Psychology & Me

In May, I had the opportunity to attend my husband’s national meeting of the Association of Psychological Science. When Roger decided in his mid life to go back to school for a PhD in Psychology, we had fun teasing him about it not being a “real” science. This was, of course, ignoring several weeks where he was immersed in the anatomy, physiology and chemistry of the brain and learning a lot more information than was available during my med school days. There were many studies presented at this conference and not only do they use a complex descriptive language, they have many more variables to control in these studies. It was fascinating but I still haven’t found the answer as to why many of us are so self critical of our appearance. It is true that as females we grow up surrounded with the focus of beauty and fashion. As a physician, I wish we grew up with the focus on health and the value of who we are as “a person”. I know this is unusual for a doc who enjoys providing aesthetic “treats” for people but I sometimes wish I could nurture the self awareness and joy of discovering the person who exists under that skin.