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Baseball and Respect

by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD

Welcome to From Insults to Respect. The game of baseball offers us a unique look at the nature of respect for two reasons. First, the game provides several unusually objective statistics that give us a pretty good idea of the talent of a player. In many other fields, such as art or teaching, the criteria for talent is far less objective. Second, we find that despite…

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Bob Dylan On Baseball

by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD

Welcome to From Insults To Respect. The Baseball season is in high gear, so let’s listen to one of its greatest fans, Bob Dylan. Listening to Bob’s Baseball Show It begins with a few brief notes from an organ you might hear at a ball park. Then we hear a crowd apparently getting stirred up just as a game is about to get underway. And then we…

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Leadership: A Lao Tzu Perspective

by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD

Welcome to From Insults To Respect. From time to time, many of us find ourselves in a position of leadership. This may come about because we are a parent, or asked to plan a trip with some friends, or hired to be a supervisor in some business, or elected to some political office. Each time we take on the role of a leader, we also take…

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Civility: An Abraham Lincoln Perspective

by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD

Welcome to From Insults to Respect.  Civility in politics is a rare commodity. Sadly, the insults are bitter and unrelenting as ever. But do disagreements have to lead to the abandoning of civility? To deepen our thinking about this, I invite you to take a little stroll with me along the path Abraham Lincoln took during the USA’s greatest conflict. Lincoln’s Way Of Responding to People…

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Bob Dylan On Money

by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD

Welcome to From Insults To Respect. Today’s topic–money. The way we handle money can influence how much respect we have for ourselves and others have for us. A classic illustration comes from Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol where we find the unforgettable Ebenezer Scrooge transformed by ghostly experiences from a disrespected miser to a lovable, generous employer. As we delve into our topic, we will draw upon a…

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Seeking to Reform the Psychiatric Diagnosis System

A Discussion of the New Open Letter From The Task Force on Psychiatric Diagnostic Alternatives

Welcome to From Insults To Respect. As several of my earlier blog posts have indicated, many professionals, mental health service users, involuntary patients, and the general public have little, to no respect, for the American Psychiatric Association’s most recent version of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Just before the DSM-5 was published, early drafts were made available, and in 2011 the British Psychological Society…

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If Not Antipsychotics, Then What?

by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD

Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Today we once again take up the controversial topic of the usefulness of the group of drugs referred to by psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical industry as “antipsychotics.” In most of the articles that I have read that have been written by psychiatrists, “antipsychotic” drugs are the first line of treatment for schizophrenia. And yet, a growing number of mental health…

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Senator McSally Insulting Reporter: Wise Strategy?

by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD

Welcome to From Insults To Respect. Today’s post takes a close look at an exchange that Senator Martha McSally of Arizona had with CNN Reporter Manu Raju while he attempted to ask her a question in a Capitol Hill hallway. The exchange went like this:   RAJU: Senator McSally, should the Senate consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial? McSALLY: You’re a liberal hack. I’m not talking…

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Bob Dylan On War

by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD

Welcome to From Insults to Respect.  “Blowin’ In The Wind.” “With God On Our Side.” “Masters Of War.” These are songs Bob Dylan has written and performed expressing deep emotions about the wisdom of going to war. As I began to reflect on these songs, to my mind came the pounding of war drums, the cries of vicious insults emanating from a deadly divide, images of…

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Promoting International Peace: A Developmental Psychologist’s Perspective

by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD

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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