Connexion
As most of us learn once we become adults, money has a weird habit of vanishing almost magically. We employ a wide range of psychological tricks to stop ourselves from just YOLOing that cash out into the universe, and sometimes those tricks actually work and we manage to put together a tidy sum in a savings account. The average American, in fact, has more than $60,000 in savings (not counting retirement accounts)—although that number is a little deceptive, as the median average amount of savings is just $8,000, meaning half of Americans have less than $8,000 in savings. If you’re like most Americans, though, eight grand (or even significantly less than eight grand) is still a lot of money—and it’s not easy to save it.
That’s why sudden, large expenses are so tragic—you’ve put so much effort into building up your savings, and now a roof repair, car repair, or medical bill is going to wipe all those savings away. It can be demoralizing to see your savings vanish into the void—plus, if you have to use everything you have to pay a big bill, you're left with no emergency fund. Luckily, if you have savings there’s another option worth considering: a passbook loan.
A passbook loan (aka a savings pledged loan) is a loan secured by your own money. With a passbook loan, your bank freezes the portion of money you’re borrowing, but leaves it in your savings account. Then you pay the loan back as with any other loan, and as you do so the bank releases your savings back to you. You’re essentially paying to borrow money from yourself.
For example, let’s say you have $5,000 in your savings account, and you need to repair your roof (average cost: $1,150). You can take the money from savings and pay the repair bill, but then you would simply lose that money. Or you could charge the repair to a credit card and keep your savings intact—but wind up paying high interest on the loan. Instead, you can take out a passbook loan. The bank freezes $1,150 of your savings, and as you pay the loan back that money becomes accessible again.
Borrowing from yourself—and paying for the privilege—might not seem like such a hack at first blush. If you simply pay the bill from your savings, you avoid paying interest on top of it. But there are several reasons why a passbook loan can make a lot of sense:
You keep your savings. It’s not easy building up savings. If you have a nice little nest egg, depleting it to pay a bill is depressing—and there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to save that amount ever again.
The interest is low. Because a passbook loan is secured against the money you already have in your account, you typically get a really great interest rate—often as low as 2%. It will definitely be cheaper than a personal loan or a credit card (unless you can get a 0% deal, although those have their drawbacks as well).
The paperwork is minimal. Because you’re a customer of the bank, passbook loans are usually easy to arrange, without all the fees and red tape that personal loans incur.
You're still earning interest. The money you borrow is frozen in your account, meaning you can’t access it until you pay back the loan. But it will still earn interest, which helps to both keep your savings plan on track and defray the overall cost of the loan—at least you’ll be getting some money back.
You build credit. If you have a poor credit score, a passbook loan is a good way to build your credit because it is similar to a secured credit card. Your credit score won’t matter because you’re securing the loan with money the bank already has, so there’s zero risk to them, but paying it back on time will probably improve your credit score. Not all banks report passbook loans to credit bureaus, though, so this is something you should check on before assuming anything.
If you can’t get a loan from other sources because of your credit history, a passbook loan might be your best—and possibly only—option to avoid draining your savings to cover an unexpected expense.
Setting up a passbook loan is pretty simple. All you need is a savings account or certificate of deposit (CD) account with sufficient funds to cover the loan amount. Most banks will loan you up to 90% (or even 100%) of your account balance as a passbook loan, and often they have flexible payback terms that allow for pre-payment, so you can get the loan taken care of as quickly as possible.
A passbook loan might not be ideal for everyone. There are some downsides to consider:
The amount of money you can borrow is limited by how much you have in a savings account or CD. If you don’t have enough in your savings account to secure a loan of the required amount, you will need to look for other loan options.
If you borrow a big portion of your savings, you lose access to that money. If another emergency expense comes up you won’t be able to use your savings to pay it, which might push you into an additional (and possibly more predatory) loan.
If you default on the loan, you don’t just suffer a lower credit score and a growing debt—you will literally lose the savings you used to secure the loan.
Even though interest rates on passbook loans are low, it will still cost more than simply paying the bill with your savings.
The FDA has approved the first app for treating major depressive disorder, a condition estimated to impact 21% of U.S. adults at some point in their lifetime. The app, Rejoyn, is intended to supplement treatment for major depressive disorder: In a clinical trial of 386 adults with major depressive disorder (who were also being treated with antidepressant medication), participants who used the app saw improved depression symptoms after 6 weeks of treatment.
Using digital tools to improve mental health is not new, of course. There are tons of apps available for meditation, journaling, and even connecting to a therapist—and there have been apps approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat ADHD, substance use disorder, and insomnia.
Rejoyn is expected to be available by prescription for iOS and Android devices in summer 2024, but there’s no information yet on how much the app will cost or whether insurance companies will cover it. Here’s what we know so far about how Rejoyn works and whether you should look into it when it’s available.
Rejoyn uses a six-week program of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) lessons, exercises, and personalized reminders and messages. During the program, you will complete three lessons and three exercises each week. For four weeks following the program, you can still access the lessons for review. Lessons (a short video followed by an off-app or interactive activity) take 3-4 minutes and exercises take 11-26 minutes each.
According to Otsuka, the company that made Rejoyn, lessons focus on cognitive restructuring (observing and re-framing maladaptive cognitions such as cognitive distortions), behavioral activation (deliberately increasing goal-directed behavior, physical activity, and interpersonal interaction), and emotional regulation (an individual’s ability to modulate or control the influence an emotion has on them, or to modulate the degree to which an emotion is experienced).
Rejoyn is intended for people who are 22 or older and are diagnosed with depression. It will be most suited to people who are tech savvy and want to use digital resources to accompany talk therapy and medication for depression.
“It's essential to note that while Rejoyn represents a significant milestone as the first prescription digital treatment for major depressive disorder, its efficacy and suitability for individuals may vary,” said Dr. Sanam Hafeez, neuropsychologist and director of Comprehend the Mind. “As with any treatment, consulting with a therapist is crucial to determine whether Rejoyn is an appropriate option and to develop a comprehensive treatment plan tailored to the individual's needs.”
Rejoyn requires a prescription, so you will have to talk to your primary care doctor, psychiatrist, or psychologist about your depression symptoms and treatment.
“During this consultation, the healthcare provider will conduct an evaluation to assess the individual's symptoms, medical history, and current treatments. Based on this evaluation, the provider will discuss various treatment options, including Rejoyn, alongside traditional therapies like medication and psychotherapy,” Hafeez said. “If Rejoyn is deemed suitable for the individual, the healthcare provider will issue a prescription for the app.”
“While it may provide tools and resources for managing symptoms, it may not address the underlying causes of depression in the same way that therapy and medication can,” Hafeez said. However, it could be a source of support between therapy sessions.
Hafeez said there are non-prescription apps that show promise in improving symptoms of depression. She shared these examples:
Headspace offers guided mindfulness and meditation exercises aimed at reducing stress and promoting emotional well-being. "Research has suggested that mindfulness-based interventions can be effective in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety," Hafeez said.
Woebot is a chatbot-based app that delivers CBT techniques through conversational interactions. "Research has found that Woebot can be effective in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, particularly among younger users," Hafeez said.
Happify offers activities and games designed to promote happiness and well-being by targeting negative thoughts and behaviors. "While research on Happify specifically is limited, interventions focused on positive psychology principles have shown promise in improving mood and psychological well-being," Hafeez said.
While the number of digital tools available for tending your mental health are growing, don’t ditch therapy and meds yet.
“It's important to note that while these apps have shown effectiveness in research studies, they are not intended to replace professional treatment for depression,” Hafeez said. “Individuals experiencing depression should consult with a healthcare provider to determine the most appropriate treatment options for their needs. Additionally, ongoing research is needed to further evaluate the efficacy and long-term effects of digital interventions for depression.”
During a recent attempt to purchase tickets to see a comedian at a local arena, I was shocked that the fees tacked on were nearly as much as the cost of the ticket itself. The fees Ticketmaster charges have become a well-known frustration, but as someone who once covered the culture beat, I had gotten used to getting tickets for free. Paying out of my own pocket reinforced the higher cost of enjoying live events these days, and I was newly motivated to find a way to avoid giving Ticketmaster a considerable chunk of my money.
Here are a few ways to lower the ticket fees you pay or, in some cases, avoid them altogether. They all have pros and cons, but in this economy, doing a little more to save a few bucks can go a long way to keep more of your money in your pocket.
One of the conveniences Ticketmaster provided was avoiding the hassle of going to a venue's box office. You could just stop by your local record shop or department store or, eventually, go online and get a ticket to the big concerts coming to town. Of course, the fees weren't that high back then. Now, it's a different story.
While driving to the venue might be a hassle, at least you won't have to pay some of the excessively high fees Ticketmaster adds on. However, instead of being open daily, many venue box offices are only open a few hours before an event, making things more inconvenient, especially if you want to see a high-profile concert.
If you're willing to pay for a membership, many artists offer pre-sale tickets that are sometimes cheaper than those available to the general public. For instance, Canadian rock band Nickelback offers yearly memberships to its fan club for $33, giving you the opportunity to purchase exclusive merch, a membership card, and early entrance to shows, but also access to an allotment of seats before they go on sale to the general public. Sure, fan clubs can be a risky investment, but if you're a true devotee of Nickelback, the benefits could outweigh the costs.
If you use a Chase, Capital One, American Express, or Citi credit card, you might have access to tickets before they go on sale to the general public. In some cases, tickets might be cheaper because they're being offered at a discount, or you're avoiding dynamic pricing, which can boost ticket prices as demand for events increases, according to Forbes. However, be aware that this could also translate to higher annual fees on your credit card.
Tickets to select events are available in limited numbers on the same website where your parents got the discount on that hot air balloon ride they took last year. For example, lawn seats for The Queens of R&B Tour in Phoenix are 52% off the listed price with no fees. (The only drawback is being outdoors in Arizona in July.)
Websites like theXchange and CashOrTrade.org offer a way to bid on tickets like a hotel room on Priceline.com or trade them for a small fee or, in the latter's case, no fee. The former provides a buyer guarantee to avoid scams, and its sellers must go through a vetting process. If fraud does happen, the site will penalize the seller monetarily. If these websites don't work for you, there's always Facebook Marketplace, right?
When TickPick started, you could bid for event tickets. Nowadays, it promotes that it sells to fans with "no hidden fees" and guarantees that if you find seats cheaper elsewhere, it will refund you 110% of the difference (in credit, of course). It's a good way to find affordable tickets to sporting events at the last minute. However, according to TechCrunch, TickPick still makes its money from fees. They're just being upfront about it instead of surprising you at checkout.
Venues often release more seats to events on the day of the show. If you snag these tickets online, you will have to pay Ticketmaster their fees. However, in many cases, the value of the ticket drops to a more reasonable amount to fill seats, which can offset the costs the seller tacks on.
Most advice offered to anyone struggling to make ends meet typically boils down to some variation of "spend less and/or earn more"—which often means getting a second job. And a lot of us have taken that advice—close to 8.5 million people in the U.S. have more than one job these days. On the surface, that makes sense: If you earn more money, your situation will invariably improve. But it’s not necessarily that simple. A second job doesn’t always help as much as you expect, and can even do some harm to your financial situation and other aspects of your life. Here’s what you need to consider before assuming a second job will solve your problems.
The first thing you need to do is calculate how much money you’ll bring in from that second job and compare it to any extra expenses you'll incur:
Commuting costs. Whether it’s more gas in your tank, more wear and tear on your car, or parking fees, commuting costs you money—about $2,600 a year, on average (for commuting to one job). And that doesn’t include the cost of replacing your car because you doubled the mileage. If you’ll be using more public transportation and carshares instead of driving, add those costs up instead.
And remember, these costs can sometimes quadruple if you have to commute to work, back home, then commute to a second job and back home again. Doubling up your commute increases those expenses, so calculate how much more you’re spending and deduct that from your take-home pay at your second gig.
Food and meals. The time and energy for a second job has to come from somewhere. If you will be eating more fast food or takeout meals because of the second job, you need to estimate those additional costs and deduct them from your take-home as well. Fast food meals cost anywhere from $2 to $10 more than meals prepared at home, on average, so if you’re eating out three meals a day because you’re constantly working or commuting, that adds up.
Childcare. If you need to pay for babysitting or other childcare services because you won’t be home as much with the second job, those costs need to be deducted as well. Childcare costs range between about $5,000 and $25,000 annually depending on your location, so this can be a significant hit to your extra income.
Every dollar you have to spend in support of a second job makes it less effective at improving your financial situation. Make sure you know how much you’re losing in the deal, and whether the second job is still worth it.
Second jobs can seriously complicate your tax situation:
Marginal rates. If your second job increases your income enough to move you into a new tax bracket, you’ll pay a bit more in taxes. For example, if you earn $40,000 a year at your first job, your marginal tax rate is 12%. If you bring in an additional $20,000 from a second job, a little more than $15,000 of that money will be taxed at the higher 22% rate. You’re still paying 12% on the bulk of your income, but your overall liability will go up.
Doubled withholdings. In many cases, your two employers won’t be able to adjust your withholding for Social Security, so you’ll wind up paying double, at least temporarily. Eventually, you might get a Social Security tax credit when you file your taxes so it will even out—but in the meantime you’ll be out that money, presumably just when you need it. And if your income shoots up over $200,000, you’ll also wind up paying a higher Medicare tax.
Taxes won’t erase your extra earnings, but you need to know how they’re going to impact them so you can judge whether the second job is going to bring in enough income to be worth it.
Finally, there’s a "softer" impact that’s difficult to calculate: exhaustion. If you’re already working a full-time job and now you’re adding more working hours (and more commuting hours), you could be putting your mental, physical, and financial health in jeopardy. Studies have shown that longer work hours can increase your chances of depression, heart disease, and sleep problems. Those conditions come with increased healthcare costs that can erode the benefit of a second income.
Working more and sleeping less can also degrade your job performance at both jobs, which can potentially lead to negative financial consequences—like losing your first job, or missing out on performance bonuses. It’s impossible to predict the likelihood of something like that happening, and you can’t easily calculate the financial impact, but it’s something to consider if you’re hoping a second job will be the perfect solution.
Pop quiz: You want to lift 185 pounds. How many plates do you put on each side of the barbell, and what sizes? If you didn’t immediately answer “a 45 and a 25, of course,” perhaps a little primer on plate math would help.
Let’s start with the basics. When you tell somebody how much weight you lifted, that weight includes the total poundage that you had in your hands. The bar is part of that.
At most gyms in the U.S., a typical barbell is seven feet long and weighs either 45 pounds, or 20 kilograms (which works out to 44 pounds). If the rest of your weight plates are in pounds, go ahead and assume it’s 45.
If your gym has multiple sizes of bar, check the end for a label giving the weight, or ask somebody. If your gym has kilo plates, or if it's a Crossfit box, you should know that Olympic style weightlifting is done with a 20 kilogram bar for men (close enough to 45 pounds), and a shorter, narrower 15 kilogram bar for women—which Crossfitters tend to estimate as 35 pounds, even though between you and me it's closer to 33. (Why do women's barbells exist in the first place? There's a whole story to that, which I explain here.)
Your gym might also have lighter bars, which could be 25 pounds or even 10. Home exercise equipment sometimes uses a 1-inch-wide bar without the wider collars you’ll see on Olympic or powerlifting bars; those bars are lighter, and you should weigh yours or check the package to see what you’ve got.
If you’re lifting with a Smith machine, or any other kind of machine, don’t bother trying to figure out how much the machine or its bar weighs. Every machine is different, they’re almost never labeled, and the weights won’t necessarily feel the same as they would on a barbell. Just write down the total weight you loaded onto it—that’s enough for record keeping purposes.
What about the clips or collars that hold the weight on? Usually they’re not heavy enough to bother adding into your calculations, but if they’re large and you know the weight, feel free to include them.
This may be obvious, but I want to make sure this information is easy to find: to find the total weight you’ve put on the bar, add up the plates on one end, double that number, and add the weight of the bar.
So if you have a 45 and a 25 on each end, add 25 + 45 to get 70, double that (140), and add the weight of the bar (140 + 45 = 185).
More often, though, you start with a number you’d like to lift, and then have to load the bar appropriately. Start practicing and soon you’ll be able to load a bar correctly without thinking about it too much. Here’s how:
Let’s assume we’re working with a 45 pound bar. You’ll end up using the same combinations over and over, and these numbers will start to look really familiar:
55 pounds: a 5-pound plate on each side
65 pounds: a 10-pound plate on each side
95 pounds: a 25-pound plate on each side
135 pounds: a 45-pound plate on each side
225 pounds: two 45-pound plates on each side
315 pounds: three 45-pound plates on each side
405 pounds: four 45-pound plates on each side
495 pounds: five 45-pound plates on each side
As you warm up for a lift, you can do the math as you put plates on. Say you do a set with just the empty bar, then with a 10 on each side (that’s 65), then a second pair of 10s (85), then swap both of those out for a 25 (now we’re up to 95) and you want to do your next set at 100. You know you need five more pounds, so look for a pair of 2.5 pound plates and there you go.
Some gyms have their plates in kilos instead of pounds. (Some have both, so keep your wits about you!) The principles are the same: count the bar, and memorize common combinations. Bumper plates and competition-style steel plates are often color-coded, so I've included the colors below:
On a 15kg women’s bar:
A pair of 10 kilo plates (green) = 35kg
A pair of 15s (yellow) = 45kg
A pair of 20s (blue) = 55kg
A pair of 25s (red) = 65kg
Two pairs of 25s = 115kg
Three pairs of 25s = 165kg
Or, if you’re using a 20kg men’s bar:
A pair of 10 kilo plates (green) = 40kg
A pair of 15s (yellow) = 50kg
A pair of 20s (blue) = 60kg
A pair of 25s (red) = 70kg
Two pairs of 25s = 120kg
Three pairs of 25s = 170kg
If you go back and forth between pounds and kilos, it helps to be able to convert them in your head. Multiply kilos by 2.2 to get pounds, or divide pounds by 2.2 to get kilos. (Kilos are "bigger" than pounds, so the same object will weigh a smaller number of kilos and a larger number of pounds.) Some of the numbers are nicely symmetrical:
5kg = 11 pounds
10kg = 22 pounds
20kg = 44 pounds
30kg = 66 pounds
40kg = 88 pounds
50kg = 110 pounds
100kg = 220 pounds
150kg = 330 pounds
I lift at one gym where everything is in kilos, and another where everything is in pounds. Fortunately, I do different lifts in each place, so I just keep my Olympic lifting notes in kilos and my powerlifting notes in pounds. I recommend this approach rather than trying to convert units on every lift as you do it.
If you’re not used to working in kilos, start with memorizing just one number: your own bodyweight in kilos. That lets you make quick judgments like “This is heavier than me” or “This is about half my weight” without having to whip out a calculator.
Yes, there are calculators that will do the job for you. I track my workouts in an app called Strong, and it has a little button that will tell you how to load the bar for your lift. RackMath (free on iOS and Android) looks like a good option for a standalone app.
An online equivalent is this calculator from ExRx. Note that you have to tell any calculator how heavy your bar is, what sizes of plate you have available, and how many of each there are. In a gym the plates may be unlimited, but in a home gym there may be certain numbers you just can’t achieve because you don’t have the right combination of plates.
You can get this sonic toothbrush and water flosser with a compact, inductive charging base on sale for $64.99 right now (reg. $79.95). The base holds two spare brush and floss heads that are color coded for sharing. The toothbrush gives 31,000 pulses per minute and has a timer that pulses every 30 seconds, and the water flosser has 40-80psi.
You can get this sonic toothbrush and water flosser with a compact, inductive charging base on sale for $64.99 right now (reg. $79.95), though prices can change at any time.
Renovating or remodeling a house isn’t cheap—the average renovation costs around $22,000, and the cost to totally gut and renovate a house can be as much as $200,000. The most frustrating aspect of a home renovation isn’t the cost, though—it’s the unpredictability. No matter how meticulous you are with your budget, just about every home renovation project goes over budget—you’re well advised to set aside an extra 10-20% of your initial budget for the unexpected. There’s a way to offset these costs that most people overlook, though: scrap metal.
If you’re gutting a room or an entire house, you’re likely pulling some valuable materials out of the walls, floors, and ceilings. If you’re just ordering a dumpster and tossing it away, you’re losing money on the deal—sometimes a lot of money. Here’s what to look for if you’re ripping stuff out of your home as part of a renovation.
Copper isn’t considered valuable in the same way gold or silver is—but its importance as a construction material and the ease of recycling it makes it worth salvaging (and also worth stealing). If you’re having your house re-wired and/or replacing old copper pipes with new plumbing, you should check the current scrap prices in your area. Copper typically commands the highest price in the scrap world.
It doesn’t matter what condition it’s in, either. Old, banged-up stuff is just as valuable to a scrap dealer as any other kind. Keep in mind that the copper in your home might be mixed with other metals, so you might get an unwelcome surprise when the dealer examines it and makes an offer; but if it’s pure copper, you’ll be in the money.
If you’re renovating an older home, lead pipes also have value. While lead pipes are terrible for someone who lives in the home, the lead itself is valuable. Not all scrap dealers handle lead because of its toxic nature, so make some calls before you load up your car.
If your house has an old metal roof you’re replacing, chances are those panels have some value, even if they look like they’re in rough shape. Common metal roof materials include copper, aluminum, steel, and tin, all of which have some value as scrap metals.
Old gutters may be made of aluminum, so if they’re rusted and dented and need replacing, you might as well check to see how much you can get for them from a scrapper.
Another potential source of scrap profits from a renovation or remodeling project is the fixtures and hardware in the home—faucets, doorknobs, drawer pulls, and light fixtures. These are often made from brass or other metals with some scrap value. If you’re pulling them out of a large house, you might wind up with quite a lot of them.
A final potential source of scrap metal is steel, including stainless steel. Steel is relatively low value in terms of scrap—it’s usually priced by the ton, whereas copper and other metals are priced by the pound. That means it’s probably not worth scrapping all the steel in your home unless you have a lot of it—but if you’re going to be scrapping other metals, you might as well throw in those steel panels from your kitchen appliances.
If you’re planning a home renovation and you want to cash in on all that sweet scrap, it’s a pretty straightforward process: Identify and organize your scrap by metal type, contact a local scrap dealer, and transport the scrap metal there. Not all scrappers are looking for all materials, so you might need to contact more than one if you have multiple kinds of metal to sell, and you can certainly compare prices between different scrap dealers to make sure you get the best price for your scrap.
The iScrap app is a useful tool. It can help you locate local scrap dealers and keep you updated on the national prices for different materials (right now it puts the national average for copper at $3.15 per pound) so you’ll know if you’re getting a fair offer for your trash.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and so it is with Disease X, the ominous sounding illness that doesn’t actually exist. Earlier this year, the World Health Organization published its annual list of “priority diseases,” or illnesses that “pose the greatest public health risk due to their epidemic potential and/or whether there is no or insufficient countermeasure.” On the bottom of the list, below Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and Rift Valley fever, is Disease X, which is, as Lifehacker Senior Health Editor Beth Skawrecki explained in January, a generic term to represent a disease outbreak that hasn't occurred yet.
Normal people (the few who noticed, anyway) responded by thinking, “That’s cool, we really should prepare for the emergence of new and heretofore unknown pathogens, because look how COVID caught us flat-footed.” Conspiracy theorists and grifters, however, took the term “Disease X” and ran with it, creating an imaginary illness that fits into (and furthers) their larger paranoia-driven worldview.
According to Alex Jones, Disease X is “a secret weapon of the New World Order,” a “genocidal kill weapon” soon to be deployed by “the globalists.” Twitter users have posted (highly dubious) videos of helicopters supposedly dropping Disease X-ridden mosquitos on the population, shared photos of mobile cremation vans from China intended for Disease X victims (fake, of course), and speculated about whether Disease X is being spread through cocaine. This is just of sampling of the many batshit theories floating around the internet.
Despite the ravings of Alex Jones and company, Disease X isn't a deadly new infection. It's not even real. As the World Health Organization takes pains to explain in the report where it’s mentioned, "Disease X" is the term the organization uses to talk about any as-yet-unknown pathogen that could threaten public health. Like the X in an algebra problem, the name represents a "knowable unknown" in the discussion of how to best use public health resources. The term has been used by the WHO since 2018, and it was first proposed in 2015 as a way to reduce the time between the identification of viral outbreaks and the approval of vaccines or treatments.
In the pre-pandemic days of 2018, Jonathan Quick, chair of the U.S.-based Global Health Council, told The Telegraph, that talking about “Disease X” could be a way of breaking through the public’s complacency regarding disease outbreaks. “There is a cycle of panic and complacency. We’re currently sliding back into complacency,” Quick said.
But Quick’s interpretation didn’t have the benefit of the data about public opinion that we gathered during the pandemic, when we discovered there’s a third element to how the public reacts to public health crises beyond complacency and panic: Lunacy. Quick couldn’t have known that a fairly sizable portion of the population (at least on social media) would react to an actual public health threat by ignoring common sense protective measures and becoming outwardly hostile to anyone who proposes them. Or that the same people would later react to a potential future public health emergency as if it was already happening, and part of a sinister, secret plan to depopulate the earth. Which, to be fair, how can you plan for that?
In keeping with the pattern of conspiracy theories in post-truth America, Disease X hysteria is more than another weird obsession for housebound cranks. It was quickly seized on as a way to steal money from the ignorant. "Misinformation mongers are trying to exploit this conspiracy theory to sell products," Timothy Caulfield, from the University of Alberta in Canada, told AFP.
For instance, supplement hawking concern The Wellness Company says “whether Disease X turns out to be a new COVID variant, Marburg virus, Monkeypox, genetically engineering mosquitos, or whatever they invent next” you can prevent it through the company’s “Spike Support Formula” pills. For only $64.99, you can have a bottle of pills that contains both nattokinase and dandelion root, and will apparently prevent even hypothetical diseases. (You could also take Ivermectin for some reason.)
Alex Jones will be proven right about Disease X. Not the Globalist part, but the part where a deadly new virus or bacterial infection appears at some point in the future and spreads among the human population, necessitating another round of public health actions from the world’s governments.
This is how diseases have always worked, but in the minds of the conspiracy theorists, there will be no question that the new disease was a made in a lab and is being employed as a “kill shot” by The Globalists, as was foretold. They’ll be able to point back to the WHO report and say, “See? They told us they were making Disease X back in 2024, and now here it is, and no, I'm not taking their phony vaccine. I'm cool with my dandelion root." (Just imagine this rant interrupted by several minutes of loud, strained coughing.)
Healthcare denialism has real world consequences beyond how annoying it is when conspiracy theorists think they’re right though. Anti-vaccine propaganda has actual victims. An unknowable number of people might be alive today if they'd been (or been able to be) vaccinated for COVID, and we're also seeing new outbreaks of measles in places where anti-vaccine conspiracy theories have taken root. Like Florida: The state has a 92% vaccination rate for the disease, but according to the CDC, the immunization threshold to prevent outbreaks is 95%, so measles is breaking out in the state. This is in keeping with an easily recognizable pattern: When vaccination rates go down, measles rates go up.
Even more troubling is the official response: Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo didn’t advice parents to vaccinate their children or keep them quarantined if infected. Instead, he wrote: “The DOH is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance,” a move many feel could accelerate the outbreak and endanger children, and which seems to be signaling tacit approval to the delusions of vaccine denialists.
If experiencing a mental health problem were plotted like a line on a graph, it might look like a low-level shallow wave, or a dramatic fall and rise with a few roller coaster bumps scattered in between. When people who have made it through a mental health struggle describe their experience, there is often an inflection point when something “clicked” and they started to feel better.
In her book Little Treatments, Big Effects, clinical psychology professor and therapist Dr. Jessica Schleider writes about her research into single-session interventions for mental health care. Through surveying and interviewing 98 people and analyzing their stories, Schleider identified five “pathways to hope”—elements from stories of mental health recovery that represented the turning point from struggling to wellness:
Surprising yourself
Feeling seen
Seeing others
Reclaiming your narrative
Giving back
Schleider defines these turning points as “specific, brief moments that made a lasting impact on [the]journey toward mental health."
“The clearest connector across virtually all the turning points was the experience of realizing hope that change might be possible, where little such hope had existed before,” Schleider wrote.
If we extrapolate a bit more, someone experiencing mental health problems may find it beneficial to look for—and even actively cultivate—these "pathways to hope" as a way to help break them out of a funk. If you are living with depression, anxiety, addiction, obsessive compulsive disorder, or other psychological problems, there are ways to try and create your own turning point toward recovery.
This means doing something, even something very small, that you once believed you could not do. You not only get a confidence boost from doing the hard thing, you gain evidence that thinking something is impossible is not proof that it’s impossible.
Try a skill you learned in therapy. Even if your therapist’s suggestion makes your eyes roll, give it a try. Their techniques are usually research-backed.
Go out and do something that you are nervous about. By coping in a new environment more successfully than you thought you would, you learn that your anxiety is not a reliable predictor of how dangerous new situations really are.
Face a fear. It might look like exposure therapy with a professional or DIYing your own exposure experience. Exposure therapy can be helpful for anxiety, OCD, or PTSD.
When you share your experience and receive validation from others, feeling understood can shed a layer of shame or fear from your mental health struggle.
Talk to understanding people. Do you have someone in your life whom you can count on to be a judgment-free zone? That may be a therapist, a friend, a family member, or any trusted person in your life. Feeling sympathy and acceptance from a caring person could be the first step to feeling better.
Not ready to share your feelings with another person? Take a self-evaluation to recognize your experience within the diagnostic framework. While these assessments are not equivalent to a diagnosis and do not replace formal mental health care, they can reassure you that you are not the only person with your experience.
Read about your suspected condition or symptoms. Reading articles or personal accounts have the effect of reminding you that you are not alone.
Try online forums, Facebook groups, or even Reddit threads related to your diagnosis or symptoms. Share your story in a low-stakes way or just read what others have experienced.
Seeking to be seen will inevitably lead to learning about other people who are going through or have recovered from feelings similar to yours.
Look for stories you can relate to, either through online forums or articles. This step could occur along with your efforts to feel seen.
Validate and affirm others. When you encounter something you can relate to, tell the other person. You are part of the seeing and being seen cycle.
Recognize your own empathy. You may encounter stories you never thought you would relate to, but you do. Acknowledge the part your own empathy plays in creating your turning point.
Living with disruptions to your mental wellness can make it feel like things are out of your control. It might seem like others know what you need but you don’t have the agency or energy to choose for yourself.
Do the “next right thing.” This can be a tiny step. The key factor is that you decide what direction you want your life to go and make that step.
Be the bus driver. In acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), the bus driver metaphor means each of your experiences are passengers boarding the bus as you go through life. If your bus is full of loud, negative passengers, you may develop a habit of appeasing the negative thoughts rather than determining your course. You are the driver and you decide where to go.
Explore your identities. Schleider writes about a survey respondent who experienced a turning point diving into research about their personal identities and their intersections. What parts of your culture or self have gone unexplored?
Supporting others who have experiences like your can empower you to keep making progress on your own recovery.
Share your story publicly. Much like seeing others and being seen, sharing your story adds to the cycle of validation. If you are comfortable talking about your experiences to a few people, consider sharing on a larger scale. Speak in a group session or write a blog.
Engage in peer support. Consider the communities or settings where you have received support and look into how you can contribute in a formal or informal way. Working in the community where you feel understood and validated reinforces your motivation to work toward wellness.
The power of a turning point is only fully realized if you notice it happening (or create meaning by reflecting on it later). One of Schleider’s interview subjects (cited in Little Treatments, Big Effects) pointed this out: “I think they’re probably there, but it would take some level of noticing to see them and respond to them in a way that makes them have an impact,” they said. “I’m imagining a literal turning point in a road—if you’re not paying attention, you can just keep driving, but if you’re looking for it, you can see the turn-off, and you can go in a different direction. So part of it might be showing up, paying attention.”
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Home water filters have come a long way since the basic pitchers that are mostly good for improving taste. There are water filter systems designed to remove bacteria, viruses, and chemical contaminants, such as lead, from water. While not everyone needs one of these filters, they can be useful if you live in an area with higher lead levels in your drinking water, if you’re immunocompromised and are particularly concerned about infection, or if you have a well.
The EPA recognizes three ratings organizations for the purposes of determining the effectiveness of a drinking water filter. These include the National Sanitation Foundation/ American National Standards Institute(NSF/ANSI), the Water Quality Association, and Underwriters Laboratories. When you’re looking for a filter that has been tested and verified effective for what it claims to do, these are the ratings you should look out for.
According to the EPA, filters that reduce lead include reverse osmosis filters, distillation filters, and some types of carbon filters. If you have had your water tested and it has levels of lead above .10 PPB, you should take precautions, especially during pregnancy and if small children will be drinking the water. You can choose to install a point of use reverse osmosis filter that attaches to your plumbing and will filter the water that goes to your tap, or you can choose a countertop model that doesn’t require installation. You should look for an NSF/ANSI rating of 58 to make sure you’re getting a safe product. You can also choose to use a distiller to treat your water, although it might taste flat because distillation will remove naturally occurring minerals as well. A good distiller will have an NSF/ANSI rating of 62. Some carbon filters can reduce lead, but you should make sure to look for an NSF/ANSI rating of 53 for a product that will be effective.
Reverse osmosis and distillation will also work to reduce bacteria and viruses from your water, so if you have multiple water safety concerns, these can be the way to go. If your water is lead free, but you have concerns about bacteria or viruses because of a compromised immune system, ultraviolet light filters are also an option. These water filters use light to kill bacteria and viruses in water. Look for an NSF/ANSI rating of 55 to ensure that your UV or LED filter meets safety standards. It’s important to note that the best way to prevent cryptosporidium infection from drinking water is to boil it.
Hard water is a problem in some areas where the mineral content of the local water supply can cause build-up in pipes, appliances, and fixtures. These filters are not intended to improve water safety, but they can extend the life of your plumbing and fixtures. These systems are usually installed as whole-house fixtures to protect all of the plumbing and fixtures in your home at once, so it’s best to consult a pro before deciding on what type of filter you need.
For improved taste, most filters will simply slip onto your tap or you can find a pitcher version. These filters usually use carbon to remove chlorine or chloramine from your water and have an NSF/ANSI rating of 42. These filters make no claims on the safety of your water, but if you live in an area that has a chlorine flavor to the water, they can definitely improve the taste.
When you hear the word “therapy,” what do you imagine? Weekly hour-long sessions with someone who makes notes and occasional suggestions, so that over months or years you start to get your mental health sorted? While that’s the way we’ve traditionally approached mental health care, it doesn’t have to be the only way, according to clinical psychology professor and therapist Dr. Jessica Schleider.
Traditional mental health care is a long-term investment that many people don’t have access to. Schleider’s research indicates that finances, long wait lists, and stigma are some of the most common barriers to accessing traditional mental health care. In her new book Little Treatments, Big Effects, she writes about how effective “single-session interventions” can be when they are intentional.
Schleider defines single-session interventions (SSIs) as “specific, structured programs that intentionally involve just one visit or encounter with a clinic, provider, or program,” which includes digital and self-administered activities. Think of single-session interventions like a sort of mental health urgent care or first aid, meant to address your problem in the moment and send you on your way.
“Brief and single-session mental health interventions are supported by decades of international research and practice, including my own lab’s work,” Schleider wrote in her book. “These interventions are intentionally short, designed to fit into one therapeutic encounter; that is, they acknowledge the dual realities that any therapeutic experience might well be someone’s last, and that it can be genuinely helpful anyway."
Single-session interventions can look like one therapy session with a licensed professional, contact with a peer support specialist, or an online, self-guided activity.
“Regardless of their format, all SSIs aim to instill a ‘context of competence’ in the recipient—the idea that they already have the tools, strengths, and capabilities needed to bring about meaningful change in their lives—while instilling the belief that it is possible to take a step toward meaningful change at any moment, however brief that moment might be,” Schleider said. “This framing helps optimize people’s readiness and ability to make the most of what they learn in the next 10 to 90 minutes.”
In a mental health emergency where someone is in danger of harming themselves or others, you may call a crisis hotline, but that's different from SSIs, Schleider explains.
“Crisis care focuses on emotional de-escalation and ensuring physical safety, whereas SSIs have potential to help people address widely varying problems, from relationship distress to low mood to anxiety about school or work. SSIs help people identify a ‘best next step’ toward a future that matters to them, regardless of their emotional starting-point,” Schleider said.
Frankly, anyone can use mental health support, and that extends to SSIs. Schleider said SSIs have been tested with people experiencing anxiety and depression, but there’s also evidence they could be helpful for traumatic stress, suicidal thoughts, and disordered eating.
“Interestingly, the impacts of SSIs don’t seem to differ by the severity of mental health difficulty you are facing; that is, an SSI has promise to help whether you’ve struggled greatly for years, or moderately for just a few weeks,” Schleider said. “This is likely because, no matter your emotional ‘baseline,’ everyone can take a small but meaningful step in a direction that matters to them. The things that SSIs are most helpful in shifting—like a sense of hopefulness, self-confidence, or motivation to take steps forward—can help people cope with a wide variety of circumstances.”
In other words, no matter what flavor of mental health problem you face, one serving of therapy or a therapeutic activity could set you up to take the next step to feeling better.
Right now in the United States, seeking mental health care can strain your finances, your time, and ironically, your mental health. Once you get to the point where you are ready to pursue therapy, you will likely wait a while for an appointment and be expected to follow through with many sessions.
“Unfortunately, there aren’t many options for people to seek out face-to-face single-session interventions at the moment—at least not in the United States,” Schleider said. “I hope my book can help spark change in that department, but training models for therapists will need to change in order for SSI availability to improve in the long-term.”
There are, however, online resources that you can access for a self-guided single-session intervention experience:
Project YES (Youth Empowerment & Support): Designed for Schleider’s research with teens but useful for anyone. Choose from four online activities for dealing with difficult emotions, including a single-session (self-)consultation.
Project EMPOWER: For anyone who works with or cares for children, this online activity helps you teach skills to build bravery and reduce anxiety in children and pre-teens. (But, again, it could be useful for anyone facing anxiety.)
More resources for therapists who want to offer single-session interventions.
Additionally, there are many other ways to work on your own mental health outside of a therapy session, such as learning self-soothing techniques and other evidence-backed mental health practices.
If you want to take advantage of the growth and relief you can experience as a result of one single therapy session, tell potential therapists you would like to try “solution-focused, single-session therapy.” Though it may not be widely practiced now, the more people ask for it, the more clinicians may work to accommodate them. And while therapists may be used to approaching therapy as a long-term process, they should be familiar with providing care that is useful to people who may only access therapy once.
If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 (or chat 988lifeline.org); the lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24/7 in the U.S.
A theory that’s been around for many years to describe a person’s capacity for tangible and emotional tasks, called the spoon theory, began as a tool for people with chronic illness to communicate with those who are not chronically ill. A newer theory, called the fork theory, uses a different piece of cutlery to symbolize how outside stressors might affect different people more intensely than others. Both utensil theories can be applied to anyone, especially those of us who are nearing or are in burnout.
The spoon theory originated in a diner: In an essay by Christine Miserandino, the writer, who has lupus, explained to a friend that having a chronic illness like lupus can make doing everyday tasks harder because “the difference in being sick and being healthy is having to make choices or to consciously think about things when the rest of the world doesn’t have to. The healthy have the luxury of a life without choices, a gift most people take for granted.” Each “unit of energy” is represented by a spoon. Some people have more spoons than others. If you have hundreds of spoons, taking a shower, going grocery shopping, replying to your outstanding emails, and making dinner still leaves you with spoons (aka, energy) for hanging out with friends later in the day. If you only have five spoons, though, something’s gotta give.
The fork theory comes from Jen Rosenburg, who wrote about it on her blog. She says, “Fork theory is that one has a Fork Limit, that is, you can probably cope OK with one fork stuck in you, maybe two or three, but at some point you will lose your shit if one more fork happens.” Forks here are external stressors, such as traffic, hunger, or a conflict with a loved one. Some forks are bigger than others, but at some point, too many forks can bring you down. If you already have a chronic illness fork, a smaller fork such as hunger might be enough to vanquish your resolve, whereas for someone without the big fork in there already, the discomfort from hunger is not such a big deal.
Applying spoon theory to your life is an exercise in self-compassion. “Everyone has limited spoons to some extent, and everyone has a limit,” says Dr. Devon Price, social psychologist, professor, and the author of Laziness Does Not Exist. He says, “Spoon theory's greatest utility, I think, is in asking us to identify which tasks in our lives take up energy, and how much energy they consume.” Giving yourself the compassion that it’s OK that you have only so much energy (so many spoons), however, is harder than counting spoons.
As a first step, Price suggests, “Keep track of your daily activities every single day for a week or so, as well as your energy levels, and really take note of what is draining for you. Which goals do you put on your to-do list over and over again, yet never get around to? At what point in the day do you become exhausted, and what did you just complete before hitting that wall?” Once you know your own patterns, you can begin to prioritize the tasks that matter most to you and say goodbye to those that can be draining and aren’t necessary. An important spoon to jettison is the idea that you MUST do all these tasks. Regarding both oneself and others, Price says, “Your expectations are in need of some serious revision.”
Fork theory is best applied, at least at first, as a retrospective analysis of where things have gone wrong. Price says, “Look at the moments where we have truly lost our capacity to function—when we are having a meltdown or exploding from stress, and then (try) to reverse engineer the circumstances that brought us to that point. What were we doing? What was the environment like, stimuli wise? What obligations had we been carrying all week prior to that breakdown?” Sometimes, he says, these stressors are in the background. Examples would be a chronic illness, a temporary stressor like worrying about a sick loved one, or a mental illness such as depression. Sometimes they’re obvious in the moment, like if you're in a fender bender or are battling a migraine. Spoons often come from within and represent energy from you going toward an external task. Forks attack from without and represent obstacles.
Again, to really make your life better with these theories, you need self-compassion. If you’re already dealing with a depressive episode, of course it feels hard to get your taxes done this year. Instead of comparing yourself to others or even to yourself in the past, fork theory helps visualize a tangible reason to give yourself a break.
Learning about spoon and fork theory can help you empathize with loved ones going through something, too—especially regarding people with disabilities. Price says, “You have to do a lot of inner work to unpack any prejudices you might have when your loved one fails to meet your expectations.” The point of his book, Laziness Does Not Exist, is that someone disabled is not lazy—they simply don’t have enough spoons or they have too many forks in their back.
Price says, “Whenever you see a person failing to complete a task or being met with disappointment, that isn't caused by some personal failing on their part; it's because they're hitting up against barriers that are invisible to others.” For example, someone with depression cannot do chores because “you cannot see the massive exhaustion and the pain of daily existence that is holding the depressed person down.” If you visualize the chore as a spoon and the pain as a fork, perhaps you can imagine what they’re feeling and will better understand them or feel more up for providing support. When it comes to yourself and others, Price says, “By being gentler with yourself and more careful in observing your limits, you can better understand how things are for your spoonie loved one.” Hopefully, this compassion leads to less illness, overwhelm, and burnout.
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Something called "stretch therapy" seems to be trending, with studios opening in shopping centers next to yoga studios and juice bars. Private practitioners are starting to offer it along with massage therapy, personal training, or physical therapy. As you’ve been likely told your entire life, stretching is good for you in terms of preventing and healing soreness and injury, as well as for relaxation and overall health. But how does it stretch therapy work, exactly?
“Stretching involves elongating muscles to improve flexibility of the muscle group and improve the range of motion (ROM) of the joints the muscle(s) cross or affect. Stretching also activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for relaxation, reduced systemic inflammation, reduced heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR),” says Adrienne Simonds, PT, PhD, a licensed physical therapist at Rutgers School of Health Professionals.
“Stretch therapy,” meanwhile, “is an umbrella term for various techniques that treat physical issues linked to muscle and joint restriction,” says John A. Gallucci, Jr., MS, ATC, PT, DPT, CEO of JAG Physical Therapy. “The overall goal of stretch therapy is to treat muscle tightness, joint imbalances, and tissue restrictions that cause movement distortions, aches and pains, and increased risk of injury.” Having a professional assist this treatment can increase effectiveness and prevent injury, Gallucci says. “Although the research on stretch therapy isn’t conclusive, stretch therapy over time can help improve your range of motion and athletic performance by improving the flexibility of muscles and connective tissue.”
Many people also find it pleasant and relaxing, especially since stretching alone can often be uncomfortable. Simonds says, “This is one of the advantages of stretch therapy because individuals have the assistance of another person to help with movements and provide ongoing support and encouragement.” A professional can also help you stretch more effectively and without hurting yourself when you’re on your own, and can tailor your treatment plan to your lifestyle.
While anyone can benefit from stretch therapy, Galluci says, “stretch therapy is not for everyone. Response to stretch therapy may depend on your athletic and medical history. If you have been cleared by a medical professional to attempt stretch therapy, it should be beneficial for you.” Your stretch therapist should verify that you are cleared before beginning to work on your body.
Additionally, if you qualify, your treatment plan might vary based on your activity level and locations of tension. Athletes will need different tips than someone who sits at a desk all day, but both benefit. Athletes may have targeted strengthening stretches to decrease the risk of injury, and “an injury prevention program for a work-from-home or in-office employee who sits for most of the workday would include ways to mitigate or reduce the ‘costs’ of prolonged sitting on the low back and hips,” says Simonds. She also says that many people store stress in their bodies, so “it is important to realize that the opportunity to release that stored stress through stretching activities as well as walking, exercise, meditation, and yoga, may contribute more positively to our overall physical and mental health. These benefits may far exceed flexibility and increased range of motion benefits.”
Many types of trainers can offer stretch therapy but not everyone will be right for you. “Since stretch therapy encompasses a variety of techniques used to treat muscle and joint restrictions, there is not a universal stretch therapy certification as of yet,” says Galluci. He says, however, some people who might be qualified to provide stretch therapy “would include being licensed in physical therapy, massage therapy, and chiropractic. Some rehab centers also accept certified yoga instructors and personal trainers.” That means you might see a variety of “certifications” when looking for a stretch therapist. They’re not covered by insurance in most cases, so you can find a stretch therapist the same way you’d find a massage therapist (google, Yelp), from personal or doctor recommendations, or by trying out one of the storefronts offering services. Many have a free or discounted first session.
Simonds advises that “persons engaged in stretch therapy should move deliberately and slowly, attending to the specific movement and stopping at the first moment of resistance to experience the stretch sensation at their own tolerance," adding, “a slower pace of stretching with longer hold time (30-120 seconds) is more effective than a higher quantity of stretching with shorter hold time (
Going to stretch therapy alone isn’t going to solve all your problems. (Will anything?) Simonds says, “Effective injury prevention programs include other facets, such as education, body awareness and proprioceptive training, strengthening, a home program, and muscle re-education in high-risk injury positions and activities.” Athletes, people who exercise a lot, and people who exercise rarely and feel tension as a result should all consult with their healthcare providers for their advice on the best way forward.
Celebrity and social media health trends have landed people in the hospital, turned them blue on Max, and caused other unwanted side effects. But when it comes to dietary supplements, some people really do find relief using them, and they can be incorporated into legitimate care plans—and right now, magnesium is super hot in the wellness space. So is it actually worth taking, or are people just rushing to cash in on another boom that's based on slim scientific evidence?
The Magnesium Deficiency Industrial Complex began in earnest with the launch of expensive topical sprays in the 2010s, and the supplement has had a firm and ever growing hold in the wellness world since. With over 10 different choices of readily available, over-the-counter formulations, magnesium supplements are a $100 million market, and part of an even larger global mineral supplements sector worth billions. Is this just money chasing hype, or are these supplements actually worth taking?
Magnesium is an important electrolyte. It's an alkaline elemental metal—wee number 12 on the periodic table—and like many electrolytes that are earth metals, the human body has a preferred amount it needs to incorporate into its functions.
Magnesium is something you can absolutely be deficient in, and recent studies show that many Americans get less than the recommended amount. But before you start loading up on supplements, remember that magnesium is also something that can make you poop your pants pretty readily if you take too much—just ask anyone who’s had to guzzle it on purpose to get ready for surgery. Our urinary and digestive systems are quick to try to eliminate a magnesium overload, which can both prevent and enable deficiencies in different bodies, even at different times.
According to Vice, doctors chalk the current mineral madness up to an increase in pandemic health consciousness, but it would seem that an increase in anxiety and more awareness of sleep issues could also be behind the buzz. There’s been a boost in sleep quality awareness since 2021, with the cause even grabbing a government grant to promote better sleep.
Magnesium glycinate in particular is being pushed hard on tTikTok, with adherents claiming it will improve your sleep, stop muscle spasms, and maybe even calm anxiety, which is a pretty prevalent health concern on that platform.
Whether it’s a feature of TikTok that magnesium is the star of the show right now, or whether it’s actually helping people, here are some things you should know before you click that link-in-bio.
It’s actually pretty cool that we’ve identified all these different ways to make magnesium available to the system. Take magnesium glycinate as an example; it’s currently the most talked-about format, and has a role in enzymatic function, including DNA and RNA synthesis, according to PubChem, and it’s being studied as a COVID medicinal aid.
Magnesium citrate is something you might be familiar with from the drugstore—or if you’ve ever had to do a godforsaken bowel prep. Magnesium sulfate is another one you might know from dumping in your bathtub, a.k.a. Epsom salt.
On the supplement shelves, you will see things like liposomal magnesium, added amino acid formulas, and a lot of unique ways to add magnesium into the mix.
Outside of the known benefits of taking any magnesium supplement, which include boosting your heart health and maybe even managing migraines, what you choose to have inside the capsule is really up to you, your needs, and your willingness to experiment. Some are made OTC by big companies, some are more novel blends with even more novel claims, like those targeted at athletes, mental health, or sleep. The bottom line is that most online medical sources suggest first getting magnesium from your diet, with leafy greens and beans being great natural sources.
That doesn’t mean you can’t still be magnesium deficient, so check with your medical practitioner if you want to add a magnesium supplement, and they can help you choose which type. While netizens tout magnesium glycinate, readily available magnesium citrate is often cheaper, much easier to find, and will absorb easily.
Magnesium oxide, chloride, lactate, malate, and sulfate are all out there to purchase, carrying a lot of the same "maybes" as your typical supplement—that is, there is limited medical research to define what they can and can't do for you. Magnesium can offer real improvement for some folks with diabetes, migraines, and even depression, but it’s the purview of your doctor(s) to help you choose which type and how much to use for your condition.
Supplements are a multi-billion-dollar empire in the US, and sometimes they’re being pushed by disingenuous folks. After all, magnesium is a cheaply available powder, so there’s nothing stopping someone from DIY-ing a bunch of capsules and then charging $50 bucks a bottle for a few cents worth of minerals prepared in unsafe conditions or concentrations. Those with more scruples can get what’s known as white-labeled products from legitimate manufacturers with certifications to make their capsules, but there’s still a changing of hands, as what is a dirt-cheap base ingredient magically multiplies in price by the time it reaches your doorstep.
Basically, selling magnesium is potentially very profitable, so it makes sense that it’s becoming a widely hawked supplement, especially over more expensive base ingredient products like those from fruits, oils, or plants that need to be cultivated and grown before processing.
Reputable companies have some standards for their supplements. Amazon requires ISO-17052 certification to be sold on their platform, for example. But on TikTok, anything goes, and unless the supplier carries these certifications by choice, there’s little telling what you are actually purchasing.
We have lots of reasons to suppress the urge to cry, from throwing a bully off your scent in grade school to trying to appear professional in an important meeting. You may have preconceived notions about how crying can make you seem weak, or that it's an undesirable vibe to put out in tense situations. However, good things can come from crying when you do it in the safety of an emotionally supportive environment. Not only does it let people around you know that you need their help, it lets you release endorphins and stress so you can start feeling better.
Why we cry as a result of intense emotions or physical pain is an ongoing area of study. Consensus says crying functions a social signal to elicit comfort and support from other people. But from an evolutionary perspective, it’s very hard to study, researchers say, because humans are the only animals who cry. Other animals whine and vocalize, but humans are the only animals who do this coordinated action of producing tears, vocalizing, facial contractions, collapsing posture, and shuddering that we call crying.
Generally speaking, humans produce three types of tears:
Basal: produced all the time for general eye health.
Irritant: for flushing harmful things out of the eye.
Emotional: caused by strong emotions and pain.
Like I mentioned, the main scientific theory for the value of crying is that it triggers empathy and compassion in others, thus promoting human connection. It’s a way for you (or a baby or anyone) to signal you need help and to make people who see and hear you crying more likely to help.
Aside from the social benefit, it’s widely believed that crying has physiological benefits, too. Some research shows that crying could be a form of self-soothing. It may help relieve pain by releasing opioids and oxytocin. In 2020, a small study showed that crying therapy improved emotions and physiology in breast cancer survivors. Grief therapist Gina Moffa, author of Moving on Doesn’t Mean Letting Go: A Modern Guide to Navigating Loss, says not only can crying elicit empathy from others, it helps us release stress and pent up emotions.
“Crying can be a therapeutic release that releases endorphins and helps to create a sense of calm," she says. "Emotional tears can help us flush out toxins in our bodies, lubricate our eyes, or lower blood pressure and reduce distress. It can have a social benefit of eliciting empathy or care from people around us that can help us feel safer and coregulated.”
While there’s no evidence that you need to cry on a certain schedule, she says, it is encouraged to let your tears flow in a safe way and in a safe place.
So, we've established that crying is important, but how do you do it? If you’re a person who has worked hard to hold back tears in the past, letting them flow freely may take some practice.
“For some people who were taught emotions were not safe or for those who have not been modeled how to express emotions, crying can seem elusive,” Moffa says. “Some of the ways I recommend to allow the emotions to be released through tears is to make a playlist of moving and personal songs, to journal and write freely about feelings, watch a meaningful or sad movie, [try] somatic release, or on a more positive note, create a genuine gratitude practice.”
Maybe you’ve seen the trending TikToks about a somatic release technique to induce crying. It’s worth a try, Moffa says, but be sure to do it in an environment where you can get emotional support.
“I believe in the safe release of our emotions, whether through tears we have naturally or tears we trigger. It can be a healthy release to try a somatic release exercise we have been seeing all over social media. My caveat is that you are in a safe place and have support if needed afterward,” she said.
If you need some additional resources to help open the floodgates, try one (or several) of the techniques below.
Make a sad playlist of songs that get you every time (you know the ones).
Just ask TikTok or YouTube for videos that will make you cry. See what pushes your tear button, whether it’s inspirational, sentimental, sad, or tragic.
Try somatic self care.
Listen to a sad podcast.
Watch a guaranteed tearjerker movie.
Journal about your personal sadness and grief.
Try a yoga pose to release sadness. (Pigeon is often cited to cause crying.)
Creativity is an important part of being human, but as we age, it can feel less and less accessible. No one is inviting you to participate in a half an hour of art time as a grown-up, and on top of that, you probably have plenty of other responsibilities and priorities. But it’s a myth that you age out of being creative, and there are plenty of creative things you can get into, even if you only have a few minutes a day to devote to it.
Notice I didn't say "how to become creative," but "how to become more creative." I hear a lot of adults say that they “just aren’t creative," and that’s simply not true. Don’t tell me you’ve never engineered a novel solution to a problem you’re having or chosen a bold paint color just because you liked it. There are plenty of ways you are likely already creative already, even if you don't realize it. It’s time to give yourself credit for your creativity and build on it.
If you’re someone who finds beginning a new hobby or starting a new project challenging, you can remove some of the obstacles for yourself by choosing something you already like or are already good at. This can look like using a flower press if you already enjoy going outdoors or gardening, or it can look like choosing a creative activity that involves fabric if you really like fashion. The goal of building on your strengths is to ease your way into a more creative mindset without needing to do too much mental recalibrating.
If you’re hesitant to pick up a creative project because you’re concerned about not being good at it, I have some good news for you: You don’t need to make anything that’s considered “good” or even “finished.” The process of creating is a reward in and of itself, and if you don’t love the first thing or even the fifth thing you make, there’s no shame in it. The cool thing about doing a collage or sewing a bag for yourself is that if it doesn’t turn out the way you want, there’s no penalty, and you do get points for trying. If there are things you figure out along the way that you would like to do differently, you can do that on your next project.
There are several types of guided meditations that are specifically for boosting creativity, and they range from about five minutes to 20 minutes, or even longer. These meditations focus on letting go of tensions that might get in the way of a creative endeavor, but also on breathing and general relaxation and focusing techniques. There is even some evidence that any mindfulness meditation can release stress and help people think more dynamically and be more creative. If you find yourself getting stuck on a particular aspect of a creative project you want to tackle, or if you just want to be able to think more creatively in general, meditation might be for you.
Games can help us get over hangups we might have—like the fear of being wrong—and focus on a challenge instead. Psychologists suggest that playing games can become a part of training our brains to behave in more creative ways. There are some books, like The Big Book of Creativity Games: Quick, Fun Activities for Jumpstarting Innovation by psychologist Robert Epstein, or Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon that have prompts and games to get you going on a creative adventure. There are also games available that will help inspire ideas, such as The Moth Presents: A Game of Storytelling and Happy Little Accidents, a Bob Ross-themed drawing game.
Rather than thinking of creativity as an activity you do from time to time, try thinking of creativity as a practice, or a part of your life. In this way, you can cultivate a more creative mindset overall, and keep your ideas flowing. Try writing a note to yourself when you get an idea for something you’d like to try, or take a few minutes to daydream every day. Since you’re already creative, even if you don’t know it, giving yourself some intentional time to tap into your creative brain can help you access it more readily the rest of the time.
Automation brings convenience, but when it comes to your money it can also bring a lot of problems—especially when you forget about a recurring debit. You’ve managed to get through the month by walking a tightrope between your income and your expenses, only to have a wave of overdraft fees impact your checking account because you forgot about one recurring bill. And if that recurring debit goes toward paying off a payday loan or something similar, you can get trapped in a cycle of debt.
That can make you feel powerless, but you actually do have power in this situation, because you always have the option of stopping automatic payments—yes, even those going to a payday loan company. All you need to do is revoke your Automated Clearing House (ACH) authorization.
The Automated Clearing House (ACH) is how most banks and other financial institutions handle electronic funds transfers (EFT). Administered by the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), this system is what makes all those payments and deposits hit on time and without any significant delay.
When a bank or company wants to access your account to make deposits or charge debits against it using the ACH, you actually have to give them permission. In many cases, this permission is buried in the agreement you’re signing—those pages and pages of legalese you have to scroll through before clicking "I AGREE." So if you take out a payday loan or sign up for any sort of recurring service that debits your bank accounts directly (as opposed to a credit card), you’ve given that company permission to use ACH to do so. But you have rights when it comes to your bank accounts, and you can revoke that permission whenever you want.
This is a two-step process:
Contact the company. Whether it’s a payday lender or some other entity, step one is to contact them in writing. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has sample letters you can use, but this doesn’t need to be complicated: Just provide the details of your account with the company and clearly state you are revoking their access to your bank account.
Contact your bank. You’ll also need to write your bank with a similar letter, providing the details of the company that’s been debiting you and your account with the bank. The CFPB has sample letters for this as well.
It’s a good idea to follow up with a phone call or other contact method, but putting it in writing is essential so you have a record of the request. You need to revoke access at least three days before the next payment hits your account in order to avoid it, but sooner is always better. The more time you give both the bank and the debiting company to go through the revocation process, the better your chances of avoiding that next hit.
After revoking access, monitor your account closely. If you revoke access with time to spare and the debit still hits your account, you can ask your bank to stop payment, just like a check. You can also try to get an ACH payment reversed if it occurred after you revoked authorization—this is why having a record of your request is important. Banks and credit unions will have their own forms or processes for this, so you’ll need to check their website or make some phone calls to get this done.
Revoking ACH access doesn’t change your obligation to pay off your debt or pay for a service. Blocking a payday lender from automatically debiting your account can give you the breathing room to get your finances under control, but you still owe them the debt and interest as outlined in your agreement with them. You’ll need to arrange for an alternative way to pay so you can avoid any other negative consequences, like legal action or cancellation of services.
Also, keep in mind that ACH authorization can be turned back on if you sign any new forms or paperwork with the lender or company, so keep an eye out for that.
I couldn't believe I had to wait two additional months to see my primary doctor after rescheduling an appointment last year. But I discovered that what I find extraordinary (and annoying) is now the norm. The average wait for an appointment with a physician for new patients is 26 days, according to a 2022 survey of 15 metropolitan areas.
Technology has a solution for this problem: telehealth appointments. These services utilize a network of doctors and medical professionals to see you and prescribe medications after an initial consultation and some lab tests. But which of these services is right for you? Here is a rundown of some of the most popular pharmacies and what they offer.
Shortly after its weight loss medication, Zepbound, was approved last November, drug manufacturer Eli Lilly created LillyDirect. Through that service, you can get the new injectable weight loss drug, the company's migraine injection treatment (Emgality), and several formulations of insulin.
Cost: Prices and payment options depend on the telehealth provider, plus medications
What's covered by insurance? Medications might be covered depending on your plan.
You've likely seen Ro's commercials during sporting events, which makes sense as they specialize primarily in men's sexual health. After speaking with a doctor or nurse practitioner in Ro's network about your symptoms, they will likely prescribe you a generic version of any number of popular prescriptions used to treat hair loss, fertility, erectile dysfunction, eczema, weight loss, and herpes. They also offer multivitamins, testosterone support, and other over-the-counter items.
Cost: A telehealth consultation is free.
What's covered by insurance? Ro doesn't accept insurance for their generic versions of their sexual health products, but they list their prices here.
Much like Ro, Hims has generic prescriptions and supplements for sexual wellness (including toys) and hair loss, but they also offer medications to address mental health. Their sister store, Hers, offers many of the same products, with many targeted toward women's needs.
Cost: An initial telehealth consultation is free.
What's covered by insurance? Hims/Hers doesn't accept insurance for their generic versions of their sexual health products.
While most services will use a network of pharmacies to fulfill your order, Henry works with third-party compounding pharmacies to process a patient's prescription for insomnia, testosterone, diabetes, and weight loss. Their offerings have the same active ingredient as Ozempic and Rybelsus in oral form and tirzepatide (Mounjaro's active ingredient) injections, all claimed to be FDA-approved, for a lower price than their competitors.
Cost: Prices vary depending on treatment and include medication
What's covered by insurance? Henry Meds does not accept any insurance.
LifeMD puts you in touch with a primary or urgent care physician through their app or website and can send any prescribed medications (unless they're controlled substances) to your door or pharmacy. It will also send a nurse to your home to complete any necessary lab work, or you can visit any member of their network of testing facilities.
Cost: Plans start at $99 without insurance
What's covered by insurance? Medications might be covered, but they also offer a prescription discount program.
EveryWell offers telehealth visits for everyday symptoms like rashes, stomach upset, headaches, and cold-like symptoms with a licensed board-certified nurse practitione. It also sends any necessary prescriptions to the pharmacy of your choice. EverlyWell also offers a service called EverlyWell+, which sends medical tests, ranging from food sensitivities to STDs, to your doorstep.
Cost: $59 for a consultation without insurance, but insurance plans are accepted.
What's covered by insurance? Prices for consultations vary with your insurance plan.
PlushCare offers telehealth and prescription services for wellness visits, mental health, urgent care, sexual health, weight loss, and pediatric care within its app. You can even book same-day appointments seven days a week.
Cost: $16.99 monthly, with the first month free, plus copay for doctor appointments if insured. Appointments are $129 for the first visit and $99 for monthly visits afterward if uninsured. Medication costs are not included.
What's covered by insurance? Medications might be covered depending on your plan.
Amazon Pharmacy simply wants to replace your local pharmacist. Tell them your medications and where you get them; they'll work with your pharmacy to deliver them to your door. Prime members get free two-day delivery.
Cost: Depends on your prescription and if it's covered by insurance.
What's covered by insurance? Amazon Pharmacy accepts most insurance plans.
Fat people often experience discrimination and stigmatization when they seek medical treatment. It’s a big problem that leads to metabolic issues, increased inflammation, avoiding medical care, and increased mortality risk. It can be a challenge, but verbally advocating for yourself at doctor’s appointments could reduce some of the negative impact of weight stigma.
Researchers say that feeling stigmatized or stereotyped at a medical appointment can actually make it harder for you to think and communicate effectively. If that rings true to your own experiences at the doctor, you might want to go into your next appointment with a cheat sheet of phrases recently shared by speaker, writer, and researcher Ragen Chastain, in her Weight and Healthcare Newsletter, where she writes about the intersection of weight science, weight stigma, and healthcare.
“Of course, there are tons of techniques to navigate weight stigma, but when I think of the top three phrases, I think about options that will help us get the care we want and need, even in a healthcare system that often tries to reduce the entirety of our healthcare to ‘diagnosis fat, prescription weight loss,’” Chastain wrote.
Write this question out on a notecard to treat like an actual script when you are in the doctor’s office. Speaking up can be so intimidating, especially when we feel marginalized and devalued. Try saying the phrase out loud to yourself at home before your appointment so you're not totally winging it when you get there. It’s ok to check your notes and ask this very frank question.
If your care provider gives you a diagnosis and starts straight away to tell you about weight loss options, remember: whatever condition or symptom you have, people in smaller bodies experience the same symptom or condition. They are not prescribed weight loss for their allergies or sprained ankles. There are other options for you, too.
Your doctor, Chastain wrote, may even be relieved to skip the weight loss lecture to talk about more evidence-based treatments.
It can feel confrontational to question weight bias and push a provider to see you as more than your BMI, especially when you have a history of feeling demeaned or disempowered in medical settings. If you leave an appointment feeling like you didn’t get weight-neutral treatment, follow up with a message on the portal asking the doctor how they would treat a thin person with your condition or symptoms. The next time, it may even be easier for you to advocate for yourself in person.
Take your notepad! Remember you don’t have to decide on every treatment option at the moment it is suggested. If your doctor’s proposed treatment sounds like part of an intentional weight loss agenda, you can make a note to do more research or ask questions at the appointment.
This phrase can be useful if you want to bypass the scale at medical appointments where your weight is not medically relevant.
You may also use this phrase if your provider suggests diets, weight loss surgery, weight loss medication, or any other treatment that you have already researched and decided is not a good option for you (for any reason), and they don’t take “no, thank you” as your final answer. You always have the right to refuse treatment.
“This type of stigma can be implicit, and the provider may not be aware that they are engaging in it which, of course, doesn’t negate the harm,” Chastain wrote.
Maybe you were caught up in the moment and for a second, prescribed weight loss sounded like it might just work this time. If you left the appointment and later reconsidered, it’s not too late to send the doctor a message telling them just that. Follow up by asking what treatment options they would suggest for a thin person.
When you walk into an appointment, you likely know what your concerns are. If you don’t already have a diagnosis, you know what symptoms have caused enough discomfort to make you call the doctor. Make a note of your symptoms/concerns before the appointment so you can check each one off as you discuss it.
When your appointment (or provider) goes off track. Some doctors are so eager to “save” patients with weight loss interventions, your initial reason for seeking treatment gets overlooked. This phrase politely pulls the focus back to your concern.
“The phrase ‘I’d like to focus on…’ can be invaluable when you went to a healthcare provider for something specific (sprained ankle, strep throat, prescription refill, severed limb, etc.) but the practitioner’s weight distraction is getting in the way of the ethical, evidence-based, patient-centered care you deserve,” Chastain wrote.
Check out more of Chastain’s suggested questions and research for navigating weight stigma in medical situations.
“If the result isn’t what you hoped for, please remember that while that may become your problem, it’s absolutely not your fault—we shouldn’t have to study for a doctor’s appointment in the first place!” Chastain wrote.
For more scripts for talking to healthcare providers while fat, check out writer Meg Ellison’s suggestions.
If you stock your pantry with Quaker brand cereals and/or granola bars, you may need to toss them in the trash. Quaker Oats has issued two recalls in the last month—one on Dec. 15, the other on Jan. 11—due to potential salmonella contamination in dozens of its products.
While both Quaker and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have reported no known illnesses associated with any recalled items, you should still check to see if any of your groceries are covered.
The list of products included in the Dec. 15 and Jan. 11 recalls is long and includes items sold in all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Saipan. You can find the full list—including package sizes, UPCs, and best-before dates—on PepsiCo's website, but we've got a rundown of product names below.
Note: the recall does not include Quaker Oats, Quaker Instant Oats, Quaker Grits, Quaker Oat Bran, Quaker Oat Flour, and Quaker Rice Snacks.
Quaker Big Chewy Bars Chocolate Chip
Quaker Big Chewy Bars Peanut Butter Chocolate
Quaker Big Chewy Bars Variety Pack
Quaker Chewy Bars and Dipps Variety Pack
Quaker Chewy Bars Chocolate Chip
Quaker Chewy Bars Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Quaker Chewy Bars Chocolate Chip Holiday Minis
Quaker Chewy Bars Chocolate Chip Halloween Minis
Quaker Chewy Bars Chocolate Chip Spring Minis
Quaker Chewy Bars Chocolate Chip Valentine Minis
Quaker Chewy Bars Dark Chocolate Chunk
Quaker Chewy Bars Chocolate Chunk
Quaker Chewy Bars Less Sugar Chocolate Chip
Quaker Chewy Bars Less Sugar Cookies & Cream
Quaker Chewy Bars Less Sugar Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
Quaker Chewy Bars Less Sugar Variety
Quaker Chewy Bars Oatmeal Raisin
Quaker Chewy Bars Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
Quaker Chewy Bars S'mores
Quaker Chewy Bars Variety Pack
Quaker Chewy Dipps Chocolate Chip
Quaker Chewy Dipps Peanut Butter
Quaker Chewy Dipps Variety Pack
Quaker Chewy Mini Dipps Birthday Blast
Quaker Chewy Mini Dipps Summer Night S'mores
Quaker Chewy Granola Bars (Fruity Fun) Amazing Apple
Quaker Chewy Granola Bars (Fruity Fun) Splendid Strawberry
Quaker Chewy Granola Bars (Fruity Fun) Amazing Apple and Splendid Strawberry Variety Pack
Quaker Chewy Granola Bars Yogurt Strawberry Flavor
Quaker Chewy Granola Bars Yogurt Blueberry Flavor
Quaker Chewy Granola Bars Yogurt Variety Packs
Quaker Puffed Granola Apple Cinnamon Cereal
Quaker Puffed Granola Blueberry Vanilla Cereal
Quaker Simply Granola Oats, Honey & Almonds Cereal
Quaker Simply Granola Oats, Honey & Almonds Cereal
Quaker Simply Granola Oats, Honey, Raisins & Almonds Cereal
Quaker Simply Granola Oats, Honey, Raisins & Almonds Cereal
Quaker Simply Granola Oats, Honey, Raisins & Almonds Cereal
Quaker Protein Granola Oats, Chocolate, & Almonds Flavor
Quaker Chewy Granola Breakfast Cereal Chocolate & Strawberry Variety Pack
Quaker Chewy Granola Breakfast Cereal Chocolate
Quaker Chewy Granola Breakfast Cereal Strawberry
Quaker Oatmeal Squares Cinnamon
Quaker Oatmeal Squares Brown Sugar
Quaker Oatmeal Squares Honey Nut
Quaker Oatmeal Squares Breakfast Cereal, Variety Pack
Cap’n Crunch OOPS! All Berries Cereal
Cap’n Crunch Cinnamon Crunch Cereal
Cap’n Crunch Sea Berry Crunch Cereal
Gamesa Marias Cereal
Cap’n Crunch Instant Oatmeal
Cap’n Crunch OOPS! All Berries Instant Oatmeal
Cap’n Crunch Instant Oatmeal Variety Pack
Cap'n Crunch Treats Crunch Berries Cereal Bar
Cap'n Crunch Treats Bars Variety Pack
Cap'n Crunch Treats Peanut Butter Crunch Cereal Bar
Cap’n Crunch Treats Original Crunch Cereal Bars
Quaker is also recalling Munches Snack Mix (Munch Mix) and granola bars included in its snack boxes:
Quaker Chocolatey Favorites Snack Mix
Quaker On The Go Snack Mix
Frito-Lay Snacks Variety Pack With Quaker Chewy
Frito-Lay Chips and Quaker Chewy Granola Bars Variety Pack
Crunchy & Chewy Snacks, Frito-Lay Chips, Cookies, Nuts and Quaker Chewy Bars Variety Pack
Lunch Box Mix, Frito-Lay Chips, Cookies and Quaker Chewy Bars Variety Pack
Frito-Lay Popped & Baked Chips with Cookies, Nuts and Quaker Chewy Bars Variety Pack
Frito-Lay Snack Time Favorites with Baked, Smartfood, SunChips and Quaker Chewy Granola Bars Variety Pack
Tasty Snacks, Frito-Lay Chips, Nuts, Cookies and Quaker Chewy Bars Variety Pack
Ultimate Flavor Snack Care Package, Variety Assortment of Chips, Cookies, Crackers, & More
If you have any of the products listed above in your pantry, you can check the complete list for individual UPCs or scan the SmartLabel QR code on the packaging to determine if your specific item is being recalled.
If your product is included, throw it away. You can then submit a reimbursement request at quakerrecallusa.com. For additional information, contact Quaker customer relations at 800-492-9322 between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m CST, Monday to Friday.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, presents for most people as a bad cold. Its symptoms include coughing, congestion, and a low fever. However, it is one of the main illnesses that can lead to hospitalization and complications, especially in children and older adults. Untreated, it can be deadly. Fortunately, there are now vaccines available. Let’s break down who needs to get vaccinated and when.
Parents breathed a sigh of relief when a RSV vaccine became available for infants. The Centers for Disease control recommends that all infants under age eight months get the RSV vaccine in the fall, along with their flu shot, though they can be given the shot later in the season if they haven’t had it yet. Babies between eight and 19 months should also get vaccinated if they are immunocompromised. Preemies are at particular risk.
The RSV vaccine provides increased immunity for several months and, because it is now on the required vaccine schedule, it is offered at no additional cost by your healthcare provider—either because it is fully covered by insurance or by the Vaccines for Children program, which covers Medicaid-eligible children, plus children who are American Indian or Alaskan Native. Babies can get vaccinated at the pediatrician or family doctor’s office according to the usual vaccination schedule or as recommended by the doctor.
Adults over age 60 are at risk for complications from contracting RSV. The CDC says, “Adults at the highest risk for severe RSV illness include older adults, adults with chronic heart or lung disease, adults with weakened immune systems, and adults living in nursing homes or long-term care facilities.” A different vaccine from the one available for children is recommended for adults over 60. It can be administered along with flu and COVID shots.
There are a few places to get your vaccine. Your primary care doctor or pharmacy carries the RSV vaccine, for starters. And similarly the early COVID shots, there are some RSV shot clinics like public health clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), and Rural Health Clinics (RHC).
These preventative shots are usually fully covered by insurance, but you may need to make sure your provider is in network. The CDC says, for adults, “If you have Medicare Part D, your healthcare provider may recommend you get an RSV vaccine at a pharmacy. In some states, a prescription may be needed to get the vaccine at a pharmacy. Discuss with your healthcare provider or pharmacist where the best location to get an RSV vaccine is in your area.”
During weeks 32-36 of pregnancy, the CDC recommends the RSV vaccine. Getting recommended vaccines during pregnancy helps protect the baby from illnesses for up to six months postpartum. They’ve seen hospitalizations cut in half for infants born to people who were vaccinated against RSV. Pregnant people will likely get their vaccine at their prenatal appointment but can ask about getting it from a primary care doctor or pharmacy.
Most people are not particularly at risk from RSV infection. As with any respiratory illness, when sick with RSV, people should avoid others, especially sensitive populations. Currently, vaccines for people under 60 are not recommended or covered by insurance. If you think you’re at risk for RSV due to other health conditions, speak with your healthcare provider about how to minimize exposure.
It's a widely felt fact: Everything costs more these days. Trying to afford the basics is more and more of a challenge, prompting people to explore some pretty bad, no-good options out of desperation, including relocating away from expensive areas to more affordable spots. The growing sense of income inequity and a lack of a safety net has given a boost to the debate around universal basic income (UBI), sometimes called "guaranteed income."
With UBI, every citizen in a specific area (a county, city, or country) receives a set amount of money as income. While different programs will have different specific requirements or structures, generally speaking, this income is paid out without strings—the recipients can use it as they like. As you might imagine, the concept isn’t without controversy. But it’s also easy to see how it can benefit people: When you’re stable and employed, it simply makes life easier. If you lose your job or are unable to work (due to a medical emergency, for example), a UBI might allow you to stay housed and keep your family fed until you can work things out. If you’re looking for a more affordable place to live or are simply open to the idea of relocating, you might want to consider moving to places that offer UBI in some form. The extra safety net could be the key factor in surviving a setback in your life.
One thing to keep in mind is that most UBI programs are considered pilots or experiments—city or county officials get them funded for a set period in order to collect data and see if they truly work. So even if you hear about a program in a specific area, you have to check to see how long it runs. And many UBI programs are restricted to specific populations, usually pegged to income levels. Some programs are aimed at vulnerable populations, such as the unhoused or the newly-pregnant. You’ll have to do some research to ensure that you’ll be eligible for any UBI program before you factor it into a decision to move.
Believe it or not, the U.S. state that has been running something very much like UBI for more than 40 years is Alaska. It established the Permanent Fund in 1983, paying out oil income dividends to each resident of the state on an annual basis. The amount of money isn’t huge—the 2023 dividend was $1,312, although the dividend in 2022 was $3,284. The amount of the payment is tied to the amount of oil Alaska sells and the price of oil throughout the year, so it varies a lot. The “basic” part of a universal basic income is supposed to cover your basic needs like shelter and food, so the Permanent Fund might not qualify as a true UBI—but that’s still more than $100 every month.
Finding information about where UBI programs are currently being run takes some work. There are a few resources you can use to find out where UBI programs are happening and whether you can qualify for them if you move:
Mayors for a Guaranteed Income is an organization of local mayors that promotes the concept and assists cities in launching UBI programs. It maintains a searchable listing of current UBI pilot programs.
Counties for a Guaranteed Income is an offshoot of Mayors for Guaranteed Income and also keeps an updated, searchable page listing current county-led pilot programs around the country.
Guaranteed Income Pilots Dashboard also keeps an updated list of active UBI pilot programs.
Until guaranteed income programs become permanent, you won’t be able to rely on them long-term. But if you’re thinking of moving to a lower-cost area anyway, choosing one that currently offers some kind of UBI safety net can make life a little bit more secure once you get there.
It’s now been a full week since those New Year’s Eve parties, and if you’re participating in Dry January, now is a great time to think about how well it’s working for you—if it’s working at all. Dry January definitely has its health benefits, but it can also backfire for some people. Let’s dig in to the pros and cons.
For moderate drinkers, quitting alcohol is pretty straightforwardly beneficial (subject to caveats we’ll discuss shortly). But if you drink enough alcohol, often enough, going cold turkey can actually be dangerous.
Alcohol withdrawal can cause a variety of health issues, ranging from the inconvenient (headaches, mild diarrhea) to the severe (seizures, hallucinations, electrolyte imbalances that can affect your heart) to life-threatening.
Kelsey Rower, assistant director of nursing at Diamond Recovery Group, told me that recovery patients sometimes have more severe withdrawal symptoms than they expect because “they aren’t truthful about the amount they drink, or they may not realize themselves.” She recommends talking to a professional if you’re not sure whether going dry is going to be safe for you. A doctor or a recovery specialist can help, or consider calling something like the SAMHSA hotline.
As long as your body is ready for it, cutting back on alcohol has well-understood health benefits. Your liver begins to repair damage, you sleep better, and you may even notice benefits to your gut health, immune system, and other bodily functions.
But the mental health benefits don’t always follow. If you just quit drinking without changing anything else about your life, you may find that you socialize less, or that you’re missing a coping strategy that you normally use to deal with stress. Rower says she’s seen TikToks where people decide a few days in that Dry January is too hard to be worth doing.
“It’s important to look at why you can’t go a month without drinking,” she says.
Journaling can be a way of asking yourself those questions and finding some answers. There are also “mindful drinking” apps that ask you to monitor your mood alongside your progress in making it through the month (or whatever time period you have chosen).
Try Dry, from Alcohol Change UK, is one app that many people find helpful; it will keep working beyond January if you’d like to continue cutting back, and you can still use it even if you drink occasionally.
We’ve discussed before how Dry January is essentially an experiment to let you answer questions about your relationship with drinking. Am I sleeping better? Eating better? Saving money? The answers to those questions can help you make a plan going forward.
If you see Dry January as a standalone challenge, you may end up going right back to the same amount of drinking you did before. Many people drink extra on December 31 in anticipation of the sober month, and then have more drinks on February 1 in celebration of making it through–which aren’t exactly helpful in the goal of drinking less.
Fortunately, there are tools and strategies you can use to ride the momentum of Dry January into the rest of the year. For example, the CDC has a detailed quiz and planner you can use to evaluate your current level of drinking, and make a plan to drink less going forward.
Rower recommends that, after Dry January, you reflect on what you enjoyed about the month, and make room in your life for things other than drinking as the year continues. For example, picking up a new hobby (or revisiting an old one) can fill some of the space in your life formerly occupied by drinking.
She also suggests seeking out social support to continue staying sober (or drinking less, whatever that might look like for you). The world may move on from the monthly trend, but you may have a friend or family member who would be happy to continue with you.
Every year, there are an estimated 400,000 cat bites in the United States, with animal bites accounting for approximately 1 percent of all emergency room visits. Although dog bites are far more common, cat bites can be unusually dangerous, with one study showing that one out of three cat bites to the hand led to the patients being hospitalized. If left untreated, the infection from a cat bite can spread to the rest of the body, leading to sepsis and possible death.
Cat bites are unusually dangerous for a number of reasons. “Cat bites are considered high risk, mainly because their teeth are so small and sharp, that they tend to cause deep puncture wounds,” says Camila Calderón, an emergency medicine physician with UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School.
Cat bites also tend to happen on the upper body, most notably the hands, which are more vulnerable to becoming infected. In the hand, there are a lot of different muscles and tendons that, if a bite were to happen, can become infected, which will then spread to other parts of the hand.
Another reason that cat bites are uniquely risky are due to the presence of a bacteria called pasteurella multocida, which is one of the major causes of hand infections from cat bites. Pasteurella infections are uniquely fast-growing, and when it happens in a more susceptible area, such as the hand, can quickly become a very serious issue.
If you do get bitten by a cat, the first steps are to clean out the wound as thoroughly as you can, using soap and water, and to get checked out by a doctor. “I would recommend that you seek medical care, regardless of whether you feel that you can clean it out,” Calderon says.
If the bite is unusually deep, or extensive, they can help make sure that the wound gets thoroughly cleaned out. They will also start you on antibiotics, to prevent an infection. Whether it’s the local emergency room, an urgent care or your primary care doctor, it’s important to get the doctor, and to get on antibiotics, as soon as you can.
If at any time, the cat bite wound develops redness, swelling, or pain, or you develop a fever, then it’s important to head to the emergency room immediately.
In addition to the risk of infection, cat bites also have some other risks that may require the help of a medical professional. The first major risk is rabies. If the cat’s medical history is unknown, and they ran off after biting, then that may necessitate getting a post-exposure rabies series. Another risk may be cat scratch fever, as getting bitten can sometimes include getting scratched as well.
Kids have a penchant for the dramatic sometimes. Hyperboles like, “I’m starving!” or “You’re the worst mom, EVER!” frequently let fly. But one of the more disturbing statements you might hear out of your child is, “I wish I was dead.” Even if you don’t think they mean it, it can be scary to hear your most beloved little human say something so destructive about themselves. You may want to let it go or tell them not to talk like that, but a couple of experts I spoke to—a counselor specializing in youth suicide prevention and a pediatrician—say you should always address this statement.
Your child lives life in extremes: It’s the best day ever or the worst. Someone taking their toy or insulting them feels like the end of the world. They tend to express these big feelings in big ways because they don't yet have the tools to express complex emotions. “In those moments, intense emotions like anger, sadness, and frustration can overwhelm kids, and they might not have the vocabulary or emotional coping skills to express them accurately. Saying 'I wish I was dead' can be a way of shouting, 'This hurts so much, I can't bear it!’” says Dr. Daniel Ganjian, a board certified pediatrician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. Saying the most final thing they can think of, that they want to die, is their way of communicating a need.
Kids, for the most part, don’t understand what it means to die the way adults do. “Young children do not fully grasp the concept of death and permanency but rather still view it as going to sleep, going away,” so saying they want to be dead “does not necessarily mean intent of harming oneself but a way to express how bad one is feeling at that moment,” says Maureen Brogan, a licensed professional counselor who specializes in youth suicide prevention. Instead, kids are mimicking things they’ve heard others express in intense moments. “Kids might pick up the phrase from media, friends, or even overhear adults saying it casually,” Ganjian says. Yet, both experts say, if your child says they want to die or wishes they were dead, you shouldn’t ignore it.
If you’re sure your child is exaggerating, that they don’t have plans or serious thoughts of self-harm, you still shouldn’t let a comment like, “I wish I was dead” go without chatting. Ganjian says, “Here's the key: Even if you suspect exaggeration, take ALL statements seriously.” There are several steps to take in this scenario.
Brogan suggests that “as a trusted adult, you want to be non-judgmental and compassionate.” Even if they don’t feel as desolate as they say, still treat their comments as valid. Here are some sample statements from both experts to use as you move through this with your child.
Observe: “It seems like you are really upset,” or “Your face is telling me you feel frustrated and angry.”
Allow them to communicate: “Can you tell me what’s going on right now?” or “I’m here to listen to you.”
Acknowledge and validate: “That must be super tough,” or “I can understand how this is upsetting,” or "It's OK to feel this way. Things can feel really overwhelming sometimes."
Support: “You’re not alone in this.” “Your feelings matter to me.”
Look to past successes: “What have you done in the past that helped you get through a bad feeling like this?”
Moving from step to step helps your child feel listened to and loved, even if they’re feeling bad. Brogan says focusing on times in the past they’ve moved through a negative feeling helps build resiliency. Ganjian says, “By staying calm, listening actively, and showing support, you can help them through a tough time and build stronger communication for the future.” Resilient kids can handle hard situations with less adult intervention and less internal pain. Also, Brogan says this approach “is helpful in getting to the possible root of where the overwhelming feelings are coming from.” Once you know what’s really going on, you can problem solve together.
While suicidality in young kids is rare, it does happen and you, of course, want to pay attention to signs that your child’s statements indicate actual self-harm. Brogan says, “As a caretaker, you are always looking for changes in behavior, especially if sudden or drastic.”
Ganjian says some warning signs include:
Changes in behavior or mood (withdrawing, loss of interest, increased risk-taking)
Talking or writing about death or suicide
Giving away prized possessions
Saying goodbye to loved ones
He says, “If you notice any of these, even alongside an exaggerated statement, seek professional help immediately.” Speak to your pediatrician or mental health provider. Brogan adds, “You can also ask if they have a plan on how they would die. (Remember that research has shown that asking about suicide does NOT plant the idea.) If there is some type of plan, you want to limit access to means, create a safety plan and seek additional professional support.”
If you do not have access to your healthcare provider right away or worry about imminent harm, visit the Crisis Text line, call 988 or visit their website for immediate support.
Both experts emphasize that feeding the connection with your child is more important than anything you say or do. “Connection is protection," Brogan says. "We want young children to have these connections." Connecting with your child when they feel big feelings is what will help them feel safe and loved. “Here is the most important part,” Ganjian says. “Realize that the opposite of depression is not happiness. The opposite of depression is connection.” Spending time with your child in happy times and hard ones, and focusing on positive interactions in both scenarios, will help your child be able to maintain a healthy state of mind and make good decisions going forward.
If you have impulse control issues, it's a good idea to turn off 1-Click shopping in your Amazon account. Amazon’s patented 1-Click is convenient, but it's a bit of a trap. Dispensing with the virtual shopping cart that normally allows you to review your items before committing to a purchase means many people will buy things they might not have.
The average shopping cart abandonment rate for online purchases is about 70%. The top reason for abandoning carts: The "extra" costs—shipping, fees, taxes—are too high. You won't see those fees if you process your purchase with a single click, so here's how to turn off this ingenious-but-insidious feature. Sober second thoughts are always a good idea when you’re spending money, and they require more than the time it takes to click a mouse.
To Amazon’s credit, they’ve recently made it much easier to turn off one-click settings:
In your Amazon account, look for “Accounts and Lists” in the drop-down menu just below your name on the top right of your screen.
Select “My Account” in the drop-down menu.
Then, on the lower left of your screen, under “Ordering and shopping preferences,” click on “1-Click settings.”
You’ll be taken to the “Your purchase preferences” screen; the option to disable 1-Click will be in the top right corner.
You can choose to disable one-click buying on the specific device you're using, or click "Manage 1-Click for your devices" or "Disable 1-Click everywhere."
You can turn off instant-ordering from your phone too. Here's how:
Launch the Amazon app.
Tap the "profile" icon in the bottom center of the screen.
Tap "Your Account."
Scroll down to "1-Click settings."
You can choose to disable the settings on your phone or on all connected devices.
We’re all going to die, and before that, we will probably navigate the deaths of several people we love along the way.
Too dark? Discomfort with the idea of death may be the reason that people rarely talk about it, plan for it, or teach each other how to cope with it.
“Many people in our society are death phobic and do not want to talk about it,” said Marady Duran, a social worker, doula, and educator with the International End-of-Life Doula Association. “Being an end-of-life doula has been so much more than just my bedside experiences. I am able to talk with friends, family, and strangers about death and what scares them or what plans they have. Being a doula is also about educating our communities that there are many options for how end-of-life decisions can be made.”
When you or a loved one inevitably faces death, there can be an overwhelming feeling of What do I do now? What do I do with these feelings… and all this paperwork? End-of-life doulas (also called death doulas or death coaches) are compassionate and knowledgeable guides who can walk with you through death and grief.
The experience of supporting a childhood friend through her death at the age of 27 motivated Ashley Johnson, president of the National End-of-life Doula Alliance, to commit herself to this role.
“Walking alongside her during her journey, I recognized the tremendous need for education, service, and companionship for individuals and their families facing end-of-life challenges,” Johnson said. “The passing of my dear friend only solidified my commitment to this path. I saw it as my calling to extend the same level of care and support to others who were navigating the complexities of end-of-life experiences. I firmly believe that every individual deserves the dignity of a well-supported end-of-life journey, and that starts with demystifying the process, reducing fear, and helping families achieve the proper closure they need to heal.”
The services provided by an end-of-life doula are actually pretty varied and flexible. Much like birth doulas, they do not provide any medical care. These are some of the services Johnson said she provides in her work:
Advance health care planning. This might include a living will, setting up durable power of attorney for health care, and advance directive decisions. “We help individuals and their families navigate the complex process of advance healthcare planning, ensuring their wishes and choices are respected and documented,” Johnson said.
Practical training for family caregivers. End-of-life doulas can teach caretakers and family members how to physically care for their loved ones as they near death.
Companionship to patients. “We provide emotional support and companionship to patients, helping to ease their feelings of isolation and anxiety,” Johnson said.
Relief for family caregivers. Caring for a dying family member can be relentless, but caregivers need time to step away and care for themselves too.
Creating a plan for support at the patient’s time of death. A person nearing the end of their life may be comforted by many things in their environment, from the lighting, music, aromatherapy, and who’s present. A doula can help coordinate all the details.
Grief support. “Our role extends into the grieving process, offering support to both the dying person’s loved ones and the patient during the end-of-life journey and beyond,” Johnson said.
Vigil presence for actively dying patients. “We ensure that no one faces the end of life alone by being a comforting and compassionate presence during the active dying process,”Johnson said.
Help with planning funeral and memorial services. Planning services is a complicated task to tackle while you are likely exhausted with grief. Doulas have been through this process many times and can be a steady hand while you make decisions.
“Our aim as death doulas is to enhance the quality of life and death for all involved,” Johnson said. “We provide a range of non-medical support, fostering an environment where individuals and their loved ones can find comfort, guidance, and a sense of peace during this profound and delicate phase of life.”
Death doulas can provide comfort and support to both the dying person and their loved ones at any stage of the process. They can step in to help before, during, or after a death.
At any time, before you even receive a terminal diagnosis, doulas can help you prepare emotionally and practically with planning for end-of-life wishes, advance care planning, and creating a supportive environment.
During the end-of-life phase, doulas are more present to offer emotional, spiritual and practical support. They may be available weekly or daily, as needed.
After death, doula services continue for the family of the deceased.
“There really is no timeline for grief,” Duran said. “Some will want to meet one or two times after the death, and some do not want to do grief work at all. It is a personal journey, and some people may take years to do the work.”
Not all deaths come with an advanced warning or time to prepare and plan. Even in the case of an unexpected death, an end-of-life doula can help you handle practical details and process grief. They can:
Provide emotional support
Help you understand the grief process
Teach you coping strategies
Help with arrangements, legal, and financial matters
Help you create meaningful memorial rituals to honor the deceased
Provide connection and community
Listen and validate your feelings
Provide long-term support
“My mentor Ocean Phillips, who is also a doula, always reminds me that ‘grief is another form of love,’” Duran said. “Grief gets a bad rap, and many people do not want to feel grief, but it can be transformative for many who experience it. People who go through an unexpected death of a loved one may feel guilt—‘If only I…I could have…’ The doula can hold space for them and allow them to share that. We can never fix or change, but we can stand with them and provide loving kindness along the way.”
Death doulas work in conjunction with many other professionals, including healthcare workers and hospice staff, to help families go through the process of death and all that follows.
“The whole team has a piece in being able to connect with those navigating grief and death. I always recognize that I am just one small part of the larger community that will help support those facing death and loss,” Duran said.
These are a few other professionals you might want to reach out to when facing the death of a loved one:
Chaplain
Community leaders
Estate planning lawyer
Funeral service professional
Financial planner
Tax accountant (to help you file on behalf of the deceased and the estate)
The end of the year is always a good time to reflect, and your personal finances are no exception. Don't be scared: Even in a year marked by ongoing inflation, there’s a chance your finances aren’t as bad as you might think. Using the tips below, you can end 2023 on a strong note and head into 2024 with all the necessary adjustments you might need.
If you have the means, you should max out your retirement contributions to maximize savings before the deadline is up at the end of the year. Currently, 401(k) participants are able to contribute as much as $22,500. For IRAs—traditional and Roth—you can max out at $6,500 in 2023.
Good news for big savers next year: The amount individuals can contribute to their 401(k) plans in 2024 has increased to $23,000, up from $22,500 for 2023. This contribution limit applies to similar employer-sponsored retirement accounts as well, such as 403(b) plans, most 457 plans and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan for workers.
The limit on annual contributions to an IRA will be $7,000 in 2024, up from $6,500 in 2023. These contribution limits apply to the grand total contributions you make each year to all your traditional and Roth IRAs.
If you have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), time is running out to use up your remaining balance. Check in with your employer’s rules regarding any balance remaining on Dec. 31 this year, so you aren’t left forfeiting your hard-earned funds.
If you’re unlikely to pack out the rest of your year with doctor’s appointments—either because everywhere is booked months in advance or because that sounds dreadful—fear not. You can spend your remaining FSA funds on other qualifying healthcare costs. You can use FSA funds to upgrade your prescription eyeglasses or buy more contact lenses. You could also hit your local pharmacy and stock up on certain FSA-eligible over-the-counter products, like first aid supplies, popular cold medicines, and even sunscreen. You can find a complete list at the FSA store here.
The employee health FSA contribution limits are increasing from $3,050 to $3,200 in 2024.
Sure, Tax Day isn’t for a few more months. Still, now is a good time to review your tax withholdings and payments. If you had a major life event in 2022—like a marriage, divorce, or child—you probably want to adjust your withholding. Check out the Tax Withholding Estimator from the IRS to effectively tailor how much income tax to withhold.
Like I mention above, if you had a major life change, you’ll want to update the beneficiaries of your finances accordingly. Write down the names of everyone included in the beneficiary portion of your bank accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and annuities. The end of the year is a prime time to take stock of anyone who may have entered or exited your life and needs to be covered (or perhaps removed).
No matter the current state of your finances, it’s important to be honest with yourself. Sit down and physically write out where you could boost the health of your personal finances. Think: Do you have a plan to pay off your debt? Does your spending need to reined in? Are you saving where you could be investing, or vice versa?
Think about your priorities going into the new year. You might consider investing in a financial professional to use as a sounding board, as their perspective could be the nudge you need to create (and achieve) your short- and long-term financial goals.
If you tend to feel sad during the darker months of the year, it’s well known that getting some sunlight can help. If you can’t get enough sunlight, a light therapy box (shining in your general direction while you eat breakfast) is the next best thing. But there is also a gadget that some people swear by–earbuds that act as tiny flashlights, shining light into your ear canals. Are they legit?
One skin care TikToker, @emmahoareau1, posted a brief review of her LED headphones for people who “get seasonal affective disorder like me,” concluding that they were “absolutely life changing.” A follow-up video went viral, and commenters began arguing whether it’s possible for light to usefully reach your brain from this device.
The most obvious question is: does the light actually get to your brain, and if so, does the brain know it’s there? Surprisingly, the answers to these questions are: yes, and probably.
Scientists have been studying that first question–whether light can shine through brain tissues–for decades. In a 1963 study, a light detector (sort of like a mini solar panel) was mounted on the end of a needle, and then the needle was stuck into brain of a sheep, dog, rabbit, or rat–in some cases dead, in others alive but anesthetized. The investigators shone a bright light at different parts of each animal’s head. They did some of the tests indoors and some in sunlight, and they shielded different parts of the head with aluminum foil to figure out where the light was coming in. Their conclusions: light does reach the brain pretty easily, especially through the temples, where the bone is particularly thin.
We also know that there are light-detecting proteins found in various body parts, including the brain. They may help birds to know what season it is, for example, but so far there is no clear explanation of why humans have these proteins or whether they play a role in seasonal mood disorders.
In 2016, a different group of researchers found evidence that light in the ear canals does something detectable to the brain, but it’s not clear whether that’s good, bad, or whether it accomplishes anything meaningful at all.
The researchers took a photo of a cadaver skull with a Valkee device (similar to the one in the TikTok) in its ears. The light is bright enough to shine through bone into the brain. That’s not the same as saying that the device works, though: “Whether chronic bright light delivery via the ear canals bears clinically applicable benefits is beyond the scope of this study.”
It’s a big leap between “light can reach the brain” to “this will cure your seasonal affective disorder,” and that’s where this product gets stuck.
The light therapy headset used in the TikTok–which is, as far as I can tell, the only major brand of these–is made by Valkee. Their current product is called the HumanCharger, and it retails for $200.
The company commissioned several studies on their product, and in the early years of their marketing they seemed to lean on these pretty heavily. A 2012 television program in Finland, where Valkee is based, confronted the company about their marketing claims and pointed out to viewers that their studies don’t hold up to scrutiny. Many don’t have adequate placebos, all have conflicts of interest (with company founders and board members as authors), and most were not published in peer-reviewed journals. At the time, their only peer-reviewed paper was in Medical Hypotheses, a journal dedicated to exploring “radical hypotheses which would be rejected by most conventional journals.”
At the time, the company’s website mentioned migraine and jet lag among the conditions their product could treat; notably, the current HumanCharger website avoids any such claims. A marketing video shows a woman entering a hotel room, suitcase rolling behind her, alongside a caption saying the device “gives you a boost of energy.” In another shot, it says that the device combats “the blues.”
Research since then hasn’t been any more promising. One 2014 study whose authors include Valkee employees and shareholders claimed that the device decreased people’s scores on depression surveys. But there was no control group; the researchers were just looking for evidence that people who got the highest dose of light would fare better than those who got the lowest dose. They didn’t.
An unrelated group of researchers, experts in chronobiology, tested people’s melatonin levels, subjective sleepiness, and their performance on attention tasks after using a Valkee device. They found no difference between people who used the device versus a “sham” version that didn’t emit light. (Visible light produced a strong response, as you would expect.) They titled their paper: “Extraocular light via the ear canal does not acutely affect human circadian physiology, alertness and psychomotor vigilance performance.”
Other studies on circadian rhythm have not found any solid evidence that our body clock can be entrained by light from the ears, behind the knees, or any other location except the eyes. Interestingly, our eyes’ ability to sense daylight seems to be separate from our sense of vision. Many blind people find that their circadian rhythms get out of sync with daylight, but some have their light-detecting systems intact even without vision.
So there’s no strong evidence for the idea that light-up earbuds do anything; and there’s a decent amount of evidence suggesting that they’re probably bullshit. I feel happy for everyone who bought this device and feels their life is better as a result (lord knows I have my own emotional-support placebos), but I would recommend that you, dear reader, save your money.
There was a time when writing a check to buy things was so common it was a skill taught in elementary schools. Today, less than 5% of all transactions involve a paper check. We tend to buy everything using credit cards, cash apps, and digital payments, which means the age of writing hilarious jokes on the memo line of a paper check is over, which is sad.
But not all paper checks have gone the way of the dinosaurs. There are still scenarios when you not only can use an old-timey paper check, but you probably should—not a basic personal check, but a cashier’s or certified check. While you probably won’t need one of these checks often in your life, there are some definite scenarios when they are still your best choice.
There are subtle but important distinctions between a cashier’s check and a certified check, though they are typically used in very similar ways:
A cashier’s check is a check that draws from a bank or credit union’s funds, not your personal funds (like a personal check does). These checks typically have a lot of security features (watermarks, signatures from bank officers) to ward against counterfeiting. You have to give the bank the funds covered by the check, plus any fees—basically, you’re kind of “buying” the check from the bank, and the bank then pays out on the check when it’s presented.
A certified check, on the other hand, draws on your account, not the bank’s. It’s typically a little less secure and easier to fake than a cashier’s check. The bank certifies that the money is in your account to cover the check. Whereas with a cashier’s check you have to splash out the money immediately, with a certified check the money remains in your account until the check is cashed.
The choice of a certified or cashier’s check comes down to the fees you have to pay and the need for security. But when would you need one of these?
In general, a certified or cashier’s check can be used any time cash, credit, or digital payments aren’t possible—or advisable. Examples include when a merchant won’t accept credit cards (typically because of the high fees), or when you’re buying or selling a big-ticket item like a car with someone you don’t know. The classic example is selling a used car to someone: You probably can’t accept a credit card, and if they pay you with a personal check you might deposit it only to have it bounce. In that scenario you’re out a car and the money. A certified or cashier’s check makes that outcome much less likely.
There are other scenarios that call for a cashier’s or certified check: While a money order is usually a cheaper alternative for smaller transactions that fall into this category, getting money orders for amounts over $1,000 is usually a challenge, which leads to purchasing multiple money orders at extra expense. A cashier’s or certified check is a better alternative, especially if your bank will issue one without a fee.
Finally, a cashier’s check or certified check can give you an advantage when buying or making down payments on big-ticket items because it’s like paying cash or being pre-qualified for a mortgage—the seller doesn’t have to worry about processing fees or whether you actually have the money, because using these checks guarantees you have the funds. This can be compelling when you’re offering less than listed price for something like a car, in the same way making a cash offer on a house can give you a discount on the sale price.
Just because certified and cashier’s checks are safe and secure ways to spend money doesn’t mean things can’t go wrong. If you plan to use one to buy something, keep the following in mind:
They’re difficult to replace. If you lose a cashier’s check, your bank will not be amused. They can’t simply cancel it and issue a fresh one like a regular check, and will probably require you to wait 90 days before declaring the check officially lost. The bank may also require what’s known as an indemnity bond, which transfers responsibility for the funds in the check from the bank to you. That means if the first check turns up somewhere and is cashed, you pay it out, not the bank. An indemnity bond can cost you as much as 15% of the value of the check.
Counterfeiting does happen. The big risk with a cashier’s check is that most people are unfamiliar with them, which makes creating a realistic fake relatively easy. If someone offers a cashier’s check to you, you should contact the issuing institution to ensure its authenticity.
Delays. Getting cashier’s and certified checks can sometimes be a lengthy process taking several days. If you’re trying to move fast on a transaction, that could be a problem.
Fees. As mentioned, banks sometimes charge fees for issuing these checks, and may not be willing to do it at all if you don’t have an account with them. Typically these fees are pretty small, about $10-$15, but it’s still extra money you might not want to spend.
Existence increasingly resembles a subscription model, and the fees keep going up. Rents continue to be way up from just a few years ago, and buying a house now requires some form of supernatural assistance unless there’s a trust fund of some kind in your life. But when times get tough, folks get creative, and an increasing number of people are looking into the RV or Van Life.
While living in an RV full-time can definitely be cheaper than renting an apartment or buying a house, there are still costs involved. First, you have to buy an RV or camper. Then you need to rent space at campsites, which range from free (on federal land, but with zero utilities or amenities) to almost $15,000 a year at commercial campsites.
That’s still cheaper than most rents, but if you’re in a real money crunch you might be able to reduce your housing and utility costs to zero—and maybe make a little money as well. If that sounds pretty good to you, consider looking into camp host positions.
A camp host or park host is the person who manages a campsite at a national or state park or a private campground. When folks arrive in their RVs, the camp host greets them, sets them up at their campsite, and makes sure they’re hooked up to the water, electricity, and other amenities, if any. The host is typically also responsible for a long list of other duties, including:
Maintenance. The camp host typically does light maintenance work, which usually means cleaning bathrooms and other common areas and doing minor repair work.
Rule enforcement. Campsites usually have written rules governing what’s allowed, noise levels, and other aspects of camp life. When someone violates those rules or has a complaint, the camp host is expected to deal with the issue.
Information. The camp host is expected to be knowledgeable about camp life in general and the specific campsite under their care, and to answer campers’ questions. They’re not generally expected to be experts about the park itself, just the campsite.
The camp host lives right there in the campsite. Requirements to be a camp host are generally pretty light: You have to be at least 18 years old, you must own an RV of some sort (the type and size of that RV might limit the campsites you can work at), and pass a basic background check. Beyond that, some outdoor skills and familiarity with RV camping are essential.
If you own an RV and enjoy the nomadic camping lifestyle, a camp host position can be an excellent way to cut back on your expenses because they almost always include free RV parking and hookups at the site. That means you can live rent-free and utility-free for as long as you serve in the role—plus you won’t be paying to gas up your RV on a regular basis.
Most camp host positions are volunteer jobs, meaning that the free rent, hookups, and WiFi are all you get in compensation. But some camp host jobs pay—up to $66,000 a year. Most camp host jobs will pay close to minimum wage, determined either by the state where it’s located or by the current federal minimum wage. You have to commit to a specific term of service, which can vary from just two weeks to a year-round commitment. You can also potentially string together several short-term positions in order to have free rent all year. Even if a camp host job doesn’t pay, it’s still an incredible way to cut expenses and save money.
Of course, there are potential downsides to consider:
The work can be a bit messy, especially cleaning bathrooms.
You’re more or less always on duty; if campers have a problem in the middle of the night, you’re the one they’re going to wake up.
It’s a physical job, and can be a dirty one. You’ll also be expected to work in all kinds of weather.
Utilities vary by campsite. One big pain point for many people is laundry—some campsites offer laundry facilities as part of the camp host perks, but many do not, so you’ll have to consider how you’re washing your clothes.
If you’ve considered all that and think this might be the perfect way to live cheaply and maybe earn some extra cash as well, how do you get a camp host job?
Finding a camp host position isn’t that different from finding other types of work. There are several ways to look for these jobs:
Job boards. Just like any job, you can look for camp hosting positions on sites like Indeed. There are also camper-specific job boards like Kamper Jobs or CoolWorks, and campsite operators like Vista Recreation post hosting jobs needed for their campsites as well.
Parks. State and National Parks are always looking for volunteer and paid camp hosts. You can find a lot of information by visiting various state park websites, or contacting the National Park Service or Forest Service.
If you’ve decided to pursue a camp host position, there are a few tips to keep in mind:
Plan ahead. Just because these are volunteer or low-paying positions doesn’t mean you can just stroll in and get one. It can take several months between applying for a camp host job and getting it, so research where you want to live and get started early.
Be flexible. There are a lot of parks and campsites around the country. If you’re seeking a host job to save some money, be prepared to travel. You might need to line up more than one position if you’re hoping to make this a full-time gig, and moving from one spot to another to keep those free hookups coming can require some logistics.
Be certain. The RV camping life isn’t for everyone. If you’re new to it and mainly inspired by your anemic bank account, try a trial run as a camp host before you fully commit.
If you already own a camper, hosting offers a potentially cost-free living situation. If you think the camping lifestyle might work for you, it’s definitely worth checking out.
Those of us with allergies have already endured a particularly brutal spring, followed by a few months of relentless hay fever symptoms. But now that the temperatures are finally dropping, we’ll be in the clear for the rest of the year, right? Well, not exactly.
Outdoor seasonal allergies may be over for people living in most parts of the country, but winter is typically the worst time of the year for indoor allergens like dust, pet dander, and mold. Our first instinct may be to write off any sniffling, sneezing, or coughing as a winter cold, but that’s not always the case. It’s time to take winter allergies seriously: Here’s where to start.
The term "winter allergies" actually refers to indoor allergies, which exist year-round. That said, indoor allergies tend to be more problematic and noticeable during the winter. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), there are a few reasons for that:
We spend more time at home, and indoors in general
The colder weather means we’re more likely to keep our doors and windows shut: This keeps the cold out, but also seals allergens inside with us
Forced air heating recirculates the indoor air and any allergens it contains
Forced air heating may also kick up dust that had accumulated on the walls, woodwork, the tops of cabinets, and other hard and soft surfaces that aren’t cleaned regularly
Plus, as a resource from the Allergy & Asthma Network (AAN) points out, forced air heating—as opposed to the steam heating often seen in older houses and apartments—decreases the humidity level of indoor air, which can then heighten allergy symptoms. On top of that, the air can dry out our nasal membranes, leaving them cracked, sore, and more susceptible to a secondary infection.
If all that wasn’t enough, the more we’re exposed to indoor allergens, the worse our symptoms will likely get, according to the AAN. When we spend more time inside breathing in dry, recirculated, allergen-filled air, our body identifies allergens like dust and dander as invaders, then prompts our immune system to launch an attack against them. This kind of exaggerated response to an invader may involve increased mucus production, for example.
Some of the most common indoor allergens include:
Dust
Dust mites (the microscopic arachnids that feed on and live in dust; technically, we’re allergic to a combination of their waste particles and dead body fragments)
Mold
Pet dander
Cockroaches (technically, a combination of their feces and the shells of the deceased)
Dander, droppings, urine, and parasites brought inside by rodents seeking shelter from cold weather
Winter allergies can bring on the same symptoms as outdoor seasonal allergies and can present in various combinations that differ from person-to-person. Those symptoms include:
Sneezing
Watery, itchy eyes
Runny nose
Nasal congestion
Coughing
Postnasal drip
Sore or itchy throat
Rashes or dry, itchy skin
Headaches
Disrupted sleep
Wheezing and shortness of breath (for those with allergic asthma)
While you can’t simply stop being allergic to something, there are a few ways you can manage your winter allergies. These include:
Stay on top of cleaning: Don’t wait until spring. Start with a deep clean to get rid of accumulations of dust, dander, mold, and other allergens, then clean, dust, and vacuum regularly.
Use an air purifier: In this post, Lifehacker’s Senior Health Editor Beth Skwarecki explains what to look for when purchasing an air purifier to help ease allergy symptoms
Change your HVAC filter regularly: Replace with filters with a MERV rating of 13 or higher
Minimize your pet’s dander: Whether you have cats, dogs, or another furry pet, do what you can to reduce the spread of their dander, based on what’s best for your breed. This might mean bathing them more often, bathing them less often, and/or brushing them outside.
If you’ve done what you can in your home, contact your doctor if your winter allergy symptoms are still problematic—especially if you also have asthma, or suspect your symptoms have progressed into sinusitis or another secondary infection.
Family disagreements at Thanksgiving aren’t limited to politics at the dinner table: If you’ve ever stood in the kitchen arguing with your grandma about whether the turkey is done, you know what we mean. So we asked food safety expert Ben Chapman to settle your most likely disputes.
This is an easy one: no. Your raw turkey may be covered in germs, but rinsing is “not removing anything, just spraying it around your kitchen,” Chapman says. Tiny droplets of germy water can end up on surfaces three feet away.
The advice holds even if the turkey is covered in an unidentifiable slime. That’s actually a biofilm of stuck-together bacteria, and washing won’t completely remove it anyway. Those germs are perfectly safe to leave on the turkey because, remember, you’re going to cook it.
If the bird is covered in blood or feather bits, Chapman recommends wiping the turkey with either a paper towel (which you throw away afterward) or a kitchen towel (which you throw straight into the washing machine.) That will remove the gross stuff without spraying bacteria everywhere.
With a thermometer, of course. The color of the meat or juices tells you nothing about doneness, as this guide explains: juices may run pink or clear depending on how stressed the animal was at the time of slaughter (which changes the pH of the meat). The color of the bone depends on the age of the bird at slaughter. And pink meat can depend on roasting conditions or, again, the age of the bird. It’s possible to have pink juices, meat, or bones even when the bird is cooked, or clear juices even when it’s not done yet.
So you’ve got your thermometer. What temperature are you targeting? Old advice was to cook the turkey to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, but that was a recommendation based partly on what texture people liked in their meat, Chapman says. The guidelines were later revised to recommend a minimum safe temperature, regardless of what the meat tastes like, and that temperature is 165. You can cook it hotter, if you like, but that won’t make it any safer.
There’s a way to bend this rule, though. The magic 165 is the temperature that kills Salmonella and friends instantly, but you can also kill the same bacteria by holding the meat at a lower temperature, for a longer time. For example, you can cook your turkey to just 150 degrees, as long as you ensure that it stays at 150 (or higher) for five minutes, something you can verify with a bluetooth thermometer like an iGrill. This high-tech thermometer stays in your turkey while it cooks, and sends data to your smartphone. Compare its readings to these time-temperature charts for poultry to make sure your turkey is safe.
Washing raw vegetables is “risk reduction,” Chapman says, not a guarantee of safety. Washing a head of lettuce can remove 90% or maybe as much as 99% of harmful bacteria, but the 1% that’s left is still able to make you sick. When outbreaks of foodborne illness are traced back to fruits and vegetables (the number one source of such illnesses, actually), they have high enough levels of bacteria that washing wouldn’t have helped much.
Cooking kills those germs reliably, so you don’t have to wash vegetables you plan to cook. You might want to give them a scrub if they’re covered in dirt, but if they look clean, they’re good to go. Wash them if you want, but if you’re pressed for time, why worry about it?
Almost, says Chapman: There’s one more step. After washing the cutting board, you have to let it dry.
For everyday use, that’s no problem: Cut your food, wash the board, and stick it in the drying rack (or just use the dishwasher) and it will be ready the next time you make dinner. On turkey day, though, Chapman says he uses multiple cutting boards, since there isn’t always enough time for a single re-used board to dry.
In that case, he recommends designating one set of boards for raw meat and vegetables that will be cooked, and a separate board for prepared foods that are already cooked and headed for the table.
Not necessarily, but it’s a good rule of thumb. The recommendation for home cooks like you and me is to get food from oven to fridge within two hours.
This is due to a microbe called Clostridium perfringens that may not be totally killed off by cooking. Although live C. perfringens don’t survive cooking, they make heat-resistant spores—think of them as eggs that can later hatch baby bacteria. After a few hours hanging out on room-temperature turkey, the spores will hatch and the bacteria multiply, and they can make a heat-resistant toxin that can make you sick. The total time from oven to bacterial takeover: about four hours.
So you can technically leave leftovers out for four hours at room temperature, Chapman says, but the two-hour rule was created to give you a nice safety margin, in case you weren’t standing by the stove with a stopwatch. If you aim for two hours, and get them in by three, you should be okay.
Nope, that’s an outdated rule, Chapman says. Old refrigerators could be overwhelmed if you stuffed a lot of hot food in at once, but that’s not a concern with anything made in the last couple decades. The best practice is to cool the food as quickly as possible: as soon as you know you won’t be eating something, stick it in the fridge.
Chapman says when he carves a turkey, he puts meat destined for leftovers into Ziploc bags before he even serves the meal. Splitting it into small packages helps it cool faster. After dinner, he packs up the rest of the meat the same way.
And make sure your refrigerator is set to the right temperature, he cautions. Check it with a thermometer: it should be below 41 degrees Fahrenheit, and preferably closer to 32. The colder your fridge, the longer food will last.
The main danger in refrigerated leftovers is Listeria, a bacterium that can grow at refrigerator temperatures. The food is good for three or four days, so if you’re hankering for turkey sandwiches on Monday, you can re-cook your leftovers to kill Listeria. Reheating kills this pathogen, but not C. perfringens—which means reheating can’t salvage food that was left out too long on Thursday.
I don’t own an umbrella. The logic behind that is simple: If it’s raining, I’m not going outside. Rain is just one on a long list of excuses I use to justify staying indoors (also on the list: all other forms of precipitation, temperatures outside the range of 50-90℉, dirt, and mosquitos).
The benefits of spending more time outside and in nature are well-documented, but it’s hard to build a daily fresh air habit when you have so many excuses to stay sheltered. I’ve confronted this reality again while reading There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather by Linda Åkeson McGurk, a Swedish mom who compares her childhood experience in Scandinavia with raising children in the United States. If you want to get a hint of the primary differences, consider the book's subtitle: "A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)."
McGurk's book contains quite a few practical tips for parents who want to give their children more time in nature, and they'll also work for grown people who never got over feeling out of sorts when exposed to the outdoors).
First, I (and perhaps you) need to let go of the idea that the only proper weather for outdoor activities is sunny, mild, and stable. Where I live in San Antonio, Texas, we experience 53 days of rain a year. Four months of the year are too cold for me, while three months are insufferably hot. You can see how it’s not hard to talk myself out of going outside for most of the year. How often is your local weather keeping you away from nature?
This isn't to say you should abandon common sense and go outside whatever the conditions. As McGurk writes, “Thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, flash floods, life-threatening temperatures, or other types of crazy weather conditions are perfectly valid reasons for staying inside.” But if it's just not ideal—a little chilly, a little too warm, a bit drizzly or grey—that's not really worth staying cooped up, and sacrificing the benefits of getting out.
Maybe your excuse-making goes beyond the weather:
“I don’t have time.”
“I don’t want to get dirty.”
“The mosquitos are diabolical.”
You need to get used to making “going outside” a nonnegotiable part of your routine. Once that’s decided, it will be easier to see all the options for doing it safely and more comfortably.
Do you catch yourself thinking inadequate outerwear will lead to viral illness, even though your logical mind knows that doesn’t make sense? Once you commit to spending time outdoors no matter what, start collecting the components of a weather-ready wardrobe. A well-planned ensemble can mitigate just about any weather-related discomfort.
McGurk says to look for these things in outdoor gear and play clothes for children (or adults):
Protects against the elements (wind, sun, moisture, cold temperatures, etc.)
Stands up to wear and tear
Easy to put on and take off
Loose-fitting enough to allow for range of motion while playing
Depending on the season and your climate, also consider:
For warmth, use a base layer of wool or synthetic material, a mid-layer of fleece or sweats, an outer layer that is waterproof, windproof, and breathable, and waterproof boots and mittens.
Consider rain pants, jacket, and boots for wet seasons.
Choose “play” clothes that won’t stress you if they get stained or torn.
Shoes are optional in the summer.
According to McGurk, the Swedish word friluftsliv describes, “a culture and a way of life that heavily revolve around exploring and enjoying nature in a noncompetitive fashion.” You could call the Swedes’ commitment to outdoor living almost religious. “Some even suggest that nature fills the void left by the decline of organized religion in Sweden, which is now one of the most secular countries in the world,” she writes.
Their culture of open-air living may also mitigate our modern tendency toward sensory overwhelm, as observed in nature-based schools. “Nature activates all the senses, but without being overwhelming. When children play in nature, they tend to be calm yet alert,” McGurk advises. The calming-activating quality of nature can help adults regulate too.
Try these tips for more friluftsliv:
Eat meals outside whenever possible.
Take your coffee or tea outside.
Open windows.
Find a cozy outdoor chair to sub for your usual indoor nest for reading and scrolling.
If it’s not your cultural norm, you might be appalled to see a mother park her baby outside for a nap. However, in Scandinavia, it’s not only considered normal, but beneficial to let tiny children sleep outside. “Daily fresh air is seen as essential for babies, ranking just behind food, sleep, and the nurturing love of a parent. And the most common way for them to get their fresh air is from the comfort of a pram,” McGurk writes.
You may understandably not be interested in the scrutiny that could come with letting your infant sleep outside unattended. However, consider ways that you and/or your children could safely catch a nap outdoors. A daybed on the porch? The hammock you’ve always dreamed of in your backyard? This is your reminder that not only do you deserve the rest, the fresh air will be good for you.
As McGurk describes, some Swedish towns have made areas un-drivable to encourage other forms of travel and reduce the environmental impact of fossil fuels. One has no choice but to bike or walk in the fresh(er) air when downtown streets are closed and neighborhood roads dead end in green spaces.
Policies that transform the infrastructure of a community make all of its citizens partners in caring for the space and the environment. Scandinavian children start to understand their role in preserving the environment very early.
“On top of making sure that children have an opportunity to play in natural environments, the preschool is tasked with helping them understand how they can contribute to a better environment, both now and in the future,” McGurk writes.
You and your children can spend more time outdoors and engage more personally with caring for nature with these activities:
Take a class outdoors, learning an outdoor skill.
Compost as the first step to growing something yourself. Gardening doesn’t have to be a huge investment of space, time, and energy. Start with one pot and one seed.
Keep bags and gloves handy to pick up litter as you move through the community.
Consider how much your discomfort with dirt is rooted in fear of judgment. As McGurk notes, it might be time to separate the ideas of dirt that comes from play and dirt that comes from neglect. “Sometimes it’s adults’ own fears that keep children from having sensory experiences in nature … parents who do let their children kick their shoes off in public run the risk of getting shamed. Going barefoot, like so many other things that used to be a common part of childhood in the US, has now become controversial,” she writes.
Try designating a “muddy zone” in your yard where digging and exploration is encouraged. If you get anxious about the mess trailing inside, set up a station and routine for shucking muddy gear at the door. Practice prioritizing daily outdoor time — regardless of weather — until it is simply part of your routine.
“Remember that not every nature experience must entail a grand adventure to a scenic national park—watching a caterpillar make its way across a sidewalk or simply lying in the grass and watching the clouds go by in the backyard can be a great adventure to a small child,” McGurk writes. “Celebrate these everyday nature experiences together, and come back to the same places often to make sure your child forms a bond with your community and its natural areas.”
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