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How Disgust Explains Everything
Two distinguished academics walk into a restaurant in Manhattan. It is their first meeting — their first date, in fact — and the year is 2015. The man wears a down jacket against the icy winter evening. The woman has a shock of glossy white hair. The restaurant is on a cozy corner of the West Village and has foie gras on the menu. What the man doesn’t know is that the interior of his down jacket has suffered a structural failure, and the filling has massed along the bottom hem, forming a conspicuous bulge at his waist. As they greet each other, the woman perceives the bulge and asks herself: Is my date wearing a colostomy bag? They sit down to eat, but the woman is distracted.
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Borderline Personality Disorder May Be Rooted in Trauma
Two winters ago, after a spell of burnout landed her in the hospital, Ann began having disturbing dreams. Visions of her father turned into distressing flashbacks from her childhood—scenes of physical and psychological abuse. A single mother of three daughters, Ann, whose name has been changed for privacy, grew up a town in eastern Germany, an hour’s drive from the country’s capital, Berlin. She spent her childhood surrounded by alcoholics, including her father and her grandfather. After school, she would often return to an empty house, and she found no comfort when her parents came home. Both her mother and father were violent, physically and emotionally.
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New Content From Perspectives on Psychological Science
A sample of articles on evolutionary psychology, longitudinal research, climate change, social media an well-being during the pandemic, the importance of olfaction for relaxation, risk surveys, reduction of social inequalities, and research on gender and sex.
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How Your Brain Copes with Grief, and Why it Takes Time to Heal
Holidays are never quite the same after someone we love dies. Even small aspects of a birthday or a Christmas celebration — an empty seat at the dinner table, one less gift to buy or make — can serve as jarring reminders of how our lives have been forever changed. Although these realizations are hard to face, clinical psychologist Mary-Frances O'Connor says we shouldn't avoid them or try to hide our feelings. "Grief is a universal experience," she notes, "and when we can connect, it is better." O'Connor, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, studies what happens in our brains when we experience grief.
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Starting the New Year with a New Perspective
Dr. Ethan Kross, best-selling author, joins to talk about new book "Chatter, The voice in our head, why it matters, and how to harness it." ...
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22 Tiny Mental Health Habits That Can Improve Your Life In 2022
Another roller coaster year is coming to an end, and the lingering effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have certainly taken a collective toll on our mental health. There’s no way to know what 2022 has in store for us, nor can self-care erase the grief, trauma or other challenges we may have endured over the last 12 months. But as we look toward the new year, we can adopt healthy new habits to help incrementally improve our days, even if just for a moment. Sometimes, that’s more than enough. ...
