Excerpt from an interview: Winnie Yu http://winnieyu.net and Patrick Wanis PhD, author of “Secrets to Losing Weight, Being Thin and Loving Your Body”:

Winnie: What are common stereotypes of fat people and thin people?

Patrick Wanis PhD:

Generally, when we think of fat people we think of them as inferior on many levels: physically, mentally and even emotionally (as it pertains to relationships.)

Almost 78 years ago, Coca Cola made famous the fat jolly, rosy red cheek Santa Claus and only until recently have we associated fat with happy and jolly and often more so with men than women. Today’s fat people, particularly women are viewed as angry, bitter, outspoken, opinionated, and even dumb. Rosie O Donnell is criticized and viewed as angry and bitter while Drew Carey and John Goodman are viewed as lovable comedians. Even the character Mimi in the Drew Carey TV show was portrayed as almost a caricature – opinionated, with extreme makeup and unstable self-esteem. Mimi was more of a circus act than a three-dimensional being. Either way, we tend to view fat people as a form of entertainment on television i.e. Drew Carey, John Goodman, John Candy, Chris Farley, John Belushi, Louie Anderson, Lavell Crawford and so forth. Again, men generally get a pass for being fat – if they are funny! And most of them made fun of themselves for being overweight.

Continue reading “Fat people on reality TV” »

The Life Events Inventory as a predictor for injury and illness
– The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale – take the test below

It may seem almost blatantly obvious that major life changes contribute to stress but it may not be as obvious that multiple major life changes within one year correlate with a higher risk of injury or illness.

We too often take it for granted that life changes alter a person’s social roles and relationships, such as mar­riage, divorce, job change, serious illness, or the death of a loved one, and thus, they increase a person’s suscepti­bility to stress, and in turn contribute if not directly cause a host of physical, mental and emotional ailments and illnesses. The ripples of stress will often last for a year or even longer.

Continue reading “Stress: The link between life changes and illness & injury” »

Full text of L.A. Fitness shooter George Sodini’s blog link / online diary from his website is further below. George Sodini’s blog link was removed, and it’s unknown, but the text on his website was published and is below.

George Sodini briefly considered calling off his murderous rampage at a Pennsylvania health club, which left three women dead and nine injured. (Listen to the radio interview by Patrick Wanis PhD explaining the causes and pyschological profile of gym killer George Sodini – click here.)

George Sodini’s home movies and online diary reveal his darkest emotions. In a written but unpublished post to his blog, the 48-year-old gunman wrote that if a particular woman he admired from afar would be his girlfriend, he would “cancel this plan or put [it] on hold, at least for a while,” ABC News has learned through an analysis of his blog’s hidden source code.

For the causes, psychological factors and motivations behind the mass killing of women at an aerobic’s class by George Sodini and for a profile of mass murderers and killers, click here.

WARNING: The following contains EXPLICIT content. It is the text of a blog apparently kept by George Sodini, the man suspected of opening fire in a Pittsburgh-area gym, killing three and injuring nine others before apparently turning a gun on himself. The text is in full, except for some expletives which have been removed. The blog page had no pictures, other than a link to an apparent self-portrait of Sodini. Lines in boldface are as they appeared in the blog.

  Continue reading “Mass killer, George Sodini’s full blog entry” »

In this week’s Success Newsletter, I would like to talk about praise, why it is so critical to give and receive praise, how to give it and what to do if you never received it.

First a quick update:

• “Profile of cat killers” – A teenager was arrested in a string of cat killings and mutilations in Miami, Florida. Some of the cats were skinned or gutted and the corpses left on the lawns or driveways of their owners. What type of person kills and mutilates cats? And why cats? Is it the result of childhood trauma (abuse, violence and torture) or a neurological dysfunction? Listen to the interview I give to Russ Morley, host of the morning show on News/Talk 850 WFTL about the profile of a cat killer. I reveal some of the common characteristics of Sociopathic and Psychopathic behavior (also known as Antisocial Disorder.) http://patrickwanis.com/RadioInterviews.asp#CatKillers

• “Baby Boomers and Divorce: A bumpy road for many.”  I am the featured Relationship and Human Behavior Expert for the National Association of Divorce for Women and Children. Read the results of their new poll on divorce: http://patrickwanis.com/blog/index.php/2009/06/23/divorce/  

Now, let’s talk about praise.

The dictionary defines praise as the act of expressing approval, admiration or commendation. Every one of us desires praise at some level, and in one form or another. Praise is a member of the family of emotional needs: validation, recognition, approval, acceptance, support, encouragement, significance, self-expression, bonding, friendship, and so forth.

Continue reading “Why don’t you ever praise me?” »

Patrick,

I was trying to explain to a new friend of mine the real issues underlying perfectionists, which she claimed to be.  I did a fairly good job but could not put it in the eloquent succinct terms you would use.  For my benefit and the benefit of all of our readers could you outline the real meaning and challenges faced by perfectionists?

Chris Burres