Browsing Category Psychology

Why your messy room could be a good thing

by on ·Psychology
I’ve always had the kind of room that’s slightly messy, enough to be permissible in the eyes of a guest, but also enough to bring my mother grief when she visits.

When I’m slammed with work, my room gradually decays into a pile of bed sheets, laundry, coffee cups, and papers; All physical manifestations of my psychological state, and my room points to one thing: Stress.

What’s cool about rooms is that they say more about us than we think they do, and surprisingly, there’s a whole academic discipline dedicated to exploring the relationship between people and their places. The discipline ranges from urban planning to philosophy, collectively comprising place theory or environmental psychology.

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Could it be that what ails us also inspires us?

by on ·Psychology

There is truly no way for anyone who doesn’t have a mood disorder to understand what goes on when living with one.

A mood disorder can be defined as a psychological disorder characterized by the elevation or lowering of a person’s mood. Some mood disorders include Major depressive disorder (MDD), Bipolar disorder, Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), Cyclothymic disorder, and even Premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a more extreme form of PMS (which many people forget is an actual disorder.) Luckily, most people can be treated successfully with medications and psychotherapy, however it doesn’t negate the challenges that come with these conditions.

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Physician-assisted suicide now legal in the state of California, as SB-128 goes into effect

by on ·Health, Psychology

Dr. Jack Kevorkian is the largest advocate of euthanasia in American history, and he began the widespread conversation about end of life options.

He’s known to have said “Dying is not a Crime,” and his advocacy led in part to Oregon’s passing of the Death with Dignity act, which made Oregon’s jurisdiction one of the first in the world that allows terminally ill patients to determine the time of their own death. In euthanasia, the attending doctor administers the final lethal dose. In PAS (physician-assisted suicide), the attending doctor merely provides the final lethal dose and the patient administers it (PAS is the one to have been recently legalized in California). It bears noting here that there are a number of terms associated with end of life rights, but we’ll deal with PAS primarily.

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The science of why we LOL!

by on ·Psychology
People generally feel pretty good when they laugh, and we expect people are happy when they hear it. Even when you laugh as a distraction, or in reaction to something unpleasant, it helps put you in better spirits. Why is that?

It turns out it’s not just a human thing. Laughter is observed in many mammals, of all ages. It can be observed during play, tickling, and often around friends. Laughter is also a social thing. We are thirty times more likely to laugh when we’re with other people than when we are alone.

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Tony Robbins becomes Chief of Investor Psychology at Creative Planning

by on ·Psychology

Tony Robbins is a harbinger of disruption.

He has written 3 best-selling books, Unlimited Power, Awaken the Giant Within, and Money: Master the Game, and they each focus on changing your way of thinking about personal achievement, giving you roadmaps for reprogramming your mind and body to reach your ultimate level of success and, thus, master your life. He’s a master of empowering people to take charge of their destinies despite their circumstances–and he’d know something about that due to his experience as a child of divorce and domestic violence.

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The consequences of sleep deprivation and being a night owl

by on ·Psychology

Sleep deprivation can be poisonous to one’s health physically and mentally but can the same be true for a night owl?

Even if you stay up at night, there should be no problem choosing to sleep the necessary eight hours during the day, right? This is a question asked often by people interested in sleep habits, especially those who, for one reason or another, choose, prefer, or have to stay up at night.

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Overcoming OCD: What my compulsions taught me

by on ·Psychology

There I was, trapped in my room with no where to go.

It had become my last refuge and now a self-contained cell. I was a living contradiction: both the prisoner and the gatekeeper.  This is what OCD had reduced my life to: hiding away from all of my fears in the confines of my room. Fear of the outside kept me trapped. Can you imagine what it feels like when you perceive the entire world as a threat? Once a normal teen and then .. a nervous wreck.

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Understanding the Hedonic Treadmill and how to achieve sustainable happiness

by on ·Psychology

Want to be happier?

Arthur Schopenhauer had once remarked:

“How insatiable a creature is man! Every satisfaction he attains lays the seeds of some new desire, so that there is no end to the wishes of each individual will.”

It seems as if our friend Schopenhauer was on to something which is that we always seem to be several steps away from having what we think we want, yet when we get it, desire itself still remains and the fixed state of happiness we assumed obtainable still seems out of reach.

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