Challenging stigma by getting loud about mental illness
Remember by Lisa Genova is a non-fiction book that explores how we do, and don't, remember. Genova is a neuroscientist who's also the author of five fiction books, all of which I've read. They feature characters with neurological conditions like Alzheimer's (Still Alice) and Huntingdon's (Inside the O'Briens). The book begins by describing how memories… Continue reading Book Review: Remember
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week, we'll look at the 12 irrational beliefs and 3 major musts described by Albert Ellis, the founder of rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT). I was vaguely familiar with REBT as the therapeutic approach behind SMART Recovery. Recently, when I… Continue reading What Is… 12 Irrational Beliefs and 3 Major Musts
: The topic of dead people goals came to mind a while back when I was commenting on a post by Quiet Person Loud Thoughts. I couldn't remember where I'd first heard of it, but with some hunting around, it looks like I got the idea from Susan David's book Emotional Agility. The original idea… Continue reading Do You Have Dead People Goals?
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society I first heard of the term contemplative practices when reading the book A Fearless Heart by Thupten Jinpa. This involves approaching an inner problem without avoidance or distraction. By establishing some mental space, you can consider the problem without getting caught up in the thoughts and emotions that… Continue reading Exploring Contemplative Practices
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is heuristic. Heuristics (from the Greek "to discover") are mental rules of thumb or shortcuts that allow our brains to process information and arrive at conclusions more quickly. A post not long ago covered philosophical razors, which are… Continue reading What Is… a Heuristic
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is self-verification theory. Self-verification theory comes from social psychology, and it says that we want other people to see us the way we see ourselves. That might seem self-obvious, but what's interesting is that this applies even when… Continue reading What Is… Self-Verification Theory
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is critical thinking. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy says that, while there are various different definitions, the basic underlying idea is "careful thinking directed to a goal." Wikipedia describes critical thinking as "the analysis of facts to form… Continue reading What Is… Critical Thinking
ecision-making st Most of us are naturally inclined towards being more rational or intuitive in our decision-making. Personally, I tend to be much more on the rational side of the spectrum. But then you layer mental illness on top of that, and it can start to get more complicated. The basic scenario we’ll use for… Continue reading What’s Your Mental Illness Decision-Making Style?
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week we're taking a bit of a detour to look at neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to make changes to itself in response to conditions and experiences, including forming new neuronal connections. This ability is maintained in adulthood, although… Continue reading What Is… Neuroplasticity
I started this post about three months ago after Rookyn of Never Stop Growing did a post about the beneficial effect of music and other positive/motivational audio on mood. She wondered what the science/psychology behind it might be, and of course, my virtual ears perked up at that. Unfortunately, she's since vanished from the blogosphere,… Continue reading How Music Affects the Brain and Mood
