royal see says:

Unfortunately this book is a rather sad attempt to “bust” some events that psychologists and psychiatrists currently disagree about. both sides can raise literature that supports their viewpoint. Novices lacking substantial experience can easily be misled by some statements contained here that are in themselves inaccurate and poorly analyzed. Take for example hypnosis. While hypnosis does not register as delta wave sleep or even rem sleep, yet anyone who has deep experience with the phenomenon knows that it is not alpha nor beta wave wakefulness as wakefulness is normally defined. in fact deeper hypnotic states contain more theta waves akin to deep meditative states that are not sleep yet are not exactly normal wakefulness. hundreds of EEGS have been conducted on hypnotized and deeply meditating subjects that show little alpha or beta.this is enough to bust the mythbusters myth. Then again when hypnosis is properly conducted with the right subject the bodily physiological changes and heightened susceptibility to suggestions is unmistakable. While people may snap out of a deep state if asked to violate a personal value, yet with proper manipulation people can do rather strange things they would normally never do.

Lets bust another of this silly books myths.The book claims that anger is not too helpful and it is but a catharsis.It seems that whoever wrote this does not exactly seem to comprehend that anger is a biological evolutionary organismic state that serves a function in most common species.While some individuals use anger as a defense against deeper hurts in an inappropriate and sometimes unhealthy manner, i speak of rage-aholics who derive no benefit from raging other than a “catharsis”,…yet for many others expressing anger can constitute a breakthrough in their healing.The expression needs to be expressed in a non harmful way perhaps in one’s privacy or in session away from the target of the anger. When expressed genuinely and as a reaction to some hurt or neglect or other abuse, anger will no longer be a “catharsis” per se rather it will be a well formed well expressed affect, emotion or feeling in therapy jargon and it can have a healing effect especially if connected to the underlying hurt.

Another myth this book creates is the view that memory is only reconstructive and hence the implication is that it most probably is tainted by later cognitions perceptions and errors. This smells to me like the unholy controversy about uncovered or repressed memories. This controversy is not scientific and never was. Anyone who has worked deeply with simple and traumatic memories recognizes that BOTH kinds of memories are available either via visual remembrances or body movement in addition to the more common verbal thought memories. Moreover any scientifically disciplined worker with memory research will tell you that while reconstructive memories may be prone to interferences and errors yet other deeper memories are almost like recordings. One of my patients uncovered a conversation with her deceased dad at age two or so where he tells here about a suitcase buried under a sofa in the old house that was currently occupied by a relative. The patient had enough courage to check her revelation, took permission to look at the recalled location and found a case with parting letters to her explaining the conditions of her adoption. a letter to an uncle, a handgun and 2 kilos of gold jewelry belonging to her deceased at birth mother! The woman had no previous recollection of any of this at any point in her life. she was in her early forties when this emerged. I provide this as one of dozens of anecdotes in only one practice,where the patient rediscovered verbatim previously unknown things. A male patient in his thirties wailing non verbally in terror and contorting his body in typical birth movements of the legs torso head and neck pointed to his temples suggesting pain there accompanying the deep fear. After working with him for a while ,he relaxed and reached a closure but was not sure what his body was reliving. He was asked to have his mother call me. asked about a complicated delivery , she was stunned affirming that the head would simply not emerge for painfully excessive stretches of time. She asked how i had known and and was surprised even further when asked if forceps extraction had been used extensively.Again she was stunned and admitted that no one knew this but the forceps had been used very intensely and the baby had almost died , that he cried constantly for over a week. To any clinician experienced enough to recognize a body -expressed memory, this would be a bullet through the heart of this book’s memory myth. We have just busted the busters again. And to nail the coffin of that myth ,there is EEG work plus SPECT scan imaging showing unusual and uncommon brainwave and brain activity patterns when deep accurate memories emerge indicating a special theta -delt-beta combination of brainwaves when this happens, a highly unusual mixture in perfectly normal brained people who are actually re living mind and body an old usually traumatic situation.

I highly recommend the title”pseudoscience in biological psychiatry” in addition to “the love that wasnt” and “blaming the brain” amongst other works to allow the layman and the serious and aspiring therapist not to be mislead by superficial attempts like this reviewed title sometime making sweeping statements based on one or two measly studies to attempt to disprove perhaps a hundred years of solid clinical experience. Rather sad. I will use an example from nutrition to demonstrate that studies are deceptive and frequently twisted to back up ones own subjective opinion. In the case of vitamin C, one pathetic study came out saying that 200 milligrams daily was more than enough and another said that 500 is the redline for humans. The media ran this one disparaging study and people started fearing vitamin C. What the foolish media did not tell everyone was that there were upwards of 13000 (that’s correct thirteen thousand ) studies globally demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of vitamin C for humans including megadoses of 10-20000mgs per day and even more if given IV.

Interestingly, a sober statistical research of scientific and medical articles showed that in only a few years after publication and universal acceptance as scientific truths, approximately 60 percent prove to be worthless,either outright faked or erroneous in execution and interpretation.60 percent of what science and medicine believe today will metamorphose into worthless garbage in a few years. Shamefully sad. i believe this book is one of these silly superficial books that may mean good and sounds scientific here and there but in the end tends to propagate its own myths. I fear the emperor has no clothes!

To be fair ,my evaluation was based on partial reading of the contents and thus the book may possibly contain some acceptable material along with this gibberish that i found myself forced to comment about.
Rating: 1 / 5

Midwest Book Review says:

50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology offers both students of psychology and consumers a fine book discussing science and everyday psychology. It offers facts and pinpoints fallacies about psychology, debunking popular myths and presenting evidence that also explains why people come to believe in these falsehoods. It’s a fine pick for any psychology collection.
Rating: 5 / 5

D. Flaten says:

This book should be required reading for anyone currently or proposing to go into education. It forces us to take another look at current misconceptions that may affect our teaching and other educational services. Every statement is supported by research. The book included an extensive list of sources. Read it slowly and enjoy.
Rating: 5 / 5