People thinking about people: The vicious cycle of being a social outcast in one's own mind

Loneliness and the evaluation of relational events

Loneliness is a major health risk for older adults

Loneliness, social network size, and immune response to influenza vaccination in college freshmen

Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review

Persistence of learned helplessness in humans

Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion

Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and empirical review

Does low self-esteem enhance social pain? The relationship between trait self-esteem and anterior cingulate cortex activation induced by ostracism

High self-esteem buffers negative feedback: Once more with feeling

The Psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory

Rethinking rumination

We'll go to the doctor when we feel flu-ish or a nagging pain. So why don't we see a health professional when we feel emotional pain: guilt, loss, loneliness? Too many of us deal with common psychological-health issues on our own, says Guy Winch. But we don't have to. He makes a compelling case to practice emotional hygiene — taking care of our emotions, our minds, with the same diligence we take care of our bodies.

Why we all need to practice emotional first aid

People instinctively treat a scraped knee but rarely tend to emotional wounds like loneliness or rejection. Psychological injuries, if ignored, can worsen over time and even increase the risk of early death by 14 percent. Habits like rumination and negative self-talk deepen pain, while self-compassion and simple mental shifts can foster genuine resilience. Prioritizing emotional care could transform lives just as dramatically as the rise of personal hygiene a century ago.