The psychiworld

12 Jan 2017 06:20

📍5) Landis’ Facial Expressions Experiment (1924):
In 1924, Carney Landis, a psychology graduate at the University of Minnesota developed an experiment to determine whether different emotions create facial expressions specific to that emotion. The aim of this experiment was to see if all people have a common expression when feeling disgust, shock, joy, and so on.

Most of the participants in the experiment were students. They were taken to a lab and their faces were painted with black lines, in order to study the movements of their facial muscles. They were then exposed to a variety of stimuli designed to create a strong reaction. As each person reacted, they were photographed by Landis. The subjects were made to smell ammonia, to look at pornography, and to put their hands into a bucket of frogs. But the controversy around this study was the final part of the test.

Participants were shown a live rat and given instructions to behead it. While all the participants were repelled by the idea, fully one third did it. The situation was made worse by the fact that most of the students had no idea how to perform this operation in a humane manner and the animals were forced to experience great suffering. For the one third who refused to perform the decapitation, Landis would pick up the knife and cut the animals head off for them.

The consequences of the study were actually more important for their evidence that people are willing to do almost anything when asked in a situation like this. The study did not prove that humans have a common set of unique facial expressions.

The psychiworld

12 Jan 2017 06:19

📍3)Stanford Prison Experiment (1971):
This study was not necessarily unethical, but the results were disastrous, and its sheer infamy puts it on this list. Famed psychologist Philip Zimbardo led this experiment to examine that behavior of individuals when placed into roles of either prisoner or guard and the norms these individuals were expected to display.

Prisoners were put into a situation purposely meant to cause disorientation, degradation, and depersonalization. Guards were not given any specific directions or training on how to carry out their roles. Though at first, the students were unsure of how to carry out their roles, eventually they had no problem. The second day of the experiment invited a rebellion by the prisoners, which brought a severe response from the guards. Things only went downhill from there.

Guards implemented a privilege system meant to break solidarity between prisoners and create distrust between them. The guards became paranoid about the prisoners, believing they were out to get them. This caused the privilege system to be controlled in every aspect, even in the prisoners’ bodily functions. Prisoners began to experience emotional disturbances, depression, and learned helplessness. During this time, prisoners were visited by a prison chaplain. They identified themselves as numbers rather than their names, and when asked how they planned to leave the prison, prisoners were confused. They had completely assimilated into their roles.

Dr. Zimbardo ended the experiment after five days, when he realized just how real the prison had become to the subjects. Though the experiment lasted only a short time, the results are very telling. How quickly someone can abuse their control when put into the right circumstances. The scandal at Abu Ghraib that shocked the U.S. in 2004 is prime example of Zimbardo’s experiment findings.

The psychiworld

12 Jan 2017 06:17

📍1) The Monster Study (1939):
The Monster Study was a stuttering experiment on 22 orphan children in Davenport, Iowa, in 1939 conducted by Wendell Johnson at the University of Iowa. Johnson chose one of his graduate students, Mary Tudor, to conduct the experiment and he supervised her research. After placing the children in control and experimental groups, Tudor gave positive speech therapy to half of the children, praising the fluency of their speech, and negative speech therapy to the other half, belittling the children for every speech imperfection and telling them they were stutterers. Many of the normal speaking orphan children who received negative therapy in the experiment suffered negative psychological effects and some retained speech problems during the course of their life. Dubbed “The Monster Study” by some of Johnson’s peers who were horrified that he would experiment on orphan children to prove a theory, the experiment was kept hidden for fear Johnson’s reputation would be tarnished in the wake of human experiments conducted by the Nazis during World War II. The University of Iowa publicly apologized for the Monster Study in 2001.

The psychiworld

28 Dec 2016 20:42

⚪️-Mixed affective episodes: In bipolar disorder, mixed state is a condition during which symptoms of both mania and depression occur simultaneously. Individuals experiencing a mixed state may have manic symptoms such as grandiose thoughts while simultaneously experiencing depressive symptoms such as excessive guilt or feeling suicidal. Mixed states are considered to be high-risk for suicidal behavior since depressive emotions such as hopelessness are often paired with mood swings or difficulties with impulse control. Anxiety disorder occurs more frequently as a comorbidity in mixed bipolar episodes than in non-mixed bipolar depression or mania. Substance abuse (including alcohol) also follows this trend, thereby appearing to depict bipolar symptoms as no more than a consequence of substance abuse.

🔺Part 2 soon🔺

The psychiworld

25 Dec 2016 15:01

📌Cyberbullying among preteens and teens has increased dramatically in recent years as young people spend more time socializing online, according to the Second Youth Internet Safety Survey.

🔴Cyberbullying includes sending hurtful or threatening e-mails or instant messages, spreading rumors or posting embarrassing photos of others.

🔴Not all students feel distress when they're victims of such online bullying, say the researchers.

🔴They found that only 38 percent of those bullied said such incidents made them very upset or afraid.

🔴Bullying was most likely to cause worry when it involved offline contact or an adult harasser.

🔴That distress can have an impact offline, the researchers found.

🔴Young people who are victims of cyberbullying are more likely to report social problems and interpersonal victimization. Being victimized also increases their chances of harassing peers online themselves.

🔴The research also revealed that 68 percent of cyberbullying victims spoke up about their harassment to friends, parents or other authority figures.

🔴That disclosure provides an opportunity for parents and others to ask whether the child is struggling socially or experiencing communication problems with peers. They can then work with the child to find ways to prevent future incidents.

Source apa.org

The psychiworld

26 Oct 2016 21:06

🔴NOTE: None of the 16 types is better than the other, each has its own pros and cons and together these types make up the varied society that we live in.

❗️IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT YOUR PERSONALITY TYPE, TAKE THE TEST BY CLICKING THE FOLLOWING LINK: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

Send this article to your friends so that you can find out their personality types too😜
@psychologynews44

The psychiworld

26 Oct 2016 21:05

@psychologynews44

The psychiworld

07 Oct 2016 08:09

Must read, on mental illness

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2016/10/03/when-mental-illness-is-hereditary/

The psychiworld

28 Sep 2016 14:39

Hi everyone, can you guys please rate this channel in this bot, just press start and rate ❤️(a 5 star would make everyone happy 😉)

/channel/tchannelsbot?start=psychologynews44 just click the link❤️

The psychiworld

26 Sep 2016 18:34

If you have five of these symptoms, you might be depression:👇🏻


🔴A depressed mood during most of the day, particularly in the morning

🔴Fatigue or loss of energy almost every day

🔴Feelings of worthlessness or guilt almost every day

🔴Impaired concentration, indecisiveness

🔴Insomnia (an inability to sleep) or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping) almost every day

🔴Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in almost all activities nearly every day

🔴Recurring thoughts of death or suicide (not just fearing death)

🔴A sense of restlessness or being slowed down

🔴Significant weight loss or weight gain

❤️IF YOU ARE DEPRESSED, PLEASE GET HELP ASAP❤️

The psychiworld

26 Sep 2016 15:09

dont forget to share and rate our channel❤️;

for rating: /channel/tchannelsbot?start=psychologynews44

and sharing: /channel/psychologynews44

Thank you....

The psychiworld

02 Sep 2016 13:02

Psychosis is a set of symptoms that involve a person’s mind “playing tricks on him or her.”  The person experiencing psychosis may have difficulty telling the difference between his or her own thoughts and perceptions and those that come from the outside world. Although real to the person experiencing psychosis, psychotic experiences are not experienced as real to others. In fact, as a medical term, psychosis refers to a loss of contact with reality, or difficulty telling what is real from what is not real.

Psychosis is more common than many people think. Symptoms may come and go or be relatively constant. It is often associated with mental health disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.  However, psychosis can also occur for many other reasons, including substance abuse, brain injury, seizure disorders, or conditions of extreme sleep deprivation or isolation.  

Most importantly, psychosis is treatable. It may be preventable.

The psychiworld

29 Aug 2016 15:15

🔴 #Marijuana use can cause laziness (at least in rats)

A new study has found that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, makes rats less willing to try a cognitively demanding task.

“Perhaps unsurprisingly, we found that when we gave THC to these rats, they basically became cognitively lazy,” said Mason Silveira, the study’s lead author and a Ph.D. candidate in the department of psychology at the University of British Columbia.

“What’s interesting, however, is that their ability to do the difficult challenge was unaffected by THC. The rats could still do the task — they just didn’t want to.”

The study may throw some light on what has been called amotivational syndrome in humans who smoke marijuana heavily for a long time. While still a point of debate among experts and researchers, the syndrome is characterized by apathy, dullness, lethargy, and impaired judgment, but only affects some heavy users.

For this study, published in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, researchers looked at the effects of both THC and cannabidiol (CBD) on rats’ willingness to exert cognitive effort.

They trained 29 rats to perform a behavioral experiment in which the animals had to choose whether they wanted an easy or difficult challenge to earn sugary treats.

At the beginning of each experiment, the rats chose between two levers to signal whether they wanted an easy or hard challenge.

Choosing the easy challenge resulted in a light turning on for one second, which the rats could easily detect and respond to by poking it with their nose, receiving one sugar pellet as a reward. In the more difficult challenge, the light turned on for only 0.2 seconds, rewarding the rat with two sugar pellets if they responded with a nose poke.

Under normal circumstances, most rats preferred the harder challenge to earn a bigger reward, according to the researchers. But when the rats were given THC, the animals switched to the easier option, despite earning a smaller reward.

When the scientists looked at the effect of CBD, an ingredient in marijuana that does not result in a high, researchers found the chemical did not have any effect on rats’ decision-making or attention.

CBD, which is believed to be beneficial in treating pain, epilepsy and even cancer, also didn’t block the negative effects of THC.

“This was surprising, as it had been suggested that high concentrations of CBD could modulate or reduce the negative effects of THC,” said Dr. Catharine Winstanley, senior author of the study and an associate professor in University of British Columbia’s department of psychology. “Unfortunately, that did not appear to be the case.”

Given how essential willingness to exert cognitive effort is for people to achieve success, Winstanley said the findings underscore the importance of realizing the possible effect of cannabis use on affecting the willingness to engage in harder tasks.

The findings highlight a need for more research to determine what THC does to the human brain to alter decision-making, the researchers noted. That could eventually allow scientists to block these effects of THC, allowing those who use medical marijuana to enjoy the possible benefits of cannabis without the less desirable cognitive effects, they said.👀

Source: University of British Columbia

Second source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2016/08/28/marijuana-use-can-cause-laziness-at-least-in-rats/109136.html

The psychiworld

24 Aug 2016 16:58

Like our facebook page for debates and more:

www.facebook.com/psychology44

The psychiworld

23 Aug 2016 10:06

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schizophrenia_video.webm

The psychiworld

12 Jan 2017 06:20

📍4)Monkey Drug Trials (1969):
While animal experimentation can be incredibly helpful in understanding man, and developing life saving drugs, there have been experiments which go well beyond the realms of ethics. The monkey drug trials of 1969 were one such case. In this experiment, a large group of monkeys and rats were trained to inject themselves with an assortment of drugs, including morphine, alcohol, codeine, cocaine, and amphetamines. Once the animals were capable of self-injecting, they were left to their own devices with a large supply of each drug.

The animals were so disturbed (as one would expect) that some tried so hard to escape that they broke their arms in the process. The monkeys taking cocaine suffered convulsions and in some cases tore off their own fingers (possible as a consequence of hallucinations), one monkey taking amphetamines tore all of the fur from his arm and abdomen, and in the case of cocaine and morphine combined, death would occur within 2 weeks.

The point of the experiment was simply to understand the effects of addiction and drug use; a point which, I think, most rational and ethical people would know did not require such horrendous treatment of animals.

The psychiworld

12 Jan 2017 06:18

📍2) The Aversion Project (1970s and 1980s):
South Africa’s apartheid army forced white lesbian and gay soldiers to undergo ‘sex-change’ operations in the 1970’s and the 1980’s, and submitted many to chemical castration, electric shock, and other unethical medical experiments. Although the exact number is not known, former apartheid army surgeons estimate that as many as 900 forced ‘sexual reassignment’ operations may have been performed between 1971 and 1989 at military hospitals, as part of a top-secret program to root out homosexuality from the service.

Army psychiatrists aided by chaplains aggressively ferreted out suspected homosexuals from the armed forces, sending them discretely to military psychiatric units, chiefly ward 22 of 1 Military Hospital at Voortrekkerhoogte, near Pretoria. Those who could not be ‘cured’ with drugs, aversion shock therapy, hormone treatment, and other radical ‘psychiatric’ means were chemically castrated or given sex-change operations.

Although several cases of lesbian soldiers abused have been documented so far—including one botched sex-change operation—most of the victims appear to have been young, 16 to 24-year-old white males drafted into the apartheid army.

Dr. Aubrey Levin (the head of the study) is now Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry (Forensic Division) at the University of Calgary’s Medical School. He is also in private practice, as a member in good standing of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.

The psychiworld

12 Jan 2017 06:15

Top ten unethical studies:

The psychiworld

28 Dec 2016 20:42

⚫️An In-depth Analysis of Bipolar Disorder:
The Signs, Symptoms, Causes and Management(1/3)

🔺Before we start going in-depth into this broad subject, we must first understand what is Bipolar Disorder and how can we define it?

Bipolar Disorder, also known as manic depression, is a mental disorder with periods of depression and periods of elevated mood. During mania, an individual behaves or feels abnormally energetic, happy or irritable. Individuals often make poorly thought out decisions with little regard to the consequences. The need for sleep is usually reduced during manic phases. During periods of depression there may be crying, a negative outlook on life, and poor eye contact with others.

1⃣- Part 1: Signs and Symptoms

Mania is the defining feature of bipolar disorder, and can occur with different levels of severity. With milder levels of mania, known as hypomania, individuals are energetic, excitable, and may be highly productive. As hypomania worsens, individuals begin to exhibit erratic and impulsive behavior, often making poor decisions due to unrealistic ideas about the future, and sleep very reduced. At the extreme, manic individuals can experience distorted or delusional beliefs about the universe, hallucinate, hear voices, to the point of psychosis. A depressive episode commonly follows an episode of mania.

🔴-Manic episodes: Mania is a distinct period of at least one week of elevated or irritable mood, which can range from euphoria to delirium, and those experiencing hypo- or mania may exhibit three or more of the following behaviors: speak in a rapid, uninterruptible manner, short attention span, racing thoughts, increased goal-oriented activities, agitation, or they may exhibit behaviors characterized as impulsive or high-risk, such as hypersexuality or excessive spending. To meet the definition for a manic episode, these behaviors must impair the individual's ability to socialize or work. If untreated, a manic episode usually lasts three to six months.

⚫️-Hypomanic episodes: Hypomania is the milder form of mania, defined as at least four days of the same criteria as mania, but does not cause a significant decrease in the individual's ability to socialize or work, lacks psychotic features such as delusions or hallucinations, and does not require psychiatric hospitalization. Overall functioning may actually increase during episodes of hypomania and is thought to serve as a defense mechanism against depression by some. Hypomanic episodes rarely progress to full blown manic episodes. Some people who experience hypomania show increased creativity while others are irritable or demonstrate poor judgment.

🔵-Depressive episodes: Symptoms of the depressive phase of bipolar disorder include persistent feelings of sadness, irritability or anger, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities, excessive or inappropriate guilt, hopelessness, sleeping too much or not enough, changes in appetite and/or weight, fatigue, problems concentrating, self-loathing or feelings of worthlessness, and thoughts of death or suicidal ideation. In severe cases, the individual may develop symptoms of psychosis, a condition also known as severe bipolar disorder with psychotic features. These symptoms include delusions and hallucinations. A major depressive episode persists for at least two weeks, and may result in suicide if left untreated.

The psychiworld

19 Dec 2016 04:29

💥How Prejudice Differs in People of Higher and Lower Intelligence

❗Think that you are beyond prejudice? Think again. A new study shows that as people become more intelligent they don’t become any less prejudiced, they only change who they are prejudiced towards, with the usual direction going towards those who we see as different from ourselves.

In order to study a wide range of biases, and to avoid confusion, the researchers defined prejudice as “‘a negative evaluation of a group or of an individual on the basis of group membership” for the purposes of this study. 

The study took 5,914 individuals and tested them for their “cognitive ability”, determined by their score on the Wordsum test of verbal ability. The subjects were asked of their opinions of certain groups of people such as Christians, Hispanics, or the poor. Those answers were later converted to a zero to 100 scale, with 100 being the most negatively viewed.

The study showed that individuals of higher and lower intelligence showed similar levels of prejudice, but not towards the same people. Persons of lower cognitive ability tended to be prejudiced towards “low choice” groups, persons who have little control over the fact that they happen to be a member of that group. More intelligent persons were more prejudiced against “high choice” groups, where the members of that group, hypothetically, had greater ability to opt in or out of membership in that group.🔚

Read more: http://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/everybody-is-a-little-bit-prejudiced-sometimes?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1481911102

The psychiworld

26 Oct 2016 21:06

⚫️ The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator ⚫️

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an introspective self report questionnaire (meaning that you answer the questions about your own psychological mind without the interference of a researcher) designed to indicate psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions.

The MBTI was constructed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. It is based on the theories of renowned Swiss psychologist Carl Jung who had speculated that there are four principal psychological functions by which humans experience the world – sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking – and that one of these four functions is dominant for a person most of the time.

🔴The MBTI was constructed for normal populations and emphasizes the value of naturally occurring differences.

—------------------------—
⚫️Types⚫️

There are 16 different personality types in the MBTI, each is made up of a different combination of 4 letters and each letter indicates a different trait. After every 4-letter combination there is one trait that dominates over the other four and shows how confident we are in our abilities and decisions.
—-------------------------
⚫️Traits⚫️

🔘Usually there are 4 different sets of traits, each trait is the opposite of the other one that is in the same set; For further explanation see below
—-------------------

🔶1⃣ Mind (Extraversion/Introversion): This aspect shows how we interact with our surroundings⬇️

🔴 Extraversion (E): Extraverted individuals prefer group activities and get energized by social interaction. They tend to be more enthusiastic and more easily excited than introverts

🔵 Introversion (I): Introverted individuals prefer solitary activities and get exhausted by social interaction. They tend to be quite sensitive to external stimulation (e.g. sound, sight or smell) in general.

—---------------------

🔶2⃣ Energy (Observant/Intuitive): The second aspect determines how we see the world and process information⬇️

🔴 Observant (S): Observant individuals are highly practical, pragmatic and down-to-earth. They tend to have strong habits and focus on what is happening or has already happened.

🔵 Intuitive (N): Intuitive individuals are very imaginative, open-minded and curious. They prefer novelty over stability and focus on hidden meanings and future possibilities.

—---------------------

🔶3⃣ Nature (Thinking/Feeling): This aspect determines how we make decisions and cope with emotions⬇️

🔴 Thinking (T): Thinking individuals focus on objectivity and rationality, prioritizing logic over emotions. They tend to hide their feelings and see efficiency as more important than cooperation.

🔵 Feeling (F): Feeling individuals are sensitive and emotionally expressive. They are more empathic and less competitive than Thinking types, and focus on social harmony and cooperation.

—------------------—

🔶4⃣ Tactics (Judging/Prospecting): This aspect reflects our approach to work, planning and decision-making⬇️

🔴 Judging (J): Judging individuals are decisive, thorough and highly organized. They value clarity, predictability and closure, preferring structure and planning to spontaneity.

🔵 Prospecting (P): Prospecting individuals are very good at improvising and spotting opportunities. They tend to be flexible, relaxed nonconformists who prefer keeping their options open.
—------------------—

❗️Sometimes an extra 5th trait set is used:

🔶5⃣ Identity (Assertive/Turbulent): Finally, the Identity aspect underpins all others, showing how confident we are in our abilities and decisions⬇️

🔴 Assertive (-A): Assertive individuals are self-assured, even-tempered and resistant to stress. They refuse to worry too much and do not push themselves too hard when it comes to achieving goals.

🔵Turbulent (-T): Turbulent individuals are self-conscious and sensitive to stress. They are likely to experience a wide range of emotions and to be success-driven, perfectionistic and eager to improve.
—---------------------------------------------------------- @psychologynews44

The psychiworld

18 Oct 2016 18:55

🔴Recency and Primacy Effects

The order in which information is learned determines how reliably it will be recalled. The first item in a list is initially distinguished from previous activities as important (primacy effect) and may be transferred to long-term memory by the time of recall. Items at the end of the list are still in short-term memory (recency effect) at the time of recall.

The psychiworld

29 Sep 2016 12:37

🙄(BIID) body Identity Integrity disorder:

Body integrity identity disorder (BIID, also referred to as amputee identity disorder) is a psychological disorder in which an otherwise healthy individual feels that they are meant to be disabled. "Transability", an almost identical disorder, is medically recognized by the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5, but BIID is not. BIID is related to xenomelia, "the dysphoric feeling that one or more limbs of one's body do not belong to one's self".
BIID is typically accompanied by the desire to amputate one or more healthy limbs. It also includes the desire for other forms of disability, as in the case of a woman who intentionally blinded herself. BIID can be associated with apotemnophilia, sexual arousal based on the image of one's self as an amputee. The cause of BIID is unknown. One hypothesis states that it results from a neurological failing of the brain's inner body mapping function (located in the right parietal lobe) to incorporate the affected limb in its understanding of the body's physical form.

Sufferers of BIID are uncomfortable with a part of their body, such as a limb, and feel confident that removing or disabling this part of their body will relieve their discomfort. Sufferers may have intense feelings of envy toward amputees. They may pretend that they are an amputee, both in public and in private. Sufferers experience the above symptoms as being strange and unnatural. They may try to injure themselves to require the amputation of that limb. They are generally ashamed of their thoughts and may try to hide them from others, including therapists and health care professionals.
The majority of BIID sufferers are white middle-aged males, although this discrepancy may not be nearly as large as previously thought. Most commonly an an above-the-knee amputation of the left leg is desired, but amputations may also involve the arms, or instead manifest itself as a need for paralysis, or involve the senses, such as hearing or vision.
A sexual motivation for being or looking like an amputee is called apotemnophilia. In addition, apotemnophilia should not be mistaken for acrotomophilia, which describes a person who is sexually attracted to other people who are already missing limbs. However, many of the people who experience one also experience the other.🔚

❗️SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_integrity_identity_disorder
#bodyIdentityIntegrity

The psychiworld

28 Sep 2016 14:32

❗️effects of neurotransmitters:

🔺ACETYLCHOLINE: Muscle contraction, and a role in development of memory.

🔺DOPAMINE: Voluntary movement, learning, and feeling of pleasure.

🔺NOREPINEPHRINE: Arousal, alertness.

🔺SEROTONIN: Sleep, arousal levels, and emotion.

Dont forget to share our channel.❤️

💊individuals suffering depression use the pills which activate dopamin in the brain, and individuals who stiffer insomnia use pills that activate serotonin transmitters 💊

The psychiworld

26 Sep 2016 15:11

♨BIPOLAR:
❗️A disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs.

Each episode usually lasts days to weeks at a time. Episodes may occur several times a year or throughout the year.

Mania symptoms include periods of elevated mood or irritability. When experiencing a manic episode, a patient often has high energy levels with reduced need for sleep. Less often, people may experience psychosis. Depression symptoms include feeling sad, low energy, low motivation, or loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities.

Treatments can help reduce symptoms. Medications include valproic acid, lithium, lamotrigine, quetiapine, among others. Other treatments include cognitive behavior therapy or psychotherapy.

The psychiworld

07 Sep 2016 20:53

On this day in #psychology .....

The psychiworld

31 Aug 2016 09:00

#psychosis or #psychotic disorder 👀:

A mental disorder characterised by a disconnection from reality.

Possible symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, talking incoherently and agitation. The person with the condition usually isn't aware of his or her behaviour.
Treatment may include medication and talk therapy.

More coming soon on psychosis.....

Source: Mayo Clinic and others

The psychiworld

26 Aug 2016 07:26

💢 #mental illness feels like

The psychiworld

24 Aug 2016 07:23

❗️how to build up #self-esteem :

🔺1. Use positive affirmations correctly
Positive affirmations such as “I am going to be a great success!” are extremely popular, but they have one critical problem — they tend to make people with low self-worth feel worse about themselves. Why? Because when our self-esteem is low, such declarations are simply too contrary to our existing beliefs. Ironically, positive affirmations do work for one subset of people — those whose self-esteem is already high. For affirmations to work when your self-esteem is lagging, tweak them to make them more believable. For example, change “I’m going to be a great success!” to “I’m going to persevere until I succeed!”

🔺2. Identify your competencies and develop them
Self-esteem is built by demonstrating real ability and achievement in areas of our lives that matter to us. If you pride yourself on being a good cook, throw more dinner parties. If you’re a good runner, sign up for races and train for them. In short, figure out your core competencies and find opportunities and careers that accentuate them.

🔺3. Learn to accept compliments
One of the trickiest aspects of improving self-esteem is that when we feel bad about ourselves we tend to be more resistant to compliments — even though that is when we most need them. So, set yourself the goal to tolerate compliments when you receive them, even if they make you uncomfortable (and they will). The best way to avoid the reflexive reactions of batting away compliments is to prepare simple set responses and train yourself to use them automatically whenever you get good feedback (e.g., “Thank you” or “How kind of you to say”). In time, the impulse to deny or rebuff compliments will fade — which will also be a nice indication your self-esteem is getting stronger.

🔺4. Eliminate self-criticism and introduce self-compassion
Unfortunately, when our self-esteem is low, we are likely to damage it even further by being self-critical. Since our goal is to enhance our self-esteem, we need to substitute self-criticism (which is almost always entirely useless, even if it feels compelling) with self-compassion. Specifically, whenever your self-critical inner monologue kicks in, ask yourself what you would say to a dear friend if they were in your situation (we tend to be much more compassionate to friends than we are to ourselves) and direct those comments to yourself. Doing so will avoid damaging your self-esteem further with critical thoughts, and help build it up instead.

🔺5. Affirm your real worth
The following exercise has been demonstrated to help revive your self-esteem after it sustained a blow: Make a list of qualities you have that are meaningful in the specific context. For example, if you got rejected by your date, list qualities that make you a good relationship prospect (for example, being loyal or emotionally available); if you failed to get a work promotion, list qualities that make you a valuable employee (you have a strong work ethic or are responsible). Then choose one of the items on your list and write a brief essay (one to two paragraphs) about why the quality is valuable and likely to be appreciated by other people in the future. Do the exercise every day for a week or whenever you need a self-esteem boost.

The bottom line is improving self-esteem requires a bit of work, as it involves developing and maintaining healthier emotional habits but doing so, and especially doing so correctly, will provide a great emotional and psychological return on your investment

SOURCE: www.ted.com

The psychiworld

23 Aug 2016 10:05

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to understand what is real.[2] Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, hearing voices, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and a lack of motivation.[2][3] People with schizophrenia often have additional mental health problems such as anxiety disorders, major depressive illness, or substance use disorder.[4] Symptoms typically come on gradually, begin in young adulthood, and last a long time