Buddhist Precepts Reduce Stress and Buffer Depression: Study

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

The moral virtues and character strengths that matter the most evolve over a lifespan. We should not expect attributes that support academic or work performance to apply equally well to other tasks and situations. It is important to recognize the fluid and dynamic nature of virtues and character strengths to...

The dynamic and often emotionally daunting developmental phase of adolescence offers a complex background for psychosis symptoms. Misdiagnosis is common, especially at the time of onset, as psychosis symptoms can be present across psychiatric and medical diagnoses. The most concerning marker for the presence of a psychotic illness is the...

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...

Blue lies are lies that one tells to benefit or protect their group. Group members often view blue lies as morally permissible and even virtuous. It seems that almost everyone lies. In my research, 95% of people report lying in any given week. Some of those untruths are white lies—small dishonest statements usually told to avoid social awkwardness or to benefit another. Some lies are more self-serving or selfish lies aimed at covering one’s misdeeds or gaining some advantage. These are referred to as black lies. But there is a third category of lies that fits neither of those categories: blue lies.

Awe is an emotional experience felt when individuals encounter powerful experiences, such as works of art, giving birth, or nature. The feeling of awe evokes a sense of wonder and can transform the way we see the world. The experience of awe can make us feel diminished and insignificant. Encountering...

Caring for family members who are in vegetative states can feel like an ambiguous loss. In addition, caring for family who live in a different country can bring about additional difficulties. Reliance on social networks for instrumental and emotional support can lessen the difficulty during this time. Self-compassion is another...

I've learned that when my autistic son has an outburst or meltdown, we must summon our empathy. Our focus must not be on making him stop. When he is upset, we must listen wisely to find the key to calming him. Our response must be "can do," not "we can't."...

There is unavoidable emotional pain when those we care about are threatened or suffer. Most of our stresses and upsets come from needless suffering that we cause ourselves, which is the opposite of being at peace. Strengthen neural networks in the brain that support spacious mindfulness, staying in the present,...

Emotional individuals tend to make poorer decisions. It’s normal to want what others have, but this can become deceptively destructive. Measuring one's present self against one's past self, instead of against others, is a good way to combat envy. Envy has long been a destructive force in human relationships...

Moms are often blamed when their kids behave in unwelcome ways. Some kids suffer from complicated conditions that aren’t easily seen or understood. Kids who act out in school aren’t necessarily naughty. They might be struggling with ADHD, anxiety, autism, or an undiagnosed disease. When I was pregnant,...

One of the most common after-effects of childhood attachment trauma is the development of a harsh inner critic. At the root of self-hate and self-neglect are conditioned beliefs that they aren’t good enough to be loved or cared for. Feelings of self-hate and self-neglect can generalize to self-sabotaging behavior...

Not everyone realizes how powerful words can be. One negative statement can negate thousands of kind and thoughtful words we have said to someone. It's important to consider how our words—both negative and positive—will affect others and ourselves before we use them. I think everyone agrees that words...

The health benefits of meditation are innumerable including potentially increasing one's lifespan. Eliminating what the Buddhists call monkey mind is a surefire way to become more present to your life. Higher social standing, once measured by leisure, is now measured by busyness. I have a confession: I once was a...

Behavioral economists have long spoken about mental labor in terms of economics—people usually think of effort in terms of costs and payoffs. According to the "law of least effort," people find exerting either physical or cognitive effort aversive or costly. Some people—such as mountaineers and Rubik's cubers—choose to exert...