Psychology: the Stuff You Can Really Use

Psychology:

The Stuff You Can Really Use

Bradley W. Rasch

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

Psychology: Th e Stuff You Can Really Use

Copyright © 2012 Bradley W. Rasch

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4759-0084-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-0086-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012904950

iUniverse rev. date: 3/27/2012

CONTENTS

Introduction

Freud Was Right

(About Some Things At Least)

Christopher Cross Was Right Too

Sorry, Paula, You Were Wrong

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Self-Defeating Urination

Your Pants and the Damn Dog

Gomer Pyle, Vampires, and the Flying Nun

Bob Dylan and David Bowie

It’s Always Something.

If It Ain’t One Thing, It’s Another.

Memories Light the Corners of My Mind

One Man’s Fault Is Another Man’s Lesson

When a Man Gives His Opinion, He’s a Man. When a Woman Gives Her Opinion, She’s a Bitch

Most People Shoot the Mule

Confession Is Good for the Soul

Dumb and Dumber?

Consequences: A Forgotten Concept

David Letterman Is on to Something: Top Ten Lists Are Good

Shame on Us

Depressed Veterinarian

But He Was Wrong About the Edsel

Stages

Paris in the the Spring: Why We All Will Almost Hit the Guy on the Motorcycle

I am Not a Bibliotherapist, But …

It Is an Art and a Science

Flying Bananas

Not So Smart

Is ADD a Desired Diagnosis?

And Now the Breast of the Story

Smile!

Little Known Facts about Depression

Lessons Learned

To the reader,

most especially students of psychology.

You know who you are.

Introduction

Having worked as a psychologist for over thirty years and having had the opportunity to teach the subject at the college level for a like amount of time, I have discovered what this field has to offer that is really useful and interesting. From this book, you can gain information you can actually use to enhance your life, understand yourself and others better, and be a real asset to any group engaged in a deep discussion of psychology. Let’s get started.

Freud Was Right

(About Some Things At Least)

Sigmund was, in some ways, an odd man. He was obsessed with sex and discussed things like penis envy. He used cocaine quite a bit. His beard did not flatter him. He did stumble upon something important, however, and made a valuable contribution as a result.

Freud talked about the importance of love and work to achieving fulfillment and happiness. Indeed, in our culture, this is true for most of us (unless we are a member of the idle rich without a sense of noblesse oblige or work for the Department of Motor Vehicles). The vast majority of us seek to love and work as well as we can. We want to love and support others, and we want to contribute and excel at our work, no matter what it may be. To a great degree, we are hardwired to judge ourselves, and we derive a great degree of satisfaction if we