Mental Health Topics

In my experience, online dating in NYC was mostly a matter of meeting at the right bar. The bar couldn’t be your local. You wanted to keep your local to yourself in case the date went sour. But the bar couldn’t be far away either because you didn’t want to…

Virtual reality has been the brainchild of science fiction for decades, and it seems as though it’s finally arrived. Projects such as the metaverse have stoked excitement, confusion, and even fear. We’ve never lived in a virtual world before, but the technology to make it happen is already in the…

According to a 2022 report from the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, nearly 10 million people over the age of 18 in the United States have substance use disorder (SUD). That’s almost 4% of the entire population. Yet, despite the prevalence of addiction, a profound stigma surrounding addiction persists,…

In the 1960s, “don’t trust anyone over the age of 30” was a common phrase among young people as they clashed with their elders. Social upheavals, gender role-bending, and even global violence were visceral themes that influenced politics, educational systems, fashion, music, film, and more. Every step toward the new…

Q: I went through my boyfriend’s phone. All the girls he talked to while we were together are saved in his phone and social media, so while he was sleeping I deleted and blocked those girls. He got mad at me because he’s saying that I am trying to entrap…

Q: What is more important? Following your heart, mind, body, and soul, even if it means hurting others’ feelings and emotions, or continuing to live in denial to make your dying spouse, special needs child, and others happy? A: Thank you for reaching out. I really feel for you and…

Urban myths and popular fiction have nourished the idea that our final moments offer us a rapid-fire series of flashbacks, featuring each moment we’ve ever lived through. Whether life actually flashes before our eyes has never been confirmed, but many people who have survived near-death experiences have reported the phenomenon….

If you ever doubted the mental health benefits of being close to nature, you need look no further than recent research on green spaces and the Covid-19 pandemic. Population studies show that people who lived near green spaces during the pandemic fared better mentally than people with limited access to…

You may wonder why handwriting still matters in an era when we’re all typing on smartphones and computer keyboards. Americans aren’t especially known for their great penmanship. In fact, in 1955 the Saturday Evening Post called the US a “nation of scrawlers.”  But we do still write: at school, on…

I’m guessing you have at least two people at your current workplace with whom you’re close. Okay, maybe not close enough to ask them to cat-sit this weekend but close enough that you feel comfortable sharing some details of your life outside of work. They might know your favorite sports…

Most people like to think of their brains and their bowels as completely separate units. Gray matter is where the higher thinking happens, where one contemplates art and one’s place in the universe. The gut is where our breakfast cereal goes. It’s a region of the body we only tend…

Spending time alone can be a blissful way to recharge our batteries when we feel our social energy levels starting to dip low. We all need some alone time every now and then—but when being alone becomes our daily default mode, the benefits of solitude disappear. And then loneliness sets…