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The messages we give to ourselves every day have enormous power. Anything that is repeated and repeated and repeated can become “truth†— even when it isn’t. Any coach will tell you that practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect but it certainly does make permanent.
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Repeating negative messages can wear down our sense of self as surely as a constant stream of water will wear down even the hardest stone. Repeating positive messages, on the other hand, is more like creating a pearl in an oyster. With each additional positive message, our confidence and competence grows.
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Positive psychologists have studied this extensively. As long ago as the 1950s, Abraham Maslow said that a self-actualized person is someone who focuses on her talents and strengths. Director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center Dr. Martin Seligman, who has been called the father of positive psychology, has found that when people identify and use their top strengths regularly, they can be more productive and can experience a high level of self-esteem. (If you’d like to identify your top strengths, you can take Dr. Seligman’s free quiz).
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Read in Full:
https://psychcentral.com/blog/positive-self-talk-7-things-mentally-healthy-people-tell-themselves/
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I am now retired and conducting research on killing in combat zones. I served as a medic in the Air Force at Andrews Air Force Base (AFB) in the emergency room of Malcolm Grow hospital. I served from Nov. 1969 to Nov. 1973. There I was, also part a team who started to process prisoner of war (POW) airmen. I also served temporary duty (TDY) at Lackland AFB treating airmen who were transferred out of Vietnam and presenting with substance use disorder (SUD). I never served in Nam. Upon discharge and with the GI Bill, I obtained my advanced degrees in clinical social work and psychology.
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During my 1977 thruough 2000 stint at the Altoona Hospital as a BHC clinician, I had the privilege of conducting psychotherapy in our outpatient clinic and treated some of my comrades referred to us from our local veteran affairs (VA) center. I did therapy with the armed combatants who killed and some of the field medics and corpsmen that killed; but far more importantly, could not save some of their brothers from death.
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Prior to my military service, I studied psychology in college. I paid some attention to the Vietnam War and was comforted by my deferment from the draft. The day I graduated from college, my protection ended. I did not go into teaching and would have had an additional deferment.
During my time in college, I had serious reservations about Vietnam and war in general. Though others protested Vietnam, I never did because of my respect for all men and women in the military. I detested those who protested as they directly, maybe not willingly, were supporting our enemy. So, once I lost my deferment protection, I enlisted in the Air Force mainly because my chances of having to kill someone were greatly reduced. After completing basic, I enrolled in medical training at Sheppard AFB. By the grace of God, my first and only duty station was Andrews.
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Read in Full:
https://psychcentral.com/blog/clinical-observations-combat-and-its-ensuing-trauma/
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You wake up, and already feel absolutely drained. It’s as though the energy has been sucked out of your body. It’s as though your brain left the building while you were sleeping. You’re having a hard time concentrating. You can’t seem to find anything, from your keys to your bag to your lunch. Everything feels extra difficult.
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For Roberto Olivardia, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and ADHD expert who also has ADHD, a difficult day is when he feels out of control. “Unexpected traffic, my computer malfunctioning, feeling way behind on the to-do list or too many days of sleep debt create a sense of chaos and stress.â€
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When this happens, Olivardia turns to his personal three-step process. First, he checks in with his mindset and says, “I can only do so much.†Second, he reviews his list of values, which are written down, to see where he stands in relation to them. He reflects on these questions: “Am I taking care of my health? Have I had enough leisure time?†One of his values is staying healthy so he can be available for his family and his patients.
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Read in Full:
https://psychcentral.com/blog/adhd-and-adults-when-youre-having-a-difficult-day/
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Alcohol helps remove damaging waste from the brain.
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A couple of alcoholic drinks can help clear the brain of toxins, new research finds.
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Low levels of alcohol — the equivalent of around 2.5 standard drinks per day — may help to remove waste linked to Alzheimer’s disease and reduce inflammation in the brain.
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Dr Maiken Nedergaard, who led the study, said:
“Prolonged intake of excessive amounts of ethanol is known to have adverse effects on the central nervous system.However, in this study we have shown for the first time that low doses of alcohol are potentially beneficial to brain health, namely it improves the brain’s ability to remove waste.â€
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The study helps support the view of some research that suggests low levels of alcohol intake can be beneficial.
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Read in Full:
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Propranolol may interfere with the reconsolidation of traumatic memories brought forth during the reactivation session, thus making them less potent and fear-inducing.
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It would be a tremendous breakthrough in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) if patients were able to rid themselves of unwanted traumatic memories. Researchers and clinicians once believed that weakening memories might be an impossible task; however, studies over the past decade have found that when stored memories are retrieved, or reactivated, they temporarily enter a malleable state. Once a person stops thinking about a memory, the memory returns to a stable form, a process known as reconsolidation.
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Adults with PTSD who actively recalled their traumatic event under the influence of propranolol once a week, for up to six weeks, reported a substantial decrease in PTSD symptoms compared with participants who took placebo. This decrease was evident from both the perspective of the patient and clinician.
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Read in Full:
https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2018.pp2a2

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The findings from the Monitoring the Future survey show that nearly 1 in 3 high school seniors vaped in 2017—and not always using nicotine.
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About 13 percent of 8th graders, 24 percent of 10th graders, and nearly 28 percent of 12th graders at U.S. schools reported using a vaping device in the past year, according to data from the 2017 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey. The survey results, which were released in December 2017, found that while most of these students said they mostly vape flavoring liquids, 1 in 10 reported vaping nicotine, and 1 in 20 reported vaping marijuana.
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Read More …
https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2018.1b2
Feb
1
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- *At the beginning of January, we released a statement opposing the introduction of work requirements for Medicaid.
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- *In March, we’ll be holding our annual Day of Mourning at sites around the country. You can sign up to be a Day of Mourning vigil coordinator here.
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- *Applications are now available for our 2018 Autism Campus Inclusion Summer Leadership Academy, a week-long advocacy training in Washington DC. If you know an autistic college student interested in developing their leadership and advocacy skills, let them know!
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- *We’re also pleased to announce the recipients of our 2018 Autistic Scholars Fellowship, a project that supports autistic college students who demonstrate a commitment to disability rights. We’re looking forward to supporting their advocacy work this year and in the future.
Executive Director
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
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What can one say about an article that explores self in terms of stage theories (5 stages that match my own stage theoretic framework), has references to infantile autism and paranoia , and even references Carol Dweck‘s entity vs incremental intelligence theories and George Lakoff‘s ‘idealized cognitive model‘- all focuses of this blog…Well I just love this article by Ulric Neisser titled ‘Five kinds of self-knowledge’. That artcile gives me an opportunity to integrate and synthesize many of the prominent threads of this blog in a coherent narrative.
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Let me start with core thesis of Ulrich that there are at least five different types of selves that we gradually become aware of in developmental time frame. Because Ulrich does such a nice job of presenting his findings , I’ll quote at length from him.
Read in Full:
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Who doesn’t enjoy a walk outdoors in nature? The fact that nature settings are less and less accessible to those who live in cities should be concerning, especially with respect to overall health and well-being. The fact is, however, that continuing research shows nature has multiple benefits for your well-being.
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More than 50 percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas and that proportion is projected to increase to 70 percent by 2050. Despite many benefits of urbanization, studies show that the mental health of urban dwellers is negatively affected by their city environment, with greater prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders and an increasing incidence of schizophrenia. Finding that bit of green space in cities or spending time in nature visiting rural areas may do more than provide a temporary escape from concrete, steel and glass.
Being in nature improves creativity and problem-solving.
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Ever been stumped, hit a wall, unable to arrive at a well-reasoned decision? Most people have, at one time or another. It isn’t coincidence that talking time out to be in nature can result in a subsequent creativity surge and/or the sudden realization of a workable solution. Beyond that, according to 2012 research published in PLoS One, there is a cognitive advantage that accrues from spending time in a natural environment. Other research published in Landscape and Urban Planning found that complex working memory span improved and a decrease in anxiety and rumination resulted from exposure to natural green space.
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Read More …
https://psychcentral.com/blog/10-ways-nature-helps-your-well-being/
