Category: psychological research and other things academic

food addiction: another case of “duh” science

ok, time for another rant. looks like i can’t speak gently on this. sorry, buddha. this article in UStoday had me alternatively laughing out loud, rolling my eyes and frowning. obesity has long been blamed on weak willpower, overeating, genetics and lack of exercise. now scientists increasingly are seeing signs that suggest there may be… Continue reading food addiction: another case of “duh” science

family therapy for people with eating disorders

from medicalnews a few days ago: bulimia treatment success doubles when parents involved in therapy mobilizing parents to help an adolescent overcome the disorder can double the percentage of teens who were able to abstain from binge eating and purging after six months. a team based at the university of chicago medical center showed that… Continue reading family therapy for people with eating disorders

fractals, rorschach, tarot and meaning making

a few weeks ago, i posted some musings about how fractals might be used in psychological research. how could we use fractals to literally illustrate – turn into a picture – some of our mental and emotional patterns? some of the commenters interpreted this as a type of rorschach test. that was actually not what… Continue reading fractals, rorschach, tarot and meaning making

fractals: pictures of human experience?

what you see below is a fractal. fractals are graphically depicted mathematical functions, maybe similar to how statistical graphs depict mathematics. fractals are colourful geometrical shapes that illustrate repeated, similar mathematical processes. a very simple example would be the equations 1+2=3, 1+2.2=3.2, 1+2.22=3.22, etc. the equations are very similar (referred to as self-similarity among mathematicians)… Continue reading fractals: pictures of human experience?

anorexia and sex survey: pulling it all together

what’s the fascination of internet surfers with pictures of scantily clad or nude anorexic women? last december, i put together a survey to get some answers. this is part 4, the last instalment and summary of my report on the results. some numbers to start with by the time i closed the survey, 2,884 readers… Continue reading anorexia and sex survey: pulling it all together

adult children of alcoholics

researchers at the boston university school of social work found that while parental alcoholism can serve as an indicator of long-term harm to children, contrary to common beliefs it is not a direct cause. “the study shows that a positive family environment may be able to overcome very negative childhood experiences.” said lead author margaret… Continue reading adult children of alcoholics

chronic pain: help is there but …

i just came across a petition regarding the use of narcotics for people with chronic pain that i drafted for the canadian RSD network ten years ago. looks like things haven’t changed much. even all the links are still alive. skip baker’s story is particularly chilling. here is the petition: dear ………: we are people… Continue reading chronic pain: help is there but …

a big bagful of tidbits

time for some bullet blogging again. here are some interesting tidbits: it’s impossible to go to nancy white’s blog without finding something fascinating. ever heard of the cambodian bloggers summit? no??? well, why don’t you go here and find out. and maybe do more than find out. chip in to help beth kanter go there:… Continue reading a big bagful of tidbits

carnival of eating disorders #8

welcome to this month’s edition of the carnival of eating disorders! what are blog carnivals? they are like a readers digest of articles on just about any topic under the sun. imagine this one as a parade of blog posts – all about eating disorders. anorexia in the media at are you eating with your… Continue reading carnival of eating disorders #8