Health & Social
How Smartphones Are Rewiring Children: The Anxious Generation Review
In Jonathan Haidt’s justly acclaimed new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, he repeats a Polynesian expression: “Standing on a whale, fishing for minnows.” Haidt explains that “sometimes it is better to do a big thing rather than many small things.” What’s the “big thing”…
Read MoreThe ‘fun’ model just isn’t sustainable: a plea against hookup culture
As a top institution of higher education, Princeton tries to do its best to prepare us for our future: offering career fairs, hosting resume writing sessions, and even offering Last Lectures about careers in local government. But there is one place where the University is falling short: preparing its students to form healthy relationships. There…
Read MoreYale Will Not Save Her
Content warning: This column contains references to sexual violence. On April 2, University President Peter Salovey emailed the Yale community under the subject line “Your Yale, Your Voice,” asking us to complete the 2024 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Misconduct and Resource Awareness [SHARE]. The third in a series of quadrennial surveys administered by the…
Read MoreStatus update: In a toxic relationship with academia
As amazing as academia can be, it also has a darker, alienating side. “I love academia, but is it good for my mental health?” “I don’t know who I am, but I have no time to figure that out.” “Americans live to work.” “Penn is my toxic boyfriend.” These are some of the things…
Read MoreFrom swiping to sipping: The digital pathway to dependency
More than five billion people use some form of social media. In the United States, 75% of teens have an active account on a social media platform. Digitization has crept into our lives and altered our world. People check social apps for news, trends, academics and to keep in touch with their peers. When we crave information, social media…
Read MoreOvercoming Negativity Bias with Students, Parents, and Colleagues
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] At the end of a week, why do we focus on one difficult…
Read MoreUnderstanding Perfectionism: How To Make It Work For, Not Against, You and Your Kids
Honestly, it’s tough to be a perfectionist writing about perfectionism. Wait, let me rephrase that: a recovering perfectionist writing about perfectionism. See, there it is—correcting myself to get it right. I like accuracy, accountability, and setting high standards for myself. These traits can be motivating and help me accomplish my goals. But sometimes, these same…
Read MoreStruggling with body image, then and now
Content warning: This article discusses disordered eating and eating disorders. I always thought it made sense to obsess over how my body looked. It just seemed irresponsible not to. To be an elite athlete is to strive for perfection— toward an ideal standard of performance and a standard idea of excellence. It is an…
Read MoreThe Myth of Multitasking: How to Reduce Stress and Improve Productivity
It’s one o’clock on a Tuesday and I’m wrapping up three hours of therapy. In the next 90 minutes, I have to do my notes, check my emails, eat my lunch and leave enough time to get my beloved afternoon coffee before starting up again. It’s a tall order. Do I walk away from my…
Read MoreRed leather pants. . .
I wear them every year on my birthday and have since I turned 40 (this year I turn 62, so it’s been a bit!). Let me explain why this tradition is so important to me, even if it mortifies my own four kids. As a woman now in my 60s, I resent the image of…
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