John Cox

Blogs · @wyome

Tagged mental health · everything

www.npr.org

No, you shouldn't buy it. Why some people are giving up shopping for a year

A fashion industry professional who spent $600 on an unneeded coat decided to undertake a year-long no-buy challenge, eliminating purchases of non-essential items and saving tens of thousands of dollars while reducing her shopping-induced dopamine dependency. The article provides practical strategies for the challenge including creating intentional shopping lists, limiting social media exposure to retail temptation, and understanding the environmental and labor harms of fast fashion, while noting that participants often report improved mental health and greater consumption awareness alongside financial gains.

Permalink minimalismsustainabilitymental healthpersonal finance

The American Legion

8 servicemembers in Lincoln strike group attempted suicide on recent deployment | The American Legion

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao disclosed that eight servicemembers aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln attempted suicide during a deployment exceeding 200 days of combat operations in the Middle East, contradicting earlier dismissals of mental health concerns by Trump administration officials and military leadership as "dishonest" media reports. The revelation came in a letter to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand after Stars and Stripes and other outlets had reported deteriorating conditions aboard the carrier during an extended deployment nearing a post-Vietnam War record, prompting calls for investigation from lawmakers. The Navy emphasized that no actual suicides occurred and that adequate mental health resources were available, while the service announced plans to improve future deployments through increased logistics and quality-of-life measures.

Permalink wellnessmental healthnewsmilitary

YouTube

www.fastcompany.com

www.nytimes.com

The Orphans of Flight 723

After her mother's death in 2021, Michelle Brennen discovered a box of documents about Delta Flight 723, the 1973 crash that killed her father when she was ten, and spent two years tracking down the other 88 passengers' families to understand how the tragedy had shaped their lives. She discovered striking parallels in their experiences—unprocessed grief, life paths dramatically altered, childhood exclusion from mourning rituals—and organized a 50th anniversary gathering at Logan Airport that became a moment of collective reckoning, particularly when the pilot's granddaughter spoke publicly to defend her grandfather's memory against decades of blame. The piece explores whether shared grief and community can provide healing that decades of individual silence could not, weaving together research on trauma and loss with intimate portraits of how one catastrophe rippled across multiple families for half a century.

Permalink healthhistorymental healthaviation

www.cnbc.com

Want to sound and feel more confident? Ditch these 11 phrases from your vocabulary, say psychologists

The piece presents eleven negative self-talk phrases that undermine confidence and accomplishment, offering alternative reframes for each based on insights from behavioral scientists and psychologists. The core argument is that small linguistic shifts—from "I have to" to "I get to," from "I failed" to "this attempt didn't work," from passive to active language—can fundamentally change how we perceive challenges and our ability to overcome them. The reframes work by reducing the sense of obligation and finality in our internal dialogue, replacing fatalism with growth mindset and agency.

Permalink self-improvementcommunicationleadershippsychology

www.apartmenttherapy.com

I Started a “Dopamine Menu,” and It Helped Me Cut Down on Clutter

A dopamine menu—a list of small, satisfying tasks like making beds, organizing drawers, or washing dishes—can replace the urge to shop for unnecessary items by providing the same reward hit while actually reducing clutter rather than creating it. By using this neuroscience-backed approach, you train your brain to crave tidying activities instead of consumption, breaking the cycle of impulse buying that fills homes with unwanted stuff. The strategy works because completing these organizational tasks triggers dopamine release that reinforces the good habit, making it easier to resist shopping temptations throughout the year.

Permalink minimalismorganizationmental healthcleaning

psyche.co

If you don’t fancy mindfulness, then try cooking instead

A freelance writer who dislikes conventional anxiety fixes like meditation makes the case for cooking, especially baking, as an alternative mindfulness practice that engages the senses and induces a flow-like, childlike playfulness. Drawing on her own habits plus insights from psychoanalyst Todd Essig and cooking coach Emmanuelle Turquet, she argues cooking uniquely bridges past (memory), present (sensory grounding), and future (nourishment), making it a legitimate, individualized alternative to sitting-still relaxation techniques.

Permalink cookingbakingmental healthbread

CNBC

Finland is home to the world's happiest people. Their No. 1 secret is this 500-year-old mindset, says psychology expert

A Finnish psychology researcher explains how "sisu"—an untranslatable cultural concept centered on grit and resilience—contributes to Finland's consistent ranking as the world's happiest country and can be developed by others. Drawing from her own 1,500-mile running expedition across New Zealand, she outlines three practices: connecting challenges to a purpose beyond yourself, building resilience through consistent training and preparation, and balancing determination with self-compassion and time in nature rather than relentless pushing.

Permalink wellnesspsychologymental health

The Conversation

Tiredness of life: the growing phenomenon in western society

Researchers across Europe are studying "tiredness of life"—a distinct form of despair affecting some healthy older people who feel their existence has lost all meaning and yearn to die. Unlike existential suffering tied to terminal illness or other life crises, this phenomenon is characterized by the conviction that one's life journey is complete and dragging on pointlessly, rooted in factors like profound loneliness, loss of social relevance, fear of dependency, and the cumulative erosion of identity. The piece suggests that this suffering may reflect how Western medicine and society have extended biological survival while neglecting quality of life and social purpose for elders, contrasting with cultures like Japan where aging is viewed as a period of continued growth and meaning.

Permalink healthphilosophypsychologymental health

mrporter.com

Health In Mind : 33 Ways To Be More Selfless And Experience Greater Happiness

This article presents 33 practical strategies for cultivating selflessness—ranging from everyday actions like putting your phone away and smiling more, to volunteering time and donating to charity—arguing that these acts of generosity are scientifically proven to boost the giver's own happiness and wellbeing. The piece draws on psychological research, expert quotes from therapists and life coaches, and real-world examples to support the counterintuitive idea that being selfless is ultimately self-serving in the best way: it creates a positive feedback loop where generosity leads to greater contentment and stronger relationships.

Permalink wellnesslifestylepsychologymental health

Marc and Angel Hack Life

10 Choices You Will Regret in 10 Years

This piece identifies ten common life choices that breed regret—from wearing social masks and keeping negative company to avoiding growth and procrastinating—and argues that most regrets stem from comparing our actual decisions against idealized fantasies of who we think we should be. The author contends that embracing our fundamental imperfection and humanity, rather than defending an inflated self-image, allows us to release past regrets and focus on making authentic choices going forward. The practical advice centers on accepting reality rather than endlessly analyzing how things "should have been," and on taking deliberate action today rather than deferring meaningful goals to an imaginary future.

Permalink mental healthadvicelife

Boing Boing

Gay teen bullying victim who recorded an “It Gets Better” video commits suicide – Boing Boing

Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old from Buffalo, died by suicide just four months after creating an "It Gets Better" video in which he spoke about finding hope through Lady Gaga and self-acceptance. Despite his public message of optimism, he privately documented ongoing severe bullying that left him feeling unheard, writing in his final Tumblr post that no one listened to his pleas for help despite his constant talk of being bullied.

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The Emotion Machine

An Extreme Fear of Disapproval | The Emotion Machine

Fear of disapproval, rooted in our evolutionary need for tribal acceptance and reinforced by childhood social conditioning, can paradoxically prevent people from building the relationships they desperately need—creating a self-fulfilling prophecy where anxiety-driven withdrawal makes them invisible rather than accepted. The piece explains how social anxiety causes people to perceive normal judgment as existential threat and argues that gradual exposure to social situations, starting small and working up to more challenging interactions, allows the brain to rewire its threat response and weaken the anxiety over time.

Permalink philosophypsychologymental healthadvice

pieratt.tumblr.com

Varsity Bookmarking In Praise of Quitting Your Job

You argue that some people—particularly creative types—experience depression and burnout in jobs where they lack genuine ownership and agency over their work, and that this isn't a personal failing but a mismatch between their nature and their environment. You contend that creativity requires the ability to see tangible results from your efforts and make meaningful decisions without constant compromises, and that staying in a job where you can't exercise these capabilities wastes both your talents and your employer's resources. Rather than viewing the desire to leave as entitlement, you reframe it as self-awareness about where your strengths actually lie, suggesting that the cultural norm of "just stick it out" is increasingly at odds with how creative work actually functions.

Permalink workmental healthcreativityadvice

kottke.org