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.” …
I know exactly what it feels like to ‘not feel like yourself’. I’ve been in such situations so many times. You feel out of alignment. You feel something’s off. You can’t quite put a finger on what’s off. You say things like: “I don’t feel like myself lately.”“I don’t feel like myself anymore.” What’s going …
We don’t take things personally. It just happens. I mean, we have little conscious control over it when it happens. Like many other thoughts and emotions, we can only deal with this psychological phenomenon post hoc. We can only manage it after it has happened. Why does it happen, though? We take things personally because …
If you’ve ever experienced that sudden feeling that you’re going to die, you know how powerful that feeling is. It hits you like a brick and induces a sense of panic. Moments ago, you were going about your usual business. Suddenly, you’re thinking about your death and what will happen after you die. In this …
A trauma bond is formed in abusive relationships. An abusive relationship is one where there’s a major power imbalance between the partners. The abusive partner exercises power control over the other partner- the victim of abuse. In a healthy relationship, the two partners have more or less equal power distribution. A trauma bond is formed …
Hatred motivates us to avoid pain. When we experience hatred, we distance ourselves from what causes us pain. So, if you hate talking to people, then ‘talking to people’ is a source of pain for you. Note that “I hate talking to people” is not necessarily the same as “I hate people”. You may be …
When things go wrong in your life, do you find yourself thinking: “Everything is my fault.”“I always mess everything up.” If you do, chances are you’re over-blaming yourself. Over-blaming or taking more than your fair share of responsibility for things can be just as bad as under-blaming. Things go wrong every once in a while …
As much as well-intentioned people try to create an equal society, it simply cannot happen. People organize themselves into status hierarchies wherever they are. Some people are more valuable and, therefore, higher in status than others. What determines who is valuable/high status and who isn’t? You and I don’t make these rules. It’s not up …
Technology has revolutionized how people communicate. We take for granted the fact that we can instantly drop a message to anyone anywhere in the world. And they can reply to it in an instant as well. People used to travel miles and miles to deliver messages, sometimes dying on the way. Those days are gone. …
Everyone likes to hear those three magical words. They make you feel special, wanted, important, and loved. But is there a thing as saying ‘I love you’ too much? What happens when you say ‘I love you’ too much in a relationship? People often say ‘I love you’ in a relationship when they feel and …