No, you dont have to go to that holiday party

Plus more health news | Email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( [Health Matters]( [Why it's OK to decline a party invitation]( By Jamie Ducharme Health Correspondent As someone with a powerful guilty conscience, I have a bad habit of doing things just because I think I “should.” So I felt immediate relief after reading a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, which found that invitees consistently overestimate the consequences of declining social plans. When people turn down an invitation, they tend to think they’ll upset the person who asked them and damage the relationship moving forward. But in a series of experiments, the researchers found that hosts were consistently less bothered by a “no” RSVP than their friends assumed they’d be. The takeaway isn’t that you should say no to every invitation you get; [strong social relationships are key to health and happiness]( after all. But when you truly don’t want to go, you should decline the invitation without guilt, the researchers concluded. Just the advice I needed going into the holiday season. [READ MORE]( Share This Story What Else to Read [What Happens When People Stop Taking the Weight Loss Drug Zepbound]( By Alice Park Not all the benefits disappear. [Read More »]( [The Supreme Court Rejects an Appeal Over Bans on Conversion Therapy for LGBTQ+ Children]( By Associated Press The court's decision to avoid the case comes as efforts to limit the rights of LGBTQ kids have spread across the country. [Read More »]( [Whistleblower Doctor Who Exposed China’s Rural AIDS Epidemic Dies at 95]( By Simina Mistreanu / AP The renowned Yaojie exposed the AIDS virus epidemic in rural China in the 1990s. [Read More »]( [The Mysteries and Underdiagnosis of SIBO]( By Meaghan Beatley Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth can cause symptoms such as bloating and stomach pain. [Read More »]( [Alcohol Might Improve Heart Health by Reducing Your Stress]( By Haley Weiss A study finds that light-to-moderate drinking has lasting effects on the brain's stress system. [Read More »]( ONE LAST READ [The forgotten man behind mRNA vaccines]( Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work developing the mRNA vaccine that helped prevent millions of COVID-19 deaths. But their work couldn't have become a lifesaving drug without another scientist, Jason Shrum, who has received little recognition. As Gregory Zuckerman reports in the Wall Street Journal, Shrum's story is a reminder that great discoveries are often the work of many people, and not all share in the credit. [Read More »]( If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, [click here](. Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and Oliver Staley, and edited by Oliver. [Want more from TIME? Sign up for our other newsletters.]( [Subscribe to TIME]( TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Connect with TIME via [Facebook]( | [Twitter]( | [Newsletters]( [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS]( TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508 Questions? Contact health@time.com Copyright © 2023 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved.