World of Psychology
Kicking Co-Dependency to the Curb: Gain Your Independence Today
Some people believe that a relationship means losing yourself in the other person… or losing your autonomy. But a healthy relationship actually fosters and encourages each other’s independent self. After all, few people find a mirror image of themselves all that they’ve ever wanted in a relationship.
But finding or keeping the essence of yourself — especially in a long-term relationship — can be challenging, even for the most independent-minded among us. All of us are at some risk for co-dependency, subjugating ourselves to another person’s needs or wishes.
That’s why this article from regular Psych Central contributor Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT resonates:
Across cultures, autonomy is a fundamental human need. People who experience autonomy report higher levels of psychological health and social functioning. They have an increased sense of well-being and self-esteem. When you value yourself, you’re more able to claim your autonomy.It’s a feeling of both separateness and wholeness that permits you to feel separate when in a relationship and complete when on your own. You feel independent and are able to say no to pressure from others. Your actions are determined by your beliefs, needs, and values, which give you more control over thoughts and emotions.
It’s the opposite of being a rebel or people-pleaser. A rebel’s thoughts and actions aren’t autonomous. They’re an oppositional reaction to an outside authority and thereby they become controlled by it. Actually, autonomy allows you to listen to someone non-defensively and modify your views to incorporate new information.
It’s a great article, and one worth your time this Independence Day: Co-Dependency: Put the “I” in Independence.
Psych Central News
Impulsive Teens at Risk for Drinking Problems
University of Liverpool researchers believe targeting personality traits, such as impulsivity, could potentially be a successful intervention in preventing adolescent drinking from developing into problems with alcohol in later life.
Studies have shown that in the UK, approximately 24 percent of 12-year-olds have reported at least one episode of alcohol consumption and 77 percent admit exposure by the age of 15 years.
Previous research has suggested that impulsive behavior is linked with adolescent drinking, but it is unclear whether young people who are impulsive tend to drink more, or whether drinking while the brain is still developing harms the brain, leading to the progression of impulsive behaviors.
For the research, the team used computer tests to measure inhibitory control (the ability to delay gratification) and risk-taking.
Researchers followed more than 280 young people who were aged 12 or 13 at the beginning of the study. The computer tests were repeated every six months over the two years of the study.
Results showed that those participants who were more impulsive in the tests went on to drink more heavily or have problems with alcohol at a later time.
The study did not, however, show that alcohol consumption led to increased impulsive behavior on the computer tests. This suggests that there is a link between impulsivity and adolescent drinking, but that alcohol may not necessarily lead to increased impulsive behavior in the short term.
Professor Matt Field, from the University’s Institute of Psychology Health and Society, explains:
“Young people in the UK are starting to drink alcohol at a younger age than in the past, and much of this reflects broad social trends. There are, however, significant differences in the age at which teenagers start to experiment with alcohol and the age at which they start drinking regularly.“It is important to identify the psychological characteristics of adolescents who are likely to go on to drink heavily, because this can help us target alcohol prevention more effectively. In addition, we need to identify the consequences of heavy drinking during adolescence for health in general, and brain development in particular.
“Our results show that more impulsive individuals are more likely to start drinking heavily in the future compared to less impulsive individuals. The next steps are to take these results and apply them to prevention interventions that are tailored to individual characteristics, such as impulsivity.
“We also need to conduct studies where we follow-up young people for longer than the two years that we did in the present study. This will help us to understand whether heavy drinking over a longer period during adolescence has an impact on impulsive behavior.”
Source: University of Liverpool
Can Avatars Help Us Lose Weight?
“Virtual reality is a powerful computer simulation of real situations in which the user interacts as avatar and it can be used as support for a weight loss program,” said Dr. Antonio Giordano and Dr. Giuseppe Russo of Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine.
For the study, recently published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, researchers created virtual everyday life scenarios that often challenge an individual to live “healthy.”
They then provided participants information on how to overcome the real-world hurdles.
Use of virtual reality and other forms of emerging technology, be it social media or health provider portals, provides a new option for a world where at least 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese.
Experts say that over 60 percent of all Americans are overweight or obese. Even in countries such as Italy, where about 1 in 10 adults are obese, adult obesity rates are anticipated to increase by five percent in the next 10 years.
“In this pilot study, we have created different virtual scenes where an avatar has to live everyday tasks such as walking on a treadmill or healthy grocery shopping,” said Dr. Giordano and Dr. Russo.
The international team created a DVD showing an overweight avatar living different virtual daily situations.
The team enrolled eight overweight American women and demonstrated that this DVD helped these participants to gather new information on how to lose weight.
“This study represents how virtual reality can contribute to behavioral improvement of human health,” concluded Dr. Giordano and Dr. Russo.
Source: Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) via Newswise
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