tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51425731661921317752012-02-16T00:55:51.707-08:00Dr. Covin's Psychology BlogDr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-71167258375760893192012-01-15T18:17:00.000-08:002012-01-15T18:17:48.379-08:00Time to Stop Our Obsession with Positive ThinkingMy latest article with the Huffington Post on the downside to positive thinking. Click here.Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-72096081106541856242011-11-30T07:44:00.000-08:002011-11-30T07:44:33.848-08:00Book UpdateThe Need to be Liked is now available for sale around the world with a number of book sellers:
Amazon (US)
Amazon (UK)
Amazon (Canada)
Google Books
Barnes and Noble
Alibris
Booktopia
Loot
Booksamillion
NBCIndia
Angus Robertson
Mighty Ape
Buy.com
Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-66770401259064942212011-06-07T08:00:00.000-07:002011-06-07T08:00:55.962-07:00Shyness, Social Anxiety and Your Rank in the Social HierarchyImagine this:
You arrive at a party where you know a few of the guests, but most are strangers. Your anxiety is elevated, with increases in breathing rate, heart rate, and perspiration. You seek the people you do know, which offers some sense of comfort. You feel unable to maintain eye contact with the people you don't know and feel a bit insecure. You work hard to appear cool and calm. You do Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-48557909514366227212011-05-31T07:51:00.001-07:002011-05-31T07:57:06.488-07:00Public Health Agency of Canada Offers Encouraging ResponseAs readers of this blog may be aware, I have trying to raise awareness of an inaccuracy in Canadian mental health statistics.
Many Canadians have probably heard or read that 1 in 5 Canadians will experience mental illness in their lifetime. This number appears in official government reports and exists on numerous health websites, including the Canadian Mental Health Association and Health CanadaDr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-17296071763218843912011-05-30T11:06:00.000-07:002011-05-30T11:06:47.857-07:00The Need to be Liked - PaperbackThe Need to be Liked is now available in paperback at Amazon (click here to visit Amazon.com).
For those interested in downloading the e-book version, please visit here to learn how The Need to be Liked can be downloaded on various platforms (ex: iPad, Kindle, etc.)
If you have read my book, I would love to hear your feedback.
Sincerely,
Dr. Roger Covin (roger@drcovin.ca)
Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-78895679175914141262011-04-28T17:43:00.000-07:002011-04-28T17:44:34.447-07:00Tylenol for Rejection? Reducing the Pain of Rejection With Acetaminophen
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Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-52025329883824482042011-04-18T08:57:00.000-07:002011-05-13T12:19:43.891-07:00The Need to Be Liked - Ebook Now AvailableAfter approximately 18 months of research, writing and editing, my new book "The Need to be Liked" is now available for sale on Amazon.com. It is currently available as an e-book, which can be downloaded and read using many devices, including a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, or Kindle.
I am planning to make a hardcopy available for purchase in the near future.
For more information about theDr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-1998724226983408012011-03-10T09:17:00.000-08:002011-07-08T18:42:34.866-07:00Are Elecronic Devices Ruining Sleep for Americans?One of my favourite sections of the newspaper is the Health section. I particularly enjoy reading articles about interesting scientific studies that reveal fruitful information about mental and physical well-being. Unfortunately, journalism and science are not always a match made in heaven, and it is not uncommon to read headlines and articles that are biased and poorly represent the practice of Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-59390368150774278382011-03-07T08:44:00.000-08:002011-07-08T18:41:23.732-07:00Underestimating Mental Illness in Canada: Response from PHAC Only Validates "Orphan" StatusAs I wrote in an earlier post, it is common for health organizations in Canada (or even corporations involved in mental health awareness, such as Bell Canada), to use the statistic of "1 in 5" when describing lifetime prevalence of mental illness. I thought this estimate was too low because it is nowhere close to the U.S. data, and after a little reading, I presumed that the 20% figure originatedDr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-88527282519185987152011-03-03T06:54:00.000-08:002011-07-08T18:39:11.985-07:00Charlie Sheen's Behaviour: A Case of Cognitive Dissonance?I am compelled to start this post by stating that I am not in the business of speculating on the mental health of strangers, nor am I interested in providing pseudo-psychological assessments of celebrities in the news. It is important to make this clear because I don't want readers fooled by the title of this post. Indeed, there are enough armchair psychologists in the media offering analysis of Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-70956377322150562182011-02-25T17:40:00.000-08:002011-07-08T18:43:02.619-07:00From Weight Loss to the Treatment of Depression: The Importance of Understanding "Rate of Change"Of the many factors that influence change, one's expectation or understanding of how change occurs is significant among them. People can vary considerably in their understanding of how change occurs - specifically, rate of change. Rate of change can be defined as the speed and consistency of improvement when trying to eliminate a problem. For example, if you are trying to lose weight, there are Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-81542766695997195862011-02-09T10:46:00.000-08:002011-07-08T18:41:23.734-07:00Bell's "Let's Talk Day": Right Idea - Wrong Estimates: Are Health Organizations in Canada Underestimating the Prevalence of Mental Illness?Bell Canada is promoting mental health awareness today with their "Let's Talk Day." It's a great idea that will see Bell contribute 5 cents from every text and long distance call to support mental health programs. I also love Clara Hughes' involvement in the project - an act that is both courageous and generous.
However, I am quite certain that Bell has its "1 in 5 Canadians" figure wrong. You Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-91843620866899414802011-01-28T13:01:00.000-08:002011-07-08T18:41:02.423-07:00What Qualities Make A Person Likeable?As a clinical psychologist I often work with clients with low self-confidence. This low self-confidence can sometimes be attributed to negative biases in thinking which causes the person to underestimate the number of positive qualities they have, and overestimate the number of negative ones. You could refer to this bias in thinking as reflecting a problem with accuracy - the person is not Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-59118994260942247482011-01-13T14:11:00.000-08:002011-07-08T18:42:38.800-07:00The Benefits of Stress and AdversityDo stress and negative life events may us weaker or stronger?
A recent longitudinal study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology* sheds light on this question. The researchers followed a large, representative sample of people over a period of several years. They asked participants to indicate how many negative life events they had experienced in their lives, out of a list Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-70076537123713312732011-01-06T13:00:00.000-08:002011-07-08T18:41:59.751-07:00The Colour Red Makes Women More AttractiveWhile doing some research for my book, I came across a fun and interesting article* in the highly respected Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. I've been meaning to write about the results for a while, but kept forgetting. So here's the study in a nutshell...
The authors (psychologists) were interested in examining whether the colour red can influence men's perception of the physicalDr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-2707533253446847632010-12-08T07:33:00.000-08:002011-07-08T18:41:33.715-07:00Psychological Flexibility and Pain ManagementIn a previous blog post, I briefly wrote about the benefits of psychological flexibility. Psychological Flexibility refers to one's ability to adapt thinking, emotions and behaviour to various situations. A helpful way to think about psychological flexibility is to use the example of 'control.' There are things in life we have control over and things that we do not. For example, while driving a Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-14034915075699354562010-09-20T11:50:00.001-07:002011-07-08T18:42:31.453-07:00Tis' the Season to Get SAD: A Review of Seasonal Affective Disorder and the Winter BluesWith the Fall and Winter seasons on the horizon, many of us will start to notice changes in our mood in the coming months. Seasonality is the term used to describe the mild to moderate decrease in positive mood that a significant number of people in the population experience when daylight hours are reduced. For a select portion of population, this decrease in mood will be significant enough to Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-86070121793193128182010-09-10T11:32:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:42:51.301-07:00The Cost of Mental Health Care in the Workplace: Some Considerations for BusinessesA recent study out of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada, found that mental illness costs $51 billion per year in terms of costs from lost productivity. When an employee of a company develops a mental health problem and is forced to take a leave of absence, it costs the company $18,000 (on average) -- more than any other chronic condition. Hopefully the findings Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-30110849403983109452010-08-20T12:20:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:42:46.820-07:00The Science of Stress and Performance: Tiger Woods as a Hypothetical Case ExampleOne of the most popular stories over the past year has been the struggles of Tiger Woods, not only in terms of his complicated personal life, but also with regard to his professional downfall. Since his return to the PGA following his marriage problems, Tiger's golf game has not been close to the level his fans have been accustomed to seeing on a weekly basis. Most sports commentators and Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-83409136702918160542010-08-05T19:09:00.000-07:002011-06-07T06:47:48.252-07:00Random Psychology Fact -- August 16th, 2010The average number of "personalities" in a person with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder) is 15.
Source: Ross, C.A. (1997). Dissociative Identity Disorder. New York: Wiley.Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-17728901177805284732010-08-04T17:13:00.000-07:002011-06-07T06:47:31.925-07:00Random Psychology Fact -- August 9th, 2010The human brain can detect and process information presented at ultra fast speeds. For example, if you flash the word "Intelligent" on a computer screen for 17 milliseconds, your eyes won't see it, but your brain knows that it appeared. Research on subliminal brain processes has been growing in recent years.
Source: Dijksterhuis, Ap (2004). I like myself but I don’t know why: Enhancing implicit Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-55957970498801808302010-08-03T21:02:00.000-07:002011-06-07T06:47:12.385-07:00Random Psychology Fact -- August 3, 2010Women attempt suicide 3-4 times more frequently than men.
Men die from suicide at a rate that is 4 times higher than that of women.
Source: Canadian Mental Health AssociationDr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-90115826139850344512010-08-03T10:44:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:43:02.621-07:00Successfully Treating Obesity in Children: Results from an 8-year follow-up studyA recent article in the journal Behaviour, Research and Therapy* (a well-respected psychology journal) caught my eye, and thought it was worth the time to describe the findings here.
Following a initial screening process, 90 children took part in a weight control program. The average age of the children was 10 years, and all were overweight (28%) or obese (72%) at the start of treatment. This Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-27090019933949982512010-07-19T18:18:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:41:29.331-07:00Self-Control and Problems with EatingOne of the benefits of basic psychological research is that it can help us develop solutions to everyday problems. Unfortunately, such basic research can sometimes have difficulty moving beyond the confines of academic journals and books, and into the hands of the general population who might benefit from practical applications of this knowledge. Furthermore, basic research does not always reach Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-33931170195227411322010-06-23T08:23:00.003-07:002011-07-08T18:41:39.408-07:00Psychology's Absence from Mainstream MediaScientific journalism can be both informative and interesting -- qualities that are likely prioritized by editors and producers of media. However, scientific journalism occasionally falls short in terms of the writers' ability to present information in an accurate and balanced manner. For example, stories will sometimes avoid discussion of a study's limitations, or present correlational research Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-83922931777793520792010-06-09T19:17:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:41:39.409-07:00Why See a Psychologist for Obesity?Readers of this blog have no doubt noticed that I tend to highlight research evidence on psychological outcome studies, primarily those testing Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which tends to be very effective for many psychological issues -- often equally and sometimes superior to medication.
Well, I wanted to use this post to address psychology's role in obesity treatment. As most readers Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-5092500116949498752010-06-08T09:05:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:41:39.411-07:00Back Pain is OvertreatedA very interesting story by the Associated Press was released today highlighting a disturbing trend in treatment for back pain in the United States. Although the vast majority of acute back pain subsides after 4-6 weeks, Americans are receiving way too many tests (ex: MRI; X-Rays) for back pain, and opting for unproven and unwarranted surgeries. It is estimated that Americans spend up to $86 Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-22232583944200912842010-05-31T12:27:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:41:33.717-07:00Do Your Brain Yoga -- Research Underscores The Value of Psychological FlexibilityIs it more important to feel positive emotions or negative emotions? Is is healthier to suppress emotions or express them? What's more important to our mental health - the ability to experience the perceptual details of everyday moments (ex: getting immersed in our experiences) or the ability to stand back from situations to think about things objectively?
I think I can guess some of the more Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-51608510758926390232010-04-27T09:17:00.000-07:002010-09-21T18:38:06.427-07:00Some Mild Advertising for the Psychology "Industry"Whenever a pharmaceutical company finds a new a drug that works (even mildly), they follow up with a marketing campaign. This is understandable in the sense that they devote money to research and development, and they are in the business of making profits, so they have to get a return on their investment. The conflict of interest inherent between (1) needing to make money, and (2) helping and Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-69616377400844865572010-04-22T11:15:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:42:55.478-07:00Well Done Sigmund Freud -- Sort of...If you've ever taken a psychology course where Sigmund Freud's theories are discussed, there's a decent chance that your professor spent some time highlighting all the problems with his theory. Although Freud is the most recognizable name in the profession of psychology/ psychiatry, his theories have been criticized and even mocked by some contemporary psychologists.
In some cases, it is quite Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-994082819796349682010-04-06T19:35:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:42:42.958-07:00Emotional Support Decreases Pain of RejectionAn interesting study in a recent issue of the journal Social NeuroScience demonstrates how social support can decrease feelings of social pain. In a previous post, I noted how researchers had identified regions of the brain that become activated when people are rejected by others. One of these regions in the brain (ACC) was examined by the researchers in this new study. Here's what they did:
Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-8460089666353921022010-04-01T07:41:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:42:58.958-07:00Confusing Wealth and Beauty with HappinessAn opinion piece in the Montreal Gazette today inspired this next post. The article discussed research on happiness. Specifically, it detailed how research generally shows that happiness is best achieved through the creation and maintenance of interpersonal relationships. Things like money and success can be predictors of happiness, but having healthy relationships is an even better predictor of Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-341892027837550882010-03-31T06:33:00.001-07:002011-07-08T18:42:04.437-07:00New Research Highlights the Impact of Rejection on Thinking and The BodyIn an earlier post, I wrote about research that demonstrates a link between social rejection and physical pain. Well, a new study in a high quality journal (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) has extended our understanding of the impact of rejection on the body. I've always liked the studies published in this journal because they are often clever and and well-executed.
The Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-39988817968039967132010-03-25T12:49:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:43:02.623-07:00Psychology, Obesity and Managing Your EmotionsI used to work at a health clinic in Calgary, Alberta where I got to work with a number of patients suffering from various physical health problems (ex: diabetes; obesity; hypertension). Now, you might be wondering – why would a psychologist be working with these people? Well, psychologists can play an important role for many health problems – in fact, we have a whole field in psychology devoted Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-43450176766187864942010-03-24T07:16:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:41:39.414-07:00The Psychology of Chronic PainI'm going to switch gears a bit with this post, and discuss a new topic that I feel is important and interesting. I want to talk about how psychological factors can influence chronic pain. I would estimate that the majority of people would not see much of a connection. Most people assume that pain is simply due to some kind of injury to the body. And by extension, chronic pain is due to some Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142573166192131775.post-11316318899155251492010-03-23T10:06:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:42:27.169-07:00How Does the Need to be Liked Affect your Self-Concept and Self-Esteem?As I discussed in my last post, the need to be liked has a large biological basis, and can really affect all aspects of our lives. In this post, I am going to briefly talk about how this need affects our self-concept and self-esteem.
Generally speaking, the self-concept can be defined as your overall understanding of who you are as a person. I’m going to hold off on defining self-esteem for now Dr. Roger Covinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207113103863253418noreply@blogger.com3