Dogs: A medicine for mental health problems? Charles Hernandez, 49, credits his dog Valor for helping him cope with PTSD. Psychiatric service dogs help people with mental disordersEmotional support animals comfort people with disabilities'Not all wounds are visible,' says Sgt. Charles Hernandez (CNN) -- His name is Valor. He's half Labrador retriever, half Great Dane, and goes everywhere with Sgt. Charles Hernandez. When Hernandez was having seizures, Valor would nibble on the side of Hernandez's leg before the veteran realized anything was wrong. "I'm alive again," says Hernandez, 49, of the Bronx, New York, now retired from the U.S. A growing number of Americans are getting dogs for mental health needs, experts say. PTSD in returning veterans is a major reason for the increasing demand for these dogs, said John Ensminger, a New York attorney and author of "Service and Therapy Dogs in American Society." Why people get psychiatric service dogs Caring for a pet helps people become less frightened, more self-sufficient and secure.
10 Truths To Keep Your Relationship Healthy I think it's easy to make things more complicated than they need to be. Here are some basic rules of the relationship road that will keep you headed in the right direction 1. Successful relationships take work. They don't happen in a vacuum. They occur when the couples in them take the risk of sharing what it is that's going on in their hearts and heads. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. There are no guarantees, but couples who practice these techniques have longer and stronger relationships than those who are not proactive in their love. Dr.
Psychologists Use Social Networking Behavior to Predict Personality Type One of the foundations of modern psychology is that human personality can be described in terms of five different forms of behavior. These are: 1. Agreeableness–being helpful, cooperative and sympathetic towards others2. Conscientiousness–being disciplined, organized and achievement-oriented 3. Extraversion–having a higher degree of sociability, assertiveness and talkativeness 4. Psychologists have spent much time and many years developing tests that can classify people according to these criteria. Today, Shuotian Bai at the Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and a couple of buddies say they have developed an online version of the test that can determine an individual’s personality traits from their behavior on a social network such as Facebook or Renren, an increasingly popular Chinese competitor. Their method is relatively simple. It turns out, they say, that various online behaviors are a good indicator of personality type.
Top 10 Common Faults In Human Thought Humans The human mind is a wonderful thing. Cognition, the act or process of thinking, enables us to process vast amounts of information quickly. For example, every time your eyes are open, you brain is constantly being bombarded with stimuli. The Gambler’s fallacy is the tendency to think that future probabilities are altered by past events, when in reality, they are not. Reactivity is the tendency of people to act or appear differently when they know that they are being observed. Pareidolia is when random images or sounds are perceived as significant. Interesting Fact: the Rorschach Inkblot test was developed to use pareidolia to tap into people’s mental states. Self-fulfilling Prophecy Self-fulfilling prophecy is engaging in behaviors that obtain results that confirm existing attitudes. Interesting Fact: Economic Recessions are self-fulfilling prophecies. Herd mentality is the tendency to adopt the opinions and follow the behaviors of the majority to feel safer and to avoid conflict.
Color Psychology by David Johnson Like death and taxes, there is no escaping color. It is ubiquitous. Yet what does it all mean? Why are people more relaxed in green rooms? Why do weightlifters do their best in blue gyms? Colors often have different meanings in various cultures. Black Black is the color of authority and power. White Brides wear white to symbolize innocence and purity. Red The most emotionally intense color, red stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing. The most romantic color, pink, is more tranquilizing. Blue The color of the sky and the ocean, blue is one of the most popular colors. Green Currently the most popular decorating color, green symbolizes nature. Yellow Cheerful sunny yellow is an attention getter. Purple The color of royalty, purple connotes luxury, wealth, and sophistication. Brown Solid, reliable brown is the color of earth and is abundant in nature. Colors of the Flag In the U.S. flag, white stands for purity and innocence. Food for Thought
6 Weird Things That Influence Bad Behavior More Than Laws Diligent readers of Cracked already know that our brains can be tricked by just about anything: manipulated images, our birth order and shiny things. But we can also be tricked into being generous, good people by our surroundings. Of course, it goes the other way, too. Your morality at any given moment can be influenced by ... Obviously, we are more honest when someone (or a security camera) is watching us, but studies have actually shown that if any depiction of an eye is in view, even if it is cartoonish or nonhuman, it makes people less likely to cheat or to behave immorally. Put the bong down until the article is over. In one experiment, all a professor had to do to drastically influence the actions of her colleagues was change the clip art on a piece of paper. A picture of a cartoon eye was placed at the top of the reminder notice, and the amount of money left in the honesty box tripled. Just to be sure it wasn't a coincidence, the next week the eye was replaced with a flower.
10 Simple Postures That Boost Performance Psychological research suggests simple actions can project power, persuade others, increase empathy, boost cognitive performance and more… We tend to think of body language as something that expresses our internal states to the outside world. But it also works the other way around: the position of our body also influences our mind. As the following psychological research shows, how we move can drive both thoughts and feelings and this can boost performance. 1. If you want to feel more powerful then adopt a powerful posture. 2. Tensing up your muscles can help increase your willpower. 3. If you’re stuck on a problem which needs persistence then try crossing your arms. 4. If crossing your arms doesn’t work then try lying down. 5. While you’re lying down, why not have a nap? Brooks & Lack (2005) compared 5, 10, 20 and 30 minute naps to find the best length. 6. The way people’s hands cut through the air while they talk is fascinating. 7. 8. 9. 10. Embodied cognition Image credit: Hector
Lucid Dreams If you’ve never experienced it then you may find it hard to understand what lucid dreaming is all about. In fact you may be thoroughly sceptical and dismiss the whole thing as silly nonsense. But I can tell you from personal experience that lucid dreams are very real and something that many millions of people regularly enjoy. Note: Due to the huge amount of interest that this post has generated I am now seriously considering writing a book on the subject, and I would welcome input from anyone with an interest. If you have any anecdotes, suggestions, dreams or anything else you’d like to share with me for possible inclusion in the book, please email me. These types of dreams are hyper-real in that when you experience one it is bursting with vibrant colour, there’s often marvellous music playing in the background (if you listen for it), the air is the freshest and sweetest you’ve ever smelled, and you are the healthiest you have ever been (or could ever be). Experiencing a lucid dream
Scientists discover most relaxing tune ever - Music A British band and a group of scientists have made the most relaxing tune in the history of man, an Mp3 of which is at the bottom of this article. Sound therapists and Manchester band Marconi Union compiled the song. Scientists played it to 40 women and found it to be more effective at helping them relax than songs by Enya, Mozart and Coldplay. Weightless works by using specific rhythms, tones, frequencies and intervals to relax the listener. A continuous rhythm of 60 BPM causes the brainwaves and heart rate to synchronise with the rhythm: a process known as ‘entrainment’. Dr David Lewis, one of the UK’s leading stress specialists said: “‘Weightless’ induced the greatest relaxation – higher than any of the other music tested. The study - commissioned by bubble bath and shower gel firm Radox Spa - found the song was even more relaxing than a massage, walk or cup of tea. The top 10 most relaxing tunes were: 1. Listen to it on Soundcloud here. Image: Rex Tags: Music