I’m stuck in post-pandemic limbo – but don’t make me Zoom again

No one knows how to socialise any more in New York, so I’m playing safe and opting out of normal life a tiny bit longer, says Guardian columnist Emma Brockes

Monzo bank to offer employees paid leave after pregnancy loss

Either partner can take up to 10 days’ leave after miscarriage, stillbirth or abortion in UK digital bank’s policy

We’ve learnt so much this year – and not just how to languish

While we wait to flourish again, there are still some positives to be taken from the fine art of languishing

The chemical question: does focusing on hormones undermine mental healthcare?

According to some, not factoring hormones into mental healthcare can be dangerous. For others, it feeds into outdated stereotypes

How I learned that by trying to avoid sadness, I was only making it worse

Bedridden, and unable to move, I realised that I had spent my life running from misery. It was time to confront it, says author and journalist Helen Russell

‘Melon seedlings make good pets’: how lockdown made us love houseplants

From orchids to apple trees, readers share their stories of the plants that kept them busy, lifted their spirits and distracted them from the endless Zoom meetings

Like ‘Italy’s Robinson Crusoe’, many of us crave the idea of aloneness – even after lockdown

Mauro Morandi had to leave his solitary island life. Having been cooped up with others for months, it could be appealing, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Can magic mushrooms really help you understand bitcoin?

That’s what one German billionaire says. But it’s not why the Aztecs and the hippies were such fans

Talking to yourself: a good antidote to loneliness – or the sign of a real problem?

During the pandemic, I have gone from uttering a few words of encouragement to myself to full-blown arguments. I’m not the only one. I asked psychologists what purpose this serves

Middle-aged people who sleep six hours or less at greater risk of dementia, study finds

UCL data of 10,000 volunteers shows cases 30% higher among those who slept poorly in their 50s, 60s and 70s