Psychology Today Blogs
12 Surprising Insights From Our Trip to a War Zone
Personal Perspective: Interviews that touched us the most on our way to Ukraine As my husband, Eric Haseltine, and I left Los Angeles last month to interview Ukrainian refugees in Germany, Poland, Czechia, and Ukraine, we had no idea that this trip would make such a...
A Simple Superpower Can Immediately Reduce Anxiety
Personal Perspective: There are many health benefits associated with hugs. To reduce anxiety, a lot of people self-medicate with alcohol, drugs, or prescription anti-anxiety medications, but they forget about a built-in tool everybody has, a superpower hidden...
New Insights on Havana Syndrome
Examining medical conditions that partially overlap with a mysterious illness. On February 10th, 2022, the UT Southwestern Medical Center's Peter J. O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute organized a day of conferences on the condition known widely as "Havana Syndrome,"...
7 Creative Ways to Reduce Anxiety
Several techniques, all using imagination, can help us feel less anxious.When I was a child, alone in my room at night, I had a lot of anxieties. To decrease these anxieties, I learned to fantasize about having an extraterrestrial friend with me. I was the only one...
The Brain Exercise That Got Me Out of Anxiety and Depression
A Personal Perspective: The Gestalt therapy session that helped me the most. When I was at my lowest point with intense anxiety and depression, a Gestalt therapy brain exercise changed my life for the better. Steve, my husband of 12 years, had passed away eight...
A Simple Lesson on Aging and Happiness Taught by a Dog
Here's a reverse aging tool I learned from my neighbors' dog. My next-door neighbors said to me last week, “You brought our dog back to life,” which touched me deeply. You may think that because I am a physician, I applied my medical skills to their dog, but...
10 Surprising Substances That Can Kill a Toddler
One single pill or one sip of a common liquid can be deadly for a 2-year-old. You may think that your house is safe for a toddler, but is it? Recently, I attended a conference by Dr. Cyrus Rangan, Director of Toxicology and Environmental Assessment for...
7 Lessons for Success Learned From a COVID Vaccine Inventor
The story of Dr. Katalin Karikó and her key ingredients for success. Dr. Katalin Karikó, one of the inventors of the messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine, was recently awarded (with Dr. Drew Weissman) the 2022 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. Dr. Karikó’s success...
Two Stories Behind the mRNA Vaccines You Probably Haven’t Heard Before
The story behind the story of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Talented people who want to innovate often see their innovations fall into the "valley of death," which means that their innovations don’t result in successful commercial products. Why is that?...
A Puzzling Case of Lower Back Pain With a Surprising Solution
A lesson on how to find the simple origin of lower back pain. My patient Andrew (not his real name) had chronic lower back pain on his right side for 30 years, but in the last 18 months, his lower back pain became more pronounced, to the point of not being able...
What’s the New Phenomenon Called “COVID Vaccine Arm”?
The eighth day delayed reaction to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Reactions to the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine usually last three or four days after the first shot, but a new side effect is beginning to appear in some patients, including me, on day eight after the first...
Surprising Benefits of Physical Exercise on Sex and Orgasms
Understanding exercise-induced orgasms, “coregasms” and sexercises. Source: Chris Gilbert, MD, PhD Most people know that physical exercise is good for general health but very few know how important physical exercise can be for sex and orgasms. Did you know that...
4 Secret Benefits of One Minute of Exercise Per Day
One minute per day can transform you. Do you know all the positive effects of physical exercise on your body and your mind? I bet you don’t. And even if you do know some of them, you may think that the recommended-by-the-Mayo-Clinic 30 minutes per day of...
10 Tips for Finding the Perfect Love
How and where can you find your person? Finding the perfect love is important not only for a happy life but also for a healthy one, so it’s worth spending time and energy doing so. Here are 10 tips for finding the perfect love: 1. Meet a lot of available single...
Why Common Cleaners and Disinfectants Can Be Deadly
Lessons about household cleaners and disinfectants from two case studies. Disinfectants should be saving lives by killing germs, yet, if they are not used the correct way, they can kill. Here are two case studies. Let’s see if you can figure out what went...
7 Ways to Emerge From COVID-19 Stronger and Happier
Turn a negative situation into positive life-changing actions. How can we turn a coronavirus quarantine into a meaningful and happy time? We don’t have a choice: The number of coronavirus/COVID-19 infected patients is growing and a lot of people are still dying...
COVID-19: 4 Tools to Assess When It’s Time to Go to the E.R.
Learn how to be your own medic. During the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, there are 4 medical tools you can have at home to help you and your doctor decide if you need to go to the Emergency Room (ER). If you experience a sudden or significant shortness of...
Can Quantum Physics Hold the Key to Happiness?
A quantum physics analogy to quantum emotions. Physicists talk about quantum physics, quantum mechanics, quantum entanglement, quantum computing but what if we could, by analogy, apply the quantum physics theory to our mind and talk about quantum emotions? What...
Could Our Microbiome Treat Mental Disease and Other Illnesses?
The possible healing properties of our poop. We are always looking for innovative new treatments, from immunotherapy to gene therapy to novel antibiotics. But what if we had innovative new treatments inside our own body, namely our gut bacteria? What if some...
New Ways to Fight Against Colon Cancer
3 lessons to be learned from Michael’s story New miraculous drugs against colon cancer are being discovered and tested in clinical trials as we speak. Here’s one example: Michael’s story: Just a few months ago, in June 2019, at the age of 57, Michael felt...
