The Undivorced
The NYT identifies a trend: Permanently separated, but not divorced.
Technically, the two are married. They file joint tax returns; she’s covered by his insurance. But they see each other just several times a year. “Since separating we get along better than we ever have,” he said. “It’s kind of nice.”
The Uniqueness of Humans
Robert Sapolsky–spotlighted in the previous post’s link–talks humanness (beginning at 5:00): https://youtu.be/GY1x8k79bZE?si=UwUDsqhTQn8XHXmI
The Search for the Stress Vaccine
Wired: Under Pressure: The Search for a Stress Vaccine.
The list of ailments connected to stress is staggeringly diverse and includes everything from the common cold and lower-back pain to Alzheimer’s disease, major depressive disorder, and heart attack. Stress hollows out our bones and atrophies our muscles. It triggers adult-onset diabetes and is a leading cause of male impotence. In fact, numerous studies of human longevity in developed countries have found that psychosocial factors such as stress are the single most important variable in determining the length of a life.
Free CBT L.A.
It’s that time again: the free CBT clinic at the Southern California Counseling Center runs from 2 to 6pm today, August 1st. My quick interview with clinic founder, John Tsilimparis, is here. [UPDATE: SCCC’s Free CBT Clinic no longer operating.]
Unreality TV
ScienceDaily: Reality TV, cosmetic surgey linked, says researcher.
Research suggests that teens fond of reality TV programs are more likely to join the millions who go under the knife each year…
American Family
NYT: Family Relations: An International Comparison
It’s not just you. Compared with elderly parents and adult children in five other industrialized nations, Americans are twice as likely to have “disharmonious” relationships, a new multinational study has found. And we’re correspondingly less likely to have “amicable” relationships marked by strong affection and relatively free of conflict.
Mindfulness and Non-Doing
Jon Kabat-Zinn talks mindfulness at Google (2007):
Mental Health, CA
In never rains in California, but…
In a comprehensive new study of mental health status and the use of mental health services by Californians, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that nearly one in five adults in the state — about 4.9 million people — said they needed help for a mental or emotional health problem…
The Art and Science of Influence
PsyBlog posts the latest on how to win friends and influence people.
The art and science of persuasion is often discussed as though changing people’s minds is about using the right arguments, the right tone of voice or the right negotiation tactic. But effective influence and persuasion isn’t just about patter, body language or other techniques, it’s also about understanding people’s motivations…
Friends for Life
NYT: A New Risk Factor: Your Social Life
Social relationships are just as important to health as other common risk factors like smoking, lack of exercise or obesity, new research shows…The researchers concluded that having few friends or weak social ties to the community is just as harmful to health as being an alcoholic or smoking nearly a pack of cigarettes a day. Weak social ties are more harmful than not exercising and twice as risky as being obese, the researchers found.