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

Productivity dysmorphia could explain why you feel down about your productivity, even when it’s clear to everyone else you’re doing a great job. It sits in “the intersection of burnout, imposter syndrome, and anxiety.”

Productivity dysmorphia

The key to battling productivity dysmorphia is recognizing intellectually that you’re meeting your goals and doing good work. It can be helpful to see those facts represented in a tangible way. <ul><li>Write down your to-do list regularly, but don’t be overwhelmed if it’s long. You’ll get it all done in a timely manner. You are more than capable.</li><li>Mark off each goal as you accomplish it. It’s important that you see your successes and wins. At the end of the day, even if only half of the items on the list are checked off, you’ll see how much work you really did. </li></ul>

Write down your to-do list

We get a lot of feedback during the workday that can go unappreciated because of the pace at which we work. Stop letting positive reinforcement pass you by. That’s what the productivity dysmorphia wants.Next time you get an email or Slack message thanking you for all your hard work, don’t just reply, “No problem.” Sit for a second and think about the message, whether it’s from your boss or a third-party connection.

Take positive messages to heart

Try to reconsider what you think of as “productivity.” <ul><li>It’s productive to get all your work done, yes, and productive to work out or devote a certain amount of time every night to your side job or hobby. </li><li>It’s also productive to rest. Relaxing and refreshing your mind and body will enable you to accomplish more in the near future without risking the dreaded burnout. Celebrate everything you do as a step toward productivity. Write down your rest periods, too. They count.</li></ul>

Reframe your idea of “productivity”

You've accomplished too much to feel that you haven't done enough.

productivity

Productivity

career

Career

How to Overcome ‘Productivity Dysmorphia’

We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without.

Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.﻿

All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason.

Genius is the ability to independently arrive at and understand concepts that would normally have to be taught by another person.

Seek not the favour of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of few; and number not voices, but weigh them.

Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another.

Whereas the beautiful is limited, the sublime is limitless, so that the mind in the presence of the sublime, attempting to imagine what it cannot, has pain in the failure but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the attempt.

A man abandoned by himself on a desert island would adorn neither his hut nor his person; nor would he seek for flowers, still less would he plant them, in order to adorn himself therewith. It is only in society that it occurs to him to be not merely a man, but a refined man after his kind (the beginning of civilization). For such do we judge him to be who is both inclined and apt to communicate his pleasure to others, and who is not contented with an object if he cannot feel satisfaction in it in common with others.

Space and time are the framework within which the mind is constrained to construct its experience of reality.

Man must be disciplined, for he is by nature raw and wild.

As nature has uncovered from under this hard shell the seed for which she most tenderly cares - the propensity and vocation to free thinking - this gradually works back upon the character of the people, who thereby gradually become capable of managing freedom; finally, it affects the principles of government, which finds it to its advantage to treat men, who are now more than machines, in accordance with their dignity.﻿

Skepticism is thus a resting-place for human reason, where it can reflect upon its dogmatic wanderings and make survey of the region in which it finds itself, so that for the future it may be able to choose its path with more certainty.﻿

One who makes himself a worm cannot complain afterwards if people step on him.

The people naturally adhere most to doctrines which demand the least self-exertion and the least use of their own reason, and which can best accommodate their duties to their inclinations.

Rules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher and an influential mind in the philosophy of Enlightenment. He promoted the idea that one should think feely and autonomously, without influence from authority or doctrine.

One of Kant’s core beliefs was that reason is the ultimate source of morality and that what we perceive as beauty and desirable is subjective and dependent on the mind of the individual.

Kant also proposed that because of our lack of information and tangible evidence, it is impossible to know whether or not God, or an afterlife, really exists. He put forward the sentiment that people

philosophy

Philosophy

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

Immanuel Kant: Greatest Quotes

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

A serial killer is the most mysterious and devious of criminals because he has no apparent motive for committing his crimes. With an inner urge to assault, sexually abuse, and kill, nurtured by endless fantasizing. A few serial rapists and killers have video- recorded their crimes; the videos show them to be exquisitely aroused by their victs cries of pain, and callous to their pleas for mercy. To normal human being, the tormentors appear to be monsters in human guise.Def. "a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone".

No Appparent Motive. 

Behavioral background, victim profiles, methods used, and location of the murders. Four types of serial murderers are identified: the 'visionary,' the 'mission-oriented,' 'hedonistic,' and 'power/control-oriented.' After considering the background and behavioral patterns of serial killers, aspects of developing a psychological profile of a serial murderer are discussed, followed by a profile of the 'lust' killer, a type of serial killer predominantly motivated by a quest for sexual gratification.

Types of serial murder. 

Although psychological gratification is the usual motive for serial killing, and most serial killings involve sexual contact with the victim, the FBI states that the motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking, financial gain, and attention seeking. The murders may be attempted or completed in a similar fashion. The victims may have something in common, for example, demographic profile, appearance, gender or race.

Main Areas In Killing. 

When the serial killer murders his first victim, he activates what is known as cyclical mechanism, entering a circular complex mental process, like an addiction, which leads him to kill again. The murder becomes the transposition of one or more mental images within a real context and the dynamic process is bound to repeat itself with particular features of rituals. The imagination is the fundamental elements of human psyche. Through imagination any mood, such as anger, for example,begins to take shape oriented towards a specific goal and specific direction. Imagine and kill. - Serial killer.

Serial killers fantasy

Distorted thinking phase: The subject is unable to properly assess the impact of a deviant act, as he fails to consider the consequences and is more interested in the emotional gratification that can result from his actions. Motivational phase: The stimulus is perceived as something personal and the distorted mentality of the subject produces a disproportionate response to incidents. Inner negative answer phase: at this point the murderer has to deal with feelings of inadequacy, especially when there are negative messages from the society that surrounds him.

Thought Patterns and Actions. 

External negative response phase: this element helps the subject to confirm his superiority as a person. There is no kind of interest in the possible consequences of his criminal actions. Restoration process: This phase restores the balance that the subject had at the beginning of the process. The killer also thinks about how to minimize personal risks in upcoming murders. The subject, therefore, completes the cycle and returns to the distorted thinking phase.

More Thought Patterns

Some individuals show a biological predisposition to violence due to deficits of the brain system which involve a low level of frustration tolerance. In the volatile brain structure, stress events and environmental traumas are added.He prefers to retreat into a private world of fantasies which satisfy him. After having committed the murder, the killer is ready to start the destructive cycle and become a serial killer. He chooses the victim and after the murder spends a period of relative calm in which he elaborates and relievs the murder he has just committed in his fantasy, until, once more.

Serial Killers: Biological Pedis positions.

Not all abused children become serial killers, and not all serial killers are victims of childhood abuse. However, the connection between the two cannot be dismissed as just coincidence. Personal traumas can affect behavioral choices.

Childhood (which makes them serial killer). 

Serial killers. 

Personality tests can be fun to take, but they can also be frustrating. They’re black and white. Most popular personality tests assume that people can be classified into distinct personality types. But, people don’t fit into neat boxes. Most people aren’t entirely introverted or entirely extroverted, for example.But despite the fact that many of these tests rely on a flawed framework, they’re still widely used by employers of all sizes. It’s easy to see why: We want to be able to understand how people can work better together.

Fitting People Into Neat Boxes

Myers-Briggs was developed in the 1940s, and there have been lots of advancements in the field of personality research since then. But the assessment, and ones like it, have staying power—especially in workplaces—because it feels like an easy way to match “types.” However, the test has a low test/retest reliability, meaning if you take it again, you’re not necessarily going to get the same results as you did the first time. Other kinds of measures, like the Big 5 personality characteristics, are more stable across one’s lifespan and so are more reliable.

The Problem With The Most Popular Personality Test: Myers-Briggs

Many personality assessments end with your being labelled as a certain “type.” For these tests, you are put on one pole or the other of one of these dimensions.But in fact, chances are, you’re probably in the middle of most of those core personality characteristics. And so it gives you a false sense of how extreme you are.You might get told that you are an extrovert because you’ve had to become comfortable leading meetings, but in reality, you don’t like to talk to strangers at parties and actually prefer to work alone.

No Room For Naunce

Are my personality test results wrong?

The fix: You’ve got plenty of time; the trick is being intentional about how you use it.There are 168 hours in a week. Even after you subtract 56 hours to sleep and 50 for work, you’re left with 62 hours.We have the power to fill our lives with the things that deserve to be there.If you truly want to start working out, you must place it high on your mental to-do list. Then you need to put it in your physical schedule, by planning your week before you’re in it.

Excuse #1: “I don’t have the time to exercise.”

The fix: Put yourself in the future.When it comes to temptation, we humans are engaged in a righteous struggle between our present self and our future self. Our future self knows it’s in our best interest to exercise, but “it’s an unequal battle” between the two selves.The present self is present. It’s in control. It can easily put donuts into your mouth. The future self is not even around, and so the present self can trounce all over its dreams.Engage in mental time travel.   Picture yourself in 20 or 30 years if you don’t start exercising.

Excuse #2: “I’m just so comfortable at home right now; I’ll start exercising next week.”

The fix: You can do both at the same time.Make it a rule that you can consume your favourite stories (Netflix/novel/podcast/news) only while exercising. “Temptation bundling” is what this pairing of a pleasurable activity with a desired habit is.

Excuse #3: “I’d much rather listen to This American Life/watch Netflix/catch up on the news"

The fix: People will judge, but you don’t need to be one of them.We live in a culture where being fat is seen as being a bad person — lazy, greedy, unhealthy, irresponsible and morally suspect. And we tend to see thinness as being universally good.Rather than seeing exercise as a way to punish ourselves for not being “perfect,” it can be a way for us to take care of our bodies.Reclaiming yourself can be one of the most gorgeous acts of self-love and can look like a million different things, from hairstyles to tattoos to body contouring to hormones to surgery and, yes, even weight loss.

Excuse #4: “I feel like I’m out of shape, and I dread going to the gym with all those workout fanatics staring at me.”

The fix: Take a tip from top athletes, and imagine a different scenario.You’ll frequently see Olympians frown right before they compete. Most of them are not worrying about the event (even though that’s what it looks like they’re doing). They’re engaging in imagery — visualizing what’s to come. Imagery is a mental rehearsal. This exercise is very effective: If you’re going for a run, what obstacles (bikers, traffic) will emerge? Picture yourself navigating around them.   Try to see every step as if you’re watching it in fast forward. Then take one last breath, open your eyes, and go.

Excuse #5: “When I think about working out, I picture myself panting, red-faced and in pain, so I find something else to do.”

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

How to exercise when it’s the last thing you want to do

History is not so much the story of great people steering events. History is what happens with the networks of men and women - when the networks trade, fight, complete, consume resources or lend support. Niall Ferguson, historian-by-trade, studies network science and has found six historic networks laws. By understanding these laws, we can discover how to use them strategically.

Networking is central to history

Individuals tend to associate and bond with others similar to themselves - known as homophily. This can be seen at school or in the boardroom. When we make our networks more inclusive and cultivate good relationships, we don't narrow our networking potential but expand it.

Birds of a feather

In a famous letter experiment, Stanley Milgram showed roughly six degrees of separation between any two random individuals. Other studies suggest that social media lessened the degrees of separation. We can use this knowledge to make networking less intimidating. Your network has more connections than you think. So reach out to them.

It's a small world

Your network structure is as important to spread ideas as the content. Superconnectors are the influencers, policymakers and people who are known throughout history. Their status as superconnectors is one reason why they remain famous. If you learn to recognise superconnectors, you can use their connections to your advantage. For example, if a superconnector shares your product or name, it will spread through their connections.

Identify the superconnectors

Networks are complex systems whose behaviours are hard to predict: For example,  superconnectors can become outcasts, new networks can form, or new combinations can make stronger connections. Keep observing and tapping into new networks. While you may feel comfortable in the current paradigm, don't let it become stagnant. Continually pursue improvements.

Networks never sleep

Networks have interactions; they can meet, combine, and fight. Because networks network, you and your company have much more connections than you can imagine.

Networks network with networks through networks

Some nodes are better connected than others. This creates influencers. Some networks benefit from a hierarchical structure, such as the military, while others benefit from being more equal, such as university members.

Networks are inegalitarian

strategy

Strategy

6 laws for strategic networking

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.

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

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

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