The places you go can change your personality

In a bad mood? Go for a walk. We all know that changing location is good for us. In my freelance days I would tour five coffee shops across a normal working day to "keep things interesting" (read: I couldn't stand the guilt of nursing one

Sorry, boredom is really good for us

I try anything to avoid being bored. My phone is the first port of call. If that doesn't suffice, I'll haphazardly try to reorganise what's on my desk. If that fails, I'll go annoy the dog. You get the picture. It'

How your inner child can help your adult anxiety

If there's a word that most aptly sums up the age we live in, it'd probably be "anxiety". That word has become common parlance for those moments we feel overwhelmed, uncertain, and out of control. In the NHS Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, it said

The rise of the anxiety economy

Everyone is really anxious right now. In the US, it's the most common mental health disorder, affecting 18.1 percent of Americans each year and nearly one-third of Americans over their lifetimes. In the UK, it's one in six people, according to the NHS Adult Psychiatric

Why do we keep seeing faces in everyday objects?

Ever seen the Virgin Mary in a slice of toast? Probably not. But a few years ago, Diane Duyser from Chicago was so convinced she'd found a woman in a cheese toastie, a casino paid her $28,000 to buy the sandwich and display it for the world

Why we're all 'doomscrolling'

Doomscrolling, one of those perfect words that explains itself without much thought. Yes, we're all doomscrolling these days. As the world looks worse by the day, people are endlessly scrolling through their smartphones confronting themselves with all that is wrong with the world. Aimless scrolling on smartphones is

Why we disagree with science when it jars with our worldview

Humans are a funny bunch. We don't seem to agree on very much, especially when it comes to scientific research. Among us are people that think global warming is a hoax, that vaccines are dangerous, and that putting fluoride in water and genetically modified foods is a form

We all need a good cry every now and again

How often do you have a ruddy good cry? For me, crying is like Christmas, it happens once a year and the build-up is always better than the aftermath. But, say psychologists, it should be a more regular part of our daily lives. It turns out our bodies three kinds

Can people change?

Here's something to chew on over the weekend. Can we change who we are? Sure, we can change our hair colour, our jobs, where we live, our friends. These are all fairly easy things to do. But can we change how we are in the world, how we

The more time teens spend online, the more they change

When I was a kid, I was told repeatedly, "TV rots your brain". More recently, that media rotting our brains idea has been redirected at the internet. We're all aware of the effects too much of anything will probably turn to a bad thing, but more

Nobody cares, and that's ok

When was the last time you fretted and worried about someone noticing something about you? That stain on your top you picked up at breakfast? That thing you said to your friend over the weekend? That thing you didn't say to your friend over the weekend? The truth

Why we always cancel on our friends

Now that lockdown is relaxing an eeny wheeny titsy bit, no doubt your calendar is popping off with invites for some top social gathering. But, before you start filling your diary, it's worth casting your minds back to the distant past, otherwise known as 2019. Back then, life

Your brain watches the people around you to help work out who you are

Who you are, or rather, who you think you are, relies on who other people think you are. Here is a completely unscientific anecdote to demonstrate this. When I got to secondary school, a certain art teacher (who will remain nameless) took a disliking to me. Side note: the disliking

Why we might need to give up on our Plan B

I love a Plan B. And a Plan C. And a Plan D. I am someone with an eternal number of alternate plans. But, says two business professors, this hedging of plans might have negative consequences.     Jihae Shin of the University of Wisconsin and the University of Pennsylvania’s Katherine

We're more likely to help others when we don't think about it

That's a weird idea, isn't it? That our charitable side comes out more often when we're less aware of it. But that's the thinking behind a paper in Psychological Science. In it, David G. Rand, an associate professor of psychology, management, and

Why does socialising feel so damn exhausting?

Are you finding the thought of meeting up with friends, family, and acquaintances a daunting experience? Or have you already done so and now you're calling for a return of lockdown so you can recover from the bombardment of social gatherings? You're not alone. One of

Sharing your dreams can improve your relationships

When was the last time you told someone about a dream you had? For me it was last week, and it involved being chased by a giant gut down the street and me not being able to get away from it. I concede this is also very similar to a

A better mood takes 12 minutes

How do you make yourself feel better? You might exercise, you might eat, you might eat while exercising. Or like me, you'll spend hours window shopping online for things you'll never actually buy but it's nice to feel like you could. But researchers at

People pleasing is bad for your health

Have you ever been bumped into and said sorry for the other person? Or started a conversation with a stranger by saying, 'sorry'? While you may have chalked it up as being exceedingly polite - or exceedingly British - relentless people-pleasing can be bad for your health. One

Show some love for your loose friends

No, not that type of loose friend, we're talking about those people we know and spend time with that we wouldn't immediately call friends. These 'weak-tie' friendships play a surprisingly large role in helping our moods and mental health, say researchers. A 2016 study

Why it's good to be a sucker for routine

I love a routine. Whether it's the early morning walk with the dog, or sitting down and writing exquisite prose for you lot. Having a to-do list that I repeat frequently and often is what has kept me sane during lockdown. But, it turns out, a routine can

Has data cracked the laws of attraction?

Valentine’s Day, the annual event which seems to do more for ending relationships than it does for keeping them together, is also the day where dating apps spend the most trying to convince you to sign up. Which got me thinking: does the $4 billion online dating industry work?

Your childhood is telling your genes how to behave

Childhood gives us so much. Whether it's memories of your dad throwing you in the deep end of a swimming pool and shouting, "if you don't swim you'll sink" or a deep-seated fear of Turkish Delight, the things that happen to us

Why do you make the choices you do?

Have you ever made a decision on something and then almost immediately gone, "why on earth did I do that?" It turns out our decision-making process is made up of a subtle combination of genetics, childhood, who our friends are and even what the weather is like. Oh,

Where do your emotions come from?

Do you always make a sad face when you’re upset, or an angry face when raging? Apparently, I do not. So much so I've often been described as "very difficult to read". Put me in a car, on the other hand, and I'm