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Bragging Versus Helpful Self-Promotion

A Discussion Utilizing Bob Dylan's Song, "False Prophet."

Welcome to From Insults To Respect. Today’s topic is about bragging, and how it might interfere with the amount of respect a person earns. The topic brings up some subtle issues because although bragging may hurt a person’s reputation, at the same time, there are situations in which there is some value in standing up for yourself and promoting the qualities that you possess. How do you…

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Five Steps Toward Peace On Earth

A Developmental Psychology Perspective

Welcome to From Insults to Respect. I hope all of you are having a fine holiday season. This, of course, is the time of year when the longing for peace on Earth and good will to all is beautifully expressed in songs and stories. Despite this longing, over the centuries, during the holiday season, for many, it brings a lamenting because we have not achieved this…

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Is Viewing Someone As Acting Immature Insulting?

Welcome to From Insults To Respect.  As someone with considerable training in developmental psychology, I sometimes view certain styles of behavior on a scale ranging from immature to mature. When I do that, might I be insulting those who I view as acting immature? For those of you, who like me, prefer not to insult anyone, I invite you to join me in considering this question….

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Trump and Respect

An Exercise for Deepening One's Understanding of the Nature of Respect

Welcome to From Insults to Respect. As I write this post, Election Day, with all of its turbulence, has now passed us by. Perhaps now is a good time for us to take some deep calming breaths and reflect on all that transpired. Along this line, I’m thinking it would be a useful exercise at this point if we attempted to integrate what we have learned…

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Bob Dylan On Doctors

by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD

Welcome to From Insults to Respect. These days we’ve been hearing a heck of a lot about doctoring. Steadily coming our way are reports about the surging virus pandemic, possible treatments, and progress regarding vaccines. There are disturbing reports about doctors over prescribing pain medications, leading to numerous addictions and overdoses. We’ve been hearing about doctors, when prescribing antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs, failing to inform…

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Can Mental Illness Be An Escape From Responsibility?

Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Today we take a close look at one reason some folks have a low level of respect for people who are viewed as having a mental illness–the belief that such people are avoiding responsibilities. There are two other main reasons for the stigma associated with being labelled mentally ill that we won’t dive into today, but I’ll just briefly mention….

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Anxiety and Grief as Emotional Pain

Welcome to From Insults To Respect. Today we explore the question, Is it helpful or harmful to view our anxiety and grief experiences as painful? Let’s begin this exploration with a diary entry from a mental patient that appears on page 224 in Richard P. Bentall’s fine book, Madness Explained: Rhoda [a friend] asked me if I were spoiled and I angrily said no, but feel…

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Anxiety and Whistling a Happy Tune

Welcome to From Insults To Respect.  In two recent posts I aimed to encourage folks to consider learning to deal with anxiety in a manner that can improve their self-respect. The first of these, “The Nature of Anxiety,” provides a general overview of the topic. The other, “Anxiety, Guilt, and Responsibility” makes the case that anxiety is an enormously helpful state of mind when acted upon responsibly,…

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Anxiety, Guilt, and Responsibility

Welcome to From Insults to Respect.  Recently, I wrote a post titled, “The Nature of Anxiety” (see HERE). It provided a general overview of this natural, enormously helpful, state of mind. The point of view that I described is in stark contrast to the common view in our society that looks upon anxiety as a negative, destructive, “abnormal” experience, a symptom of mental illness, one which…

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Bob Dylan On Families

Welcome to From Insults To Respect. Today, with some of us deeply concerned about family members dealing with the aftermath of the catastrophic hurricane, it seems to me this is an apt time to take a few minutes to think about what family means to us. For many of us, during times when we find ourselves in rough waters, our family is a lifeline, members pulling lovingly…

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