By Marygrace Taylor

Avoid these habits to feel happier every day

Reason your mood plummeted: You scrolled through your old selfies.

Give your gallery a break: Looking at too many pictures of yourself might leave you feeling lousy, new research from Penn State suggests.

That’s probably because we’re so used to seeing “impression management” photos—photos that are carefully posed or staged to show off someone’s best side— on Instagram and Facebook, says New York City psychologist C. Matthew Nichols, Ph.D.

So when you’re looking at back-to-back-to-back pictures of yourself, you can’t help but compare them to those other photos on your feed, he says. And it’s only natural to feel like your selfies aren’t measuring up.

If you feel yourself getting glum, take a look at pictures of you with loved ones instead: The same study showed that looking at “groupies” might boost your mood.

“It reminds us that we are part of a larger community and are accepted by our peers,” Nichols says.

By Justine Lorelle LoMonaco

Can you predict your funk?

If your low periods tend to come on a predictable schedule, it could be a seasonal depression or low. “Look for when your depressive moods tend to start,” says Matthew Nichols, PhD and licensed psychologist in New York City. “There are nine symptoms of major depression, and you have to have at least five for two weeks. The severity is greater than winter blues.” Episodes of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), while an actual type of depression, tend to be more cyclical as well, typically beginning in the autumn and then ending on their own in the spring. The nine symptoms of depression are:

∙Depressed mood or sadness

∙Loss of interest or pleasure in things you used to enjoy

∙Weight change of five percent or more

∙Decrease or increase in the amount of sleep you usually experience

∙Psychomotor agitation (restlessness) or retardation (heavy limbs, apathy)

∙Fatigue or loss of energy

∙Irrational feelings of guilt or worthlessness

∙Difficulty concentrating or making decisions

∙Suicidal thinking or recurrent thoughts of death

By Mark Duncan, AP

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — With a fattened GI Bill covering full tuition and more, the number of veterans attending college this fall is expected to jump 30% from last year to nearly half a million. That's left many universities looking for ways to ease the transition from combat to the classroom.

[The University of California Los Angeles has short orientation sessions for veterans and is creating an Iraq and Afghanistan veterans readjustment group in the fall.

Matthew Nichols, a psychologist who just joined UCLA's counseling and psychological services after working for the VA, said he's hopeful that students will feel more comfortable asking for help on a college campus versus walking into a veterans hospital.

"These are everyday concerns," he said. "It's much less about 'there's something wrong with me,' and more about 'how can I study a little better?” he said]

Article coming soon.