Psych Central Blogs

Psych Central hosts a number of blogs highlighting different concerns in mental health and psychology, bringing fresh perspectives, ideas and news updates in small, digestable nuggets. Below, you'll find an index of the most recent entries from our blogs.

World of Psychology

Happy Independence Day

By John M Grohol PsyD on Saturday, July 04th, 2009 in World of Psychology

We're celebrating our Independence Day here in the U.S. today, so I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and safe day of celebration. We're celebrating our 233rd birthday today, but please don't call...

6 Quick Sanity Tricks

By Therese J. Borchard on Friday, July 03rd, 2009 in World of Psychology

Awhile back I asked you for your sanity tricks, techniques that help you fight the forces of the dark side. Here are some of the gems. 1. Learn the alphabet. Do you know why the vowel "I" comes well before the...

Breakthrough for Schizophrenia and Bipolar

By John M Grohol PsyD on Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 in World of Psychology

Earlier today, we reported that NIMH-funded researchers at three different genetic research institutes from around the world collaborated and published three new studies yesterday in the journal, Nature, that suggested a true breakthrough in our understanding of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder....

Declaring Independence from Fear

By John M Grohol PsyD on Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 in World of Psychology

Independence Day in the U.S. is the day that America declared its independence from a tyrannical government, but real independence took many longer, hard years of war. The sacrifice of tens of thousands of people was needed first,...

Why Do Kids Behave the Way They Do? Listen to Doctor Radio this July 4th

By John M Grohol PsyD on Wednesday, July 01st, 2009 in World of Psychology

Ever wonder why kids behave the way they do? Satellite radio Sirius XM and a team of medical experts from NYU Langone Medical Center have the answer with a special on the Doctor Radio channel on July 4th. Doctor Radio is heard on SIRIUS channel 114 and XM channel 119....

Anxiety & OCD Exposed

Dogs, Fireworks, Fear and the 4th of July

By Laura L. Smith, Ph.D. on Friday, July 03rd, 2009 in Anxiety & OCD Exposed

Happy 4th of July. Tonight, we’ll sit outside and watch the fireworks from our backyard. Our dogs will likely be close by; not terribly frightened, but a bit upset by the explosions. We’ll keep an eye on them-watching for signs of fear. Dogs often react strongly to the noise of...

A Recent Interview of Us by David DiSalvo, Part 2

By Charles H. Elliott, Ph.D. on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 in Anxiety & OCD Exposed

Part II (see previous blog entry for Part I of this interview, conducted by David DiSalvo) Tell us what “anxiety” really is in a clinical sense, and how it’s different than “a case of nerves” that everyone occasionally feels. You’re correct that everyone feels stress and gets a case...

Bipolar Beat

Bipolar Doctor – How Does Yours Stack Up?

By Joe Kraynak on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 in Bipolar Beat

My wife has gone through nearly a dozen psychiatrists in search for the perfect doctor to treat her bipolar disorder. Some have moved, others were lost due to changes in insurance, and a few were simply ineffective in providing treatment. I would say that the absolute worst was when she...

Bipolar Disorder Q&A: Can someone have bipolar without depression?

By Candida Fink MD on Friday, June 12th, 2009 in Bipolar Beat

Ari Asks… I have a friend who has most symptoms of bipolar, but doesn’t seem to have any obvious sign of depression. He has most other signs of bipolar. He’s had about four episodes of manic behavior in the last five months which had lasted three to four days. Could...

Celebrity Psychings

Super Rich And Physically Dominant? Mental Illness Doesn’t Care.

By Alicia Sparks on Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 in Celebrity Psychings

How would you react if you found out your favorite athlete was struggling with anxiety, depression, or some other mental health condition? In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Professional Baseball Faces Loaded Issue: Mental Health, Shirley Wang states: Some fans might not feel much sympathy for the...

Bid On Lunch With A Celeb, Help A Mental Health Charity

By Alicia Sparks on Monday, June 29th, 2009 in Celebrity Psychings

Hey South Africans: If you’ve got some extra cash lying around, and are in the mood to both have lunch with a celebrity and help a mental health charity (I know those are generally two goals of mine when I wake up each morning), head over to bidorbuy at some...

Depression on My Mind

Why Michael Matters

By Christine Stapleton on Wednesday, July 01st, 2009 in Depression On My Mind

For a few minute let’s peel our eyes from the “exclusive last photo!”, the “rare, behind the scenes footage!” and time-lapse photographs of Michael Jackson’s nose. Instead, let’s look at the horrific progression of untreated mental illness. I am not a doctor but I don’t need a degree to see...

I have depression but I AM happy

By Christine Stapleton on Monday, June 29th, 2009 in Depression On My Mind

The deal with living with depression, and being open about it, is this: I AM NOT ALWAYS DEPRESSED! I am not a negative person all the time. Most of the time I am stable and happy - or at least in a good mood. I love my life. I have...

Family Mental Health

Independence Day - A Sense of Family

By Erika Krull, MS, LMHP on Friday, July 03rd, 2009 in Family Mental Health

As I’m writing this, fireworks are just starting to pop in my neighborhood.  It’s dusk, too early for the really cool ones, but lots of people are making noise.  It’s Independence Day tomorrow, a celebratory Fourth of July weekend.  And like all proud families, the population of our country...

More Post Surgery Thoughts - Fears, Stress, and Resiliency

By Erika Krull, MS, LMHP on Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 in Family Mental Health

I had wondered if this surgery might prompt a possible rebound of depression symptoms.  The surgery was similar to past ones and it was at the same hospital.  I actually think that part went OK.  Had lots of contact with family and friends, the surgery went quicker than we...

Mindfulness & Psychotherapy

Hectic Life? Quick Tips for Mindful Living

By Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. on Friday, July 03rd, 2009 in Mindfulness & Psychotherapy

A person once said to me, “I hear about all this research where mindfulness can be healing for stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, chronic pain, etc.., but I have 3 kids and work 50 hours/week, where would I ever find time to sit and practice meditation for my mental health?” While...

Where can You Find Enlightenment?

By Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. on Wednesday, July 01st, 2009 in Mindfulness & Psychotherapy

Enlightenment, a term often stemming from Hindu or Buddhist roots, is defined as the extinction of human suffering. Wow, that’s a tall order. Although when we sit down to actually consider this term, it’s merely an aspiration that can serve as a beacon to direct us in the direction that...

Therapy Unplugged

Color me Cyclothymic

By Sonia Neale on Wednesday, July 01st, 2009 in Therapy Unplugged

Sometimes I wake up feeling so euphoric it’s a pleasure to bounce out of bed and other days I have a brick in my stomach so heavy I can barely crawl inside the coffee pot. This is better than how I used to feel, pre-therapy, which was like...

Instant Gratification Takes Too Long

By Sonia Neale on Monday, June 29th, 2009 in Therapy Unplugged

Impulse control is fundamental for living effectively in the present moment. Squashing down those primitive emotions that threaten to overwhelm, holding back those body twitches that have me grabbing for food, cigarettes or alcohol, sitting on my trembling hands so I don’t email something inappropriate, do something dangerous, smack...

Channel N

Promoting Rational Decisions

By Sandra Kiume on Friday, July 03rd, 2009 in Channeln N

Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman explains behavioral economics to a graduating class....

Ethical Alcoholism Treatment

By Sandra Kiume on Friday, June 26th, 2009 in Channeln N

Excellent day-long conference on the ethics of alcoholism treatment and alternative treatments....

PsychSplash

Canine Comapions for Independence

By Psych Central Resource Editor on Friday, July 03rd, 2009 in PsychSplash

Canine Companions for Independence provides assistance dogs to people with developmental or physical disabilities who can demonstrate that a Canine...

Couple Connection

By Psych Central Resource Editor on Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 in PsychSplash

This interactive, self-help site will provide you with resources and practical tools that will enable you to improve your relationship....