Here's how this classic gaslighting routine works and how to handle it.| Psychology Today
Adoption is the process by which an adult legally and permanently takes over parental responsibility for a child and, at the same time, the rights and responsibilities of the child’s biological parent(s) or legal guardian(s) are terminated. In rare cases, an adult may adopt another adult.| Psychology Today
Cognitive psychologist Daniel Wegner first demonstrated the ironic effects of thought suppression by asking college students not to think about white bears. The more students tried to push white bears out of mind, the more they became obsessed with them. Don't think about a white bear. White bear. Stop it! Stop thinking about white bears! White bear white bear white bear. Oh my God, I can't stop thinking about white bears!| Psychology Today
The placebo effect can improve almost any medical condition—yet doctors all too often ignore it. Here's what it can do for you—and how to take advantage of it.| Psychology Today
An addicted person's behavior is unpredictable and can quickly change from jubilant euphoria to angry suspicion.| Psychology Today
Fantasies are imaginary, daydream-like scenarios that individuals play out in their heads. Whether conscious or unconscious, fantasies serve several psychological purposes and are a normal part of most people’s interior world.| Psychology Today
Before working to care for or treat someone with dementia, make sure you know what the correct diagnosis is.| Psychology Today
Are you wondering if your forgetfulness is normal? Here are 10 early signs that it might be Alzheimer's.| Psychology Today
From android assistants to self-driving cars, smart devices are here to stay. Fine-tuning the relationship between man and machine may be the biggest design challenge of all.| Psychology Today
The unseen reason you drag your feet when a deadline looms, along with eight tips on how to cross the finish line.| Psychology Today
The path of least resistance isn't always the best path to take.| Psychology Today
Feeling rejected by a friend, family member, or romantic partner is a universally painful experience. Some individuals, however, feel the sting of rejection much more acutely than others and also have an exaggerated fear of being rejected by those around them. These people are said to be high in a trait known as rejection sensitivity.| Psychology Today
Post-Traumatic Growth is the positive psychological change that some individuals experience after a life crisis or traumatic event. Post-traumatic growth doesn’t deny deep distress, but rather posits that adversity can unintentionally yield changes in understanding oneself, others, and the world. Post-traumatic growth can, in fact, co-exist with post-traumatic stress disorder.| Psychology Today
Work productivity soars when men and women work on the same team. But men are more likely to get the credit.| Psychology Today
Psychodynamic therapy is derived from psychoanalytic therapy, and both are based on the work of Sigmund Freud. Psychodynamic therapy is an in-depth form of talk therapy based on the theories and principles of psychoanalysis. In effect, talking about problems in a therapeutic setting can be extremely valuable for the individual. Comparatively, psychodynamic therapy is less focused on the patient-therapist relationship and more focused on the patient’s relationship with their external world.| Psychology Today
Dementia is a progressive loss of cognitive function, marked by memory problems, trouble communicating, impaired judgment, and confused thinking. Dementia most often occurs around age 65 and older but is a more severe form of decline than normal aging. People who develop dementia may lose the ability to regulate their emotions, especially anger, and their personalities may change.| Psychology Today
Sensation-seeking, also called thrill-seeking or excitement-seeking, is the tendency to pursue new and different sensations, feelings, and experiences. The trait describes people who chase novel, complex, and intense sensations, who love experience for its own sake, and who may take risks to pursue those experiences.| Psychology Today
A career is a professional occupation that you pursue for a significant period of your life, which often requires special training. It frequently involves a series of advancements and different position titles as well. To enjoy the many waking hours spent at work, it helps you love what you do, respect the people you work with or serve, and share the goals of your employer. Finding a creative flow and sparking innovative output is also important, as is engaging with a larger purpose.| Psychology Today
Boredom is at once both easy to identify and difficult to define. A small but growing collection of scientists have devoted their research to boredom, and some conceive of the state as a signal for change. Boredom indicates that a current activity or situation isn’t providing engagement or meaning—so that the person can hopefully shift their attention to something more fulfilling.| Psychology Today
Extroversion is a personality trait typically characterized by outgoingness, high energy, and/or talkativeness. In general, the term refers to a state of being where someone “recharges,” or draws energy, from being with other people; the opposite—drawing energy from being alone—is known as introversion.| Psychology Today
A recent study examines the extent to which five different factors explain why we like individuals who are similar to us.| Psychology Today
Narcissists have a prominent place in the popular imagination, and the label "narcissist" is widely deployed to refer to people who appear too full of themselves. There's also a growing sense that narcissism is on the rise around the world, especially among young people, although most psychological research does not support that notion.| Psychology Today
Genetics is the study of genes and the variation of characteristics that are influenced by genes—including physical and psychological characteristics. All human traits, from one's height to one's fear of heights, are driven by a complex interplay between the expression of inherited genes and feedback from the environment.| Psychology Today
Is "toxic masculinity" in decline? Here's why "tonic masculinity" may offer men more options.| Psychology Today
Self-control—or the ability to manage one's impulses, emotions, and behaviors to achieve long-term goals—is what separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. Self-control is primarily rooted in the prefrontal cortex—the planning, problem-solving, and decision making center of the brain—which is significantly larger in humans than in other mammals.| Psychology Today
Reading a road map upside-down, excelling at chess, and generating synonyms for "brilliant" may seem like three different skills. But each is thought to be a measurable indicator of general intelligence or "g," a construct that includes problem-solving ability, spatial manipulation, and language acquisition that is relatively stable across a person's lifetime.| Psychology Today
One of life's sharpest paradoxes is that the key to satisfaction is doing things that feel risky, uncomfortable, and occasionally bad.| Psychology Today
We talk a lot about "sense of self" in psychology and psychiatry. We think of it as a sense of identity or personal traits. But going deeper can help to heal trauma.| Psychology Today
Wisdom is one of those qualities that is difficult to define—because it encompasses so much—but which people generally recognize when they encounter it. And it is encountered most obviously in the realm of decision-making.| Psychology Today
Women's objectification harms their mental health and self-worth. Self-objectification worsens this, but aging offers a chance to embrace true self-worth beyond societal scrutiny.| Psychology Today
Anger is one of the basic human emotions, as elemental as happiness, sadness, anxiety, or disgust. These emotions are tied to basic survival and were honed over the course of human history.| Psychology Today
For many, beer, wine, and spirits conjure up thoughts of social gatherings and tipsy fun. But alcohol is a nervous system depressant and easily alters behavior, culminating in some cases in the emotional pain and physical disintegration of alcohol addiction, colloquially known as alcoholism. Experts continue to debate the benefits and risks of drinking and passionately argue over whether moderation or complete abstinence is the best option for those who struggle with alcoholism.| Psychology Today
Teamwork—working with other people to achieve a shared goal—is essential in just about every domain, whether on the job, at home, or on the playing field. Though there are some situations where it’s better to act alone, learning how to work together without conflict is a critical skill that can help almost anyone achieve greater success.| Psychology Today
Human development is influenced by, but not entirely determined by, our parents and our genes. Children may have very different personalities, and different strengths and weaknesses, than the generation that preceded them. Caregivers should pay attention to their children's distinct traits and the pace of their development, and not assume that the approach to parenting that worked for their mothers and fathers will be equally successful in their own families.| Psychology Today
Consumer behavior—or how people buy and use goods and services—is a rich field of psychological research, particularly for companies trying to sell products to as many potential customers as possible. Since what people buy—and why they buy it—impacts many different facets of their lives, research into consumer behavior ties together several key psychological issues.| Psychology Today
Gratitude is the expression of appreciation for what one has. It is a recognition of value independent of monetary worth. Spontaneously generated from within, it is an affirmation of goodness and warmth. This social emotion strengthens relationships, and its roots run deep in evolutionary history—emanating from the survival value of helping others and being helped in return. Studies show that specific areas of the brain are involved in experiencing and expressing gratitude.| Psychology Today