In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence involves the ability to recognize emotions in both the self and others, and then make decisions that take into account those emotions. The first noted use of the term dates back to 1964. … Continue reading What is… Emotional Intelligence
I got thinking about this because I've seen a number of people write about anger recently, and it's not an emotion I've ever been comfortable with. Anger is a basic human emotion. We all experience it sometimes, and it has an associated facial expression that is universally recognized across cultures. Yet anger is far from … Continue reading How Childhood Affected My Relationship with Anger
It's interesting (and not in a good way) how strong social pressures are not to cry in public. Someone who does so might be called a "crybaby", or if they're male their masculinity may be questioned. In general, public crying is seen as a sign of weakness. I say that's a total load of BS. … Continue reading Getting My Cry on in Public
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's terms: jealousy and envy The terms jealousy and envy are often used synonymously, but they actually refer to two separate, although related, concepts. Envy occurs when there is a sense of personal lacking compared to another person's abilities, achievements, … Continue reading What is… jealousy & envy
Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry by Dr. Randolph M. Nesse digs into the science of evolution to understand why mental illness persists. He explains that while the illnesses themselves are not evolutionary adaptations, our vulnerabilities to these illnesses may actually have evolutionary purposes. He takes the rather refreshing approach of … Continue reading Book review: Good Reasons for Bad Feelings
Escaping the Emotional Roller Coaster: ACT for the Emotionally Sensitive by Dr. Patricia Zurita Ona draws upon acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) techniques to help "super-feelers" work with their emotions more effectively. What is a super-feeler? It's a term the author uses to describe people who struggle with emotional regulation, meaning they experience intense emotions … Continue reading Book review: Escaping the Emotional Roller Coaster
I became a nurse 14 years ago, before I became mentally ill. Even then, I wasn't a fan of asking people to rate themselves [mood, etc.] on a 1-10 mood rating scale. It struck me as such a cop-out, a poor substitute for actually exploring with the person how they were feeling. Adventures in hospital … Continue reading Why I hate the 1-10 mood rating scale
We tend to create a lot of rules about how we should think, feel, and act. We may believe that there is some sort of objective truth to these rules, but the reality is they're really just mental myths. These examples come from Dialectical Behavioural Therapy: I don't deserve to get the things that I … Continue reading Mental myths that get in our way
Mental illness stigma comes from many places and in many forms. Stigma often invalidates the experience of those of us with mental illness, and one of the ways this can happen is by pathologizing normal experience. By this I mean inflating the significance of "normal" emotions and minimizing the significance of mental illness to make … Continue reading Stigma and Pathologizing Normal Human Experience
On a fairly regular basis I come across people online talking about how happiness is a choice. It bugs me whenever I see it, even when I can tell the poster is trying to be motivational and positive, so I thought I'd dive into that a little deeper. A quick search on Amazon reveals a … Continue reading Happiness is a choice, my @ss