///Identifying an Impulsive Personality///

There are people who think things out before they do them and then there are those that act on impulse. The personalities that normally act on impulse are the ones that are more likely to get into tough situations that aren’t easy to rectify, if they can be rectified at all. There is a lot to be said from impulsive actions at times.

It leads to having a much more spontaneous lifestyle. It can also lead to some situations the impulsive person does not want to deal with. In order to gain an understanding of impulsive personalities, you must get an idea of how to identify who those people are.

Here is how to identify an impulsive personality:

Quick Answers- An impulsive personality doesn’t allow the person to think before they speak. If you ask them a question, they will answer without thinking about what you are asking. This often results in poor answers or the wrong answer. This is one of the fastest ways to identify someone with an impulsive personality.

Jumpiness/Fidgeting- These two traits is nearly a sure sign that the person you are dealing with has an impulsive personality. If someone tends to fidget a lot or jump around all the time, it shows a tendency to act on impulse. They just can’t sit still. They wiggle and pick at things because they always need to be doing something. The impulsive personality doesn’t have a lot of control over the need to do something all the time.

When Shopping- If you are shopping with an impulsive person, you will notice that they pick things up to purchase without thinking about whether they really need or can afford it. They will make excuses as to why they need it. They will justify spending the money that they need for bills in some way, but they will buy the product anyway. An impulsive shopper is easy to detect. They are the ones that have an arm full of bags of useless products.

Spontaneous- Not all people that are spontaneous are impulsive, but all impulsive people are spontaneous. They will drop what they are doing, no matter what it is to do something else. They will run out the door to do something on impulse. The difference between being spontaneous and being impulsive is that the impulsive person does it as a rule rather than as an exception to the rule.

Work- Impulsive people will work, but they may not stay on the job forever. Impulsive people will quit their job without notice or warning. They will do it if they feel wronged by the company or even by a co-worker. They will do it without thought as to whether they can pay their bills. It isn’t until they have quit their jobs that they will realize it was a mistake.

Consequences- Impulsive people know all about consequences of actions yet they will still do it. They don’t give much thought to how the entire scenario will play out. They can only see that what they are doing is the right thing for them right now. Everything is about the moment with impulsive people. There is no past and there is no future, there is only now. That is the only time that an impulsive person thinks about when making rash decisions.

If you or someone you know behaves in any of the above manners, they may have an impulsive personality. That personality can work for them at times, but it can also cause them a great deal of trouble. There are ways to get an impulsive personality under control. Acting on impulse can ruin your life in the right situation. It is time for behavior modification.

Fear and Loathing in a Modern Age : From the Annals of Psychology

First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” These inspiring words, borrowed from scribes Henry David Thoreau and Michel de Montaigne, were spoken by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at his first inauguration during the only era more perilous than the one we currently face.

But FDR had it easy. All he had to face was 25% unemployment and 2 million homeless Americans. We have, among other things, climate change, carcinogens, leaky breast implants, the obesity epidemic, the West Nile virus, SARS, avian/swine flu, flesh-eating disease, pedophiles, predators, herpes, satanic cults, mad cow disease, crack cocaine, and let’s not forget that paragon of Malthusian-like fatalism—terror.

In his brilliant book The Science of Fear, journalist Daniel Gardner delves into the psychology and physiology of fear and the incendiary factors that drive it, including media, advertising, government, business and our own evolutionary mold. For a parting shot of 2009, we extend the science into a personal reflection, a discussion of why, despite there never having been a better time to be alive, we are more afraid than ever, and how we can turn a more rational leaf in the year 2010.

Two Different Worlds We Live In - The Hasan Murders

Divergent reactions to Fort Hood prove Americans occupy separate universes

The most fundamental truth in psychology is that human beings filter the world through their own prisms. There is no objective reality for humans - only the reality seen by each person and the groups to which they belong.

There have always been two Americas - now termed Red and Blue America. This was evident during the HUAC hearings on communism in the fifties, where virtually everyone in Hollywood and New York was a suspect, and men with pinched glasses and comb overs grilled liberals and Jews in the arts about their past political associations.

That we are so focused currently on Red and Blue America indicates we have reached another apex - like the one during the McCarthy-HUAC era. Only now, it seems most Americans have staked out their positions and taken up battle stations. And the Nasan murders are a perfect illustration of the two different worlds we live in, as represented in the New York Times and Fox-Murdoch News.


The morning-after reflections on the mass homicide by the Moslem military psychiatrist read like they were written by people occupying two different countries - or planets - which they do.

Here are the New York Times opinion pieces on the murders:

Max Cleland: The Forever War of the Mind. "While the authorities say they cannot yet tell us why an Army psychiatrist would go on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas, we do know the sorts of stories he had been dealing with as he tried to help those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan readjust to life outside the war zone. A soldier's mind can be just as dangerous to himself, and to those around him, as wars fought on traditional battlefields."

Bob Herbert: Stress Beyond Belief. "Simply stated, we cannot continue sending service members into combat for three tours, four tours, five tours and more without paying a horrendous price in terms of the psychological well-being of the troops and their families, and the overall readiness of the armed forces to protect the nation."

Joseph Kinney: Surviving Fort Hood. "The killings at Fort Hood are a reminder of our failure to deal with the psychological wounds of war."

Editorial: The Horror at Fort Hood. "In the aftermath of this unforgivable attack, it will be important to avoid drawing prejudicial conclusions from the fact that Major Hasan is an American Muslim whose parents came from the Middle East."

And those from Murdoch's New York Post:Editorial: Terror in Texas. "In the terrorists' war on America, every square inch of the nation is a potential battlefield, including Ft. Hood, Texas. The point of terrorism is to terrorize. It matters not at all whether the victims are soldiers on a military base, or office workers in downtown Manhattan, as long as the results are so shockingly bloody that they sap the will of Americans to stand up for their way of life." Ralph Peters: Call this Horror by Its Name: Islamist Terror. "This was a terrorist act. When an extremist plans and executes a murderous plot against our unarmed soldiers to protest our efforts to counter Islamist fanatics, it's an act of terror. Period."

Paul Sperry: The Military's Blinders. "His superiors put up blinders to all these red flags because Hasan -- who wore traditional Islamic robe and kufi and prayed five times a day -- practiced the ‘religion of peace.' And they're not supposed to make a connection between that religion and terrorism, even as they prosecute a war on Islamic terrorism."Stephen Schwartz: Take a Look at Hasan's Old Mosque. "What interpretation of Islam influenced Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan? As often before, the trail leads to the official sect of Saudi Arabia -- known as Wahhabism to most of us of who denounce it. Confronting the role of radical Islam here is not Islamophobic, but common sense."
Can a nation this divided against itself remain afloat?

(Potential commenters: In case you can't tell, it is inappropriate to simply jump on a bandwagon and argue strenuously for one side or the other. That only reinforces the post's pessimistic conclusion.)

The Quantum Lobe Chronicles

Robert Anton Wilsonhttp://www.rawilson.com/quantum.html
The Quantum Psychology Projecthttp://www.quantumpsychology.com/index-e.htmlPhysical Foundations of Quantum Psychologyhttp://htpprints.yorku.ca/archive/00000289/
Mass Density Bloghttp://www.massdensity.com/

Brains of multilingual kids age slowly

JERUSALEM: A fascinating study has suggested that children who speak more than one language may protect the brain against the effects of aging. The study published in the journal Psychology and Aging found that kids who speak a second or third language may have an unexpected advantage over monolingual later in life. Knowing and speaking many languages may protect the brain against the effects of aging, suggested the research at the Tel Aviv University.

The team of researchers led by Dr Gitit Kav, a clinical neuro-psychologist from the Herczeg Institute on Aging at Tel Aviv University, discovered that senior citizens who speak more languages test for better cognitive functioning. The research, which surveyed people between the ages of 75 and 95 and compared bilingual speakers to tri-and multilingual speakers, found that the more languages a person spoke, the better his or her cognitive state was, the ScienceDaily online reported.

A person who speaks more languages is likely to be more clear-minded at an older age, Kav says, in effect exercising his or her brain more than those who are monolingual. However, she advised caution, saying: There is no sure-fire recipe for avoiding the pitfalls of mental aging. But using a second or third language may help prolong the good years.

While the controversy continues as to whether or not parents should introduce their young children to a second language, Kav thinks that learning a new language is only a good thing, even if it isn’t intended to stave off mental decline in old age.

Your blog can be group therapy

By Anna Jane Grossman



(LifeWire) -- When a 24-year-old woman who called herself "90DayJane" launched a blog in February announcing she would write about her life and feelings for three months and then commit suicide, 150,000 readers flocked to the site. Some came to offer help, some to delight in the drama. Others speculated it was all a hoax.

Stacey Kim says blogging helps her cope with being a widow and a single mom to twins Riley, left, and Madeleine.

Few, however, questioned why she would share her deepest thoughts and feelings with strangers online. In the age of cyber-voyeurism, the better question might be: Why wouldn't she?

Overeating, alcoholism, depression -- name the problem and you'll find someone's personal blog on the subject. Roughly 12 million Americans have blogs, according to polls by the Pew Internet and American Life Project in 2006, and many seem to use them as a form of group therapy.
A 2005 survey by Digital Marketing Services for AOL.com a found nearly half of the 600 people polled derived therapeutic benefits from personal blogging.

'Instant support system'

For Stacey Kim, a 36-year-old book editor who lives in the Boston suburb of Arlington, Massachusetts, emotional blogging has become a reflex. On April 11, 2007, Kim curled up next to her husband and held him as he succumbed to a long battle with pancreatic cancer. The next morning, she went online to post about the experience.
"It cemented the reality that he was gone," Kim says. "I got hundreds of comments back that were all so loving and supportive. It gave me a really tangible sense of community."

She blogs about life as the widowed mother of 22-month-old twins at snickollet.blogspot.com.
"Right after he died, people kept asking if I was in therapy," says Kim, "and I'd say, 'No, but I have a blog.'"

Writing long has been considered a therapeutic outlet for people facing problems. A 2003 British Psychological Society study of 36 people suggested that writing about emotions could even speed the healing of physical wounds: Researchers found that small wounds healed more quickly in those who wrote about traumatic personal events than in those who wrote about mundane activities.

But it's the public nature of blogs that creates the sense of support.

Reading someone else's blog can be surprisingly beneficial, says MightyGirl.net blogger Margaret Mason, 32. She reads about other women's experiences with everything from in-laws to apartment-hunting at blogs like SuburbanBliss.net and SuperHeroDesigns.com.

"Blogging can create an instant support system, especially at a time when you might not have the energy or resources to seek out people who've shared your experiences," says Mason, author of "No One Cares What You Had For Lunch," a book on keeping a blog interesting.

A way to be heard

John Suler, a psychology professor at Rider University in New Jersey, has studied the overlap of psychology and cyberspace. Blog audiences are usually small, he says, but "going public with one's thoughts and experiences can be a self-affirming process."

He and other experts say blogging shouldn't replace face-to-face counseling -- although it can complement sessions when a patient shares their writing with the therapist.

"Some psychologists take special interest in any activities that their clients may undertake online," Suler says, "because such activities often reveal a lot about how they express their identity and relate to other people."

Kim did start psychotherapy, but kept blogging. "My therapist will give me little assignments and I'll blog about them," she says. "If I come home (after a session) and write about it, it solidifies it."

One Chicago licensed social worker and therapist in her 50s encourages patients to release bottled emotions through blogging. Leah, who asked that her last name not be used because of the nature of her profession, started EveryoneNeedsTherapy.blogspot.com to share professional insights.

Soon, however, she was talking about her own feelings -- and her husband told her it seemed to lift her mood.

"It's a form of group therapy," says Leah. "Not only can you express your feelings, but you can get comments, and that creates a dialogue."

Blogging about personal matters seems to be more of a feminine pursuit. In the 2004 study "Effects of Age and Gender on Blogging," researchers examined more than 37,000 blogs on blogger.com. Their conclusion: Male bloggers tend to write about politics, technology and money; women are more likely to blog about their private lives and use an intimate style of writing.
This doesn't surprise Patricia Wallace, author of "The Psychology of the Internet."

"Women tend to self-disclose more online in general," says the senior director at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth. "Women far outnumber men in certain blogging worlds in which feelings are shared, such as cancer blogs."

Permanent marks

The only problem, some bloggers find, is that many posts become passé -- yet they're on the Web forever.

"The Internet takes momentary thoughts and freezes them in amber as if they're permanent," says Scheherazade Mason, a career counselor and sailing coach at Bowdoin College in Maine. She stopped posting her deepest thoughts, but calls the experience positive.

"Through my first blog, I learned to be braver," Mason says. "I learned that my weakness was also likable. In real life, you try to show only strength and to hide your weaknesses, but I exposed everything."

90DayJane also said she learned important things. After seven days, she announced the blog was an art project and she wasn't planning to kill herself.

"I wanted this blog to be about personal discovery and truth," she wrote in her final post. "But the correspondences I have received have taught me more about those qualities than I could ever express. 90DayJane ... has changed my perspective as a human being."

Multilingual children may slow aging process: study

Jerusalem (PTI): A fascinating study has suggested that children who speak more than one language may protect the brain against the effects of aging. The study published in the journal 'Psychology and Aging' found that kids who speak a second or third language may have an unexpected advantage over monolingual later in life. Knowing and speaking many languages may protect the brain against the effects of aging, suggested the research at the Tel Aviv University.
The team of researchers led by Dr Gitit Kav, a clinical neuro-psychologist from the Herczeg Institute on Aging at Tel Aviv University, discovered that senior citizens who speak more languages test for better cognitive functioning.

The research, which surveyed people between the ages of 75 and 95 and compared bilingual speakers to tri-and multilingual speakers, found that the more languages a person spoke, the better his or her cognitive state was, the ScienceDaily online reported the study as suggesting.
A person who speaks more languages is likely to be more clear-minded at an older age, Kav says, in effect exercising his or her brain more than those who are monolingual. However, she advised caution, saying: There is no sure-fire recipe for avoiding the pitfalls of mental aging. But using a second or third language may help prolong the good years.

Psychology of suicide violence

CONVENTIONAL military theory continues to take the backseat to suicide-attack-driven urban insurgencies as the negative fallout of the war against terrorism expands, growing violence now establishing its presence as routine in increasing parts of the world.

Muscle obviously does not suffice to subdue a charged enemy whose thesis revolves around taking his own life in order to inflict damage upon the opponent, sometimes more psychological than physical. The other option of diplomatic engagement, though not yet tried in the right spirit, is also unlikely to yield desired results, since the extremists’ demand-list comprises total power and unquestioned implementation of their extreme reading of religion, ‘or else’!

Yet that is not reason enough to abandon the search for alternatives to head-on collision, especially since the elusive extremists seem much better at it. Clearly they won’t stop ramming explosive-loaded cars into sensitive buildings and pulling suicide belt triggers in busy markets till all manner of opposition to their designs is either finished or submits, implying that this is definitely a fight to the end in which only one side will be left standing. That is all the more reason for a serious look into the psychology of this new, seemingly irresistible wave of suicide warfare.

It has been some time since a suicide bomber drew any sort of muted sympathy from pockets of lesser extremist circles, highlighting frustration and depravation in the fight for an apparently just but unachievable cause. Though the phenomenon is not new, its post 9/11 implementation has seen increasing numbers of civilians included as targets, innocent men, women, children and the elderly. It does not matter to the attackers whatever the collateral damage amounts to as long as their antics keep blood flowing, send financial markets tumbling and the fear factor always high. That, along with brutal suppression of almost all forms of social and political rights in areas under their control, is an apt indicator of the barbaric and brutish nature of their mindset that is forever locked in an ancient, no longer applicable era.

A closer look leaves one aghast at how carefully implemented indoctrination has produced hordes of such fanatics ready to blow up themselves and everything in sight when directed. Equally concerning, though, are geo-political factors they leverage for their twisted cause — unspeakable but real violation of human rights on part of those whose hunt is now getting the innocent common man trampled upon in the process.

The brainwashing factor shows that the solution must also begin with an ideological and intellectual push. Along with that, the international system needs to evolve into a more egalitarian environment, where excesses of superpower interests and client states stop squeezing the life out of the lesser unfortunate just as inhumanly as the bombers, if not more cunningly.

Just as military manuals need rewriting, so does the social order, or we will be dogged by fanatics dancing to the orgy of death and destruction that is underway with force till all manner of civility is lost, and only killers of children and women remain to enact their absurd laws.

When Psychology Changes, News Changes

When collective psychology changes, coverage of the news changes with it.

I realize how that statement can be understood in at least two ways, so let's get specific. Am I talking about "changes" ina) how news will be covered, orb) the version of news that has been covered already?My answer is: Both. Which is to say, psychology can and often does change everything. In the case of changing the version of news that has been covered already, the most obvious recent example is the Federal Reserve's bailout of Bear Stearns, which was engineered during the weekend of March 15-16.You may remember some of the particulars from the news at that time -- the sense of fear was palpable, as print and broadcast media were full of stories that speculated about which big bank "might fail next" and "how much worse this will get." Bear Stearns was so reckless in its subprime lending that bankruptcy was at hand, and the firm's chairman was away at a bridge tournament when the crisis turned critical; J.P. Morgan had agreed to the "buyout" of Bear for $2 per share, and was widely lauded both for helping the economy at a critical moment and negotiating a good deal for itself; the Fed was even more widely lauded for "doing what it had to do" to "restore confidence" in the markets and "avoid a sudden market-shaking crash."Yet on the first trading day after the story broke (March 17), the S&P 500 hit an intraday low that in fact marked the start of a rally; prices have mostly moved higher in the time since. That low accompanied the psychological turn. Indeed, this week included a new version of the Bear Stearns story. In testimony before Congress, Fed Chairman Bernanke faced hostile questions about how the central bank's bailout created a "moral hazard"; J.P. Morgan has had to renegotiate the $2 share price back up to $10 per share; Bear Stearns executives say that the firm's "balance sheet was strong" at the time, and that they weren't reckless but instead victims of rumor. Today's Wall Street Journal story about the Congressional hearing included this:

"Lawmakers repeatedly questioned the panelists about how such a crisis of confidence could sweep through markets and topple one of the nation's largest investment banks.Bear's Mr. Schwartz said that despite weeks of soul-searching, 'I just simply have not been able to come up with anything, even with the benefit of hindsight, that would have made a difference.'"
The "anything" he couldn't come up with is, simply put, that the bearish fear which began last October ended with a crescendo on March 15-17, at the expense of Bear Stearns (among other entities.) Now that the psychology has turned, the story itself is being retold.

As for how news "will be" covered, this very day is a perfect example. At 9:27am this morning, I read an AP wire story that began with this sentence: "Wall Street shares headed for a higher opening Friday and Treasuries rallied following news that the economy gave up 80,000 jobs last month, the biggest loss in five years." Please read that again. The "consensus estimate" for job losses was 50,000. This was bad news by any reasonable definition. But psychology is often anything but reasonable.

If you know the trend, you can usually predict what effect the "news" will have -- whether it's good or bad is irrelevant.

Psychology of suicide violence

CONVENTIONAL military theory continues to take the backseat to suicide-attack-driven urban insurgencies as the negative fallout of the war against terrorism expands, growing violence now establishing its presence as routine in increasing parts of the world.
Muscle obviously does not suffice to subdue a charged enemy whose thesis revolves around taking his own life in order to inflict damage upon the opponent, sometimes more psychological than physical. The other option of diplomatic engagement, though not yet tried in the right spirit, is also unlikely to yield desired results, since the extremists’ demand-list comprises total power and unquestioned implementation of their extreme reading of religion, ‘or else’!
Yet that is not reason enough to abandon the search for alternatives to head-on collision, especially since the elusive extremists seem much better at it. Clearly they won’t stop ramming explosive-loaded cars into sensitive buildings and pulling suicide belt triggers in busy markets till all manner of opposition to their designs is either finished or submits, implying that this is definitely a fight to the end in which only one side will be left standing. That is all the more reason for a serious look into the psychology of this new, seemingly irresistible wave of suicide warfare.
It has been some time since a suicide bomber drew any sort of muted sympathy from pockets of lesser extremist circles, highlighting frustration and depravation in the fight for an apparently just but unachievable cause. Though the phenomenon is not new, its post 9/11 implementation has seen increasing numbers of civilians included as targets, innocent men, women, children and the elderly. It does not matter to the attackers whatever the collateral damage amounts to as long as their antics keep blood flowing, send financial markets tumbling and the fear factor always high. That, along with brutal suppression of almost all forms of social and political rights in areas under their control, is an apt indicator of the barbaric and brutish nature of their mindset that is forever locked in an ancient, no longer applicable era.
A closer look leaves one aghast at how carefully implemented indoctrination has produced hordes of such fanatics ready to blow up themselves and everything in sight when directed. Equally concerning, though, are geo-political factors they leverage for their twisted cause — unspeakable but real violation of human rights on part of those whose hunt is now getting the innocent common man trampled upon in the process.
The brainwashing factor shows that the solution must also begin with an ideological and intellectual push. Along with that, the international system needs to evolve into a more egalitarian environment, where excesses of superpower interests and client states stop squeezing the life out of the lesser unfortunate just as inhumanly as the bombers, if not more cunningly.
Just as military manuals need rewriting, so does the social order, or we will be dogged by fanatics dancing to the orgy of death and destruction that is underway with force till all manner of civility is lost, and only killers of children and women remain to enact their absurd laws.

The psychology of fear: What scares us

By AL PARKER
Special to the Record Eagle

TRAVERSE CITY -- For some it might be heights or snakes or driving across the Mackinac Bridge.

But whatever the cause, everyone is familiar with the heart-pounding, chest-tightening specter of fear.

But, exactly what is this universal emotion and how does it affect the body?
According to Dr. Vincent Cornellier, a clinical psychologist based in Traverse City, fear is an emotional response linked to the anticipation of impending danger. Fear of death is the greatest fear.

"I like to refer to Woody Allen's comment -- 'I'm not afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens,'" said Cornellier, with a smile.

Fear often occurs when a person feels out of control, either physically or emotionally. When fear rises, blood gathers in the large skeletal muscles, such as those in the arms and legs, preparing your body to flee. Blood leaves the face, making a person appear paler. The body freezes for a moment to gauge possible reactions, such as what is the quickest escape route.

"Fear is the anticipation of a threat of some sort," explained Cornellier, who works in a pain clinic and regularly cares for patients dealing with phobias. "Many, many patients become angry because of an injury and we often learn that fear is the emotion that causes that anger."
While the body is reacting, the brain sends out hormones that put the body on alert, which makes it edgy and ready for action. The body focuses on the threat at hand to allow a person to better evaluate the threat and its response.

The physiological cues of fear include a quickening of breathing, a tightening of the throat and chest, perspiration, difficulty breathing, quickened heart rate and a feeling of wanting to flee. At the same time, there can be a flood of anxious thoughts which are seemingly uncontrollable. This intense cycle of fear and worry often paralyzes the individual in a figurative sense.

"The physiology of fear is the same as the physiology of excitement," explained Cornellier. "It's the same hormones -- epinephrine, dopamine, serotonin and others. There's a very thin line between excitement and fear."

That helps explain what attracts people to roller coasters, bungee jumping, skydiving and other adrenalin-producing activities -- including scary movies.

"The more civilized we get, the more we repress our sort of uncivilized nature and one way to release that is through festival occasions, vicariously enjoying horror movies and all sorts of related things," explained Dr. Leon Rappoport, a psychology professor at Kansas State University.

In a study, Rappoport asked people about the films and TV shows they enjoyed watching. Results showed a shift in the age of people who enjoyed horror movies, so popular with teens.
"There is a pleasure that kids experience by exploring unconventional boundaries of these movies," said Rappoport. "It's sort of forbidden territory when horror films come out, and parents or adults say they're not fit for children. It makes them even more attractive."
But for many, watching scary movies is just, well, fun.

"There seems to be this general quality that almost all of us share in enjoying a certain level of threatening stimulation or hazardous stimulation," said Rappoport. "The ability to do something that seems to go beyond the usual range of things."

And no holiday combines fear and excitement more than Halloween.

"Halloween can be a very scary time for children," said Cornellier, an avid Halloween fan. "Parents should be attentive to how their child is handling all of the potentially scary situations. With all the snakes, vampires, ghosts, witches and things, a child may not know how to deal with it."

At the same time, Halloween is a special time for youngsters to enjoy.
"It gives them a chance to take on another personality for awhile," said Cornellier. "They can be Superman or Freddy Krueger for a day."

Psychology of jokes

The reason why we laugh has been the subject of serious academic study, examples being:

Sigmund Freud's "Jokes and Their Relationship to the Unconscious".
Marvin Minsky in Society of Mind.
Marvin suggests that laughter has a specific function related to the human brain. In his opinion jokes and laughter are mechanisms for the brain to learn Nonsense. For that reason, he argues, jokes are usually not as funny when you hear them repeatedly.
Arthur Koestler, in The Act of Creation, analyzes humor and compares it to other creative activites, such as literature and science.
Edward de Bono in "The mechanism of the mind" and "I am right, you are wrong".
Edward de Bono suggests that the mind is a pattern matching machine, and that it works by recognising stories and behavior and putting them into familiar patterns. When a familiar connection is disrupted and an alternative unexpected new link is made in the brain via a different route than expected, then laughter occurs as the new connection is made. This theory explains a lot about jokes. For example:
Why jokes are only funny the first time they are told: once they are told the pattern is already there, so there can be no new connections, and so no laughter.
Why jokes have an elaborate and often repetitive set up: The repetition establishes the familiar pattern in the brain. A common method used in jokes is to tell almost the same story twice and then deliver the punch line the third time the story is told. The first two tellings of the story evoke a familiar pattern in the brain, thus priming the brain for the punch line.
Why jokes often rely on stereotypes: the use of a stereotype links to familiar expected behavior, thus saving time in the set-up.
Why jokes are variants on well known stories (eg the genie and a lamp): This again saves time in the set up and establishes a familiar pattern.
Laughter, the intended human reaction to jokes, is healthful in moderation, uses the stomach muscles, and releases endorphins, natural happiness-inducing chemicals, into the bloodstream.

One of the most complete and informative books on different types of jokes and how to tell them is Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor, which encompasses several broad categories of humor, and gives useful tips on how to tell them, who to tell them to, and ways to change the joke to fit your audience.

Getting Depressed but too afraid to see the ‘crazy-peoples’ doctor?

With the exciting arrival of a new baby, nobody noticed that Mubashara had fallen victim to severe post-natal depression. Only two weeks after giving birth, she slit her wrists with a kitchen knife. She was found lying in a pool of blood by her mother-in-law and was rushed to hospital. Thankfully, the doctors managed to save her life. Her family couldn’t fathom why she would want to kill herself.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t love my baby,” explained Mubashara. “I just suddenly felt so overwhelmed. I would be up all day and night, tending to my daughter, and then doing household chores while she was sleeping. I got stitches during childbirth and they would be hurting constantly, making it difficult to even walk sometimes. Despite this, nobody would even notice that I was in pain. I felt isolated, as if all anyone could think about was the baby and no one cared about me anymore. Then, I would feel guilty about thinking such selfish thoughts. I just began to hate myself and wanted to put an end to my life.” Mubashara eventually managed to overcome her depression with the help of her family and regular doses of anti-depressants. For a few months, she visited a psychotherapist who assisted her in coming to terms with her new role as a mother.

“Women are more likely to get depressed than men because of all the hormonal changes that they go through,” said Dr Uzma Ambareen, clinical director of the Pakistan Association for Mental Health, who trained at Brown University and the University of Columbia in Psychiatry and Neurology and has been with PAMH since 1998. “Their body goes through so many changes during adolescence, pregnancy, childbirth and menopause. They are most vulnerable to depression at these times.”

However, other than hormonal changes, there are many other factors that can also lead to depression. “Depression is a mental illness marked by an intense and persistent feeling of sadness,” defined Dr Rubeena Kidwai, who has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology and works with the Pakistan Association for Mental Health. “It can be inherited or can be caused by changes in the brain’s biochemistry, a traumatic or stressful experience, a change in thinking in reaction to events in life, or a combination of some or all of these causes. It can also be experienced as a secondary illness by an individual suffering from a painful disease.” Some of the symptoms of depression include sleeplessness, loss of appetite, low sense of self-worth, inability to concentrate, irritability, fatigue, headaches, a desire to be isolated from others and suicidal thoughts. If a person suffers from any of these symptoms for more than two weeks, he or she is clinically depressed.

A lot of people endure these symptoms without realizing that they are depressed. They visit doctors, only to receive a clean bill of health. Ahmed, a 13-year old boy, frequently suffered from headaches. The headaches could sometimes be allayed by medicines but at other times, they worsened to intense migraines. He spent hours locked up in his room, refusing to socialize with family and friends, and often complained of nightmares. Medical tests indicated that there was nothing wrong with his body. Finally, Ahmed’s parents took him to see a psychiatrist, who deciphered that he was suffering from moderate depression.

“There was no particular reason for Ahmed to be depressed,” said Ahmed’s mother. “The psychiatrist explained that a lot of times the exact cause of depression cannot be ascertained. Perhaps it was due to something that scared him during his childhood or simply because he was more sensitive to what happened around him than other people or it could just be part of his genetic makeup.” In order to cure him, the doctor prescribed Ahmed medication. He also had to attend regular counseling sessions for more than a year.

According to Dr Kidwai, a patient suffering from mild to moderate depression may not need medicines and may just be advised to get counseling. “In the case of severe depression, the patient is unable to perform his or her daily tasks and may also be feeling suicidal,” she said. “In such cases, medicine has to be prescribed immediately, along with psychotherapy. Usually, the medicine improves the patient’s condition within six weeks. Then, gradually, the level of medication is tapered off until it is not needed at all. When a patient has felt well for six months, he or she is cured.”

However, some people are never able to completely stop using anti-depressants. Nasreen, a 48-year old woman, fell prey to depression when her husband died 20 years ago. She has been taking anti-depressants ever since. “Every time the doctor tries to reduce my medication, I immediately have a relapse,” she lamented. “I begin to feel dizzy, cry all the time and my stomach gets upset. Even if I resume taking my original dosage of anti-depressants, it still takes me several months before I can feel normal and healthy again. My psychiatrist says that I suffer from chronic depression and will probably have to continue taking anti-depressants for the rest of my life.”

In many cases, depression cannot be helped. Nevertheless, every individual can take certain steps to try to prevent falling victim to this disease. “A person can try to prevent depression by maintaining a productive lifestyle,” advised Dr Ambareen. “It is important for all of us to take part in activities that make us feel happy. A positive feeling of self-worth may be derived from a hobby, through physical exercise, by turning to religion or by doing altruistic work. You need to recognize what makes you happy and then try to involve yourself in such activities, if not daily then at least twice a week. It is also important to get a good night’s sleep and to have healthy meals. Alcohol and drugs should be avoided, since they contain chemicals that can harm the brain. It always helps to have a strong support system - family and friends who you can share your feelings with. In Pakistan, a lot of people are lucky to be living in joint families. Their depressed feelings can be recognized by their family members and they can be treated before their condition worsens.”

The Double Thinker

AS usual,there are two ways to look at anything. That’s what I learned from reading Steven Pinker. Actually, I learned it from two Steven Pinkers. One is a theorist of human nature, the author of “How the Mind Works” and “The Blank Slate.” The other is a word fetishist, the author of “The Language Instinct” and “Words and Rules.” One minute, he’s explaining the ascent of man; the next, he’s fondling irregular verbs the way other people savor stamps or Civil War memorabilia.

In “The Stuff of Thought,” Pinker says his new book is part of both his gigs. Hence its subtitle: “Language as a Window Into Human Nature.” It sounds as though he’s finally going to pull together his life’s work under one big idea, but he doesn’t. That’s what makes him so edifying and infuriating to read: he sees duality everywhere.

It’s not that Pinker thinks the world can be neatly divided. That would be dualism. In “The Blank Slate,” he trashed the most famous such distinction, the one between mind and matter. Pinker’s duality is of the opposite kind. Categories intersect like dimensions. The mind is what the brain does. Evolution shaped psychology, but in the process psychology evolved its own laws.

“The Stuff of Thought” explores the duality of human cognition: the modesty of its construction and the majesty of its constructive power. Pinker weaves this paradox from a series of opposing theories. Philosophical realists, for instance, think perception comes from reality. Idealists think it’s all in our heads. Pinker says it comes from reality but is organized and reorganized by the mind. That’s why you can look at the same thing in different ways.

Then there’s the clash between ancient and modern science. Aristotle thought projectiles continued through space because a force propelled them. He thought they eventually fell because Earth was their natural home. Modern science rejects both ideas. Pinker says Aristotle was right, not about projectiles but about how we understand them. We think in terms of force and purpose because our minds evolved in a biological world of force and purpose, not in an abstract world of vacuums and multiple gravities. Aristotle’s bad physics was actually good psychology.

How can we be sure the mind works this way? By studying its chief manifestation: language. Variations among verbs reflect our distinctions among physical processes. Nuances among nouns illustrate the alternate interpretations built into our most basic perceptions.

Metaphor turns out to be our crucial talent. It parlays crude animal knowledge into human advancement. From physical destinations, we extrapolate a conception of goals. From physical journeys, we build an understanding of relationships. Metaphors structure even our most advanced ideas: heat works like fluid, atoms like solar systems, genes like code, evolution like design. In each case, language has fossilized the construction process: “heat flow,” “genetic code,” “natural selection.”

Some thinkers worry that this power to frame perceptions can run away with us. In politics, the linguist George Lakoff has warned, “frames trump facts.” In this view, taxes can be depicted as burdens or as membership fees, driving public opinion this way or that. Pinker rejects Lakoff’s ideas, which have become fashionable among Democratic strategists. “Metaphors are generalizations,” he argues. Their implications can be tested against reality. Lakoff’s proposal to reframe taxes as membership fees flunks the test: if you don’t pay your membership fees, you lose your benefits; but if you don’t pay your taxes, you go to jail.

Nature isn’t the only external standard by which we can evaluate and revise frames and claims. Social behavior can test them, too. If frames overpower rational criticism, Pinker asks, then why do Lakoff and other quasi-relativists write books rationally criticizing frames? The medium belies the message. The medium isn’t just reason; it’s language — and language isn’t the manifestation of one mind; it’s the joint manifestation of millions. The reason language works is that it reflects the world as we jointly experience it.
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Art of Procrastination

Did you know that there are over 14 million Google listings about procrastination? One could read article after article, from scientific and psychological journals, to business magazines, self-help books and the like, take notes, be actively involved in researching the subject, feel incredibly productive, and actually be procrastinating all the while. It's a perfect procrastination storm! From Scarlett O'Hara's last lines in "Gone With The Wind" - "I'll think about it tomorrow, after all, tomorrow is another day!" to modern icons like "Seinfeld" and even Charlie Brown, many of us do it: Put things off, hem and haw, deal with things "later." According to Psychology Today, 20 percent of people identify themselves as chronic procrastinators.

There's a Spanish proverb: "Tomorrow is the busiest day of the week." I can relate. When I sit down at my desk to write, strange things happen: I'll sit down, open the computer, write a list, and that's a start, but I never did call that guy at the union, and aren't there dishes in the sink? Then back to the desk, and I've got a bunch of one-step-above-Spam e-mails to read and delete. And where's that tall clothing Web site for the perfect long jacket "nipped at the waist," like Trinny and Suzanne suggested on BBC America's "What Not To Wear?" Then the phone rings, and I'm flossing my teeth - what is that, a popcorn skin? I look for it in the mirror. What's wrong with my hair? Maybe if I wash it and put the cream moisturizer on it while it's wet and let it air dry, I'll have the texture I want.

And so goes a typical morning. And it all eats up time, and I'm no closer to doing the thing I really need to be doing. Deadlines help, even though the word "dead-line" is harsh. But harshness with the procrastinator is sometimes called for.

So is setting smaller goals, making molehills out of projects that seem mountainous, and rewarding yourself each time the smaller job is done. Those perfectionist day-dreams where months, or years go by until the thing is "just right" in your mind? Hello! Wake up, so you can actually start something in your real life.

So. I'll ignore the lint trap in the dryer, find my perfect felt-tipped pen later, and take the sage advice of Dr. Martin Luther King: "You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

War, Psychology and Time

Had al Qaeda periodically attacked the United States after 9/11, the ongoing sense of crisis would not have dissipated. But since no attack occurred, the actions and policies that appeared reasonable and proportionate in 2001 began to appear paranoid and excessive. Moreover, rather than showing the Islamic world the overwhelming power of the United States, the United States is now engaged in a debate over whether there is some hope for its war strategy. The United States has psychologically begun tearing itself apart over both the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq. Whatever your view of that, it is a serious geopolitical fact.

Hypnosis is as Old as Man

The chronicle of hypnosis is as timeworn as the human progeny. Even the most primordial pagans were aware of this marvelous psychological manifestation, and it was used in the mystical rites of their medicine men to create anxiety and amplify confidence in the supernatural and the occult. With this long history of occult and mysticism, it is not unpredicted that the overall public attitude toward hypnosis has been and still is one of opposition, misapprehension and fear.

The original scientific beginnings in the investigation of hypnosis began with Anton Mesmer in 1775, from whose name originates the expression mesmerism which is still in extensive usage. Mesmer`s utilization of hypnosis opened with his find that certain types of medical patients responded to arm stroking and sleep suggestions. Mesmer ascribed these restorative aftereffects to the `quality` of `animal magnetism`, and he invented a supposition that animal magnetism was some enigmatic and peculiar cosmic fluid with soothing features.

Despite Mesmer`s first-rate intuitive apprehension of clinical psychology, he had no bright awareness of the psychological attributes of his therapy. Nevertheless, he medicated a vast number of patients with success on whom archaic medical procedures had failed. However, his fanatical personality and complicated peculiarity of his therapy brought him unjustly to disrepute despite the fact that numerous physicians visited his clinic throughout the culmination of his success to study the most important lessons in the mystic art of psychotherapy, specifically, the importance of clinical psychology.

Since Mesmer there has been a succession of remarkable men who became interested in hypnosis and utilized it effectively in therapeutic practice, giving it an progressively more scientific justification and soundness. Elliotson, the first man in England to utilize the stethoscope, got interested in hypnosis about 1817, employed it substantially, and left superb written material of its medicative value in specific cases. Esdaille, motivated by Elliotson`s case reports, became an keen advocate of mesmerism, as it was then referred to, and really succeeded in interesting the British government in setting up a hospital in India, where he used it extensively on all categories of medical patients, leaving many exceptional manuscripts of major and minor surgery operated under hypnotic anesthesia.

The commencement of a psychological comprehension of the phenomenon began in 1841 with James Braid, at first an opponent and then later a most eager reviewer and supporter. It was he who coined the phrase hypnosis, pointed to the psychological framework of hypnotic sleep, and described lots of its manifestations, brainstorming methods whereby to analyze their legality.