What Can We Learn from Comedian Robin Williams' Suicide?
Comedian and actor Robin Williams died on August 11, 2014, According to local law enforcement authorities, he probably died by suicide.Williams had it all: a rare talent; a great career; family;...
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The Psychology of Gardening
Worldwide, gardening is among the most popular hobbies, yielding not only herbaceous but psychological bounty.That’s true from the first moment you contemplate planting something:Deciding to garden is...
View ArticleRecovery from Anorexia: Why the Rules *Do* Apply to You
Anorexia is full of paradoxes. Anorexics starve themselves yet feel nausea at the thought of eating, are fascinated and repulsed by watching others eat, compare themselves constantly with other people...
View ArticleAnxiety of Influence
If, as Donald Winnicott suggests, “artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide,” what of it?What if communicating promotes anxiety, and hiding,...
View ArticleMemories May Be Beautiful and Yet…
Review of We Are Not Ourselves: A Novel. By Matthew Thomas. Simon & Schuster. 620 pp. $28.Near the end of We Are Not Ourselves, Matthew Thomas’ first novel, Connell Leary rescues his mother...
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Predators, Reapers, and Psychology’s Do-No-Harm Ethics
Below are my remarks as part of a panel presentation on psychology and weaponized drones at the American Psychological Association Annual Convention in Washington, DC last week. -- RJE********Because...
View ArticleRobin Williams and My Dad: The Unlikeliest Pair
If you've been reading this blog over the past several years, you know that I post in August a memorial piece about my father, my original personal connection to suicide and my most motivating factor...
View ArticleWhat Does It Take To Attain Enduring Success?
When hearing about outstanding success stories, one can’t help but wonder what it takes for a person to accomplish such high levels of achievement over time. Is it talent? Practice? Certain training...
View ArticleA Novel View of Grieving as Reflected on The Leftovers
I am enthralled and thrilled by the disturbing new HBO show, The Leftovers. Like many pieces of literature, film or television, this show offers a novel and more complete take on common psychological...
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Psychological Aspects of Acting
For many people, acting is a compelling career or hobby and filled with emotion--and not just on stage.This article describes some of acting’s psychological upsides and downsides in hopes it might help...
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Guidelines for Covering Suicide: How Many Have We Violated?
"In America, they really do mythologize people when they die." - Robin Williams.We've been paying a lot of attention to the death of Robin Williams and for a lot of different reasons. Upon first...
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Stock Tales
One of the questions I am most asked by my students and the media alike is whether trading on the stock market is a genuine form of gambling. That might sound a simple question, but it all comes down...
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This is Your Brain on Oxygen
Many of us hold our breath unintentionally while engaged in daily tasks such as reading and writing email (a phenomenon called “email apnea” or “screen apnea” [1]). We simply “forget” to breathe. This...
View ArticleRobin Williams Was Treated/In Recovery and Killed Himself
When a culture believes something so deeply (called a cultural meme) nothing can dislodge it. Thus, examining Robin Williams' suicide, media commentator after commentator derives from it the need to...
View ArticleIt’s Not Your Fault, Robin Williams
Robin Williams’ death is one that hits so many of us so close to home, because he was in our homes as we grew up. He imprinted on us. We could all feel his kindness, his gentleness, his sensitivity and...
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College Binge Drinking for Social Satisfaction
Binge drinking is defined as consuming at least four drinks for women and five drinks for men in a single drinking session, at least once every 14 days on average. New research suggests that binge...
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Of Success and Failure
[Geek Pride welcomes guest contributor Nick Mamatas]It is extremely difficult to discuss failure, especially failure as a writer.Most pop-psychology looks at failure as simply the precursor to success....
View ArticleWhy We Lost a Lovable Genius:The Hidden Enemy in Suicide
I’ve spent 30 years working in the field of suicide prevention. Still, it never gets easier or less shocking to process a tragedy like that of Robin Williams’ death. I didn’t know him, but Williams...
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