Brianna Wiest

Despite what the current culture of Aspirational Internet Lives would have you believe, most forms of stress, anxiety, and worry aren't only normal, they're healthy. In fact, if we weren't capable of experiencing and feeling these things, we would…

If social anxiety is something that affects your life, you know just how seriously debilitating it can be. Clinically known as social anxiety disorder, or social phobia, it is the fear of being judged or evaluated negatively by people, and often…

Many people desire romantic relationships. I'm not going to say everybody because that's simply untrue, but it has been pitched to us as a sort of end-goal kind of a fairytale scenario: love, in the form of a romantic partner in particular, is…

If we're being completely honest, life is nothing but a series of scary, big changes. (Isn't that what they say? That the only constant in life is change? Yes, yes it is, and that's because it's true.) It's really not a matter of knowing when to…

If you're a relatively intelligent person, two things are likely true: you socialize less than your peers, and you have anxiety about whether or not that's normal and sane and acceptable. As most of us already know, intelligent people tend to be…

Feelings are not facts. A feeling can be valid — as in, something you are definitely experiencing — but feeling that something is true does not necessarily make it true. This is important to understand, because we see the adverse effects of this…

Jealousy isn't called an ugly, green-eyed monster for no reason — and the truth is that more often than not, it's one that tends to stay hidden under the bed. Sometimes, the feeling of envy is very intense and you're aware of it, but a lot of the…

Determining whether or not you have an addiction to your thoughts isn't as simple as one may imagine. The reality is that people can become addicted to just about anything. When human beings get to the point of craving something beyond their…

Here's something beautiful and horrifying and true: the Love of Your Life will not necessarily be the happiest relationship ever. In fact, the more your feelings are deeply involved, the scarier it's going to be. The more worthwhile you find a…

Among the endless stream of irrational, secret fears most twentysomething and emerging adults have is: What the hell happened to all of my friends?! It's a weird, tragic paradox: you begin to realize just how wonderful and important it is to have…

In the world of "new social norms social media has either created or just perpetually reinforces," there seem to be two camps of twentysomethings: those focused on being backpacking, self-exploring world travelers, and those who are settling down,…

Sometimes, the biggest problems we have in life revolve more around the fact that we focus more on what we think about them than, well, anything else. Reflection is important. Self-awareness is crucial. But either way, overthinking (and then, of…

The funny thing about happiness is that it's more about realizing what you have than it is achieving what you don't. Sure, goals are important, and a crucial component of happiness is having something to work toward and look forward to each day. But…

There is not a single person among us who has not, or is not, living with some kind of anxiety or skewed version of reality. This isn't because we're all seeing things incorrectly, it's because life is confusing and fear feels real and we want to…

There is a nearly endless stream of content about what you should and shouldn't do and know and have done and by what age, and it's a thing over which many people rightfully take issue with — the idea that anybody functions on the same timeline of…

It wouldn't take more than a weekend trip to the beach to convince you, but a new study is confirming what we (and every real estate listing on the East Coast) already know: living near water can reduce stress. It's not only a pleasing aesthetic…

The digital age has innovated countless ways to improve your quality of life: you can order dinner, a date, and check out your stock options all with a tiny little glowing screen that fits in the palm of your hand. So it shouldn't come as a surprise…

Listen up, anyone whose passions include food and travel: This is going to be your newest life inspiration. "Girl Eat World" is an Instagram of magnificent proportions, on which one blogger documents all the absolutely delicious things she tries,…

Though we know that our failures aren't what count — it's what we do with them that matters — sometimes it can be difficult to really remember when all we see on social media is the highlight reel of people's lives, only the most curated and…