Can Praise Make Kids Quit Sooner?
“You’re so smart.” It rolls off the tongue when a child brings home a great test score, finishes a tricky puzzle, or says something unexpectedly clever. It sounds like the safest kind of encouragement. Who wouldn’t want a child to feel capable? But I wondered about...
When Is It Withdrawal?
Someone reduces or stops an antidepressant. A few days later, they feel dizzy, agitated, sleepless, emotionally raw, or suddenly unlike themselves. What happened? That sounds like a straightforward question until you notice how much rides on the answer. If it is...
Can Loneliness Change How You Think?
We tend to talk about loneliness as if it belongs in the same category as a bad mood. You feel lonely. You call a friend. You join something. Problem solved. But I wondered whether that framing misses something bigger. If loneliness persists, does it merely make life...
Can a Diagnosis Change Who You Are?
There’s a particular kind of relief that can come with finally having a name for something. Maybe years of scattered experiences begin to make sense. Maybe there’s language for a struggle that had felt private, confusing, or somehow like a personal failure. A...