Psychology Today

Exercise has countless benefits for your mental and physical health. And you don't need to work out for hours a day to reap the rewards, two new studies find.

There's been conflicting research on whether time spent with our dogs actually benefits our mental health. Now, a new study finds that the way we spend that time makes all the difference.

People with borderline personality disorder fear abandonment, struggle with anger, and may engage in self-harm. Recent research suggests one trait may explain these symptoms.

Encouraging new research suggests that getting a pet—and especially a dog—could help fight loneliness in the elderly. How does your pet help you feel less lonely?

Life is hard, and it's full of hard choices. But research in evolutionary psychology shows that we can make better ones if we fill our day with routines that allow us to thrive. Start here.

Estrangements from fathers, recent data show, are more common than those from mothers, and less likely to heal. This may explain why.

The brain is hardwired to form attachments to our loved ones, so when an attachment is severed by loss, it needs time to redraw its neural maps. Here's how that influences our grieving.

You don't need a five-year plan to reap the benefits of thinking about your future. You just need to be able to see where you're going well enough to remember why today’s effort matters.

A recent study “depicts a gendered pattern in ‘silver splits’—that is, divorces among couples over the age of 50,” writes psychologist Mark Travers. “When both partners remained in good health, divorce rates stayed relatively stable. Likewise, when the husband fell ill but the wife remained healthy, the likelihood of divorce did not significantly increase." But "in marriages where the wife developed a serious illness, the divorce rate was statistically significantly higher," he notes. "Similarly, when wives experienced physical limitations that made daily tasks difficult, the likelihood of divorce also increased.”

If we know one thing about being patient, it's probably that we don't enjoy it. But research shows that patience can be a surprisingly joyful and rewarding emotional state.