All posts tagged: feelings

How We Turn Toddler Feelings Into Adult Action

How We Turn Toddler Feelings Into Adult Action

Published by Jenni Sidey

Researchers commonly agree that feelings originate or at least mediate in the toddler brain, which is fully developed on a structural level by age three. Anyone who has lived with a toddler will testify that they can express a range of intense emotions. When it comes to negative feelings, the toddler brain functions as an alarm system to summon help, care, or protection from caregivers. Regulating alarms is out of the question for those adorable little creatures who can’t take care of themselves. That function falls to the later developing prefrontal cortex – the adult brain. The toddler brain lacks reality testing, which is why toddlers have a hard time distinguishing imagination and dreams from reality. Feelings that seem like urgent alarms in the toddler brain (fear, anger, anguish, shame) are merely action signals, via adult brain reality-testing: Fear becomes concern or caution (calling for research, planning, or preparation). Anger becomes impatience or frustration (calling for reevaluation, modification, or redoubling effort). Anguish becomes sadness (preparing us to value again). Shame becomes disappointment (leading us to …

Theory Claims Speaking English Makes People More Negative

Theory Claims Speaking English Makes People More Negative

Published by Jenni Sidey

Words are powerful. Just as certain languages can bring positive energy, one theory claims there’s a specific language more likely to bring negative energy into a person’s life without them even realizing it.  The language that we use in our everyday lives truly does dictate how we think, feel, and process different situations. In a video, a content creator named Quynh explained that speaking English can actually make people more negative, and it all has to do with how the English language describes emotions. A theory claims that speaking English makes people more negative. “What if English makes us more negative? The way that we talk about emotions is how we get stuck in them. In English, we say, I am sad, I am depressed, I am anxious, I am angry. But in other languages, the direct translation correlates to their mental well-being,” Quynh began in her video. @quynhxvan I’ve always loved learning how language chances our perception of reality. There’s studies on how a tribe in Africa didn’t have language to describe th future or …

Racial slur at BAFTAs stirs complex feelings for Black people with Tourette syndrome

Racial slur at BAFTAs stirs complex feelings for Black people with Tourette syndrome

Published by Daniella Wilson

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails For Black people living with Tourette syndrome, the British Academy Film and Television Arts Awards incident earlier this week where a vocal tic manifested as a racial slur while two Black stars of the movie “Sinners” were onstage has left them with complicated feelings. “It’s been pretty difficult because I feel like there’s such a clash between both sides,” said Chloe Winston, 24, who experiences coprolalia, the same verbal tic as John Davidson, the BAFTA nominee and Tourette syndrome advocate who yelled the slur. “A tic is not intentional, but it still causes harm. And I think that does require accountability.” Davidson’s utterance just as Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the first award of that night’s ceremony ignited a firestorm that overshadowed Sunday’s BAFTAs. There was immediate outrage that the actors and other Black attendees were subjected …

How smartphone use and feelings of disconnection fuel a vicious cycle

How smartphone use and feelings of disconnection fuel a vicious cycle

Published by José Betancourt

A new study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors provides evidence that excessive smartphone use and feelings of disconnection fuel each other in a continuous daily cycle. When college students feel unfocused, they often reach for their phones for relief, which actually tends to leave them feeling even more detached the following day. These findings suggest that breaking this loop requires actively replacing screen time with meaningful offline activities. With the rapid growth of digital technology, problematic smartphone use has become a major concern for young adults. This type of device engagement refers to screen habits that span multiple apps and become difficult to control, eventually interfering with daily life. Such excessive use has been linked to poorer mental health, strained relationships, and lower academic performance. A related issue is disengagement, which is a temporary state of boredom where a person feels disconnected from their current environment. Disengaged individuals often have difficulty maintaining attention on meaningful tasks and might experience negative emotions. According to psychological theories, this detached feeling acts as a signal that a …

Amanda Seyfried on feelings about losing Wicked role to Ariana Grande

Amanda Seyfried on feelings about losing Wicked role to Ariana Grande

Published by Daniella Wilson

Amanda Seyfried has opened up about how she feels about losing out on the role of Glinda in Wicked after numerous auditions. The actress previously revealed that she tried out six times for the role in the film adaptation of the hit broadway show, which would have seen her appear alongside Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, before it ultimately went to pop icon Ariana Grande. In a new interview with Radio Times ahead of the UK release of Seyfried’s new film The Testament of Ann Lee, the actress was asked whether she’s over losing out on the role now, to which she responded: “Yeah. I’ve been making the [promo] rounds with all of them, and it’s like everything happens for a reason.” She continued: “I wasn’t sad I didn’t get it, but I guess I wish it had been communicated to me in a better way. I don’t like to be in the dark about things. I like to feel appreciated.” Seyfried might have missed out on the role of Glinda, but the Mamma Mia! and …

Study finds a disconnect between brain activity and feelings in lonely people

Study finds a disconnect between brain activity and feelings in lonely people

Published by José Betancourt

Loneliness acts as more than a fleeting emotional state; it functions as a persistent filter that alters how the human brain processes the social world. New research published in the journal Biological Psychology provides evidence that this condition changes the neural mechanisms responsible for evaluating threats and regulating emotions. The study demonstrates that applying a mild, targeted electrical current to the frontal lobe can help lonely individuals perceive negative social scenes as less distressing. These findings offer a new perspective on the disconnect between how lonely people react to their environment physiologically and how they consciously perceive those reactions. Social isolation is widely recognized as a risk factor for a variety of physical and mental health issues. These range from increased susceptibility to cardiovascular disease to a higher likelihood of developing neurodegenerative disorders. Psychologists have long sought to understand the cognitive machinery that drives these negative outcomes. One prominent framework is the Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness. This theory suggests that isolation triggers a state of hypervigilance. The lonely brain becomes obsessively tuned to social signals …

Feelings of entrapment and powerlessness link job uncertainty to suicidality

Feelings of entrapment and powerlessness link job uncertainty to suicidality

Published by José Betancourt

A qualitative study in Scotland examined the links between financial instability, employment insecurity, and suicidality. Results indicated that financial stressors create a cycle of unmet basic needs, powerlessness, and social isolation. Job precarity and lack of support further exacerbate these relationships, contributing to suicidal ideation. The research was published in Death Studies. Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one’s own death. World Health Organization statistics indicate that 700,000 people die by suicide every year worldwide, making it a significant global public health issue. Although major religions have historically condemned suicide, contemporary public health and psychological perspectives view it as a preventable outcome arising from complex interactions rather than a moral failing. Suicide rarely has a single cause; instead, it reflects the intersection of personal, relational, community, and societal factors. Economic instability, job insecurity, and financial distress are consistently linked to higher suicide risk, with those in insecure employment disproportionately affected. Evidence from the U.K. and Scotland shows particularly high vulnerability among working-age adults, even as poverty increasingly affects households where someone is employed. Precarious …

What is emotional hunger? Food anxiety expert shares how to stop ‘eating your feelings’

What is emotional hunger? Food anxiety expert shares how to stop ‘eating your feelings’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Take a second to think: do you find yourself reaching for snacks the moment you feel stressed or overwhelmed? When we start using food to cope with our problems, we enter a cycle that pits the simple act of eating against our own body image.  This is a key theme explored by therapist and food anxiety specialist Miriam Salinas Gascón, who is sharing the expert-backed secrets to finally breaking free from diet culture. How deep does the link between food and feelings go? “Our relationship with food and our emotions starts from the very beginning – the moment a mother first offers the breast or the bottle.  “In that intimate moment, she isn’t just providing nutrition; she’s giving us love, security and a sense of belonging. This ‘nutri-emotional’ connection stays with us throughout our lives – it’s a universal human experience.” © Universal Images Group via GettyOur relationship with food starts in childhood Why does this relationship sometimes turn toxic? “The relationship often unravels when we use food to quiet unexpressed emotions, or when we …

Why Some People Think in Words, While Others Think in Pictures & Feelings

Why Some People Think in Words, While Others Think in Pictures & Feelings

Published by José Betancourt

The age of social media has shown human­i­ty a fair few truths about itself, not all of them flat­ter­ing. But once in a while, one of the waves of dis­course that roll through the inter­net real­ly does help us bet­ter under­stand one anoth­er. Take the sur­prise some have expressed in recent years upon find­ing out that the expres­sion to “pic­ture” some­thing in one’s head isn’t just a fig­ure of speech. You mean that peo­ple “pic­tur­ing an apple,” say, haven’t been just think­ing about an apple, but actu­al­ly see­ing one in their heads? The inabil­i­ty to do that has a name: aphan­ta­sia, from the Greek word phan­ta­sia, “image,” and pre­fix –a, “with­out.” That same tem­plate has late­ly been used to cre­ate anoth­er term, anen­dopha­sia, whose roots endo and pha­sia mean “inner” and “speech.” As you might expect, the word refers to the lack of an inter­nal mono­logue. That sounds bizarre to many who hear it for the first time: some because they can’t imag­ine think­ing in words, and oth­ers because they can’t imag­ine think­ing in any­thing else. …

You Can Almost Always Tell Someone Is Hiding Their True Feelings By These 14 Obvious Behaviors

You Can Almost Always Tell Someone Is Hiding Their True Feelings By These 14 Obvious Behaviors

Published by Jenni Sidey

It’s an art at this point, being so disciplined when it comes to expressing your feelings. It’s recognizing you feel a certain way and being completely on top of how you react, which is almost always placidly to any given situation.  But then in moments of solitude, when those emotions surface, it can be overwhelming. It’s not so much that you guard your feelings; it’s that you keep them to yourself until they eventually explode. Here are the obvious behaviors that suggest someone is hiding their true feelings.  From subtle communication changes to emotional contradictions that don’t quite add up, these signs reveal what words often try to conceal and why paying attention to them can change how you understand the people around you. You can almost always tell someone is hiding their true feelings by these 14 obvious behaviors: 1. They seem calm on the surface, but something feels off Because screaming all those feelings out in public is not only scary but can cause a big scene. So instead, you just hold it all …