Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

The diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, has changed over the years as we learn more about how individuals respond to traumatic events. Prior to our current diagnostic system, the disorder was referred to by various names including Shell Shock in the early 1900s and through WWI and Battle Fatigue after WWII, according to…

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Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR)

Psychiatric Disorders – DSM-5-TR Generalized Anxiety Disorder Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or GAD, involves excessive anxiety and worry about a number of events or activities that is out of proportion to the situation. The worry and worrisome thoughts are difficult …Read More July 21, 2022 / Anxiety, Behavioral Psychology, Clinical Psychology, DSM-5-TR Posttraumatic Stress Disorder The…

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Post-Traumatic Growth: An Introduction

We know that psychological trauma exists and that it can have devastating effects on individuals, families, and communities. Trauma has impacted us since humans existed, and according to the National Center for PTSD at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, it has impacted us in a similar fashion across time. When first introduced in the…

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Why Do People Watch Porn?

Of all the questions you might ask about pornography, “why do people watch it?” isn’t necessarily the first that comes to mind. That part seems relatively self-explanatory. But psychologists like to go beyond the obvious in understanding human behavior – hence a new study that’s out with the title Why Do People Watch Pornography? The…

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3 Traits That Might Help With Jobs Involving Trauma

Certain jobs put an extra burden on the mental health of people who do them because they frequently involve dealing with traumatic situations. Not everyone who does potentially traumatic jobs experiences negative mental health effects, though. So why are some people able to take on these jobs and still enjoy relatively good mental health? A…

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4 Factors That Link Stress to a Decline in Work Ability

Some amount of stress is often a part of work, but too much stress can start to interfere with people’s ability to get their work done. An important question is under what conditions stress begins to derail people’s work lives. Understanding that might help with knowing what strategies people can use to cope with stress…

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Resources and Studies on the Psychological Impact of Coronavirus

It seems like one can’t check the headlines these days without some disconcerting bit of news about novel coronavirus, aka COVID-19, popping up. At least, that’s true in my hometown of San Francisco, where public health officials are now recommending social distancing. As a mental health blogger, I naturally tend to look at the psychological…

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Online Interventions Can Smooth Divorce

Marriages can go south for a variety of reasons, but whatever the cause, the effect can include damage to one’s mental health. Regular readers of the AllPsych blog might recall a study that came out last year looking at the most common reasons for divorce among couples in Denmark. Now, the team of researchers who…

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Stress Beliefs Might Matter for Stress Response

People seem to have real differences in how we react to the stressful situations we inevitably encounter in everyday life. Given that stress is intertwined with mental and physical health, figuring out what interventions might help people respond to stress more constructively is a key topic for psychology researchers. A new study in Annals of…

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Who Grows the Most From Trauma?

Being able to take a bad situation and turn it into something good is a valuable skill from a mental health standpoint. Perhaps there’s no greater test of this skill than being confronted with a situation that’s not just bad, but traumatic. Different people seem to respond to trauma in different ways. One aspect of…

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