Psychology Today Blogs
The Simple Technique That Relieved My Anxiety and Depression
A gestalt therapy chair session changed my life. Are anxiety and depression the small tip of an iceberg? If so, what lies beneath the surface? Could that large bottom part be made of repressed feelings? When I was a child, I was never allowed to fully express...
A Creative Recipe to Better Appreciate Life
How to use imagination to appreciate what we have. Why do we often only appreciate what we have after it’s gone? Why can’t we appreciate what we have while we still have it? Is there a recipe to do so? When I was married to my late husband, Steve, we had a very...
8 Subtle Clues You Are Ignoring Your True Desires
Physical ailments can arise when you don't pursue cherished dreams and values.Are you sick all the time without your doctors finding why? Do you have low energy while all your blood tests, radiology, and physical exams are normal? There are numerous explanations for...
4 Tips for Great Sex After 50
Intimacy can improve mental and physical health in middle age and beyond. As we move from middle age into old age, we tend to have sex less often, if at all. But that doesn't have to be true for you. A study conducted by Stacey Lindau, M.D., and colleagues,...
4 Counterintuitive Secrets of the Happiest Relationships
2. Be open to discovering who your partner really is. Research from Elizabeth Lawrence and colleagues published in the Journal of Happiness Studies (2018) shows that single people live less long and are less happy and healthy than people who are happily...
9 Tools to Limit Anxiety and Avoid Depression
2. Listen to what people say about you. The percentage of adults with recent symptoms of anxiety or depression increased from 36.4 to 41.5 percent in the U.S. between August 2020 and February 2021, with the largest increases among adults 18 to 29, according to...
How Trauma, Loss, and Anxiety Can Lead to Transformative Growth
"There is no important reality other than inner reality." An ever-growing body of research shows that trauma can bring post-traumatic growth. In a 2019 study published in Health and Social Works, for example, 99 percent of survivors of serious road trauma reported...
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...