Tag: Barbara Ehrenreich

Survivorship bias: when we focus only on success

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 17 Comments
by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

We were sitting around with friends and family recently over some very nice red wine when our friend Noel asked a question about my weekly Toastmasters meetings, and specifically about whether I thought there are some people who simply never learn to feel comfortable speaking in public, even after Toastmasters training. After a moment’s contemplation, I replied to Noel:

“I can’t really say – because those who actually feel too uncomfortable often just stop attending after a while. But the ones who stay seem pretty comfortable!”

It turns out that what I was describing is essentially what’s known as survivorship bias.*  

Continue reading “Survivorship bias: when we focus only on success” →

Post-Traumatic Growth: how a crisis makes life better – or NOT

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 36 Comments
Full disclosure: I’ve always felt a bit squirmy when patients facing a life-altering medical crisis cheerfully declare that this diagnosis isn’t only NOT dreadful, but it’s actually quite fabulous! But before I dig into that theory, let’s look at this positivity phenomenon.
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Psychologists sometimes refer to it as “Post-Traumatic Growth”.
 Continue reading “Post-Traumatic Growth: how a crisis makes life better – or NOT” →

Looking for meaning in a meaningless diagnosis

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 26 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

“That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.  If you tell yourself you feel fine, you will. Don’t cry over anything that can’t cry over you.  When life hands out lemons, squeeze out a smile.”

Translation:  Blah blah blah . . .

Here’s one I like better:  “Sometimes bad things happen to good people.” Period. End of story. As I’ve written here before, there is no Fair Fairy in life.

It is indeed tempting – and common – to spout trite platitudes designed to somehow make people feel better about those bad things with bumper sticker pop-psych. But can platitudes really lend meaning to a life-altering health crisis? Continue reading “Looking for meaning in a meaningless diagnosis” →

A heart film to watch before “Pinktober” arrives

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

We’re approaching the Pink season, my heart sisters. It’s that time of year when breast cancer awareness campaigns and their accompanying corporate marketing shills rev into high gear. Last Pinktober, we saw pink buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken, pink-handled Tasers, and (yes, seriously) pink Smith & Wesson handguns – each somehow helping us to be more aware of breast cancer.

What could possibly top what breast cancer survivor and author Barbara Ehrenreich calls this “cult of pink kitsch” again this year?

From my perspective as a 35+ year veteran in the public relations field, I have to say that my friends working in breast cancer fundraising have done a fabulous job in raising awareness of their cause. So fabulous, in fact, that they have erroneously convinced women that breast cancer is our biggest health threat.

It is not, of course.  This year, heart disease will kill 5-6 times more women than breast cancer will.  In fact, heart disease kills more women each year than all forms of cancer combined.  Continue reading “A heart film to watch before “Pinktober” arrives” →