Exploring the forces that shape the human psyche
A traumatic experience is an experience that puts a person in danger. We respond to trauma with stress. Prolonged traumatic stress can have significant negative psychological and physiological effects on a person. Trauma may be caused by a single event, such as the loss of a loved one, or by continuous stress over time, such …
A genius is a person who has reached the highest level of skill in their chosen craft. Geniuses are highly creative individuals who make original, useful, and surprising contributions to the world. Geniuses are usually geniuses in one area, but there have been some who excelled in multiple areas. One can be a genius in …
Laughter is not only the best medicine but also a great way to raise your status in society. When you make people laugh, you make them feel good. This makes them perceive you as a valuable member of society and your self-esteem rises. So, it makes sense to want to learn how to make someone …
Brainwashing is the process of repeatedly indoctrinating a person with a new set of beliefs. It’s helpful to think of brainwashing in terms of identity. When someone is brainwashed, they ditch their old identity and acquire a new one. The indoctrinated beliefs that support the person’s new identity change their thoughts and behaviors. The person …
People with abandonment issues fear being abandoned by their loved ones. Being the social species that we are, all of us dislike being abandoned by others, especially by our relatives and in-groups. While some level of this fear is normal, a person with abandonment issues lives in this fear constantly. Accepting and rejecting someone lies …
Life is full of ups and downs. The ups are accompanied by positive emotions and the downs by negative emotions. Negative emotions bring discomfort and pain. The mind uses negative emotions to draw our attention to the pain. One could, theoretically, listen to one’s negative emotions, work through them and find solutions to end the …
Dissociation is a psychological phenomenon where a person feels disconnected from reality- or from themselves. Dissociation occurs on a spectrum, ranging from mild to severe. Spacing out and daydreaming are common examples of mild dissociation. You may have noticed that they’re often triggered by mild discomfort such as boredom and information overwhelm. The mind going …
Humans are a social species that evolved to live in tightly knit, genetically related groups. Early humans highly depended on their groups for survival. Being shunned by one’s social group likely meant death. Therefore, humans have developed psychological mechanisms to be sensitive to the signs of shunning. They seek to conform to their group and …
Being salty means being bitter towards something or someone. When others make you salty, they ‘leave a bad taste in your mouth’. Of course, they don’t physically put something bitter in your mouth. But it certainly feels that way. Human experiences are fascinating, as always. It’s natural to feel bitter towards someone when they intentionally …
There seem to be two types of people in the world- shallow and deep. You probably have some idea of who deep people are. Their thoughts, feelings, and words have depth. They have the ability to see beyond the surface. Shallow people are the complete opposite. They lack depth in their thoughts, words, feelings, and …