NIMH to move away from DSM

Don’t understand the acronyms? This has to do with federal research of mental health. It raises questions about the ways mental disorders are diagnosed. But moreover, it challenges they way medical professionals think about mental disorders.

Unlike our definitions of ischemic heart disease, lymphoma, or AIDS, the DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure. In the rest of medicine, this would be equivalent to creating diagnostic systems based on the nature of chest pain or the quality of fever.

>> Federal institute for mental health abandons controversial ‘bible’ of psychiatry | The Verge

Who will you be 10 years from now?

puzzlebrainNPR presents a report on a study that showed that most people underestimate the degree to which their personalities and values will change in the future.

>> Read and listen: You Can’t See It, But You’ll Be A Different Person In 10 Years : Shots – Health News : NPR

How often do you stop to contemplate what you will be like in 10 years? I find that such pondering usually leads to snapshots of work and family — but do you ever think about how your values and beliefs will change?

A Little Deception Helps Push Athletes to the Limit

I’ve said before that the real difference between a lot of elite athletes–especially cyclists–is not in the muscles but in the mind. On a killer mountain, or a fast stretch, it’s your mind that often wants to back down first. You have to train yourself to keep pushing in those situations. (I like to think about this in terms that Jens Voigt famously said: “Shut up, legs!”

Many seasoned cyclists say the best way to become a better cyclist is to ride with riders better than you. I can attest that riding with better riders makes you realize just how much you can do. Now it seems that research substantiates this idea.

What I wonder is how much this principle applies in endeavors beyond physical performance? How many exercises in life do we self-limit? How can we coach ourselves to eek out an extra percentage point of performance when it comes to goals beyond just pedaling to victory?

>> Read More: A Little Deception Helps Push Athletes to the Limit – NYTimes.com

What is Consciousness?

From Information is Beautiful: a fascinating, fun, thought-provoking, and (yes) beautiful survey of beliefs about consciousness. Click and play!

Different representations of consciousness

 

>> Play: What is Consciousness?

If You’re Open to Growth, You Tend to Grow

From the New York times a few years ago, a piece on how our attitudes about potential affect our potential:

Those who believe they were born with all the smarts and gifts they’re ever going to have approach life with what she calls a “fixed mind-set.” Those who believe that their own abilities can expand over time, however, live with a “growth mind-set.”

Guess which ones prove to be most innovative over time.

Read more >> Unboxed – If You’re Open to Growth, You Tend to Grow – NYTimes.com

Thanks to Marc Thomas for sending my way!

God at the Grammys: The Chosen Ones – WSJ.com

As always, Neil Strauss slices to the fascinating core of popular psychology. This time, as prelude to his forthcoming book, he writes in the Wall Street Journal about positive belief and superstardom:

Before they were famous, many of the biggest pop stars in the world believed that God wanted them to be famous, that this was his plan for them, just as it was his plan for the rest of us not to be famous. Conversely, many equally talented but slightly less famous musicians I’ve interviewed felt their success was accidental or undeserved—and soon after fell out of the limelight.

Now I’m curious: how many people have such grandiose beliefs, yet still find themselves lacking. Is this kind of powerful belief and parcel of feeling accomplished?

>> God at the Grammys: The Chosen Ones – WSJ.com

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