The Brainisphere

Cognitive distortions, little more than negative thinking patterns and habits, are still at the source of so much teen unhappiness, anxiety, and even mental health issues

The more they and you understand what they are, how they happen ,and how to confront them, the more in control teens will be of those feelings.

We keep forgetting to remind ourselves that so much of the good and bad in our lives comes from little more than the way we process and shape our thinking.

If we can take control of that, we can take control of so much else. A palingenesis of the mind, the ability to think ourselves into completely different beings.

Some recent albeit small experiments have shown that limiting our time on social media can make us feel a lot better. And surprise surprise, given that it's social media, restricting our diet to just 30 minutes a day can also help us feel less lonely.

So if you have kids, and especially teens, try your own experiment. See if you can persuade them to limit their social media use to just 30 minutes a day for one long, seemingly endless, agonizing week.

Then ask them to speak about or write down how it made them feel.

Your brain only wants the very best for you. After all, you're in this together and you can't succeed without each other.

When it comes to brain health, it's as though the brain is telling you that if you maintain a brain healthy lifestyle, it will reward you in return by giving you the best possible life.

That while things like kindness, gratitude, purpose, and happiness are all great for brain health, they are also major contributors to success in life.

It's very transactional, that's the way the brain seems to like it, and you better get in on the trade.