Hanan Parvez 
Emotion is one of the most complex, highly-debated topics in psychology. Even after decades of research, there still isn’t a consensus on what constitutes an emotion. You can’t define what you can’t clearly understand. As a result, there’s no universal definition of emotion.1 Still, a definition we can work with would be: Emotions are signals
The mind is usually good at handling pain. Pain is your mind and body’s way of alerting you that something’s gone wrong and needs fixing. Sometimes, however, the stress and pain become too much for the mind to handle. For example, the mind may shut down or dissociate when faced with severe trauma. We all
Our attachment styles are primarily shaped in childhood, and they affect how we relate to people, especially romantic partners, in adulthood. The two main attachment styles are secure and insecure. A securely attached individual experiences minimal problems in relationships. They experience the perfect balance between independence and dependence in relationships. Insecurely attached individuals, in contrast,
Anhedonia comes from the Greek an-, meaning ‘not, without’, and hedone, meaning ‘pleasure.’ Hence, a person with anhedonia experiences a reduced ability to experience pleasure. Alternatively, it can be defined as ‘a decreased sensitivity to pleasurable stimuli’. When
Abuse is a pattern of behavior that causes harm. The harm may be physical, psychological, financial, or legal. Physical, financial, or legal damage is easy to identify. Psychological or emotional abuse often happens under the radar. I’ve previously created an emotional abuse test that you can use to see if you’re being abused in a
Addiction can be defined as experiencing a loss of control when doing an activity leading to repetitive engagement in that activity. When you’re addicted to something, you over-invest your resources (time and energy) into it because you can’t help it. We all know that people tend to get addicted to drugs, alcohol, food, shopping, gambling,
Humans are social species. For any social species, social cohesion matters. Social cohesion is achieved when individuals can live together in reciprocal, ‘I scratch your back, and you scratch mine’ relationships. An individual enters a reciprocal relationship with someone who adds value to their life. Valuable or high-value people, therefore, can better form relationships and
Keeping your hands in your pockets is one of those body language gestures that can have multiple, seemingly contradictory meanings. In body language, the meaning of some gestures is straightforward. You only need to observe one or two gestures to reach a conclusion. In other cases, such as the ‘hands in pockets’ gesture, you need
Dreams are usually a reflection of our waking life. The desires, concerns, conflicts, and challenges you face in your waking life get mirrored to you in your dreams. Sometimes dreams are straightforward, and sometimes they’re layered with symbolism. The more a dream uses symbols, the harder you have to work to interpret it. Dreaming about
Humans are social species. Among the most profound human needs are the need to belong and feel included. Blocking someone on your phone is a modern form of social exclusion. It’s a way of communicating to the blocked person (blockee): “I don’t want you in my life. I don’t want anything to do with you.”