Influenza A (H1N1): From the reasonable to the ridiculous

In case you haven’t noticed yet, there is some concern spreading about the potential pandemic caused by the Influenza A H1N1 virus. The reactions range from complete indifference to utter hysteria - a wide range to say the least.

I think this might be a good time to examine the nature of human anxiety when it comes to this and similar events or situations.

As I wrote in a previous post, anxiety is a necessary protective emotion. When we are in a dangerous situation, such as in the presence of a predator, our natural instinct is to feel anxiety. This anxiety gives us the strength to run...

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Posted on 05 May 2009
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A shrink’s take on shrinks

In my April 14 column, I decided to try to answer a question that I get asked on a regular basis.

What makes a good shrink?

(Source: À la recherche d’un bon psy. Journal Métro, April 14, 2009)

Whenever I meet with high school students about careers in psychology I always get asked the same question: What does it take to be a good psychologist?

While finding a licensed psychologist may be easy, finding a good one may not be. Here are the qualities I look for in someone whom I believe is competent:

Be normal

It may sound simple but I usually tell people that a good psychologist should be a...

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Posted on 26 Apr 2009
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La Gestion de l’Anxiété

Voici la traduction Française d’un article sur la compréhension et le traitement de l’anxiété que j’ai écrit pour l’organisation Phobies-Zéro.

Il est long mais pourrait benificier les personnes qui souffrent de ces problèmes.

LA GESTION DE L’ANXIÉTÉ

Les raisons de l’anxiété

La douleur et les ours

L’un d’entre nous aime-t-il se sentir anxieux? J’en doute. Tout comme la douleur physique, l’anxiété est quelque chose de déplaisant. Elle sert toutefois à une fin importante : elle nous tient en vie.

Tout comme nous ressentons de la douleur lorsque nous éprouvons un problème physique,...

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Posted on 19 Apr 2009
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Anxiety management

Here is an article I wrote about understanding and treating anxiety disorders. It is long and may not be of interest to people who do not suffer from these difficulties. Nevertheless I decided to make it comprehensive so as to be of most benefit to those who are affected by them, either directly or indirectly.

It was written for an upcoming publication to be produced by Phobies-Zéro, a self-help organization for people suffering from anxiety disorders.

I am scheduled to give a talk on anxiety disorder this afternoon during a conference organized by the Anxiety Disorders Association of...

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Posted on 19 Apr 2009
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Distorted self-perceptions

As a psychologist, I sometimes joke that most clients fall into one of two broad categories.

The first group (the majority) are those that think very little of themselves. For these people, my job is to try to convince them they are not as bad as they believe.

Then there are the rest, the ones who think too much of themselves. My job is to convince them they are not nearly as good as they think they are. (I’m not really sure if these ones really are in the minority or whether they simply don’t seek help as often. When they do, of course, they spend most of their time blaming the rest of...

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Posted on 14 Apr 2009
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More, more, more

Why would a person drive a Hummer?

It seems that the more we have, the more we want. It never ceases to amaze me how demand quickly outstrips supply.

Any time we desire something that is beyond our reach we think we will be satisfied with “just the basic necessities.” How many people without personal transportation say things like “If I could just have a car, any old beater, I’d be in heaven. You know, something to get me from point A to point B.” Yet when they do get that beater, how long does it take for them to long for a newer car?

hat’s the problem with many areas in our world. Build...

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Posted on 05 Apr 2009
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In defense of control freaks

CONTROL FREAK – such a pejorative term, isn’t it?

After I wrote my last post, I had a client ask me, “I’m not a control freak, am I?”

I said, “Of course you are, but that doesn’t make you a bad person.”

People don’t control in order to dominate or to manipulate per se. They control in order to prevent bad things from happening. What I was referring to in the Control Freaks column was the stress response.  The stress response is what we feel when we need to address a threat. In any circumstance that threatens us, we respond by doing something to eliminate or control the threat. The exact...

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Posted on 01 Apr 2009
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Control freaks

Sorry I haven’t written for a while but I occasionally get sidetracked by my actual job (or by my life, such as it is).

Last week’s column was about control freaks. This is a phenomenon that occurs when the stress response meets perfectionnism and rigidity.

The stress response is the body’s instinctive way of protecting itself from a threat. This is good. The problem is that we can never be certain that there is no danger left whatsoever.  Without the ability to accept that control is imperfect, we keep trying harder and harder. That’s where perfectionnism and rigidity comes in. Whereas...

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Posted on 10 Mar 2009
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29

Long-term pain for short-term gain

“Stimulus-driven.” That’s how I used to describe my son Tommy when he was young. Having spent seven years in a Vietnamese orphanage, his arrival in Canada introduced him to an entirely new set of stimuli, especially at the dinner table. Whenever he liked something he would pile more helpings of it on his plate even before he finished what was already there. Cruel parents that we were, we would always insist that if he took seconds he would have to finish whatever was on his plate. His siblings usually walked away from the dinner table with lots still left on their plates. Tommy was always...

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Posted on 24 Feb 2009
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23

The value of the pursuit

My first car was a 1973 Volkswagen Beetle. I bought it in 1981 when I was a student. I had no money in my budget for repairs so I bought a book called; How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Instructions for the Complete Idiot. It worked. I was indeed a complete idiot when it came to cars but somehow I managed to change my brakes, adjust my valves and points to perfection, and run new wires whenever an electrical problem cropped up. The manual was grease-stained and in tatters.

I loved that car. It was miserable to drive in winter. When I came back to Montreal, my...

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Posted on 11 Feb 2009
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