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Psychology

Why do so many unscientific, unverifiable, and sometimes flat-out disproven pop psychology beliefs enter the cultural consciousness and then stay there, firmly attached for what seems like infinity? <a href="http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-EHEP002362.html">According to</a> psychologists Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn, John Ruscio, and Barry L. Beyerstein, authors of 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology, a lot of the worst pop psychology beliefs begin when a psychological study is misinterpreted or taken out of its specific context. From there, inaccurate pop psychological myths are bought and sold in the form of self-help books and groups, or become part of the delightful misadventures of Hollywood narratives. And once they make it to Hollywood, false pop psychology beliefs are here to stay. We love them. We cherish them. We hold onto them even in the face of mounting scientific evidence to the contrary. This list documents the most absurd pop psychology beliefs that persist into the present day. It’s time to educate yourself!

Biology

The brain is the most complex organ in the human body, and as such, any injury to it can have a profound impact on an individual. Brain damage can result from a number of diagnoses, including strokes, traumatic brain injuries, and brain tumors. On this list, you will discover some of the craziest and most interesting cases of brain damage changing personalities, behaviors, emotions, and skills.One of the most famous cases of brain damage causing personality changes is that of Phineas Gage. In the 1800s, a tamping iron went through his head when he was working on a railroad. Reports claim that, after surviving the accident, Gage's personality was drastically altered. This particular case of brain injury was significant in the fields of neurology and psychology, as it suggested a link between the frontal lobe of the brain and personality.From newfound artistic talent to criminal behavior, here are some of the craziest stories of people whose personalities changed after brain damage.

Interesting

What does dopamine do? Well, at the most basic level, everything you think, do, and&nbsp;are is basically part of one big chemical reaction. That's not an altogether comfortable thought for some people - but it's the science. It's hard to deny when you start looking into incredible brain chemicals and neurotransmitters like dopamine.Most people have heard of dopamine; in pop culture, it's generally considered &quot;your brain's natural heroin.&quot; That kind of trivia stuff is both true and... not quite true. It's true in the sense that heroin and many other drugs increase the dopamine levels in your brain, and that's a big part of the high. But the fact is, in its natural setting, this amazing molecule is responsible for far, far more than inspiring all the best Stone Temple Pilot albums. The dopamine facts below will explain.Dopamine inspires a lot of things we do; it's the reward our brain gives us when we're doing something useful, like learning a bunch of dopamine trivia! See if you can feel that little chemical hit yourself while you're learning about one of the most important biological chemicals in your body.

From the scraping of nails on a chalkboard to whatever it is that your annoying neighbors are doing upstairs, sounds can definitely be unpleasant. But these aural stimuli can be more than merely irritating - they can be misophonia&nbsp;triggers. For people who have an intense hatred of certain sounds, a seemingly innocuous disturbance can send them into a blind rage.What is misophonia? It's a disorder that was recognized by the&nbsp;Current Biology journal&nbsp;in 2001 as a genuine brain abnormality. Misophonia causes sufferers to feel anger at sounds that can include chewing, loud breathing, or the clicking of a pen.For now, there's no known misophonia treatment. However, specialists like psychologists may be able to help misophonia sufferers cope with the stress of hearing certain <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-sound/michaelgraff">sounds</a>.

Human Body

How much do you really know about sleep? We&nbsp;live&nbsp;in a time of&nbsp;Siri, the Amazon Echo, and Snapchat, yet we&nbsp;still study&nbsp;the science of sleep.&nbsp;Sleep remains incredibly mysterious and important to our health and well-being - meaning we&#39;re still studying it like it&#39;s an ancient and powerful magic. It&#39;s something we do every day and is more vital to our mental and physical health&nbsp;than eating - but what should you know about sleep? How much should you sleep each night? What other sleep facts should people keep in mind when their head hits the pillow?

You&#39;d think something we spend years of total time doing would be well-established by now, but it&#39;s not.&nbsp;Every year, we discover new facts about sleep, from why we do it to&nbsp;how it affects us. Science has&nbsp;made more advances in our knowledge of sleep in the last 25 years than in all prior years, but there&#39;s still much more digging left.

We&#39;re still, to this day, not 100% sure why we sleep. But let&#39;s dive into the facts we do know. All of the crazy sleeping facts the average person probably doesn&#39;t realize. It&#39;s time for learning - you can nap later.

Science

You may be wondering, &ldquo;what is neuro-linguistic programming?&rdquo; To put it simply, NLP consists&nbsp;of a combo of verbal and physical cues that cause you to react/think/feel in a very specific way. NLP comes with a number&nbsp;of positive effects, but it also ranks among one of the most effective mind control tactics of the 20th century. 

When done correctly, NLP relies on&nbsp;confusing and vague language to disorient&nbsp;a target and convince them into doing something they might not otherwise consider. It&rsquo;s akin to <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/hypnosis-crimes/lee-emjay" target="_blank">hypnotism</a> but slightly more scientifically proven and less overt, which makes it all the more dangerous. 

Neuro-linguistic programming emerged as a light version of mind control techniques used by the CIA on <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/mk-ultra-victims/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">MK-Ultra victims</a> in the &#39;50s and &#39;60s. While the CIA&nbsp;inundated those poor souls with extreme amounts of drugs and verbal cues, NLP users simply overwhelm their victims with vague phrasing and physical cues. While it sounds like the stuff of sci-fi movies, this&nbsp;mind control seems to actually work,&nbsp;and how the media may be using&nbsp;NLP to control everyone you know.&nbsp;

There comes a time in every person&#39;s life when they are faced with a startling, disconcerting reality&mdash;their own voice. If you&#39;re wondering why you hate the sound of your own voice, there&#39;s no reason to be alarmed or assume there&#39;s something wrong with you; everyone squirms when they hear what they really sound like. As one listens to their recorded voice played back to them, it&#39;s not at all uncommon to be confused and even disgusted:&nbsp;That isn&#39;t what I sound like, is it?

The reasons why it&#39;s weird to hear yourself are both scientific and highly personal. There are processes <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-yawning/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">happening on a biological level</a> every time you speak. There are also personal and cultural perspectives on what voices &quot;should&quot; sound like, and this inevitably influences people&#39;s discomfort with their own voice. Upon hearing yourself speak, a sort of hypothetical perfect storm is created when what&#39;s physiologically happening within your own body to create your voice collides with your own perceptions and expectations of <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/most-coveted-male-singing-voice/carlybobarly?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">what you sound like</a>. But don&#39;t worry&mdash;everyone experiences this phenomenon, and your voice is part of what makes you totally unique.

Medicine

In 2013, I spent four days in a psychiatric hospital unit on an involuntary hold where I discovered what it&#39;s really like inside a psych ward. Despite my fears of a full-blown Girl, Interrupted experience, I realized what I saw on TV was not&nbsp;quite how real-life psych wards work.&nbsp;

In the mid-1900s, psychiatric institutions were a free-for-all place to lock up anyone with any kind of problem that wasn&#39;t understood. These very depressing and inhumane places provided the inspiration for the Hollywood&nbsp;horror movie&nbsp;versions of mental institutions. However,&nbsp;starting in the &#39;60s, the process of deinstitutionalization&nbsp;reformed the systems surrounding mental health. Facilities became less isolated, released more patients, kept stays shorter, and worked to keep admission rates lower.

Still, time spent in a psych ward isn&#39;t exactly a day at the park. I have pieced together my own story with those of other patients and the research of various psychiatric professionals to create&nbsp;the following list. It paints a more accurate picture of what it&#39;s like in a psych facility than what you&nbsp;see in the movies.&nbsp;

Disclaimer: This article is not to meant to deter anyone from seeking inpatient psychiatric treatment, but to give a real glimpse into modern US psychiatric facilities and their strengths and weaknesses. If you or someone you know might be suicidal or in distress, call&nbsp;1‑800‑273‑TALK (8255).

Human memory capacity is pretty amazing, but don't fall into the trap of&nbsp;thinking you can rely on it all&nbsp;the time. It turns out that our brains can play tricks on us, and there are lots of reasons why you can't trust your own memory. From our inability to lodge colors into the old memory bank to our tendency to remember positive things and forget negative ones, we have memories that are more like rose-tinted biopics&nbsp;than gritty documentaries.&nbsp;In fact, <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/crazy-examples-of-the-mandela-effect/elle-tharp">thousands of people who don't even know each other are capable of having the exact same false memory of something</a>.Read on for reasons why you should never trust your own memory. And write them down so you don't forget.

World History

The history of the lobotomy, a medical procedure that involved entering a patient's brain and severing the connections between the front lobe and the remaining sections, is quite disturbing. How did lobotomies start? What were the differences <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/lobotomies-before-and-after/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">before and after lobotomies</a>?&nbsp;Doctors were influenced by the ancient practice of trepanation, in which holes were drilled into the skull for a number of ritualistic and medical reasons.The first lobotomies were performed on animals in the 1890s and within 50 years, doctors were conducting early lobotomy procedures on mentally ill humans. In the 21st century, lobotomies are viewed as archaic and barbaric because history has seen the horrific aftermath. Oftentimes, patients were&nbsp;left as little more than drooling toddlers who struggled with daily tasks. Although the procedure did help some people, for the most part, lobotomy history shows that it did more harm than good.&nbsp;

Gross

There's probably not a person alive who enjoys getting seasick. The rolling waves, the jostling, the bile rising in your stomach... you might get nauseated just thinking about it! For seasickness sufferers, it can feel like the only cure is to curl up in a corner and hope to die. And for those of you who blissfully wonder, what is getting seasick like? Count your blessings every time you go out on the water, for the rest of our sakes. With all this in mind, you probably think you have a pretty good understanding of what seasickness is, right?&nbsp;Well, do you know that some of the great thinkers of history, including Darwin and&nbsp;Hippocrates, <a href="http://www.motion-sickness-guru.com/a-brief-history-of-motion-sickness.html" target="_blank">suffered from seasickness</a>? Did you know that animals such as horses can get seasick? And that curling up in a corner to die can actually make it worse? See, there are some seasickness facts that even you didn't know.Maybe you're looking for potential cures, or maybe you're just morbidly curious, but oh boy, do we have a nausea-inducing <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/random-weird-facts/ashley-reign?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">list of facts</a> for you! You be the judge of which of these weird information tidbits are the most fascinating or gross, and try to remember, don't think about rolling waves. Just don't think about rolling waves.

Have you ever wondered what it&#39;s like to be in a coma?&nbsp;Imagine if your constant state was wondering what was real or imagined. Though some people experience&nbsp;nothing while in a coma, others have dreams so vivid, they wake up&nbsp;convinced they lived 10 years in the span of a few weeks.&nbsp;

Many coma survivors say one of the scariest things was the process of waking up - it&#39;s a long,&nbsp;drawn out struggle of waking up in your mind before you really have control of your body. During this&nbsp;state of trying to regain consciousness, most patients report being able to hear what&#39;s going on around them to a certain degree. And they have plenty of stories about <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/creepy-things-overheard/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">creepy things overheard</a>.&nbsp;To find out more about what it&#39;s like to be in a coma, check out these crazy accounts from Redditors who survived to tell their tales.&nbsp;

For most of us, it's difficult to imagine the complexity of our own human biology. In our day-to-day lives, we aren't conscious of the millions of cells working together in concert to let us do even the simplest tasks like eating, walking, or talking. And we're even less aware of what our body does that's beyond our direct volition. This list celebrates just one of the many unsung heroic organs that make our body function, the hypothalamus. It's a tiny part of your brain that plays an enormous role in keeping the body running normally.Want to learn more hypothalamus facts? Continue reading to answer, what is the hypothalamus? and what does the hypothalamus do?

Our brains are intricate machines, capable of some truly remarkable tasks - tasks of which most of us are unaware. There is a practically endless roster of fascinating - and even creepily unsettling - facts about the human brain, which only further illustrates the astonishing capabilities and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/personality-changes-from-brain-damage/cassie-muniz" target="_blank">complexities</a> of this crucial organ. Since it&#39;s so easy to take for granted all the ways our brains serve and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/study-shows-your-still-brain-works-after-death/matthew-lavelle" target="_blank">protect us</a>, we&#39;ve assembled a list with&nbsp;just a small sampling of fascinating things to learn about your brain.

First: a little background on just what the brain does. We humans have the largest brains of any mammal relative to body size. It essentially serves as the body&#39;s command center.&nbsp;It regulates the nervous system, processing information from the sensory&nbsp;organs and sending information to the muscles of the body. Different areas of the brain are responsible for processing and carrying out different tasks, but in a very real sense, all the disparate parts work together to keep us functioning, protected, and prepared - oh, and alive.

If you’re like 99% of the population, you’ve experienced that horrible sensation of waking up after a night of partying hard and not remembering anything that happened. Or maybe you remember taking a few shots, but everything after that is a blur. Blacking out isn’t just one of the most dangerous things you can do, it’s one of the fastest ways to irreparably destroy your body. The black-out facts assembled here are simply meant to help you understand the frightening experience of an alcohol-induced black out.Getting black-out drunk isn’t just embarrassing, it’s an unhealthy decision that can have serious consequences. Most people who black out will never kill an entire family or call 911 eight times trying to find their lost car, but it’s important to realize that those things are a possibility.&nbsp;

What happens during a fugue state is as mysterious as it is distressing. This sort of dissociative&nbsp;amnesia can be triggered by trauma or seemingly happen at random, and causes people to completely forget their <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/why-you-can-t-trust-your-memory/cristina-sanza" target="_blank">memories</a>&nbsp;– including their personalities. It can happen for hours, days, or even months. In rare occurrences, it can last for years.One of the weird things about fugue states is that they can involve changes of identity. During a dissociative fugue, a person might suddenly flee to a new place, where they'll begin living as a completely new individual. Once they come out of the state, they may feel confused, disoriented, or even angry. Their personality essentially resets as if nothing had ever happened.Information about fugue states is still being uncovered, but as disturbing as some of these cases may be, it's important to learn the facts. Otherwise, very real occurrences of fugue states might enter the realm of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/inaccurate-pop-psychology-findings/rylee_en" target="_blank">pop-psychology myths</a>.

Have you ever listened to the hum of a lawn mower on a summer afternoon, or heard someone rummaging through a drawer, or even sat in the exam chair at the eye doctor's office and felt a delightful, tingly sensation in your scalp? It begins there, then trickles down your head to your neck and shoulders, leaving marvelous relaxation in its wake. This feeling is called autonomous sensory meridian response, and many people experience it regularly. But just what is ASMR? Is it a <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/weird-mental-disorders/mike-rothschild" target="_blank">rare disorder</a>, or is living with ASMR&nbsp;normal? While science is just starting to explore the ASMR&nbsp;phenomenon, you can learn facts about ASMR&nbsp;from those who experience it. Experience it yourself by watching videos featuring the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-asmr-youtube-channels/youtuber" target="_blank">best ASMR&nbsp;YouTubers</a>.For those who do not experience it personally, autonomous sensory meridian response is difficult to describe. It's a condition <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/diseases-science-cant-explain/laura-allan" target="_blank">science has never explained</a>, but it's very real to those who experience it.&nbsp;For many years, those who experienced&nbsp;ASMR had no clue anyone else felt the same way they did. But thanks to new studies and the emergence of the Internet, the ASMR&nbsp;community can come together like never before.

Approximately <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0327-autism-spectrum-disorder.html" target="_blank">one in every 68 children</a> has autism. <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-historical-figures-who-may-have-been-autistic/katherine-ripley" target="_blank">Despite its prevalence</a>, the condition remains greatly misunderstood, and as a result, there are countless things misconceptions about autism. These incorrect assumptions come&nbsp;less from ignorance and more from a lack of education about the condition, as well as a <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-with-autistic-children/celebrity-lists" target="_blank">dearth of inaccurate representations</a>&nbsp;in movies and television shows.

Many of the common misconceptions about autism, however, can be righted by some basic facts: it&#39;s a developmental disorder that can have a wide-ranging impact on an individual&#39;s body and mind, from speech and language skills to social aptitude, from learning abilities to behavioral issues. It is a highly individualized condition that manifests differently in different people&mdash;there is no one, single, definitive idea of what autism looks like. It&#39;s important to dispel&nbsp;the myths that prevent the world from truly understanding those who struggle with this condition.&nbsp;

Here are some common misconceptions about autism debunked.

Colorblindness affects about 2% of men and .5% of women in one form or another. When you&#39;re colorblind, you miss out on a lot of things happening in the color spectrum like stoplights.&nbsp;Although&nbsp;it&#39;s not the <a href="/list/horrible-diseases-i-would-rather-die-than-have/mark">worst disease or condition a person could have</a>, it is a <a href="/list/list-of-common-diseases-most-common-illnesses/diseases-and-medications-info">common affliction</a>, and many people who can see the full color spectrum aren&#39;t aware what colorblindness can do to a person.&nbsp;

This list of stuff you&#39;re missing if you&#39;re colorblind is a&nbsp;test of sorts: If you can see all the images on the colorblindness test, be grateful for your color recognition skills - and be aware of the frustration colorblind people might feel. If you can&#39;t see the colorblind images, and aren&#39;t already aware you are colorblind, you can find tips for what to do from the <a href="https://colorblind.org/" target="_blank">Colorblind Association</a>.&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s called <a href="http://www.brainfacts.org/Diseases-and-Disorders/Neurological-Disorders-AZ/Diseases-A-to-Z-from-NINDS/Prosopagnosia" target="_blank">prosopagnosia</a>, a neurological disorder that leaves its sufferers unable to recognize individual faces. Also known as face blindness, or facial agnosia, prosopagnosia effects thousands of people throughout the world to varying degrees. And just how much does face blindness complicate the lives of its sufferers? The answer is: wildly.

When&nbsp;<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1536410/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_11" target="_blank">its portrayed in a thriller movie</a> starring that lady from the Resident Evil films, it&rsquo;s easy to think that face blindness is the concoction of a half-bored Hollywood writer. That&rsquo;s entirely untrue. This incredibly debilitating condition is nothing if not deadly serious. Those unfortunate people who are afflicted with prosopagnosia must endure an uncertain and often unfriendly outside world every day of their lives.

Faceblindness symptoms may be few, but their resulting handicaps are immeasurable. Similar to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/obvious-things-blind-people-have-to-deal-with/justin-andress" target="_blank">enduring blindness</a> or hearing loss, face blindness can be a hugely isolating condition that has a profound impact on those living with it. Here&nbsp;are some of the endless ways that face blindness can affect a life, as well as some stories from people who live their lives unable to rely on their own eyes.

What's on Your Mind

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What&#39;s on Your Mind

&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom:0in&quot;&gt;If you&apos;re looking to be more aware and in control of your mental health, there are plenty of good psychology magazines to help! These publications keep you up-to-date on both practical &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ranker.com/list/self-care-ideas/ashley-reign&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;self-care tips&lt;/a&gt; and news on the latest breakthroughs in the psychiatric field. Which journals are worth a monthly subscription? Here, you&apos;ll find a ranked list of psychology magazines to help you decide!&nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom:0in&quot;&gt;There are plenty of popular magazines that have provided invaluable help to readers over the years.&nbsp;&lt;span class=&quot;edS-i&quot;&gt;Psychology Today &lt;/span&gt;has been providing insight into the mind since it was founded in 1967. Neuroscience, parenting, and relationships are among the topics featured in the magazine. Other periodicals about mental health are more academic and made for psychiatrists and psychologists.&lt;span class=&quot;edS-i&quot;&gt;&nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;edS-i&quot;&gt;American Psychologist &lt;/span&gt;is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association, for example. Vote up the best psychology magazines below and feel free to add anything you think is missing.&nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

The 15+ Best Psychology Magazines & Journals You Should Be Reading

The Very Best Psychology Magazines, Ranked

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If you're looking to be more aware and in control of your mental health, there are plenty of good psychology magazines to help! These publications keep you up-to-date on both practical <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/self-care-ideas/ashley-reign" target="_blank">self-care tips</a> and news on the latest breakthroughs in the psychiatric field. Which journals are worth a monthly subscription? Here, you'll find a ranked list of psychology magazines to help you decide!&nbsp; &nbsp;There are plenty of popular magazines that have provided invaluable help to readers over the years.&nbsp;Psychology Today has been providing insight into the mind since it was founded in 1967. Neuroscience, parenting, and relationships are among the topics featured in the magazine. Other periodicals about mental health are more academic and made for psychiatrists and psychologists.&nbsp;American Psychologist is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association, for example. Vote up the best psychology magazines below and feel free to add anything you think is missing.&nbsp;

If you're looking to be more aware and in control of your mental health, there are plenty of good psychology magazines to help! These publications keep you ...