Jul 31, 2009

Stress and Mind Body Interactions

This series explains how our bodies experience stress and demonstrates effective strategies to help you thrive in a fast-paced world. On this edition, Dr. Martin Rossman explores guided imagery which uses the imagination to reduce stress, relieve pain, change lifestyle habits, and stimulate healing responses in your body.

Via UCTV Website

If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate. Thomas Watson

Anyone can become angry---that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way---this is not easy. - Aristotle

Jul 29, 2009

Therapy for War-Related Trauma

"UCSF School of Medicine and the Coming Home Project present a series of programs for mental health professionals who treat American servicepersons returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. These returning soldiers are suffering from such ailments as post traumatic stress syndrome and consequences from closed head injuries among others. This is the first part of a presentation featuring USC trauma expert, John Briere, presenting five central principal of war-related trauma therapy. Series: Treating the Invisible Wounds of War: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, Families and Care Providers."

Via UCTV Website

Observations on Latent and Low Latent Inhibition

"When facing a single tree, if you look at a single one of its red leaves, you will not see all the others. When the eye is not set on one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye without limit. But if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there."

Takahiro Kitamura

"Latent Inhibition is the natural ability to filter out the majority of incoming stimuli to the brain so one can concentrate and not be bogged down by extraneous information incidental to one's focus. Some people have Low Latent Inhibition and depending on the degree as I see it, it can be crippling as in psychosis or a tool of enlightenment for someone with an artistic slant. Here is a list of the "Pros" of Low Latent Inhibition."

You notice more, hear more, smell more and feel more through tactile contact. Without any conscious effort, your mind is in possession of a broader intake of information.
Upon encountering any form of stimulus (that interests you), your mind automatically dismantles and explores its components.
You usually see through the lies and the deceptions that people use in everyday life.
When learning, you can often make instantaneous changes.
Self-correction is easy because the underlying principle is more evident. Clearer.
Your memory is good. You can recall extensive details without effort.
You make connections and associations between seemingly unrelated material.
Comprehension is typically easy. You notice the non-verbal background information and this often provides a more comprehensive picture than what is being spoken.
There are exponential leaps of insight taking place all the time, with the background reasoning intact. Wave-upon-wave of permutations, options, variables and choices.
Creativity is a given. You see alternatives.
You notice things that other people miss.
You are innately organised.
There is no talking voice in your head. No 'chattering monkey'. The volume and complexity of the information drowns out conscious thought entirely.
Verbalising what takes place in your mind is impossible. Words render only a fraction of the entirety.
You see the world more thoroughly.
Listening to other people talking/thinking aloud can be infuriating. They are at point A when you have reached point N already.
Learning is not limited to defined periods of academic study. The assimilation of information is constant, ongoing and never static. There are no lulls or pauses. Everything offers a lesson.
Within the maelstrom of information there exists a place of calm and quietude. The eye of the storm. No verbalisation exists. No internal narrative. Just presence. No sense of self to intrude or interrupt.

Jul 28, 2009

Psychotherapy Facts From AllPsyche.Com

Via AllPsyche.com

Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) is a psychological injury that results from protracted exposure to prolonged social and/or interpersonal trauma with lack or loss of control, disempowerment, and in the context of either captivity or entrapment, i.e. the lack of a viable escape route for the victim. C-PTSD is distinct from, but similar to, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Though mainstream journals have published papers on C-PTSD, the category is not formally recognized in diagnostic systems such as DSM or ICD.[1]

C-PTSD involves complex and reciprocal interactions between multiple biopsychosocial systems. It was first referred to by Judith Herman in her book Trauma & Recovery[2] and article.[3]

Trauma sources include sexual abuse (especially child sexual abuse), physical abuse, emotional abuse, domestic violence, torture and violations of personal boundaries[4] such as...Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading.

Via Wikipedia

Advances in the Understanding and Management of ADHD

Russell Barkley, Ph.D., discusses the recent advancements in understanding the nature and subtyping of ADHD as well as recent discoveries in what might cause the disorder and medications that might help treat ADHD.

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. -- Judy Garland

Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
Come to the edge!
And they came,
and he pushed,
and they flew.
-- Christopher Logue

Jul 26, 2009

Neurologist Alan B. Grindal Discusses the Essence, Operation, & Pathology of Human Consciousness

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

The UCSD Center for Mindfulness has prepared a number of practices that are available here in MP3 format. Please feel free to download and/or share these guided practices. Click H E R E to be directed to a page that has several guided audio files to aide you into a meditative state of mindfulness.

Jul 25, 2009

Anxiety Makes it Harder To Avoid Distractions

People who are anxious find it harder to avoid distractions, and take more time in shifting their attention between tasks than those who are less anxious. These are the findings of new research that examined the effects of anxiety on our ability to perform tasks such as avoiding distractions on a computer screen, when reading a story, or solving a series of simple mathematics problems. Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading.

Via Psyche Central: Learn Share Grow

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. -- Helen Keller

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
-- Helen Keller

Health Matters: Behavior and Our Brain

What makes us who we are? What makes us fall in love, become addicted to chocolate, or become a musician? Renowned neuroscientist Terry Sejnowski, whose cutting edge research has unlocked many of the mysteries of the brain, joins our host, David Granet, to discuss this fascinating topic.

Dealing with Grief and Loss

Losing someone or something you love is very painful. After a significant loss, you may experience all kinds of difficult and surprising emotions, such as shock, anger, and guilt. Sometimes it may feel like the sadness will never let up. While these feelings can be frightening and overwhelming, they are normal reactions to loss. Accepting them as part of the grieving process and allowing yourself to feel what you feel is necessary for healing.

There is no right or wrong way to grieve — but there are healthy ways to cope with the pain. You can get through it! Grief that is expressed and experienced has a potential for healing that eventually can strengthen and enrich life...Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading.

Via Helpguide.org

Aldous Huxley On Man's Inherent Inner Conflict

Thought in Terms of Global Consciousness

"If success or failure of this planet and of human beings depended

on how I am and what I do...

HOW WOULD I BE? WHAT WOULD I DO?"—Buckminster Fuller

Jul 24, 2009

Cognitive distortion

Cognitive distortions: Cognitive distortions are inaccurate thoughts that sometimes occur when you're depressed. They are inaccurate thoughts or ideas identified in cognitive therapy and its variants, which maintain negative thinking and help to maintain negative emotions. The theory of cognitive distortions was first proposed by David D. Burns, MD. Eliminating these distortions and negative thought is said to improve mood and discourage maladies such as depression and chronic anxiety. The process of learning to refute these distortions is called "cognitive restructuring".

Many cognitive distortions are also logical fallacies; related links are suggested in parentheses.

All-or-nothing thinking - Thinking of things in absolute terms, like "always", "every" or "never". Few aspects of human behavior are so absolute. (See false dilemma.)
Overgeneralization - Taking isolated cases and using them to make wide generalizations. (See hasty generalization.)
Mental filter - Focusing exclusively on certain, usually negative or upsetting, aspects of something while ignoring the rest. For example, focusing on a tiny imperfection in a piece of otherwise useful clothing. (See misleading vividness.)
Disqualifying the positive - Continually "shooting down" positive experiences for arbitrary, ad hoc reasons. (See special pleading.)
Jumping to conclusions - Assuming something negative where there is no evidence to support it. Two specific subtypes are also identified:
- Mind reading - Assuming the intentions of others.
- Fortune telling - Predicting how things will turn before they happen. (See slippery slope.)
Magnification and minimization - Inappropriately understating or exaggerating the way people or situations truly are. Often the positive characteristics of other people are exaggerated and negative characteristics are understated. There is one subtype of magnification:
- Catastrophizing - Focusing on the worst possible outcome, however unlikely, or thinking that a situation is unbearable or impossible when it is really just uncomfortable.
Emotional reasoning - Making decisions and arguments based on how you feel rather than objective reality. (See appeal to consequences.)
Making should statements - Concentrating on what you think "should" or ought to be rather than the actual situation you are faced with, or having rigid rules which you think should always apply no matter what the circumstances are. (See wishful thinking.)
Labeling and mislabeling - Explaining behaviors or events, merely by naming them; related to overgeneralization. Rather than describing the specific behavior, you assign a label to someone or yourself that puts them in absolute and unalterable terms. Mislabeling involves describing an event with language that is highly colored and emotionally loaded.
Personalization (or attribution) - Assuming you or others directly caused things when that may not have been the case. (See illusion of control.) When applied to others, blame is an example.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Healthy Mind.com

"A healthy mind is something we all want. Life is not supposed to hurt--at least, not all of the time. It is meant to be a positive, meaningful experience despite difficulties that come along. It can have buoyancy, bounce, whimsy and surprise. However, when problems arise it can be very difficult to experience these things.

Many people are understandably afraid of seeking help with personal problems that are uncomfortable, and at times embarrassing. However, the effort has made a world of difference to many people who have discovered that difficulties are a part of life that they have in common with others. They also have found that their problems usually have genuine, workable solutions that lead to a much happier life.

My name is David Bissette, and I am a clinical psychologist in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. These pages provide basic information about positive "mental fitness" as well as psychological difficulties that people face..."

Continue reading by clicking anywhere in this sentence.

Jul 23, 2009

The Death of My Therapist: A Patient's Story

This article was submitted to Psychiatric Times by a psychiatrist in New York State on behalf of the anonymous author.

"If you had asked me a year ago if I could have faced what I am about to describe and come out on the other side I would have said "Hell, no!" It has been a year of pain and struggle, and although certain parts cannot be changed, I still think that if things had been handled a little differently I might not have gone through some of what I did. Here is my story.

The first time it happened was August 2005. I went to my appointment, and my therapist never showed up. I waited about 15 minutes before finally leaving, feeling angry. The same day, there was a big accident on the road that I knew my therapist traveled on her way to work. I left 2 messages at her office, and when I got no reply I became very concerned.

I waited a few days and then contacted her answering service. They asked if it was an emergency and I told them it was not. I explained that my therapist was missing but they could not help me, which only exacerbated my now obsessive concern...click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading.

April 15, 2008
Psychiatric Times. Vol. 25 No. 5

A Meaningful Discussion on Co-Occurring Disorders

"Millions of American today receive health care for mental or substance-use problems and illnesses. These conditions are the leading cause of combined disability and death of women and the second highest of men." "Improving the Quality of health Care for Mental and Substance-Use Conditions," Institute of Medicine Report, November 1, 2005; Studies are showing an alarming trend, incidents of mental illness related to drug use are on the rise. It's unclear what came first, did a predisposition to mental illness lead to drug use, or is it the other way around? No matter what, co-occurring disorders are a problem.

Panelists:
Patricia Ordorica, MD - Associate Chief of Staff, Mental Health & Behavioral Sciences Central, James A. Haley Veterans Administration Hospital; Associate Professor Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of South Florida College of Medicine; Director Addictive Disorders Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Univ. of South Florida College of Medicine.
Deirdre Forbes - Intake Coordinator for Madison East, part of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Ms. Forbes is in recovery from a co-occurring disorder.

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. - Mother Teresa

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistance.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistance and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. - Calvin Coolidge

Jul 22, 2009

A Look at Borderline Personality Disorder

This video is a two part series in which therapist Ivan Spielberg, LCSW discusses what he has learned about treating the borderline client over the years.

Seneca on Anger-Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness

This video increased my understanding of the human struggle for happiness and the battle against anger quite a bit.

M I N D F U L N E S S & M E D I T A T I O N

"Most of man's miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone." -- Blaise Pascal

Meditation calms our minds and makes it easier for us to pay attention to the reality around and within us. Meditation breaks through the masks that have built up as our identity. It helps us see through our defences and connect with unacknowledged and unloved aspects of ourselves. It opens us to higher mind and the voice of intuition.

We can consciously choose meditation as a way to become more aware of who we truly are. If we don’t take the initiative to open to our authentic selves, we can be certain that deep challenge and pain from life experience will push us to awaken.

"Meditation helps me feel the shape, the texture of my inner life. Here, in the quiet, I can begin to taste what Buddhists would call my true nature, what Jews call the still, small voice, what Christians call the holy spirit."

-- Wayne Muller

"In a world filled with noise, we need to quiet ourselves to hear Nature's voice."

--Paul Borthwick

Conversations with History: The Case of Trauma and Recovery, Psychological Insight and Political Understanding, with Judith Herman

Dr. Judith Lewis Herman, professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Harvard University Medical School, and a pioneer in the study of post-traumatic stress disorder and the sexual abuse of women and children, joins UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler on this edition of Conversations with History.

Obstacles cannot crush me, every obstacle yields to stern resolve. - Leonardo da Vinci

We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality. - Marcus Annaeus Seneca

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. -William James

The only difference between a diamond and a lump of coal is that the diamond had a little more pressure put on it. - Anonymous

Jul 21, 2009

Psychology Basics

By Kendra Van Wagner, About.com Guide to Psychology

Before you begin studying psychology, you need to gain a clear understanding of exactly what psychology is. When did psychology originate? What do psychologists study? Explore this section to learn the answers to these questions and build a good foundation for further study of this vast and fascinating subject. Click anywhere in this sentence for a link to much much more.

Psychology 101 - Introduction to Psychology

Sign Up for the Free Psychology 101 E-Course

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. This free introductory course will help you learn the basics of psychology.

Who Should Take Psychology 101?

This class covers many of the basics you would learn in an introductory college-level course. Whether you're preparing for a class, supplementing your study, or simply interested in the subject, this class can provide you with a great overview of psychology. Via About.com L I N K

Jul 20, 2009

"Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”

"Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated.
You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps." D.L. George

"Facing it, always facing it, that's the way to get through.
Face it. " Joseph Conrad

"Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open."
John Barrymore

It's a Brain Thing: Psychosis/ Psychotic Disorders

What is psychosis? Who can get psychotic? What are the major psychotic illnesses? Dr. Henley continues his seminar on the brain and its various illnesses with a discussion of psychosis and psychotic disorders.

Perceptions and Time Dialation When Involved in a Stressful Event

After a car accident or other scary experience many people report feeling like the event happened in slow motion. One neuroscientist set out to test whether our brains really see things slowed down in response to fear. This ScienCentral News story shows why he had to scare people in order to do the experiment...Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading.

Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event.

When that trauma leads to posttraumatic stress disorder, damage may involve physical changes inside the brain and to brain chemistry, which damage the person's ability to adequately cope with stress.
A traumatic event involves a single experience, or an enduring or repeating event or events, that completely overwhelm the individual's ability to cope or integrate the ideas and emotions involved with that experience. The sense of being overwhelmed can be delayed by weeks, years, even decades, as the person struggles to cope with the immediate circumstances. Trauma can be caused by a wide variety of events, but there are a few common aspects. There is frequently a violation of the person's familiar ideas about the world and of their human rights, putting the person in a state of extreme confusion and insecurity. This is also seen when people or institutions depended on for survival violate or betray or disillusion the person in some unforeseen way. Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jul 19, 2009

Growing Nerve Cells

Jul 18, 2009

Personal Reflections on Manic-Depressive/Bi-Polar Illness

In this University of Virginia video, Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, psychiatry professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, shares her experiences with living every day with the mania and severe depression that she had studied for years. She talks openly of the challenges she faced with the treatment and disclosure of her mental illness.

A Very Thoughtful Study Distinguishing Shame and Guilt

June Tangney, professor of psychology at George Mason University, delves into shame and guilt by looking into various facets of our society such as the criminal justice system, children, families, incarcerated offenders, teachers and parents. Shame and guilt are often mentioned in the same breath as moral emotions that inhibit destructive, socially unacceptable behaviors, but how similar are these two emotions? Recent research indicates that guilt is the more adaptive emotion and can motivate people to behave in a moral, caring, socially responsible manner. In contrast, feelings of shame (about the self) can easily go awry. Discover more about this intriguing research, what it reveals and how it relates to our society...

Learn Psychology For Free Page

(Photo Credit: Philosophygeek)

Welcome to the learn psychology for free page. From here you will be able to access an incredible array of psychology related learning materials e.g., video lectures, MP3 recordings, lecture notes etc.
The reason that you can now learn psychology for free is that an increasing number of psychologists, psychology lecturers and academic institutions are disseminating their ideas, research and course materials through a creative commons license. The aim of this page, therefore is to showcase only the very best and most comprehensive freely available educational materials.
With this in mind, this main page presents an outstanding Introduction to Psychology course delivered by Professor Paul Bloom from Yale University. Whether you teach psychology, are new to psychology, currently studying or thinking about studying psychology, you will find the material featured below as interesting as it is invaluable.

Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading~Link

A Free & Comprehensive Guide To The World of Psychology

All About Psychology website (Link)

Written and regularly updated by a lecturer in psychology, this website was launched in March 2008 and is designed to help anybody looking for informed and detailed information on psychology.

Definitions, history, topic areas, theory and practice, careers, debates, course directories and study skills will all be covered in detail here.

The website will also highlight and explore the most fascinating and compelling psychology related news and research.

All About Psychology website (Link)

Jul 17, 2009

Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.

Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do. Napoleon Hill.

Dr Temple Grandin~The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow~

Dr. Grandin has a amazing ability to relate with the animal mind. She attributes her skill is to her autistic brain.

Temple believes she experiences life like animals do. Her emotions are much simpler than most people's and she feels constantly anxious. It's this struggle with overwhelming anxiety that led her to discover just how much she has in common with animals and, in particular, cows.

BBC - Horizon - 2006 - The Woman Who Thinks like a Cow.

Jul 16, 2009

Cognitive Dissonance Theory is One of the Most Influential and Extensively Studied Theories in Social Psychology

Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory
ideas simultaneously. The "ideas" or "cognitions" in question may include attitudes and beliefs, and also the awareness of one's behavior.

The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, or by justifying or rationalizing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Cognitive dissonance theory is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology...

Continue Reading by clicking anywhere in this sentence~Via Wikipedia

Jul 15, 2009

It's never too late—in fiction or in life—to revise. -- Nancy Thayer

If you want to know the past, to know what has caused you, look at yourself in the PRESENT, for that is the past's effect. If you want to know your future, then look at yourself in the PRESENT, for that is the cause of the future.
-- Majjhima Nikaya

Understanding Social Anxiety Disorder- Very Enlightening

What is Social Anxiety Disorder? Is it simply a severe form of shyness? Join Dr. Granet as he talks with leading expert, Dr. Murray Stein, about this disorder that affects approximately 5% of the general population. Find out the symptoms and latest treatments that are available.

On Being Courageous, Open & Honest

Being vulnerable doesn't have to be threatening. Just have the courage to be sincere, open and honest. This opens the door to deeper communication all around. It creates self-empowerment and the kind of connections with others we all want in life. Speaking from the heart frees us from the secrets that burden us. These secrets are what make us sick or fearful. Speaking truth helps you get clarity on your real heart directives.
-- Sara Paddison

Jul 13, 2009

Coping With Stress - Staying Sane Through Difficult Times

Stress is ubiquitous and on the rise. How we learn to manage it can have profound effects on our health and well being. This series explains how our bodies experience stress and demonstrates effective strategies to help you thrive in a fast-paced world.

Change Your Mind: Memory and Disease

About the Lecture: How do we distinguish our friends from foes? How does dementia destroy memory? And how can past experience invade the present with destructive force? Scientists are closing in on the biochemical roots of these neurological puzzles.

To exist is to change; to change is to mature; to mature is to create oneself endlessly.

"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference,
ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time,
add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee." – Marian Wright Edelman

Jul 12, 2009

Dr. Donald Hilty presents an update on the diagnosis, treatment and underlying pathophysiology of bipolar disorder.

Link To UCTV Programing (lots of educational videos)

Quote on Perseverance

If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

-- Henry David Thoreau

Biology, Psychology – Brain Story – “All in the Mind” 1/6

Thoughts about Feeling

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? ...Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory...that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

-- M. Williamson