Some news outlets are blaring that a new study recently published demonstrates moods are “contagious” on online social networks, like Facebook. Parroting the tone and talking points from the news release on the study, it appears nobody bothered to read the actual study before doing their reporting on it.
However, it doesn’t take an empirical study to understand that our moods impact one another. If you’re depressed and you live with your family, your depressed mood is going to affect your family. If you’re manic and hang out with your friends, chances are some of that manic energy is going to rub off on them.
We would expect that same thing to occur online, wouldn’t we?
“Happiness is when you give the love…” — Philadelphia cab driver
I was eating my California wrap outside at a local coffee shop in Boston when without reason I began to weep. Tears began rolling down my face, which made me feel as if I were sitting in a steady rain. It was as if my eyes had suddenly sprung a leak or a nearby sprinkler had found me. 
“I’m 15. I have no friends. I’ve never had a relationship. One guy I thought was my friend has turned against me. I can’t bear the idea that I’ll always be alone. I’m feeling suicidal and don’t know what to do.”
Tom Keane, writing in this Sunday’s Boston Globe, trots out all of the old fears and misconceptions about assisted suicide to scare people in Massachusetts to believe it is not an option that should be available to those who might opt for it. Keane believes that others — not you — know what’s best for you. Even when you’re dying of a terminal disease. 
Online crisis services have proven to reach young people in crisis that will not reach out for help in any other way. Every day, we know of hundreds of people who turn to the Internet for suicide support and crisis help. A service called 
“Habits of thinking need not be forever. One of the most significant findings in psychology in the last twenty years is that individuals can choose the way they think.” ~ Martin Seligman
When hurricanes or tropical storms are forecast to reach us, we often go into a panic and fear the worst about the coming storm. The uncertainty of the storm provokes a certain in anxiety in most of us. Some of those fears are very real, as government officials ask residents to evacuate areas directly in the path of the hurricane. Low-lying areas are especially at risk for flooding.
An offender in the criminal justice system often seeks to portray themselves as feeling remorse, especially when it comes time for sentencing in front of a judge, or parole hearings and the like. It may be easier to relate to someone who feels genuinely sorry for their crime. And it may be easier to show some mercy to a person who appears to be displaying genuine remorse.
Do you still have your favorite blanket, pillow, or plush toy from your childhood?
For decades, psychology and its researchers have focused on the negative side of humanity — the things that bring dysfunction into our lives. Depression, sadness, anxiety, you name it. More recently, psychologists have also begun to better understand the value of positive emotions too. This understanding has resulted in a new field of research called “positive psychology” or “happiness research.”
Independence Day in the U.S. is the day that America declared its independence from a tyrannical government, but real independence took many longer, hard years of war. The sacrifice of tens of thousands of people was needed first, before our declaration of independence had any real effect. 