Exposure therapy - the best approach for OCD

I've received training in this treatment strategy - it's tough; it works!

Full Exposure: The Sickening Treatment for OCD

Allen Frances: Wonderful News: DSM 5 Finally Begins Its Belated and Necessary Retreat

Allen Frances: Wonderful News: DSM 5 Finally Begins Its Belated and Necessary Retreat:
Sigh of relief. The DSM 5 website announced Wednesday morning that two of its most controversial proposals have finally been dropped. We have dodged bullets on "psychosis risk" and "mixed anxiety depression." Both are now definitively rejected as official DSM 5 diagnoses and instead are being exiled to the appendix. And one other piece of good news: The criteria set for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder have been tightened (not enough, but every little bit helps).

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Take this last opportunity to be heard.

For more on the latest revisions of the DSM 5 criteria sets, see

http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx.

Researchers issue definition -- and name change -- for PANDAS - latimes.com

From the LA Times

Researchers issue definition -- and name change -- for PANDAS - latimes.com

A mental illness that strikes young children suddenly may be caused by a range of factors, including infections, according to a new report. The paper, published in the journal Pediatrics & Therapeutics, reflects a consensus statement on a condition called Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections -- or PANDAS.

Rick Hanson, Ph.D.: See The Good In Others

I really like this article. The idea that resonates for me is "see the positive intention". Try that. See if it makes a difference in your stress level, and see how it can transform a relationship at work or at home.

Could that work for you?

Rick Hanson, Ph.D.: See The Good In Others:
Many interactions these days have a kind of bumper-car quality to them. At work, at home, on the telephone, via email: We sort of bounce off of each other while we exchange information, smile or frown, and move on. How often do we actually take the extra few seconds to get a sense of what's inside other people -- especially their good qualities?

In fact, because of what scientists call the brain's "negativity bias" (you could see my talk at Google for more on this), we're most likely to notice the bad qualities in others rather than the good ones: the things that worry or annoy us, or make us critical.

Unfortunately, if you feel surrounded by lots of bad or at best neutral qualities in others, and only a sprinkling of dimly-sensed good ones, then you naturally feel less supported, less safe, and less inclined to be generous or pursue your dreams. Plus, in a circular way, when another person gets the feeling that you don't really see much that's good in him or her, that person is less likely to take the time to see much that's good in you.

Seeing the good in others is thus a simple but very powerful way to feel happier and more confident, and become more loving and more productive in the world.

How?

• Slow down -- Step out of the bumper car and spend a few moments being curious about the good qualities in the other person. You are not looking through rose-colored glasses; instead, you are opening your eyes, taking off the smog-colored glasses of the negativity bias, and seeing what the facts really are.
• See positive intentions -- Recently I was at the dentist's, and her assistant told me a long story about her electric company. My mouth was full of cotton wads, and I didn't feel interested. But then I started noticing her underlying aims: to put me at ease, fill the time until she could pull the cotton out, and connect with each other as people. Maybe she could have pursued those aims in better ways. But the aims themselves were positive -- which is true of all fundamental wants even if the methods used to fulfill them have problems. For example, a toddler throwing mashed potatoes wants fun, a teenager dripping attitude wants higher status, and a mate who avoids housework wants leisure. Try to see the good intentions in the people around you. In particular, sense the longing to be happy in the heart of every person.

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For more by Rick Hanson, Ph.D., click here.

For more on mindfulness, click here.

Here's How You Can Buy Happiness, Sort Of

Here's How You Can Buy Happiness, Sort Of:
Can money buy happiness?

Yes, if you spend it on other people, says Michael Norton, an associate professor at Harvard Business School. (H/t Business Insider.)

Norton said at a recent TED talk that spending money on yourself does not make you happier, but spending money on others -- no matter how it is spent, or how much -- could improve your mood.

"If you think money can't buy happiness, you're not spending it right," Norton said. "You should stop thinking about which product to buy for yourself, and try giving some of it to other people instead."

"The reason that money doesn't make us happy is that we’re always spending on the wrong things, and in particular that we’re always spending it on ourselves," he said.

Norton said that in numerous studies, "people who spent money on other people got happier; people who spent money on themselves, nothing happened. It didn’t make them less happy; it just didn't do much for them."

In nearly every country in the world, people that give to charity are happier, according to research by Gallup cited by Norton.

Melissa Van Rossum: The Extraordinary Power of Forgiveness

The power of forgiveness is the release of resources you provide for yourself.

Melissa Van Rossum: The Extraordinary Power of Forgiveness:
I was talking recently with Stephanie, a friend who had suffered several intense setbacks. She discovered her longtime boyfriend had been unfaithful and that he had lied to her about several financial dealings as well as his past. A former employee who needed money filed a frivolous lawsuit in hopes of cashing in. And a longtime, trusted friend betrayed an important confidence. All of that on top of the tail end of a difficult recession left her feeling hopeless.

"I feel... so... angry," she confided to me over dinner one evening. "In the past I've always been able to move through these things and move on. But maybe I've been through too much these past few years. Now I'm hardening in ways I don't want to. And honestly? I think I've completely lost my capacity to trust. How do you move forward when the past has you so anchored?"

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"Forgiveness really is the gift you give yourself, isn't it?"

"It really is."

For more by Melissa Van Rossum, click here.

For more on forgiveness, click here.