Description: The debates and the research focused upon the impacts of video gaming and social media use on developing children and youth are heated and ongoing. The primary difficulty in sorting out the effects of video gaming and social media use is tied up in the comprehensive nature of their uptake in the population. As… Read more »
Posts Tagged: Stress
Psychology of Covid: Hitting the Pandemic Wall
Description: Have you heard of something called the General Adaptation system (GAS)? Hans Selye (1907-1982) working at McGill University in Montreal was trying to find a model with which he could use rats to study the impact of longer-term exposure to moderate to high levels of stress. What he came up with as a rat… Read more »
Psychology of COVID-19: Stress and Vaccine Efficacy
Description: If you have taken an introductory Psychology course that included a section on stress you may be aware that ongoing stress can have a negative impact upon your immune system. Those with sustained moderate to high levels of stress are at increased risk for things ranging from colds to cancer as a result of… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: What is Caution Fatigue and Do You Have It?
Description: As we head into December (2020) with pandemic numbers spiking and Christmas approaching why is it that some (many?) people are being less vigilant about social distancing and some are even getting angry about increasing restrictions. It is not like this is new. Things are much worse now than they were back in March… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: Is Your Mind Wandering More?
Description: You have very likely seen, heard or read a multitude of things lately about the state of stress and anxiety these days in general and about YOUR state of stress and anxiety as we head into the Covid winter before the vaccine spring that we hope will be coming along. However, putting stress and… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19 and Sleep: Get What You Need
Description: How are you sleeping these (Covid surging again) days? It will likely not surprise you to hear that more people are having trouble sleeping or are having weird dreams or both these days. The direct and indirect stresses and anxieties of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related uncertainties are definitely making it harder to… Read more »
What is Your Brain For? Maybe NOT for Thinking!
Description: When you experience a flair of stress or anxiety what is your first thought? I suspect it is some version of “What is going on in my world that is stressful or challenging”. Especially these days with a raging pandemic, that is not a bad first thought as it can lead to problem focused… Read more »
The Psychology of Covid-19: Uncertainty about Uncertainty Itself
Description: You have heard the Roosevelt quote from a speech celebrating Human Rights Day in 1948; “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Now, without diving too deeply into what that might mean, but taking it as a metaphorical lead, think about this. Uncertainty (of outcomes, processes, and next steps) is a… Read more »
The Psychology of Covid-19: Depression or Boredom?
Description: Think about this distinction for a moment in relation to your own experiences within and related to our time with the Covid-19 pandemic. How much of our negative emotional, social and cognitive experiences could or should we attribute to bad things that have happened to us (e.g., health challenges, job losses, life disruptions) and… Read more »
The Psychology of Covid-19: Anxieties and Uncertainties, What You Can DO About Them
Description: I have posted previously about the stress associated with the high degrees of uncertainty associated with our immediate and longer-term futures in relation to the coronavirus. It is important to keep in mind that while many of the factors contributing to our uncertainty and the related stresses that accompany them are obvious; our health… Read more »