Under pressure: how stress can change our lives for the better

Stress and emotional tension tends to be associated with distress – but a form called ‘eustress’ can be healthy and productive

A psychedelic retreat proves a healing trip

Exploring the therapeutic benefits of magic mushrooms at a ceremony in Amsterdam

When my cousin was dying of a brain tumour in her 20s I promised I’d look out for her son

Over the past decade I’ve watched a young boy grow up and become a daily reminder to me of just how proud his mother would have been

Faking it: could I go from being an introvert to an extrovert in one week?

New research has found that being an extrovert makes you happier. So I spent a week attending social events to see if I could trick myself into being more naturally outgoing

Fashion addiction: expensive clothes hid my loneliness – then I gave 90% of them away

Grief and pain lay behind my obsession with buying new clothes. Moving in with my fiance forced me to shed the material burden, and the persona I had been hiding behind

I overcame my dependence on Instagram after my model photos made me a hit

My Instagram posts made me a role model for average-sized women. But overuse left me feeling overwhelmed and lost

‘We’re cosseting our kids’ – the war against today’s dangerously dull playgrounds

Architects are taking issue with risk-averse playparks full of sluggish roundabouts and tiny climbing frames. But are playgrounds in the middle of roads really the answer?

How being bullied at school shaped my career choice

Gestures, facial expressions, posture – they are all crucial to what we’re communicating, though many of us don’t realise it

Why the mother who started gender-reveal parties regrets them

Celebrating the discovery of your unborn baby’s sex has been coopted by people with repressive, polarised ideas, says the woman who began the trend

My tears as a junior doctor were a ‘flaw’ that, in psychiatry, became my greatest strength

I burnt out as a GP but in mental health I could take time with patients and, at last, make a difference