Psi Chi: The National Honor Society in Psychology

Spring 2007 Newsletter

Editor: Erin Solomon

Sports Psychology: Can Mental Toughness in Sports Help Business? 

Adrian Moorhouse is an Olympic gold medalist that believes that the mental toughness (fierce competition, hard work, perseverance, determination, teamwork, and achieving goals) that is used by most athletes in the sports world transfers over into the business world as well.  His research suggests that there are four pillars of mental success: remaining composed under stress, not doubting that you can perform at the expected level, making sure your desire and determination is positive and constructive, and shutting out distractions and doubts and concentrating on the job at hand.  He also adds that changing your attitude and improving your mental toughness is usually difficult.   Finally, he states that you need to accept that mental toughness needs continuous growth to develop further.  Moorhouse is the author of Developing Mental Toughness: Gold Medal Strategies for Transforming Your Business Performance and an article about the book is on www.psichi.org under the Psychology News heading.

Book Review: Crazy by Pete Earley

Written by Mallory Hensley 

Pete Earley is a successful writer. A former employee of the Washington Post, he has a knack for investigative journalism and a style of writing that catches people’s attention. A prolific author, Earley wrote about murders and gamblers before he was inspired to start writing on a new topic. With a hazy idea of where he wanted the book to go, he wrote out a scene. It depicted a college-aged male committing a crime. The young man broke through a glass door, entering a stranger’s house. The motive? He wanted to take a bubble bath.

Even Earley could not make up something so far-fetched. The story was true. And the perpetrator was his son Mike.

Inspired by his son’s diagnoses of bipolar disorder and irritated by the legal battles and ramifications that followed, Earley began writing Crazy, a book that has got the mental health community talking since it’s 2006 release.

The book has two major points. First and foremost, mental illness is a disease that does not discriminate based on age, sex, or ethnicity. It can happen to anyone, at any time. The faces that were seered into Earley’s mind after spending time at jails were faces of people’s grandsons, neighbors, friends, sons and daughters. That fact alone makes Crazy a must-read book. It could happen to you.  

The second point is that jails and prisons are now the places where the mentally ill are being institutionalized. Rather than being rehabilitated, they get sucked into an ugly cycle of incarceration and sub-par (if any) “treatment.” The book’s title, Crazy, refers to the mental health system in the United States. Earley spent a year researching in hospitals, courthouses, and jails in the Miami area. In the book, he chronicles the fates of several mentally ill patients that he chose at random on the Miami-Dade Jail’s psychiatric ward—the ninth or “forgotten” floor. He also follows his son’s story, detailing the frustrations that their family went through when Mike refused to take medication, was turned away from jobs, and hit other roadblocks in his quest to regain his mental health. 

The book portrays the criminalization and incarceration of the mentally ill in a relatable way, with vivid details and intimate, painful reflections by Earley. Crazy is a call for justice and a personal narrative which will weigh heavily on your mind long after you put the book down. 
 
Successful Year for SIUE Psi Chi! 

We have had a very successful and productive year with SIUE’s Psi Chi chapter.  There has been a change in leadership after Dr. Anthony Traxler’s retirement, and Dr. Mike Dudley has taken on the role of Psi Chi advisor.  All of our events and fundraisers went well.  New officers were sworn in at the Psi Chi annual banquet on April 13^th, and they are a responsible group to carry on the traditions of success for the chapter.  Congratulations to all of our members who are graduating and we wish you well in your future endeavors. 

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Last update: 7/25/07