Contextualizing Sociopath: A Memoir, by Patric Gagne, PhD I’m posting twice in a row about literature. In this case, the book being discussed is not fictional, but autobiographical. As the title, Sociopath: A Memoir, suggests, the book has a specific aim in mind. Dr. Gagne hopes her story will connect with other people one might… Continue reading Literature – Sociopath: A Memoir
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Literature and psychology: Passage
Processing Passage I just finished reading the novel Passage, by Connie Willis, and I thought it would be a great topic for a post here. Both thinking about the content of the novel itself, and the context of people’s online review responses. I will try my best to refrain from spoilers. For those of you… Continue reading Literature and psychology: Passage
Holiday wishes: People Know Themselves
Socrates was Right [(Thou) Know(est) Thyself] When times feel dark, both figuratively and literally, winter holiday traditions and messages sometimes light the way. Whether the menorah lights of Chanukah or Kwanzaa, the tree lights of Christmas, or the candles of Yalda (and likely, others I don’t know!), people come together to support each other with… Continue reading Holiday wishes: People Know Themselves
Psychological Misinformation and Conferences
Conferences: Who is psychological science for? I recent got back from a psychology conference, for the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, of which I am a member. For the first time, I presented material of my own (outside of a poster way back in 2008). It was exciting, and nerve-wracking. And the convention got… Continue reading Psychological Misinformation and Conferences
Psychology and Literature: Stories of Good and Evil (II)
Good vs. Evil: Picking up from a cliffhanger… When last we met, oh no! Good vs. Evil mythology had crept into the very moral makeup of our society! It suggests we can reduce complex issues into simple heroes and villains. And we started to look at how these stories surround us even from childhood, with… Continue reading Psychology and Literature: Stories of Good and Evil (II)
Stigma and Psychological Misinformation
I’ll get back to part II of Good vs. Evil next time. But before I do, I wanted to share a realization I recently had. Psychological misinformation and the vilification of stigma You may have to bear with me on this one. I’m sharing a perspective I have never heard voiced before. All I ever… Continue reading Stigma and Psychological Misinformation
Psychology and Literature: Stories of Good vs. Evil
Good versus evil: Our cultural myth One of the prominent themes in our cultural mythos is good versus evil. This theme reverberates in stories from antiquity through the present: God versus Satan or the Devil; Beowulf versus Grendel; the American colonies versus the evil monarchy of King George III; rich versus poor; established, dominant versus… Continue reading Psychology and Literature: Stories of Good vs. Evil
“I Am”
Inform through poetry: “I Am” I’m going with a change of pace and style for this post. Most of the time, I focus on what the philosopher Jacques Derrida called “deconstruction.” Every concept, moral, or perspective has one or more starting assumptions. When thinking within those assumptions, everything that follows may feel like truth. All… Continue reading “I Am”
Psychological Misinformation: Normal
Psychological Misinformation and the search for the normal When I was perhaps 8 or 9 years old, I asked my mother, “Is anyone actually normal?” It was one of those moments where child innocence cuts through the massive weight of worldviews drilled into us by adulthood, to identify something simple but profound. It was also,… Continue reading Psychological Misinformation: Normal
Psychological Misinformation: Individual psychopathology
Are we programmed to certain individually-located mental illness? There are a few assumptions that underly the concept of mental illness in western medicine. One of these is that there is a specific process of illness that is contained within an individual person. This can seem obvious for many medical issues. If I have high blood… Continue reading Psychological Misinformation: Individual psychopathology