The Classic Sign Of A Social Anxiety Disorder

Are you just shy or is it a social anxiety disorder? The classic sign of a social anxiety disorder is a strong fear of embarrassment or humiliation in social situations, research finds. Bear in mind that many people are apprehensive in unfamiliar social situations or with those they do not know. Social anxiety disorder is more than being shy. To be a social anxiety disorder, the fear should be so great that the social situation can only be born with considerable distress. Either that or social situations are often avoided

How To Hit The Reset Button In Your Brain

Simple procedure enhances flexible thinking and shakes off old ideas. Simply washing your hands could be enough to help let go of old ideas, new research finds. A team of psychologists at the University of Toronto has found that cleaning your hands is enough to leave behind old goals and allow you to pursue new ones. For the study people were ‘primed’ with a goal. Priming involves unconsciously activating a goal in someone’s mind. The results showed that when people subsequently wiped their hands, they forgot about this unconscious goal.

The Emotion That Does Motivate Behaviour After All

The emotion helped people make healthier choices. Curiosity is a powerful way to motivate people, research finds. It can even help people make healthier choices. Across four experiments, researchers found that people’s curiosity encouraged them to take the stairs and eat more healthily. Dr Evan Polman, the study’s first author, said: “Our research shows that piquing people’s curiosity can influence their choices by steering them away from tempting desires, like unhealthy foods or taking the elevator, and toward less tempting, but healthier options, such as buying more fresh produce or

Why People Lie in Therapy: Unveiling the Truth

Therapy is a powerful tool for healing and personal growth, providing individuals with a safe space to explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. However, its not uncommon for people to lie during therapy sessions. This phenomenon raises an important question…

Revealed: The Type of Music That Makes You Feel Most Powerful

Revealed: The Type of Music That Makes You Feel Most Powerful

If you want to get pumped up before a big event, what type of music should you choose? Music has already been shown to have all kinds of effects on the mind, like making you happier, reducing pain and bringing people together. Now a new study finds that music of the right kind can transform the listener’s sense of power. The study, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, was inspired by the pre-game routines of athletes (Hsu et al., 2014). Dennis Hsu, who led the study, explains:

Suicidal People Are 7 Times More Likely To Recover Completely With This Resource

Suicidal People Are 7 Times More Likely To Recover Completely With This Resource

The single factor which helps 38% of formerly suicidal people back to complete mental health. Having someone to confide in is one of the most important factors in recovery from mental illness, a new study suggests. People in the study were experiencing suicidal thoughts, usually as a result of mental illness or substance abuse. Mr Philip Baiden, the study’s lead author, said: “We found that among formerly suicidal individuals, those who have someone they could confide in were seven times more likely to have complete mental health, after adjusting for

How Being Lonely Affects The Symptoms Of A Cold

How Being Lonely Affects The Symptoms Of A Cold

The psychological factor that affects colds. People who have strong social networks have less severe colds than those who are lonely, new research finds. Lonely people, though, were no more or less likely to get a cold than socially connected people. Loneliness has already been linked to other physical problems, said Ms Angie LeRoy, the study’s first author: “Loneliness puts people at risk for premature mortality and all kinds of other physical illnesses. Previous research has shown that different psycho-social factors like feeling rejected or feeling left out or not

2 Factors Found To Underlie Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

2 Factors Found To Underlie Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

What really underlies obsessive-compulsive disorder? Confusing imagination with reality and being out of contact with reality are linked to OCD, a new study finds. People with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) are known to dissociate themselves from reality. Instead they rely heavily on their imagination. A survey of 75 people with OCD found that they experienced ‘inferential confusion’: essentially getting fantasy and reality mixed up. Dr Frederick Aardema, who led the research, said: “It seems that people with OCD are so absorbed by their obsession due to inferential confusion that there is

The Best Way To Stay Motivated From Start To Finish

The Best Way To Stay Motivated From Start To Finish

There are two types of motivation you need to reach goals. People motivate themselves in different ways depending on where they are in pursuing a goal, new research finds. At the start, people motivate themselves with hopes and dreams of reaching their goal. For example, someone wanting to lose weight might think about the clothes they will be able to wear. Psychologists call this ‘promotion motivation’ as the study’s authors, Dr Olya Bullard and Dr Rajesh V. Manchanda, explain: “Promotion motivation encourages people to focus on hopes and aspirations, it

Supporting Children on the Autism Spectrum

Supporting Children on the Autism Spectrum

Thomas was proud of his young son “Roger’s” remarkable knowledge of birds. Roger’s grandmother, an avid bird watcher, had shared birding books and toy bird replicas with the boy when he was young, and he had shown such great enthusiasm for the topic that at age 3, Roger could identify more than 50 types of birds. But when the boy was diagnosed with autism, a therapist took a more guarded view of Roger’s intense interest. The therapist described the boy’s constant chatter about birds as “stimming”—short for self-stimulating behavior. Suddenly,

Gestalt Theory

Gestalt Theory

Gestalt Theory Gestalt in German means “whole self” and was developed to be an existential, phenomenological, and process-based therapy. The initial goal is for clients to gain awareness of what they are experiencing in the “here and now.” The awareness process...

Suicide, the ripple effect

Suicide, the ripple effect

Suicide, the ripple effect Suicide has an across the board and unfavorable impact on the survivors abandoned. The misfortune experienced by numerous suicide survivors is so significant they may never be able to accept the loss. According to the Center for Disease...

The Real Reason Americans Are Getting More Unhappy

The Real Reason Americans Are Getting More Unhappy

Why Americans are getting unhappier and the 10 happiest countries in the world. Norway is the happiest country in the world, closely followed by Denmark and Iceland. The United States, though, has become 5% unhappier over the past 10 years, despite people earning more money. The trend in happiness is the reverse for most countries, which have become happier. The US came 14th on the list and the United Kingdom ranked 19th. Canadians lived up to their reputation by ranking at number 7 on the list, while Australia came 9th.

The Most Controversial Psych Study Is Repeated — Same Weird Result

The Most Controversial Psych Study Is Repeated — Same Weird Result

What would you do if repeatedly ordered to give a strong electric shock to a helpless stranger? The year 1963 saw the publication of what was to become one of the most famous psychology studies ever. Stanley Milgram’s ‘obedience’ experiments have become the stuff of legend. What his experiments found was that — when ordered to — 63% of people would give a potentially dangerous electric shock to a stranger. It was designed to show how easily human beings cow to authority. Now, Polish psychologists, repeating the study, have found