Binge Eating Disorder

Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder which is characterized by episodes of binge eating; binge eating refers to a feeling of being out of control and consuming an amount of food that is larger than a normal portion of food which most people would eat during a similar period of time. For example, someone with binge eating disorder may consume several entire pizzas within an hour, which is a much larger portion than most people would eat during that same period of time.

Binge eating disorder is considered to be the most common eating disorder in the United States. It is estimated to affect 3.5% of females in the United States, 2% of males of the United States and around 30% of individuals who seek weight loss treatment in the United States. Technically, binge eating disorder is not yet classified as its own separate eating disorder like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, although current revisions for the upcoming DSM-V have indicated that binge eating disorder will be separated from the more general category of eating disorders not-otherwise-specified.

Diagnosing binge eating disorder may vary from physician to physician due to the fact that binge eating disorder is not yet classified as a separate eating disorder. However, general criteria for the diagnosis of binge eating disorder includes: eating an amount of food which is noticeably larger than what most people would eat during a specific or similar time frame; a feeling of losing control before eating and while eating; eating quickly or unusually fast during binging episodes; eating an unusually large amount of food when feeling depressed, angry or emotional; eating alone or hiding binge eating from family members or friends. It is important to note that binge eating disorder does not involving purging behavior, such as those found in the binge/purge subtype of anorexia nervosa and in bulimia nervosa. Someone with binge eating disorder will have binge episodes but they will not purge their food through self-induced vomiting or other methods—although they may attempt to do so or feel that they should purge the food that they have eaten.

Binge eating disorder is considered, along with anorexia nervosa, to be an eating disorder with potentially fatal consequences. Binge eating disorder often leads to negative consequence such as high cholesterol, high blood sugar, excessive weight gain and high blood pressure; many people with binge eating disorder are overweight or obese, although weight gain and weight are not part of the criteria for the disorder. One of the biggest hurdles that people with binge eating disorder face is the shame against binge eating and—if they are also overweight or obese—of people who are overweight in the media and popular culture. The National Eating Disorder Research Foundation has found that many people with binge eating disorder are ashamed to ask for help with their disorder because of the guilt, shame and embarrassment associated with overeating, obesity and binge eating. Treatment for binge eating disorder generally consists of cognitive behavioral therapy along with a focus on reeducation patients on healthy eating patterns and ways of dealing with emotions without using food.

Personality and Traits

We encounter people having different personalities and assess their behavior towards us on a daily basis. Each person is somehow different from others on the basis of certain traits which make an individual’s personality unique.

 Personality is the combination of enduring characteristics of behavior that differentiate one individual from another. Personality remains consistent throughout the life of an individual and he or she behaves in similar ways in different situations. In other words, personality is enduring over time. Moreover, personality is also displayed in one’s feelings, thoughts, attitude and social interactions. Personality is not only a psychological process but it is also connected to the various biological processes which occure throughout the life of an individual.

The characteristics that frame the personality are referred to as traits. So traits can be defined as those characteristics that make each individual unique. Traits can be assessed in observing behavior of others. One psychologist Gordon Allport, who has attended many NLP courses categorizes traits as cardinal, central and secondary.

Cardinal trait is a single trait which governs the individual and directs his behavior in most of the activities. For instance, a person who is kind will be looking forward to helping others and will indulge in benevolent and philanthropic activities. 

Central traits are those general characteristics that build up the whole personality and serve as the bases for an individual’s personality. Traits such as honesty and intelligence are considered to be central traits. Finally,  

Secondary traits are those which sometimes affect behavior and are influential in certain situations. For example, a passion for art would be considered a secondary trait.

Another psychologist Hans Eysenck classifies personality traits on three dimensions: Extroversion, Neuroticism and Psychoticism.  

Extroversionrelates to the extent of how social a person is. It focusesits attention on outside environment. So a person who is an extrovert is outgoing, lively, talkative where as an introvert may be quiet and aloof.  

Neuroticism refers to the emotional consistency of a person and classifies an individual as either upset in emotional situations or to remain calm.  

Psychoticism relates to the degree of how reality is assessed by an individual.

Another classification of personality traits was suggested in the form of a theory called ‘Big Five’. This theory is the best explanation of personality and its core traits. The theory encompasses five central traits that lie at the heart of human personality. These include:

Extroversion- measured by how social a person is and how well he interacts with the surrounding.

Openness- measured by imagination or practicality of an individual.

Agreeableness- assesses whether an individual is kind, sympathetic or unfriendly.

Conscientiousness- defines an individual as either disciplined or rather impulsive and disorganized.

Neuroticism- measures the emotional stability on the lines of whether an individual is calm or anxious, and either stable or tense in certain situations.

Thus, by studying these theories psychologists can evaluate and assess individuals’ personality and classify them as having certain traitswhich produce differences among them. These theories help to understand why individuals behave in certain ways in specific situations. Psychologists have intensively studied personality trait theories in order to give explanations to the underlying causes of differences in personalities.

Industrial Organizational psychology

The field of psychology is a vast one and it incorporates many areas within it. An interesting area of psychology is industrial organizational psychology. This branch of psychology is associated with the behavior of people in their workplace and the research form it is often used to assist businesses in increasing the productivity of their employees and increasing their businesses potential within the market place. However, there are many areas within industrial organizational psychology so it is hard to pin point on particular role of an industrial organizational psychologist.

Individuals who study and work within the area of industrial organizational psychology can help businesses with the testing of their products and also finding the best employees for particular jobs. They do this by suiting their personality and capabilities to the job at hand and figuring out whether or not they are suited to the job on offer or not. Having employees that are good at their job is important for the effectiveness of work and the productivity of workers within the workplace. This can help to avoid certain situations such as having an employee who has no determination and is not effective in their job due to their attitude towards it.

It is also important for industrial organizational psychologists to determine employee’s thought and views on work and ascertain their attitude towards their work in order to see if this is a factor in their work place productivity or not. Once this has been established an industrial organizational psychologist can work with them to figure out how they can change their perception or attitude towards their job or suggest ways for the employer to do this within the work place to increase worker moral and productivity. As this is one of the major issues that industrial organizational psychologists need to address it is important that it is taken seriously and that it is always taken into account in any work place.

It is also the job of an industrial organizational psychologist to develop tests for the work place in order to test the employees to see how they are within the work place and if there is a trend or a certain group of people within the work place who are experiencing difficulties at work and if further support and assistance is required for these individuals in order to increase productivity. These tests can also be used to determine the suitability of prospective employees for a job. 

Industrial organizational psychologists are often found working employee training programs and they tend to work for a number of businesses or for one business. Their role within a business is important and it can have a significant impact on the performance of a business because if a team is working well together and working to a high standard then there is more opportunity for performance of the business to increase over a period of time. They can even be involved with the hiring of new employees, making it an exciting and variable role in a work place.

Forensic psychology

Not many people have any idea of what forensic psychology is. Basically, forensic psychology is the use of psychology within the legal context.A forensic psychologist is a psychologist who has knowledge on the legal system and can apply psychological knowledge to such a context. There are many benefits to performing forensic psychology which include being able to help other people, gain personal satisfaction and to continue to learn through continual education opportunities.

 Forensic psychology is a relatively new area of psychology and was only established in 2001 due to its need within society. Although forensic psychology is a specialized area of psychology, other types of psychologists can also be required to perform forensic psychology if they are to provide assessments of clients who are a part of a legal case. An example of this would be NLPTraining. They can also be required to prepare them and their case for court and to testify as well on a professional level. This shows that forensic psychology is not simply just what you see on television and in books, as these can often glamorize the area of forensic psychology.

Although forensic psychology can be used within any area of psychology that has an aspect of legality associated with it, it is most common for specialist forensic psychologists to work within the context of prisons, police departments, lawyer’s offices, and within rehabilitation services, as well as with the families of clients, their lawyers and government agencies. A forensic psychologist’s role within these contexts is to continually assess and reassess clients as require by the courts or for assessment purposes. This can help in determining where they are at psychologically and what is affecting them psychologically.

 Although working with clients of psychology is at the forefront of forensic psychology, there are also other areas of forensic psychology that people can be involved in. Some choose to continue on at university and complete further research into forensic psychology and specialize further into law and criminology. Such forensic psychologists can use this useful knowledge in order to analyze crime and laws and how treatments work for certain people with mental health issues. They can also work with the police to profile convicted criminals.

For a forensic psychologist to be effective at their job they tend to need to hold some certain key qualities which help them to perform well within the context of forensic psychology. These qualities include being patient, flexible, get along with other people well and be able to works with other people without any issues, have a passion for research and also being a good speaker as forensic psychologists tend to do a lot of speaking and often work in teams so need to be able to be articulate. They also need to have a passion in psychology as the training that is required to become a qualified psychologist is lengthy and continual education is mandatory for forensic psychologists as there is always more to learn within this field and keeping up with new laws is also important. 

Child Psychology

Child psychology is one of the most important branches of psychology. Child psychology not only deals with the physical growth but also focuses on mental development, various psychological processes a child goes through and how a child interacts with others as he grows older. It also focuses on the way a child behaves and the factors which affect and shape his behavior.

Psychologists observed that childhood is a complex time period. It is not only influenced by the internal factors which include genetic inheritance, child’s personal attributes and intelligence level but it is also affected by the external environment in which a child grows. External environment starts with the family in which a child is born and the close relatives.Then we consider the school a child goes to and the type of the friends he makes. Moreover what religion and cultural background a child belongs to, are also the building blocks in shaping child’s psychology. For example people in western culture want their children to be independent and have more self esteem but people in eastern culture guide their children to live in accordance to the norms of society and want them to be more socially interactive. The different experiences children have during their early ages play a major role in shaping their behavior in the long run.

Since all these internal and external factors can’t be similar for every children, that is why every single child has his own individual psychology, which is different in some way or the other from other children of the same age.

Parents must have the basic understanding of child psychology in order to effectively raise their children and to choose what parenting style is best to apply to their children. When it comes to bringing up children, some parents don’t know what the right way to do so is. They often use a strict style of parenting because they are afraid of their children getting spoiled if they show leniency. However, it is not always the most appropriate way of dealing with children. When dealt this way, a child could be forced to become disciplined but he could lose his self esteem and confidence.

The periods of child development are of extreme importance while trying to understand child psychology. A large number of psychologists have presented different theories regarding child development. Sigmund Freud described that children pass through different stages. He dubbed those stages oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. He further contended that if a child experienced any developmental issue during these stages, he could experience fixation whichwould affect his personality when he becomes anadult. Theorist Jean Piaget was the first to explain that thinking of children is different from adults. BF Skinner and Ivan Pavlov provided a completely different approach as they focused on the environmental aspects which affect the behavior of the children. He described that rewards and punishments can change the attitude of children.

This was a brief foray into the vast field of child psychology. Child psychology has been given due importance in the discipline of psychology because if its major role in shaping behavior.