Many people believe, mistakenly, that when you have the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, that you will be incredibly happy. Research shows that doing things in moderation, with periods of abstinence between each session, will actually make you happier because then you can really appreciate the time you spend on your heart’s desire.

When you’re overwhelmed by stress in your life, one of the easiest things to do is to ignore others and concentrate on yourself. It’s been proven that stress can kill you. However, a new study indicates that you may want to reconsider this looking-out-for-Number-One-only attitude.

According to Dan Pink, the “art of selling” is vital to both our personal and professional fulfillment. Pink authored the book, To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. In the book, he discusses the art and science of selling and backs up his claims with research and examples from social sciences, behavioral economics, and psychology.

How do you decide when it’s okay to help your college-aged or adult children and when they’re asking too much and should be more independent? In today’s economy, many young adults are struggling to find employment, housing, and financial independence.

New findings about the “science of a meaningful life," meaning how people react and relate to themes such as gratitude, mindfulness, compassion, and morality, have been backed by studies published in several scientific journals. For example, one study concluded that happiness is about respect and not wealth.

As tenure track professorships in universities have become few and far between in the current economy, Ph.D. candidates are opting for less traditional job opportunities. UC Berkeley organized and hosted the first non-academic career conference in March, 2013.

Although the economy appears to be improving and job opportunities more plentiful, we all know people who have been unemployed or under-employed for awhile. How do you ask them about their day? How do you introduce them to other friends and acquaintances?

A recent study offers some insight into the treatment of panic attacks. The subjects of the study were individuals who had suffered brain damage in the amygdala which governs fear response. Although some researchers had assumed that the subjects would not panic when tested, just the opposite proved true.

A book written in 1901 by a British woman essayist may offer some insights as to why some people are successful. How They Succeeded: Life Stories of Successful Men Told by Themselves by British novelist Amelia E. Barr (1831-1919) has some notable “words of counsel” that have been echoed through the ages by successful people like Thoreau, Tchaikovsky, and Ray Bradbury.

People born after 1978 have been labeled “Generation Y.” They’ve also been labeled as lazy and non-committal with a sense of entitlement regarding salary and career expectations. In politics, they have been described as apathetic. How true are these labels?

A study recently published in the online version of LANCET purports to have found genetic issues for five different types of mental illnesses: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, major depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

A recent study of the brains of cocaine addicts and occasional cocaine users has a surprising conclusion: The shape of your brain may determine whether or not you become addicted to cocaine. Occasional cocaine users were found to have a larger frontal lobe while addicts tended to have small frontal lobes.

Before we can go forward with any debate regarding gun violence, we must first consider the root cause and have a serious discussion about parenting. Or so claims author David Bornstein. He cites statistics of over 1 million incidents of child abuse reported and investigated by children’s protective service agencies in this country.

Emily Bazelon’s new book, ““Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy”, is an important read for parents, educators, law students, and journalists.

As any parent of a toddler knows, a beloved blankie or teddy or some other toy or object, is not just a piece of cloth or a stuffed animal. In 1953, Dr. Donald Woods Winnicott coined the phrase, “transitional object” in a paper presented to the British Psycho-Analytical Society.

In 1964, the British TV program, World in Action, profiled 14 seven-year-olds. The purpose of the program was to discover how social class shaped individual’s world views. Although this was supposed to be a one-time offering, the director has followed this same group and has documented their lives on screen every seven years.

In 2005, Lawrence H. Summers, then-president of Harvard, remarked that boys traditionally do better in math and science than girls due to a “different ability of aptitude” between the sexes. Needless to say, Summers drew a lot of attention to himself and resigned in 2006 after receiving a no-confidence vote from Harvard faculty.

Ruth Whippman states that “guilt will never make the grade as an A-list emotion.” Yet, without a doubt, it is something we can all relate to and have experienced. Some people become so crippled with guilt that no matter what choices they make, they worry that some person who is judging them will surely think these choices are wrong.

Philippa Perry, in her book “How to Stay Sane," contends that we perceive reality by our ability to create stories around our experiences. She believes that if we allow too much negativity into our lives, we ourselves will become fearful and negative.