Heal

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How to sleep when you’re a perfectionist

As a high achiever, your problem-solving skills can backfire at night. You need a different way to beat insomnia

by Nick Wignall

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If you think you are ‘just not a math person’ then think again

Understanding how mathematics anxiety takes root points to ways to overcome it, opening up new opportunities and pastimes

by Nathan T T Lau & H Moriah Sokolowski

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What if your worry problem is really a planning problem?

Clinicians have long recognised the link between worry and planning. New research asks what this means for managing anxiety

by Paul B Sharp

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How to recover from burnout

Feeling worn down, checked out, or bitter about work? The answer is not to ‘just work harder’. Try these steps instead

by Debbie Sorensen

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Avoiding sadness can backfire, here’s how to turn towards it

Everyone has stretches of sadness. Shifting how you think about and relate to sad feelings could help you through these times

by Beth Kurland

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Instead of wrestling with self-defeating thoughts, try this

When your own thoughts discourage and undermine you, it’s easy to get tangled. A change of strategy could get you past it

by Joe Oliver & Kristy Potter

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AUTISM

Late autism diagnosis: it’s a relief, but who’s behind the mask?

By the time an adult learns they’re autistic, they have often been covering up for years. A period of self-discovery awaits

by Leonie Mercedes

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What a psychiatric diagnosis means – and what it doesn’t mean

With stigma and misunderstanding surrounding mental health, it’s vital to know the benefits and limits of a formal diagnosis

by Awais Aftab

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Feeling nothing can be as devastating as feeling too much

Emotional ‘emptiness’ is a damaging, underexplored phenomenon. Better understanding it could help steer people to fulfilment

by Christopher J Hopwood

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How to support someone with depression

Being there for someone can be challenging. A clinical psychologist shares what to say and do to help them feel less alone

by Emma Cotterill

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OCD

Fears about being a dangerous or immoral person can fuel OCD

Intrusive thoughts about doing bad things are common, but for people with OCD they provoke deep fears about the self

by Richard Moulding & Kelvin (Shiu Fung) Wong

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Our internal clocks could be key for preserving mental health

Circadian rhythms often seem ‘out of time’ in bipolar disorder. Scientists are exploring what goes wrong and how to help

by Jacob Crouse

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Men’s anxiety about hair loss can have a deeper meaning

As a psychoanalyst, I’ve seen how reflecting on the emotional symbolism of hair loss can be therapeutic for many men

by Tom Wooldridge

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Why it matters that trauma affects women and men differently

They are too often ignored, yet sex differences affect the kind of trauma people experience and the effect it has on them

by Klára Hanáková

A cocktail in a coupe glass with an orange twist on a wooden table in front of a dark, tufted lounge seating

My great-grandfather poisoned drinkers during Prohibition

In a grim irony, his descendants – my grandmother and mother – struggled with drink. Here’s what I’d tell him about addiction

by Rebecca Lester

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GRIEF

The loss remains, so why does intense grief usually fade?

Grief’s ‘double vision’ beholds both the bereaved and dead. Recognising this duality helps explain our ability to move on

by Berislav Marušić