When you’re struggling to speak to yourself kindly, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thelatestkate/?hl=en">The Latest Kate </a>has a cute animal to do it for you. The adorable characters in her original artwork cover themes like body positivity, self-love and self-care, and battling depression and anxiety. Kate also includes quick tips for dealing with mental health issues, like counting in 10-second increments to deal with anxiety.

1. The Latest Kate 

Bianca’s struggles with depression, anxiety and alcoholism led her on a path to help others with their mental health journeys. She focuses on the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/youarecomplete/?hl=en">spiritual side of mental health </a>in order to “teach people how to connect with and harness their intuition to become the fullest most badass version of themselves.”

2. Bianca L. Rodriguez

As a registered Health Psychologist in the United Kingdom, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/healthpsychologyclinic/?hl=en">Joanna Konstantopoulou </a>specializes in the intersection of physical and mental health. She posts mental health tips, nutrition advice, and encouraging quotes. Her biggest piece of mental health advice? Prioritize self-care.

3. Joanna Konstantopoulou

Years ago, Heidi experienced an 18-month episode of suicidal depression, debilitating anxiety, and explosive PTSD, which inspired her to begin studying trauma and neuropsychology. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/heidiwilliams89/?hl=en">Her Instagram feed </a>is filled with photos of gorgeous yoga poses across the Salt Lake City landscape, and her captions share advice on dealing with mental health struggles. She says that working with her nervous system is what sparked her radical journey with healing, and she wants to teach her followers how they can utilize the same approach.

4. Heidi Williams

Sara-Jayne grew up in a Catholic household where talking about mental illness was taboo. “I knew the way that I thought and felt things was different, but it wasn't until my early twenties that I realized just how impactful it was on my whole life,” she tells Verywell. When she decided to seek professional help as an adult, she was diagnosed with <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-clinical-depression-1067309">major depressive disorder </a>, <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/dsm-5-criteria-for-generalized-anxiety-disorder-1393147">generalized anxiety disorder </a>, and later, <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/requirements-for-ptsd-diagnosis-2797637">post-traumatic stress disorder </a>.

5. Sara-Jayne Poletti

Sometimes, laughter is the best form of self-care. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/itsthecwolf/?hl=en">Christina </a>started her Instagram back in 2013 as a comedy account. When she shared the humor she found in her mental health struggles, her followers told her how much it helped them, and she knew she had to continue to share those experiences.

6. Christina Wolfgram

As Amy struggled with depression and anxiety, she found that following accounts where people shared their mental health stories made her feel less alone. A little over a year ago, she finally decided to start <a href="https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/">her own account </a>to share her mental health struggles. Her feed is filled with flowers, books, coffee, and encouraging quotes, paired with honest accounts of her journey with mental health issues.

7. Anxiety Sugar

Akanksha originally started her account as a platform to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thatsappywriter/?hl=en">share her poetry </a>, but she began to steer her content toward sharing her experience with anxiety, which she was diagnosed with at age 16.“Having people around you, who understand and love you, can be groundbreaking," she tells Verywell. "We cannot undermine the power of sheer love. That's what this account is, for me and the followers, a space to love, talk without apprehensions, and discuss our daily struggles.”

8. That Sappy Writer

Beth learned from personal experience how much therapy can help with anxiety, which inspired her to pursue a career in psychology. Now a Licensed Professional Counselor, she specializes in treating disorders like anxiety, OCD, and body-focused repetitive behaviors.

9. Beth Brawley

With a quick glance at Jera's <a href="https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/">Instagram feed</a>, she might seem like a typical influencer with a glamorous life. But a closer look reveals the reality behind her beautiful photos: she opens up about learning to be okay with weight gain, mild freakouts about hairy toes, and struggling with social anxiety. For Jera, one of the beautiful things about Instagram is that it allows us to connect with others and feel less alone, which is especially important for invisible struggles like mental illness.

10. Jera Foster-Fell

These Instagrammers are sharing their mental health journeys and removing the stigma around mental illness, one post at a time.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

health

Health

mentalhealth

Mental Health

10 Instagram Accounts That Destigmatize Mental Health

This “critical inner voice” exists in all of us, reminding us constantly that we aren’t good enough and don’t deserve what we want. As long as we are listening to this dangerous critic that twists our reality, we cannot really trust our own perceptions of what others think of us.Once we lose confidence or our sense of self, we’ll no longer act like ourselves.

What is our “critical inner voice”?

Chances are, it is this destructive “voice” we are hearing every time we tell ourselves, “nobody likes me.”<ul><li> It’s also this voice that instructs us to avoid situations where we’d get to know people.</li><li> It shuts us up in social situations, makes us nervous, so we don’t act like ourselves.</li><li> It confuses us with its ceaseless stream of self-shaming observations and self-limiting advice, leaving us anxious and stifled. .</li></ul>

Effects Of This Inner Voice

<ol><li>If a parent thought of us as lazy, helpless or as a troublemaker, we tend to incorporate these attitudes toward ourselves on an unconscious level throughout our lives. </li><li>Add to this the many other social experiences we had where we felt put down, shamed or rejected (a teacher who humiliated us in front of our class, a bully at school who put us down on a daily basis), and we can start to see how our inner critic took shape.</li></ol>

Where does the “voice” that “nobody likes me” come from?

The critical inner voice strongly influences feelings of isolation, loneliness and social anxiety<a href="https://www.psychalive.org/isolation-and-loneliness/"> </a>. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we start to see the world as threatening or not accepting of us, we are much more likely to act in ways that push away or alienate others. In order to challenge our loneliness, we have to challenge the negative filter through which we see ourselves and the world around us. We have to take on our critical inner voice.

Dealing with Isolation and Loneliness

There are five important steps to overcoming this inner critic.Step One: Get to know what your inner critic is telling you Step Two: Think about where these critical attitudes come from Step Three: Talk back to your critical inner voice Step Four: Think about how your voices affect your actions Step Five: Change your behavior

Overcoming the Critical Inner Voice

There is perhaps no more painful thought in the world than that of “nobody likes me.” It’s an easy self-attack to indulge and dwell on when we feel isolated, depressed, anxious or insecure.

communication

Communication

“Nobody Likes Me:” Understanding Loneliness and Self-shame - PsychAlive

Overthinking goes into overdrive when we keep revisiting decisions we make, refusing to close the door on a call that has been made. Believe that you’ve done your due diligence, and revisit something you’ve already decided only when you’re presented with new information.

1. Reopen the door only when new information knocks.

Constantly ruminating and going over scenarios and possibilities often disguises itself as problem solving. It feels like you’re doing something good and useful. But you’re not, you’re just spinning in a circle. Recognize when you’re overthinking something, don’t act like it’s problem solving, and press fast-forward.

2. Know that overthinking and problem solving aren't the same thing.

This is a formula, a ratio, for how you should calculate how you value yourself, based on 90 percent self-worth, 10 percent assigned worth. Ninety percent should come from your self-acceptance and self-appreciation, and just 10 percent from that occasional sliver of external validation we all need.Overthinkers distort the formula, even reversing it by acting like 90 percent of their worth comes from what others think or say. So they worry, which takes the form of--you guessed it--overthinking.

3. Remember the 90-10 rule.

Overthinkers read too much into things. Why? They’re assuming something bad lies underneath, something like a bad perception, someone wishing them ill, or an unfavorable outcome. When you catch yourself doing this, switch your assumption to what you're reading into was well-intended, or at least neutral. The vast majority of the time, it really is, so why not act like it?

4. Assume good intent.

News flash: You can’t read the future, you can’t read minds, and you can’t know everything. So don’t try. Thinking harder doesn’t activate the crystal ball.

5. Embrace informed ignorance.

When we don’t know something, we tend to fill in the blanks, often with garbage assumptions. Why? Many of us would rather be unhappy than uncertain. Garbage assumptions can take many forms, all infusing themselves into the inner monologue of the overthinker.

6. Embrace uncertainty.

Overthinkers keep asking themselves “what if,” which is an impossible question to answer. If you catch yourself asking “what if,” quickly switch it to “we’ll see,” which is a way of moving past analysis paralysis to acceptance.

7. Replace “what if” with “we’ll see.”

By this I mean stop spending so much time in your head. Get outside it and switch gears to connect with what's going on around you so you can take joy in it. It can be dark and foreboding inside that head of yours, no?

8. Get outside and play.

Overthinking also comes from overworrying about the worse-case scenario, which of course no one wants to experience. But ask yourself, “What is the probability the undesirable outcome will actually occur?” Odds are, not very high.

9. Do the math.

Related to the above, this means stop taking small details and turning them into questionable conclusions. Stop making a mountain out of a molehill. Unlike at the mall, this kind of escalator lifts nobody up.

10. Stop framing the unremarkable as catastrophic.

We often feel the need to overthink because we simply fear being wrong. It might make sense to overthink things if you’re planning to jump your motorbike over the Grand Canyon or to go swimming with a great white shark. As for overthinking the decision you made in that meeting yesterday? Not so much.Ask yourself in such moments what the realistic cost of being wrong is. When you can lower the stakes, you raise your ability to get mentally unstuck.So don’t overthink it. Take the inspiration here and run with it. Without looking back.

11. Evaluate the true impact of being wrong.

Getting rid of overthinking isn't easy. Thanks to these outstanding ideas by Scott Mautz that make solutions simple for us.

problemsolving

Problem Solving

11 Mental Tricks to Stop Overthinking Everything

Sometimes, you isolate yourself in a room for personal space, and it doesn’t make you feel lonely at all. On the other hand, you may sometimes feel lonely even after being surrounded by a group of friends. Right?

Loneliness is not same as being alone, and it doesn’t have to do anything with your social skills, the number of friends you have, or the amount of money you possess. It is a universal feeling that is subjective for each individual.

Misconception

Everyone feels lonely from time to time. It is something hardwired in us for thousands of years now.

Reality

Being social animals, humans can interact with each other like no other living species ever imagined. We are developing rapidly, and in the last one hundred years, we’ve discovered many ways to stay connected with our loved ones. With the help of technology, we can call someone hundreds of miles away and connect with them instantly. We have laptops, mobile phones, and tons of other gadgets to make us feel less lonely. And yet, various studies show loneliness is increasing over time among people across the globe. So, why is it happening?

Acceptance

To understand it, we will first have to understand how evolution works. The evolution of a species is a slow process that happens by natural selection. It happens over the generations in a way where upcoming generations by default possess the traits which helped their ancestors to survive. For example, walking on two legs, feeling restless when you’re hungry, or itchy when you have to go to pee.

Evolution

For thousands of years, people used to live in small groups of 50 to 150 members. Each group was one big happy family. They all hunted together and gathered food and shelter for the whole group. For someone who was not a part of any group, survival was hard. There were wild animals, lesser food, and no one to take care of their kids if they fell sick. Being a part of the group was a sign of a secured future and offered good chances of survival.

History

Due to this, everybody wanted to be liked by other members of a group. Staying away from others and having no physical contact with them was risky. This developed fear in the human brain and our body came up with an idea of social fear to avoid it. Loneliness is nothing but a by-product of that fear.

Urge

Before the industrial revolution that took place in the 18th century, people used to stay at home. They worked on farms and returned to their families at night. With the rise in factories and industries, we started traveling to cities for a better lifestyle. The focus was turned from a group to an individual. As a result, joint families turned into nuclear families, and close relatives turned into extended families.

Industrialisation

Since then, we’re becoming modern so rapidly that our bodies are not capable of coping with that speed. We are relocating for jobs, changing schools/colleges, and switching careers. Everyone is leaving a social circle behind to find a new one, which isn’t easy. We are gaining more and more social connections, but losing close connections.

Relocating

We’re always busy with careers and responsibilities, and we have no time to form close bonds. Because of huge competition and desire for recognition, we now find it hard to trust others. We keep on pushing our boundaries until one day we wake up and realize that we’ve got no one by our side.

Struggle

Slowly and gradually, this temporary loneliness turns into a chronic condition that may result in depression or some other serious mental health problem. Once you reach this stage, you start pushing people away. It becomes difficult to think with a rational mind and decide whom to trust. You start doubting the intentions of every person around you. A genuine help from someone feels like a favor done in an expectation of something in return. You start acting normal and happy just to avoid looking vulnerable.

Consequences

Suppressing your true feelings will make things worst and you may end up doing something horrible. It may sound like an exaggeration, but it is true and more frequent than one can imagine. Almost every one of us has our biggest regrets from the time when we had no one to talk to, and we did something wrong in the heat of a moment. This can be avoided simply by helping others and accepting the help you need.

Put your ego aside and communicate with others. You don’t need any expertise or special qualification to show empathy. Just pick up your phone, and call that friend you haven’t talked to since college farewell. Text your ex and give them the closure they deserve. Pay a surprise visit to your parents living in a town. Thank your spouse more often. Send a gift to your child studying abroad. Sit with a random stranger in a coffee shop, a park, or a bar and listen to their story.

Solution

Your small gesture may cheer someone up, make their day, or save a life.

Loneliness is a silent killer. It may result in depression and various other mental health issues. Let's understand it and fight it together.

Loneliness isn't the same as being alone, and it doesn't have to do anything with your social skills, the number of friends you have, or the amount of money you possess.

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

Why do we feel lonely?

When a person endures <a href="https://thehumancondition.com/mental-health-and-conditions/trauma/">trauma</a>, whether from a singular, intense event or repeated or prolonged trauma, their body experiences physiological changes. These changes can affect their reactions and responses in situations throughout their lives. For instance, some people will interpret uncertainty in their environment as danger, leading to the activation of their fight, flight, or freeze responses. Polyvagal theory exercises attempt to restructure the mind-body reactions that occur due to this trauma.

Polyvagal Theory Exercises: Benefits and Examples

Polyvagal theory exercises seek to optimize the regulation of the body’s physiological state. They employ social interactions and evoke safety to disrupt and repair the physiological state and promote resilience.

Polyvagal Theory Exercises: Benefits and Examples - The Human Condition

MDMA (Extasy) is usually associated with loud music, partying etc. But taken as a couple, Katie Anderson shows, it has some very beneficial long term effects:<ul><li>It offers a clean state for the relationship. The warmth of the experience and the honest discussions clears up all the emotional build-up and refreshes the relationship.</li><li>It makes partners (especially men) more emotionally open. Which is quote meaningful, considering male emotional opaqueness is one of the major reasons for divorce.</li></ul>

Couples & MDMA

You feel like you are floating in warm goo. You feel totally protected and you can say anything. And no matter what she says, it makes me love her even more. It's the deepest level of connection you will ever have with someone.

Most of the research on MDMA is on PTSD. But it can be a powerful emotional lubricant for couples. 

MDMA (‘ecstasy’) is well-known for its pro-social effects including heightened empathy and openness. These effects seem to facilitate closeness yet there has been limited research looking at MDMA’s impact on romantic relationships. Research question: How do shared MDMA experiences influence a romantic relationship? Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 couples using a pluralistic approach. Results: Couples’ emotional environments were transformed: communication changed from knowing something on a rational, cognitive level to a deep, felt understanding; a protective bubble was formed around the couple: free from existing fears/judgments and an emotional sense of self was brought to the fore. Conclusion: The study opens up new understandings of the role of MDMA in romantic relationships through an appreciation of how emotional experience can be transformed by MDMA. It also points to a reconsideration of the therapeutic use of MDMA for couples. Biography Katie Anderson is a PhD student researching couples who take MDMA together and how they feel these ecstasy experiences have influenced their relationship. The research is qualitative and supervised by Professor Paula Reavey and Dr Zoë Boden. She completed her MSc Psychology at the University of East London in 2013, where her dissertation explored the meaning of MDMA experiences to users, and has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge.

MDMA (‘ecstasy’) is well-known for its pro-social effects including heightened empathy and openness. These effects seem to facilitate closeness yet there has been limited research looking at MDMA’s impact on romantic relationships. Research question: How do shared MDMA experiences influence a romantic relationship? Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 couples using a pluralistic approach. Results: Couples’ emotional environments were transformed: communication changed from knowing something on a rational, cognitive level to a deep, felt understanding; a protective bubble was formed around the couple: free from existing fears/judgments and an emotional sense of self was brought to the fore. Conclusion: The study opens up new understandings of the role of MDMA in romantic relationships through an appreciation of how emotional experience can be transformed by MDMA. It also points to a reconsideration of the therapeutic use of MDMA for couples.

Biography

Katie Anderson is a Ph.D. student researching couples who take MDMA together and how they feel these ecstasy experiences have influenced their relationship. The research is qualitative and supervised by Professor Paula Reavey and Dr. Zoë Boden. She completed her MSc in Psychology at the University of East London in 2013, where her dissertation explored the meaning of MDMA experiences to users, and has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge. ***********
To keep yourself up to date with psychedelic research, come celebrate the latest discoveries in our next in-person ICPR conference organized by the OPEN Foundation: 

https://icpr-conference.com/

See you there!

OPEN Foundation

MDMA’s impact on romantic relationships - Katie Anderson

MDMA for Couples

For people with borderline personality disorder socializing can be hard. People can say hurtful things so we can feel safer alone.

BPD And Solitude

When you feel safe consistently, you are able to focus on yourself. You can read about your issues, meditate, learn about all sorts of things. You can work on yourself, do DBT ( Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, the most evidence based therapy for personality disorders) and get to a point where you are more open to socializeagain.

Solitude Can Be Healing

When you are alone, you can be yourself. Do whatever you want, watch whatever you want. Embrace this freedom.

There Is Freedom In Solitude

Just because you are lonely today, it doesn't mean that you will feel this way forever. As you connect with yourself, loneliness can turn into content solitude. I lost myself in loneliness and found myself in solitude. Maybe it can happen to you too.

Loneliness Today Can Mean Solitude Tomorrow

As someone with BPD, solitude has been a big part of my healing. I went from being lonely to feeling content in my solitude.

Solitude and BPD go hand in hand, many times. It feels safer. No one can see me cry or be upset. No one can say hurtful things. Our house or our room is our cocoon where hopefully we can heal. It's hard to understand how sensitive we are. It can be hard to understand us.…

"...the pain of our anger preserves the very integrity of our self."

the pain of our anger preserves the very integrity of our self

Venting anger may serve to maintain, and even rigidify, the old rules and patterns in a relationship, thus ensuring that change does not occur.

Rather, I speak here of “response-ability”—that is, the ability to observe ourselves and others in interaction and to respond to a familiar situation in a new and different way.

Many of our problems with anger occur when we choose between having a relationship and having a self.

Making a long-term relationship work is a difﬁcult business because it requires the capacity to strike a balance between individualism (the “I”) and togetherness (the “we”).

empty-shell marriage

The Dance of Anger is a book any woman should read to change the patterns of their toxic relationship.

The renowned classic and New York Times bestseller Anger is something we feel. It exists for a reason and always deserves our respect and attention. We all have a right to everything we feel—and certainly our anger is no exception. "Anger is a signal and one worth listening to," writes Dr. Harriet Lerner in her renowned classic that has transformed the lives of millions of readers. While anger deserves our attention and respect, women still learn to silence our anger, to deny it entirely, or to vent it in a way that leaves us feeling helpless and powerless. In this engaging and eminently wise book, Dr. Lerner teaches both women and men to identify the true sources of anger and to use it as a powerful vehicle for creating lasting change. For decades, this book has helped millions of readers learn how to turn their anger into a constructive force for reshaping their lives. With a new introduction by the author, The Dance of Anger is ready to lead the next generation.

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

books

Books

The renowned classic and New York Times bestseller that has transformed the lives of millions of readers, dramatically changing how women and men view relationships. Anger is something we feel. It exists for a reason and always deserves our respect and attention. We all have a right to everything we feel—and certainly our anger is no exception."Anger is a signal and one worth listening to," writes Dr. Harriet Lerner in her renowned classic that has transformed the lives of millions of readers. While anger deserves our attention and respect, women still learn to silence our anger, to deny it entirely, or to vent it in a way that leaves us feeling helpless and powerless. In this engaging and eminently wise book, Dr. Lerner teaches both women and men to identify the true sources of anger and to use it as a powerful vehicle for creating lasting change.For decades, this book has helped millions of readers learn how to turn their anger into a constructive force for reshaping their lives. With a new introduction by the author, The Dance of Anger is ready to lead the next generation.

Harriet Lerner

Dance of Anger

If you login to Instagram right now and search for #depression, you’ll see a warning. It reads: “Posts with words you’re searching for often encourage behavior that can cause harm and even lead to death.”You can bypass this warning and see the tagged posts. Or you can click on a “Get Support” button that leads you to depression-focused resources or recommendations. The first of those recommendations is “Talk to a Friend.” It encourages you to call or text someone you trust.

Social media may be dangerous

According to reporting from CNET, Instagram and other social media sites first started to implement these warnings last year. They began by flagging content related to eating disorders and negative body image, and have since expanded the program to depression and other forms of psychological distress.The fact that social sites like Instagram are directing vulnerable people away from their platforms and toward real-world connections may not seem like a big deal. But it is a big admission.

The REPORT

For years, some researchers — notably Jean Twenge, PhD, at San Diego State University — have been trying to warn us that social media can be risky, perhaps especially for young people or those with mental health challenges. But social media’s defenders have often argued that these platforms allow vulnerable or marginalized people to connect with others like themselves, which is surely a good thing.This defense was always speculative. There is very little evidence indicating that social media-based support groups or communities are beneficial.

Advice From Experts

Also, researchers have found that members of vulnerable groups may feel better after spending time away from social media. For example, a 2020 study on LGBTQ youths who attended a social media-free summer camp found “across the board” reductions in depressive symptoms among those teens who’d spent the most time on social before attending the camp. “When we’re vulnerable we tend to reach out via social media, but those are also the times when social media may present the biggest challenges for us,” says Brian Primack, a professor of public health and medicine at the University of Arkansas.

Researches 

If you can’t stay away from social media, Primack recommends trying to limit your time on it as much as possible. If you’re a heavy user, trying to trim your habit to less than two hours a day may be beneficial, his research suggests.He also offers this advice: “Focus on small groups, including chat clusters with one or a few people at a time. This can help you focus on the people you feel closest to.” In other words, try to make your time on social media more like a real-world gathering with friends.

Overcoming Addiction

Social Media Addiction could be dangerous🤯

If you login to Instagram right now and search for #depression, you’ll see a warning. It reads: “Posts with words you’re searching for often encourage behavior that can cause harm and even lead to…

parenting

Parenting

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

Social Media, Like Alcohol, May Be Riskier When You’re Vulnerable

Lol. This is like elementary school all over again. We need to make friends because we need friends. While old friends are , nothing stays the same forever. They move away or have their time taken up by child-rearing or their careers. Without friends, loneliness can quietly grow around you and chronic loneliness <a href="https://theconversation.com/loneliness-on-its-way-to-becoming-britains-most-lethal-condition-94775">can be lethal </a>— the equivalent impact of 15 <a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/61231-smoking-addiction-brain-cell-change">cigarettes </a>a day on mortality rates.

Why Do We Need To Make Friends

1. The Lack of TrustResearch shows people found it harder to put their trust in someone new and fully invest in them as a friend compared to when they were younger. Especially the women. As adults, we have greater self-awareness than children. While that is often positive, it also means we’re more aware of the risks of being judged, of being rejected and of other people not having the purest of intentions. We've all seen and heard of the nasty things people could do with what little informafion they get from you.

Why Is It Hard To Make Friends

For most of us, obligations increase with age: demanding work schedules, involved family lives and so on; with these obligations it can be hard to carve out time to invest in a promising new friend-- to really get to know them and to share a part of you with them.

Lack Of Time

So how long does it take for people to become friends? US researchers have tried to quantify this: roughly 50 hrs of shared contact for acquaintances to become casual friends. More than 200 hrs to become close friends? Even longer in Asian countries where personal connection is important, professional interactions with colleagues don't count and casual check-ins and joking around are just as important.

How Long Does It Take For People To Become Friends

There are many other barriers stopping us from having the friendships we want. <ul><li>Having an introverted personality</li><li>health barriers</li><li>personal insecurities</li><li>maintaining a formal facade and not allowing potential friends in (fornfear of rejection)</li><li>Illness and disability (Older people) </li></ul>

Other barriers Preventing Us From Forming Friendships 

1. BUILD FRIENDSHIPS FOR TEN MINUTES A DAYTen min a day may be all you need to maintain existing friendships and build new ones. Send a text, forward a meme, add to the group chat or give someone a quick call. 2. MAKE THE MOST OF ANY TIME SPENT WITH POTENTIAL FRIENDSWhen you do get the chance to properly spend time with a friend or acquaintance, make the most of it and be present. Avoid distractions if possible, keep social media for the couch at home.

How Can We Get Better At Making Friends

Yes, there is a risk in being vulnerable – but there is also the potential to connect on a meaningful level with another person who may very well become a good friend. You are in control of how much you trust and how much you open up. If you struggle with trust, share personal information slowly. A friend who truly likes you wouldn't pry.

3. LEAN INTO YOUR VULNERABILITY

Research suggests chronic loneliness can be lethal-the equivalent impact of 15 cigarettes a day on mortality rates

Many people try to keep their circle of old friends as long as possible, given the trust they may have built up over many years.

How to make friends as an adult: 3 psychology-backed tips

Find 100+ Mental Health Tips & Facts - Curated from sources like Books, Podcasts, Articles - Insights by Real Users looking to share Insights on Mental Health