Psychology
Discover facts about psychology. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Psychology
Experiencing wildly unstable interpersonal relationships
When your favorite person suddenly becomes your mortal enemy in ten minutes. Borderline personality involves severe instability in self-image and…
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Why we take our anger out on safer targets
Taking out your frustrations on the actual source of your problem is clearly far too terrifying. Displacement is the psychological defense mechanism where…
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When belly buttons trigger panic
Summer beach trips are strictly forbidden. Omphalophobia is the distinct dread of navels, where individuals are terrified of having their own touched or…
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Making up sophisticated excuses for terrible actions
Because admitting you are just a terrible person is incredibly difficult. Rationalization is a defense mechanism where individuals create highly…
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When an itch feels like an infestation
The ultimate itching sensation that absolutely no cream can fix. Ekbom syndrome, or delusional parasitosis, causes individuals to steadfastly believe they are…
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Some people are terrified of ferns
Botanical gardens are basically haunted houses for these sufferers. Pteridophobia is an irrational dread of ferns, where the feathery leaves trigger deep…
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Having absolutely zero interest in making any friends
The ultimate hermits who genuinely do not want to go to your party. Schizoid personality is characterized by a profound lack of interest in forming human…
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Avoiding all human contact out of severe inadequacy
Ghosting everyone because you are convinced you are inherently terrible. Avoidant personality involves extreme shyness and a crippling fear of rejection. They…
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Why firstborns may be more anxious
Blame your parents for practicing on you before having your siblings. Psychological studies on birth order suggest eldest siblings tend to be more anxious and…
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Primal urges dictate your worst daily actions
Because pretending we are civilized adults is a full-time job. In psychoanalytic theory, the 'Id' represents our primitive, impulsive desires that demand…
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The psychoanalytic theory that blamed girls for envying anatomy
Because blaming biology is a tale as old as time. The Electra complex posits that young girls experience intense resentment upon realizing they lack certain…
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Why some people lie when the truth would do
Lying about what you ate for breakfast when the truth was perfectly fine. Pathological lying involves the chronic behavior of compulsive deception for no…
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Being entirely convinced that everyone is out to get you
Trusting absolutely no one, not even the household pets. Paranoia involves a pervasive distrust and suspicion of others, interpreting entirely innocent…
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Reverting to childish tantrums when things get difficult
Adulthood is a scam, and the human psyche knows it. Regression happens when people faced with immense stress unconsciously return to behaviors characteristic…
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Why psychoanalysis named self-destruction Thanatos
Sometimes the urge to casually ruin your own life is literally built in. Psychoanalytic theory proposes a 'death drive' called Thanatos, an innate compulsion…
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Severe anxiety triggered by ordinary dinner conversations
Eating in complete silence sounds like an absolute paradise. Deipnophobia is the specific dread of dining and dinner party conversations. The pressure of…
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The phobia that makes mirrors terrifying
Vain people simply cannot comprehend this level of avoidance. Eisoptrophobia involves an irrational terror of reflecting surfaces. Sufferers will meticulously…
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Some people are afraid of their own reflection
Getting ready in the morning requires heroic levels of bravery. Spectrophobia is the overwhelming dread of mirrors or seeing one's own reflection. It often…
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Experiencing absolute terror regarding the Catholic Pope
Vatican City is the scariest place on the planet for these individuals. Papaphobia is a highly specific dread of the Pope or the papacy in general. Just…
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Some people feel compelled to drink blood
Far less romantic than the movies, and heavily frowned upon by public health officials. Clinical vampirism, sometimes called Renfield's syndrome, involves a…
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Why new sounds can feel strangely familiar
Hearing a brand new broadcast on the radio and swearing you have heard it before is a glorious mental glitch. This specific audio misfire incorrectly flags…
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When the urge to write becomes impossible to stop
Feeling a burning, unstoppable urge to fill entire notebooks with absolute gibberish is a spectacular glitch. This overwhelming impulse forces individuals to…
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Why pictures beat words in memory
A simple doodle of a dog will brutally defeat the written word dog in any recall battle. The human mind treats visual images like royal dignitaries,…
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Why Photographic Memory Rarely Lasts Into Adulthood
Photographic recall is basically a superpower that exclusively belongs to small children. While many toddlers possess the ability to perfectly scan and retain…
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