How Reddit Became The Internet’s Therapist

Users have been confessing their darkest secrets and deepest pains on the controversial website for years—now, they’re offering emotional support

Arielle Pardes

Dec 29, 2016

By Arielle Pardes

December 29, 2016

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Two years ago, Max Stolfe was in a dark place. He had just transferred to a new college in New York, and he was struggling to keep up with the workload. He had, by his own account, one friend. After years in and out of therapy, he didn’t have much to show for it, and no one to turn to with his hopelessness. So he did the only thing he could think to do: He posted on Reddit.

“I’m not sure if this is a rant or a cry for help,” he wrote, explaining that he felt like “no one really cares about me,” and “I don’t know what to do.”

Over 2,000 miles away, in Canada, Ryan Stroeder logged onto Reddit. Stroeder barely knew how to use the site—he had, until that point, only used Reddit a few times to comment on threads about motorcycle repairs—but when he saw Stolfe’s post on his home page, he knew he couldn’t ignore it.

“It had been sitting there for like 12 hours, which is an eternity in internet time,” Stroeder says. “No one had given this guy any advice.” And so, he wrote back, as if simply to say, ‘I’m here for you’:

“Ouch. Sounds like you’re having a tough time max. That sucks. I’ve been there, so I kinda know what you’re talking about. I’ve been in the ever circling vortex of self doubt, frustration, and loathing. It’s no bueno. I know.
Rule numero uno – There are no more zero days. What’s a zero day? A zero day is when you don’t do a single fucking thing towards whatever dream or goal or want or whatever that you got going on. No more zeros. I’m not saying you gotta bust an essay out everyday, that’s not the point. The point I’m trying to make is that you have to make yourself, promise yourself, that the new SYSTEM you live in is a NON-ZERO system. Didn’t do anything all fucking day and it’s 11:58 PM? Write one sentence. One pushup. Read one page of that chapter. One. Because one is non zero.”

The internet has long been a place to unload our problems and confess our darkest secrets—and those admissions haven’t always been positive. Reddit, in particular, has earned a controversial reputation as the birthplace of threads like r/thefappening, devoted to 2014’s infamous leaked celebrity nudes, and r/thedonald, which spawned the now-closed subreddit that recently drove an armed conspiracy theorist to investigate the so-called Pizzagate rumors. But increasingly, online communities are taking the place of IRL therapists for people to divulge and deal with their mental health. Even the darkest places, like Reddit, can surprise you with its displays of humanity.

On Reddit, groups like r/mentalhealth provide spaces to share garden-variety psychological problems; r/anxiety responds in real time to anxiety attacks; r/gettingoverit offers support for trauma, depression, and doubt. There are groups for eating disorders, for suicidal thoughts, and for people who are simply feeling stuck—made up of thousands of regular users who respond to queries in real time, with real support.

“Peer support can be very effective,” said Dr. John Torous, the co-director of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Digital Psychiatry Program, which researches the intersection of technology and mental health solutions. Torous says the most effective mental health apps all have some kind of human element. In other words, technology can make mental health care more accessible, but it isn’t perfect. “I think the trick is that, sometimes, it doesn’t have the structure or the certainty of professional help.”

[quote position=”left” is_quote=”true”]His cry for help had been sitting there for like 12 hours, which is an eternity in internet time.[/quote]

Still, the DIY approach has its benefits: Research has shown that young people, in particular, are reluctant to seek professional help. Reddit therapy, on the other hand, is free, mostly anonymous, and always at one’s fingertips.

“We know that right now, less than 50 percent of individuals with mental illness are receiving treatment for their mental illness,” said Adam Haim, the technology lead at the National Institute of Mental Health. “If you look at online communities, there’s definitely an opportunity to identify signals of concern”—changes in language that may indicate a manic episode or a suicide threat, for example—“and then triage very quickly.”

Reddit, in particular, seems promising. Last year, when the site turned 10 years old, there were close to 73 million posts and 82 billion page views, along with millions of users who are there to act as a safety net when someone posts a cry for help. One study, presented at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence’s annual conference on blogs and social media, found that comments in subreddits, like r/depression and r/mentalhealth, were “surprisingly high quality” and provided more emotional support and prescriptive advice than both Twitter and Facebook. The researchers, from Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Interactive Computing and Arizona State University’s Department of Computer Science, concluded that Reddit can “(fulfill) unique information and social needs of a cohort challenged with a stigmatic health concern.”

[quote position=”right” is_quote=”true”]There’s something incredible about the internet being able to help people, but I guess to me, it still seems uncharted.[/quote]

Like others I spoke with, Stolfe says he turned to Reddit because he didn’t want to burden his friends or family. Plus, he wasn’t sure if he was just going through a rough patch or if he was struggling with something more serious, like depression. “Looking back at it,” he says, “writing that post was the first indication that I couldn’t handle (my problems) by myself anymore.”

Subreddits like r/suicidewatch are full of posts like this: “I really think I should tell someone I want to kill myself, but I have no one to talk to … This post would actually be the first time I’ve told anyone I want to kill myself.” Because people are more likely to divulge sensitive information in online support groups than in IRL ones, spaces like Reddit can actually be the first step in getting someone help.

Erin, who asked that we not use her last name, started posting on r/suicidewatch after struggling with depression and suicidal feelings. “When I came here, I wasn’t looking for help or someone to tell me how to fix things,” she told me. “Instead I needed to be heard. I needed to be able to say that I wasn’t ok and that I didn’t know any way to be okay. Someone read my post and they didn’t try to fix me.”

“Reddit is a terrible place to be doing any kind of crisis intervention,” said Erin, who is now a moderator for r/SuicideWatch, r/depression, and several other mental health-related subreddits. Since most redditors aren’t psychologists, replies on desperate posts can be a grab bag of consolation, trolling, and prescriptive advice. Sometimes, she told me, people will post well-intentioned replies—writing things like, “It gets better,” or “You should try X”—that can end up doing more harm than good.

Moderators have tried to mitigate these replies with guidelines. On r/suicidewatch, for example, there’s a sidebar that states the rules: no judgment, no abuse, no trolling, and most importantly, no diagnoses:

“It’s fine to share what worked for you, but DO NOT advocate for or against any specific type of therapy, self-help strategy, or medication, especially street drugs or alcohol, and DO NOT diagnose people.”

Stroeder, whose reply to Stolfe’s post has spawned an entirely new subreddit, Non-Zero Days, for people who are feeling stuck in a rut, says he still receives messages every day from people who read his original exchange with Stolfe. But he doesn’t see himself as some kind of messiah or as someone who is particularly qualified to give advice.

“It’s not about me telling you how to live,” he said. “It’s just, ‘Hey, here’s something that works for me and if you want, (you can) interpret it in your own personal way and use it as a tool to improve your own life.’”

Since posting on Reddit two years ago, Stolfe started going to therapy. He’s also been opening up more to his friends and family IRL. Now, when something is bothering him and he tells someone close to him, he doesn’t feel as if he’s burdening that person. He says he owes some of that to that singular Reddit post, which reassured him that he wasn’t alone or overreacting to his feelings.

“There’s something incredible about the internet being able to help people, but I guess to me, it still seems uncharted,” he says. “I really appreciate what that post did for me and what the site’s community said to me. People reach out to me even now about it, but (now) I want to turn to someone with professional expertise.”

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Photo credit: mihailomilovanovic/iStock via Getty Images Plus – Chemical sunscreens have come a long way since they were first developed in 1891.

Health, Research

First new US sunscreen ingredient since 1999 approved by FDA – a skin scientist explains how bemotrizinol works

A long-used UV filter arrives in the U.S.

Good Partner

6/24/2026

Guy German

As summer in the U.S. heats up, people become more diligent about protecting their skin from the Sun. Another option for doing so will soon be available.

On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first new sunscreen ingredient to be permitted for over-the-counter consumer use in the U.S. since 1999 – a chemical called bemotrizinol.

Bemotrizinol isn’t new – consumers in Europe and Asia have used it for decades. Some are hailing its long-overdue approval and arrival onto the U.S. sunscreen scene.

I am a biomedical engineer studying skin science – including the damaging effects of the Sun’s rays. To understand what bemotrizinol does and how it fits in with products already available to consumers in the U.S., let’s take a tour of the physics of sunlight and sunscreens.

A short primer on sunlight

Our planet is irradiated by a yellow dwarf star 93,000,000 miles away that we fondly call the Sun. It radiates light from its surface at a temperature of about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Earth’s atmosphere blocks most of the Sun’s radiation. Of the rays that get through, about half consist of infrared light – which gives you that warm feeling you feel on a sunny day – and 40% visible light, which you are probably familiar with as daylight.

About 10% of those rays are ultraviolet, or UV, light. UV light has the shortest wavelengths of the three types. That makes it the most dangerous – it’s invisible and can damage living tissue.

Ultraviolet damage

Physicists further categorize solar UV light into several types, based on the wavelength, which is measured in nanometers. About 95% of it is UVA (315-400 nm) and 5% is UVB (280-315 nm). Sunscreens need to be able to block those rays from penetrating the skin.

The sun also emits two other types of UV light – UVC (200-280 nm) and vacuum UV (100-200 nm) – but these are stopped by the atmosphere, so sunscreens do not typically need to be able to block them.

Scientists previously thought that only UVB rays were dangerous because they cause sunburns, but UVA can also damage the skin. m.malinika/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Scientists used to think only UVB was harmful because UVB rays cause sunburns. But today, researchers know both types of UV can damage the skin.

UVB, with its shorter wavelength, has more energy, but UVA can penetrate the skin more deeply. And all UV can degrade the integrity of your skin, damage the structure of your DNA and cause skin cancer.

The only natural safeguard your body has against UV light is a microscopically thin layer of a pigment called melanin in your epidermis. The skin produces more melanin when exposed to the sun – that’s what tanning is.

This extra melanin does protect the skin, but not fully. That’s why protecting your skin with sunscreen is so important.

Sunscreens old and new

Sunscreens come in two different forms – mineral and chemical.

The first chemical sunscreen, developed in 1891, was an ointment made from quinine – a plant-derived compound that makes tonic water bitter.

Chemical sunscreens cover the skin in a transparent coating, acting like a solar sponge. They absorb UV photons and undergo a harmless chemical reaction, then dissipate the energy as heat. Bemotrizinol falls into this category.

Mineral sunscreens such as zinc or titanium oxide ward off the Sun’s rays by forming a protective film that also absorbs most UV light, but reflects some of it. Unlike chemical sunscreens, the film absorbs the light naturally, without a chemical reaction – which is why they are often visible as a white film on the skin.

Chemical sunscreens that have been available in the U.S until now combine ingredients like avobenzone, the most widely used UVA filter, with UVB filters such as octinoxate, octocrylene octisalate and homosalate. Working together, these substances protect the skin against the broad spectrum of ultraviolet rays.

These sunscreens are only effective for a short time because they are degraded by the chemical reactions they undergo, which means they must be frequently re-applied.

Another important element of sunscreen – whether mineral or chemical – is its Sun Protection Factor, or SPF. This number tells you how well a sunscreen prevents your skin from burning – in other words, what amount of UVB rays it absorbs.

An SPF of 2 would mean a sunscreen cuts your exposure to UVB rays in half, filtering out 50% of those rays. An SPF of 30 means the sunscreen lets just 1/30 of the rays penetrate your skin – which is 3.3%. So it blocks about 97% of the UVB rays.

Dermatologists generally recommend using a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30.

Benefits of bemotrizonol

Bemotrizinol, while new to the U.S., isn’t a new compound. European regulators approved it in 2000. Chances are, if you brought back sunscreen from a vacation in Mexico, Europe, Canada or South Korea, you may even have some laying around your house.

One benefit of bemotrizinol is its ability to filter both UVA and UVB rays, so it doesn’t have to be mixed with other products to do the job.

It has some other beneficial features as well. First, its molecules prefer to sit on the surface of the skin rather than being more readily absorbed into the bloodstream, which can occur for some formulations.

Such absorption has raised concerns that sunscreens might be harmful – though this has not been demonstrated in people, it may discourage some people from using it.

Bemotrizinol also does not degrade as readily in the sun than other chemical sunscreen products. That photostability means it can last for four to eight hours, rather than having to be applied every two hours or so.

Regardless of the type, as a skin scientist I can say with certainty that any sunscreen is better than none. Your skin does an excellent job protecting you from the world outside – so make sure you protect it in return.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation. You can read it here.

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Photo credit: Canva – Putting on an alter ego can help boost confidence.

Health, Well-being

Psychologists say the best trick for building confidence is to create a superhero-like alter ego

Not confident? Make a persona that is.

Erik Barnes

6/24/2026

Whether it’s giving a presentation at work or mustering up the courage to ask someone out on a date, many people struggle with confidence. People worry about being liked or whether they can pull off certain feats. They wish they could be someone else who has the confidence they lack. Well, according to some psychologists, you can.

Psychologists have found that people can develop an alter ego to help boost confidence and achieve desired results.

Give yourself comic book-level confidence

“One of the least appreciated realities about confidence is that very few people develop confidence based upon how they feel before acting,” Kat Grassetti, clinical director and co-founder at Monima Wellness Center, told GOOD. “The value in an alter ego lies within giving the individual permission to leap to act before their confidence has caught up.”

This isn’t unlike modern comic book superheroes like Spider-Man. Whether in the comics, films, or television shows, Peter Parker is riddled with anxiety and struggles with confidence and self-esteem. However, when he becomes his alter ego, Spider-Man, he is outgoing and quippy. As the story progresses, Parker slowly becomes just as personable, confident, and competent as his web-slinging alter ego.

There’s science to back this up, but with different superhero labeling. Child psychologist Rachel E. White’s study of children’s perseverance and confidence found what researchers dubbed “The Batman Effect.” The study showed that children who adopted an alter ego or character, like Batman, stuck with a boring task longer than those who thought in the first or third person. White also got similar results when asking children to concentrate on a complex card game. She found that portraying a character with greater concentration improved their executive function.

You’re still you, and that’s a good thing

Having an alter ego can create self-distance and provide an outsider’s perspective on a situation or task. After all, “you” aren’t preparing for the big speech or tackling a problem; your alter ego is. But it’s important to note that, in the end, your alter ego is still you.

“The alter ego does not create a new personality; rather, it allows an individual to tap into their existing strength, which often remains hidden from them due to anxiety, self-doubt, or fear of being judged,” said Grassetti.

Putting on an alter ego has helped many celebrities when they felt their confidence dwindle or when trying something new. Beyoncé adopted her “Sasha Fierce” persona to rid herself of nerves before going onstage. Before hosting The Late Show as his true self, Stephen Colbert donned an alter ego as an over-the-top staunch conservative. This allowed him to showcase his satirical skills and confidently challenge the powerful. Over time, though, these people let those personas go after their true selves were ready to do the heavy lifting.

You are still responsible

Alter egos can only do so much for so long, though. For example, rapper Eminem (Marshall Mathers) has shared that he created his “Slim Shady” persona. It helped instill confidence and creative freedom without concern about blowback. While the alter ego is credited with helping fuel his initial success, Mathers also blamed the persona for causing strife in an interview with an AI version of “Slim Shady.”

That’s the thing Grassetti and other psychologists note: The alter ego is just a tool to help build confidence, not a crutch.

“When the gap between the alter ego and the true self closes as quickly as possible, then the confidence will be sustained,” said Grassetti. “However, if an individual relies heavily on a secondary persona for confidence, this type of confidence can also be conditional (or fragile), and therefore much harder to sustain.”

So if you struggle with confidence, it may be worth thinking about developing an alter ego that has the qualities you’re looking for. However, it’s important to realize that, in the end, the alter ego’s actions, thoughts, confidence, and other attributes are actually your own. You are responsible for your alter ego and what it does, for better or worse.

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Photo credit: Canva – Stickers can be beneficial for adults as well as kids.

Health, Well-being

5 ways how stickers psychologically boost the lives of grown adults

Stickers can do more than look fun and cool.

Erik Barnes

6/22/2026

We tend to associate stickers with childhood. As kids, we put them all over our rooms, furniture, books and notebooks, and wherever else our little hands could stick them. Yet, you have probably seen stickers being used and loved by adults as much, if not more, than kids. They can be found on water bottles, laptops, car bumpers, journals, and many other surfaces. You may even know an adult who uses a sticker chart like an elementary school kid does to keep track of their daily tasks. So, what gives?

Why do adults love stickers? It turns out that there is psychology behind why many adults still love to stick stickers everywhere. Psychology professionals have reached out to GOOD to share some of the reasons why adult brains benefit from having and using stickers.

Accountability awards

Much like with children, many adults turn to stickers as an easy way to stay motivated to commit to a task or achieve a goal. While youngsters turn to sticker charts for reading goals or eating vegetables, adults can use them to motivate themselves to hit the gym or keep up with their budget. It may sound like an innocuous award, but that’s all it needs to be.

“Small simple tokens or rewards like stickers often cause an instant dopamine rush that leaves us feeling a sense of joy or happiness even if it might be small or fleeting,” said psychology professor and licensed therapist Jillian Amodio.

“In my work as a psychologist, I often encourage clients to use sticker charts, simple grids where you put stickers up when you complete a task,” said registered psychologist Rod Mitchell. “I’ve had many clients who tried positive self-talk, only to find it slid off. Stickers worked for them.”

It may sound immature on the surface, but what worked to establish good behaviors or habits as a kid can sometimes be just as effective for a grown-up.

“I had one client who was very resistant to the idea, viewing it as childish,” Mitchell added. “He came back the following week and sheepishly told me that the sticker chart had worked like a charm.”

Progress markers

“In addition to creating a sense of accomplishment, seeing a sticker placed on a calendar, chart, or planner after achieving a goal can create a visual history of success,” said Dr. Lori Bohn, medical director at Voyager Recovery Center. “This history can motivate an individual to continue to work towards additional goals.”

So the benefit of sticker charts isn’t just the dopamine rush, but encouragement. A person can look back at the progress they made, and any “failure” they see becomes an anomaly. It’s why many folks have created sticker charts for things as basic as eating healthy foods to more complex struggles like sobriety.

“The stickers on the chart serve as small badges of who you are and what you did,” said Mitchell. “A client I had who was struggling to make time for his kids now looks back on a chart full of stickers and knows that he’s become the family man he wanted to be.”

An easy form of expression

Placing a sticker on a laptop or water bottle you use daily also allows us to express ourselves. That expression can be as insightful as a political message or as simple as “I like SpongeBob.” It can communicate to others what you’re all about without even speaking a word.

“Stickers appeal to adults because they often offer an opportunity for self expression and trigger a sense of nostalgia,” said Amodio. “They can also serve social purposes when they speak to people who share similar interests, values, or devotion to a cause.”

The same logic applies to why many people use digital stickers and emojis when texting or posting on social media.

Psychologically instill civic duty

So how powerful are stickers? According to extensive research, very. One sticker standout is they get people to the polls. The “I Voted” sticker folks receive after they vote is a great motivator. They allow folks to feel that dopamine hit after voting, while advertising to others to vote. Stickers can be a reward for voters, a reminder to those who plan on submitting their ballot, or provide FOMO (fear of missing out) to those who don’t vote.

“It tells other individuals what the person did (voted), what the person values (voting), and what type of individual they perceive themselves to be (a voter),” said Dr. Bohn. “Social psychologists have shown that people are heavily influenced by social norms. In many cases, people rely on other people to help them understand if their behavior is acceptable or not.”

It may feel like mental manipulation to get people to vote (because it is) but it’s important to note that the sticker doesn’t endorse any particular bill or candidate. It just endorses participation.

Affordable artwork

“Stickers are also visually appealing which creates a pleasurable response in the brain as well,” said Amodio.

Stickers are used by adults because they like how they look. They’re an inexpensive and convenient form of artwork to display. They can easily be put in a book, on a wall, or most other surfaces. They don’t take too much space and are cheaper than paintings, sculptures, and other artwork.

Many independent artists have turned their work into stickers. It’s a way to keep making a living while also making it affordable for people to purchase their art. Sticker art also benefits the brains of the artists and their supporters alike. It’s just like any other art piece you can display.

There are many valid and beneficial reasons why grown adults happily use stickers. The act as a boost, a motivator, and a way to express yourself in one. If you’re already a fan, keep on stickin’.

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