Friday's Fabulous Finds: Healing Social Pathology 1 Friend, City, & App at a Time

Thought for the Day: It’s finally Friday! This week we have been talking about friendship & society's pathology. The finds relate to ways to start treating the social ills we have been talking about. You may enjoy the first two finds if you liked our Words of Wisdom post from this past Wednesday titled “Phillip Zimbardo Shyness: A Social Pathology.  The first is a program that teaches cities to become emotionally healthy. Programs like these can help treat the social pathology we discussed. The 2nd find is an article titled “Friendship Lessons from Introverts.” It debunks the myth that introverts lack strong relationships. What can we learn from them to enhance our relationships? The third find brings 5 free mobile apps for PTSD, Stress & Anxiety. These apps can help people heal from the violence & stress of our modern world. The 4rd fabulous find came from an article called “Diagnosis: Humans,” a NY Times Op-Ed Piece by Ted Gup. It concerns society’s desire to constantly “fix” our human flaws with objects &, or, medication. It certainly raises questions to consider as we grapple with society's dilemmas.  The last find is a less informative but entertaining YouTube video. It shows how a group of friends added a pleasant surprise to their friends’ wedding party. We hope our posts this week have helped you consider initiating new friendships, cultivating existing ones & growing as a friend. Happy Friday, everyone!

The Children's Project

1) Emotionally Healthy Cities Dr. Gerald Newmark, author of How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Children & co-founder of The Children’s Project, explains what an emotionally-healthy city is. Click to learn how all cities can strive to become emotionally healthy cities. Thanks to Kelli Cronin for sharing information with me about The Children’s Project on LinkedIn.

2) "Friendship Lessons from Introverts" 
According to this source, introverts offer such benefits to friendships as becoming a better listener, frequent meaningful conversations, and having significant one-on-one time with friends. If you are an introvert, this post is for you!

3) 5 Free Mobile Apps for PTSD, Stress & Anxiety 
This informative article promotes applications that can alleviate people's suffering from PTSD, stress, & anxiety. Its author, Dave MacDonald, is a psychotherapist, consultant, & educator hailing from Asheville, North Carolina. I found this post on Links4Shrinks on LinkedIn.

4)  Diagnosis: Human Written by Ted Gup, this article sheds light on society’s tendency to mistake our flaws & humanity for mental illnesses. Gup puts it well: “We have become increasingly dissociated & estranged from the patterns of life & death, uncomfortable with the messiness of our own humanity, aging &, ultimately, mortality.”


5) Friend's Surprising Wedding Present


                                    See how friends prepared a unique surprising wedding gift.

Wednesday's Words Of Wisdom: Phillip Zimbardo Shyness: A Social Pathology

  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zimbardo_in_Warsaw_2009.jpg#globalusage

Thought for the Day: As we continue to examine the value of friendships, Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom this week come from contemporary psychologist, Philip Zimbardo, who was born in 1933. After earning three undergraduate degrees in psychology, sociology, & anthropology from Brooklyn College, he went on to receive his M.S. at Yale University. Zimbardo is best known for ground-breaking psychological theories & experiments such as the Stanford prison study, Time Paradox, Lucifer Effect, & Abu Ghraib analysis.

For today’s post, I chose a little known quote by Zimbardo on shyness:
         “The level of shyness has gone up dramatically in the last decade. I think
     shyness is an index of social pathology rather than a pathology of the individual.”
If shyness stems from society’s ills & is not an innate disposition, how can we treat the societal pathology? Is it possible this societal illness interferes with developing friendships in our modern world? Does it deter people from responding to or making advances to initiate friendships. Could it be a factor in what I described in Motivational Monday's post as "friendship deprivation?" Since Zimbardo’s observations, has the increase in shyness morphed into a societal distrust & sense of lack of safety? Could this fuel some people’s apprehension & adamant belief in the necessity to own guns to feel safe? If shyness stems from societal problems & the increased fear of strangers that plagues some segments of our society is similar, how can we help reduce these fears & heal the social pathology?

Over the next couple of weeks, I will address these questions as I examine the benefits of friendship to our mental health. The answers are complex. The solutions will take time. But if we grapple with them for long enough, we’re sure to eventually reduce the shyness & fear that’s becoming so prevalent in society.  We need to look to psychology, education, sociology & other disciplines to begin to discover answers. What are your thoughts? I hope you will join me in this discussion.