Games

We all know the feeling. It starts as a whisper: “Just one cookie.” “Just one text to your ex.” “Just one scroll through TikTok.” Within seconds, the whisper becomes a scream. Your heart races. Your focus narrows. It feels like if you don’t give in right now, you will explode. This is the Craving Loop.

Have you ever received 10 compliments and 1 insult, but you could only think about the insult? This is the Sticky Attention problem. Negative information is “sticky.” Evolutionary speaking, a tiger in the bushes is more important than a berry on the tree. So, our brains are hardwired to latch onto threats and hold on

For someone with PTSD or high anxiety, the world looks like a battlefield. You walk into a restaurant, and you immediately spot the exit. You notice the loud guy at the bar. You see the knife on the table. Your brain is stuck in Threat Detection Mode. This is called Hypervigilance. It is exhausting. It

Panic feels like being swept out to sea. One minute you are fine, and the next, a wave of emotion hits you. You lose touch with where you are. Your thoughts race so fast you can’t catch them. You feel untethered, floating in a storm of “What ifs” and “Oh nos.” In therapy, the antidote

PTSD isn’t just about remembering a bad event. It is about reliving it. A car backfires, and suddenly you aren’t on the street anymore; you are back in the war zone. A specific smell hits you, and you are back in that room. These are intrusive memories or flashbacks. They happen because the memory of

For someone with Panic Disorder, the body is a terrifying place. A slight jump in heart rate isn’t just exercise; it’s a heart attack. A moment of dizziness isn’t just hunger; it’s a stroke. A shortness of breath isn’t just humidity; it’s suffocation. This is called Catastrophic Misinterpretation. You aren’t afraid of the grocery store

Imagine walking into a party. There are 20 people smiling and having a good time, but one person in the corner is frowning and looking at their phone. If you have anxiety, who does your brain focus on? You ignore the 20 smiles and zoom in on the frown. You think, “They hate me. I

We wear our ability to “multitask” like a badge of honor. We answer emails while on Zoom calls. We cook dinner while listening to podcasts and texting our friends. We think we are being incredibly productive, juggling five balls at once. But neuroscience tells us a different, harsher truth: Human beings cannot multitask. What we

For most people, eye contact is natural. But for someone with Social Anxiety or Autism, it can feel like staring into the sun. It feels burning, invasive, and overwhelming. You might look at the floor, or over the person’s shoulder, just to relieve the pressure. But avoiding eye contact sends the wrong signal—it makes you

We live in the age of the “Notification.” Ping. Buzz. Ding. Every few minutes, something pulls your attention away. Over time, your brain actually forgets how to sustain attention. You might sit down to work, but your mind feels like a browser with 50 tabs open—jumping from one thought to another, never truly landing. Psychologists