Tag: behavioral health

Mental Health Perspectives with Dr. John Huber & Kristin Walker hosted by Ryan McCormick.

Poor envy. It has such a bad reputation.

Who among us enjoys looking miserable, mediocre, hostile — and petty, just because we see someone who has something that we desire?

Lately, envy is in the air, as our country struggles with how to react to the increasing concentration of wealth in a smaller percentage of the population.

In a recent opinion piece, Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute, offers a provocative take on envy’s role in our reactions.

His main points are that:

1. envy makes us unhappy and unhealthy;

2. it arises from believing that another’s advantage is unfair and beyond our control to change;

3. sadly for us, it is an increasingly prevalent reaction.

Cultural traditions and some empirical work support Brooks’ first point about the ill effects of envy on well being. But research by Dutch psychologists Niels van de Ven and others confirm a very important distinction between two types of envy: benign and malicious. They show that benign envy is not fun but it leads to a healthy, “moving-up motivation” while malicious envy is hostile and leads to an unhealthy“pulling-down motivation.” It is only the latter type that Brooks likely has in mind.

Dana Aber joins our host to talk about how she has used performance art to help heal from narcissistic abuse. Her performances have become about letting anyone know who has been there – they aren’t alone.

Dana Aber is a performer, producer, collaborator, and creator. Her career in New York City has flung her across the seas to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Thailand, around the oceans on cruise ships, and all through the US on touring shows and with her own productions. She has been seen in NYC Off-Broadway, at the NYFringe Festival, NYMF, Apollo Theatre, Theatre Row, FDCAC/Classical Theatre of Harlem, and The Dixon Place. Passionate about the development of new musicals, she has been involved with multiple presentations at New Dramatists, Feinstein’s 54 Below, NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, Dramatists Guild, and Ars Nova. Through her Big Thunder Productions company, Dana has created and helmed 8 concert-cabarets with upwards of 50 contributing musical collaborators, showcasing over 85 performing artists, most notably the bi-coastal #YesAllWomen Raise Your Voice concert that linked artists across the country to the movement for gender equality. Her collaboratively built solo show, Baggage at the Door, explores her synesthesia-soaked healing process from trauma through original songs and video projections. She is a survivor and advocate, and is honored to be able to use her voice to share for those who cannot.

She is also a part of the www.healmetoofest.com.

www.DanaAber.com

Why are millennials experts about the internet and social media? Because they are the ONLY generation that has a before and after experience at that crucial developmental age. Generation X and Baby Boomers on up – the internet and social media hit us as adults. Generation Z? They came out of the womb with a Smartphone in their hands. Researchers have only one generation to study about the social, developmental, and mental health impact that the internet and social media has on a generation that knew life at such young ages before and after.
Why is this important?
Their experiences with online bullying, trolling, harassment, and privacy hit them in a way that no other generation can understand. Older generations are shocked at the amount of online emotional terrorism. Generation Z is at the beginning stages of learning how to navigate it. Only Millennials know how that negative side of the internet has impacted the age group that spearheaded the online experience.
Tune in to K.C. and our host Kristin Walker as they discuss one millennial’s perspective.