Job hunting is stressful. After many rejections, one can feel crushed, defeated, and deflated. Psychology tools offer helpful ways to respond to painful job rejections and thrive.| Psychology Today
Each time you smile, you throw a little feel-good party in your brain. The act of smiling activates neural messaging that benefits your health and happiness.| Psychology Today
High-school students who do not date are less depressed than those who do, and according to teachers, have better social skills and more leadership qualities.| Psychology Today
Discover how dopamine impacts your mood, motivation, and mental health—and learn simple ways to naturally boost it for a happier, more rewarding life.| Psychology Today
Have you often been described as having no motivation? There is another way to be effective at accomplishing your goals.| Psychology Today
Struggling to smile at your job and at home? Only at one of them is it emotional labor.| Psychology Today
Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. Though it’s most often caused by problems at work, it can also appear in other areas of life, such as parenting, caretaking, or romantic relationships.| Psychology Today
Flu shots don’t just protect against fever and cough. Experts recommend them to reduce the risk of a heart attack.| Psychology Today
These three proven psychological strategies can help you break bad habits and establish better ones.| Psychology Today
Dreams may decompose autobiographical elements and then recombine them in creative ways to create our long term memories.| Psychology Today
The unseen reason you drag your feet when a deadline looms, along with eight tips on how to cross the finish line.| Psychology Today
Putting tasks off until later can become burdensome when future obligations pile up, while chronic delay may cause personal stress and aggravation in others| Psychology Today
The path of least resistance isn't always the best path to take.| Psychology Today
A rational definition of financial security must be grounded in reality and not someone else’s ideas, experiences, or circumstances.| Psychology Today
It’s common to hear well-meaning helpers telling you to “trust your feelings,” but what does this mean and how can you do it regularly?| Psychology Today
Office gossip hurts people in ways we don't always see.| Psychology Today
There is a difference between healthy critical thinking and an unhealthy obsession with options. Here are five easy steps to help you stay on the right path.| Psychology Today
How makeup and skincare TikTok tutorials became, for some, tools for processing difficult personal experiences.| Psychology Today
The four functions of the body most commonly impacted by grief.| Psychology Today
If you are currently being treated for cancer or are a survivor, try "drawing a picture of health" as part of your wellness plan. It's integrative medicine for mind and body.| Psychology Today
Even the researchers were surprised by results of a large new study on the impact of pets on child development.| Psychology Today
A persuasive series of research studies with both animals and humans show us that our first instinct really is to be good, kind and compassionate.| Psychology Today
Defining mental disorders is slippery, contributing to rising rates of diagnosis and self-diagnosis. Young people are especially prone to psychiatric self-labeling.| Psychology Today
It’s worth exploring how employing “always” and “never” in highly provocative situations may be inevitable—impossible to totally uproot. How should you respond to them?| Psychology Today
Nostalgia improves well-being and helps us cope with life’s stressors.| Psychology Today
Are you feeling stuck with procrastination? Is the gap between your intentions and actions a mile wide? Do even small steps feel too big? Enter the micro-yes.| Psychology Today
A psychobiotic diet includes a variety of foods to encourage the growth of a diverse microbiota, making us more resilient to stress.| Psychology Today
All too often, burnout victims don't see it coming until it's too late, but it doesn't have to get to that point. Where do you fall on the burnout continuum?| Psychology Today
The novel coronavirus set in motion a global pandemic that the world is still attempting to understand, treat, and grapple with. The virus is a novel member of the coronavirus family of viruses, long associated with the common cold, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). The virus is believed to have existed in animals before recently mutating and undergoing transmission to humans.| Psychology Today
There is no simple solution for stress and worry. But “soft fascination” can help you get some relief. It’s close at hand and easy to use.| Psychology Today
It can be tempting to avoid tough conversations, but is there a cost?| Psychology Today
Those who crave risk or novelty respond to fear differently from others. They see stressors as challenges to master, not threats that can crush them.| Psychology Today
Psychodynamic therapy is derived from psychoanalytic therapy, and both are based on the work of Sigmund Freud. Psychodynamic therapy is an in-depth form of talk therapy based on the theories and principles of psychoanalysis. In effect, talking about problems in a therapeutic setting can be extremely valuable for the individual. Comparatively, psychodynamic therapy is less focused on the patient-therapist relationship and more focused on the patient’s relationship with their external world.| Psychology Today
Meditation is practiced in cultures and religions all over the world. But when and where did it begin?| Psychology Today
Our brain's natural ability to turn our attention inside our body can help us overcome stress, anxiety, and trauma to gain greater control over our well-being.| Psychology Today
When you act with empathy toward others, others will respond with empathy toward you.| Psychology Today
Body language is a silent orchestra, as people constantly give clues to what they’re thinking and feeling. Non-verbal messages including body movements, facial expressions, vocal tone and volume, and other signals are collectively known as body language.| Psychology Today
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a decline in cognitive function that may include compromised memory, language, or critical thinking. It is considered more serious than expected age-related decline but less serious and concerning than dementia. Some cases of MCI proceed to dementia and some do not, making such impairment especially alarming for some who experience it. A person with symptoms of impairment might begin losing items, for example, or forget scheduled appointments.| Psychology Today
Emotional labor refers to controlling one’s emotions to carry out the demands of one’s job. For example, a nurse may have to soothe a sick patient while being berated with demands. A waiter may have to smile and serve rude customers as he struggles to service many tables. The mismatch between one’s genuine feelings and outward behavior can be distressing and draining, especially if it is consistent.| Psychology Today
Popular media are full of scare headlines and articles about harmful effects of video gaming. But what have researchers actually found? Is gaming really "Digital Heroin"?| Psychology Today
Sensation-seeking, also called thrill-seeking or excitement-seeking, is the tendency to pursue new and different sensations, feelings, and experiences. The trait describes people who chase novel, complex, and intense sensations, who love experience for its own sake, and who may take risks to pursue those experiences.| Psychology Today
You need these three kinds of hobbies to live a truly enriching life.| Psychology Today
Albert Einstein famously said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” Through imagination, people can explore ideas of things that are not physically present, ranging from the familiar (e.g., a thick slice of chocolate cake) to the never-before-experienced (e.g., an alien spacecraft appearing in the sky).| Psychology Today
Boredom is at once both easy to identify and difficult to define. A small but growing collection of scientists have devoted their research to boredom, and some conceive of the state as a signal for change. Boredom indicates that a current activity or situation isn’t providing engagement or meaning—so that the person can hopefully shift their attention to something more fulfilling.| Psychology Today
Memory is the faculty by which the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information. It is a record of experience that guides future action.| Psychology Today
With the popularity of tidying room by room and other cleaning trends, it's time to take a look at the connection between a clean house and mental health.| The Maids
Writer Anaïs Nin opined that “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” As Nin conveys, friendship can elicit joy, companionship, and growth—enriching our entire experience of the world.| Psychology Today
Anxiety is both a mental and physical state of negative expectation. Mentally it is characterized by increased arousal and apprehension tortured into distressing worry, and physically by unpleasant activation of multiple body systems—all to facilitate response to an unknown danger, whether real or imagined.| Psychology Today
Mental health stigma refers to negative beliefs people may hold about those with mental illness, which can lead to stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Public awareness and literacy have increased substantially over the years, yet some entrenched stigmas persist today.| Psychology Today
Learn how to equip your child with tools to handle racial and emotional stressors at school, fostering resilience and pride.| Psychology Today
Cognition refers, quite simply, to thinking. There are the obvious applications of conscious reasoning—doing taxes, playing chess, deconstructing Macbeth—but thought takes many subtler forms, such as interpreting sensory input, guiding physical actions, and empathizing with others.| Psychology Today
Many decisions we make come with unintended consequences. But some may be more knowable and avoidable than others.| Psychology Today
The back-to-school transition can be difficult for parents and children alike. However, this one parenting tip can make a significant difference.| Psychology Today
Chocolate or strawberry? Life or death? We make some choices quickly and automatically, relying on mental shortcuts our brains have developed over the years to guide us in the best course of action. Understanding strategies such as maximizing vs. satisficing, fast versus slow thinking, and factors such as risk tolerance and choice overload, can lead to better outcomes.| Psychology Today
Psychotherapy, also called talk therapy or usually just "therapy," is a form of treatment aimed at relieving emotional distress and mental health problems. Provided by any of a variety of trained professionals—psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, or licensed counselors—it involves examining and gaining insight into life choices and difficulties faced by individuals, couples, or families. Therapy sessions refer to structured meetings between a licensed provider and a client with a...| Psychology Today
Every suicide is a tragedy, and to some degree a mystery. Suicide often stems from a deep feeling of hopelessness. The inability to see solutions to problems or to cope with challenging life circumstances may lead people to see taking their own lives as the only solution to what is really a temporary situation, and most survivors of suicide attempts go on to live full, rewarding lives.| Psychology Today
Dopamine is known as the feel-good neurotransmitter—a chemical that ferries information between neurons. The brain releases it when we eat food that we crave or while we have sex, contributing to feelings of pleasure and satisfaction as part of the reward system. This important neurochemical boosts mood, motivation, and attention, and helps regulate movement, learning, and emotional responses.| Psychology Today
Nutrients fuel the body and brain's energy needs. This fuel allows humans to function and flourish—to breathe, to speak, to play, to learn, and to reproduce. Humans evolved under very different circumstances than today; sustenance was often in short supply, and it was advantageous to snatch up sugars and fats that could provide a boost of energy. These evolutionary roots are at odds with the modern world, in which food is, in many places, overabundant. Cravings can be difficult to control. ...| Psychology Today
Resilience is the psychological quality that allows some people to be knocked down by the adversities of life and come back at least as strong as before. Rather than letting difficulties, traumatic events, or failure overcome them and drain their resolve, highly resilient people find a way to change course, emotionally heal, and continue moving toward their goals.| Psychology Today
Why humans dream remains one of behavioral science's great unanswered questions. Dreams have a purpose but it may not be to send us messages about self-improvement or the future, as many believe. Instead, many researchers now believe that dreaming mediates memory consolidation and mood regulation, a process a little like overnight therapy.| Psychology Today
Gratitude is the expression of appreciation for what one has. It is a recognition of value independent of monetary worth. Spontaneously generated from within, it is an affirmation of goodness and warmth. This social emotion strengthens relationships, and its roots run deep in evolutionary history—emanating from the survival value of helping others and being helped in return. Studies show that specific areas of the brain are involved in experiencing and expressing gratitude.| Psychology Today
The glass is half-empty, and storm clouds loom overhead, never with a silver lining. Pessimists get a lot of flak for their inclination toward negativity and their tendency to expect the worst in most situations. Besides taking a toll on their mental health, their physical health may take a beating, too. Pessimism, while it may be useful in isolation or in moderation, is associated with anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, hostility, high blood pressure, and heart disease.| Psychology Today
The ability to pay attention to important things—and ignore the rest—has been a crucial survival skill throughout human history. Attention can help us focus our awareness on a particular aspect of our environment, important decisions, or the thoughts in our head. Maintaining focus is a perennial challenge for individuals of all ages, and people have long sought out strategies, tricks, and medications to help them stay on track.| Psychology Today
