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Republican and Lesbian, and Fighting for Acceptance of Both Identities
The New York Times: In 1996, Kathryn Lehman was a soon-to-be married lawyer working for Republicans in the House of Representatives. One of her major accomplishments: helping to write the law that bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages. Today, Ms. Lehman, 53, no longer has a husband, and no longer identifies as straight. And she is a lobbyist for Freedom to Marry, which is devoted to overturning the very law she helped write, the Defense of Marriage Act. But Ms. Lehman is still a fervent Republican. “I’m trying to break the stereotype that all gays and lesbians, especially lesbians, are Democrats,” she said.
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Messages That Speak to Conservatives’ Morals Narrow Partisan Gap on Environment
Public opinion on environmental issues such as climate change, deforestation, and toxic waste seems to fall along increasingly partisan lines. But new research suggests that environmental messages framed in terms of conservative morals -- describing environmental stewardship in terms of fending off threats to the “purity” and “sanctity” of Earth and our bodies -- may help to narrow the partisan gap.
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Experts call for mental illness screening for children
Chicago Tribune: Leading mental health experts are calling for school children to be screened for risk of mental illnesses such as depression and have devised a test that reliably identifies those at high risk. The test can be done on a computer and could be used to alert doctors and psychologists to intervene early, said Barbara Sahakian a professor of clinical neuropsychology at Britain's Cambridge University. Ian Goodyer, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who worked with Sahakian on a study published on Wednesday, said screening 11- to 12-year-old children could reveal those who have "low resilience" - putting them at higher risk of developing mental illnesses such as depression.
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Updating the Message to Get Americans Moving
The New York Times: Rod Dishman, director of the psychology laboratory at the University of Georgia, is annoyed when students enroll in one of the fitness classes offered at his university. Because it’s a class in walking. “It is a sin for a healthy, capable young adult to enroll in a walking class,” he said. “It is obscene. What they are getting credit for is avoiding making any effort.” And therein lies a problem, Dr. Dishman and other researchers say. The public health message about exercise is that any amount is good and that walking is just fine. Everyone has been told, repeatedly, that regular exercise improves health and makes people feel better, happier, more energetic.
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The Trouble With Talk Therapy
TIME: In a recent Sunday’s New York Times article, a psychotherapist with a freshly hung shingle describes the challenges of earning clients in a market crowded with professionals willing to listen, but with a dwindling number of patients. Her solution? Turning to a “branding consultant” who advises her, among other things, to sell herself as a specialist treating a particular type of patient and to start doing “life coaching” instead. But the trend toward “branding” may be diverting attention away from deeper problems with psychotherapy that are dissuading people from trying it and discouraging insurers from paying for sessions. ...
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Practice makes the perfect liar
NBC: The more you practice a lie, the better you get at it, say the results of a new study. Published Nov. 12 in the journal Frontiers in Cognitive Science, the study found that, after 20 minutes of practicing their cover story, liars could respond just as quickly and easily to lies as to the truth. Moreover, they were no more likely to slip-up on falsehoods than on the truth. "After a short time of training, people can be very efficient at lying," said Xiaoqing Hu, a study co-author and psychology doctoral candidate at Northwestern University. "The difference between lying and being honest has been eliminated after the training." Though people lie for myriad reasons, it's no easy task.
