http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/psychology/ en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:19:36 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2417218/posts Dr. Sam Vaknin, psychologist, noted “Obama’s shallowness. . .an air of haughtiness in his demeanor that was unsettling. “His posture and his body language were louder than his empty words. Obama’s speeches are unlike any political speech we have heard in American history." TruthInConviction http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2417218/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:19:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417375/posts In 1988, the film “Rain Man,” about an autistic savant played by Dustin Hoffman, shed a humane light on the travails of autism while revealing the extraordinary powers of memory that a small number of otherwise mentally disabled people possess, ostensibly as a side effect of their disability. The film won four Oscars, including best picture, best actor and, for Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass, best original screenplay. But it never would have been made if Mr. Morrow had not had a chance meeting with Kim Peek, who inspired him to write the film. New York Time http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417375/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:51:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2412907/posts Celebrities and everyday people are discovering social networking has its pros and cons, says entertainment reporter JESSICA LEO. SOCIAL networking has joined sex, drugs and alcohol as the latest addiction plaguing celebrities. With Australians spending a third of their time online perusing Facebook, however, it seems the everyday Aussie is not far behind in mirroring the trend. British pop singer Lily Allen has become the latest celebrity casualty of the affliction, announcing she is quitting social networking sites and declaring she will be a "neo-Luddite". Allen joins US pop sensation Miley Cyrus and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, who... Adelaide Now http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2412907/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:51:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412526/posts SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah man who inspired Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie "Rain Man" has died. Kim Peek, 58, collapsed at his home in Salt Lake City on Saturday from what his dad says was a massive heart attack. Kim couldn't do simple things like turning on a light or dressing himself because the membrane that allows the right and left hemisphere to talk to each other was missing. Kim was a unique megasavant. He was able to recall most everything he read or heard -- from zip codes to historical events -- and he could do... KSL-TV http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412526/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:30:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410761/posts WASHINGTON — People in sunny, outdoorsy states — Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida — say they're the happiest Americans, and researchers think they know why. A new study comparing self-described pleasant feelings with objective measures of good living found these folks generally have reason to feel fine. The places where people are most likely to report happiness also tend to rate high on studies comparing things like climate, crime rates, air quality and schools. The happiness ratings were based on a survey of 1.3 million people across the country by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It used data collected over... St. Paul Pioneer Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410761/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:26:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409080/posts There is no evidence supporting auditory and visual learning, psychologists sayAre you a verbal learner or a visual learner? Chances are, you've pegged yourself or your children as either one or the other and rely on study techniques that suit your individual learning needs. And you're not alone— for more than 30 years, the notion that teaching methods should match a student's particular learning style has exerted a powerful influence on education. The long-standing popularity of the learning styles movement has in turn created a thriving commercial market amongst researchers, educators, and the general public. The wide appeal of the... Association for Psychological Science http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409080/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:26:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408208/posts Are children reared by two individuals of the same gender as well adjusted as children reared in families with a mother and a father? Until recently the unequivocal answer to this question was "no." Within the last decade, however, professional health organizations1, academics, social policymakers and the media have begun asserting that prohibitions on parenting by homosexual couples should be lifted. In making such far-reaching, generation-changing assertions, any responsible advocate would rely upon supporting evidence that is comprehensive and conclusive. Not only is this not the situation, but also there is sound evidence that children exposed to the homosexual lifestyle... http://www.americancollegeofpediatricians.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408208/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:36:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2401571/posts A top health expert has tagged Tiger Woods a "sex addict" who needs immediate help. David Smallwood, Addictions Manager at London's Priory clinic, believes the exposure of the golfer's affairs hint at his uncontrolled craving for sex. "He displays a number of the pointers such as seeking highs from outdoor sex and having many mistresses," the News of the World quoted him as saying. However, the expert who has provided service to a number of celebrities wishes to help Woods. He said: "I would implore him to get help. But I see him as ill, not bad. "All of the... DNA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2401571/posts#comment Sun, 6 Dec 2009 17:23:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401236/posts The Army is severely short of enough mental health professionals to properly attend to soldiers after eight years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Pentagon and Congress are asking whether that shortage may have played a role in the ability of the accused Fort Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, to elude detection despite a spotty work record and suspicious behavior. Hasan’s competence and radicalism stirred concern among his fellow students and superiors and he was counseled for proselytizing to his patients, but he nevertheless progressed in his schooling and his military career throughout his six years at... Stars and Stripes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401236/posts#comment Sun, 6 Dec 2009 00:00:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2394039/posts JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2009) — Michelle Hartmann, of Jefferson City, has been named the Missouri National Guard's first-ever director of psychological health. Hartmann oversees the Missouri Guard's psychological health program. The program, which is funded through the National Guard Bureau, is designed to promote readiness through psychological fitness. Hartmann said the program's guidelines are intentionally vague, which allows each state's director to tailor it to the specific needs of each state. Hartmann said one of her goals is to make mental health a more normal part of conversation. To some extent, Hartmann said, the stigma associated with psychological... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2394039/posts#comment Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:57:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2392343/posts Early signs suggest the number of suicides in the U.S. crept up during the worst recession in decades, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of states that account for about 40% of the U.S. population. Available data, still incomplete, suggest that this recession, like past ones, coincided with an uptick in suicides. The data from 19 states find an increase in suicides in the recessionary year of 2008 from 2007. Those states historically account for about half of annual suicides in the U.S. Calls to suicide hotlines are rising. And suicides in the workplace and the military -- a... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2392343/posts#comment Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:02:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2392286/posts Boosting the level of a brain chemical reverses learning impairments in a mouse model of Down syndrome, researchers report. The work adds to emerging evidence that cognition-enhancing drugs may one day help humans with Down syndrome lead more independent lives. Down syndrome is the most common cause of mental retardation, affecting approximately one in 800 babies at birth. People with the disorder have an extra copy of chromosome 21, giving them additional copies of hundreds of genes. This somehow alters brain development and causes mild to severe learning disabilities. To investigate what goes wrong in the brain of someone who... ScienceNOW Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2392286/posts#comment Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:51:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391290/posts SARAH PALIN’S sit-down with Oprah Winfrey this week may have been the most tense TV encounter of the year, a palpable mix of suspicion and mutual need. Oprah was good for Obama, but she’s also good for books, and Palin is good for TV. When the two shook hands across the chasm of a coffee table, you wondered if the studio circuitry would blow. It didn’t, but of all of the interlocutors Palin faced in this week’s “Going Rogue’’ media blitz, only Winfrey managed to cut through Palin’s efforts to cast herself as a victim. Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly... boston.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391290/posts#comment Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:23:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391079/posts The Associated Press "fact check" of Sarah Palin's new book wasn't enough. Now the left is just coming out and claiming Palin is a flat out liar. That was the argument made by Bella DePaulo in a Psychology Today blog entitled "Sarah Palin's Lies." DePaulo, who has a Harvard Ph.D. in psychology and experience in analyzing lying, claims Palin excels at it. "From my post as an outside observer, it seems to me that Sarah Palin doesn't care much about the truth. In that way, she is a very special liar," she wrote in the Nov. 19 "Living Single" blog. Newsbusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391079/posts#comment Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:39:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2387794/posts NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children who don't show normal fear responses to loud, unpleasant sounds at the age of 3 may be more likely to commit crimes as adults, according to a new study. Yu Gao and colleagues in the United States and the United Kingdom compared results from a study of almost 1,800 children born in 1969 and 1970 on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to criminal records of group members 20 years later. At age 3, the children were tested to gauge their level of "fear conditioning," or fear of consequences. The idea is that children... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2387794/posts#comment Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:51:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383194/posts Recently I attended a domestic violence conference hosted by a church in my community. "The Church's Role in Addressing Domestic Violence in the Faith Community," the glossy brochure explained. The program featured a Proclamation by President Barack Obama filled with heart-rending language about the "devastating impact" of domestic violence on women and children. The conference included a workshop a dramatic presentation of The Yellow Dress, a play based on stories of women who were victims of dating violence. I opted to screen a video called "Defending our Lives," featuring the accounts of five women incarcerated for murdering their partners. All... Renew America http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383194/posts#comment Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:28:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2381855/posts As an army psychiatrist treating soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, Major Nidal Malik Hasan had front row seat on the brutal toll of war. It is too early to know exactly what may have triggered his murderous shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood — Hasan is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 32 others before he was wounded by a police officer — but it is not uncommon for therapists treating soldiers with Post Trumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.) to be swept up in a patient's displays of war-related paranoia, helplessness and fury. In medical parlance it is known... Time Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2381855/posts#comment Mon, 9 Nov 2009 02:11:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380231/posts Health experts say they are hardly astonished that the suspect in the worst mass murder ever at a U.S. military base is an Army psychiatrist — the very person who is supposed to be helping soldiers deal with the traumatic stress of war. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, suspected of gunning down 13 and wounding 30 at the Fort Hood Army Post in Texas, treated soldiers at the Darnall Army Medical Center there after being transferred in July from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he had worked for six years. Dr. Robin Kerner, an attending psychologist who specializes in... FoxNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380231/posts#comment Fri, 6 Nov 2009 19:49:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378428/posts FOX News: "Robert Gibbs said ‘well, he was actually watching, you know, the HBO special about his year-long campaign and how it all went.'" Real Clear Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378428/posts#comment Wed, 4 Nov 2009 17:24:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2377246/posts O-Care is an awful idea for all kinds of reasons. It's a monstrosity. But one reason that has not been discussed is the problem of giving Obama -- a narcissist who has surrounded himself with thugs -- a crucial psychic victory. Narcissists have a problem with reality. They are absolutists of a kind, and their absolute ideal is themselves. So a defeat makes them feel utterly enraged -- because their gnawing self-doubts are strengthened -- but a victory is interpreted to support their messianic self-image. When Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in a way that made him the laughingstock... The American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2377246/posts#comment Tue, 3 Nov 2009 11:19:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2376015/posts It’s worth looking at how life used to be. Now, as early as a thousand years ago, people didn’t have laptops. Back even further, in the hunting and gathering days — the 60s — there were no computers of any kind. At all. The primary method of social networking was drawing pictures on cave walls. So, for instance, if one of the cave dwellers was hunting buffalo, instead of using his cell phone to update his Facebook status to “kilin buf-lo,” he’d go to the cave wall and draw a picture on it of a buffalo next to himself holding... Pajamas Media http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2376015/posts#comment Sun, 1 Nov 2009 19:16:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372976/posts Based on this detailed, comprehensive Mayo Clinic definition, one that I believe perfectly describes Obama, it's obvious he needs prescription medicine and extended psychotherapy. Our country is in tremendous danger with a person suffering from this complex mental illness in our White House. The Mayo Clinic (Medical Science & Vanity) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372976/posts#comment Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:21:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2370023/posts "The woman's movement wasn't about happiness." That judgment, attributed to feminist Susan Faludi, seems to be the blunt assessment shared by many other women. As numerous recent studies now indicate, a remarkably large percentage of women describe themselves as increasingly unhappy. This issue came to light last month in a fascinating essay by Maureen Dowd of The New York Times. Dowd, whose columns often reveal the nation's Zeitgeist, cited the fact that a number of major studies indicate that "women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier." She asked: "Did the feminist revolution end up benefiting men more than... Christian Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2370023/posts#comment Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:29:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2369906/posts Parent alert: the Walt Disney Company is now offering refunds for all those ”Baby Einstein” videos that did not make children into geniuses. They may have been a great electronic baby sitter, but the unusual refunds appear to be a tacit admission that they did not increase infant intellect. “We see it as an acknowledgment by the leading baby video company that baby videos are not educational, and we hope other baby media companies will follow suit by offering refunds,” said Susan Linn, director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which has been pushing the issue for years. Baby Einstein,... nytimes.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2369906/posts#comment Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:49:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2367733/posts You can divorce an abusive spouse. You can call it quits if your lover mistreats you. But what can you do if the source of your misery is your own parent? Granted, no parent is perfect. And whining about parental failure, real or not, is practically an American pastime that keeps the therapeutic community dutifully employed. But just as there are ordinary good-enough parents who mysteriously produce a difficult child, there are some decent people who have the misfortune of having a truly toxic parent. A patient of mine, a lovely woman in her 60s whom I treated for depression,... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2367733/posts#comment Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:51:18 GMT