Archive

Origins of Common Fears: A Review

Whether you cower while looking down from great heights or fear looking up to the stormy skies, whether you fear the bite of a fat venomous snake or fear the bite-sized fattening snacks, your fears must have had an origin, they must have come from somewhere. But where? Join me as I lead a tour of our collective psyches to discover the origins of our common fears in the major psychological theories of the last century. 

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White lies and black lies: What they have in common and how they differ

Black lies, or telling a lie to gain a personal benefit, are universally condemned. In contrast, white lies, or telling a lie to please another person, are seen as an innocent part of everyday interactions. Does that mean that white lies have no negative consequences? We discuss the origins and consequences of black lies and white lies, and point out the potentially ugly side of white lies.     

Chemical or Financial Imbalances? Mental Health, Income Inequality & American Culture

As societies become more unequal, the prevalence of all forms of mental illness increase—in part—due to the perception of extreme differences in status. The rise of mood disorders is caused by our social immersion in a digital culture—built and shaped via individualistic values—which is the financial machine for perpetuating income inequality. 

Psychiatry is reliant on a...

Demystifying Mental Health...On the Radio! An interview with podcast host Hillary McBride

“I like to tell people when I start working with them that I’m a therapist because therapy has changed my life. As a therapist, I know what it’s like to be on both sides of the couch." Normally, therapy sessions are totally confidential — but a new podcast from the CBC opens the doors. Hillary McBride and her clients want to help demystify mental health. No actors. No auditions. No artifice. In-Mind sat down with...

Fake Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Costs Real Money

As a diagnosis, Posttraumatic stress disorder ( PTSD) rests entirely on what people report about their symptoms. Thus, many people, such as Robert, Lisa, and even a Senator, who strive for compensation money or other benefits, falsely report suffering from it. While lying about the PTSD might be easy, detecting those who fabricate PTSD is a real challenge.

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Bad day? How it can seem even worse for some

Many people do not realize how often our emotions affect us. Our emotions dictate what things we focus on or attend to, how we interpret things, and what things we think of or memories we recall. This article aims to describe how emotion processing biases occur in our lives.

The positive and negative events we experience during the day set the tone for the...

Does social media usage really make people miserable? Fact-checking claims about the psychology of Facebook

There’s been a lot of talk in the news recently about Facebook, and much of the discussion has centered on Facebook’s role in politics and journalism and user privacy. But there are other discussions about Facebook’s product itself, focusing on users’ well-being and psychological health. Specifically, some political commentators...

Improving the Disclosure of Information in an Investigative Interview: Rapport building and the Physical Environment

When you think about an interrogation room, what do you picture? A small, dull, and anxiety-provoking room? You may be right; some interrogation rooms look like this. However, does the room really matter? Is it possible to influence the interviewee through the physical environment of the interrogation? We explore this topic by discussing the current scientific consensus regarding interrogation approaches, and summarize the available literature on how the physical environment influences the disclosure of information.  

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In-Mind Selected as a Top Psychology Blog!

In-Mind Magazine was selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 psychology blogs on the web!   https://blog.feedspot.com/social_psychology_blogs/ / more

Welcome to the Matrix! Opportunities and Risks of the Virtual World

It's been almost 20 years since Neo, "The One", booted up to fight the machines in the global smash hit The Matrix. Once painted as a dark and foreboding frontier, virtual reality now enables and encourages our full emersion. Is this field really as threatening as the film, or can people use it for their own psychological fulfilment as easily as Neo is able to download and learn Kung-Fu? These pressing questions... / more