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Psychology

Why Taking an Antidepressant Is Right for Me

Erica Berman | Posted 05.13.2013 | Canada Living
Erica Berman

Hello, my name is Erica Berman and I take an antidepressant. Do you think I'm crazy to admit it? Or just plain crazy? Well think what you want. I have been taking a low dose of a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) for almost four years, not for depression, but for anxiety. Yes, in case you were unaware, some antidepressants are very helpful for controlling anxiety.

6 Cognitive Biases That Make Politics Irrational

Adam Kingsmith | Posted 04.14.2013 | Canada Politics
Adam Kingsmith

These seemingly irrational flaws in judgement can lead to perpetual distortion, inaccurate judgement, and illogical interpretation -- all of which are key ingredients in the widening of cultural rifts, the deepening of global disparity gaps, and the general intensifying of political upheavals.

Creating New Horizons: Paradigms at Work

Heron Free | Posted 05.20.2013 | Canada Alberta
Heron Free

Some paradigms support us better than others. 'The world is flat' was believed to be true until Christopher Columbus proved it otherwise. And though we need paradigms to help us make sense of the world, the minute we turn them into concrete truths we become enslaved by them.

What Marilyn Monroe Taught Us About Suicide Notes

Romeo Vitelli | Posted 05.01.2013 | Canada
Romeo Vitelli

But could Marilyn Monroe's own writings provide clues about her suicidal intentions? Many of the letters, poems, and personal notes that Monroe wrote in the years leading up to her death were recently collected in a single book, Marilyn Monroe's Fragments. Her writings have only recently become available for serious study by suicide researchers.

How I Overcame My Fear of Needles

Lisa Jackson | Posted 03.26.2013 | Canada Living
Lisa Jackson

When I was nine, I had a bad experience while in the hospital with scarlet fever. A nurse restrained me and abruptly poked a needle into my arm, inflicting a pain that felt worse than a bee sting. I avoided having blood taken for the next 20 years, even if it meant risking my health.

Why Are so Many Veterans in Prison?

Romeo Vitelli | Posted 02.27.2013 | Canada Living
Romeo Vitelli

Increasing numbers of military veterans are entering the U.S. prison system. Why? A recent study highlights the important role that anger can play in how well veterans reintegrate into society after traumatic tours of duty -- and how likely they are to run into problems in prison, if that's where they end up.

The Leonardo da Vinci of Mental Manipulation

Romeo Vitelli | Posted 12.04.2012 | Canada
Romeo Vitelli

A trial still unfolding in Bordeaux, France is already attracting lurid headlines as a man is facing prosecution over his nine-year domination of an aristocratic French family. Thierry Tilly of Oxford, England has been described by prosecutors as the "Leonardo da Vinci of mental manipulation."

Are Suicide Rates Declining Worldwide?

Romeo Vitelli | Posted 11.25.2012 | Canada Living
Romeo Vitelli

Although collecting health statistics across the world can seem almost impossible because of political unrest, economic problems, wars, and simple bureacracy, the World Health Organization has been collecting mortality statistics since the 1950s for most countries. Are suicide rates declining worldwide?

Does Your Airplane Have Psychological Safety?

Romeo Vitelli | Posted 11.19.2012 | Canada
Romeo Vitelli

A recent review published in Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors argues that flight attendants and other members of the flight crew who have lower ranking are often afraid to contradict the pilots, even in critical situations. This reluctance can often spell the difference between life and death.

Just Because Your Brain Objectifies Women Doesn't Make it Right

Jeff Fraser | Posted 10.09.2012 | Canada Living
Jeff Fraser

Cognitive psychologists have discovered that our brains reduce women to their sexual body parts, and treat those parts as objects. The data confirms what many of us have suspected all along: we objectify women without even thinking about it. But does that mean that sexism is an inevitable result of our physiology? That's not so easy to answer.

What Osama bin Laden's Signature Tells Us About Evil

Annette Poizner | Posted 10.06.2012 | Canada Living
Annette Poizner

The field of graphology, or handwriting analysis, asserts that handwriting, in general, and signatures, specifically, relay information about the identity of the writer. The signature -- chosen as the writer's representative on the page -- often embeds symbols that may tell us about the writer's identifications. Here's what Osama Bin Laden's signature says about his terrible ways.

What Donald Trump's Signature Says About Him

Annette Poizner | Posted 09.23.2012 | Canada Living
Annette Poizner

Take a look at Trump's signature. In general, cursive handwriting is comprised of straight lines and loops. But Trump favours straight lines and does away with curves or loops. For the graphologist, roundedness implies emotionality and softer aspects of the personality. But what is the meaning of the straight line?

Are You Really Conscious Right Now?

Jeff Fraser | Posted 09.16.2012 | Canada
Jeff Fraser

While the world celebrates the discovery of the Higgs boson, these scientists are hard at work on one of the most profound mysteries left: Why, and how, did humans become conscious? Until we can figure out what consciousness physically is, there won't be any consensus on what function it serves, or indeed whether it serves any function at all.

Depression Has Many Faces

Pega Ren | Posted 07.09.2012 | Canada Living
Pega Ren

2012-05-08-mentalhealth1.jpg Why is it so difficult to treat depression? Part of the problem is in our definition of the term. In fact, there are two distinct depressions: situational and clinical. It would be so much easier if we called the two depressions by different names, for then we could explain better how we feel and know better what might help.

Great Treatments You Will Never Hear About

Roger Covin, Ph.D | Posted 05.27.2012 | Canada Living
Roger Covin, Ph.D

I honestly believe that psychotherapy will never compete with pharmacotherapy. There's no way to invest in the mass distribution of psychotherapy -- and if there's no money, there's no success. I am not trying to be cynical -- this is simply the world we live in.

Kate Middleton and I Would Probably Rather Be Sad Than Fat

Jowita Bydlowska | Posted 10.15.2011 | Canada
Jowita Bydlowska

The lives of thin women revolve around denial, restrictions, guilt, and depression over failing... I know because I'd been hiding my own fat monster and had to appease it with Prozac and talk therapy. Still, I suppose, I'd rather be sad than fat. And so would Kate Middleton, probably. And so would you.