Thin Blue Mind / Smokey Heroes
Police Psychology | Appreciate the Limits of Your Cerebral Cortex When It Comes to Managing your Emotions
by Doug Gentz, Ph.D
Guest Blogger – Psychological Services, Tulsa, Oklahoma
People have at least three distinct levels of anatomy and function inside their heads. The top layer, less than a quarter of an inch thick, is the “human brain,” also called the cerebral cortex. This is the part of your 
brain that is responsible for all your higher functions – conscious thought, logical reasoning, and narrative language. It makes it possible for you to consider the past and plan the future. This type of brain structure and function is found only in humans.
The second level of your brain, which takes up most of the space in your head, is the Limbic System. All mammals have similar limbic systems and they work the same way and do the same functions in cats, dogs, cows, and people. You can think of it as your “dog brain.” Your dog brain has a limited understanding of language. Although it can’t talk or understand reason, it can respond and react to language as a type of signaling. Research suggests that most dogs can recognize up to about 200 words. (more…)
obstacles must be overcome which impede success. Roadblocks occur when things don’t go as planned, with either Plan A, B or C, quickly go South past the point of no return. What you don’t know from the “black box” is what often kills you in the end.
Consumption induces euphoria, sedation, itchiness and drowsiness so the bottle says, yet the side-effects not listed on the bottle are much farther-reaching. These slow assassins can be bought on the street or delightfully delivered by a pharmacist. I spent time, money, energy and shed my dreams in favor of the twisted comfort of Oxycontin. Addiction is a physical and mental manifestation of chemical dependence, which may well lead to a vicious cycle of denial and self-destruction. My progression was slow, until it wasn’t. Lying to myself and others was the first step down the dark corridor of addiction. Then came the cheating, stealing and desperation. My story is one of despair and rapid deterioration.
my heroes, my idols, and we even asked them (and they agreed) to be the adopted grandparents of our Russian-born baby. Rocky and Irma wrote or produced almost every show you remember as a child. “F-Troop,” “Facts of Life,” ‘Good Times,” “Gilligan Island,” “My Three Sons,” “Family Affairs,” the list goes on and on. Heck, they even gave Edith Bunker cancer on an “All in the Family” episode. Try writing about cancer and make people laugh at the same time if you don’t think they are skilled. Hollywood writers and a police psychologist, who’d figure? (If you were at my wedding or at the 2-day class I taught at Alliant University, they were there cheering me on.) To quote one of their characters, they are DY-NO-MITE!
woman who has heard her fiancé was gunned down in the street after a Mardi Gras Parade. She was out of control and causing a ruckus. An 