The Mental Compass

When a girl’s emotions are respected and protected, her future becomes limitless. Understanding Emotional Wellbeing in the Life of a Girl Emotional wellbeing forms the foundation of a girl child’s overall development and influences how she understands herself and the world around her. From early childhood, girls begin to internalize messages about their worth, abilities, and place in society, often shaped by family attitudes, cultural norms, and social expectations. When girls grow up in environments that recognize their emotions as valid and meaningful, they develop a strong sense of self and emotional security. Emotional wellbeing allows girls to explore curiosity, creativity, and ambition without fear or restraint. It also equips them with the ability to manage stress, build healthy relationships, and respond adaptively to challenges. Viewing emotional wellbeing as a human right acknowledges that girls deserve not only survival and education but also the freedom to feel, express, an...

For every action we take, there is a choice to be made. Think about it. From the toothpaste you use to brush your teeth, the clothes you wear for work, to even the food you want to eat, everything we do involves a choice. Sometimes these choices are easy to make, like choosing what to eat, but sometimes they can make or break your head, and even the trajectory of your life, such as choosing the right fit for a job. All choices use our cognition, and over time, our ability to make the smallest or biggest decisions diminishes, draining our mental energy. That is what decision fatigue is in a nutshell. Decision fatigue occurs because our mental bandwidth is limited. Psychologists describe this mental bandwidth as the cognitive space we have for thinking, problem-solving, and regulating impulses. Each decision we make draws on this bandwidth. When it runs low, even simple choices like choosing clothes feel harder, and people may rely on shortcuts(heuristics) or avoid decisions altogether(a...

James Watson was one of the most influential figures in modern science. His name is linked with one of the greatest discoveries of the twentieth century, the structure of DNA. His work changed the direction of biology, medicine, and the understanding of life itself. At the same time, his life also carried strong criticism, public debates, and moral questions that continue even after his passing. This makes his story a mixture of achievement, controversy, ambition, and human complexity. In this article, we explore Watson not only as a scientist but also as a person whose legacy forces us to look closely at how society remembers great minds.  Watson was very young when he entered the world of scientific research. He had an intense desire to find something meaningful, something that could change the field. This desire was not simple curiosity but a driving force that shaped the way he worked. People who knew him described him as extremely determined, sometimes impatient, and always fo...

There’s a quiet kind of heartbreak that doesn’t come from losing people suddenly, but from slowly realising they no longer fit into our lives the way they once did. We outgrow people long before we outgrow the memories we shared with them. And the strangest part is how natural yet unsettling this process feels. One day, someone is a part of your everyday conversations, your inside jokes, your late-night thoughts, and then, without any dramatic ending, life gently places distance between you. Not because of anger, betrayal, or closure, but simply because growth rarely keeps two people on the same page forever. But the memories don’t understand that. The memories still live where they always did, untouched, unchanged, preserved in the emotional language of your mind. The people fade, but the feelings remain. It’s confusing to move on from someone while still being pulled back by the warmth of moments they once gave you. You can forget their routines, their presence, the sound of their la...

"That’s what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instil hope again and again and again."- Walt Disney Why We Keep Coming Back to Stories Stories aren't just for entertainment. They help us make sense of life, the things around us, and most importantly, help us to build ourselves. There is a very famous saying, “Humans live stories, they are stories”, and it is something that many resonate with. Every moment that we face is something that we can weave into a plot, making a story. Stories help us to see the world, and we each have our own story, viewing the world differently. Whenever we watch or hear a story, our brains notice some patterns. Children can notice goals and outcomes, learned as ‘plot’ and ‘moral of the story’. Adults have a more profound and deep understanding of stories, analyzing and making inferences. What's common is that stories explore ideas and creativity. Stories allow us to live life with a unique meaning, with a purpose. Th...

There are days when we catch ourselves drifting, wondering about the job we didn’t take, the person we didn’t choose, the conversation we never had, the version of ourselves we might have become. These thoughts often feel sweeter, sharper, and strangely more alive than the reality we are living. And sometimes, it scares us how easily our mind wanders into the world of “what could have been.” You’re not alone. And you’re not broken. The brain is built to romanticise possibilities. And there’s something deeply human in longing for stories that never got the chance to unfold. The Psychology Behind the Pull of Possibilities Our brains are wired for anticipation far more than satisfaction. Dopamine, the neurotransmitter of desire is released more intensely when we imagine a possibility than when we actually experience it. That’s why the idea of a love story feels more intoxicating than the real relationship. The fantasy of a different career feels more exciting than the real work. The imagi...

College elections in India may look loud, dramatic, or even chaotic from the outside, but inside that noise something deep is happening. Young people are taking their first steps into public life. They are learning what it means to make decisions that affect not just themselves but also the people around them. When a student fills a nomination form or even listens to a candidate speak, they are participating in a smaller version of the world they will soon enter. College elections are not just about posters, promises, or rallies. They are training grounds for democracy.  For many students, college is the first environment where they see power in action. Until school, most rules come from teachers and parents. But in college, students watch their seniors and peers contest for roles like president or secretary. They see how leaders are chosen not by age but by trust. This shift has a psychological impact. It teaches responsibility. It shows that leadership is not given by authority b...

Written By Gurneet Kaur Jaitly, Counselling Psychologist RPS International, Gurgaon In many Indian homes, the mobile phone has quietly become part of everyday parenting. It keeps children occupied, helps with studies, and offers comfort during boredom or loneliness. At first glance, it feels harmless. But psychologically, its impact runs much deeper than we often realise. The recent and deeply saddening case from Ghaziabad, involving three young sisters, shook the nation. Beyond the shock and grief, it served as a painful eye-opener—reminding us that emotional harm in the digital age often grows silently, within homes that appear safe and loving. Such tragedies force us to confront an uncomfortable truth: children today are navigating digital spaces their developing minds are not fully prepared for. The parts of a child’s brain responsible for judgment, impulse control, and understanding consequences are still maturing. According to UNICEF and WHO observations, increased and unsupervis...

For decades, the dominating conceptualization of depression has been through the prism of serotonin deficiency, or the "chemical imbalance" theory. Yet, even though serotonin, among other neurotransmitters, remains an important piece of the puzzle, recent scientific progress has started to change the landscape in the understanding of depression. Emerging evidence points to a prominent role for inflammation and brain-cell dynamics at the roots of this complex disorder, particularly within young adults facing unique biological and environmental challenges. Although this model has led to the development of many different types of antidepressants, it is only partially explanatory. Increasingly, psychologists and neuroscientists are beginning to think of depression as a complex, multivariate illness that also involves the immune system and problems in the functioning of brain cells. This conceptual shift is especially important for young adults, whose brains and psychological deve...