Things about psychology we may no longer want to display in novels.

Hmm, #6 is a little misleading, I think.

Letting your anger out every once in a while in harmless ways does make me feel better.

Making a habit of it? Not so much.

I actually feel kind of good because my shy horribly repressed/emotionally unstable kid has to learn how to control his emotions in a socially acceptable way. I think I've successfully avoided #5.

As someone with very low self-esteem, I would have to say that there is definitely some element of truth to #5. Sure, it's inflated in all those teen films the article mentions, but self-esteem is definitely a help.
Also, as a big fan, I have to come to Derren Brown's defence.
"These days you'll hear similar claims about "neuro-linguistic programming," which performers like magician Derren Brown claim allows them to control any subject by slipping certain command words into a sentence, unnoticed."
I'm pretty sure he's never claimed any such thing. In fact, I've read his book and, while he does say they have some useful techniques, he's quite critical of a lot of what the NLP crowd claim.

"Research says it doesn't work."

Oh, so we should ignore psychologists and believe 'researchers', then, huh?

"Just Believe in Yourself, and You'll Succeed!"

Unwarranted self-esteem is epidemic in the US right now.

Self-belief is the first step, sure, but it needs to be backed up with action. Actually, resilience and action.

scarletpeaches said:

"Research says it doesn't work."

Oh, so we should ignore psychologists and believe 'researchers', then, huh?

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Uhh...the link that follows that quote is to the American Psychological Association. So, I guess the answer is we should listen to psychology researchers.

But not psychologists?

scarletpeaches said:

But not psychologists?

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I don't understand your question. Psychology researchers are in a subset of psychologists.

Hmm, I think I'll look elswhere than Cracked.com for my psychology updates, thanks.

Well this article has the tone of "Psychology is bullshit! Uh...so say psychologists."

I liked the statement (paraphrased): Mindlessly sticking up for your friends is 99% of what society is. That is so true.

The myth and truth sections are equally inaccurate (why, yes, I am a psychologist). Besides, Cracked dissed the weta--and you don't come back from that.

scarletpeaches said:

Well this article has the tone of "Psychology is bullshit! Uh...so say psychologists."

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I read it more as 'Some widely held beliefs about psychology are bullshit...so say psychologists.'

I reckon number 1, if the case is extreme enough, is pretty much true.

JimmyB27 said:

I read it more as 'Some widely held beliefs about psychology are bullshit...so say psychologists.'

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'Some widely held beliefs about psychology are bullshit...so says some guy who read a couple of recent psychology reports and misunderstood and over-extrapolated from them'

Heh. Whoever wrote this article basically lifted each bullet point from episodes of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

veinglory said:

'Some widely held beliefs about psychology are bullshit...so says some guy who read a couple of recent psychology reports and misunderstood and over-extrapolated from them'

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That is the majority of Cracked articles, just replace "psychology" with whatever subject.

LOG said:

Or not do at all if you haven't yet.

6, 4, 2 and 1 are the ones in particular I'm thinking about. The others, meh.

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First research says something does work, then research says it doesn't. Then it says it does again. Psychology is a bullshit science in its own right, so I'd rather write from personal experience, and from common sense.

It's much like the cult question. Cult members may not be stupid, gullible sheep, but they certainly are foolish, gullible, sheep.

Jamesaritchie said:

Psychology is a bullshit science in its own right

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Care to elaborate? I'm a psychologist.

Psychology is one of the most desecrated and mocked sciences in the world. I think, in my short experience (less than five years as a clinical psychologist), that it's because everyone perceives it biased by their own experiences -or lack of- about it. And such diversity of opinions comes from the fact that every psychologist works differently, and such work varies with every person.

Some treatments will be effective for a lot of people, depending on mindsets, culture, and personal feelings of all involved, and this will change over time. Will it backfire horribly in spectacular ways for some? Of course. That's human nature showing.

But the study of the human mind, its changes, illnesses and healing methods make psychology, I think, an important, ungrateful, and never-ending job, never a bullshit science.

I enjoy a lot of Cracked.com articles, but this one was extra special. Love it.

Didn't like that one little blurb about advocating choking kittens for anger management. I suspect this article is an exaggeration or a spoof.

I mean, it's all about balance. If I'm angry, I'm not going hurt someone- physically, emotionally or otherwise. But, I am going to express it to the person I'm angry with, or go for a good run and think about how I might want to handle it.

I think personal psychological health, if you will, is all about common sense and finding a balance within ourselves.

scarletpeaches said:

Self-belief is the first step, sure, but it needs to be backed up with action. Actually, resilience and action.

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And ice cream.