read emotions, creating problems when they're wrong. Overcoming the hindsight bias will help you develop your...

Approximately two-thirds of divorces are initiated by women. Walking away from a marriage brings a mix of positive and challenging feelings. The "left-behind" partner in a divorce or long-term breakup may experience and express a wide range of emotions, so plan accordingly. Women who make the decision to leave their...

Targeting the mechanisms underlying chronic neuroinflammation by stimulating cannabinoid receptors may be a promising therapeutic strategy. Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is a dietary cannabinoid that can reduce the impact of many neuropathological mechanisms. PEA’s actions are beneficial because it activates two important receptors that control inflammation and the sensation of pain.

The Eightfold Path involves shifting our mindsets, increasing our mental discipline, and living in ways that benefit ourselves and others. Right View is the first fold of the Eightfold Path. It is a mindset of wisdom. Seeing reality clearly and accepting it is at Right View's heart. We can learn...

Cultural myths affect how we talk about biological mothers and stepmothers. The complex role of the stepmother is often overlooked and reduced to a series of tropes. Being a successful stepmother is not easy, especially since there are specific boundaries associated with the role. The experiences of daughters with stepmothers...

A discrepancy between explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) self-esteem is associated with anger suppression and negative affect. Emotional dysregulation is a key component in the association of low self-esteem and physical aggression, anger, and hostility. Programs to support healthy self-esteem include those that support the cultivation of emotional intelligence and...

Positive effects of responsiveness to others include compensation for weak inner expectations and a tempering of rigid inner expectations. Negative effects of responsiveness to others include antisocial and self-destructive behavior, enabling addicts, and ignoring one's own needs. A balance between responsiveness to inner and outer expectations is good, but an...

Are you pursuing a career or relationship that are not true to who you are?. Our lives are fleeting and precious. It is easy to deny the reality of our own demise, but wisdom comes from confronting our own mortality. What does it mean to think like a therapist? That...

Research shows small sacrifices can have a big impact in relationships. Consider things you can do often, and pretty easily, that will be meaningful to your partner. Grit is a key component for lasting love: it requires passion, coupled with perseverance. Love isn't solidified with extravagant dates or grand gestures;...

Postpartum depression is a serious condition that affects one out of seven women. The practice of infant massage may help alleviate postpartum depression, especially with mothers of preterm babies. Infant massages help parents learn their baby's cues and promote attachment. Having a baby can be one of the most exhilarating...