Category: Psychology

Those of us who need a few cups of tea or coffee in the morning know a lack of caffeine is a mental disorder.

> From The Seattle Times

“He is the conservative bastion of the US supreme court, a favourite of President Bush, and a hunting partner of the vice-president. He has argued vociferously against abortion rights, and in favour of anti-sodomy laws. But it turns out that there is another side to Justice Antonin Scalia: he thinks Americans ought to be having more orgies.”

We’re all used to putting the world to rights with random ideas that float into our heads. But to announce this fact during a speech at Harvard Uni takes some balls.

> From The Guardian

“…we should focus on a better understanding of the mind-control tactics and strategies that might make even good people engage in evil deeds at some time in their lives, and that might recruit new generations of impoverished young people into lives of terrorism.”

> From BBC News

“Psychedelic drugs are inching their way slowly but surely toward prescription status in the United States, thanks to a group of persistent scientists who believe drugs like ecstasy and psilocybin can help people with terminal cancer, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, to name just a few.”

> From Wired News

If you need any more evidence for people’s incredible gullibility, then here it is. She’s from Russia, she has ‘medical vision’ that enables her to look inside you and diagnose your ailments. And all for only a small fee. Of course she’s been a huge hit in Russia but now she’s over here and managed to secure herself a TV gig.

But here in Britain we’re above all that, aren’t we? Apparently not. On ITV’s This Morning she diagnosed Fern Briton’s sore ankle and convinced the resident doctor, Chris Steele, to rush to the hospital for a scan. The man is a medical doctor for God’s sake!

When the real scientists, headed by Professor Richard Wiseman, moved in, the scam was soon exposed. But the fact remains that we want to believe. We really want to believe.

> From The Guardian

Latest figures show that the number of teenagers smoking is still on the increase, especially amongst young girls. Until its ban in the UK two years ago, the main culprit for its steady increase had to be tobacco advertising. For the frightening array of methods that tobacco companies use to target children, check out Ash.

Now there is an advertising war on, and the Government is fighting back. Their heavy campaigning seems to be having an effect on adults, amongst whom smoking is steadily declining. But commentators do not seem to know quite how to target children and teenagers. Efforts at education appear sporadic and ham-fisted.

It probably comes down to the old reverse psychology. The more you tell a teenager not to do something the more rebellious it feels to do it. Let’s just hope that the UK ban on advertising has some trickle down effect to children as well.
> From BBC News

Having blogged earlier this month about evidence that writing a diary might be bad for you, I’m happy to redress the balance. Not only does this article point out the benefits of writing but it also gives a few tips for creative writing, a subject close to my heart.

> From Psychology Today

The sobering answer is suicide. This report from the World Health Organization argues that this human toll is largely avoidable. Whether this is true or not, there are certainly some eye-opening facts here about this taboo subject.

> From the World Health Organization

Couple of little filler stories today: one about how people have their best ideas just before they go to sleep. This has been written about extensively by Paul Martin in Counting Sheep. The second is about nepotism in the workplace – which it can be officially confirmed does still exist contrary to the modern belief that all human social relations are now completely fair.
> From The Guardian
> From The Guardian

I can’t believe in a massive industry like this, that this hasn’t already been done. It seems incredible that companies have simply been relying on ‘industry wisdom’. That is code for: this is that way we did it before and it worked OK so let’s just do the same again.

> From BBC News