A smile is the universal welcome, the writer Max Eastman once remarked. But how sure can we be that a person’s smile is genuine? The answer is the empathy test, created by psychologist Richard Wiseman, which probes our ability to appreciate the feelings of others – from their appearance. A photographer asks a subject to…
Read MoreWhy We All Need to Practice Emotional First Aid
We’ll go to the doctor when we feel flu-ish or a nagging pain. So why don’t we see a health professional when we feel emotional pain: guilt, loss, loneliness? Too many of us deal with common psychological-health issues on our own, says Guy Winch. But we don’t have to. He makes a compelling case to…
Read MoreFace-to-Face Socializing More Powerful than Phone Calls, Emails in Guarding against Depression
In a slight knock on digital and telephone communications, a new study points to the unsurpassed mental health benefits of regular face-to-face social interactions among older adults. Study participants who regularly met in person with family and friends were less likely to report symptoms of depression, compared with participants who emailed or spoke on the…
Read MoreText Messaging May Be Increasing Your Anxiety
from Popular Science People tend to interpret ambiguous text messages negatively, especially if they’re sent from a female friend, says a study in September’s Computers in Human Behavior. Text messaging is one of the most popular forms of communication, particularly among young adults. According to the Pew Research Center, people between the ages of 18…
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