Nearly 30 years ago today, a man armed only with a Ph.D.,
boundlessconfidence, and high-octane curiosity, started a magazine called
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY. Nicholas Charney's governing premise: the issues of
psychology were the most vital, raw, and riveting issues of the day, from
violence to humanism, feminism, homosexuality, murder, presidential
character, and the secrets of that ultimate mystery--the brain.
PT soon developed a kind of lock on the voice of the time. Out of
the mainstream but at the heart of what's really American, the fabled
magazine was produced on the beaches of Delmar in California--and became
a cult hit and a commercial success. But then the magazine was sold, and
resold, and each of its new, powerful owners tried in vain to recapture
the early magic that Charney and his gang had achieved, seemingly with so
little effort and so much fun. Finally, PT--with a little help from its
friends--crashed and burned.
And, as you know, rose out of the ashes five years ago. Inarguably,
we're here. If the resilience of this magazine has taught us anything,
it's about the importance of this subject. There's not a whole lot that's
more interesting than what makes people tick. Yet there's another, more
substantive reason for PT's vitality--and that's the revolutionary nature
of psychology itself, which continues to amaze us with its
newness.
The current issue--where we present landmark research into moods,
mental disorders, and how to achieve optimal mental health--could not
have been written, or even conceived, five years ago, even one year ago.
New knowledge about the biology of the brain and the medications we can
use to treat mental illness has transformed our sense of self. There's an
unparalleled openness about psychological disorders today, so that a
nationally known psychiatrist like Ned Hallowell (who writes in these
pages about attention deficit disorder) admits quite freely that he has
ADD--and tells how that discovery was the most liberating moment of his
life. In turn, as UCLA psychiatrist Peter Whybrow points out, our
deepening grasp of severe mental disorders can offer us astonishing
information about our own everyday moods. His approach encompasses both
drugs and therapy, an indication of the new comfort we feel with a wide
range of treatments. With our increasing precision, psychiatrist John
Ratey tells us, we can effectively treat the "shadow syndromes," the
milder ups and downs that derail us all from time to time. It's
profoundly encouraging to know that the totally `normal' personality
simply does not exist.
If ever there was a perennial issue, it's the war between the
sexes--check out editor at large Hara Marano's interview with John Gray,
Ph.D., the bestselling popular psychologist of our time, and decide for
yourself whether it's a civilized duel or an all-out fight. And since
more and more "new age" books are being shelved and sold as psychology
these days, essayist Michael Ventura gives us his mordant, deeply
skeptical view of packaged soul--and his own experience of that ineffable
word. Finally, if you take our premise that mind, body, and spirit are
united, then the impact of nutrition on well-being is clearly
psychology's turf. So to that end, we're launching a new column with a
renowned holistic physician.
Charney's manifesto was summed up in the phrase: "Let the air in."
And, modestly, that's what we're striving to do here.
Psychology Today. The magic is back. Thank you, Nick.
Tags:
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humanism,
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mental disorders,
nature of psychology,
ned hallowell,
newness,
optimal mental health,
presidential character,
psychological disorders,
Psychology Today,
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sense of self,
ultimate mystery
