Collective Illusions by Todd Rose explores the creation and maintenance of social lies that are fuelled by false assumptions, conformity, silence, and a lack of questioning. Drawing on social psychology and neuroscience, this book shows just how skewed these norms can be from the reality of what most people actually think. Collective illusions occur when […]
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In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week, we’ll look at paraphilic disorders. Paraphilias involve atypical patterns of sexual arousal. Paraphilic disorders are a more extreme version of paraphilias, involving arousal patterns that are a) intense and persistent and b) cause significant distress or functional impairment or
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The incel (a portmanteau of “involuntary celibate”) phenomenon, at least in its present incarnation, has emerged in the last decade and a bit. It’s come into the public eye through acts of violence committed by the likes of Elliot Rodger (in 2014 in Isla Vista, California) and Alek Minassian (in 2018 in Toronto, Ontario). Misogyny,
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In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is apophenia. Apophenia is a type of cognitive bias involving the tendency to find patterns where they don’t actually exist, i.e. in things that are unrelated or random. It was first described by neurologist Klaus Conrad in 1958
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In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is the frequency illusion, also known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. Do you ever find that once you start to notice something, all of a sudden, it’s happening a lot? There’s a name for that; it’s a type of
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In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is selfishness. I think our society has a twisted idea of what selfishness is. This gives people the idea that they shouldn’t prioritize essentials like self-care because it’s selfish. In this post, I wanted to take a look
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In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychological terms. This week’s term is psychopathy. Psychopathy is a cluster of personality characteristics. It is sometimes described as a personality disorder or a neuropsychiatric disorder, but it’s not a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The diagnosis
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In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is reductionism. Reductionism is the idea that complex theories or phenomena can be reduced down to other theories or phenomena. Essentially, the whole shebang can be boiled down to one thing that explains it all. It’s a philosophical
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The Better Boundaries Workbook by Sharon Martin uses a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) approach, incorporating mindfulness and self-compassion, to help readers establish boundaries to function better in relationships. The author is a psychotherapist, and if you’re into mental health on Pinterest, you’ve probably come across some of her pins. The book begins with a look
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The ACT Workbook for Anger by Robyn D. Walser and Manuela O’Connell uses an acceptance and commitment therapy approach to support readers in better managing anger. Anger is framed as a mix of feelings, physiological sensations, thoughts, and actions, and the authors explain that experiencing it is normal; it’s getting hooked on it that can
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