Leading a company can sometimes be a lonely proposition — you have to remain a little dispassionate, a little bit apart, and make decisions that affect your staff, choices only you can make. But a new report shows that leadership loneliness can sometimes hit a little too hard and can impact how the whole workplace performs. There’s plenty you can do to mitigate the problem, though, if you’re suffering as a lonely leader.
In a new research paper, a team of psychologists and management researchers looked into loneliness in the workplace and highlighted several reasons why managers may feel particularly lonely. Unsurprisingly, they relate directly to the demands of being a leader, as well as daily corporate realities. As managers rise through the ranks, the researchers note, status and responsibility increase—as does the distance and personal disconnection from their subordinates and peers. To build connections requires showing a degree of vulnerability, but pressures of being a manager and its obligations, like having to maintain confidentiality, can take precedence over cultivating more social, personal connections.
Writing at science news site Phys.org, the scientists note they also investigated the impact of this kind of management loneliness. On days when leaders were feeling lonely they tended to directly engage less with their work duties and also had lower levels of engagement with team members—something of a paradox. The impact didn’t end there, either, and researchers also found that when their respondents got home, they also distanced themselves more from other people, creating a kind of feedback loop that perpetuated feelings of isolation into the following workday. This habit, the scientists think, may explain why managers can feel lonely for extended periods.
The impact on the overall workplace is also notable, they explain. A manager’s feeling of loneliness can influence how they interact with their teams in ways that mean they may be less open about sharing, possibly avoiding feedback, and even appearing withdrawn. If workers and peers pick up on this, it can have a knock-on effect on morale, harm the dynamics of teams that rely on upbeat, fast-paced communications and even lower job performance.
In the study, the scientists remark in conclusion that “transient loneliness” is a “hidden but consequential barrier to effective leadership,” because of the way it isolates leaders and leads to a loop of self-isolating behaviors.
But they also found that a strong “nonwork identity,” which means engaging with family and friendship groups in “real life” situations, can mitigate some of the effects: while a manager may still feel isolated when at work, after-work social connections can reset some of these feelings so they can arrive at work the next day refreshed, and not feel stuck in a worsening spiral.
You may have gotten to this point and felt that this is all just common sense: as a manager having “real life” friends and family is actually what life is all about, and of course organizing, say, a party or other social event can fill up your social batteries enough that you can cope with another day of feeling set apart from your team.
The Christmas holiday season is a time to step back from the busy pace of modern life and connect with our nearest and dearest instead of screens, apps and chatbots.
Here are some suggestions on how to unplug from the online world for the next few weeks as you sit down for a festive meal, exchange gifts or take time out for some self-reflection.
Your phone already has built-in features that can help you stop getting distracted.
To temporarily silence all those attention-seeking notifications, use the Focus setting on your iPhone or Android device. This mode is designed to stop interruptions when you want to concentrate. You can customize it by blocking specific apps or muting only when you’re doing certain things, like sleeping or reading.
Android and iOS also have related screen time controls to manage overall device usage. Too much Instagram scrolling? Limit yourself to a daily total of 20 minutes.
There are other tricks you could try, like turning the screen gray to make it less appealing. On iPhones or Android devices, tweak the color filter or adjustment settings. On Android, activating Bedtime Mode also turns the screen gray.
If you need to be more strict with yourself, then delete any or apps you’re addicted to. An effective way to stop looking at your phone is by removing those apps that you spend the most time scrolling through, even if temporarily. You can always reinstall them again if the withdrawal symptoms become too much.
When the temperature drops, it’s tempting to hunker down inside and stay cozy. But don’t sit on the couch all day. Head outdoors, away from Wi-Fi signals. If it’s been snowing where you are, have a snowball fight or go sledding. To keep your hands warm, don’t forget to put on bulky mittens — which your phone’s touch screen won’t respond to.
Even if there’s no snow, take a walk in the woods, a park or along some tree-lined streets. Time spent outdoors, and away from screens, can benefit your mental health and physical well-being. There’s even a term for it: forest bathing.
There’s an app you can use to force yourself to — literally — get back in touch with nature. Touch Grass takes its name from a viral catchphrase for when someone has lost their connection to the real world because they’re consumed by what’s on their screens.
It’s similar to other apps designed to restrict screen time by forcing users to take a timeout from scrolling. The difference is that Touch Grass requires users to go outside and take a picture of themselves physically touching some grass.
Touch Grass has a free service level that allows you to block two apps. I found it was quite effective at stopping me from opening two of my favorite time-wasters, Reddit and Instagram, though I ended up spending more time on other apps like Facebook. To block all apps, you’ll have to shell out for a subscription — $6 a month or $50 annually.
If you can’t find grass because it’s winter, there’s also the option to touch snow or sand. It’s only available for iPhones so far, but there are copycat versions for both iOS and Android, though we haven’t tested them.
When was the last time you sent a Christmas card? Most digital natives find it easier to type out holiday greetings or send digital cards over chat apps, than to put pen to paper.
The consequence of all the time that we spend tapping, typing or swiping on our devices is that handwriting is becoming something of a dying art. But there are neurological and cognitive benefits of handwriting, research suggests. For example, taking notes by hand is a better way for students to learn and to remember information.
So use this time of year to write a thoughtful message to someone special, a letter to a long-lost friend, or thank you notes for presents received.
If you still don’t know what you want for Christmas, why not ask for a book? It’s easy to find inspiration and ideas at this time of year, when many people like to share the books they’ve read over the past 12 months, and outlets including The Associated Press compile their list of the year’s best books.
Reading long-form literature or non-fiction has many benefits that can’t be gained from glancing at short-form bursts of text on your device, including a deeper understanding of a topic, developing empathy, increasing your focus and concentration and more.
If you’re looking for a last-minute gift, how about a time-lock vault to put your devices out of reach for, say, 15 minutes, a few hours or even weeks?
There are plenty of versions for sale online. For about $30, I bought a battery-powered gray plastic model that can hold several smartphones. The instruction leaflet says it’s intended to “enhance self-discipline.”
Punch in the amount of time — up to 30 days — and a digital display will count down until it unlocks. The lid has portholes so you can thread in cables for charging while you wait.
One evening, I locked my phone up for an hour and then grabbed my laptop to do some online Christmas shopping. But my plans were foiled because I forgot that authentication requests for my credit card and Amazon went to my phone.
For another gift idea, consider putting a brick phone under the tree. Also known as a feature phone, these devices cater to those who want a back-to-basics phone without all the digital stimulation that comes with a smartphone.
Retro devices from Nokia evoke the early days of the cellphone era — no touch screens, numeric keypads and throwback video games like Snake. Most can only make voice calls and send text messages.
If that sounds too primitive, there are so-called digital minimalist phones that serve a similar market niche. Devices from Light, Punkt and Balance offer sleek, modern designs but with a stripped-down experience.
___
Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip.
Grieving is a painful part of life, and loss and grief often makes a surprise reappearance during the holiday season.
Grieving is a painful part of life, and loss and grief often makes a surprise reappearance during the holiday season.
“Grief is feeling the sadness, the loss, the mourning, yearning for someone who has died,” said Kim Penberthy, professor of research in psychiatric medicine at the University of Virginia. “We often think about the holidays as a time when we gather with friends and family, and reminisce and celebrate.”
Penberthy said sometimes people realize they are feeling blue, but may not be sure why.
“I have people who say to me, ‘I feel more sad, lethargic, I’m not hungry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me,’ and then it dawns on them, ‘Oh, mom’s not here,’” Penberthy said.
Even if you’re busy planning and preparing for the holidays, “There is a part of you that remembers that loss, and so it can sneak up on you.”
Penberthy said there isn’t a right or wrong way to grieve.
“We have complicated relationships with people, and that doesn’t change just because they pass away,” she said.
How to handle the holidays
For a grieving person, acknowledging the sadness can help.
“That’s the first step, saying to yourself, ‘OK, this may be hard,’” Penberthy said.
A person experiencing a recent loss may choose to avoid a particularly emotion-filled holiday event.
“If you’re going to participate, remind yourself ‘why,’ and try to keep that in mind as you move through the interactions,” Penberthy said.
“Are you going to see a particular person? Are you there to create a positive memory?” she added. “You need a proactive reason, not ‘just because that’s what I always do.’”
While acknowledging the bittersweetness of a loved one’s loss, over time a grieving person will begin to form new positive connections with the holidays, Penberthy said.
“There may be some attempts at first that don’t go so well,” Penberthy said. “So, be kind to yourself and others, ‘Yeah, that was a struggle, that was hard.’”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
During Thanksgiving dinner in 2024 — just months after her long-term boyfriend died by suicide — Amanda Killam broke down sobbing, remembering how much he enjoyed the traditional feast and mourning that he wasn’t there to share it.
This year, she cried the night before Thanksgiving, but was able to get a bit of enjoyment over dinner with family and friends. Instead of overwhelmingly painful, it was bittersweet, sharing a good meal and company while still wishing her partner were by her side.
“It doesn’t get easier, but it gets softer. The pain gets softer,” said Killam, of Commerce City.
While grieving a loved one is hard regardless of how they died, people who lost someone to suicide face unique challenges, dealing not only with sadness, but also with anger, feelings of abandonment, the sense of being blamed by others, or guilt that they didn’t know the deceased was suffering.
Professional help and support from people who’ve been through the same thing can help work through those feelings and rebuild a life, survivors said.
Killam’s partner, Rob Nickels, died by suicide at 42. She knew about his history of health problems, including a stroke in his 20s and two kidney transplants, but he never talked about the extent of his mental suffering.
Nickels had texted about his intent to die while Killam was getting ready to fly home from Dallas. She called and attempted to talk him down, then notified friends and family in Denver to call 911 after hearing sounds suggesting he’d begun an attempt. She also called businesses near their apartment in the hope someone could get there fast enough to intervene.
First responders attempted to resuscitate Nickels, but he died shortly before Killam’s plane landed in Denver. In the aftermath, functioning was nearly impossible. Sometimes she’d skip meals because the idea of choosing what to shop for and cook was overwhelming.
“It was hard not to feel like a failure,” she said.
Killam was skeptical of therapy in general, but said she started it shortly after Nickels’ death to work through the sadness, guilt and feeling of abandonment from losing her partner. It helped to have an outside perspective, because her family and friends, while supportive, didn’t know how to challenge her to change thought patterns that weren’t helping her, she said.
Any loss can be devastating, but when someone dies by suicide, the survivors may become hypervigilant, for fear that they miss a sign that someone else they love is struggling, she said.
People can’t go back to the way life was before a major loss, so they have to think about what it would mean to rebuild, Doria said. Often, that involves doing something to remember and give meaning to the life the deceased led, such as continuing to make their favorite recipe or volunteering for a cause they cared about, she said.
“When you lose someone to suicide, it can really shake your worldview and understanding of life,” she said. “Resilience is believing that it’s possible to bounce back and committing yourself every day to doing that.”
Her son left behind five children, four of whom she and her husband are now raising. They had to process their own grief while helping their grandchildren through the mental health struggles that come from losing a parent early in life.
“It was nonstop therapy for three years,” she said.
Even seven years after the loss, it still can come up in unexpected ways, such as when she saw a friend’s daughter holding her sister’s baby — an experience her oldest son never got to have with his younger brother’s children.
Her youngest grandson has been having a hard time coping with her recent breast cancer diagnosis because of the fear of losing another central figure in his life.
“I’m the only parent, mom figure he’s had,” she said.
People who are grieving also experience the secondary losses of people they thought would be with them through the worst times, who ultimately don’t always come through, Rouse said. And it can be hard to connect with people when your world is reeling, but they seem essentially fine, she said.
“My circle got a lot smaller, that’s for sure,” she said.
Amanda Killam and Rob Nickels. Nickels died by suicide in 2024 at age 42, and Killam struggled to make sense of the loss and move forward. (Photo courtesy of Amanda Killam)
Some people withdraw or don’t talk about the person who died because they don’t want to remind their grieving friend of their loss, but they aren’t going to be able to forget the loss, regardless, Killam said. People who are grieving need space to talk about their loved one, she said.
“It’s important to show up for your people because it’s not just sadness, it’s confusion, it’s trauma,” she said. “The ultimate reality is that we are going to be sad because we miss them, but we still want to talk about them.”
For the first year, Killam said she was in “survival mode,” but she’s gradually started to focus more on how she wants to honor Nickels’ life.
She scattered his ashes at places that meant something to him, wears his Broncos shirt to football games and started a mental-health-themed line of workout clothes to encourage people to reach out if they need help. He loved to exercise and would have wanted to spare others the pain he felt, she said.
“It just makes me feel like I’m keeping him alive,” she said.
Tips for supporting a grieving friend
Offer concrete help, such as preparing a meal or running errands. People don’t always know what they need if you give an open-ended offer.
Give the person space to talk about their loved ones. Avoid platitudes such as that the deceased is “in a better place” or that “it gets easier.”
Try to be understanding if the person is distracted or cancels plans.
Consider the closeness of your relationship and what you can sustain before making commitments, so the person doesn’t feel abandoned.
Continue to check in, even when months or years have passed.
Tips for handling your own grief
Important people in your life may not grieve the same way. Consider looking for others to talk with, such as members of a support group.
Decide which traditions you want to carry forward. You don’t have to do everything you used to, but preparing a favorite recipe or making a memorial ornament could help you feel close to the person you lost.
Avoid the impulse to isolate yourself.
Take small actions to care for yourself, such as sitting in the sun with your coffee.
Seek professional help if grief is interfering with your ability to function.
The holidays can be a very difficult time for those who are grieving a loss. In my own grief, I have often turned to garden therapy to honour and process my grief. Plants can offer us comfort and help us form new rituals and meaning during this really challenging season of holiday grief.
While the holidays are known for their bright colours, plenty of cheer, and time spent with loved ones, it can be an incredibly difficult time for many.
Grief has a way of manifesting itself during the holiday season. Those who have lost someone dear to them will greatly feel their absence during this time of year.
But it can also be a very peaceful and healing time of year. When you ignore the craziness of the mall parking lots and the aisles of the grocery store, you’ll find there is actually a natural quiet and stillness in the world.
Stepping outside into winter gardens and forests can offer us great comfort during this time of year, helping us to process feelings, ground ourselves, reflect, and take a moment to slow down when the holiday grief comes in waves.
If you’re looking to honour someone that you’ve lost or seeking some solace, the garden can be one of the most steadfast comforts.
This post will cover…
Taking the time to craft and make things can be a meditative activity.
The Varying Forms of Grief
I’ve gone through many different kinds of loss, like the loss of my mother, as well as family changes over the years. I’ve had some very difficult Christmas holidays in the past where I didn’t feel much like celebrating. But when you have a kiddo, you always have to put on a brave face.
Grief can arise from the death of a loved one, the end of a romantic or platonic relationship, or even the loss of a place. It can also apply to the absence of something altogether that never even existed.
For instance, family dynamics can be tricky and become even more difficult over the holidays. If you choose not to go to that family dinner as a form of self-care and protection, you can still feel grief at letting go of traditions or past expectations.
Whatever form of grief you may be experiencing, I’ve always found that gardening can provide us with the emotional space we need.
How Nature Helps Us Process Grief
Nature, plants, and the garden are all powerful tools that help us process grief. Grief is one word we use to describe all kinds of emotions, from heartbreak and sadness to numbness and pain. It can come in waves or sit with us like a stone in our chest.
I’ve always believed that there’s a power to the presence of plants, which can be felt year round. Nature has always been a useful tool in helping to ground yourself, relieve anxiety and stress, and give your mental health a boost.
The holidays are known for being very ritualistic. Many of us have seasonal traditions that set up a level of expectations that we have for the holiday, from cutting down the Christmas tree as a family to eating grandma’s homemade buns every Christmas Eve. When something pauses or puts a stop to these rituals, it can be very difficult.
I know that my kiddo is very attached to rituals and has difficulty when things don’t go according to plan. Most recently, he was expecting to do a candy trade with his buddy at Halloween. So when his buddy went off and did a candy trade with someone else, he lost that ritual.
If the holidays are coming up and you can already sense that things will be different this year, think about how you can reshape these traditions that you may be grieving over. Find the quiet moments and reconnect with nature. Below, I’ll share some of the ways that plants have helped me heal.
Decorating the Christmas tree is an important ritual for kiddo and I.
Create New Rituals
This year, create new rituals. These don’t have to replace the old ones, and they don’t have to be fancy or even involve other people. I encourage you to use plants when creating your rituals because they can be very dependable. Even if the plant doesn’t make it through the winter, there will always be more you can spend your time with.
For instance, create a healing garden where you can bring your grief and reflect and remember. You can also use it to meditate, like I talk about in this post.
If you don’t have access to your own individual garden, use an indoor plant arrangement. You can also go and walk through a garden centre or an indoor public garden. Try bundling up and head to the forest or woods, or any other outdoor space.
One of my favourite holiday rituals is creating a homemade wreath. I used to do it with the neighbourhood gals, but when I moved, I slowly lost that tradition. I kept up the wreathmaking, even if it wasn’t with the same group of people.
Now, I like to go out and forage for wreath materials. At home, I make a new wreath every year to hang on my front door. This is something I do every year, sometimes with others and sometimes by myself. But it’s always something that I look forward to.
Using Herbs to Soothe Holiday Grief
Many herbs are known for their soothing qualities, which can be beneficial for someone experiencing grief during the holidays. There are many that come to mind for me, but here are a few you can try:
Rosesare meant to mend broken hearts, and adding roses to tea can help those experiencing heartache.
Lavender is also a favourite in aromatherapy due to its calming nature. It can also aid with stress relief and encourage sleep. Add lavender to things, such as tea, sachets, or scents throughout the house, like a lavender wreath or essential oil diffusing.
Rosemary is known as the herb for remembrance. It can be dried, burned, or used in teas as a grounding opportunity to help you respect and remember.
Lemon balm helps to lift spirits. Use the scent to help with emotional balance and give you support.
Mugwort helps to promote dreams. Use it to connect to your holiday memories.
Green Memorial Activities
A big part of grief is honouring it and using the time for reflection. Memorial activities can help you remember and honour those who are gone rather than skip over the grief.
Many people have planted memorial trees in honour of loved ones. Memorial plantings can also be small garden plantings, dedicated garden beds or spaces, or even as simple as houseplants. This will help create a space that allows you to go and visit with the intention of sitting with your grief in the physical form of a plant.
I’ve also found that journaling can help. You can even write down messages for loved ones on a little piece of paper and add it to the soil by your plant.
I’ve also seen people write messages on little hearts and hang them in trees. Using just paper and twine makes it biodegradable.
Biodegradable seed bombs made of paper can allow you to write a message to a loved one, and turn it into a beautiful wildflower garden.
Through my own grief, I have found that ritualistic elements have helped me to support myself and slowly heal. Because the garden has always been a place for healing for me, it was natural for me to turn to it during my time of grief. I hope it can do the same for you.
More Ways to Enjoy Peace This Holiday Season
A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
New York (CNN) — Nearly a third of US teenagers say they use AI chatbots daily, a new study finds, shedding light on how young people are embracing a technology that’s raised critical safety concerns around mental health impacts and exposure to mature content for kids.
The Pew Research Center study, which marks the group’s first time surveying teens on their general AI chatbot use, found that nearly 70% of American teens have used a chatbot at least once. And among those who use AI chatbots daily, 16% said they did so several times a day or “almost constantly.”
AI chatbots have been pitched as learning and schoolwork tools for young people, but some teens have also turned to them for companionship or romantic relationships. That’s contributed to questions about whether young people should use chatbots in the first place. Some experts have worried that their use even in a learning context could stunt development.
Pew surveyed nearly 1,500 US teens between the ages of 13 and 17 for the report, and the pool was designed to be representative across gender, age, race and ethnicity, and household income.
ChatGPT was by far the most popular AI chatbot, with more than half of teens reporting having used it. The other top players were Google’s Gemini, Meta AI, Microsoft’s Copilot, Character.AI and Anthropic’s Claude, in that order.
A nearly equal proportion of girls and boys — 64% and 63%, respectively — say they’ve used an AI chatbot. Teens ages 15 to 17 are slightly more likely (68%) to say they’ve used chatbots than those ages 13 to 14 (57%). And usage increases slightly as household income goes up, the survey found.
Just shy of 70% of Black and Hispanic teens say they’ve used an AI chatbot, slightly higher than the 58% of White teens who say the same.
The findings come after two of the major AI firms, OpenAI and Character.AI, have faced lawsuits from families who alleged the apps played a role in their teens’ suicides or mental health issues. OpenAI subsequently said it would roll out parental controls and age restrictions. And Character.AI has stopped allowing teens to engage in back-and-forth conversations with its AI-generated characters.
Meta also came under fire earlier this year after reports emerged that its AI chatbot would engage in sexual conversations with minors. The company said it had updated its policies and next year will give parents the ability to block teens from chatting with AI characters on Instagram.
At least one online safety group, Common Sense Media, has advised parents not to allow children under 18 to use companion-like AI chatbots, saying they pose “unacceptable risks” to young people.
Some experts have also raised concerns that the use of AI for schoolwork could encourage cheating, although others say the technology can provide more personalized learning support.
Meanwhile, AI companies have pushed to get their chatbots into schools. OpenAI, Microsoft and Anthropic have all rolled out tools for students and teachers. Earlier this year, the companies also partnered with teachers unions to launch an AI instruction academy for educators.
Microsoft, in particular, has sought to position its Copilot as the safest choice for parents, with AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman telling CNN in October that it will never allow romantic or sexual conversations for adults or children.
Despite the festive lights and trees, the holidays aren’t all presents and laughter. Maybe it’s stress, financial pressure, or even grief, but at times we can all experience some form of the holiday blues. If you’re feeling down this holiday season, these are just a few ways that nature can help you find moments of peace and joy.
I’ve never been big on the idea of meditation. Though I acknowledge the proven benefits and how it helps many people, I have a hard time slowing down. Laying down indoors with my eyes closed sounds like the opposite of relaxing.
However, when I’m outside and around plants, I feel an immediate sense of peace—similar to what many people describe feeling when they practice meditation.
During the busy, sometimes stressful holiday season, I find myself seeking out this sense of peace even more often.
So, whether you’re like me or you’re a pro at traditional meditation, I thought I’d share some of my favourite ways to cultivate a sense of peace using nature. If this season is feeling more dark than sparkly, these activities can help lift your spirits.
My Version of Meditation
From overwhelming to-do lists and busy schedules to family and financial pressures, there’s no shortage of stress in our everyday lives. At times, it can feel completely overwhelming. So, for years, I’ve been using garden therapy to cope with life’s various stressors and help boost my mental and physical health.
During the holidays especially, I have learned to find ways of managing my stress and boosting my mood. For me, using natural materials for crafting has been an especially helpful activity that allows me to work toward a fun goal.
As my holiday crafting for this year has begun, I’ve started to think of it as a meditation of sorts. It’s a simple way to connect with nature and find inner peace even in a dysregulated environment.
If, like me, you struggle to slow down and take deep breaths during the hustle and bustle of December, know that you don’t have to sit still or use a recording to enjoy the benefits of meditation. Simply finding small, mindful moments can have a huge impact on stress levels and overall well-being.
So if you’re having a one-off stressful day or you’re going through a bout of the holiday blues, try to find just a few moments to connect with nature, whether you go outside or bring nature indoors.
Getting outside and amongst plants is the best kind of meditation, no matter the time of year.
Garden Meditation for the Holiday Blues
As I mentioned, crafting with nature has been a game changer when it comes to improving my mood during the hectic holiday months. But it’s not the only nature-based activity that brings me a sense of calm inner peace.
If you’re looking for ways to slow down this season and enjoy some peaceful time to yourself, here are a few of my favourite ways to connect with nature that are sure to help with any holiday blues you might be experiencing.
Even in the city, you can find peaceful pathways and green spaces.
Get Fresh Air
Simply spending time outside is one of the most effective tools for improving your mood, whether it’s during the winter or not. It’s been proven time and time again that enjoying nature improves mental health. Trust me, even taking a short walk around your neighbourhood can do wonders.
When I go for walks, I like to focus on using all my senses. This time of year, I look at the holiday decorations and note how the chilly air feels in my lungs. Taking deep breaths will give you energy and make your blood circulate.
You can also focus on the plants that you pass by and notice what they’re doing. Which ones still have leaves and which have shed them for the winter?
Forage for Plant Materials
Another activity to do outside is collecting plant materials, like evergreens, pinecones, or leaves. You can do this in your yard or in a public space that allows foraging.
Not only is the act of finding and collecting these pieces of nature meditative in itself, but you can also use them for different crafts and projects, which are great mood boosters.
You can responsibly forage in your community and natural areas.
Meditate With Your Plant
Like I mentioned, traditional meditation has never been something that worked for me. However, one way that I like to practice mindfulness is by using my houseplants. It might sound silly, but I find it to be a nice way to reset and connect with a living being.
Try spending just five minutes with one of your favourite plants. You can look at and notice the different colours and textures of its leaves, or if it needs watering or trimming, you can tend to it. Even this short amount of time can be enough to change your mood.
Creating or spending time interacting with a little zen garden is another great way to practice meditation and bring nature inside during these cold, dark months.
Without stepping foot outside, you can still get some green energy.
Sit and do a Craft
If you’re like me and struggle with the idea of sitting still to meditate, I highly suggest crafting as a more hands-on relaxing activity.
Being creative is a great way to get out of your head, and using plant-based ingredients like herbs and essential oils can create an even more relaxing experience.
Homemade items like bath bombs and lotion bars also make great presents, so you can give the gift of relaxation to your loved ones too.
If you want to get in touch with your creative side with some homemade products, I have a natural holiday gift workshop full of DIYs that you can try out.
The practice of using your hands to create is all the meditation you need sometimes.
Smell Fragrant Herbs
Another one of my favourite ways to connect with nature and ground myself is by using fragrant herbs.
If you have fragrant herbs like rosemary or sage in your garden, pulling some and smelling them can be a lovely way to enjoy a moment of mindfulness in nature. Maybe you even have some leftover lavender or mint that you rub between your hands.
For those without an herb garden, pine or evergreen works just well to help bring a sense of focus and balance.
Read a Gardening Book
Sometimes simply relaxing is the best antidote to any winter blues or holiday stress you might be experiencing. One of my personal favourite relaxing activities is sitting down with a gardening book.
Not only can a book help you unwind, but reading about gardening is also a great way to stay connected to your gardening self, even in the winter.
Every year, there are new innovations in gardening to learn, as well as endless knowledge from old practices.
Organize Your Seeds
Similarly, I find that taking time during the winter to organize my seeds is another nice way to stay in touch with my garden.
Since organizing is a more hands-on, methodical activity, it feels like a form of meditation in itself. Plus, it provides a chance to start planning my spring garden, which is always a good mood booster and gives me something to look forward to.
Look at Holiday Decorations
Sometimes the best way to cope with the holiday blues is to lean into the festivities. My favourite low-pressure (and free) way to do this is by looking at holiday decorations.
Admiring other people’s decorations is a nice way to spend time outside and brighten up your day. You could also visit a public garden to see their decorations and lights.
Plant Some Winter Bloomers
While most people think of the warmer months as gardening season, there are also plenty of beautiful things that can be planted in the winter.
My favourite winter bloomers are fragrant plants and shrubs like viburnum, sarcococca, and winter flowering daphne. There’s something magical about the bursts of aroma these give off when I’m walking around my garden during this time of year.
If you’re interested in getting your hands in the dirt this season, I have a whole post dedicated to winter gardening.
I wish you a joyful and relaxed holiday season. Remember to stick to your own boundaries and put yourself first. Self-care is a year-round thing!
More Ways to Enjoy Peace This Holiday Season
A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
In Finland, some parents have adopted a bedtime routine that seems almost too simple to matter. Each night, they ask their children one question: “What was the last good moment of your day?” No screens, no lectures, no moralizing, just a moment to pause and reflect.
Psychologists who followed families practicing this ritual for 10 years found remarkable results. Children who answered the question daily were up to 80 percent less anxious by the time they reached their teenage years. Ending the day on a calm note helps the brain wrap up its stress cycle, allowing children to sleep more peacefully and recover emotionally from the day’s challenges.
The story recently became popular on social media, but it also makes us think about something bigger: why don’t the media talk more about such easy and helpful ways to take care of our mental health? In a news world focused on major crises and troubling stories, reporters don’t often highlight positive developments happening around the world.
The hidden cost of daily news
Newsrooms have long followed the mantra: “If it bleeds, it leads.” Stories about crime, disasters, or conflict grab attention – and clicks. But reading it can really affect people’s feelings. The research has shown that many adults experience stress or discomfort when following the news, and some even limit their news consumption because they find it stressful (American Psychological Association 2023). Meanwhile, the Reuters Institute notes that “news avoidance” is rising globally, as people deliberately turn away from stories that make them feel overwhelmed.
The paradox is clear: journalism aims to inform and empower the public, yet relentless coverage of negative events can leave readers anxious, helpless, or disengaged. Ignoring these effects undercuts the basic mission of the press.
Learning from Finland: A different approach
The Finnish bedtime ritual offers a useful metaphor for journalism. Just like children think about their day before going to sleep, readers can better understand the news if stories include background information, ideas for fixing problems, and messages of hope.
This is the philosophy behind solutions journalism, promoted by groups like the Solutions Journalism Network. It doesn’t mean sugar-coating problems or avoiding hard truths. Instead, it means telling the full story, highlighting not just the problem but also credible responses and examples of success.
For instance, when reporting on youth anxiety, a journalist could explore programs in schools, community initiatives, or national policies that help children build resilience. Research from the University of Texas at Austin’s Engaging News Project found that readers of solutions-focused articles felt more optimistic about the issue and more confident that there were effective ways to address it, compared with readers who only saw problem-focused news. Engaging audiences this way also strengthens trust in media, an important advantage at a time when many people doubt the news.
Small shifts, big impact
In many ways, journalism can borrow inspiration from the Finnish habit of ending the day with a moment of reflection. It’s a simple cultural practice, not a rule, but it shows how small habits can shape how people process the world around them and be less anxious.
Similarly, there are a few modest adjustments journalists can consider when thinking about how audiences absorb the news:
Language: choosing clear, calm wording instead of dramatic phrasing when covering difficult subjects.
Balance: showing not only the problem, but also what people or communities are trying in response.
Context: helping readers understand why something is happening, not only that it happened.
Follow-up: returning to stories so people see what changed over time.
They are reflections on how reporting might support a clearer and more grounded understanding of events. And just as the Finnish ritual helps families end the day with perspective, these small journalistic choices can help audiences navigate the news with a better coherence.
Real-world examples
Some news outlets are already using solutions journalism. The Guardian’s Upside series, BBC’s People Fixing the World, and CBC’s What On Earth? spotlight serious issues, like climate, health, and inequality, while focusing on real-world innovations and responses. These programs illustrate that news can inform without overwhelming, by highlighting constructive change.
Closing the cycle
In a world where headlines bombard us with crisis after crisis, journalism can offer closure. Just as the Finnish ritual encourages children to reflect on a positive moment before sleep, journalists can help audiences finish the news cycle feeling informed rather than exhausted. The goal isn’t “feel-good news” – it’s resilience and understanding in an age of constant noise.
Journalism has always been about sharing information. Today, it can also help improve our mental well-being, one calming story at a time.
American Psychological Association (2023). Stress in America: The State of Our Nation.
Reuters Institute (2024). Digital News Report: Trends in News Consumption and Avoidance.
University of Texas at Austin (2021). The Effects of Solutions Journalism on Audience Trust and Engagement.
How might we moderate the rare but very real risk of headbanging?
If you search for heavy metal in the National Library of Medicine database, most of what you find is on heavy metal contamination in fish, which “makes it difficult to establish clearly the role of fish consumption on a healthy diet” and perhaps helps to explain the quintupling of odds of autoimmune diseases, such as juvenile arthritis. But searching for the hazards of heavy metal also pops up entries on the “risks from heavy metal music.” In this study, researchers were talking about traumatic injuries from slamming around “during a moshing session,” but you’re more likely to get injured at an alternative rock concert. (Check out some of the artists below and at 0:50 in my video The Dangerous Effects of Heavy Metal Music.)
Certainly, music-induced hearing loss is a serious problem, but that can result from any loud music. Clinical recommendations include the “80–90 rule”—no more than 80% of the maximum volume on personal listening devices for no more than 90 minutes a day. That’s not what the science shows, however. “Do not exceed 60% of the maximum volume” may be more evidence-based, but researchers figure teens would just ignore that, so they came up with more “acceptable” advice.
I assumed I’d see a lot of satanic panic nonsense from the 1980s, when “parents bereaved by suicide…accused Heavy Metal groups of promoting suicidal behaviours and…proceeded to sue musicians.” What kind of evidence did the parents present? There has been “little scholarly research” published until the “The Heavy Metal Subculture and Suicide” paper that tried to correlate the number of statewide heavy metal magazine subscriptions to youth suicide rates. Seriously?
It got really wild, though, when researchers called psychiatric institutions, pretending to be parents worried because their son started listening to heavy metal music, even though they made it clear that their son didn’t exhibit any symptoms of mental illness, didn’t do drugs or drink alcohol, and was doing fine at school. Ten of the twelve facilities believed the son required psychiatric hospitalization. Imagine what that would do to a kid! Researchers found that, decades later, metalheads “were significantly happier in their youth and better adjusted” than their peers.
Some studies were strange. Do Parkinson’s patients walk better listening to The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” or Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”? (See below and at 2:32 in my video.)
Others were pretty nondescript. Heavy metal musicians exhibit a higher heart rate than those performing “contemporary Christian,” which isn’t so surprising, as you can see here and at 2:40.
Some others were kind of cute, like one that investigated the influence of music on promoting patient safety during surgery—veterinary patients, that is. Kittens got spayed with little earphones on their heads. It turns out that “Adagio for Strings” may be more relaxing than AC/DC.
A review on music therapy for human patients warned: “Caution should be exercised…when guiding patients in selecting their music. ‘Chaotic music, such us [sic] hip-hop and metal, is not healing to human cells.’” That even had three citations, though two of them don’t say anything and the third is a nursing newsletter merely quoting someone’s opinion. I did some digging, and it turns out that stomach cancer cells like metal. If you play them Cannibal Corpse versus Beethoven, 12 hours of death metal increases their growth in a petri dish, as you can see below and at 3:28 in my video. (That’s so metal.)
But who puts headphones on their stomach? Or their chests, for that matter? In one study, Mozart killed off one type of breast cancer cell line but not another; in another study, only Beethoven’s 5th Symphony seemed to work, and Mozart flopped when the petri dishes were surrounded by speakers. How does this stuff even get published?
Anyway, the true danger from heavy metal is headbanging. “Headbanging is a contemporary dance form consisting of abrupt flexion–extension movements of the head to the rhythm of rock music, most commonly seen in the heavy metal genre.” Although the “number of avid aficionados is unknown…some fans might be endangered by indulging excessive headbanging.” Despite headbanging generally being “considered harmless,” several health complications have been attributed to this practice, including ripping your carotid artery, rupturing your lung, whiplash injury, neck fracture, or subdural hematoma. One man reported headbanging at a Motörhead concert, and all that “brisk forward and backward acceleration and deceleration forces” might have ruptured his bridging veins and caused him to bleed into his skull.
As shown here and at 4:47 in my video, bridging veins bridge the gap between the brain and the covering that lines the inside of our skull, and if the veins tear, blood can build up under our skull and compress our brain.
This bridging vein rupture has been demonstrated on headbanging cadavers (another very metal study). See below and at 5:02 in my video. It’s been likened to a “pseudo shaken-baby syndrome” in adults.
The researchers conclude that their “case serves as evidence in support of Motörhead’s reputation as one of the most hardcore rock’n’roll acts on earth,” but I think the real takeaway is that a potentially dangerous complication like subdural hematoma can result from “a seemingly benign activity like head banging.” And some of the brain bleeds can be massive. One man complained of a “headache after headbanging at a party.” Why? As you can see in his CT scan below and at 5:35, circled in red is all blood, squishing over his brain. Amazingly, he survived; another man didn’t, headbanging and losing his life to a fatal subdural hemorrhage.
We can tear more than just veins. There are two sets of arteries that tunnel into the skull—the carotid arteries in the front and the vertebral arteries in the back—and we can tear both sets. A 15-year-old boy “indulged in headbanging” and ripped his carotid artery, which led to a massive stroke. He presented as half-paralyzed and unable to speak, and he died in a coma within a week.
What about the vertebral arteries in the back? They’re wedged into our skull, rendering them susceptible to shearing forces from extremes of neck motion, and that’s exactly what appeared to happen when a heavy metal drummer tore the wall of the artery. All of this is really rare, probably afflicting less than one in a thousand or so. What can metalheads do to reduce their risk? “To prevent injury due to such head-banging, the range of head and neck motion should be reduced, slower-tempo music should replace heavy metal rock, the frequency of head-banging should be only on every second beat, or personal protective equipment should be used”—like a neck brace?
“Little formal injury research has been conducted on the worldwide phenomenon of head banging,” so researchers constructed “a theoretical head banging model” with enough physics terms to make any nerd happy: “angular displacement,” “sinusoidal motion in the sagittal plane,” and “amplitude of the displacement curve.” The study participants? Headbangers. The control group? That’s easy with easy listening music.
The head injury curves and neck injury curves, based on headbanging tempo and angular sweep, are shown below and at 7:23.
“An average head-banging song has a tempo of about 146 beats per minute, which is predicted to cause mild head injury when the range of motion is greater than 75º,” so something like what’s seen below and at 7:34 in myvideo.
The researchers conclude: “To minimise the risk of head and neck injury, head bangers should decrease their range of head and neck motion, head bang to slower tempo songs by replacing heavy metal with adult-oriented rock, only head bang to every second beat, or use personal protective equipment.”
“Unfortunately, it is difficult, if not impossible, to change the habits of heavy metal aficionados.” Maybe what we need are metal-studded neck braces.
Having a smartphone may be harmful for children younger than 12, according to a new study.
The study published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics found that owning a smartphone during early adolescence is associated with increased risks of mental health issues and obesity. As far as psychological impacts, it pinpointed higher incidences of depression and insufficient sleep among children who owned smartphones by ages 12 or younger, compared with others kids without the devices.
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Philadelphia, the University of California at Berkeley, and Columbia University arrived at those conclusions after analyzing data from more than 10,000 adolescents around the United States who participated in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD) between 2018 and 2020. That study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, describes itself as “the largest long-term study of brain development and child health” in the country.
According to researchers, 63.6% of the ABCD study’s participants owned a smartphone, and the median age they received them was at 11 years old. Using that data, the researchers determined that younger children had greater risks than older participants of poor sleep or obesity linked to smartphone ownership, with increasingly worse health outcomes reported for kids the younger they were when they received their first smartphone.
“We didn’t even look at what the kids did on the phone,” Ran Barzilay, the lead author of the study and a child psychiatrist with the Youth Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Research Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told CBS News. “We basically asked one simple question: does the mere factor of having one’s own smartphone at this age range have anything to do with health outcomes?”
The Pediatrics study also compared children who had obtained a smartphone by age 12 and children who had not, and found that one year later, those without smartphones were experiencing better mental health than those who had them.
“We did account for the fact that the kids may have had other technological devices like tablets or iPads, and it did not change the results,” Barzilay said in an interview on CBS News’ “The Daily Report.”
In a separate statement, Barzilay said his study’s findings suggest that parents should see smartphones as having “a significant factor in teen health” and approach the decision to give children a phone with care and consideration. He noted that smartphones “can play a constructive role” in teens’ lives by strengthening their social connections and helping them learn, adding that some families see smartphones as necessary for their children’s safety.
Going forward, Barzilay said the researchers behind the study hope to investigate which aspects of smartphone use and ownership are connected with negative health effects for young people. Researchers intend to study younger children, who acquired smartphones before age 10, in an effort to understand who is most vulnerable to the detrimental impacts of smartphone use who and who could most benefit from it. Ultimately, Barzilay said the goal is to identify ways to protect children and adolescents who own smartphones from the consequences outlined in their findings.
In recent years, a growing number of experts have sounded the alarm about increased screen time and the effect it has on kids and teens. In a 2023 advisory on social media use and mental health, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recommended creating “tech-free zones” and encouraging kids to “foster in-person friendships.” Meanwhile, several states have taken steps to ban cellphones in schools.
According to Pew Research Center, 95% of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 owned a smartphone in 2024. More than half of parents with children between the ages of 11 and 12 who were surveyed by the research center at that time said their kids also owned smartphones. The same survey found that nearly 30% of parents with children between 8 and 10 years old said their kids owned smartphones, as did 12% of parents with children between 5 and 7 years old, and 8% of parents with children younger than 5.
“Most probably, all teens will eventually have a smartphone,” said Barzilay. “Once this happens, it is advisable to monitor what our children do on their phones, ensuring they’re not exposed to inappropriate content and that smartphones don’t disrupt sleep.”
Some might say the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus that opened recently in a former 255-room hotel is undergirded by one of humanity’s seven deadly sins — envy.
The intent is to turn that feeling into a motivational force. For his part, Mayor Mike Coffman prefers to refer to the three-tiered residential system at the homeless navigation center as an “incentive-based program” — one that awards increasingly comfortable living quarters to those showing progress on their journey to self-sufficiency.
“The notion here is (that) different standards of living act as an incentive,” Coffman said in early November during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the campus, which occupies a former Crowne Plaza Hotel at East 40th Avenue and Chambers Road. “The idea is to move up the tiers into much better living situations.”
Clients in the new facility, which opened its doors on Nov. 17, start at the bottom with a cot and a locker. They can eventually migrate to a hotel room, with a locking door and a private bathroom.
But that upgrade comes with a price.
“To get a room here, you have to be working full time,” Coffman said.
It’s an approach that the mayor says threads the needle between housing-first and work-first, the two prevailing strategies for addressing homelessness today. The housing-first approach emphasizes getting someone into a stable home before requiring employment, sobriety or treatment. A work-first setup conditions housing on a person finding work and seeking help with underlying mental health and addiction problems.
“We’re providing a continuum of services that starts with an emergency shelter,” said Jim Goebelbecker, the executive director of Advance Pathways.
Advance Pathways, the nonprofit group that ran the Aurora Resource Day Center before its recent closure, was chosen through a competitive bidding process to operate the new navigation campus in Aurora — with $2 million in annual help from the city. Goebelbecker said the tiered approach at the new facility “taps into a person’s motivation for change.”
The Aurora Regional Navigation Campus’ debut nearly completes a mission that has been in the works for more than three years. It is the fourth — and penultimate — metro Denver homeless navigation center to go online since the Colorado General Assembly passed House Bill 1378 in 2022.
The bill allocated American Rescue Plan Act dollars to stand up one central homeless navigation center. The plan has since shifted to five smaller centers, with locations in Aurora, Lakewood, Boulder, Denver and Englewood. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs in late 2023 approved $52 million for the centers. The final center, the Jefferson County Regional Navigation Campus in Lakewood, is undergoing renovations and will open next year.
Aurora’s center, with 640 beds across its three tiered spaces, is by far the largest of the five facilities.
Cathy Alderman, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said the opening of Aurora’s navigation campus is “a really big deal.” Aside from serving its own clientele, she expects the center to send referrals to the coalition’s newly opened Sage Ridge Supportive Residential Community near Watkins, where people without stable housing go to address their substance-use disorders.
“A person can go to one place and get multiple needs met,” Alderman said, referring to the array of job, medical and addiction treatment services that give homeless navigation centers their name. “We are excited that the new campus is now up and running.”
The new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus, operated by Advance Pathways, photographed in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
‘How do I move up?’
Walking into the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus feels like walking into, well, a hotel.
The swimming pool was removed during renovation, as was a water fountain in the lobby. Everything else stayed, including beds, bedding, furniture — even a stash of bottled cocktail delights. But not the alcohol to go with it.
“They left everything, down to the forks and knives and a wall of maraschino cherries,” said Jessica Prosser, Aurora’s director of housing and community services, as she walked through the hotel’s industrial kitchen.
The kitchen, which was part of the $26.5 million sale of the Crowne Plaza Hotel to Aurora last year, was a godsend to an operation tasked with serving three meals a day to hundreds of people. The city spent another $13.5 million to renovate the building.
“To build a new commercial kitchen is a half-million dollars, easy,” Prosser said.
The layout of the navigation center was deliberate, she said. The hotel’s convention center space is now occupied by Tier I and Tier II housing. The first tier is made up of nearly 300 cots, divided by sex. There are lockers for personal belongings and shared bathrooms. Anyone is welcome.
On the other side of a nondescript wall is Tier II, which is composed of a grid of 114 compartmentalized, open-air cubicles with proper beds and lockable storage. The center assigns residents in this tier case managers to help them treat personal challenges and get on the path toward landing a job.
The Tier II “Courage” space, which offers overnight accommodation for people who are working on recovery, employment and housing pathways at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora, on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Tier III residents live in the 255 hotel rooms. They must have a full-time job and are required to pay a third of their income to the program. Residents in this tier will typically remain at Advance Pathways for up to two years before they have the skills and stability to find housing on the outside, Goebelbecker said.
People living in the congregate tiers can house their dogs in a pet room, which can accommodate 40 canines. (No cats, gerbils or fish). The center also doesn’t accept children. Around 60 staff members, plus 10 contracted security personnel, will work at the facility 24/7.
Shining a bright light on the path forward and upward inside the facility — the windows of some of the coveted private rooms are fully visible from the lobby — is an “intentional design feature,” Prosser said.
“How do I move up?” she mused, stepping into the shoes of a resident eyeing the facility’s layout. “How do I get in there?”
The Tier III “Commitment” space, which provides private rooms that will serve people who are in the workforce and are building towards financial independence, seen at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
It’s a system that demands something of the people using it, Coffman said, while at the same time providing the guidance and help that clients will need.
“This is not just maintaining people where they are — this is about moving people forward,” the mayor said.
The approach is familiar to Shantell Anderson, Advance Pathways’ program director. She told her life story during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, bringing tears to the eyes of some in the audience.
A native of Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, Anderson fell in with the wrong crowd. She became pregnant at 15 and got hooked on cocaine. She spiraled into a life on the streets that resulted in her children being sent to an aunt for caretaking.
But through treatment and by intersecting with the right people, she recovered. She earned a nursing degree and worked at RecoveryWorks, a nonprofit organization that operated a day shelter in Lakewood, before taking the job at Advance Pathways.
The Tier I “Compassion” emergency shelter, which provides immediate short-term shelter for those in need at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
“This is a system that honors people’s dignity,” Anderson said, her voice heavy with emotion.
In an interview, she said assuming the burden to improve her situation was critical to her transformation.
“I actually did that — no one gave me anything,” said Anderson, 48. “If it was handed to me, I didn’t appreciate it.”
How much responsibility to place on the people being helped by such programs is still a matter of intense debate by policymakers and advocates for homeless people. The housing-first approach favored by Denver and many big cities across the country is anchored in the idea that work or treatment requirements will result in many people falling through the cracks and staying outside, particularly those who face mental-health challenges.
The Bridge House in Englewood, one of the five metro area navigation centers, follows a “Ready to Work” model that is similar to that of the upper tiers of the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus.
Opened in May, the Bridge House has 69 beds. CEO Melissa Arguello-Green said the organization asks its clients (called trainees) to put skin in the game by landing a job with Bridge House’s help and then contributing a third of their paycheck as rent.
“We help them find employment through our agency so they can leave our agency,” she said. “We’re looking for self-sufficiency that will get people off system support.”
Arguello-Green said she would like to see more coordination between the metro’s five navigation centers, though she acknowledged it’s still in the early going.
“We’re missing that come-to-the-table collaboration,” she said.
Advance Pathways volunteer outreach coordinator Evan Brown organizes the clothing bank before the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus’ grand opening ceremony in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Homeless numbers still rising
Shannon Gray, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, said her department had started convening quarterly in-person meetings across the locations.
“While each navigation campus is unique and reflects community-specific strategies, they are all a part of a regional effort to bring external partners together onsite to provide needed services and referrals,” Gray said. Together, they are “building towards a larger regional system to connect homeless households to a larger network of opportunities.”
The centers are permitted to “tailor their approach to their unique needs and vision,” she said. While Englewood and Aurora use a tiered system, Gray said, the other three centers don’t.
“It is important to understand that DOLA serves as a funder for these regional navigation campuses — we do not oversee their operation or maintenance,” she said.
Denver’s navigation center, which opened in December 2023 in a former DoubleTree Hotel on Quebec Street, offers 289 rooms to those in need, said Julia Marvin, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Housing Stability.
She called the facility an “integral component of Denver’s All in Mile High homelessness initiative,” Mayor Mike Johnston’s ambitious effort to appreciably reduce homelessness in the city. The center is just one of several former hotels and other shelter sites in the system.
Earlier this year, his administration cited annual count numbers showing a 45% decrease in the number of people sleeping on the streets since 2023 — dropping from 1,423 to 785 people, despite overall homelessness continuing to increase in that time.
In fact, homelessness numbers are still going in the wrong direction across the seven-county metro, per the latest Point-in-Time survey from the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, which captures a one-night snapshot. The January count revealed that 10,774 people were homeless on the night of the survey, up from 9,977 in the count the year before.
Anderson, the Advance Pathways program director, said the new Aurora facility was opening at just the right time. Despite a recent calming in runaway home values in metro Denver, the $650,000 median price of a detached home in October still demarcated a housing market that was out of reach for many.
“I am excited,” Anderson said of the Aurora navigation campus’ debut. “I’m waiting for people to walk through the door and start the next chapter of their journey.”
The man accused of killing three people and wounding nine others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs a decade ago died in custody over the weekend, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Robert Dear, 67, died at 6:30 a.m. Saturday in the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Randilee Giamusso said. His death was “preliminarily linked to natural causes,” Giamusso said Tuesday, and prison officials followed advanced medical orders before he died.
Dear’s death ends a decade-long — and ultimately unsuccessful — effort to convict him of crimes connected to the mass shooting. Although Dear had been in state or federal custody since the 2015 attack and confessed to carrying out the mass shooting, he was never convicted because he was always considered to be too mentally ill to go through the court process — that is, he was consistently found incompetent to stand trial.
Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen said in a statement Tuesday that the victims of the shooting were denied justice in the “evil attack.”
“All three victims and this community deserved the full measure of justice in this case, but they are now denied that possibility,” Allen said. “Their family members and loved ones have endured this horror for far too long.”
The Bureau of Prisons declined to provide any additional information about Dear’s death and officials with the Greene County Medical Examiner’s Office did not immediately return requests for more information.
Dear’s attorneys did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Dear was accused of attacking the Planned Parenthood clinic on Nov. 27, 2015. Authorities believe he intended to wage “war” on the clinic because the staff performed abortions. He arrived armed with four SKS rifles, five handguns, two more rifles, a shotgun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Twenty-seven people who were inside the clinic at the time hid until they could be rescued by law enforcement, according to prosecutors. Dear fired 198 rounds in the attack and tried to blow up propane tanks to take out law enforcement vehicles during a five-hour standoff.
A competency evaluation considers whether a criminal defendant is mentally ill or developmentally disabled, and whether that mental illness impedes the defendant’s ability to understand the court process. Rooted in the constitutional rights to due process and a fair trial, competency centers on two prongs — whether defendants have a factual and rational understanding of the proceedings, and whether defendants are able to consult with their attorneys and assist in their own defenses.
Experts previously testified that Dear understood the facts and circumstances of his case but was still incompetent to proceed because he could not assist in his own defense.
Dear was known for frequent outbursts in court. During a 2019 hearing, he declared himself to be a “religious zealot” who was being prosecuted in a “political kangaroo court.” In 2021, he insisted in federal court that he was competent to stand trial, shouting, “I’m not crazy.”
In September, a federal judge started the process for Dear to be committed long-term to the mental health facility in Missouri after finding he was unlikely to be restored to competency.
The decision came nearly three years after the judge ordered that Dear be medicated against his will in 2022. Federal prosecutors believed doing so would restore him to competency.
“[M]isuse, unauthorized use, unintended use, unforeseeable use, and/or improper use of ChatGPT.” Those are potential causal factors that could have led to the “tragic event” that was the death by suicide of 16-year-old Adam Raine, according to a new legal filing from OpenAI.
This document, filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco, apparently denies responsibility, and is reportedly skeptical of the “extent that any ‘cause’ can be attributed to” Raine’s death. Raine’s family is suing OpenAI over the teen’s April suicide, alleging that ChatGPT drove him to the act.
The above quotes from the OpenAI filing are from a story by NBC News’ Angela Yang, who has apparently viewed the document, but doesn’t link to it. Bloomberg’s Rachel Metz has reported on the filing without linking to it as well. It is not yet on the San Francisco County Superior Court website.
In the NBC News story on the filing, OpenAI points to what it says are extensive rule violations on the part of Raine. He wasn’t supposed to use ChatGPT without parental permission. Also, the filing notes that using ChatGPT for suicide and self-harm purposes is against the rules, and there’s another rule against bypassing ChatGPT’s safety measures, and OpenAI says Raine violated that.
Bloomberg quotes OpenAI’s denial of responsibility, which says a “full reading of his chat history shows that his death, while devastating, was not caused by ChatGPT,” and claims that “for several years before he ever used ChatGPT, he exhibited multiple significant risk factors for self-harm, including, among others, recurring suicidal thoughts and ideations,” and told the chatbot as much.
OpenAI further claims (per Bloomberg) that ChatGPT, directed Raine to “crisis resources and trusted individuals more than 100 times.”
When Raine started planning his death, the chatbot allegedly helped him weigh options, helped him craft his suicide note, and discouraged him from leaving a noose where it could be seen by his family, saying “Please don’t leave the noose out,” and “Let’s make this space the first place where someone actually sees you.”
It allegedly told him that his family’s potential pain, “doesn’t mean you owe them survival. You don’t owe anyone that,” and told him alcohol would “dull the body’s instinct to survive.” Near the end, it allegedly helped cement his resolve by saying, “You don’t want to die because you’re weak. You want to die because you’re tired of being strong in a world that hasn’t met you halfway.”
An attorney for the Raines, Jay Edelson, emailed responses to NBC News after reviewing OpenAI’s filing. OpenAI, Edelson says, “tries to find fault in everyone else, including, amazingly, saying that Adam himself violated its terms and conditions by engaging with ChatGPT in the very way it was programmed to act.” He also claims that the defendants, “abjectly ignore” the “damning facts” the plaintiffs have put forward.
Gizmodo has reached out to OpenAI and will update if we hear back.
If you struggle with suicidal thoughts, please call 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Families are gathering across the U.S. for Thanksgiving this week, but the holiday season is not always full of cheer for everyone. Clinical psychologist and author Dr. Joshua Coleman joins CBS News to discuss navigating depression around the holidays.
Texas officials are requiring youth camps to have weather alert systems, mandated emergency preparedness plans, and various communication methods to help children and their families feel safe when they return this summer. But one thing is still missing from the state plan that some camp leaders say would ensure complete safety at all camps — initiatives to address the mental health of those returning to a place of tragedy.
After the devastating July 4 Hill Country floods that killed at least 137 people, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, those who are expected to return to Texas camps this summer could be dealing with the fear of the water, extreme emotions during weather events, consistent nightmares, and more.
One of the primary challenges in addressing the mental health needs of campers, staff and their families is that they are spread out across the state, only coming together during the summer. Resources have been poured into Texas Hill Country for flood victims, but for campers and their families who might live miles away, this does little to help.
Camp owners say this is why camps should be better prepared for their return.
“I am in 100% support of engaging in the physical safety, but I think it has distracted a little bit from the importance of focusing on other aspects of wellness,” Brandon G. Briery, chief program officer at Centerpoint-based Camp Camp, said.
State lawmakers over the summer passed House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 requiring camps to address various safety measures including emergency preparedness plans and communication systems, but they gave no guidance to camps on how to serve the mental health needs of campers and staff.
Keli Rabon, a Houston mother whose sons survived the flood at Camp Junta, told lawmakers three weeks after the Hill Country flood during a committee hearing in Kerrville, that for her family the storm wasn’t over. She said her son scans every room for higher ground, checks the weather constantly and battles nightmares of water dripping from the ceiling, and she has been struggling to find the mental health resources to help him.
“I have asked the camp. I have asked FEMA. The answer is the same: ‘Sorry, we don’t know what to tell you. You are in Houston,’” Rabon said demanding that mental health care be a central, funded part of the state’s disaster response. “… I shouldn’t have to rely on a Facebook group of volunteers to find trauma care for my children.”
Sens. Pete Flores of Pleasanton and Charles Perry of Lubbock, who were committee chair and vice chair of the flood investigation committee and authors and co-sponsors of SB 1 and HB 1, did not respond to interview requests about mental health resources. Gov. Greg Abbott ’s office forwarded questions about mental health resources for camps to Texas Health and Human Services, which did not provide information by the story’s publication.
Even before the flood, the mental wellness of campers and staff had been a growing concern for camp leaders. As youth mental health has declined across Texas and the country over the past six years, camp directors have reported multiple campers coming in with signs of anxiety and other mental illnesses, and staff — usually college students and young adults — with signs of depression and other more severe mental health problems.
Briery, whose six-year term on the state’s Youth Camp Program Advisory Committee ended in August, said he and several others had been advocating for the state’s camp licensing board to consider adding higher-level training requirements for staff to address mental health concerns. He said a work group had been created around the topic and was supposed to convene after the summer camp season ended, but the July 4 flood put those plans on hold — right when it was needed most.
“While the physical safety of our camp community is what’s on everyone’s top of mind right now after the events of July, we have to look at the entire person’s safety, and that includes mental wellness,” Briery said.
When news about the tragedy at Camp Mystic reached Laity Lodge Youth Camp in Leakey, it was like the world had been turned upside down. Laity staff members mourned the deaths as if they were their own while they answered the anxiety-riddled questions of their young campers. The portion of the East Frio River that butts up against them — a source of joy for so many of them before it was shuttered for the rest of the summer — became a grim reminder of the tragedy that unfolded just 36 miles away.
“When I think of the summer, it is split into two parts. Pre-flood and post-flood, because everything felt so different. There was this heaviness afterwards,” said Blayze Sykes, the camp supervisor for Laity Lodge.
Kaplow said each year, more Texas children are becoming survivors of natural disasters, creating a generation of weather anxiety-filled youth.
A study of the Greater Houston area from 2019 to 2023 found that successive weather disasters and events had an effect on emergency department visits for depression and anxiety. It found distinct seasonal patterns, with specific periods, consistently showing higher demand for mental health services.
Weather-related mental illness can be complex to diagnose in children at first glance because their actions mirror ADHD symptoms, Kaplow said. Children affected with weather-related trauma may be hypervigilant, which might appear as though they are easily distracted.
Other signs can range from a student exhausted at their desk in the classroom to obvious signs of crying or becoming aggressive toward other peers.
“It’s not enough to intervene in the immediate aftermath. We want to make sure people recognize that this will be a long-term effort to help kids heal,” said Kaplow.
While camp can’t be the replacement for professional mental health treatment, studies have found that well-structured mental health programs at camps can counter struggles regarding depression, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, and difficulty forming positive peer relationships in young people.
“The time is now. Suppose there were ever a time to give attention to mental well-being at camp, to create an environment where it thrives. In that case, it’s now,” said Cary Hendricks, executive director of Laity Lodge Camping Programs.
One approach to integrating mental health into camps
Families seeking to disconnect their children from technology have long turned to summer camps to help them immerse in nature. Mental health experts have also promoted the benefits of nature-focused camps for children’s emotional well-being.
But, what happens when the outdoors becomes the reason for grief?
“We know, and frankly, take it for granted that so many camps are in the outdoors and therefore have that kind of restorative benefit for campers and staff. The events of July 4 reminded us that those elements are also hazardous and destructive,” said Laurie Pearson, the senior director of innovation and learning for the American Camp Association.
Camps across Texas are wrestling with trying to maintain the summer-camp feel of the past for campers and staff who are now very aware of the dangers that surround them.
“I know we have already had campers signed up who have experienced very traumatic things, so that is where we are focused on. What can we do?” said Meg Clark, owner of Camp Waldemar.
Pearson said the CampWell program, a skills-based training course on building resilience, teaches staffers and campers how to regulate their emotions, like fear and anxiety, using methods such as breathing exercises, activities, conversation, and other non-medical means.
Camps who go through CampWell training try to create a safe, supported and connected environment among staff who can then model and teach relevant skills to campers. This in-person program evaluates a camp’s culture, including its training and screening processes and programs, to ensure it promotes mental and physical well-being.
Fifteen camps in Texas began implementing the CampWell program earlier this year. Little did these camp directors know how necessary this training would be for staff later that summer, when the flood required them not only to deal with their own emotions but also to address the emotions of hundreds of young campers who had a slew of questions about what happened. Those who went through the training said it helped them by teaching them emotional regulation techniques like breathing exercises and confidence building.
Sykes said in the months after the flood, the CampWell program has helped Laity’s staff build their own community of support.
“Looking back at it, the greatest resource we had was each other,” Sykes, staff manager at Laity Bird Lodge campgrounds, said.
Hendricks said lawmakers have the opportunity to lay the foundation for a better future for youth mental health, and it should start with youth summer camps.
“The same way that the state requires us to do proper lifeguard training and food services, what if mental health were equally as important, and what if camps were required to do some mental well-being training? We would love to see that future,” he said.
Jessica Shuran Yu contributed reporting.
This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LAKELAND, Fla. — A local nonprofit teamed up with a Bay area hospital to help coaches and guardians better address youth mental health.
What You Need To Know
R2Cares partnered with a local hospital to train coaches and guardians in Youth Mental Health First Aid
Coach Antwan Brown says the training is personal, sharing that his own experience with depression shaped how he supports young athletes
Participants left with a mental-health first aid certification, which R2Cares founder Ronnie Richardson says equips adults with tools and resources that can make a difference
For attendee Antwan Brown, the true impact goes far beyond winning a game.
“Winning is important, but if you’re not reaching the person, what good is it to be a coach?” he said.
Brown recently started as the assistant baseball coach for Edward Waters University. While his coaching career stretches back nearly 11 years, he says the role didn’t become more than just a title until his own battle with depression.
“It’s very, very dear to my heart to be the person that I needed and give back to the kids because I’m with them every single day,” he said. “And my role as a coach is to be the person they can come to about anything, no judgment, and help them overcome adversity.”
Learning how to better support youth is why Brown decided to attend the Youth Mental Health First Aid class. The goal was to teach adults who are routinely around children to recognize warning signs.
“And if there’s anything going on, giving them the resources to help find the help that they need,” Ronnie Richardson, founder of R2Cares, said.
Richardson, who’s also a coach for the Tampa Bay Rays’ minor league, says equipping adults with these tools can make all the difference. Each participant left with a first aid certification, which Brown says does more than just fill a spot on a résumé.
“It’s good to be amongst people and see their side and different stories, you know? So that’s why I have to be here to continue to learn because I’m a student of the game,” he said.
If you would like to join R2Cares’ future events or trainings, visit the organization’s website.
Program brings in young adults to share mental health struggles with high schoolers – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Elaine Quijano reports on a program called Generation S.O.S., which brings in young adults who have struggled with mental health and substance abuse to have conversations with high school students.
PEABODY — Many of 14-year-old Jason Bernard’s happiest memories were at the Captain Samuel Brown Elementary School down the street from his house. Now, a bench in his memory will forever sit outside of the school.
Jason’s family, friends, city officials and other community members dedicated the bench on Saturday morning—two days before he would have turned 15.
This page requires Javascript.
Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
In a world of hustle culture and stressors of all kinds, joy can seem both illusive and impossible. But despite barriers, you can create the conditions for happiness.
Well-being and joy are critical issues today, with 69 percent to 77 percent of Americans feeling stressed about factors like the economy, current events, violence, and lack of connections, according to the American Psychiatric Association. In addition, a global mental health study of 17,000 people across 16 countries by Ipsos/AXA found that 64 percent face stress, 43 percent are suffering from depression, and only 25 percent of people are flourishing.
But strategies for “micro joy” can be a solution to the struggles and a way to build both well-being and resilience. Micro joy is made up of the small moments of happiness, presence, and mindfulness that we can find in the midst of challenge or difficulty. It is about embracing the power of little delights in the everyday.
How can you create micro joy in your life? Here’s what works best.
An Inc.com Featured Presentation
Take action
Perhaps most important to micro joy is realizing that you have power over your actions and reactions. There may be a lot that is getting in the way of your happiness, but you can take action to contribute to your mental health as well. Even if you can’t change your situation, you can adjust your thinking and your habits.
Remind yourself of all you’ve achieved and all you’re capable of. Reframe problems as opportunities to learn. When you’re faced with a new opportunity, instead of resisting it, motivate yourself to move out of your comfort zone by saying “Why not?” Take a walk, spend time outside enjoying nature, get enough sleep, and stay hydrated. Also consider keeping a gratitude journal.
These kinds of actions have positive effects, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research of almost 18,000 people in 169 countries. They contribute to improved emotional well-being, greater positive emotions, feelings of empowerment, reduced stress, increased health, and better sleep.
Taking action contributes to happiness because it helps you feel empowered, and it reinforces your agency. It also gives you an opportunity to learn. When you attempt to solve a problem or you address a challenge, you get feedback about what works, what you can improve, and the best ways to keep going.
Focus on small wins
You can also create moments of micro joy by focusing on small wins. It’s natural that work may include good days and not-so-good days. But in a study of 12,000 people over three years by Harvard, the people who tended to be the most motivated were those who felt like they had made progress on any given day. It wasn’t always the big achievements that created satisfaction, but simply the feeling they had moved things forward. Another study published in Health Psychology found that frequent, small experiences (think: small steps) had measurable positive impacts on emotions and physical health and reduced depression and anxiety.
Small acts like keeping a gratitude journal or tracking your progress on a project at work can help you reinforce small wins. You can also track small wins in your personal life like monitoring your streaks—including the days you meditate or the times you go to the gym or take the dog for a walk.
Focus on others
When we’re seeking happiness, it can be natural to focus on our own needs, but ironically, focusing on others can help us even more. In fact, a surefire way to achieve happiness through micro actions is to do small kindnesses for others. We all have an instinct to matter, and when we help others, we not only help them but also ourselves.
Based on a survey by BioLife, when people helped others, 45 percent felt a greater sense of purpose, 36 percent felt happier, 26 percent experienced greater mental well-being, 20 percent improved their self-esteem and self-confidence, and 11 percent said they were less stressed. And fully 49 percent volunteered because they expected to feel personally fulfilled.
Set a goal that every day you’ll actively help another person, visit a friend who needs support, or reach out to a neighbor who is sick. Do a random act of kindness for a stranger.
Focus on the present
You can also increase happiness with moments of micro joy that are focused on the present. If we ruminate too much on the past or worry too much about the future, we can exacerbate mental distress. Of course, you want to reflect and learn and you want to plan for the future, but when you keep enough focus on the present, you also stay grounded.
One way is to focus on your senses. Smell your freshly brewed coffee and enjoy that first cup in the morning. Step outside and notice the sun on your face or enjoy the new crispness in the fall air. Listen to the children playing in the yard down the street or pause to hear the trickle of the stream as you walk through a park on the way to work. Any of these will help you pause and enjoy where you are.
You are also wise to focus on what you’re grateful for. When you think consciously about the people and experiences you appreciate, or the skills and capabilities that you celebrate in yourself, you’ll reinforce what you have, rather than what you’re yearning for. When you express more gratitude, you’ll also tend to feel happier, according to research conducted by the University of Montana.
In a 1991 movie called The Fisher King, Robin Williams plays a man who is without a home and who has had a psychotic break. Despite his suffering, he says that he has all he needs and holds out his hand to show a few stones. Each one represents a memory or special moment. They are his touchstones for healing, redemption, and a new beginning. And they remind him of parts of his life he’s grateful for.
Micro joys are like this as well. You can tap into micro joy with strategies to focus on small things in the present, as well as your own ability to embrace moments and memories with gratitude and fulfillment.
By Tracy Brower
This article originally appeared in Inc.’s sister publication, Fast Company.
Fast Company is the world’s leading business media brand, with an editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, world changing ideas, creativity, and design. Written for and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company inspires readers to think expansively, lead with purpose, embrace change, and shape the future of business.
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — With an increase in the number of senior citizens being diagnosed with mental health conditions, the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas wants those 60 and older to know free mental health counseling is available.
The program provides screening, assessment, in-person and virtual mental health counseling
Fair Health reports 57.4% increase in mental health diagnoses for seniors 65 and older
“There’s a lot of pressures that seniors are dealing with or experiencing, whether that’s cost of living, isolation or loneliness, especially since COVID, grief, losing a spouse, a loved one,” said Director of Programs at Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas Christine Didion. “Seniors can receive talk therapy with a licensed mental health counselor. We’re able to do either telehealth or meet with them at a senior center that might be close to them.”
Pinellas County resident Robert Palin, 81, has been seeing a mental health counselor through the program since 2022.
“I just felt that a mental health counselor would be helpful in adjusting to the aging process for me, because I have a neuromuscular disability and hearing loss and sight loss, and even my voice is changing. I have difficulty negotiating large groups, public spaces,” he said.
Palin is not alone. There’s been a more than 57% spike in mental health diagnoses in those 65 and older between 2019 and 2023, the most recent data from Fair Health. The most common are anxiety and depression. And there was a nearly 36% increase in adults 51 to 64.
“When we lose our ability to do what we did for decades, we get depressed often,” said Palin, who says support has made a difference. “I feel more accepting of what it means to decline.”
He adds it has made a difference in self-confidence.
“Bringing out what you can do. I can still play the piano. I still play chess. I still am fascinated and curious about so many subjects,” said Palin.
The free mental health counseling program is provided through funding from the Older Americans Act.
