When positive affirmations feel inauthentic, what do we do? For our season finale, host Anna Borges talks to Dr. Christine Gibson, author of the forthcoming book, The Modern Trauma Toolkit and @tiktoktraumadoc on Tik Tok, about the subject of one of her viral Tik Toks: if-firmations. When we’re in need of some possibility in our hearts and minds, they might just be the answer Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark! 

Climate change is an everyday reality…as much as some may try to avoid it. So how do we conquer our climate anxiety?  Host Anna Borges talks to Sarah J. Ray, author of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety, about how to navigate the crushing waves of hopelessness and despair that come up when we think about the climate crisis — and how to find something resembling hope.  Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark!

Host Anna Borges speaks with Internal Family Systems therapist Susannah Jackson. They discuss how a shift in the way we think and talk about our feelings can help us understand what we’re feeling and why. Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark! 

There are a lot of reasons to take care of something — like a plant, or a car or a house. It can be a source of purpose or passion or peace or simple satisfaction. Today we’re exploring how taking care of something can be a form of self-care.  Host Anna Borges talks with Jené Etheridge — music producer, DJ, community organizer, and an avid cyclist — about how caring for her bike Butter feeds her mental health.  Hey Mood Ring listeners, we want to hear what you think about Mood Ring! You can help us out by filling out a short audience survey: moodringshow.org/survey Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark!  Full Transcript   Anna Borges: There’s this old book that I’m willing to bet at least some of you found formative. It’s called The Care and Keeping of You.   MUSIC   And I hope some of you just went OH, THAT BOOK, but you know for the uninitiated, The Care and Keeping of You is this illustrated American Girl guidebook and it was the first real introduction a lot of us got to our bodies and how to take care of them. It covered everything from how to sit when inserting a tampon to you know proper armpit shaving technique.   Legions of preteens referred to that book like a user's manual, myself included. You know, learning as much as we could about maintaining these weird changing bodies that we did not know the first thing about. Understanding what was going on with my body and like the ins and outs in taking care of it made me feel — I mean I don’t want to oversell it but it did — it made me feel like confident and grown up and empowered, or at least more capable of handling the horrors of middle school such as like changing in the locker room and wondering why my boobs looked so much different than everyone else's.   These days, I’m kind of still chasing that high if I'm honest. Like shockingly, huh-huh, taking care of myself as an adult is hardly as satisfying as The Care and Keeping of You once had me believe.   MUSIC FADE OUT   But as I grew up, I did discover that there are a lot of other things that I can take care of, other than myself, and some

Host Anna Borges speaks with poet Nichole Perkins about doing things without the expectation for excellence. They speak about Nichole’s new painting hobby and how her confidence in writing poetry is fueled by her creative license to be a hobbyist painter.  Hey Mood Ring listeners, we want to hear what you think about Mood Ring! You can help us out by filling out a short audience survey: moodringshow.org/survey Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark!  Full Transcript Anna Borges: Hey everyone! Pop quiz for you. When you discover a new hobby that you’re really enjoying, do you:   A. Strive to improve so you can be really good at it. B. Brainstorm ways to monetize it because hey, if you have to make money, you might as well have fun doing it C. Stress about other things you should be doing instead of indulging in said hobby or D. Just..en…joy? Enjoy it? Wait, some of you can actually do that?   Hey, I’m Anna Borges, and this is Mood Ring, a practical guide to feelings—even when you feel like you can’t relax and enjoy yourself.   Today, we’re talking about the importance of no strings attached hobbies. You know, activities that don’t have to be productive or impressive or useful and even something you’re good at. Hobbies that don’t have to be anything other than…enjoyable.   But a lot of things can get in the way of actually enjoying them, whether baking to relax turns into stressing about getting an Instagram-worthy loaf of bread or you get stressed out when you don’t discover a secret hidden talent the first time you pick up a paintbrush. You know if you’re anything like me that’s exactly what I do! Letting ourselves relax and be free to do something without the expectation of a performance or an end goal is hard. Even more so when the something we love overlaps with what we do for a living.   That's where the no strings attached hobby comes in.   Today’s guest is Nichole Perkins, a writer, poet, and the host of the podcast This is Good for You, where she helps people stop feeling bad about the things that they love to do.

Host Anna Borges talks with therapist Latisha Taylor Ellis about the benefits of group therapy during times of loss. Ellis is the creator of Thank U Next, a virtual therapy group for the brokenhearted. When we feel we have no one else to turn to, does opening up to a room full of strangers help us move through grief? Hey Mood Ring listeners, we want to hear what you think about Mood Ring! You can help us out by filling out a short audience survey: moodringshow.org/survey Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark! 

Host Anna Borges speaks with Mood Ring producer Georgina Hahn about her concept of Lamby. They explore the unique way of being tender, supported by a conversation on inner child work with writer and mystic Bernice Angoh. Hey Mood Ring listeners, we want to hear what you think about Mood Ring! You can help us out by filling out a short audience survey: moodringshow.org/survey Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark!  Full Transcript SOFT GUITAR MUSIC PLAYS   Georgie: Close your eyes and take it way back. Try to remember a quintessential childhood moment, something that encapsulates the best parts of being a kid. Getting lost in your own backyard. Long summer days. Cartoons in your jammies. Playing make-believe. Can you remember the feeling of possibility and wonder?   Anna: That is Georgina Hahn, one of our producers on the show. And she’s telling us about something that’s very close to her heart - letting our inner child out so our most authentic selves can shine. And she even has a name for it.   Georgie: I call it Lamby. Lamby is writing in my room, surrounded by the soft and tender, exploring my thoughts and feelings. It’s waking up to my roommates cooking breakfast, and cuddling my stuffed Lamby in my matching adult-sized pajama set.   But it’s about so much more than that, too. Lamby is kind of a way of life for me, reaching out to my inner child, taking care of her, looking out for her, helps me create a life of curiosity and openness. To go easy and not be so concerned with what other people think. It’s about giving ourselves permission to be, well, unapologetically Lamby.   MOOD RING THEME   Anna: I’m Anna Borges, and this is Mood Ring, a practical guide to feelings—especially the feelings so specific, you make up words for them.   As you might have guessed, I tapped Georgie to kick us off because—well, I’m not very lamby. Or at least, I didn’t think I was when Georgie first introduced me to the idea. It sounded cute and optimistic and happy, and when Georgie explained it to me with like the earnestness of a baby lamb, I had to admit to her th

Host Anna Borges talks about her past with an affinity for personality tests. Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, Buzzfeed quizzes, you name it. Our guest Saeid Fard is the CEO and founder of Anna’s latest obsession: the personality test app, Dimensional. Can personality tests help us improve our lives and mental health? Hey Mood Ring listeners, we want to hear what you think about Mood Ring! You can help us out by filling out a short audience survey: moodringshow.org/survey Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark! 

Host Anna Borges shares her secret past of being a Tumblr fitspo influencer and unpacks women-targeted diet tips with Good Enough cookbook author Leanne Brown. Anna and Leanne chat about owning our food choices to stop judging ourselves and reframe nourishment. You can find information on Leanne Brown and all her cookbooks on her website. Hey Mood Ring listeners, we want to hear what you think about Mood Ring! You can help us out by filling out a short audience survey: moodringshow.org/survey Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark! 

 Host Anna Borges explores our processes of faith and belief with astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo, and how “woo” can be used as a non-judgmental tool for guidance and self-determination.  Follow Jessica’s work on her website and through her podcast Ghost of a Podcast. Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark! Full Transcript Anna: Guess what? It is time for an astrology episode. Because let’s be honest, I wasn’t going to make it through a season of Mood Ring without one. But also because I think a lot of us could really use it right now.   DRONING MUSIC   Jessica Lanyadoo: People turned to astrology for lots of reasons. A big common reason—especially during this global pandemic and time of social unrest—is anxiety. If I'm looking for a way to not feel anxious and an astrologer rattles off a ton of stuff and a ton of advice, in a way, in the short term, it's scratching that itch. I want order, I want to be told what's real. I want to be told what to do. Okay. This person's telling me. This person seems to have a grasp on the, on the universe and they're telling me what to do this week.   THEME MUSIC   I’m Anna Borges and this is Mood Ring, a practical guide to feelings … and sometimes, if I’m being honest with you guys, I do wonder if being TOO practical can hold us back.   You just heard Jessica Lanyadoo, an astrologer, psychic medium, and today’s guest. I invited her on because I love astrology as a self-care tool and definitely wanted to talk about it, but, at the same time I’ve always felt like there was something kind of holding me back from really getting the most out of it.   Because on the one hand, I feel exactly what you just heard Jessica describing. I want to be told what to do. I want to be told what’s real. I want to believe my horoscope when it tells me how I can find happiness and trust when a meme tells me that my Leo Venus means you know, I’m really good at love.   But on the other hand, my skeptical li

Host Anna Borges (The More Or Less Definitive Guide to Self-Care) hears from listeners about their relationship to money, whether it’s colored by guilt or generational shadows. Then, Anna has a chat with Mood Ring producer Jordan Kauwling about her recent reflections on how money has shaped her life—and her relationship to work. We want to hear what you think about Mood Ring! You can help us out by filling out a short audience survey: moodringshow.org/survey Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark!  Full Transcript Anna Borges: There was a time when I was constantly debating quitting my job. If you've been with us here since the beginning of Mood Ring … you may remember a work-related breakdown I had on the shower floor? Yeah, that was this job. So week after week, I would go back and forth debating about whether or not I wanted to quit without anything lined up for the sake of my mental health.   Because here was the thing: I could. I could do that. I grew up with a lot of financial instability, so savings has always been really important to me. And by that point in my life, I was in a privileged enough position that I could afford unemployment for a couple of months if I wiped out my savings.   But, I just couldn't get myself to do it. Like, sure, yeah money could buy me freedom from a job that was making me cry every time I woke up and faced the thought of yet another day. But money was also buying my health insurance and rent and security and peace of mind and all of the things that I needed to buy in my life. And, I mean, I’d experienced what it was like before without a financial safety net. And I didn’t know what would be worse, like all the feelings I was dealing with at this job, or all the feelings that came with losing that security?   Which is all to say, oh my god, there are a lot of feelings to be had around money. The stress of the things we do to make it. The decisions we have to make about spending it. The shame of having it, the guilt of not having it. The attitudes we’ve adopted about it or inherited. I mean, grappling with privilege or changing financial circumstances. Just overall how money, or lack thereof, can make us fee

Host Anna Borges (The More Or Less Definitive Guide to Self-Care), who was famously dragged on Twitter after making a few jokes in reference to mental health, revisits mental health meme culture and how it can be a useful tool to find community during dark times. She’s joined by Memes To Discuss In Therapy admin Priscilla Eva for a discussion on “shitposting,” finding the humor in our collective struggles and how social media can actually breed compassion for ourselves and for others.  We want to hear what you think about Mood Ring! You can help us out by filling out a short audience survey: moodringshow.org/survey Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Follow Memes To Discuss In Therapy on Instagram or on Facebook.  Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark!  Full Transcript Anna Borges: They say that everyone remembers their first time—I know that I do. Slowly waking up in the morning. Bright light streaming in through the window…   …the sound of my phone rattling on the nightstand as a stream of notifications flooded in.   MUSIC PAUSE, PHONE VIBRATION SOUND EFFECT   Sorry, did you think I was talking about something else? Yeah, no, I’m talking about the first time I got absolutely dragged on the internet.   MUSIC   It was early 2016 and I was a writer at BuzzFeed. I’d been tasked with the challenge of finding a way to make mental health content shareable, and relatable, and viral. And that might sound like a ridiculously easy job in the year of our digital lord 2022, but it wasn’t that long ago that the landscape of mental health content looked very different than it does today. Like on big mainstream websites, it was pretty much limited to serious and earnest personal essays and serious and earnest resource articles. And everything else was kind of like… you know… niche. Like it existed, but just in certain corners of the internet.   So, I decided to try doing what I’d long done in my little corners of the internet, I joked about my depression.   And it did not go well.   RECORD SC

Host Anna Borges (The More Or Less Definitive Guide to Self-Care) is joined by Dr. Renee Lemus and Dr. Christina Rose–hosts of Las Doctoras podcast–about rewriting the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and rewiring the messaging that comes from the world about who we’re allowed to be.  Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow  Follow Anna @annabroges Follow Las Doctoras podcast online at lasdoctoras.net.  Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark! Full Transcript Anna Borges: Let’s kick things off by reading an old journal entry of mine from freshman year of high school. And I guess that comes with all of the disclaimers that you would expect.   [sighs] All right… I wrote…   I need to get my shit together. It sounds so easy, but why have I always failed so miserably? I don’t know how I let myself get so far behind, or why I can’t delay instant gratification, or when I got so fucking lazy. I know what I have to do. Why can’t I just do it? What is wrong with me?   I know I only wrote that in freshman year of high school because of the date at the top of the page. Because to be honest, like, I’ve probably written some variation of that a hundred times over in the decade and a half since then. And maybe you have too? Berating yourself for something - for not being good enough, or fast enough, or a million other things. And for me, it was my inability to focus, to accomplish my goals, to function, basically, the way that I thought I should be able to function because it seemed like everyone BUT ME could do it.   It was a recurring subplot in my journals for years.   And then, eventually—like 15 years later eventually—I got diagnosed with ADHD.   THEME MUSIC   [laughs] So…yeah. Which, that cleared a lot of things up in hindsight.   And while I felt some relief at having an explanation, I also felt this, like, sense of grief for this person I thought I knew. Like, how could it be that all of these core beliefs about myself, as unkind as they were, were suddenly just…wrong?   What do you do when you discover you’ve been an unreliable narrator of your own story this whole time?   Hey friends, what’s up?   I’m Anna Borges and this is Mood Ring, a practical guide to feelings—even when your feelings

Host Anna Borges (The More Or Less Definitive Guide to Self-Care) chats with Southern Solidarity co-founder Jasmine Araujo about mutual aid, creating community, and leaning on others during difficult times. Plus, Anna has a conversation with Mood Ring producer Jordan Kauwling about what a recent experience with expanding her community means to her. Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna @annabroges To support Southern Solidarity and learn how you can get involved visit southernsolidarity.org.  Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark!

Anna Borges interviews notOK app creator Hannah Lucas about how to get help during intense mental health moments. The conversation covers how the app works, how communication can deepen trust, and how it can be challenging to voice our needs. Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark. Full Transcript   Anna Borges: There’s a word people associate with me a lot: vulnerable. Like, my work is vulnerable and thank you for being so vulnerable. And honestly? It couldn’t be further from the truth. I SUCK at being vulnerable.   If that’s surprising to hear, it’s not just you. I didn’t know that about myself for a really long time. My therapist was kind of the first one to float the idea and I didn’t really buy it.   She kept at it, though. She was not gonna take no for an answer. At some point in our work together, she looked at me and said, “You talk openly about vulnerable things, but is that the same as actually being vulnerable?”   THEME MUSIC   My therapist wasn’t impressed by my ability to write an essay about wanting to die or to tweet my way through a depressive episode. She wanted to know: Did I ever reach out to a friend when I was feeling suicidal, or did I only tell them about it when I got through the worst of it alone? Did I cry in front of other people? Like really cry? Did I let people sit with me when I was too depressed to talk, just because I needed company? Did I ask for help?   That’s the kind of vulnerability I struggle with—because honestly? Vulnerability, in my opinion, is exposing whatever is toughest to expose. And that’s what’s tough for me. And whether or not you struggle with it too, or another kind of vulnerability, I figured we could all use a little guidance around how to actually ask for support when we need it.   Hey I’m Anna Borges and this is Mood Ring, a practical guide to feelings, even when those feelings are big and scary and you really want someone there with you.   Every episode, we’ll explore one new way to cope — with our feelings, with our baggage, with our brains, or with the world around us.   Reaching out to a loved one

 Host Anna Borges interviews guest Zachary Zane about platonic intimacy. Follow Mood Ring @moodringshow Follow Anna ​​@annabroges Mood Ring is a production of American Public Media and Pizza Shark. Full Transcript   Anna Borges: The first time I realized I was touch starved during the pandemic is when the world started opening up and one of the first things I did was go and get a wax for the first time. And as my wax tech was like painfully ripping the hair off my body, I thought, "Huh, it's so nice to be touched by another human again."   It's not that I didn't realize that I was lonely or could really stand to have been fucked or cuddled — I live alone and I'm single, so during the height of pandemic lockdown, I was … very, very isolated. But it wasn't until I felt this visceral rush of relief when I typically felt excruciating pain that I realized, Oh, I needed this.   Like, actually needed it. Because when I say I was touch starved, I’m not being cute or dramatic. Tough starvation is a real thing. It’s also known as skin hunger or touch deprivation, but whatever you call it, we know that going for too long without human touch has real psychological effects. Starting with when we bond with our caregivers through touch when we’re infants, we’re wired to need touch, for our development and for our mental health.   So what do we do when we’re not getting any?   Hey, I’m Anna Borges and this is Mood Ring, a practical guide to feelings, even when you’re feeling so untouched like a 2007 pop song.   Every episode, we’ll explore one new way to cope—with our feelings, with our baggage, with our brains, or with the world around us.   Anna Borges: Today we’re talking about cuddling with your friends, which might seem like kind of a leap from a bikini wax. But that's because I didn’t know until the last minute that I wanted this episode to be about cuddling your friends. Before that, I knew I wanted to do something on touch starvation, and, you know, ways to scratch that itch. We thought of massages, or loving self-touch and yep, getting waxed, but, you know, none of them really felt right. Because sure, all of that involves getting touched, but none of it is intimacy. A

Anna and the Mood Ring team are all still reeling from the horrific shootings over the past two weeks, and if you’ve been following along with us so far, you know that we believe strongly in not forcing the show to go on, and giving ourselves space to be human and feel our emotions in experiencing things as they are happening to us, rather than numbing out attempt to pretend like everything is normal. So, in lieu of our Mood Ring episode this week, we wanted to share a conversation from yesterday, May 25, about coping with prolonged grief as terrible things just continue to happen, produced by our friends over at Minnesota Public Radio and host Angela Davis. We thought some of you might find it useful right now with everything going on. We’ll be back with a regular episode of Mood Ring next week and we really hope that you are able to take care of yourself in the meantime. In the light of the recent tragic mass shootings, Minnesota Public Radio News host Angela Davis talks with listeners and with two therapists about the waves of loss many people experienced over the past two years, they discuss how people can cope with prolonged grief and trauma. Her guests are:  Bravada Garrett-Akinsanya is a psychologist who specializes in African-American mental health. She is the president and founder of Brakins Consulting & Psychological Services and the executive director of African American Child Wellness Institute, Inc. in Plymouth. Fiyyaz Karim is a lecturer in the University of Minnesota's masters programs for integrated behavioral health and addictions counseling. He has worked in the areas of grief and loss associated with unemployment, relationship break ups, chronic illness, addictions and, most recently, the pandemic.

Episode four of Mood Ring is a collection of self-care tools explored by Anna Borges. Anna shares clips submitted by listeners describing how they deal with the onset of a negative mental health moment. Full Transcript Title: Build Your Self Care Kit Description: Episode four of Mood Ring is a collection of self care tools explored by Anna Borges. The host shares clips submitted by listeners describing how they deal with the onset of a negative mental health moment. – Anna Borges: I want you to picture something for me. Feel free to settle in and close your eyes. Think about what it’s like to have a … common cold. Think about how your body aches. How heavy your limbs are. How runny or stuffed up your nose is. [Sound of sloshing water] Think of that underwater sensation in your head, how out of it you feel. Now picture what you do to take care of yourself when you have a cold. What makes you feel better? What foods and drinks do you gravitate toward? Warm soup. Ginger Ale. Toast. A mug of tea. And, what do you do? Maybe you go straight back to bed. Maybe take a shower and change into clean pajamas. Maybe you drag the coziest blankets to the couch and burrito up. What shows do you watch? Who do you text? What supplies do you gather? The whole ritual. Now I want you to think about a moment when you weren’t feeling so hot mentally. Choose a type of moment that comes up occasionally, like a cold does. Something that’s no fun, but something familiar. Maybe there are times when you’re so frustrated by work you could scream. Maybe there are weekends that you don’t have any plans and feel extra lonely. Maybe sometimes your to-do list reaches a certain point … that you can feel nothing but overwhelmed. Or maybe you don’t have a specific moment or reason—maybe sometimes your sadness or anxiety or hurt or pain just flares up, and you know you’re in for a rough day. Whatever situation you choose, remember what it’s like, how you felt. Did you know what to reach for? Did you know what would make you feel better? Did you know what you really needed in that moment? For a long time, I didn’t. A lot of the time. We know what to do when we’re sick. Why do we know so much less about what to do when we’re angry? Or sad? Or lonely? Or overwhelmed? Or anything? Why don’t we have a plan for that? THEME MUSIC Hey, I’m Anna Borges and this is Mood Ring, a practical

Episode three of Mood Ring, hosted by Anna Borges, explores the One Minute Rule. Coined by Gretchen Rubin, the concept dictates that if it takes less than one minute to complete a task — think washing a dish — then you should just get it done right away. Anna interviews behavioral psychologist Dr. Ayelet Fishbach, exploring why following this rule can prove so challenging for some, and ways to reconsider your real priorities. Full Transcript Anna Borges: Every Friday, I count on the minutes until the workday is over and the weekend begins. And every Friday there is always one thing standing between me and a night of relaxation, a list of chores, as long as a CVS receipt. I always tell myself that I'll do it differently. Next time I tell myself, next week I will wash my dish. As soon as I'm done with it next week, I won't let these mugs accumulate on my nightstand and have to do the walk of shame to the kitchen with them. Like next week, I'll scoop the litter box every day. I will not let these chores pile up and ruin my relaxing Friday night, except I do. I always do. Come Monday, I'll finish dinner and bring my dish to sink. And instead of taking literally a minute to wash it while I'm there, I just set it down and walk away. And then the next day I set another dish on top of it. And then the next thing you know, it's Friday again, and I'm telling myself next week will be different. I just want to understand why is this so freaking hard? THEME MUSIC I'm Anna Borges and this is Mood Ring, a practical guide to feelings, even when you're feeling overwhelmed by the smallest of tasks. Every episode we’ll explore one new way to cope with our feelings, with our baggage, with our brains, with our dishes or with the world around us. In this episode, we're talking about something that I hoped once upon a time would solve my chore problem. The one minute rule, it was coined by Gretchen Rubin, an author who among other things specialized in topics related to productivity and happiness. The one minute rule is straightforward: if a task or a chore will take less than a minute to accomplish just do it, don't think about it. Don't add unnecessary steps, like adding it to a to-do list, just do it then and there done. Boom. It seems simple enough, right? Except it didn't turn out to be that easy for me. I tried to live by the one minute rule, proba

Mood Ring host Anna Borges talks about coping mechanisms like binge-watching television and late-night gaming. Are those behaviors unhealthy and reasons to feel guilty, or are they fine to help you deal with what’s going on in your life? Anna is joined by licensed mental health counselor Jor-El Caraballo to unpack how we can tell if our coping mechanisms are helpful or harmful, and how to enjoy them without all that shame. Full Transcript   Anna Borges: Alright, I’m gonna…I’m gonna tell you something… Every once in a while, I get this taste of what I imagine it must be like to be...well-adjusted? You know like, whole stretches of time where I’m not ruminating or anxious or lonely or sad. I am just...chill. ...And then, Netflix will ask me… NETFLIX TUDUM  “Are you still watching?” And the illusion is shattered. And I’m forced to see my sad reflection in my smudged laptop screen, and all the thoughts and feelings I’m avoiding come bubbling back up. MUSIC If I were the person I wanted to be, this would be the moment I say, “You know what, Netflix? No, I’m not still watching. I’m going to go do all the things I told myself I was going to do today.” But I’m me. So I hit “next episode” and sink back into numb, distracted bliss. Binge-watching TV is a shitty coping mechanism of mine. And if we’re all being honest with ourselves and each other, you probably have one too. Maybe your thing is video games. That’s…also my thing. Maybe you’re partial to falling down the TikTok rabbit hole, scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. Or maybe swiping endlessly on dating apps and window-shopping for validation. Or real shopping. Our producer Jordan loves to obsessively order home goods from Amazon. Most of us have those things that we do for our mental health in the moment even though we know they’re probably not all that good for our mental health in the long run. And that’s fine! It’s totally human to want to distract ourselves, or soothe ourselves, or whatever it is your thing does for you. Except…I don’t know about you, but I probably spend as much time judging myself for my shitty coping mechanisms as I do actually enjoying them. Which kind of defeats the purpose. But that doesn’t mean I have to stop, right? THEME MUSIC Hey friends, what’s up? I’m Anna Borges and this is Mood Ring: A Practical Guide to Fee