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World of Psychology


Books

How to Develop a Distinctive Artistic Voice

Whether creativity is part of your profession—you’re an artist, an author—or your passion—you love to paint, take photos, sculpt, write—it helps to develop your artistic voice.

After all, your artistic voice is your one-of-a-kind perspective. And cultivating that isn’t only invaluable for nurturing and refining your craft; it also can be a fun, fulfilling process.

According to artist and author Lisa Congdon in her new book
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Exercise & Fitness

How to Lose Weight — Without Dieting

To lose weight -- and keep it off -- don’t go on a diet. Why? Because “going on a diet” creates the false mindset that weight loss is a time-limited journey. Although we may very well lose weight in the short term when we deprive ourselves our favorite foods and drinks, exercise like a fiend, and go to bed with a stomach protesting in hunger, how long can that last? And… even if all that deprivation and self-torture did continue, would the end result be worth it? 

All too often, “being on a diet” creates a frustrating cycle of hunger and guilt. When people “fall off” whatever regimen they’re on, a slew of self-destructive thoughts and behaviors can ensue: “I’ve blown it anyway; I might as well polish off the whole bag of cookies now.”
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Addiction

What Happened When I Continued Methadone Treatment While Pregnant


The last time I stuck a needle in my arm was three whole months before I conceived my son, and I’m grateful that he’s never experienced me in active addiction. I say three whole months as if it were a lifetime, but it really is to anyone in early recovery. I was fortunate, I stopped using heroin before I found out that I was pregnant. I had just turned 29 and was in a stable relationship with my now-husband.

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General

What Are You Tuned Into?

One of the principles of my writing practice is Attunement. I like to believe that I am naturally attuned to parts of life that many other people might ignore or gloss over. I tend to think of almost every experience metaphorically, so even just a simple trip to the grocery store can yield interesting themes and ideas for writing.

But even so, I'm sure there are many more things that I, too, miss. That's because our attention cannot possibly manage all the stimulation that surrounds us. We are constantly receiving new information, all the time, so we adopt a selection process in which we prioritize to what we should devote our attention.
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Aging

Potential Mental Health Benefits of Living to Age 100

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
To me, age is more a state of mind than anything else. It’s perception that comes into play, what we think about when we consider who’s old, or what it means to be old, or even what age makes someone old. Frankly, centenarians are lauded and celebrated for good reason: They’ve lived through many experiences and deserve to be honored. Thus, since through my research and personal experience I’ve found many potential mental health benefits of living to age 100, I wanted to share them.
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Grief and Loss

The First Step in Healing After Traumatic Loss

Healing after a traumatic loss that has devastated your life may feel impossible. Left alone and isolated, the human brain in this situation may remain in a loop of remembered and reactivated guilt, anxiety and depression. However, the first step in healing may not be as complicated as you think: it all begins with self-care.

Arthur Kleinman, medical doctor, renowned professor of both psychiatry and anthropology associated with Harvard University and Medical Center, believes caring for ourselves and others “is at the very core of what human experience is about.”
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Depression

World Mental Health Day 2019: Letter to a Suicidal Person

By the time you read this blog, two or three people will have taken their lives. In fact, every 40 seconds someone completes suicide; Close to 800,000 die by suicide every year. According to the World Health Organization, there are more deaths from suicide than from war and homicide together. Suicide is the second leading cause of death between people ages 15 to 29.

These statistics don’t surprise me since I’ve lost two family members and several friends to suicide, and about one third of the people I know have lost a loved one to suicide. I am familiar with the desperation and rationale that leads someone to this decision, as I have experienced weeks, months, even years teetering on the edge of life, not sure whether or not to stick around.
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