Things To Know About Human Nature

These short essays are inspired by what science teaches us, but do not aspire to be scientific. Nonetheless, I could not have written these if I had not devoted a great part of my life to listening to my clients and patients and had I not acquainted myself with the conclusions of several social science authors. Thus, I am not limiting my posts exclusively to the bare facts, and I allow myself to present opinions as to cause and effect. My aim is to familiarize, to show how the matter can be simplified, and to explain what it would mean in practice. For this, scientific data is a means, not an end. I believe I have made honest use of what I have learned from real people about human nature. I let each reader decide to accept my point of view in matters on which I claim a modest knowledge.

What Is a Psychotherapist?

There are many technical definitions of a psychotherapist, but none are more descriptive than Hawthorne’s in The Scarlet Letter.

The Right Emphases Matter

In my practice of counseling and psychotherapy, I keep in mind that my clients and patients are looking for competence, empathy, and genuineness.

The Latest Research on the Dangers of Marijuana

Health effects of weed laid bare: Marijuana is behind 3 in 10 schizophrenia cases, can be a death sentence in pregnant users

About Marijuana: What’s the Problem with Smoking, Vaping, or Ingesting Weed Today?

Pharmaceutical companies, tobacco companies, private for-profit companies are helping market high potency, psychosis inducing THC products as ‘medical marijuana’ or as a harmless recreational food supplement. While this perception of weed in the past may have been even partially true, it is no longer the truth today. Today’s weed is a severe danger to people’s mental health, regardless of age.

Do You Still Think Marijuana Is Harmless?

In this nationwide, register-based cohort study, we found evidence of a stronger association between cannabis use disorder (CUD) and schizophrenia for males than for females, consistent with the results from a small clinical sample indicating that females experiencing CUD are at lower risk of developing psychosis than males.

About Gender Dysphoria

The Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) reported that after a “systematic review of evidence,” the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) issued new guidance for treating minors suffering from gender dysphoria. Instead of taking an approach that children with this affliction are automatically in need of “transgender healthcare,” NHS advises UK medical professionals they should take the position that “most (minors) need psychoeducation and psychotherapy.”

About Power

The wish for power may be second only to the need for love, and the two often go together. In some cases, the need for power is primary. In its benevolent form, power affords us leadership, protection, and security. In its malevolent form it brings domination or abuse. – Horner, A.

About Rejection and the Fear of It

The rejection we perceive in childhood or early adulthood shapes our identity and is often followed by our own subtle or overt rejection of family of origin, milieu of origin, identity of origin, country of origin, and human society

A Preliminary Taxonomy

Who are the ideologues? An informed opinion. A preliminary taxonomy (i.e., a classification, especially of living organisms) of ideology and human nature

A Simple Faith

The Christian faith first appeared in the Middle East (in today’s Israel) and was originally embraced by a small group of Jews inspired by the preaching of Jesus of Nazareth, who came to be known as the Christ (the Anointed), and who revealed himself as the son of God.

Fundamentals of Human Nature

The short version of the 2 reasons we are how we are.

How To Make Important Decisions

When confronted with important dilemmas, most human beings labor to follow one of two paths: avoidance or decision-making.

Islands in the Storm

How do you save a civilization from self-destruction? Islands in the storm: It was the monks’ commitment to reading, writing, and education which ensured the survival of Western civilization after the fall of the Roman Empire and the invasions of the Barbarians.

Seven Deadly Emotions

Often, throughout the course of our lives, we start out as Good, then get Worse, and struggle to get Better Again. The progression is usually as follows: Normal mental health -to- situational challenges -to- abnormal mental states; positive self-esteem -through- negative influences -to- negative self-esteem. There are seven basic emotions in adulthood that can be identified as being at the root of this negative progression.

Stages of Family Dynamics

All through our lives we maintain a bond to our family of origin or adoptive parents. This bond may strengthen or weaken in certain circumstances, sometimes remaining weak and in some other cases becoming severed altogether, at least physically. In reality, even when the bond appears permanently broken, the psychological impact of the early years within the family lingers throughout one’s lifetime.

Stages of Human Development

One of the most influential psychoanalysts of the 20th century, Erik Erikson developed the theory that each stage of life is associated with a specific psychological struggle, a struggle that contributes to a major aspect of personality. His developmental progression — from trust to autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, generativity, and integrity — was conceived as the sequential reorganization of ego and character structures. Each phase was the potential root of later health and pathology. By focusing on the social as well as the psychological, Erikson’s stages represented a quantum leap in Freudian thought, which had emphasized the psychosexual nature of development. While much of his theoretical work has since been challenged, Erikson’s basic developmental framework — conflict negotiated in the context of relationships — continues to illuminate our thinking, as does the concept of the identity crisis, the confusion of roles that Erikson first identified.

The Age of Digital Social Contagion

Although we now know that social media is harmful to our mental health, we can’t seem to stop. Like a cirrhotic alcoholic, the health consequences be damned when you compulsively need another drink — or tweet. And the more of the digital toxin that we consume, the weaker and more compromised our psychological immune system becomes, making us even more vulnerable for further consumption, manipulation and behavior modification.

The Truth About Alcohol

There is little truth in what we believe about alcohol. The biggest BS is that it is physically harmless. The kernel of truth that it does “facilitate” coping with life (in the strictest sense) is drowned (no pun intended) by the consequences and the aftermath. Questions people ask, “Why do I feel so lousy after a “fun” night of heavy-ish drinking?”, and “Why do my relationships keep falling apart?”

What Is Normal?

Human beings express their individuality through thought, emotion, and behavior. In many cases, we wonder if a person’s behavior, thoughts, or expressions of emotions are to be considered “normal.” Learn the difference between normal, situational, and abnormal.

What Makes Us Who We Are?

Seven layers or stages in normal human development that shape and influence our identity.