Lucy Foulkes is a psychologist and honorary lecturer at University College London. A former associate editor at Aeon+Psyche, she is the author of Losing Our Minds (2021). She lives in London.

Written by Lucy Foulkes

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How to have more meaningful conversations

Be brave enough to share, kind enough to listen, and you can escape the shallows of small talk to dive deep with another

by Lucy Foulkes

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How to engage with life when you feel down

Withdrawing from activities you enjoy is both a product and cause of low mood. Break the cycle with behavioural activation

by Lucy Foulkes

Black and white photo of three men in a shop, two in bowler hats clowning with an electric fan while a clerk watches amusedly.

Ever taken pleasure in another’s pain? That’s ‘everyday sadism’

It’s not just killers who are sadistic. To counteract the suffering caused by everyday sadism, recognise how common it is

by Lucy Foulkes

Edited by Lucy Foulkes

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LOVE

Digital entanglement is changing the nature of breakups

We interviewed people about their breakups to find out how matters were complicated by being technologically intertwined

by Elise van den Hoven

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LOVE

Your partner’s infidelity needn’t be a relationship catastrophe

Infidelity needn’t end a relationship: many people have affairs for reasons that have nothing to do with their partner

by Dylan Selterman

Photo of students sitting at desks in a classroom. Focus is on a woman appearing thoughtful with a water bottle nearby.

Set yourself free by developing a growth mindset toward anxiety

Everyone feels anxious in moments of not knowing. It’s your beliefs about anxiety that influence what you do next

by Hans Schroder

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Worry is an unhelpful friend and a shoddy fortune-teller

Worry is emotionally distressing, messes with our thinking, and makes us miss out on the things that matter. Dump it fast

by Lucas LaFreniere

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When reality slips through your fingers: in search of dissociation

Pinning down the slippery strangeness of dissociation is like grappling with a bar of soap, but it badly needs a definition

by Emma Černis

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There’s something in my eye: why we happy-cry and what it does for us

Happy tears are often neglected in emotion research. But there are many types, and they have an important function

by Janis Zickfeld

A man watches a film on a monitor, showing a close-up of a scene with two people.

If you think you’ve got a porn addiction, you probably haven’t

People with addictions see relationships, health and careers fall apart. Most people who watch porn don’t meet this definition

by Joshua Grubbs

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It should be OK for parents to express regret about having children

Regret is common to all humans. So it’s no surprise that some parents regret having children: it shouldn’t be a taboo topic

by Jenna Abetz & Julia Moore