Dr. Laurie Santos

And I think it's fair to say that we are, you know, it's not great, but we are in an abnormal world right now. And so I think that's kind of point number one. The other reason that normalization is so important is that psychologically, it can help us.

When you realize that these negative emotions are a common human experience, that they're emotions that are there to help you, they still don't feel good, but it can allow you to get through them a little bit better. Even here in UT Austin, there's a researcher, Kristen Neff, who studies this process of what she calls common humanity, right? Recognizing like we're all going through it right now.

When you realize that these negative emotions are a common human experience, that they're emotions that are there to help you, they still don't feel good, but it can allow you to get through them a little bit better. Even here in UT Austin, there's a researcher, Kristen Neff, who studies this process of what she calls common humanity, right? Recognizing like we're all going through it right now.

When you realize that these negative emotions are a common human experience, that they're emotions that are there to help you, they still don't feel good, but it can allow you to get through them a little bit better. Even here in UT Austin, there's a researcher, Kristen Neff, who studies this process of what she calls common humanity, right? Recognizing like we're all going through it right now.

And what she finds is that can actually help you get through tough times. She does this cool research with Afghan and Iraqi veterans and finds that those that give themselves self-compassion realize that everybody's going through a tough time here. They wind up coming out with less evidence of PTSD and other related disorders.

And what she finds is that can actually help you get through tough times. She does this cool research with Afghan and Iraqi veterans and finds that those that give themselves self-compassion realize that everybody's going through a tough time here. They wind up coming out with less evidence of PTSD and other related disorders.

And what she finds is that can actually help you get through tough times. She does this cool research with Afghan and Iraqi veterans and finds that those that give themselves self-compassion realize that everybody's going through a tough time here. They wind up coming out with less evidence of PTSD and other related disorders.

So like when you give yourself a little grace for feeling those negative emotions, realize they're normal in bad times. that actually helps you get through the negative emotions.

So like when you give yourself a little grace for feeling those negative emotions, realize they're normal in bad times. that actually helps you get through the negative emotions.

So like when you give yourself a little grace for feeling those negative emotions, realize they're normal in bad times. that actually helps you get through the negative emotions.

That's right. And we have data on this, right, looking across time. And those rates of depression, anxiety and stuff I just talked about, they're worse than they are in young people right now than ever since we've recorded them, right? Like, and it's much worse. And I think you're exactly right. I think it's a lot our expectations, right?

That's right. And we have data on this, right, looking across time. And those rates of depression, anxiety and stuff I just talked about, they're worse than they are in young people right now than ever since we've recorded them, right? Like, and it's much worse. And I think you're exactly right. I think it's a lot our expectations, right?

That's right. And we have data on this, right, looking across time. And those rates of depression, anxiety and stuff I just talked about, they're worse than they are in young people right now than ever since we've recorded them, right? Like, and it's much worse. And I think you're exactly right. I think it's a lot our expectations, right?

We have tools that allow us to see those fancy houses, those fancy vacations, those fancy schools. And they're just in our pockets, dinging all the time, giving us a comparison that makes us feel kind of crappy, right? And what we know from the happiness science is that it's not what we objectively have that makes us happy. It's what we're expecting. It's what we're used to.

We have tools that allow us to see those fancy houses, those fancy vacations, those fancy schools. And they're just in our pockets, dinging all the time, giving us a comparison that makes us feel kind of crappy, right? And what we know from the happiness science is that it's not what we objectively have that makes us happy. It's what we're expecting. It's what we're used to.

We have tools that allow us to see those fancy houses, those fancy vacations, those fancy schools. And they're just in our pockets, dinging all the time, giving us a comparison that makes us feel kind of crappy, right? And what we know from the happiness science is that it's not what we objectively have that makes us happy. It's what we're expecting. It's what we're used to.

You know, that's why I love the story of your dad, right? You know, just getting a... a little bowl of ice cream, that should be enough. I think especially in young people, the definition of enough has changed. There's lots of reasons for that, but I think getting to a better point of accepting and what our expectations are, that'll help a lot.

You know, that's why I love the story of your dad, right? You know, just getting a... a little bowl of ice cream, that should be enough. I think especially in young people, the definition of enough has changed. There's lots of reasons for that, but I think getting to a better point of accepting and what our expectations are, that'll help a lot.

You know, that's why I love the story of your dad, right? You know, just getting a... a little bowl of ice cream, that should be enough. I think especially in young people, the definition of enough has changed. There's lots of reasons for that, but I think getting to a better point of accepting and what our expectations are, that'll help a lot.

Exactly.