Deep BiologyOur Fight‑or‑Flight Response Is More Than Just Instinct, Scientists Find A key protein in our muscles regulates how quickly we respond to a real-life threat. By Devrupa Rakshit
What's So Funny?Is This Normal? “I Make Terrible Jokes When I’m Nervous” Resorting to humor activates the endorphin system in the brain, making it easier for people to withstand difficult situations. By Devrupa Rakshit
Riddle Me ThisThe Right Amount of Stress Can Actually Strengthen Our Brains: Study Some stressors “force you to solve a problem, and this might actually be good for cognitive functioning…." By Liesl Goecker
Flutters Under The SkinWhat Causes Those Pesky Muscle Twitches? Lifestyle issues, ranging from lack of sleep to dehydration to overexertion, can cause isolated, momentary muscle flutters. By Rajvi Desai
Decluttering The MindWhy Some People Find Cleaning Therapeutic The repetition and predictability of cleaning can give individuals a sense of control during stressful times. By Devrupa Rakshit
Face TimeIs This Normal? “I Can’t Stop Touching My Face” Face touching is an unconscious technique for managing stress and other emotions. By Rajvi Desai
Cry Me A RiverWhy Some People Are More Sensitive Than Others Becoming easily overwhelmed by physical and emotional stimuli is a personality trait for an estimated 20% of the general population. By Devrupa Rakshit
Crying Myself To SleepWhy Do We Feel So Tired After A Good Cry? When we cry, our heart rate increases and breathing slows down, reducing the amount of oxygen the brain receives, which leads to drowsiness. By Devrupa Rakshit
Breathe DeepStress Has Made Us Shallow Breathers. Here’s What It Does To Our Bodies. Stress begets shallow breathing, and shallow breathing begets more stress. By Rajvi Desai
Mental Health CrisisChildren Who Experience Early Life Stress More Likely to Develop Youth‑Onset Depression: Study Sexual abuse, physical abuse, death of a family member, domestic violence, and emotional abuse were associated with significantly higher risk for youth-onset MDD. By Devrupa Rakshit
MenstressedLockdown Stress Is Disrupting Menstrual Cycles Gynecologists believe that stress, in addition to lifestyle changes and the lack of physical exercise under lockdown, is leading to period irregularities. By Devrupa Rakshit
Lights OutIs This Normal? “I Feel Sleepy When I’m Stressed” It's a kind of stress response called "learned helplessness" that renders the individual passive in the face of stress. By Rajvi Desai
Everyone Has Their RoleAre You the Pandemic Prepper, or the Freeloading Denier? Certain personality traits make us cope with stress in different ways. By Liesl Goecker
Too Stressed Didn't EatSome People Tend to Stress‑Eat, While Others Stress‑Starve The difference between either reaction depends on whether people want to focus on their stress or distract themselves. By Aditi Murti
Grey's AnatomyStress Accelerates the Greying of Hair, and Scientists Now Know How Stress excites pigment-producing cells in hair follicles to work extra hard, which drains their reserve of hair color. By Rajvi Desai
GroundbreakingResearchers Find Blood Biomarker That Can Potentially Help Prevent, Cure PTSD Researchers discovered a malfunctioning collection of proteins involved in cellular function, and found a way to fix it, preventing the brain from replaying trauma. By Aditi Murti
Say Yes To The StressEverything You Need to Know About That Vague but Heavy Feeling of Stress Turns out, stress is only as damaging to our health as we think it is. By Pallavi Prasad
A Long WayAs Corporate Mental Health Programs Gain Popularity, Navigating Individual Struggles at Work Still Difficult Stigma and productivity concerns keep conversations between employers and employees about individual mental health out of reach. By Anubhuti Matta
