At the end of “Inside Out,” the 2015 Pixar movie about the emotional life of a girl named Riley, a new button appears on the console used to control Riley’s mood. It’s emblazoned with one word: Puberty. Joy, one of the main characters who embodies Riley’s emotions, shrugs it off. “Things couldn’t be better!” Joy…
Brian Byrne, a tour manager in Los Angeles, was sipping a cold brew a few years ago when he started feeling clammy. Soon, his symptoms worsened: shallow breathing, a hollow feeling in his chest and a rapid, thumping heartbeat. He went outside to get air. “At that point, I was having racing thoughts, feeling like…
On Monday evening, I entered the most chaotic grocery store in Manhattan armed with something I rarely, if ever, go shopping with: a list. I needed garlic, red onion, scallions, limes, chiles. But something happens once I leave the produce department for the canned goods aisle: I experience what I can describe only as chickpea…
Anxious ahead of a big job interview? Worried about giving a speech? First date nerves? The solution, some digital start-ups suggest, is a beta blocker, a type of medication that can slow heart rate and lower blood pressure — masking some of the physical symptoms of anxiety. Typically a trip to the doctor’s office would…
On a sweltering July evening, the din from thousands of computers mining for Bitcoins pierced the night. Nearby, Matt Brown, a member of the Arkansas legislature, monitored the noise alongside a local magistrate. As the two men investigated complaints about the operation, Mr. Brown said, a security guard for the mine loaded rounds into an…
The start of the new year often brings lofty ambitions. It’s 2024 — time to exercise and eat better, says a nagging voice, somewhere deep in your brain. What about learning to knit? It’s enough to make anyone feel anxious. For those who already struggle with anxiety, these heightened expectations can be even more distressing….
