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Disorders and difficulties

Double exposure image of a person and a landscape, showing a silhouette overlaid with a scenic view of mountains and a river.

Depression

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Depression is more than low mood – it’s a change of consciousness

Understanding depression as an altered state of consciousness, like a dream or drug trip, could help people awaken from it

by Cecily Whiteley & Jonathan Birch

A man with his hands on his hips is talking with a woman who is getting into a yellow taxi on a city street.

Personality disorders

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What the new science of narcissism says about narcissists

What the new science of narcissism tells us about its nuances, and how to avoid its darts while gaining from its strengths

by W Keith Campbell & Carolyn Crist

View from inside a bakery window showing blurred people outside, cars, and pastries in the foreground.

Mental health

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The brain’s reading of the body’s state is key to mental health

The neural basis of ‘interoception’ – the interpretation of bodily signals – is affected in many mental health conditions

by Camilla Nord

Painting of early hominids using tools in a rocky landscape with scattered animal skulls and a distant horizon.

Human nature

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Do humans really have a killer instinct or is that just manly fancy?

The killer-instinct idea achieved such cultural power because it came embedded in gripping stories about human nature

by Nadine Weidman

Close-up of a person with glasses looking out of a window with sunlight illuminating their face and hair from the side.

Worry and rumination

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Stuck in a loop of worrying thoughts? Here’s how to stop it

Dwelling on your difficulties might feel like problem-solving, but it can be pernicious. There are tools to stop the habit

by Megan L Rogers

Blurred close-up of a woman’s face with an out-of-focus reflection of a shop window displaying signage in the background.

Mental health

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Mental disorders aren’t diseases, they’re networks of symptoms

Mental disorders are usually seen as the causes of symptoms. In the network perspective, symptoms are causes themselves

by Richard J McNally

Ancient terracotta sculpture of a seated figure holding a cup, displayed against a dark background.

Psychoanalysis and the unconscious

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Dark feelings will haunt us until they are expressed in words

Continued mental growth requires dealing with alexithymia, or the inability to express emotions through words or images

by Tom Wooldridge

A painting of people in top hats and formal attire walking in a dimly lit street at night with buildings in the background.

Anxiety

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Anxiety isn’t a pathology. It drives us to push back the unknown

‘I’m anxious, therefore I enquire.’ Anxiety isn’t a problem to be solved; it drives philosophical enquiry and makes us human

by Samir Chopra