Even for someone especially sensitive to the dwindling hours of sunlight as we in the northern hemisphere head into Autumn, there’s one thing that helps offset the effects of an impending light-deprived funk: it’s all that glorious color!

Sometimes fear prevents us from doing what we know we need to do. But why are we willing to hand over control of our decisions to what is, after all, an emotional response?

Laughter actually triggers beneficial physical changes in the body, strenthening the immune system by decreasing hormones that compound stress and increasing the presence of antibodies that fight infections.

Overt and covert intimidation become more effective when the manipulator is skilled in communicating emotional tenacity, determination, and resolve, sending the message that the other party is no match in a contest with them.

Disordered characters, especially predators, don’t really want us to know who they really are. They tell us what they think we want to hear so that we will think them more like us.

One of the ways that folks become embroiled in abusive or exploitive relationships is by falling prey to concerns about the way their character-disordered partner is feeling. They almost never consider that the brandishing of anger might be a tactic that character-disturbed individuals use to manipulate and control others, as opposed to a genuine feeling.

While depression and anxiety are often considered to be “diseases” of the affluent, new studies find them to be just as common in poorer countries. Can a Western model of interpreting and treating mental distress be applied to other cultures?