Psychology

As a study says a pet death can hurt as much as that of a relative, three people describe their emotionsGrief over the death of a pet could be as chronic as that for a human family member, according to research. The study, published in the academic journal PLOS One, suggests grieving pet owners can suffer from prolonged grief disorder (PGD).PGD is a mental health condition that can last months or even years, and often involves intense longing and despair, and problems socialising and going about daily tasks. Currently, only those grieving the loss of a person can be diagnosed. Continue reading...

Healthy striving – a flexible wish to improve – accepts limits and understands that error is integral to masteryThe modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their workNew year’s resolutions are catnip for perfectionism. Each January we are invited to reinvent ourselves as fitter, more productive, more virtuous, with the rollover of the calendar offering us a clean slate and a chance to correct our flaws.While reasonable goals for modest self-improvement can be healthy, when these resolutions are perfectionistic, they become all-or-nothing tests of our self-worth. Make a mistake, miss a day at the gym, and the whole project collapses in a spi..

Big tech treats our attention like a resource to be mercilessly extracted. The fightback begins hereIn the last 15 years, a linked series of unprecedented technologies have changed the experience of personhood across most of the world. It is estimated that nearly 70% of the human population of the Earth currently possesses a smartphone, and these devices constitute about 95% of internet access-points on the planet. Globally, on average, people seem to spend close to half their waking hours looking at screens, and among young people in the rich world the number is a good deal higher than that.History teaches that new technologies always make possible new forms of exploitation, and this basic ..

After traumatic events we look for reminders of humanity’s good, and flashes of courage from ordinary people become symbols of hope. But it can be hard to wear the hero’s crownGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe smell of burning flesh and pulverised concrete is seared into the psyche of Anneke Weemaes-Sutcliffe. On 22 March 2016, the Australian expat was due to check in for a flight when Islamic State suicide bombers detonated two nailbombs inside Brussels airport. Miraculously unharmed, she sprinted to the exit after the second blast exploded metres away from her – but then, risking her life, decided to turn back.Screams, wailing alarms and a thick blanket o..

Researcher calls for guidelines for diagnosing prolonged grief disorder to be expanded to cover people who lose petsGrief over the death of a pet could be as chronic as that for a human family member, research has shown, confirming what many people already know about their bond with their furry friends.People grieving the loss of a pet can suffer from prolonged grief disorder (PGD), a mental health condition brought about by the death of a loved one, a survey published in the academic journal PLOS One has found. Continue reading...

Ian Sample puts listeners’ questions on dreams and nightmares to Dr Michelle Carr, director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory in Montreal’s Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, and author of the new book Into the Dream Lab. They look at why we dream, what we can learn by examining our dreams, and what we can do when dreams turn to nightmares. Dr Carr gives her top tips for taking charge of our dreams and trying to influence their contentSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepodOrder Into the Dream Lab by Dr Michelle Carr via the Guardian Bookshop Continue reading...

I hadn’t fully grasped how the idea of a better future sustained me – now I, like many others, find it difficult to be productiveA new year is upon us. Traditionally, we use this time to look forward, imagine and plan.But instead, I have noticed that most of my friends have been struggling to think beyond the next few days or weeks. I, too, have been having difficulty conjuring up visions of a better future – either for myself or in general. Continue reading...

An expert in both disciplines makes a bold attempt to convince sceptics, and partially succeeds Vladimir Nabokov notoriously dismissed the “vulgar, shabby, and fundamentally medieval world” of the ideas of Sigmund Freud, whom he called “the Viennese witch doctor”. His negative judgment has been shared by many in the near 90 years since Freud’s death. A reputational high-water mark in the postwar period was followed by a collapse, at least in scientific circles, but there are signs of newfound respectability for his ideas, including among those who once rejected him outright. Mark Solms’s latest book, a wide-ranging and engrossing defence of Freud as a scientist and a healer,..

Neuroscientist Ben Rein is on a mission to show that being around others not only feels good, but can even improve recovery from strokes, cancer and heart attacks. So why are so many of us isolated and glued to our phones?‘I hate it.” I’ve asked the neuroscientist Ben Rein how he feels about the online sea of junk neuroscience we swim in – the “dopamine fasts”, “serotonin boosts” and people “regulating” their “nervous system” – and this is his kneejerk response. He was up early with his newborn daughter at his home in Buffalo, New York, but he’s fresh-faced and full of beans on a video call, swiftly qualifying that heartfelt statement. “Let me clarify my positio..

Forget puritanical self-discipline – the way to really make a new habit stick is to lace it with instant gratificationLike many people, I spent New Year’s Eve making a list of the goals I want to achieve in the year ahead – a habit that never fails to arouse the ire of my boyfriend. “Why do you always have to put yourself under pressure?” he’ll ask, rolling his eyes. “It’s so puritanical!”And he has a point. When most of us turn our minds to self-improvement, we assume that we need to put pleasure on pause until we’ve reached our goal. This is evident in the motivational mantras that get bandied about – “no pain, no gain”, “the harder the battle, the sweeter the v..

Kim Elms, a speech pathologist, shares her experience as an auditory-visual synaestheteRead more stories of synaesthesia in the way I feel seriesCar journeys with my partner are a nightmare. He’s an ex-DJ so he likes to crank the music up, but for me this means seeing static images and flashes of light in my mind’s eye while I’m trying to drive. It’s hard to describe exactly what I see when I hear sound. But it’s almost like the sound waves you’d see if you watched an audio recording on a screen, or these little neurons connecting and space nebulas exploding in front of me.I’m 44 now and only realised I had auditory-visual synaesthesia in my 30s. What I did know was that I seem..

We are often so busy and yet when the opportunity arises to do nothing, we can find it uncomfortable. Here’s how to lean into boredom – and unlock the imagination• Sign up here to get the whole series straight to your inboxOn a rainy afternoon last weekend, plans got cancelled and I found myself at a loose end. Given that I’m someone who likes to have backup plans for my backup plans, my initial response was panic. Now what? I wandered aimlessly from room to room, grumpily tidying away random items.Noticing for the first time in weeks that most of my houseplants were critically ill, I decided to give them a spa day. I moved the worst cases to a south-facing windowsill and painstaking..

Sticking with the wrong goal can lead to stress, some scientists say. Could abandoning or modifying a goal be healthier?Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJanuary is often a time to take stock. New year’s resolutions roll into back-to-work blues and a determination that this year will be different, somehow. A reset might be just the tonic, according to some scientists, with a recent study showing that giving up on a goal, or even just modifying it, could lead to a happier experience.“That decision to let something go can be a tricky one,” says Hugh Riddell, a lecturer at the Curtin University School of Population Health, and lead author of the study, published i..

Psychologist Chris Moore saw first-hand how powerful and complex an emotion it isFuelled by the relief of having finished end-of-year exams, the pleasure of a warm late spring evening and quite a lot of alcohol, the house party was one of those that should have been remembered for all the right reasons. At some point, later in the night, Chris Moore and three friends were ready to leave. The party was some way out of town – Cambridge – and too far to walk, and, anyway, there was a car, temptingly, in the driveway, its keys in the ignition.Somebody – Moore can’t remember who – suggested they drive back, and with the recklessness of youth and too much beer, they all got in. “I..

Stop stressing about self‑improvement or waiting until you’re on top of everything. This year give yourself permission to prioritise pleasureI have a proposal to make: 2026 should be the year that you spend more time doing what you want. The new year should be the moment we commit to dedicating more of our finite hours on the planet to things we genuinely, deeply enjoy doing – to the activities that seize our interest, and that make us feel vibrantly alive. This should be the year you stop trying so hard to turn yourself into a better person, and focus instead on actually leading a more absorbing life.Naturally, I anticipate certain objections to this suggestion. Continue reading...

Monique Todorovski, a clinical administrator, shares her experience of lexical-gustatory synaesthesiaRead more in the way I feel seriesWhen I met my husband and found out his name was Philip, I felt conflicted. I liked him as a person but his name tasted like crunchy green pears and I don’t like green pears at all. My compromise was to call him Phil, which tastes more like stewed pear – sweeter and not as crunchy. It’s just a nicer-tasting name in my mind.Fortunately I was 30 by the time I met Phil, so I had an explanation for my word-taste associations, after years of strange looks from family and friends. I had lexical-gustatory synaesthesia, one of the rarest forms of the phenomenon..

From Agatha Christie doing the dishes to the cancer surgeon inspired at the theatre, an idling brain suddenly seems able to join the dotsIf you really want to solve a problem, try doing nothing about it. Fold some laundry. Stir a risotto. Go for a run, watch a film, try to entertain someone else’s baby: anything that involves pottering about in an undemanding yet still vaguely engaged way, which absolutely couldn’t be classed as work but isn’t totally vegetative either. It may not be the productivity hack any go-getter wants to hear, but it’s surprising how often a spell of aimless noodling around frees an otherwise overworked human brain to make the kind of lateral mental leap that ..

Whether you go for an easy jog or actively limit your screen time, studies show there are tried and tested ways to wind down and be sure of a good night’s sleep• Sign up here to get the whole series straight to your inboxAfter a hard day at work, the last thing you want to do is fritter away your precious downtime slumped on the sofa in a dazed doomscroll. Yet, in the absence of a better plan, it happens with depressing ease. How we spend the hours between shutting down the laptop and slipping under the duvet affects sleep quality, mood and how restored we feel the next day. So, how can we reclaim those lost evenings?According to Jason Ellis, a professor of psychology at Northumbria Univ..

Prof Craig Jackson explains Imogen West-Knights’ compulsion to view 177 episodes of a TV show she doesn’t even likeImogen West-Knights’ TV viewing habits are more common than many realise (I hate this TV series I’m binge-watching, yet I’m on track to complete all 177 episodes. Why am I doing it?, 15 December). Media is consumed like any other product, and streaming platforms make this process easier than ever. Progress is meticulously logged on screen, offering a sense of achievement that can encourage what might be termed “hyperconsumption”.Rewatching familiar series removes the “hit or miss” experience often associated with streaming services, where quality varies. West-K..

Psychologists have typically believed that we become less curious as we age, but recent research has shown curiosity actually becomes more targeted and specific in our later years. In this episode from September, Madeleine Finlay hears from Dr Mary Whatley, an assistant professor of psychology at Western Carolina University, and Dr Matthias Gruber of Cardiff University’s Brain Research Imaging Centre to find out why we change in this way, and how maintaining broad curiosity into older age can help keep our brains youngSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

A study finds that as pressure increases, UK parents are more likely to put on a brave face – risking family wellbeingAdvent calendars, check. Tree and decorations, check. Teachers’ presents, nativity costumes and a whole new ticketing system for the PTA’s Santa’s grotto, check. But the Christmas cards remain unwritten, the to-do list keeps growing, and that Labubu doll your child desperately wants appears to have vanished from the face of the earth.If you’re feeling frayed in the final days before Christmas, you’re not alone. But research suggests this festive overload doesn’t just leave parents tired and irritable – it may also make it harder to be emotionally honest with t..

Neuroscientists, psychologists and ‘have-a-go heroes’ themselves explain why it is about more than just instinctAs a knife-wielding terrorist wearing a fake suicide belt caused panic on London Bridge in 2019, Darryn Frost remembers entering a state of intense focus.Having grabbed a decorative narwhal tusk from the wall of Fishmongers’ Hall, the formerly shy civil servant zoned in on the danger and ran towards it, helping pin the attacker to the ground. Continue reading...

Those who suggest ‘not doing presents this year’ tend to be people who already have all the socks and candles they need, writes one readerThere’s a very particular phrase that circulates as Christmas approaches, usually delivered over a glass of wine: “Shall we just not do presents this year?”This is almost always suggested by people who already own everything. The sort of people who, if they fancy a new coffee Thermos at 8:42am, simply buy one. Socks? Ordered. Pyjamas? Bought in October. Candles? Seventeen already, none ever lit. These are also the people who believe a £10 gift is radical generosity, holding it out proudly as if they’d made a personal sacrifice, when it costs r..

Study finds dropping an expletive can raise confidence and help people push harder during physically demanding tasksIt may not be in keeping with the festive spirit, but if you find yourself dropping the F-word while wrestling a Christmas tree up a flight of stairs, scientists say you could be on to something. A study has found that swearing can enhance physical performance by lowering inhibitions and pushing the brain into a “flow state”.“In many situations, people hold themselves back – consciously or unconsciously – from using their full strength,” said Dr Richard Stephens, a psychologist at Keele University who led the research. “Swearing is an easily available way to help ..

Mark Cottle, who has metastatic prostate cancer, responds to an article by Carolin WürfelIt’s not just Germans like Carolin Würfel (16 December) who face a challenge with the question “How are you?” When I was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, that question went from being a routine conversation-opener to something much trickier.The convention, in Britain at least, is to answer something like “Oh, not bad…” Frankly, things are very bad, so I’m stuck between the dishonesty of the ritual reply and the full truth, which is a lot to fling back at someone offering an innocent greeting. I’ve developed the more nuanced response “All right today”, which I use..

Dr Roman Raczka says artificial intelligence can’t replace therapist-led care, even though it can offer benefitsIt is absolutely right that children “need a human, not a bot” for mental health support (‘I feel it’s a friend’: quarter of teenagers turn to AI chatbots for mental health support, 9 December). Overuse of AI for mental health support could well lead to the next public health emergency if the government does not take urgent action.We shouldn’t be surprised that teenagers are turning to tools such as ChatGPT in this way. NHS waiting lists are rising, and one in five young people are living with a mental health condition. It is unacceptable that young people who re..

I understand the temptation to run away – I have felt it too. Try to stay in the room, and in the moment. You’ll be glad you didThis is my last column for you. I am shocked and delighted that I’ve been allowed to carry on for almost two years, saying such controversial and true things as: the oedipal complex is real and all of us have one; psychodynamic psychotherapy is an effective and vital mental health treatment and we must fight for it in the NHS; and Midnight Run is the best film of all time. It has been a joy and an honour, and, now we are here, I’ve been thinking about the significance of endings.Because they are significant. Sometimes, having no time left can make it possibl..

When I see those final House credits roll, I won’t even feel any sense of achievement – I will just be deciding on my next joylessly sisyphean taskThere are 177 episodes of House, the 00s hospital drama starring Hugh Laurie as a brilliant but cantankerous doctor. What this means, to my dismay, is that I spent five entire days, five hours and 15 minutes of this autumn watching this series. In my defence, when I embarked on this rewatch, I was going through quite a trying time in my life. But I would find it difficult to excuse the fact that I didn’t just watch some House to take the edge off things, but attempted every single episode.It’s a deranged television programme. It’s a tall..

I am a clinical psychologist and researcher with a focus on children, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. Here are some things to keep in mindAs the community begins to grapple with the horror and tragedy of the Bondi shootings on Sunday, children will probably have questions. Parents may also be wondering how to talk to their young kids and teenagers about what happened.I am a clinical psychologist and researcher with a focus on children, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. Here are some things to keep in mind when talking to children about the tragedy in Bondi (though many of these apply to any bad thing happening in the world).Some bad men used guns to shoot some people near the beach in Sy..

It’s natural to want information about a traumatic event but graphic imagery can cause a significant stress responseWhat we know about the Bondi terror attackLike everyone else, I watched news of the Bondi attack unfold last night with shock, horror and dismay. As I did so, I was immediately assailed by imagery of bodies lying on the ground, barely hidden from view. I closed these videos immediately, knowing the way this imagery can stick in your mind.When terrible events such as yesterday’s attack occur, we often race to find out as much as possible about what happened. We do so by trawling social media and news sites. This is a natural way of making sense of events, and reflects a huma..