The hottest Mental health Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Health & Wellness Topics

#55. What Do Kids at a Center for Self-Directed Education Do on Their Smartphones?

Play Makes Us Human • 1136 implied HN points • 09 Oct 24
🚌 Education Mental health
  1. Kids in self-directed education tend to use their smartphones for creative and educational activities rather than scrolling on social media. They engage in things like music editing, game design, and learning through simulators.
  2. Many teens at the Macomber Center are not very interested in social media, often finding it unnecessary. They feel they have better things to do, like spending time with friends and exploring their interests.
  3. The overall happiness and fulfillment of these kids seem to come from their fulfilling social interactions, which reduces their reliance on social media to meet their social needs.

If people lash out at you, remember: it’s more about them than you

Civic Renaissance with Alexandra Hudson • 199 implied HN points • 24 Oct 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Mental health
  1. When someone is rude or angry, it usually says more about them than it does about you. People can be having a tough time, and their behavior might not really be personal.
  2. Try to think kindly about others instead of judging them harshly. Instead of saying 'they are a jerk,' remind yourself that they might just be having a bad day.
  3. Learning to react with empathy is important. By focusing on understanding rather than taking things to heart, we can keep our peace and better handle tough situations.

My experience with hypnotherapy for post-viral fatigue/pain/fear

Human Programming • 12 implied HN points • 26 Mar 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Hypnotherapy can externalize and reframe symptoms, turning a persistent fear-driven ‘‘red field’’ into something removable and replacing it with a reassuring image that makes movement feel safer.
  2. The sessions taught simple, usable tools like vagus-breathing and quick visualizations that provided comfort in moments of anxiety or fatigue, even if daily routines didn’t always stick.
  3. Reducing fear and building small amounts of self-trust helped restart a positive recovery cycle where more activity led to more confidence and further recovery; the therapy acted as useful momentum rather than a sole cure.

Le ménage est un cycle

L'Atelier Galita • 119 implied HN points • 26 Oct 24
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Cleaning is a cycle, not a one-time task. It's okay that things get messy again after cleaning.
  2. The goal is to keep your space functional, not to maintain a permanent state of cleanliness.
  3. Adjust your cleaning habits based on your own tolerance for mess, and accept that messy moments are part of life.
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The most enraging piece you will read this year

Unreported Truths • 51 implied HN points • 23 Mar 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Mental health
  1. Seattle's criminal justice system is struggling to deliver timely justice because competency and insanity claims often lead to hospitalization or stalled trials instead of prison.
  2. In the Jahmed Haynes case, a repeat violent offender who killed an elderly woman and her dog is refusing medication and participation to delay trial, leaving victims' families feeling the system favors defendants over victims.
  3. While some defendants genuinely need involuntary treatment, current rules on forced medication, privacy, and civil commitment make it hard to keep dangerous, mentally ill, or drug‑abusing people off the streets, prompting calls to ease civil commitment.

all the way to the bottom

bookbear express • 632 implied HN points • 04 Mar 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Some people are great at reading and steering other people’s emotions while being less aware of their own feelings; enjoying being right can turn emotional perception into a way of avoiding yourself.
  2. Getting honest with yourself often means deliberately sitting with a problem until clarity emerges — a process of “going all the way to the bottom” that takes time and focused attention.
  3. Avoiding hard truths usually makes things worse later, so it’s better to accept what you really want and be willing to face the consequences so you can choose what’s right for you now.

“Unbundle” people

Civic Renaissance with Alexandra Hudson • 359 implied HN points • 19 Oct 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Mental health
  1. People are complex and should not be defined by just one characteristic or label. It’s important to see them as whole individuals.
  2. Understanding different perspectives can help foster kindness and civility during divisive times, especially in political discussions.
  3. Engaging with those who have different views can lead to better relationships and insights, rather than conflict.

Bridges

Software Design: Tidy First? • 4728 implied HN points • 16 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. When you want to connect with someone, reach out and share something real, but only go halfway and then wait to see if they meet you.
  2. Gripping too hard or staying completely withdrawn both come from fearing loss, so practicing patience and small, measured steps lets connections grow without leaving you exposed.
  3. The same bridge idea works for collaboration and design: propose a direction and invite others to move toward it instead of forcing your solution, because sustainable buy-in requires shared movement.

nothing will change your life more than saying what you actually want to say

bookbear express • 6357 implied HN points • 06 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Saying what you actually want and speaking your truth can be life-changing because honest communication frees you from shame and helps you feel whole.
  2. Being vulnerable—asking for help, voicing needs, and risking rejection—builds deeper connections even though it doesn’t always get the reaction you hope for.
  3. Accepting your full self, including anger and contradictions, and aiming for inner calm lets you live more peacefully and find real overlap with others.

Unjustified Critique of a CDC Report on Social Media Risks

The Shores of Academia • 39 implied HN points • 29 Oct 24
🏥 Health Politics Mental health
  1. The CDC report links frequent social media use to increased risks of bullying, feelings of sadness, and suicidal thoughts among teens. It found that a significant number of high school students use social media frequently, which may affect their mental health.
  2. Chris Ferguson criticizes the CDC report, claiming it shows bias and incompetence without providing solid evidence for his accusations. He describes the CDC's findings as exaggerated and accuses the authors of unethical behavior, which raises questions about his arguments.
  3. The conversation around social media impacts on mental health is polarizing, with some dismissing concerns as moral panic. This reflects a broader debate about the effects of digital technology on youth and the responsibility of researchers to communicate findings accurately.

The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation

After Babel • 12247 implied HN points • 01 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Technology, especially smartphones, can harm young people's ability to focus and be present. Constant distractions make it hard for them to learn and build meaningful relationships.
  2. Young people today often feel lost because their identities aren't formed through strong values or community ties. Instead, they rely on social media validation, which can lead to anxiety and confusion.
  3. The overwhelming amount of information available on the internet without proper guidance makes it hard for youth to discern truth and wisdom. This can lead to a lack of trust and depth in their relationships.

Le ménage n'est pas moral

L'Atelier Galita • 219 implied HN points • 21 Oct 24
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Cleaning is a skill, not a moral failure. If you're not great at it, that just means you haven't learned yet.
  2. Many popular cleaning methods come from people who are already skilled, making it hard for beginners to learn. It's important to find someone who can explain things clearly.
  3. It's okay to delegate cleaning tasks to others. Just like you would hire someone for a ride or food delivery, you can get help with cleaning without feeling bad about it.

It's Obviously the Phones

Many Such Cases • 36729 implied HN points • 05 Mar 24
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Phones are a major reason why many people feel lonely and have less sex. They take away real-life time we could spend with friends and family.
  2. People today are spending more time on their phones than ever before, sometimes up to ten hours a day. This means less time connecting with others in person.
  3. Even though there are fewer places to socialize, it's also about how much we choose to focus on our phones instead of real-life interactions. We can choose to use our phones less and try to connect with people more.

The Generation Raised to Give Up on Love

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 639 implied HN points • 27 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Growing up with divorced or loveless parents makes many young people doubt that love lasts and treat commitment like a trap. This childhood experience shapes how they view relationships as adults.
  2. Many people are sharing raw feelings online about fear of abandonment and not knowing what a healthy relationship looks like. These posts show the emotional pain and confusion that often gets ignored.
  3. The popularity of hashtags like #divorce and #divorcedparents shows this is a shared, generational issue. Social media has become a space where people seek validation and try to understand how their childhood affects their love lives.

The Attention Harvest

Anima Mundi • 185 implied HN points • 06 Mar 26
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. The attention economy is an extractive industry that harvests human attention the way industrial agriculture strips topsoil.
  2. Relentless harvesting degrades our minds' ability to regenerate attention and mental resilience, creating a kind of 'Dust Bowl' of the mind.
  3. If we keep mining attention without rebuilding it, the systems that support focus and civic life could be permanently damaged, so the problem is structural and needs systemic solutions.

Ménage et autocompassion

L'Atelier Galita • 119 implied HN points • 24 Oct 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Self-compassion is important when it comes to managing your home. Instead of feeling ashamed about the mess, try to view it as a sign of being alive and engaged in life.
  2. How you talk to yourself about cleaning matters. Focus on the benefits of having a tidy space rather than judging yourself morally for not keeping up.
  3. Everyone has different skills when it comes to cleaning. Recognizing that it's a learned ability can help you feel less pressured and more at peace with your own cleaning journey.

The New Satanic Panic Is Here

Taylor Lorenz's Newsletter • 3553 implied HN points • 23 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. There’s a new moral panic framing smartphones and social media as the root cause of teen mental health problems, echoing past mass-fear moments.
  2. The idea that phones, apps, and screen time directly cause rising teen anxiety and depression is being questioned as a simplified or false narrative.
  3. This debate is tied into broader internet and tech culture trends — from AI products and influencer fads to personal career shifts — showing the issue sits inside a larger cultural moment.

War Hits Hard for Families of Soldiers Sent Off to Fight

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 185 implied HN points • 11 Mar 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Mental health
  1. Deployment causes intense worry that shows up as physical symptoms like cold sweats and heart palpitations, creating a constant, underlying dread.
  2. Loved ones often don’t know where soldiers actually are or what dangers they face, leaving them feeling helpless and uncertain.
  3. Everyday life and caregiving continue, and people use small routines and distractions to cope, but those strategies don’t remove the ongoing fear and stress.

Meditation Without the Woo-Woo

Life Since the Baby Boom • 1844 implied HN points • 05 Feb 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Meditation is simple and practical — you don’t need special clothes, classes, or religion; just sit comfortably in a way that feels right for you.
  2. Focus on your breath and observe its sensations; when your mind wanders, gently bring it back without berating yourself.
  3. Practice mindfulness in daily life by doing what you are doing, and use simple breathing techniques like box breathing or 4-7-8 to calm and center yourself.

Mental bric-a-brac

Disaffected Newsletter • 1258 implied HN points • 03 Sep 24
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. The word 'autism' has lost its meaning and can refer to many unrelated conditions or traits, making it confusing for people to understand what it really means.
  2. People can change their beliefs over time, especially about deep, personal topics, often through therapy and self-reflection.
  3. Normal, decent people might unknowingly support harmful behaviors because they assume everyone has good intentions, which makes them vulnerable to manipulation.

Does Therapy Culture Explain the Ideological Mental Health Gap?

Richard Hanania's Newsletter • 2999 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Belief in "therapy culture" is strongly linked to worse self‑reported mood and mental health. When that belief is accounted for, the apparent mental‑health advantage of conservatives largely disappears.
  2. There is a large ideological gap in endorsement of therapy culture, with liberals far more likely than conservatives to accept its premises—about a 1.6 standard‑deviation difference. This gap is big enough to explain much of the mental‑health differences between ideological groups.
  3. Short persuasive messages can shift people’s agreement with therapy‑culture ideas but did not immediately change how they rated their mood, so the causal direction is unclear and longer, more representative experiments are needed to see if changing beliefs affects mental health over time.

How I rebooted my social life

Odds and Ends of History • 5360 implied HN points • 31 Dec 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. People need community: even a comfortable, independent life can feel isolating without regular in-person connections.
  2. Community can be built: organizing recurring, low-pressure meetups around a shared connection and an easy way for new people to join creates a ready-made social network.
  3. Simple, consistent effort works: routinely inviting people to casual events solves coordination and relationship decay and quickly renews social energy.

Is this real life?

Disaffected Newsletter • 3776 implied HN points • 30 Jul 24
🏥 Health Politics Mental health
  1. Derealization is a feeling where the world seems unreal, like a scary movie. It can happen to people with mental health issues or past trauma, and it's really unsettling.
  2. The constant changes in news and public opinion can make people feel confused and anxious. It's like we are living in a situation where nothing feels stable or real.
  3. For those who have experienced derealization, knowing others feel the same can help them feel less alone. It's important to talk about these feelings and experiences.

Dear Babies, I want to have sex more than my boyfriend

Maybe Baby • 425 implied HN points • 25 Feb 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. A reader is asking for advice because they want sex more often than their boyfriend and are unsure how to handle the mismatch.
  2. This column continues an ongoing advice series that revisits relationship and intimacy questions similar to ones discussed before.
  3. The post solicits crowd-sourced responses from readers and is published behind a paid subscription paywall.

Please Join Me, Michael Angelakos, and Jaime Lowe as We Talk Being Bipolar Out Loud on Substack Live

Freddie deBoer • 1392 implied HN points • 08 Feb 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. A live Substack event is happening Tuesday, Feb 10 at 7PM EST with Jaime Lowe and Michael Angelakos.
  2. They'll have a chill, unstructured conversation about living publicly with bipolar disorder and building creative careers, lasting about an hour to an hour and a half and possibly answering polite questions.
  3. You can set a reminder via the provided link and help boost visibility by liking the related Substack note.

On the knife's edge of hope and despair

Jeff Giesea • 598 implied HN points • 06 Oct 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Sometimes, you have to accept that you can't fix someone's problems. Letting go can be an act of love, not failure.
  2. There is a thin line between helping and enabling. It's important to know when to step back and allow someone to make their own choices.
  3. People struggling with mental illness or addiction face tough decisions that affect everyone around them. Your support matters, but ultimately, they must choose their path.

Mountains of Evidence

After Babel • 3214 implied HN points • 14 Jan 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Social media is not safe for children and adolescents; it causes widespread direct harms like cyberbullying and exposure to harmful content and raises the risk of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.
  2. Recent research — including experiments and leaked internal studies from a major platform — provides strong causal evidence that heavy social media use harms young people’s mental health.
  3. Because social media reaches most youth for many hours a day, the harms are large in scale, so parents and policymakers should act now (for example by restricting access or raising the minimum age) to protect children.

A Legal First That Could Change Gender Medicine

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1706 implied HN points • 02 Feb 26
🏥 Health Politics Mental health
  1. A first-of-its-kind medical malpractice verdict was handed down in New York over gender-related surgery performed on a minor.
  2. A teenager underwent a mastectomy during her transition and later sued her psychologist and surgeon, claiming she was left permanently disfigured.
  3. The ruling could change how doctors and mental-health professionals evaluate and obtain consent for irreversible gender-related treatments for minors.

The Mediated Murderer

Default Wisdom • 188 implied HN points • 08 Mar 26
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Online mediation is reshaping intimacy and identity, producing experiences where people can feel arousal or connection while being disconnected from physical sexual participation.
  2. A new pattern of harm is emerging in which someone uses sustained, platform-based communication to build coercive psychological control and push a specific person toward self-destruction without ever meeting them in person.
  3. Existing criminal labels don’t capture this phenomenon, so we need a mechanism-focused category — a "mediated murderer" — for targeted, interactive, platform-dependent coercion that culminates in death without physical co-presence.

Criminal Minds

Disaffected Newsletter • 759 implied HN points • 09 Sep 24
🎙 Podcasts Mental health
  1. Child abuse is a major factor in violent behavior, as suggested by the case of a young murderer. It's important to understand the home environment of troubled youth.
  2. Society is facing a decline with issues like street violence and controversial influences in media. These problems make it harder for people to feel safe.
  3. There's a mix of unusual news topics and merchandise being advertised. It reflects the unique and sometimes bizarre culture we are living in.

7 mythes sur le ménage

L'Atelier Galita • 119 implied HN points • 22 Oct 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Cleaning as you go is a hard skill that not everyone can master right away. It's better to find a cleaning method that feels right for you, rather than stressing yourself out trying to keep up with others.
  2. It's not about keeping things clean for someone else's approval. Cleaning should be about helping yourself feel better and more comfortable in your space.
  3. Organizing your home doesn't have to be about making it look pretty. What's important is that it's functional and works for your lifestyle.

The Two Faces of Neuroticism

Rob Henderson's Newsletter • 1458 implied HN points • 08 Feb 26
🔬 Science Mental health
  1. People differ in how they experience emotion.
  2. Those emotional differences help explain why some people feel energized by life while others feel overburdened by it.
  3. Understanding these contrasting reactions means looking at two important personality traits, including different aspects or "faces" of neuroticism.

Why I’m so short

Robert Reich • 56939 implied HN points • 11 Jul 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Personal experiences shape our identities and perspectives.
  2. Physical attributes like height can influence social interactions and perceptions.
  3. Society's biases towards height can impact various aspects of life, including elections.

What a Trans Shooter Doesn’t Mean

Singal-Minded • 380 implied HN points • 23 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. You can't simply equate a transgender identity with violence; being trans is not evidence of dangerousness.
  2. One shooter’s trans status doesn't prove a broader causal link between being trans and committing violent acts, so don't generalize from a single case.
  3. Discussions should focus on evidence, motives, and context — like mental health or radicalization — instead of stigmatizing an entire group.

Screens Are Stressing You Out of Your Mind

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 533 implied HN points • 23 Feb 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Compulsive scrolling and constant phone use have become a modern social contagion that spreads behavior widely and quickly.
  2. Heavy screen use is changing how our bodies and minds handle stress, contributing to increased mental and physical strain.
  3. The hunched-over posture people show while glued to their screens is a visible sign of a widespread, psychogenic epidemic similar to past social contagions.

Vivre avec le TDAH

L'Atelier Galita • 179 implied HN points • 18 Oct 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. People with ADHD often face misunderstandings because their traits can seem normal to others. This leads to misconceptions like being labeled as lazy instead of recognizing the neurodivergence.
  2. ADHD can significantly impact a person's life, including higher risks for issues like addiction, job loss, and relationship problems. These challenges are often tied to how society views productivity.
  3. While treating ADHD can lead to positive changes in life, it does not change who a person is. Many people with ADHD also have unique strengths, like creativity and the ability to hyperfocus on topics they love.

Life in the matrix

Austin Kleon • 2877 implied HN points • 30 Jul 24
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Life consists of three stages: anticipation, experience, and recall. Enjoy the waiting time before an event to boost overall happiness.
  2. Writing can create more worry than actual suffering. Try to dedicate specific time for writing and not think about it outside those moments.
  3. For enjoyable activities like vacations, embrace the planning and recall process to extend the joy of the experience. Taking photos and journaling can enhance the memories.

Therapy Patients Stop Treatment After ‘Pre-Payment Reviews’ Swell

HEALTH CARE un-covered • 319 implied HN points • 18 Sep 24
🏥 Health Politics Mental health
  1. Many therapy patients are stopping their treatment because insurance company UnitedHealthcare is asking for a lot of extra paperwork before paying for services. This makes it hard for patients to get reimbursed and leads to anxiety about continuing their care.
  2. Therapists are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of time and effort needed to process these pre-payment reviews. Some have had to cut back on their schedules to handle the paperwork, which affects both their work and their patients' treatment.
  3. The situation highlights larger issues in mental health care access and billing, particularly for out-of-network providers. It raises concerns about patient privacy and adds unnecessary stress for both patients and therapists.

How Bodycount Impacts Relationships (graph dump)

Knowingless • 1472 implied HN points • 02 Feb 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. People with higher bodycounts tend to report being less codependent and less intertwined with their partners.
  2. There’s a mild, inconsistent trend where higher bodycount is linked to somewhat more toxic relationship patterns, but the effect is small and only shows up on some questions.
  3. Sex-satisfaction results are mixed and sometimes counterintuitive, with very high-bodycount women often responding differently than moderately-high bodycount women.