According to research conducted at Georgetown University, social media tends to leave people lonelier and more depressed. You're probably thinking it all sounds, well, counterintuitive. After all, we all enjoy receiving likes and compliments on sites like Facebook, so it would seem like social media should improve one's mood and bolster self-esteem. Likes and comments do in fact promote small rushes of dopamine. But the study revealed that these tiny boosts don't come anywhere close to compensating for the large loss experienced by no longer spending real-world time with the person in question. The researchers note that smartphones have a way of cultivating behavioral addictions. People may not necessarily wish to spend so much time online, but between flashy games, humorous memes, and content posted by our buddies, we become inextricably sucked in -- often resulting in physical, mental, and spiritual exhaustion. Those who embrace what researchers have dubbe...

When negative thoughts attempt to take over your mind, don't let them! How do you prevent this from happening? By turning those negative thoughts into positive ones. You can cancel out a negative thought with a positive one in a number of ways: 1. By thinking about or looking at something that relaxes you or otherwise brings a smile to your face (e.g., pictures of kittens). 2. By listening to music or doing anything else that puts you in a good mood. 3. By thinking about or looking at something that makes you laugh (e.g. blooper videos). 4. By thinking about all the wonderful things you aim to accomplish in the future. Focus not on the past, but on the present and the future. 5. And, most importantly, by being thankful for what you have and reminding yourself that it could be worse. It's about never losing sight of the fact that you have it better than a lot of people out there do. Whenever I'm feeling a little blue, I do one -- if not all -- of these th...