Games

There are times when “positive thinking” is useless. When you are in a crisis—when you are blinded by rage, paralyzed by panic, or drowning in grief—your prefrontal cortex (the thinking brain) is offline. You cannot rationalize your way out of a tsunami. In Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), this is called Distress Tolerance. The goal isn’t

Life isn’t made of one big decision. It is made of a million tiny ones. You are tired. The alarm goes off. Do you hit snooze (relief) or get up (discipline)? You are anxious. A friend invites you out. Do you stay home (safety) or go (connection)? You are angry. Your partner makes a comment.

In the bedroom, many of us become “Spectators.” Instead of feeling the moment, we watch ourselves. “Am I taking too long?” “Do I look okay?” “Is my partner enjoying this?” This is called Performance Anxiety. It turns intimacy into a job interview. And just like a stressful job interview, the body often shuts down—leading to

We treat our bodies like taxis for our brains. We ignore them completely until the engine light comes on (pain or sickness). But your body is talking to you all day long. That tightness in your chest? That’s anxiety. That heaviness in your gut? That’s dread. That warmth in your face? That’s shame. This ability

When asked how they are doing, most people default to the Big Three: “Good,” “Bad,” or “Fine.” But “Bad” isn’t an emotion. It’s a judgment. If you go to a doctor and say, “I feel bad,” they can’t help you. They need to know if it’s a sharp pain, a dull ache, or a fever.

Think about the last time you ate a delicious meal. Did you truly taste every bite? Or were you checking your phone and suddenly realized the plate was empty? Happiness isn’t just about having good things happen to you. It’s about noticing them. Psychologists call this Savoring. It is the capacity to attend to, appreciate,

It’s 3 AM. You are staring at the ceiling. Your brain: “Why did you say that stupid thing five years ago?” You: “Please stop.” Your brain: “Let’s analyze it from another angle.” This is Rumination. It is the repetitive, passive focusing on the causes and consequences of your distress. Unlike “problem-solving” (which looks for a

You lie down in bed. You are exhausted. You close your eyes. Brain: “Hey, remember that embarrassing thing you said in 2014?” Brain: “Also, did you reply to that email?” Why does this happen? In our modern lives, we don’t have a “transition period.” We go from high-stimulation screens directly to a dark pillow. It’s

When we argue, we don’t think we are sharing an opinion. We think we are stating the truth. “You were rude.” “You are lazy.” We are trapped in our own skull. We have access to all our own intentions (“I didn’t mean to hurt you”), but we only see the other person’s actions. This is

We often think our bad behaviors come out of nowhere. “I just snapped.” “I just found myself eating the whole pizza.” But in psychology, there is no such thing as “out of nowhere.” Every action is the end result of a chain reaction. It starts with a trigger, which leads to a thought, which leads

If you suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), your kryptonite is Uncertainty. You plan every trip down to the minute. You read every review before buying a toaster. You double-check texts to make sure they can’t be misinterpreted. You believe that if you just worry hard enough, you can eliminate the unknown. But you can’t.