The hottest Mental health Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Health & Wellness Topics

Family Week

Ladyparts • 1058 implied HN points • 30 May 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. The author realized her partner was an addict and had been lying about various things, impacting her trust and perception of their relationship.
  2. It is important to share stories of betrayal and shame as a way to heal, reclaim power, and counteract unwarranted shame.
  3. The experience with the addict partner highlighted the complexities of trust, betrayal, and the challenges of recognizing deceit even in close relationships.

What I'm Thankful For

Freddie deBoer • 10643 implied HN points • 27 Nov 24
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Being thankful for loved ones is essential. Family and friends provide support in tough times.
  2. Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday because it focuses on gratitude without the stress of gift-giving. It’s a time to relax and enjoy good food and company.
  3. Mental health medications can be life-saving. They have helped many people rebuild their lives, despite some negative opinions about them.

A FAT TALK Love Note

Burnt Toast by Virginia Sole-Smith • 6505 implied HN points • 03 May 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. The author's book Burnt Toast became a New York Times bestseller, leading to emotional reactions and celebrations.
  2. The community's support played a crucial role in the book's success, impacting various individuals and professionals in positive ways.
  3. The author expresses gratitude and pride for the collective effort that contributed to the book's achievement.

How This Writer Killed His Former Self (Drugs, Jail and Student Loan)​ and Totally Transformed His Life

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 799 implied HN points • 18 Jun 24
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Accepting your current situation is the first step to real change. Acknowledging where you are right now helps you figure out what to do next.
  2. Reading and learning can change your life. Putting in the effort to improve yourself opens up new opportunities.
  3. Hard work is necessary for success, but luck plays a role too. By working hard, you create chances for unexpected good things to happen.

My Mom Was Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Then She Got Better.

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 9070 implied HN points • 04 Jan 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. The family faced a tough time after the mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, which came after years of unexplained symptoms. It was a shocking moment for them all, shifting their roles to caregivers.
  2. After a year of uncertainty and prayer, something unexpectedly positive happened that changed their situation. This turn of events felt like a miracle to the family.
  3. The experience highlighted the challenges of the medical system, as the mom had fallen through the cracks but eventually found a solution that helped her condition. It shows the importance of persistence and hope in difficult times.
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The Self-Own of Doubt

Investing 101 • 64 implied HN points • 14 Feb 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Doubt, if you let it grow, will paralyze you and become a self-own that stops you from trying or moving forward.
  2. There’s a useful difference between analysis and paralyzing doubt: analysis requires momentum and doing things to gather data, while doubt keeps you stuck and fuels imposter syndrome.
  3. You can control your internal doubts by choosing not to be mean to yourself; accept that others will doubt you but that their doubt is their task, and practice 'doubt your doubts' so you act instead of freeze.

Public Suicide is Not a Selfless Act

Disaffected Newsletter • 2657 implied HN points • 28 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Public suicide is not a selfless act and often stems from deep personal issues. It can be a cry for help that hurts others rather than a noble gesture.
  2. People who take their own lives in dramatic ways can leave lasting scars on their loved ones. This behavior is often more about their pain than about any cause they claim.
  3. Understanding the psychological struggles behind suicidal actions is important. It helps us see that those who suffer are not the only ones affected; their actions impact many others too.

How and Why You Should Cut Your Social Media Usage

Samstack • 807 implied HN points • 25 Nov 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Cutting down on social media and phone use makes you calmer and more productive; going out without a phone or switching to a simple phone often leads to reading or real conversations instead of constant checking.
  2. Social media algorithms favor polarizing, attention-grabbing content and can encourage addictive, quick dopamine-seeking behavior, which likely harms mental health even if the evidence is mixed.
  3. You can reduce online time without quitting entirely by using blockers and timed lockboxes, swapping to a dumb phone, curating your feeds, and taking up a hobby that naturally replaces screen time.

Why Taylor Swift is Good for Your Health

Are You Okay? • 2496 implied HN points • 04 Mar 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Taylor Swift's impact is not just about her music or fame, but her ability to connect with people on a deep emotional level, reminding them of their humanity.
  2. Facing and exploring past emotions and experiences, even those from teenage years, can be crucial for personal growth and well-being.
  3. Practicing self-compassion, accepting imperfections, and seeking help are essential steps towards a healthier and more authentic life.

Your Hidden Potential

Granted • 6169 implied HN points • 02 Oct 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Invest in developing character skills alongside cognitive skills.
  2. Consider taking the character skills quiz to identify strengths and areas for growth.
  3. Stay tuned for insights on interesting patterns from quiz results and join the upcoming book tour to learn more.

Cruel to be kind

Disaffected Newsletter • 1438 implied HN points • 30 Apr 24
📖 Philosophy Mental health
  1. Sometimes people need to face pain or harsh truths to make real changes in their lives. Hitting rock bottom can help someone start fresh.
  2. It's okay to feel conflicted about wanting others to experience hardship. That struggle can lead to deeper understanding and personal growth.
  3. Facing difficult realities, like unhealthy relationships or addiction, can lead to positive transformation. Growing through pain often brings clarity and strength.

Granted: The case for slow replies, and insights on facing fear and finding hope

Granted • 6149 implied HN points • 01 Jul 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Weekends and holidays are for rejoicing, not just for recovering from burnout.
  2. Anonymous gestures of hope, psychology of anxiety overcoming, and impact of daily interactions are key to finding hope and facing fears.
  3. Slow email replies do not indicate lack of care; it's often a result of overwhelming work demands in an 'always on' culture.

The Body as Referee

Seven Senses • 399 implied HN points • 21 Jul 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Our emotions and stress levels can really affect our bodies. What we feel inside can show up as physical pain or illness.
  2. It's important to listen to our bodies and recognize our limits. Sometimes, our bodies know we need a break even if our minds don't realize it.
  3. Balancing hard work with self-care can be tough. It's okay to take a pause and rest instead of always pushing ourselves to keep going.

A Modest Disposal

The Fry Corner • 2457 implied HN points • 01 Mar 24
🏥 Health Politics Mental health
  1. Banning a specific drug could significantly improve the world. The idea is that removing this drug will bring about positive change for humanity.
  2. Many people have different experiences with drugs. Some have never tried anything, while others have tried many different kinds.
  3. There is a strong belief that finding solutions to drug-related issues can lead to happiness and fulfillment for society. A comprehensive plan may help tackle these challenges.

Family was never the problem

Disaffected Newsletter • 3836 implied HN points • 28 Dec 23
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. Not all families are the same, and many people come from backgrounds that are abusive and damaging. It's important to recognize that these experiences can shape how we view family.
  2. A loving and stable family is necessary for healthy child development. When children experience abuse, it not only affects them but also society as a whole.
  3. It's possible to change our views and support good family values, even if we had difficult pasts. Focusing on building positive family structures can lead to a better future.

You can't be too happy, literally

Experimental History • 21278 implied HN points • 27 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. People tend to stay at the same level of happiness over time, despite major events happening around them.
  2. Research shows that individuals adjust to both good and bad situations, aiming to maintain a balance in their emotions like a thermostat.
  3. The mind has control systems like a furnace and an air conditioner that help modulate mood levels to prevent extreme states of sadness or euphoria.

Activist Exhaustion and Monty Don

The View from Rural Missouri by Jess Piper • 2567 implied HN points • 21 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Sometimes taking a break from activism to engage in a calming activity like gardening can help rejuvenate and refocus your mind.
  2. Engaging in gardening or similar activities can be a form of work that brings peace and joy, without the stress of politics or activism.
  3. Finding moments of beauty and relief in nature through gardening can provide a sense of sustenance and rejuvenation amidst the challenges of activism.

Political Psychology Links, 1/4/2026

In My Tribe • 288 implied HN points • 04 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Mental health
  1. Many young women shifted politically left after about 2010, a change linked to rising anxiety, depression, loneliness, and the breakdown of stabilizing institutions like marriage, motherhood, and religion.
  2. Oxytocin’s effects on social behavior are highly context-dependent: it can promote bonding and trust within a group but also increase envy, gloating, defensiveness toward outsiders, and stronger in-group conformity.
  3. Social media causes context collapse that pushes people into bland, PR-safe selves and makes sincerity risky, while rising inequality and perceived loss of status fuel resentment that simple economic redistribution may not fully solve.

The Drug Turning Philadelphia into a Zombieland

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 593 implied HN points • 09 Dec 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Kensington Avenue is an open-air drug market that has shifted from heroin to fentanyl and then to animal tranquilizers, and now a new drug called medetomidine is appearing.
  2. Medetomidine is being mixed into fentanyl and other street drugs, intensifying harms and producing the extreme, 'zombifying' effects people describe.
  3. The area draws people chasing the strongest, cheapest highs, leaving families and the community grappling with a worsening public-health and safety crisis.

True Strength

The Stoic Journal • 86 implied HN points • 10 Feb 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Real strength is quiet: it looks like responding to anger with patience, insult with understanding, and aggression with calm.
  2. Gentleness and listening persuade people more than shouting; treating someone with respect reveals their dignity and opens them to change.
  3. Not attacking back protects your character and shows true power under control. The strongest people don't need to prove their toughness.

Fight or flight or...uh oh?

The Leap • 559 implied HN points • 30 Jun 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Decision-making can be influenced by the presence of physical threats. When we feel threatened, our choices may narrow down to basic options like fighting or fleeing.
  2. The environment can greatly impact our mental state and decision-making abilities. A calm and beautiful setting may help us feel more relaxed and clear-headed.
  3. Hiking and spending time in nature can serve as an effective way to recover from stress and chaos in everyday life. It's a refreshing break that can help clear our minds.

Against "Brain Damage"

One Useful Thing • 3011 implied HN points • 07 Jul 25
🕹 Technology Mental health
  1. Using AI can help or hurt our thinking. If you rely too much on it, you might not learn as well, but with proper guidance, it can improve learning outcomes.
  2. In creativity, AI can generate many ideas, but they often lack diversity. It's better to come up with your own ideas first before using AI to enhance them.
  3. AI doesn't damage our brains directly, but careless use can harm our thinking habits. It's important to think, write, and meet first before leaning on AI.

It finally broke me

Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) • 3105 implied HN points • 18 Jan 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. The parent shared the challenges of raising a child with special needs, including struggles with school, relationships, and support from others.
  2. Despite exhausting efforts to seek help through various professionals and services, the parent faced setbacks and found limited solutions.
  3. The parent's world was further shaken when their child decided to transition, causing deep emotional turmoil and financial strain.

TikTok is done for

Taylor Lorenz's Newsletter • 8539 implied HN points • 15 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Mental health
  1. TikTok is facing a ban in the U.S., which many people believe is coming soon. This could change how we interact with social media and restrict freedom of expression.
  2. In New Jersey, there have been many reports of mysterious drones, but most sightings are just everyday planes or stars. This has caused confusion and panic among the public.
  3. There is growing concern about how men view women's bodies, especially after a celebrity's unedited photos went viral. Some men seem to forget that real women look different from their edited images in media.

How to stay sane

Striking 13 • 3693 implied HN points • 22 Dec 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Having a hobby not related to politics can help you stay sane and prevent burnout by giving you a break from political anger and allowing you to focus on something you enjoy.
  2. Hobbies provide personal permission for relaxation and access to higher realms of pleasure by tricking the brain into feeling achievement and offering a sense of purpose.
  3. Engaging in a hobby allows you to enjoy the process of learning and perfecting skills with no external pressures, leading to a meaningful pursuit of pleasure and maintaining mental well-being.

If at first you don't succeed

Disaffected Newsletter • 1858 implied HN points • 24 Mar 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. It's okay to seek help when struggling with mental health. Sometimes, taking medication like an SSRI can really make a difference.
  2. Experiencing tough times like despair and insomnia is really hard, but it's important to keep trying to find solutions.
  3. Getting back to feeling better might take time, but small improvements can lead to being able to do everyday tasks again.

Friendship maintenance

bookbear express • 445 implied HN points • 21 Dec 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Deep friendships are built slowly and need regular maintenance — spending time, creating rituals, and sharing experiences is how relationships become reliable.
  2. Different friendships require different approaches: some thrive on constant contact, others on rare intense hangouts, so use rituals, proximity, and creative ways to stay in touch (even location sharing) to keep them alive.
  3. Inconvenience and occasional conflict are part of community, not problems to avoid; saying yes to messy, inconvenient things and trusting that people will come back helps friendships deepen.

Open Thread 367

Astral Codex Ten • 6607 implied HN points • 03 Feb 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. People can discuss anything they want in the open thread. It's a space for questions and random thoughts.
  2. Ayahuasca can have very different effects on people, with some reporting very negative experiences.
  3. Most content in the community is free, but there are subscription options for some exclusive materials.

The Black Dog

Disaffected Newsletter • 2957 implied HN points • 16 Jan 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Depression can hit hard and make everyday tasks very difficult, like eating and sleeping.
  2. It's okay to be open about struggles with mental health, even for those who discuss it publicly.
  3. Despite tough times, there is hope that things will improve eventually and new ideas will come.

Abigail Shrier: Stop Asking Kids If They’re Depressed

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 2128 implied HN points • 11 Aug 25
🚌 Education Mental health
  1. Asking kids repeatedly if they're feeling depressed could make them think they are. Children are very impressionable and might come to believe they have a mental illness just from being asked.
  2. Illinois has become the first state to require mental health screenings for kids in public schools. Some people worry that this could lead to unnecessary diagnoses for children who are actually doing okay.
  3. Many young people without serious mental health issues end up using therapy and medication for years. This can make them feel dependent and may even lead to more problems instead of helping them.

America’s Families Are Not Okay

Persuasion • 2692 implied HN points • 26 Jan 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Family estrangement is becoming more common in the United States, with societal shifts and individual empowerment contributing to the trend.
  2. The impact of estrangement on both parents and adult children can lead to deep sadness, embarrassment, and longing for familial connection.
  3. While family estrangement may seem like a socially endorsed choice, it carries a heavy emotional toll, spreading through generations and leaving individuals feeling lonely and anchorless.

How I Stopped Hating Guns

Disaffected Newsletter • 679 implied HN points • 12 Jun 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Mental health
  1. The author had a history of hating guns but began to rethink this perspective after personal experiences and conversations with a friend.
  2. Having a gun in the house made the author feel uneasy at first, but they took a step towards embracing self-reliance.
  3. The author realized that understanding guns was important for feeling more secure and less dependent on government protection.

We're all borderline now

Disaffected Newsletter • 2198 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Mental health
  1. Many people are feeling confused and overwhelmed because of constant lies and craziness around them. This affects everyone, no matter their political beliefs.
  2. We're all starting to show signs of being more emotionally unstable, like having a mix of strong negative feelings and losing touch with reality.
  3. Despite the anger towards those we disagree with, there's a growing sense of empathy and sadness for everyone's struggles. It reminds us that we all want a better world based on understanding and kindness.

Ancient Wisdom: Make a Plan, and Stick to It

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 477 implied HN points • 12 Dec 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. A steady routine gives structure and meaning to days after many responsibilities fall away, and keeping a routine can be essential for staying well.
  2. Regular self-care and habits like daily exercise make a big difference to long-term fitness and are noticed by others.
  3. Major health crises can happen, but timely treatment, resilience, and continued healthy habits can allow a long, active life afterward.

Mental Health is Health 🧠

Are You Okay? • 1737 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Mental health is a crucial aspect of overall health, affecting our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, as well as our physical health. It is not just about happiness but about acknowledging and working on our fears, moods, habits, and relationships.
  2. Being aware of our mental health, accepting the things we cannot change, and taking action over the things we can control are important steps in managing mental health.
  3. Addressing mental health issues is a nuanced process that may involve a combination of medication, therapy, lifestyle changes, and self-discovery. It requires a holistic approach considering bio-psycho-social elements.

I Took 182 Drugs: But Which Was The Worst?

The Drug Users Bible • 59 implied HN points • 01 Oct 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health
  1. Research the drugs you take to stay safe. Some substances may seem harmless but can lead to very bad experiences.
  2. Pay attention to dosage and be careful with potent substances. Taking too much can result in panic and fear, which can be hard to handle.
  3. Alcohol can have serious negative effects, even if it's socially accepted. Recognizing its harmful aspects can help you make better choices.