From Pretty Padded Room to My Therapy Couch to Breakthrough.com, entrants to this new medium are proving there can be a sustainable business model built on providing digital therapy sessions. As the lines continue to blur between the “real world” and its virtual counterpart on the Web, in a few years people will likely think nothing of having a doctor’s appointment online. The time to establish a presence in the new environment is now, either by signing up with an online therapy network or offering e-visits on your own.

Why People Seek Help Online

Patients report opting for teletherapy for a number of different reasons. People who suffer from agoraphobia and have trouble leaving the house are obvious candidates for online therapy. Others say they’re able to use e-therapy to squeeze sessions into lulls in their otherwise busy day, and to arrange impromptu, emergency “mini-sessions” with their therapists. Others get on-board out of necessity, after moving far from their therapist of choice.

The savings from online therapy are not only in time. Without having to drive and park or take a bus, there are no transportation expenses to and from an office. There’s also the lower price of the sessions themselves. Online therapy appointments are generally quite a bit cheaper than face-to-face sessions.

There’s also the fact that the people who need therapy are often the very ones who have trouble seeking help in public. Teletherapy solves this problem by allowing patients to meet with a psychologist from the privacy of their own homes in comfortable surroundings, where there’s no chance of an embarrassing encounter with an acquaintance in the waiting room. Therapists also find that patients open up more online because they’re more relaxed and can focus on their feelings instead of processing a new environment.

Some of the cons of e-therapy are shortcomings practically all Internet businesses have to face. For one, it’s reliant on technology, which, for all its advances, can still fail now and again. A depressed or manic patient might not be able to cope with a malfunctioning site, or pick right up again where he left off after a power outage abruptly cuts off a connection with a therapist. Even some of the providers admit that teletherapy is probably not advisable for patients who need more than “casual therapy” for serious conditions like schizophrenia.

Despite thorough privacy policies and promises of security online, e-therapy providers face a challenge trying to ease public fears of the safety of taking extremely personal information and disclosures online. Public perception of the dependability of providers of online services has soured in the wake of recent privacy leaks by highly visited sites likeLinkedIn and Facebook.

And of course, teletherapy removes the feeling of connectedness patients get by being in the same room with their therapists. The patient-therapist relationship is heavily dependent on trust, which in turn is strongly affected by signals a therapist gives off like body language and tone that may be masked or invisible by being routed through the computer. It may take longer for that trust to develop, thus requiring patients to schedule more sessions , offsetting some of their savings from in-person therapy.

How Online Therapy Works

Although they differ in small details, in general, online therapy providers operate with a few set methods.

• Email and/or chat: The most basic and arguably the most common type of therapy involves written communication between therapist and patient. For example, Online-Therapy.com makes use of worksheets that patients fill out and therapists respond to each day. It couples this with the ability to live chat with a therapist at any time Monday through Friday. MyTherapyCouch calls its system “email therapy,” while Pretty Padded Room offers a digital diary plan in which patients journal their thoughts and receive a response from a therapist with her comments in a day or two.
• Video calling: Online video sessions are the next step up from written interaction and provide a virtual experience that’s the closest substitute for “the real thing.” Using either a computer’s webcam or a smartphone’s camera, patients can both see and hear their therapists by using a video chat service like Skype or FaceTime. Sessions typically last between 30 minutes to an hour and can be one-off events or scheduled on a weekly repeating basis.
• Crowd-sourcing: One of the advantages the networks offer over individual therapists operating online are group therapy options. This often takes the form of free forums, although MyTherapyCouch offers a paid support group option, as well. Patients appreciate having a place where they can commiserate with other site members about similar problems without having to resort to more general forums where “trolls” often lurk.
• Therapist choice: The majority of e-therapy networks allow patients to choose their own therapists (although some pair patients with therapists based on their responses to forms they fill out while registering). They help their customers make this decision by creating a web page dedicated to their roster of partnering psychologists, where each is able to list their academic and professional credentials, what areas they specialize in, and a little bit about themselves and their approach. Virtually all e-therapy networks let patients change therapists if they so desire.
• Pricing: Fees typically range from $40-$110 per session, while monthly plans run from $100-$250, depending on the services included, which patients pay with a credit card or PayPal account. Registration or membership is typically free. In the past, insurance companies have not been willing to cover online therapy sessions, but that is beginning to change as the medium becomes more popular.

Why an Online Practice Might be Right for You

• Expand your client base: Online therapy is still in its early stages, and the market is still largely untapped. Disabled people and homebound people now have the ability to have regular therapy sessions. E-therapy will also create a new group of people interested in therapy: those who have avoided it because of a perceived stigma. They will appreciate the secrecy online therapy provides.
  Finally, there’s the group of people who see therapists currently but would much prefer to do so online from the comfort of their own homes. For those with anxiety or agoraphobia, where the very nature of the problem hinders them from wanting to travel to seek help, online therapy will be exactly what they’ve been waiting for. All it takes is for the public to become comfortable with the concept of online medicine, which all signs point to as being soon, and the teletherapy field will take off.
• Keep patients you would otherwise lose: In addition to expanding your reach to other states and even into other continents, online therapy allows you to maintain relationships with loyal clients you’ve treated for years if either you or they move away. Even the patients you lose to life changes that made scheduling appointments too difficult may now be able to find time to start being treated again.
• Increase your flexibility: No matter what Marissa Mayer says, telecommuting is the wave of the future. The Internet allows you as a therapist to take your office with you wherever you go, and even keep it in your pocket. If you were lucky enough to shift your entire practice online, you wouldn’t need the overhead of an office or a staff. Even if you only use the Web to supplement your practice, the added flexibility can only be a good thing for your busy schedule.

Setting Up an Online Practice

• Technical requirements: To take your practice online, obviously you’ll need a broadband Internet connection and a computer with either a built-in webcam or an attachable webcam. You may also want to invest in a third-party microphone, as those that come either built-in or bundled with laptops often offer poor sound quality. The Samson Go Mic is an excellent choice for easy USB connectivity without the need for drivers and clear recording.
  You’ll also need a free Skype account, and a free (or paid) PayPal business account is advisable, as well. That way you can accept both PayPal and credit cards through your website. If you plan to do a lot of email therapy and/or chat, a Gmail account is the simplest and easiest answer for both.
• Insurance and licensure: Although some insurers are beginning to cover health professionals who provide telehealth services, some still do not. The Telehealth Resource Center advises psychologists to get written approval from their liability insurer before moving a practice online. As for licensure, the subject is quite a bit cloudier. Rules governing out-of-state practice vary across the country, and only three states have laws outlining e-therapists’ legal obligations. The Center for Ethical Practice recommends checking with the state board of any patient outside your own jurisdiction before agreeing to treat them. The APA should soon have the results of a taskforce assembled to create a guide to telepsychology, so stay tuned for that release.
• Set: You should also give some thought to the physical setting from which you’ll be hosting sessions; take it as seriously you took setting up your office space. The video chat experts at Skype recommend making sure the room is well-lit so that the webcam does not try to compensate, thereby lowering image quality. Just be sure there are no bright lights behind you hitting the camera and making your face look dark. The camera will also try to compensate for dark backgrounds, so make sure the area behind you is light-colored.
• Online presence: You can create your own website, but unless you’re skilled in web design it’s probably more cost-effective to hire someone to set it up for you. Either way, a professional, calming look and easy navigation are musts. It should be easy for prospective patients to call up your professional credentials, your practice’s guiding philosophy, your areas of specialization, and information for new patients, including how to contact you. Do get SSL encryption and show the lock icon at the bottom of your site, but “guaranteed therapy” or money-back guarantee icons are tacky and unprofessional. Leave those off.You should also consider adding a social media element to your site. Starting a blog and creating a Twitter and/or Facebook account to link your blog posts with is a good way to give Web therapy searchers a feel for you and your therapy style. It also helps get your name out there as an e-therapy provider and draws people into the site.

Done right, online therapy can be every bit as effective as face-to-face therapy. While it is a new field and some questions remain unanswered, e-therapy is clearly the next frontier for health professionals. If you’re a psychologist who wants to be on the cutting-edge, don’t wait around. Hang your digital shingle and let the world know the doctor is … online.

The post Have Computer, Will Counsel: Taking Your Therapy Online appeared first on Online Psychology Degree Resource Guide.

Table of Contents

• What is Caffeine Addiction?
• How Does Caffeine Addiction Work?
• But How Do You Know Who’s an Addict?
• How Do You Treat Caffeine Addiction?
• What Can Peer Counselors Do?

This psychoactive stimulant causes 13% of addicts to suffer from symptoms so severe, they cannot psychologically or physiologically function without it. It causes them to experience heart palpitations, irritability, sleeplessness, distraction, headaches, mood swings, hyperactivity, depression, nausea, dehydration, and other side effects. It accounts for an estimated 20,783 emergency room cases in 2011. It has killed before, and it probably will kill again.

And it’s entirely legal.

Caffeine addiction seems almost laughable in a social climate where the word “addict” is more synonymous with alcohol and illicit and prescription drugs. After all, the substance permeates daily life. Billions of us humans (and even some nonhumans) perk ourselves up with daily doses of coffee, tea, soda, and other caffeinated consumables. But psychology professionals find the phenomenon of caffeine addiction disconcerting enough to make a compelling case for it as a diagnosable disorder.

What is Caffeine Addiction?

Caffeine addiction is exactly what it sounds like. It happens when the body and the mind require the stimulant to keep themselves pressing forward throughout the day.

To some extent, we’re all at least a little bit hooked. Some of this stems from increased work hours and decreased vacation days. We percolate and perk up in order to meet demands levied by our jobs and our lives. And, as our consumption swells, businesses tailor their products to meet our jittery needs. This establishes a dysfunctional loop. Our bodies keep requiring more and more caffeine in order to maintain equilibrium. We keep getting sold more. Our bodies “level up,” so to speak, and we are no longer able to function on what the market offers.

Dr. Steven Meredith, a behavioral pharmacologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, does not believe that caffeine addiction and consumption increased with time. Social and commercial factors involving the substance have, however, which might create the impression that more of us tweak out than ever before.

“There is no empirical evidence to suggest that the prevalence of caffeine addiction has increased recently. In fact, to my knowledge, there is no evidence to suggest that caffeine consumption has increased,” he says. “However, there has been a relatively recent change in the way some people consume caffeine, especially adolescents and young adults.”

“For example, Red Bull didn’t appear in the U.S. until 1997. Although soft drinks typically contain about 40 mg of caffeine in a 12-ounce serving, the same serving size of most energy drinks contains three times or more than this amount. And these products are marketed very differently than soft drinks, or even other caffeinated beverages like coffee,” he continues.

He notes the increasing significance of marketing and advertising in shaping caffeine ingesting habits: “Energy drinks are marketed as performance enhancers. And they’re consumed differently than other beverages that contain similar quantities of caffeine. My guess is that most kids don’t chug cups of hot coffee before playing sports. But, energy drinks are more likely to be consumed in this way,” Meredith says. “They are also often combined with alcohol. So energy drinks are quite different than the types of caffeinated beverages that have been consumed historically.”

Between 2010 and 2011, sales of energy drinks spiked by 31.6%. The average cup of coffee in the 1950s was only about five ounces and dosed sleepy drinkers with 70 to 100 milligrams of caffeine. Today, we require a 16-ounce cup containing 330 milligrams or more. And we’ve become so collectively dependent, it only takes between 12 and 24 hours of abstinence from 100 ounces of caffeine to start experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

How Does Caffeine Addiction Work?

As with the addicts receiving more media attention, caffeine dependents experience a tragic barrage of symptoms destroying body and mind alike. These range in severity from mild and curable without medical intervention to, unfortunately, critical health concerns — including death.

“Like other drugs of abuse, habitual caffeine consumption can also result in physical dependence. For example, drug users develop tolerance to the effects of many abused drugs, which means they need to consume more of the drug to achieve the same effect that lower doses previously produced,” Meredith explains.

“Moreover, when drug users abstain from some drugs after chronic use, they experience withdrawal, which often has the opposite effect of the drug — usually consisting of a number of unpleasant symptoms,” he says. “Thus, habitual caffeine users often consume the drug just to relieve withdrawal symptoms.”

The Psychology

Addictions are commonly referred to as “self-medicating,” and despite society’s collective obsession with the substance, some consumers do have a higher psychological risk of dependency. Individuals already possessing a genetic predilection toward anxiety tend to abuse caffeine at slightly higher rates than their calmer peers.

Caffeine activates the very same adenosine receptors as anxiety. While some may rely on the substance for comfort, it does actively subvert the desire at the physiological level.

“Genetic polymorphisms in the adenosine A2A receptor gene (ADORA2A), are associated with caffeine consumption; sensitivity to the effects of caffeine following sleep deprivation; and the effects of caffeine on anxiety, sleep, blood pressure, and psychomotor vigilance,” explains Meredith. “In addition, variability in the cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) gene, which codes for the primary enzyme responsible for caffeine metabolism, is associated with variability in caffeine consumption.”

A similar effect occurs in depression patients. Minute amounts of caffeine might alleviate some of the condition’s symptoms, but in abundance it could exacerbate them. Unlike anxiety, however, consuming the substance does not directly correlate with the diagnosis. Rather, it worsens the effects of common triggers — sleeplessness, for example. Insomnia and other sleep difficulties do immediately lead to depression.

But even consumers with no history of mental health still may suffer from caffeine-induced medical issues.

The Physiology

“As with other drug dependencies, caffeine dependence appears to be influenced, in part, by genotype,” Meredith says. “Studies comparing monozygotic and dizygotic twins have shown that the magnitude of heritabilities of caffeine use, tolerance, and withdrawal is similar to those for nicotine and alcohol.”

Known as caffeine intoxication, the physical side effects of consumption impact pretty much everyone. Depending on their weight, body chemistry, and the amount of caffeine ingested, individuals could contend with one or more of the following: lethargy or exhaustion, nausea or vomiting, a surging heart rate, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, twitching or tremors, gastrointestinal distress, and muscle pain.

Timing and dosage also impact the severity of caffeine intoxication. To meet the diagnostic criteria, a patient must consume at least 250 milligrams and experience five or more symptoms. Withdrawal begins waning between 24 to 48 hours following consumption, depending on abstention.

Energy drinks — either alone (60%) or in conjunction with alcohol (13%) or drugs (27% prescription, 10% illegal) — account for an estimated 20,783 emergency room visits in 2011. Five years prior, that number was 10,068. Most patients were either teens or young adults, and at least five individuals died as a result of overdosing in the fall of 2011 alone.

Even discounting emergency scenarios, caffeine still holds influence over the body’s processes. Its overall impact on heart health remains unclear, but it does alter the metabolism. This poses an especially dangerous risk to pregnant women and their fetuses.

“Research suggests that caffeine can increase perinatal complications. Caffeine is rapidly and widely absorbed throughout the body — it even passes through the placenta to fetuses, and it is absorbed into breast milk,” explains Meredith. “In addition, caffeine metabolizes at different rates across individuals. For example, caffeine metabolism is slower in infants, pregnant women, and individuals with liver disease, and some medications slow caffeine metabolism, which may result in caffeine intoxication.”

“Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should avoid excessive caffeine consumption, and individuals taking medications and those with liver disease should check with their physicians before consuming too much caffeine,” he says.

Mainstream medicine is not calling for the government to make caffeine illegal. Despite recent inquiries into regulation, very few with any amount of power or influence, save for Alderman Edward Burke of Chicago, seem too concerned with instigating an outright ban. Eliminating access likely won’t eliminate usage, anyway. Curing caffeine dependency requires willpower and medical, not federal, intervention.

But How Do You Know Who’s an Addict?

As Meredith points out, “about 90% of adults in the U.S. use caffeine regularly, and the vast majority of these caffeine users consume the drug without encountering any negative financial or social consequences associated with continued use.”

The delineation between user and abuser happens when consumption begins interfering with daily life, work, relationships, and physical functioning.

“Addiction is essentially a choice disorder,” he explains. “Thus, all drug addictions have in common certain behavioral mechanisms. This is because drug use is operant behavior, which means it’s maintained and modifiable by its consequences. Most abused drugs function as reinforcers … Although some reinforcers are good for us, like food and water, other reinforcers, like drugs of abuse, can be detrimental to our long-term well-being.”

Meredith explains how addiction works from a psychological perspective. These habits separate the average caffeine consumer from an individual qualifying as a dependent: “Each time we choose a reinforcer or choose to engage in an activity (e.g., eating), we are essentially choosing not to engage in incompatible activities (e.g., sleeping, jogging, sky diving, etc.). Whether we make this choice consciously or not, we tend to choose the activity that results in the most valuable reinforcer,” he says.

“So if there are enough reinforcers available to us to compete with drug use, many of us choose not to use drugs,” he continues. “For example, if we have plenty of money, food, clothing, shelter, a job, a spouse, a family, and, especially, if we risk losing all these things if we become addicted to a drug, we may choose not to use a drug.”

“So, this is essentially addiction in a nutshell — a disorder of choice. Of course, some drugs are more addictive than others, but these fundamental behavioral mechanisms work the same across all forms of substance abuse,” he says. “Thus, some forms of treatment are applicable across a variety of abused substances.”

How Do You Treat Caffeine Addiction?

The staggering majority of caffeine consumers require absolutely no medical intervention. These individuals possess the ability to set their own limits and the discipline to stay within them.

But a small subsection needs psychological or physical assistance to preserve their health and safety, as quitting proves a task they cannot overcome solo. Every patient requires something different depending on multiple factors, such as severity and the presence of any comorbid disorders. However, there are some basics most professionals will likely implement — approaches that also help more self-directed dependents.

“Caffeine users who want to quit should consider keeping track of their caffeine consumption in a daily caffeine diary,” Meredith recommends. “Rather than abruptly stopping caffeine use, they should gradually reduce consumption over the course of several weeks (e.g., by consuming fewer or smaller caffeinated beverages each week, or by gradually mixing in more decaffeinated beverages into their caffeinated beverages). This method will help caffeine users avoid withdrawal symptoms associated with acute abstinence.”

He provides examples for what different severity levels might expect when weaning off: “[Milder addicts] should be encouraged to quit caffeine or consume it at safe levels (e.g., no more than 500mg/day), and those individuals who consume excessive amounts of caffeine should talk to a physician to find out if they have any co-morbid conditions that could be exacerbated by caffeine consumption (e.g., heart conditions or anxiety).”

“Unfortunately, there are few other treatment options currently available,” he says. But Meredith reassures us that “researchers at The Johns Hopkins University Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit are currently investigating behavioral interventions to promote caffeine reduction and cessation.”

What Can Peer Counselors Do?

With the prolificacy of energy drinks and other caffeinated consumables on college campuses, it is entirely possible that psychology students performing peer counselor duties might encounter a dependent. They might consider distributing resources teaching their classmates how to responsibly stimulate themselves with caffeine.

“Education is important … Some people may be unaware of how much caffeine they’re consuming each day. They may also think that caffeine is improving their physical or cognitive performance,” Meredith explains.

“Regular caffeine users begin to experience decrements in physical and cognitive performance due to withdrawal less than 24 hours after consuming their last caffeinated food, medication, or beverage,” he continues. “Therefore, any performance improvements they experience are likely due to alleviation of withdrawal symptoms.”

Keep his points in mind when beginning a peer counseling session. And the following advice will also provide the best possible care for suffering students.

• Listen: And genuinely listen. Don’t make assumptions or project personal opinions onto students. Let them discuss what’s on their minds. Sometimes, this is all it really takes for them to form their own conclusions; they don’t need their objective third parties to turn into subjective, second, or — even worse — subjective second parties.
• Be compassionate: Students seek out peer counselors for empathy and nonjudgment. Avoid hurling blame, abuse, and other potentially hurtful commentary during sessions. The old credos about “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes” and “treating others as you want to be treated” apply perfectly here.
• Keep confidential information confidential: Unless the safety (even life) of a peer or another individual is undeniably at risk, respect students’ privacy. Schools themselves will provide confidentiality agreements their student counselors must sign and honor, outlining specifics of what stays, what can be told, and the penalties for violating the contract.
• Refer them to professionals: Peer counselors can legally only provide so much support. If a fellow student seems a severe enough case, point him or her in the direction of a suitable professional, located on or off campus. The best peer counselors research and forge relationships with legitimate local mental health providers and know which ones will provide the right attention for their charges’ needs.

Meredith also advises peer counselors and other mental health professionals to understand the potential overlaps between caffeine dependency and further substance abuse. Addicts might display signifiers that their consumptions spread beyond energy drinks and coffee.

“Counselors should also keep in mind that caffeine is a psychoactive drug,” he says. “Although we don’t yet know the long-term consequences of continued use, abuse of one drug often leads to abuse of other drugs, and some survey-based studies suggest that energy drink consumption among young adults predicts alcohol-related risky behavior and subsequent nonmedical prescription drug use.”

Official recognition of caffeine dependence as a psychological disorder crawls despite the compelling evidence and pressure from the medical community. However, researchers do not embrace a lost cause.

“The World Health Organization already recognizes a diagnosis of Caffeine Dependence Syndrome in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (10th Revision; abbreviated ICD-10),” Meredith points out.

“The American Psychiatric Association is including proposed diagnostic criteria for a ‘research diagnosis’ of Caffeine Use Disorder in the DSM-5 [to be released May 18, 2013],” he adds “Although the DSM-5 isn’t recognizing Caffeine Use Disorder as a clinical disorder, including Caffeine Use Disorder as a diagnosis for further study should stimulate much needed clinical, epidemiological, and genetic research on the disorder.”

A precedent for acceptance already exists. Emergency rooms and psychotherapists already combat the adverse effects of the world’s most beloved psychoactive substance. They just need the definitive diagnostic criteria to do it. Once the disorder finally receives its due, medical professionals will possess the education, references, and resources necessary to promote health and happiness.

The post Die without Coffee? Treating a Legal Addiction appeared first on Online Psychology Degree Resource Guide.

Table of Contents

• Choosing a Topic
• The Thesis
• Research
• Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary
• Outlining
• First Draft
• The Final Draft
• Editing
• The Last-Minute Checklist

There comes a time in every young (and not-so-young) psychology student’s life when the inevitable emerges to challenge them, to stress them, and to encroach upon their precious Xbox time.

Research papers.

Not even art majors can escape their nefarious reach. So a student involved in a writing- and research-intensive program like psychology may as well resign themselves to the one thing that will scoot the process along as painlessly as possible — actually understanding how to put one together. It takes a bit of getting used to, admittedly. But the following guide provides some information to help alleviate some of the pain.

Choosing a Topic

The best topics are neither too broad to properly explore nor too narrow to prevent the writer from finding enough supporting information.

“A five- to 10-page paper on Freud is simply not possible because his work is so far-reaching that the student winds up writing a poor imitation of the summary chapter in the textbook,” says Dr. Steven LoBello, a psychology professor at Auburn University at Montgomery. “A good topic is considerably narrowed and focused.” For instance, instead of focusing on the entirety of Sigmund Freud’s life, LoBello suggests students would be better served examining how one of Freud’s teachings is applied today.

Pick something relevant to the class as well. For example, no matter how intelligent, cogent, and compelling a paper on Victorian psychology’s penchant for misogyny might read, it would not fit into a course covering neurology. Professors use research papers to gauge how well their students grasp the material. Failing to address their prompts could lead to a compromised grade.

Elizabeth Morris, who recently completed a master’s degree in counseling at St. Edward’s University, describes an ideal topic as “something that can be researched and have measurable results, [like] researching the correlation between children who play video games and acts of violence vs. stating that video games cause violence.”

“In a paper, you aren’t out to prove anything, but it is meant to share what has already been studied and the results of that study,” she says.

Students must also practice some degree of flexibility should one topic prove difficult to support.

“Knowing what’s viable ahead of time can be tricky,” LoBello says. “One might have to be prepared to abandon a topic if the literature base is inadequate or the topic is just too advanced for the student’s level of preparation.” Consider a few different topics to ensure at least one yields enough information and lends itself to a credible thesis.

The Thesis

This is the most integral component of a research paper. Thesis statements exist as the nerve center from which all major points diverge and sustain themselves. Weak theses lead to meager papers. Strong theses lead to confident, intelligent papers.

All theses must be expressed in concise and straightforward language. Muddying the major themes and ideas with unclear writing will make professors dismiss anything being said. Everything branches out from the statement, so an obfuscated thesis throws off a paper’s cohesion.

“A viable thesis is something that has enough support to make the statement, but also will provide room for further research,” says Morris.

As an example, Morris says that something like “When parents spoil their children, they become narcissists” isn’t an adequate foundation for a psychology paper because it “stat[es] something very broad and general as fact.” However, refining and narrowing the very same idea into “Permissive parenting styles may lead to the increase of narcissistic personality disorder” lends itself to a far stronger paper. This is because the more focused statement has “plenty of research to back it up” and isn’t stated as fact.

Theses should ask solid, supportable questions. The rest of the paper answers them in greater detail using professional publications.

Research

A solid thesis deserves solid research to back it up. Otherwise, readers will not believe the major ideas being pushed. Research is, unsurprisingly, the most intensive step in the paper process. It requires an overwhelming amount of reading and analysis to ensure the highest quality arguments. Fortunately, learning how to be savvy with sources saves time and bolsters the final grade.

“If you are writing an actual academic paper, you need to use actual academic resources,” says Morris. “When you are finding articles, make sure they are up to date … and you can find multiple articles that state very similar findings. If you can only find one article written in 1992, your research is not very reliable.”

She recommends only citing research published within the last five years to present the most accurate arguments possible. Professors largely want up-to-date, peer-reviewed sources from professional journals.

Nearly every college library subscribes to the most reliable industry journals (such as Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychological Methods, Psychological Review, and Health Psychology), either in print, digital copies, or through a massive database such as JSTOR or the psychology-centric PsychINFO. Librarians can provide the necessary login information as well as arrange interlibrary loans should the school not carry a required resource. There’s also the fantastically helpful Google Scholar.

Searching for the right book might seem like an intimidating task, but keyword searches using the library’s catalogue save time when the works of a specific author — say, Philip Zimbardo or Carl Jung — aren’t enough. They will call up reads relevant to the query. Go find them on the shelf and immediately turn to the index. Find the pages with the information and skim over it to see if the book provides reliable enough insight to fold into a paper.

When discussing the details of a specific diagnosis, psychology students must source the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychological Association (APA). It is the definitive guide to identifying and treating mental health conditions in the United States. The fifth edition comes out in May 2013.

Any interviews included in a research paper must be conducted with respected industry experts — no Robert Gerard Eardley or similarly disgraced source whose license was lifted for unethical practices. Expert sources certainly punch up papers and provide more in-depth insight, but you shouldn’t rely on them too much to support a thesis; interviews have obviously not undergone the same peer-review process used to vet journal articles.

When it comes to online resources, Morris heavily discourages Wikipedia. Its open editing structure makes vandalizing content and disseminating misinformation supremely easy. But that doesn’t mean all internet-based reads should be dismissed as unreliable. Generally, URLs ending with .edu or .gov will host updated, peer-reviewed information suitable for a research paper. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and Center for Disease Control (CDC) are both legitimate and excellent reference points for psychology students.

Domains ending in .org should be approached with caution, as not every organization necessarily shares correct information and updated studies. The APA is the best example of a trustworthy .org. If one particular group seems alright, but still raises a few questions, ask a professor whether the industry considers their research valid.

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary

Regardless of the medium, all sources fall into one of three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The strongest papers analyze and support their theses largely using primary resources, supplemented by secondary when necessary.

• Primary sources present original ideas and research. The DSM would be an example of a primary source, as it is the America psychology industry’s standard when diagnosing mental health issues.
• Secondary sources analyze or build upon primary sources. Because the DSM qualifies as a primary source, an article critiquing the diagnostic criteria using previous scientific studies would be considered secondary.
• Tertiary sources summarize or list primary and secondary sources; bibliographies, textbooks, and encyclopedias all count. Continuing the DSM example, a works-cited page by a fellow student including the work would be a tertiary source relevant to psychology research papers.

Juggling so many resources appears intimidating at first, but papers become more manageable once students pare down what works best for their ultimate goals.

“I think that deciding which information to keep and which to discard becomes quite easy if you have a properly delineated topic, one that is sufficiently focused such that the source either relates or it doesn’t,” says LoBello. “If it’s borderline, you hang onto it until you organize the information enough to know if it fits or not. If it doesn’t fit, it goes.”

Outlining

Regardless of whether a professor requires a basic outline, psychology students should still invest the time in writing one.

“It is an organizational step that students skip, thinking it saves time or is unnecessary,” LoBello says. “I think (that’s) unwise, like going off into some unknown place without a map. The outline is designed to guide the writer.”

LoBello cautions that outlines shouldn’t be too elaborate, either. “At that point, the danger is that you are not really doing an outline, but writing a poorly organized paper,” he warns. “I think it’s a good idea to get your sources, read them, take notes, think of an organizational structure, and then create an outline. I think a one-page outline ought to be enough to construct a five- to 10-page paper.”

Outline style tends to vary by professor, and the APA does not have formal guidelines for outlines, either. Rasmussen College’s library recommends writing them out using Times New Roman, 12-point type size, double-spaced lines, and one-inch margins. Purdue OWL has excellent sample outlines students can view for inspiration.

First Draft

All psychology papers need to be written using the APA style of formatting. Fortunately, an official rundown of everything it entails is available online.

First drafts might be on the rough side, but they should still reflect cogent arguments and an understanding of the source material. Some professors may ask for works cited, bibliography, or other writing alongside the first draft as well.

According to Morris, a standard psychology research paper should follow APA format and include a title page, abstract, introduction, methods, results, conclusion, and references. “In the first draft, it should be pretty well organized and references should be set,” she says. “A student should be able to accept critiques and make corrections,” says Morris.

LoBello looks for correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation when grading first drafts. Even though they are not meant to be considered as polished as final drafts, professors still want to see that their students comprehend their chosen topic from multiple angles.

“When doing research on a particular idea, one should always research opposing arguments and alternatives,” says Morris. For example, Morris says, if you’re discussing the negative effects of anti-depressants on pregnant women, you should also outline alternative treatments.

Morris also wants students to remember that research papers should strive for objectivity. ” A lot of students will see psych papers as a chance to argue for something they believe in, but if you are going to do that you need to make sure you know the opposing ideas or alternative solutions.”

LoBello outlines a few handy questions to ponder when penning the first draft of a psychology research paper. “The quality of expression is important — is the writing well done? Are words chosen and combined in an effective way? The content — does this paper do what it says it aims to do or does it go in several directions at once? Do I even understand what I’m reading? Is it organized?”

The Final Draft

Always consider professors’ notes on a first draft. They will point out spelling and grammar errors, as well as weak arguments, irrelevancies, and any other factor that does not feed back into the thesis. Some might even recommend further resources to explore.

“In a final draft, I would like to see as many problems that I have identified in the rough draft corrected. I am not happy to see problems that I took the time to correct once before. Spelling and punctuation errors are especially annoying at this point,” says LoBello.

He adds, “A rough draft may not conform to format specifications and may even lack some elements, like an abstract or a complete reference list. But these aspects of form must be present in the final paper. The final paper must look good as well as read well.”

Editing

For further assistance, schedule an appointment with your campus writing center. Staffers there are trained to spot spelling and grammar issues, and they can often offer new perspectives on an argument’s cohesion. Trusted classmates, friends, and family members might also be conscripted to express their opinions on what works and what needs changing. Another common strategy is to print out a paper and read it out loud. This helps catch any errors with sentence structure and coherence.

Properly managing time is also essential when transitioning between first draft and final — especially if a professor requests additional research. “Plan ahead, organize when you are going to do the different parts of the paper, and take breaks in between,” Morris says. “A well-written and thorough paper with substantial research cannot be done overnight, no matter how much coffee may be brewing.”

Your work may never see publication or a readership beyond your teacher, but you should treat it as if peer reviewers with Psychological Review will sit down and pore over everything tomorrow. Writing with professionalism as a student leads to writing with professionalism throughout your career begins.

The Last-Minute Checklist

Before turning in your final copy, check over the following points to ensure the best possible grade:

• Strong thesis: Pick a thesis that answers questions through current, reliable research and lends itself to further inquiry. Remember, not too broad, but not too narrow. Avoid making definitive statements out of theories.
• Citations: Make sure all sources receive proper credit. Forgetting to do so could lead to accusations of plagiarism — and with tools like Turnitin at their disposal, professors catch improper citations quickly and reliably. Quotes need to be quoted. Previous research needs to be attributed to the researchers. Make sure readers know which theorists concocted which theories.
• Proper formatting: Always write using the most updated APA formatting techniques..
• Clear arguments: Carefully dissect each major point for coherence. Enlist others, be they friends or writing center staffers, to share their opinions regarding whether or not the research provided genuinely supports the thesis. Make changes accordingly.
• Spelling and grammar: Poor spelling and grammar obfuscate even the most brilliant, groundbreaking points. Don’t just rely on Word’s checks, either; they don’t always catch mistakes, and they sometimes they see errors in perfectly valid writing. Hand a paper over to others for a new perspective or try reading out loud to catch any problems.
• Follow directions: If a professor gives notes on the first draft, implement them for the final. Respect page length, style requirements, and the inclusion of any additional writing — such as an outline, a detailed methodology, or an abstract — they require.

Morris stresses that students should invest their time in subjects they find interesting. “Have fun with it; find articles that you will be interested in reading,” she says. “Many of them are very long and tedious, and can be hard to translate. You have to be able to understand the research you are reporting, and this is best done when you actually enjoy reading the research.”

Research papers will always be inescapable, in school and in professional psychology careers. They might seem intimidating at first, especially to students relatively new to the process. But the process gets easier over time; nobody inherently knows how to conduct research and clearly analyze and convey ideas, after all. Always stay open to suggestions and input from professors and industry pros. This allows those ever-important communication skills to grow and flourish. Keep LoBello’s simple words in mind while working hard to meet that deadline: “Writing ability is timeless. It is an art.”

The post How to Write a Psych Research Paper appeared first on Online Psychology Degree Resource Guide.

An identical phenomenon devastates American workers as well. We just don’t dedicate a specific word to it.

In fact, we actively celebrate work addiction, touting it as virtuous rather than murderous. We sarcastically refer to it as “workaholism,” chuckling at the notion that the psychology community wants to stigmatize and pathologize hard work and dedication to one’s career. But workaholism is just as dangerous an addiction as drugs and alcohol, laden with mental and physical torments. It costs companies an estimated $160 billion annually, thanks to medical expenses and absenteeism.

Workaholism heavily involves intrinsic psychological factors, just like any other addiction. However, contemporary American culture, especially in the corporate sector, worsens the issue. With downsizing and layoffs a constant threat since the 2008 economic collapse, many employees fall prey to workaholism because they do not want to lose their livelihood. Heightened expectations and the fact that the average number of hours worked per week has risen by 53% since 1975 all externally pique internal insecurities.

Corporate culture’s over-reliance on technology also enables unhealthy work habits. Not only are many workaholics now burdened with the responsibilities of two or more employees, their companies want them to remain in constant communication. Smartphones, email, and text messages mean they can no longer drop out and decompress, since their manager might very well demand an answer during family dinnertime.

“It’s important to emphasize that there is no real diagnosis of workaholism,” says Dr. Simon Rego, Director of Psychology Training at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

Although not yet recognized by the American Psychological Association and outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), workaholism nevertheless requires attention from psychological professionals, corporations, coworkers, and families. Its impact is clear, and its solution is concrete. Learning how to “stop the glorification of busy” in our offices and our homes leads us to start saving lives.

Hard Work vs. Workaholism

“A workaholic is on the ski lift thinking about being back in the office. A hard worker is in the office thinking about being on the ski lift,” explains Dr. Bryan Robinson, the psychotherapist behind Chained to the Desk: A Guidebook for Workaholics, Their Partners, and the Clinicians Who Treat Them, which will see a third edition later this year.

Hard work is healthy. It yields productive results and pushes humanity further. It raises challenges and pursues realistic, tangible goals. Workaholism is none of these things. It is a dangerous pathology. It ingrains itself in the psyche and dissolves it from the inside out.

Rego admits that the distinction between the two sometimes distorts: “The line is not always so clear between hard worker and workaholic. It may be best to consider these two labels as points along a continuum, with hard worker being a notch down from workaholic on the one end, and most people moving back and forth along the continuum, to some degree, at different points in their lives or in different aspects of their lives.”

Unfortunately, American vernacular tends to conflate “hard work” and “workaholic,” thereby compromising the medical severity of the latter. We celebrate the disorder while simultaneously treating substance abuse — which erupts from the very same psychological milieu — with sympathy and concern. And unlike substance abuse, we actively reward workaholics for their dysfunctional behavior.

The Culture of Workaholism

It is easy to foist historical blame onto the sort of devoted, driven work habits outlined in Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Robinson cautions against considering American culture’s roots in the “Protestant work ethic” the workaholism epidemic’s origin story.

“That Puritan work ethic is not a bad thing. It’s a good thing, but anything carried too far is a bad thing, and that’s what addiction is … It’s a personality thing,” Robinson says.

Workaholism is a psychological condition often involving the exact same emotions and motivations as more stereotypical addictions, like sex, drugs, and alcohol. But it goes unaddressed at the cultural level because the mechanisms through which the dysfunctions manifest are the cultural level. We chose the form of the destroyer, and it is us.

Corporate Culture

Because the threat of downsizing and layoffs consistently plagues today’s workers, many feel compelled to bury themselves in an avalanche of responsibilities. They want employees to think them valuable assets to the team, and assume unrealistic workloads as a sort of insurance policy; nobody wants to lay off a real go-getter, they think. An almost fanatical devotion to the office, in their minds, increases their chances of receiving validation in the form of raises and promotions.

Corporate culture doesn’t directly cause workaholism any more than video games directly cause school shootings or heavy metal directly causes suicide. But it exacerbates anxieties already intrinsic to a workaholic.

For example, Sheryl Steinberg’s Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead coats her pro-workaholism message in feminist rhetoric. She touts psychological dysfunction as inherently empowering to a traditionally marginalized demographic, the key to decimating the glass ceiling. As Kate Lossee at Dissent reports, “Life is a race, Sandberg is telling us, and the way to win is through the perpetual acceleration of one’s own labor: moving forward, faster. The real antagonist identified by Lean In then is not institutionalized discrimination against women, but women’s reluctance to accept accelerating career demands.”

Rego agrees that societal factors feed into workaholism, providing patients with the resources necessary to enmesh themselves in dangerous behavior cycles. “Being more of an individualist society, America culture tends to reward those who adopt a ‘workaholic’ behavioral style,” he says. “In addition, the population is constantly bombarded with messages about all the rewards that come to those who work hard – such as money, fame, and power. We are told this by our parents and teachers. We see examples of this in our athletes, actors, and corporate leaders. We observe this in our peers, colleagues and friends.”

Technology

Prolific and rapid technological innovation is a uniquely 21st century factor in breeding workaholics. We exist almost as veritable “cyborgs” because we rely so heavily on personal devices and tools such as tablets, smartphones, e-mail, text messaging, and laptops to navigate daily tasks.

This does not bode well for American workaholics.

“The advent of technology has also made [enabling] more complicated. Certain corporations expect people to be on call 24/7,” says Robinson. But by ramping up what they want out of their employees, these companies only foster exhaustion rather than productivity.

Chained to the Desk relays the story of actress, producer, and Big director Penny Marshall’s struggles with tech-enabled workaholism, extracted from a People interview. She took advantage of her Blackberry as a tool for justifying unhealthy work habits. Constant connectivity led Marshall to believe that she needed to always stay on top of professional discussions, lest she appear disinterested or lazy. This led to major rifts with her family, who viewed themselves as lesser priorities.

Technology might worsen the quality of life for many workaholics, but they must empower themselves if they hope to break negative patterns. Robinson extols “personal responsibility” as the only antidote for this particular symptom. Workaholics need to determine their technology limits and stick with them.

And if they can’t, they should pursue therapy.

But it’s going to require more than just workaholics setting down their iPhones and signing up for counseling to resolve the issue. Companies themselves need to get involved. The very structure of American culture needs deconstructing and reconstructing over time as well.

“Corporate America merely reflects the values of American society. So, to effect change, the American culture as a whole would have to change,” says Rego.

How Corporate Culture Needs to Change

If corporate culture continues cheerleading workaholic dysfunction as a positive employee characteristic, it will eventually fail. It sabotages itself through counterintuitive practices. Forcing disproportionately high workloads onto employees does not save money — in fact, it causes their bank accounts to hemorrhage money. The $160 billion workaholism that costs companies, individuals, and taxpayers happens because the corporate climate explicitly encourages its psychologically struggling workers; rather than profiting, they push employees towards an American karoshi. For want of money and status, lives are compromised, even lost, to heart disease, diabetes, anxiety, depression, strokes, fatigue, and other ills that could’ve been prevented.

“What we really know is the opposite of what a lot of corporations think: the more balanced people are and the less they feel pressure, the better workers they’re going to be,” Robinson explains.

Both Robinson and Rego note that some companies do understand the science underlining how unhealthy business practices lead to unhealthy employees and heightened absentee rates. Rego says, “Interestingly, we may be seeing some signs of [change], but paradoxically, through corporations experimenting with new and novel ways to enhance productivity, morale, creativity, and motivation.”

Google and AOL/Huffington Post, for example, know that kindergartners shouldn’t monopolize the simple joy of naptime. They help employees stave off burnout by providing nap rooms and pods. Meditation and yoga classes — embraced by the likes of Google, General Mills, and Apple — serve as islands of calm and mindfulness during overwhelming work days.

“This is a change of tide from what we used to call ‘corporate abuse,’” says Robinson.

An estimated $34.3 billion in vacation days went to waste in 2011 thanks to corporate pressures. Americans leave behind an average of 6.2 vacation days at the end of each year. Employees dread the inevitable cavalcade of responsibilities awaiting them upon their return, so they avoid leaving; this only increases their risk of succumbing to workaholism.

Companies might want to harness the desire to enjoy genuine respite as a possible reward. Synygy recognizes hard work and loyalty with additional paid vacation days, even straight-up paid vacations. When considering this route, employers should ensure their workers do not find themselves greeted by overloaded inboxes and to-do lists. And never, ever call or e-mail them while they’re gone, except in the case of the most dire emergencies.

How Workaholism Develops

Workaholics are addicts.

The only difference between a workaholic and a heroin junkie is that cultural mores don’t celebrate shooting up. Workaholics hide behind socially-sanctioned behaviors in order to break themselves down, relying on their employers’ and loved ones’ inability to distinguish the difference between working hard and self-destruction. Nobody notices them the way they notice alcoholics and drug addicts.

“I think most of [workaholism] is brought to the table … when I interview workaholics, they almost always come from some kind of family pattern early on that breeds their need to be busy … or to be achieving,” says Robinson.

Most of his workaholic patients grew up around addicted family members, some of them workaholics themselves. They observe the concept of self-medicating and internalize it as a completely legitimate response to depression, anxiety, insecurity, and other negative thoughts. But there is a physiological component to why workaholism continues as well.

“What [workaholism] does is it activates the stress response,” he says. “[Workaholics] tend to impose upon themselves more expectations than the actual situation requires, and sometimes that turns into workaholism or overdoing it or overcaring or going over the line.”

Rather than smoking, snorting, or shooting, workaholics by definition literally get high on life. Their dysfunctional habits “activate” the sympathetic nervous system rather than the parasympathetic. The stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine flood the brain in periods of elevated stress. Workaholics deliberately create or enter into situations that pique the production of these chemicals, hooking themselves on the resultant mental and physical feelings.

Like other addicts, workaholics usually fall victim to their hurtful habits to compensate for another disorder. Because there is no official diagnosis of “workaholism,” patients receive a different designation when they seek treatment.

Mental Conditions

Workaholics largely contend with anxiety and depressive disorders. Addiction provides short-term comfort for long-term battles against hopelessness, panic attacks, sleeplessness, irritability, apathy, and other chronic symptoms. They become trapped in a vicious catch-22. Behaviors meant to alleviate the pain only aggravates it over time; workaholics start stacking on more and more responsibilities with the earnest hope that overwhelming negativity will slowly turn positive.

Robinson notes an especially significant overlap between workaholism and obsessive-compulsive disorder: “Someone who is obsessive-compulsive will often use work as a way to inflate their anxiety. Not on a conscious level, but a lot of people who have OCD often use the work … as a way to self-medicate,” he says.

As a process addiction, it makes sense that obsessive-compulsive patients succumb to workaholic tendencies. They find the regular rhythm of work habits familiar and soothing.

“Because we give people credit if they’re churning out a lot of projects … we don’t think about what it’s doing to them. We just see the surface of it,” he cautions. Regardless of whether or not workaholism manifests from depression, anxiety, OCD, or another disorder, it still places victims at considerable risk of physical ailments as well.

Physical Conditions

American English may not have an equivalent word to karoshi, but that doesn’t mean the United States does not suffer from the concept’s ill effects. Heart disease kills one out of every four citizens annually. Type 2 diabetes impacts 25.8 million citizens, which is 8.3% of the population. Strokes claim another one out of every nineteen lives.

If we want to quantify the suffering, we spend $108.9 billion on heart disease, $245 billion on diabetes, and $38.6 billion on strokes. These figures all include research, medication, hospital stays, medical appointments, and workplace productivity.

Workaholism increases the chances an employee will fall victim to one of these wrenching conditions.

“What we know is that people who are workaholics are operating from their stress,” says Robinson. “What that means is there’s the adrenaline rush, there’s norepinephrine and there’s cortisol, and what that does is it creates a reaction that lowers the immune system. So folks are more vulnerable to all kinds of viruses and diseases that get a free pass.”

He notes that many take to consuming excessive carbohydrates to compensate for rapidly depleting energy, which also ups their risk of succumbing to strokes, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

But the physical suffering endured by workaholics isn’t relegated exclusively to terminal tragedies. Symptoms read like the warning labels on prescription bottles: headaches, dizziness, eye strain, acne, irritability, restless sleep, insomnia, allergies, and other issues also torment them at higher rates. All of these override, if not outright negate, the productive spirit workaholics and their enablers believe they possess. Encouraging treatment rather than additional hours under the office’s fluorescent lights saves companies money and — most importantly — employees their lives.

The Treatment Process

Seeking out the most appropriate counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist nearby requires intensive research, but tools such as Psychology Today’s Find a Therapist and the Anxiety and Depression Association of America’s Find a Therapist ease the search process. Patients with private insurance that covers mental and behavioral health might want to call up possible matches through their providers as well.

All of these resources only list licensed, legitimate psychology professionals. Pick out names specializing in addiction or underlying disorders such as OCD, anxiety, and depression. And do the research. Check for any patient reviews or citations before making a decision.

Because there are variables from workaholic patient to workaholic patient, such as severity, family background, underlying mental health issue, and more, treatment options vary. Some cases might require medication, others cognitive behavior therapy. But there are some commonalities between the different approaches.

“Treatment often has to initially focus on raising awareness of some of the negative consequences of the high standards – in terms of personal relationships, emotional well-being, and/or physical health,” says Rego. “Then, the treatment can shift to focus on helping the person learn to challenge his or her beliefs about what it would mean to lower the standards slightly and both develop and commit to values other than work.”

This sometimes involves helping workaholics create and maintain healthy schedules. Creating boundaries allows them to find satisfaction in hobbies and loved ones rather than slowly orchestrating their own demise.

Workaholics Anonymous chapters operate out of most major American cities. They feature a 12-step treatment structure similar to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, providing viable assistance on its own or as a supplement to professional mental health.

When to Intervene

A workaholic’s self-destruction doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Loved ones and coworkers suffer in the peripheral, and the general rules for properly intervening apply to both demographics.

Robinson advises, “They should intervene whenever it starts to affect their relationship or the work or whatever the nature of their connection is.”

“More and more employers are stepping in because they’re realizing that someone who’s a workaholic, especially if they’re a manager, tend to burn people out underneath them … the outcome is not positive, it’s not quality. So more of that’s happening,” he says.

Workaholics also foster divides within their own families. Spouses and children feel neglected, as if work is a far higher priority than spending time with them.

Forty percent of workaholic marriages end in divorce. The children of workaholics may grow up into workaholics themselves if family members and employers continue positively reinforcing their negative habits.

If informal interventions through talking fail to yield results, companies and families might think about organizing something more formal. This can only be effectively done under the guidance of a licensed, trained mental health professional. Use the tools listed under the previous section to find and contact one who can help out.

“The best workers are the people who work hard, but they also play hard and they have relationships and they have a social life and hobbies,” says Robinson. “Those are the most productive people, not workaholics. They burn out. Their career trajectories are much shorter and their absenteeism rate is much higher.”

Although workaholic behavior is an addiction growing out of other psychological stressors, American culture explicitly aggravates the issue. The very structure of 21st century workplaces must be dismantled and rebuilt into something championing healthy lifestyles rather than Type A neuroses.

“We reward [workaholism] and we laugh about it. We laugh at the idea of work addiction,” he cautions. And, in doing so, we may very well laugh our loved ones and our employees towards a painful, maybe even prolonged, death.

The post Workaholism in a 21st Century Context appeared first on Online Psychology Degree Resource Guide.

Bloom’s Taxonomy in a Nutshell

Actually developed by dozens of specialists over a series of conferences between 1949 and 1953, Bloom’s Taxonomy splits learning behaviors into the areas, or domains, known as cognitive, affective and psychomotor development. An understanding of what each of these categories entails is helpful when applying Bloom’s theories in the classroom.

Cognitive

Cognitive learning involves the development of mental skills, and it is traditionally divided into six subcategories, each increasing in complexity. At its simplest level of knowledge, cognitive learning is recognizing and recalling facts and other forms of information. As the learner ages and their mental skills develop, at the comprehension level, they understand and can even interpret information. Next, at the application level, the learner can apply a learned idea in a new situation. The fourth level is analysis, and at this stage, the learner is able to break down a problem and develop a solution. At the penultimate level, synthesis, the learner creates their own structure from diverse materials. The final step, evaluation, occurs when the learner appraises information and is able to judge and justify a conclusion or decision.

Affective

Affective learning occurs when there is a growth in attitude or emotion. Again, this domain is also subdivided into levels of increasing complexity. The initial level is reception, where the affective learner is aware and wants to listen. The next level is called response; here, the learner is attentive and also reacts to what is being presented. At the third level, value, the learner attaches value to the phenomena presented. The fourth step is called organization, and here the learner compares the relative values of differing phenomena and prioritizes them. Finally, the last affective learning level is characterization; at this highest step, the learner shows consistent behaviors that reflect their value system.

Psychomotor

When instruction results in the development of new manual or physical skills, this is referred to in Bloom’s Taxonomy as psychomotor learning. Again, a series of levels of increasing complexity is used to describe the stages of this learning behavior. Beginning at the lowest with perception, the learner’s physical actions are guided by their perception of phenomena. The next level, known as set, is related to the response level of the affective domain; it reflects the learner’s readiness to take necessary or desirable steps. The third level, called guided response, occurs where the learner is imitating a skill and becomes competent at it through practice. The mechanism level is the next stage, and here the learner becomes proficient with a particular manual skill. At the next level, known as complex overt response, the learner is so highly proficient with a physical skill, he performs it quickly, accurately and well. The second-to-last psychomotor stage, adaption, is seen where the learner can adapt quickly and effectively to unexpected phenomena. With the final stage, origination, the learner can create new physical actions and patterns to fit a new problem.

Bloom’s Taxonomy in the Classroom

The Taxonomy was well received by many educators just about as soon as it was published. Those who favored programmed instruction used Bloom’s perceived cognitive behavior levels as the framework around which their work was structured. Others who focused on evaluating educational goals relied on the Taxonomy‘s distinct levels when writing precisely stated educational goals. Building on this, when standardized testing as a means of evaluation became the rage, most tests relied on Bloom’s cognitive behavior levels when defining the assessed skills.

Nonetheless, by the 1980s, developments in the field were driving some educators to push to revise the Taxonomy. Many noted that higher-level thinking was not being taught effectively in America’s schools, and they partially blamed Bloom’s. A number of revisions were proposed, including one by his co-author, Lorin Anderson, in 2001. Still based on the same hierarchy, Anderson’s revision re-states the cognitive levels, from simplest to most complex, as remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating.

Regardless of the revisions, Bloom’s cognitive behaviors can be seen every day in the 21st century classroom. When students label diagrams and answer simple questions, they demonstrate knowledge (or in the revision, remembering). When students explain in their own words the meaning of an abstract symbol, they demonstrate comprehension (understanding). Students using different mathematical techniques to produce the correct answer to a word problem demonstrate application (applying), and those taking analytical geometry, at least the successful ones, demonstrate the next behavior, analysis (analyzing), every time they solve a proof.

The Taxonomy‘s contribution to modern education cannot be understated; by applying psychological theory to pedagogical principles, 20th century schools taught a wide variety of subjects systematically and efficiently. Despite its shortcomings, Bloom’s hierarchy continues to help teachers and administrators articulate and evaluate their lesson plans across to this day.

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Much of ABA is based on the core ideas developed by the American psychologist and behaviorist, B.F. Skinner. In short, the theory proposes that when a behavior is followed by some sort of reward, the behavior is more likely to be repeated. This principle, when refined, has turned into ABA techniques for increasing useful behaviors and reducing those which harm or disrupt learning.

Today, ABA is recognized as an effective, ethical, and safe treatment for autism, with endorsements from the U.S. Surgeon General and the New York State Department of Health. ABA principles foster basic skills such as looking, listening, and imitating, as well as complex skills such as reading, conversing, and understanding different perspectives. In fact, some methods of ABA, such as the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), have been shown to not only improve autism symptoms, but actually normalize brain activity and improve social behavior.

Behavior analysis began based on a theory called Behaviorism developed in the 1930s by B.F. Skinner. After the 1968 debut of The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, the term “Applied Behavior Analysis” first came into widespread use. Despite the early research and theories of B.F. Skinner, autism researcher Ole Ivar Lovaas is widely considered the grandfather of Applied Behavior Analysis. Lovaas developed standardized teaching interventions based on behavioral principles, devoting nearly a half-century to research aimed at improving the lives of children with autism and the lives of their families.

Due to the experimental nature of much of Lovaas’ work, some of his methods for treating the autistic may seem primitive or unethical today. Lovaas was cited for using low dosages of electroshock therapy to children extremely prone to self-inflicted injuries, though he was dismayed to discover the subjects all eventually reverted to their pre-intervention behaviors.

Over time, Lovaas came to believe that implementing early intervention and therapy in the family’s home, rather than in an institutional setting without the use of aversives like electroshock, would yield the most effective results for children with autism. Throughout his life, Lovaas was a strong and dedicated advocate for people with autism, and even co-founded the Autism Society of America, an organization that exists to this day.

In recent years, the Early Start Denver Model has garnered a great deal of publicity for its effectiveness in dealing with a number of factors, including:

• Naturalistic applied behavioral analytic strategies
• Sensitive to normal developmental sequence
• Deep Parental involvement
• Focus on interpersonal exchange and positive affect
• Shared engagement with joint activities
• Language and communication taught inside a positive, engaged relationship

Thus far, the ESDM is the only comprehensive, early-intervention-model approved for use with autistic children as young as 18 months of age. It has also been found to be effective for children across the autism spectrum — children with drastically different levels of comprehension.

One experiment conducted at the Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry in Sydney, Australia, found marked and quantifiable results among children. The study included 26 children, mostly pre-school aged with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of Autistic Disorder. In this diagnosis, the children are found to be socially impaired and attached to restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests.

In ESDM, there is a group component with preschool-specific learning activities designed to help the participating kids achieve targeted goals. All interventions are delivered by therapists formally trained in ESDM by accredited trainers. The ESDM teaching principles involve play-based engagement with an emphasis on functional communication, social interaction, cognition, and positive behavior.

In testing, parents reported significant increases in their child’s receptive communication and motor skills, and a decrease in autism-specific features. The study suggests that group-oriented intervention is a very effective form of treatment and recovery. Researchers claimed that a greater accessibility to ESDM techniques in child care settings could lead to significant clinical and economic benefits for people living or working with autistic children.

For parents of autistic children and the children’s educators, this ESDM research suggests there are effective approaches to treating the symptoms of autism; methods which can be practiced daily by engaging one-on-one with an autistic child. Rather than monitoring a child’s behavior from a position of authority, the practice encourages sitting on the floor, playing with the child, and developing a social relationship.

Unlike other approaches to autism and comparable disorders, the core tenets of behavior analysis, and particularly the ESDM model, can be taught to parents in only a few hours. Furthermore, many of the activities can be practiced anywhere; simply through positive and active engagement with the child.

While there is not yet a cure for autism, the research-based breakthroughs are on the rise. The signs of autism can be evidenced earlier than ever, and by using ABA techniques, parents, medical professionals and therapists can see the tangible effects of therapy in a child’s ability to communicate and their changing brain waves.

Parents are encouraged to continue their own research on websites like Autism Speaks, Autism Partnership, and SARRC. These programs include various exercises that parents can practice with their children – all of which are designed to aid in building relationships with autistic children. The social energy and care put into improving the life of an autistic child will always do a tremendous amount of good.

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But does being a workaholic equal being productive? What makes Americans so consumed with being productive and what factors encourage productivity?

The business definition of productivity is defined as a measure of the efficiency of a person, machine, factory, or system in converting inputs into useful outputs, and by that definition, productivity among American workers has increased in recent years. However, wages — which Americans directly correlate to productivity — have remained stagnant.

Experts and studies have found that human productivity is affected greatly by different psychological factors. And the answer is more than just looking at cute pictures of cuddly baby animals.

Productivity in the Workplace

Functions of the brain play a large role in how and why people are productive at work or not so productive. A series of experiments conducted at a factory outside of Chicago from 1924-1932, later dubbed the Hawthorne Effect, revealed that worker productivity increased due to the psychological stimulus of being singled out and made to feel important.

“This intervention makes sense for the average person since on average people (consciously or unconsciously) feel a bit insecure and have vulnerabilities of self-esteem, and therefore, any intervention which reduces that insecurity and improves self-esteem (especially if not implemented in a childish manner) is going to improve mood, reduce anxiety, improve motivation and improve productivity,” said David M. Reiss, MD, a psychiatrist with more than 25 years of experience. “If the ‘singling out’ is done in a way that feels parental, people who are basically more dependent are generally more likely to respond positively, whereas people who are more narcissistic will feel demeaned and it will be counterproductive.”

Reiss added that people with extremely low self-esteem may feel that they don’t deserve the attention, triggering conscious or unconscious guilt or anxiety that may be counterproductive. People who have mild narcissistic tendencies, which includes the average person, will thrive on the attention; people who are severely narcissistic or antisocial may smugly feel that it’s about time they are recognized which could result in resentment, a subtle counterproductive rebellion or a reaction to ‘rest on their laurels’ after the attention and ‘ease up’ rather than becoming motivated to be more productive.

Keeping Busy vs. Being Productive

Students and workers alike dread hearing the term “busy work.” The accepted meaning of busy work among Americans is assignments or projects designed to take up time, but that aren’t necessarily constructive or productive. This happens not only in educational settings, but in the workplace environment as well.

The problem with busy work, other than frustrating employees and possibly lowering company morale, is that people often mistake being busy with being productive. Even if some work evokes a sense of urgency, it doesn’t mean it’s productive. This blog identifies some common nonproductive tasks such as checking emails, holding meetings, and reading/updating social media. These tasks are important, but can be endless and time-consuming and the blog author suggests the problem doesn’t lie so much in the task itself, but in the amount of time dedicated to doing it.

Using the scenario of a person being able to sort through more than 200 emails in less than 15 minutes if needed, he questions why it takes hours every day to check half as many emails if there’s no need to do so.

He deduces: “I believe it’s because you’re accepting email as an interruption and stopping something productive to respond. You’re focused on accomplishing something, just about to have a breakthrough, and [you receive an email]. It’s from your boss, colleague, or grandma. You stop what you’re doing and respond.”

These slight interruptions break concentration and focus, and if they happen several times a day, can significantly impact one’s level of productivity. In order to be productive — not busy — the author suggests:

• Only check emails a few times per day.
• Minimize time spent on the phone.
• Keep meetings brief or stay out of them completely.
• Stop “keeping yourself updated” with news and blogs.
• Stay off social media.

However, there are numerous jobs where constant use of social media and perusing of blogs for different trends is the norm, expected even. These workers, as well as those that work extensively with computers, may be part of a growing number of digital-era workers who use two or more computer screens. Whether working at the office or at home, multiple monitors allows users to look at multiple data streams with simply a shifting of the eyes.

There have been studies that find multiple monitors can increase productivity. But experts maintain it really depends on the type of work a person does and the characteristics of the person.

The psychological effect of multiple monitors on an average person, Reiss said, is that they’re likely to make a person feel more important, thereby improving self-esteem, creating a feeling of respect from employers, and increasing motivation and productivity.

“From another point of view, multiple screens may actually be less distracting in that [the average person] who is going to wonder what is happening in another area (i.e. on a different screen) will have a tendency to switch back and forth more frequently out of curiosity, which may decrease productivity or even be tiring — probably most of the time checking the other screen will not provide anything useful,” he said. “If all the information is immediately available, a simple glance over may provide reassurance that nothing important is being missed rather than having to actually stop what they are working on and change screens which may allow for better focus and productivity and may reduce a subtle anxiety regarding possibly missing something.”

How Food and Diet Affect Productivity

Diet and nutrition are large components of an individual’s lifestyle. The types of food people eat, the portion size, and what time of day they eat it all factor in — directly or indirectly — to productivity.

For example, there’s the argument for breakfast, commonly referred to as the “most important meal of the day.”

Experts say that eating breakfast provides the blood with glucose, which is needed for energy. Since people do not eat during the night, the body’s glucose levels drop during that time period and an early morning breakfast allows the body to break down food into simple sugars that are absorbed into the bloodstream where they travel to the body’s cells to produce energy.

For this reason, experts advise against skipping breakfast because people could be losing out on several hours of productivity until they take their first bite of food for the day.

But which foods encourage productivity? There has been much talk of brain foods — foods that have been said to improve brain function. Here are some foods that have been identified to bolster productivity:

• Berries: The antioxidants found in various berries are supposed to help counteract stress and researchers have found women who ate more blueberries and strawberries were more likely to display less rapid cognitive deterioration as they aged.

• Eggs: Eggs, the yolks specifically, are full of choline, a nutrient often classified with B-complex vitamins. Choline helps maintain the structure of brain cell membranes, which aids brain function.

• Salmon: This fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have anti-inflammatory agents. These help build up the central nervous system in the brain and helps cognitive function overall.

• Dark Chocolate: Who said chocolate is bad for you? Studies have found that consuming dark chocolate can not only lower blood pressure and increase blood flow to the brain, but it also contains caffeine which is a mild stimulant.

Exercise

It’s widely known that regular exercise can improve a person’s health, but it’s also known to boost productivity.

“Exercising releases endorphins in the brain,” said clinical psychologist Ingeborg Hrabowy.

Endorphins are chemicals that are produced in response to certain stimuli and can originate in various parts of the body, including the pituitary gland, spinal cord and other parts of the brain and nervous system.

“Exercising four times a week for approximately 20 to 30 minutes is the equivalent of 20 milligrams of Prozac. What a boost!” Hrabowy said. “Exercising also de-stresses you, clears the mind, and gives a great break to work and play — all known to increase and boost productivity.”

Recovering from Illness and/or Injury

How productive an individual is often depends on his or her circumstance and certain factors such as illness and disability can hinder productivity.

For example, people who suffer from severe anxiety or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) would have a tendency to recheck their work, which may drag on their productivity, Hrabowy said. Their tendency to become stressed and overwhelmed can also be a barrier to productivity, even if the work is more accurate because the performance would be slower.

Reiss breaks down the psychological factors influencing productivity into four areas:

1. Level of maturity and resolution of dependency issues: “Those who are more childlike, immature, or those who are openly or covertly needy and dependent are going to tend to unconsciously nurse an injury longer, and remain disabled longer than a person who has no conflicts regarding being autonomous and productive, or who highly values or even over-values independence and autonomy.”

2. Family dynamics: Reiss identified two different types of families: those that will overcompensate and overreact to a person with an injury, providing more attention and caring than would otherwise be available, thus increasing unconscious motivation to maintain the injured role; and dysfunctional families who may react in a negative or hostile way to an injured person, seeing them as useless or worthless. “While at times this will motivate the person to ‘get better’ more often, it will engender anger and a defensive rebellion which will lead to the person unconsciously wanting to prove that they are indeed injured/disabled.”

3. Peer relationships/enjoyment of work: “People who enjoy their work and have good relationships with peers at work will obviously be better motivated to return to normal functioning; whereas those who are resentful at work, uncomfortable with peers, feeling put-upon or taken advantage of, etc. (even if not intentionally or consciously), will perceive an injury as a ‘ticket out’ and tend to ‘make the most of it.’

4. Sincerity: “A certain percentage of overtly manipulative people or people with antisocial tendencies will see an injury as an opportunity to intentionally manipulate and misuse the disability system. As opposed to what is commonly assumed, in my experience, among people with who do not respond well to injuries, this group of outright ‘malingerers’ is far, far smaller than those who have difficulties in one of the other three areas.”

A person’s productivity level can be influenced by numerous psychological factors. With the U.S. being a society that is inherently focused on productivity, knowing ways in which to improve productivity can be beneficial in the workplace as well as to a person’s overall health and well-being.

The post The Psychology of Productivity appeared first on Online Psychology Degree Resource Guide.

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1. Coping with Chronic Illness
2. Mental Health and Immunity
3. The Perception of Illness
4. The Psychology of Healing
5. The Mental Impact of Terminal Illness
6. Pain and Mental Health
7. The Mind-Body Connection
8. The Total Body Impact of Addiction

Coping with Chronic Illness

Chronic illnesses are defined by the American Psychological Association as those which either have symptoms that occur on a constant basis or flare up episodically. While some chronic illnesses may be terminal, many more are not. While these conditions cannot be cured, they can usually be managed through diet, exercise, lifestyle, and medical care and may even go into temporary remission. Chronic illnesses are not uncommon; it is estimated that more than 80% of older adults suffer from at least one chronic illness. Examples of chronic conditions include diabetes, pulmonary problems, HIV/AIDS, asthma, hepatitis, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and epilepsy, though there are many others.

Unlike acute illnesses that occur over a few days or weeks, chronic illnesses are a life sentence, requiring care and impacting health for the rest of an individual’s life. This can be a hard thing to handle for many, as it is common for chronic illnesses to cause pain or to impact quality of life. As a result, it is not uncommon for those suffering from chronic illness to have feelings of isolation, frustration, and hopelessness, especially if their condition is impacting relationships with friends and family, finances, or future plans. Chronic illnesses can often come with serious lifestyle changes and some carry heavy stigmas that can embarrass those who have them. Reduced abilities, high costs of treatment, and a loss of self-worth and self-esteem can all take a toll on the mental health of those with chronic illness.

Research shows that 25-33% of those suffering from chronic illness also report depression, a psychological condition which may exacerbate existing health problems by creating poor eating habits, lack of exercise, poor hygiene, and social isolation, as well as coming with a host of its own physical symptoms. To avoid this, the Institute of Medicine asserts that it’s critical to help those with chronic diseases learn to cope with the emotions related to their illness, change behaviors that could have a negative impact on the disease (perhaps even fatally so), and to manage any disruptions the illness may cause to everyday life at work and at home.

Chronic illness may not just impact those who have the condition, however. Others surrounding the sick person may see serious changes in their psychological state as well, ranging from pity to impatience to intolerance, depending on the type and seriousness of the chronic disease. This can cause disruption in relationships and very often can make it significantly more difficult for those with chronic illnesses to cope on a day-to-day basis. As a result, many chronically ill individuals attempt to hide or conceal the effects of their illness from others. In some cases, however, concealment may not be possible, especially when a chronic illness, like multiple sclerosis, causes impairment. These impairments may put tension on relationships by requiring the parties close to the chronically ill person to become caretakers, a responsibility that comes with some serious mental health complications of its own. Due to the stress disability or impairment may place on a relationship, it’s critical for those who are ill to keep communication open, ease stressful emotions, be open about their needs, and to pay attention to the health and well-being of those taking on additional caretaking responsibilities as well.

Nika C. Beamon, in her memoir Misdiagnosed: The Search for Dr. House, discusses how hard chronic, and in her case mysterious, illness (it took years for her to be diagnosed with the rare autoimmune disease IgG4 related systemic disease) can be for family members. She says:

“My years of being half dead didn’t only affect me — nearly everyone else in my world suffered with each misdiagnosis; the least vocal were my parents. They rushed to hospitals in three states taking solace only in the change of scenery. Innumerable times, they changed my clothes, drove me around, made my meals and listened to me bitch about one doctor, procedure or medical bill. On the days I was too weak to complain, they finally had the time to wonder if their oldest child and only daughter would outlive them, have a family of her own, or be able to just live on her own indefinitely.”

To cope with chronic illness, many individuals will seek out therapy or support groups of those who suffer from the same or similar condition. This can help to alleviate the feelings of isolation, loneliness, and resentment that many with chronic illness feel, while also providing a support system that can make undergoing treatment and staying on track health-wise much easier.

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Mental Health and Immunity

The immune system is a purely physical, brain-based response system, right? Well, not entirely. While the response the immune system has to invading germs and foreign materials in our bodies is decidedly physical, what triggers this response, or lack of it, can be greatly influenced by our mental state. In fact, compromised mental health can be one of the biggest factors in suppressing the immune system.

Perhaps the biggest trigger for a lowered immune response is stress. Stressors can come from work or from personal relationships and are most damaging when they occur on a long term, chronic basis. Severe or chronic stress hampers the body’s ability to manufacture protective antibodies, which can handicap the immune response that the body can produce. This happens when the stress hormone, cortisol, inhibits the development of T cells, an important immune system defense against infection, making those who are chronically stressed more likely to get and stay sick. What’s more, those who are already sick (including suffering from depression) or who are older are more prone to these kinds of stress-related immune changes.

It’s not just negative emotions that impact immunity however; there is also some evidence that a positive mental outlook can have a beneficial impact on the immune system. A study at the University of Kentucky found that participants who reported feeling optimistic had a stronger immune response (in this case the development of a bump) to an injection of an antigen than when they reported feeling less optimistic or pessimistic.

Additionally, recent research has shown that a positive mental state can even help immunizations like the flu shot work more effectively. Overall, flu shots are only about 60% effective, but that rate can be improved by stressing less, socializing more, and engaging in more exercise. Stress can help blunt the antibody response to the flu vaccine, which can make it much less effective, so those hoping to get the immunization should work to reduce stress and depression. Also helping the vaccine are activities like weight training and cardio, which push the immune system into action, and engaging in socialization with close friends and relatives which can both reduce stress and improve the antibody response to a vaccine.

But what about immunity’s impact on mental health? It turns out there’s a connection there, too. Recent studies have found that genes linked to the immune system can affect personality traits and increase the risk of developing certain mental illnesses, like schizophrenia and depression. Why? It may boil down to inflammation. Inflammation is often an immune response to healing injuries or fighting off bacteria, but the process also influences the brain, sometimes impacting learning and memory. As a result, increased inflammation in the body can sometimes lead to increased levels of mental illness, especially those related to impulsiveness and personality changes.

In fact, genes that influence the immune system may play a bigger role in mental health than previously realized. A study done by Nobel-prize winning geneticist Mario Capecchi demonstrated that gene defects that impact the manufacture of immune cells in the bone marrow can lead to greater instances of mental health disorders. The cells, malformed by the genetic mutation, migrate from the bone marrow to the brain, where they’ve been shown to cause trichotillamania, or pathological grooming, in mice. Capecchi asserts that it’s not just this illness that can be influenced by the immune system, stating, “If you look at people who are depressed, often you find their immune system isn’t working normally.” Beyond that, studies have shown that genes that confer a higher rate of depression, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder and autism are also connected with the immune system.

So how can you use your mental state to boost your immunity? Experts at Harvard advise using relaxation techniques and exercise to limit stress, getting enough sleep, and treating any existing medical of mental health conditions. While there’s no guarantee this will keep you from getting sick, these practices are just good health advice, whether your immune system needs the boost or not.

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