Police Psychology | To Pee or Not to Pee

Posted: July 30, 2015 in Police Stress
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Police Psychology | To Pee or Not to Pee

 

Police stress Bladder 1

Uncontrollable bladder is an issue that effects many people, and thus must be understood for successful police psychology.

Police psychology is sometimes dripping with excitement. Cops have a tendency to know where every bathroom is in their sector because when they have to go, they need to go. But it may be more than that. Today, I’m going to write to you about bladder control. Now, before you tell me to piss off, give me a chance to explain. Urine for a great article, trust me. Okay, okay, enough with the bladder puns. Sometimes I just can’t control myself and they slip out.

The Saturday Night Tinkle

One of the first things you want to show any guest to your house or office is the location of the bathroom. In fact, I once read an article by an anthropologist named Dr. Horace Miner entitled, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema.” This article describes a group of people who have interesting values and rituals. He explores a special ritualistic shrine that is found in every one of these people’s houses, and adds, “While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries.” The article continues on in this manner, but to the astute reader, the article becomes one very amusing mockery. Dr. Miner was not describing an ancient civilization, but the American people, and indeed Nacirema is “American” spelled backwards. The ritual shrines he goes to such lengths to discuss are our common bathrooms. It is a favorite in anthropology first classes. And though it may seem funny or amusing to describe what we do in the bathroom as “rituals”, if you think about it, we actually do tend to treat the bathroom with a certain reverence.

The human bladder is a very unpredictable thing. Why is it a bladder that can make it through the night can’t make it two hours on the job? Some days I have to go to the bathroom every hour. Other days I can go the whole workday without it. Everyone believes we should drink tons of water, and the amount you drink certainly contributes to the unpredictable nature of your bladder. But this is not the full story. So what is it that makes the bathroom such an integral part of our lives? Is it simply that the unpredictable nature of our bladders makes this a necessary reality? Your bladder is actually more attuned with anxiety and even depression than you know.

When the Mind-Body Connection Trickles Out

Police stress Bladder

In police psychology, we often find ourselves dealing with uncontrollable bladder issues due to stress.

“Stress incontinence” is the medical term for not holding your urine because of stress. Indeed, those involved in police psychology know how cops often find themselves dealing with uncontrollable bladder issues due to police stress. But stress is not only emotional stress, but physical stress like sitting a certain way, or carrying too much weight (thus why pregnant women have more pee-pee problems during pregnancy). In fact, slight leakage is more likely to hit women than men throughout life. Bet you didn’t know that, did you?! Sex can also be a stress on the body, and low and behold, can also lead to a bathroom break. Let’s talk alcohol, caffeine and even some medications can also be a stress on your body and (you guessed it) can make you have to run to little boys’ or girls’ room. Stress is cumulative, meaning it builds on top of each other. So, you have a little physical stress and a teaspoon of emotional stress and VOILA! (I gotta go right now, I will be right back).

Anxiety can trigger your sympathetic nervous system, which stimulates “fight or flight” responses. Your heart starts pounding, your breathing rate increases, your muscles tense—all are typical physiological responses to anxiety. In general, your body can control all these heightened reactions and still maintain control over other bodily functions. But when anxiety or stress or any tension reaches a certain critical point, your body will move all its energy to areas it thinks is most important, like increasing your blood flow or heart rate. When it does this, it removes some of the control that had been used for your bladder. This can make you feel like you constantly need to use the bathroom. Such a sensation can increase when you experience moments of panic, stress, or anxiety, even if it is not so acute.

Similarly with depression the reduced state can cause physical and physiological changes in your body, ranging from insomnia, to anorexia, to loss of bladder control. When you are depressed you feel out of control, and in truth, you are. Well, that can go for more than just above your neck. You may get a little out of control below the waste. These kinds of problems only increase the helpless-hopeless feelings and the cycle of depression continues.

Police psychology: simple steps3 Steps to Help Boost your Bladder Control

So how can be practice better bladder control?

  1. Start with the Basics. What are you eating? What are you drinking? Do you think your body is putting undue hardship on daily functioning such as weight, too pressure, etc. If you are drinking fourteen cups of coffee a day, you might cut back a little. Not stop, but cut back. If you drink too much diet Coke or Pepsi, maybe you body is trying to tell you something with runs to the can. Are you hitting the bottle or can and taking in a little too much alcohol? Don’t try to stick a finger in the dam Dutch boy – stop! You got to be honest with yourself and cut it out before you are sloshing around in semi-wet underwear You young folks, springing a little leak when you laugh may be foretelling problems later on. Happy hours that end up smelling like a floor in a bad nursing home, should not be ignored. Look at what you are putting yourself through first and try to cut back. Sometimes stress incontinence is just a warning sign.
  2. Relaxation techniques. If one of the leading causes for loss of bladder control is physiological changes due to stress or anxiety, then one of the main ways you can prevent this is through the use of relaxation techniques. Let me give you my favorite technique I learned when being classically trained in singing. It is called a square breath. First take diaphragmtic breaths. Once you get that down, breath in for a count of three, hold it for a count of three, breath out for a count of three and hold that for a count of three. That’s twelve seconds, or five breaths a minute. The average is 14-16. It will slow you down if done 15 minutes a night and may make your pee-pee problems to go away. (As an aside, you can increase the count to four, five, six, etc. You don’t need to breath as much as you do. When singing this is essential. Ever wonder why some people can hold a note seemingly forever?) I use this technique in my police psychology sessions, and it’s really helped a lot of my clients deal with their police stress. Redistribute the energy so that you don’t reach that critical point where you lose all control over your bladder. If you are stressed, use self-talk to tell yourself the right phrases, that everything is not hopeless, and that you can overcome this moment of tension and find happiness and calmness Slow the pace of life. Don’t let other people stress you out—ignore what they say and let you be in control of you.
  3. Get To Your Physician. If you have a regular physician, let him or her know. Don’t say you want it fixed right now. Tell him you want to try thing first, but let him know. It helps not to get 1000 tests that will add to your stress when you’re just starting out and if your physician is blind-sided with this, they may go a little overboard trying to help. A little drippy is normal sometimes and lifestyle changes are enough. Sometimes bladder problems are a very serious matter and shouldn’t be joked about.  But, let the person that takes care of you know. If you don’t have that kind of relationship with your physician, ask around and find someone that does have that kind of relationship with his patients. There could be medications that help or even the physician may have some lifestyle changes for you to try.

 

Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP

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Guest Blogger | How To Survive a Professional Ambush

Posted: July 27, 2015 in Stories
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Guest Blogger | How To Survive a Professional Ambush

 by Marla Friedman, Psy.D.

Police Psychologist, Director of Investigative Services, Immediate Past Chair-Illinois Police Psychological Services/ILACP, Board of Directors-Badge of Life

I began my career in mental health in 1979. I had graduated with a shiny, fresh degree in psychology, though I had more hours in studio art and art history than in psychology. Unfortunately my interest in having a career in art was limited by my lack of talent. I also noticed that being dead was a big career builder in the art world. That was less appealing. So, ultimately I figured I could have a career in psychology, which I loved and keep art as a hobby.

I’ve always had this image that when I was born, the doctor pulled me out, smacked my butt and said, “it’s a girl, then thumped my head and said, “oh, and a psychologist.”

I was raised in a chaotic family and felt sure that there was a better way to do things. I learned later that normal families do not produce good clinicians and very crazy families do not either. I was raised in a medium crazy family. Good catch on that one!

My father, a very bright man, told me that the structure of a cell and the characteristics of the universe were very similar. He said, think about this, “ what if the whole world as we know it exists in a cell on the thumb of an ordinary man just walking down the street.” Never tell that to an obsessive, and existentially nervous seven year-old.

Still I realized early I had a lot of reading to do on many subjects. So I spent most of my time doing that. By 12, I was reading Freud and Jung, not to mention Nancy Drew and all the crime related literature I could find. I thought if I could read everything I would be well prepared for what was to come. Oh silly girl!

Okay, back to the future, I couldn’t wait to encounter all the cases I learned about in school. I literally loved the field from the get go especially the bizarre disorders. Hebephrenic schizophrenics and multiple personality disorders, unusual phobias, you name it I was game. Did I mention naive?

I was young and inexperienced both personally and professionally. I took the first job I was offered. I was thrilled. When filling out the application it asked for my hobbies, which I thought was odd at the time but I put in art and sign language, as I was an obedient student. I was immediately contacted by a 120-bed psychiatric hospital, which housed one of the few mental health programs for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired in the country. I considered that to literally be the best thing that could ever happen to me. I stayed there for seven years and was incredibly fortunate to work on every unit with hearing and deaf patients including, pediatric, pre-adolescent, adolescent, adult, substance abuse and even spent a year doing testing in the Personality Lab.

The best part, besides the exposure to every diagnostic category imaginable and a complete education in psychopharmacology was the collegial atmosphere of the staff. We were bonded, reliable in an emergency, supportive, cooperative and helpful. There was never any competition. We made sure everyone was safe. We still see each other today. So that was my experience with my mental health peers, and I could never imagine anything different.

In the 1980s (let’s leave my age out of this) was the first time I had any interaction with law enforcement. I was tasked with going to local PDs (usually at 3 in the morning) and finding placements for runaway adolescents. This opened my eyes to the possibilities available to immerse myself in police culture and then re-train in criminal justice, homicide investigation and the mental

health needs of law enforcement. I moved into private practice and included 1st responders in my practice. I knew at that time I wanted a long- term career as a psychologist, so I always limited the number of patients I saw in each category. I was thinking high variety, lower chance of burnout.

I was lucky throughout school, practicums, internship and jobs (except for the rare exception) to have incredibly talented and generous supervisors, mentors and peers. Most of them were at the top of their game. Since that time I have enjoyed a successful solo private practice. The headaches of being my own boss were outweighed by my ability to treat the most incredible people and still love my job.

So far it all sounds good, right? Well up to this point people who knew me would describe me as a bookworm, who preferred not to join groups or engage in public speaking unless I couldn’t avoid it. Still anxious and obsessive with a strong belief in doing the right thing, and the false belief that life is essentially fair. I marched forward.

I decided to start taking more risks, trying new things and was eventually voted Chair of an important committee within the law enforcement community. Two psychologists made it clear that they wanted the position regardless of the vote. That was the first time I was exposed to psychologists who were competitive, mean spirited and working for financial gain only. I was bullied, threatened and misrepresented by an early career psychologist who wanted a bite at the apple. Fortunately, most of these transmissions were done through E-mail or mail so I had a record of all of it. Did I mention that sometimes I’m still naive?

My mistakes were many. For the first year I didn’t tell anyone. I should have reported the ethical breaches right away. My goals for the committee were two fold. 1. Assess the needs of the Chief’s of Police and then develop programs to meet those needs. 2. Have law enforcement personnel become comfortable with psychologists so they would value and use our services.

I was afraid if I told anyone within the association I would be losing the trust and support I had gained with so many of the chiefs. I had worked so hard for law enforcement to see psychologists as valuable assets. I felt betrayed and trapped by my own profession. Finally, I contacted the confidential services of the ethics committee of the IACP and received excellent advice about how to minimize the impact of the personality types I was dealing with. I have followed that advice. I started confiding in peers and family. I sought consultation with other professionals. I had a plan that was reasonable and doable. I felt better.

Too many times as psychologists we forget the best thing we can do is confide in another human being, basically get some of the help from others that we usually provide our patients. “Physician heal thyself” isn’t a good motto for us to live by. Reach out to others and let them heal you when you are in a professional ambush. Ask for support. Trust your own profession to give you the help you need!

Marla Friedman, Psy.D.

 

Blog Director:  Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP

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Police Psychology | Can’t Take My Mind Off of You

Posted: July 18, 2015 in Mastering Thoughts
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Police Psychology | Can’t Take My Mind Off of You

 

man thinking in different directions

Police psychology deals a lot with obsession.

Police psychology deals with a lot of obsession. Police stress can also be the result of obsession. I am big on obsession (can’t you tell?). I see obsession everywhere (anger, depression, love, hate, writing a blog). In fact, you could say I am obsessed with obsession. Researchers have said that we have 60,000 thoughts a day (and 90% are the same thoughts we had the day before), and obsessive people have even more than that. In fact, obsessives can have as many as 90,000 or 120,000 thoughts in one day. I don’t know how they count thoughts in a day, but those are the numbers they come up with.  This can be both a gift and a curse. You do get a lot done, if the obsessiveness doesn’t drive you crazy.

 

Obsession is not limited to people who have been diagnosed or labeled with this behavior—we all experience obsessions. Whether you are obsessed with a certain song, a specific food, a store, a TV show, or even a person you care about, we all know the feeling of not being able to get something out of our head. I remember a phase my daughter went through a few years ago where she sang “The wheels on the bus go round and round” at the top of her lungs. Every day. Every minute of every day, a wheel on that damn bus! This was bad enough, but it got to the point that I found myself humming this tune even when I wasn’t with her, like while I was brushing my teeth, or in the middle of a session with one of my clients (oops, I’m not supposed to reveal that). We will all continue to have obsessions as we encounter different things in life. Some things just have a way of sticking with you (if you have a female child like me, you’re probably thinking of “Let it Go” from Frozen—I’m still trying to get that out of my head).

The Biology of Obsession

 

gears in head

Psychologists in fields as varied as clinical and police psychology understand that different sections of the brain control obsessions.

Psychologists in fields as varied as clinical and police psychology understand that different sections of the brain control obsessions. The basal ganglia is one section of the brain that is thought to be responsible for obsessive thoughts. Other areas that play a role are structures known as the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) the thalamus and the anterior cingulate gyrus. These fancy terms are just here to let you know that obsession is not just a behavior, it is biological too; it is built and organized inside our brains. It’s not so important for you to know the names of these parts, but it is important for you to know that these same brain sections are activated in people who are experiencing anxiety and often depression. They can’t get the one thought that is making them miserable out of their head. PTSD is also heavily related to obsession. So is police stress. 

 

When someone is obsessed with something, they can be dysfunctional—sometimes they can’t focus on more important things, sometimes they can’t get the object of their obsession out of their head. They are, in a sense, debilitated, dependent on something else to function normally. It can also be frightening because you can feel like you don’t have control over your thoughts. And sometimes obsessions can be just plain annoying—I mean do you really want to be singing “The wheels on the bus” as you enter an important business meeting or while you are kissing your spouse?

 

The most important thing you can do for any obsessions you are experiencing is for you to regain control of your thoughts. Remember, focused obsession has been part of the formula for some of the world’s greatest accomplishments. When I write a book, I get obsessed, I spend a week with the windows covered, the doors locked, no sense of time, just pure obsession, and it works. If unfocused, you may end up staying up all night thinking about the person, song, celebrity, show, etc…which can have a tremendous detriment on your sleep and productivity throughout the day. So if taking back control over thoughts is how to avoid getting stuck in an obsession, how can we do this in practice?

Police psychology: simple steps3 Steps for Breaking an Obsession

 

Obsessions can prevent you from movement, they can bog you down in thoughts or feelings that make you feel like you don’t have control over yourself anymore. Use these tips to fight back against these thoughts and regain control over your mind.

 

  1. Thought stopping. The first trick you can do to break any obsession you have is to implement different techniques that stop your mind from wandering to the object/person. One way that I find particularly easy and useful is the rubber band trick. Wrap a rubber band around your wrist and anytime you realize your thoughts are heading toward the object of obsession, you snap the elastic on your wrist. This results in two things: one, chances are that will distract you enough that you will stop thinking about whatever you were going to think about. Two, slowly you will start associating the obsessive thoughts with the stupid little pain of the rubber band slapped against your wrist. This is called classical conditioning, and it works very well. I use it all the time in police psychology, and it certainly seems to help my clients dealing with police stress.  There are many other ways you can implement thought-stopping techniques. Other examples include having an alarm beep every few minutes and when the alarm beeps you have to stop and think about what you are currently thinking about (something called metacognition), and make sure your thoughts are staying away from your obsession. You may want to reward yourself if you are able to go a certain amount of time without thinking about it too (this is operant conditioning-covering all bases today).

 

  1. Organizing the Obsession. Another strategy you can use in order to avoid getting stuck in your obsession is to organize the obsession. Say to yourself, “This is the order in which I will do things. First, let’s focus on step A.” Create order and structure in your day in such a way that you leave very little room for obsessive thoughts to impede. You can also organize the thoughts in your head. There is a concept in memory called the Method of Loci, or the “memory palace.” This technique explores the idea that we can visualize a room where we can “put” different thoughts we have. For example, “put” all thoughts related to work on the top shelf in the room you visualize. “Put” all thoughts related to your relationships in the bottom desk drawer in the room you visualize. This technique is very common among students who need to memorize a lot of information for exams, but it can be used to organize obsessive thoughts too.  In relationships, I make people do a list of “forgets,” things you have to forget to stay married. Same principle, different application.  By making lists you are also using the obsession to an advantage instead of a detriment.


  1. Have a go-to fantasy. Whenever you feel like your mind is wandering to your object of obsession, immediately replace is with a go-to fantasy. For example, become the quarterback at for the Notre Dame football team, or the wing in the world cup, and you’re about to win the game for the whole team. Other fantasies can be that you’re lying on the beach in Hawaii, or at a wine tasting in Italy. Pick a fantasy of your own—one that has some particular meaning or significance to you—and use that as a place to “go to” whenever you want to avoid thinking about the object of your obsession.

 

Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP

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Police Psychology | The Police Psychologist and the BFD

Posted: July 15, 2015 in Mastering Emotions
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The Police Psychologist and the BFD

 

cloud and lightening

Everyone has those little things that tick them off and trigger a bad mood.

Those in police psychology must learn about the BFD. The cops used to use that acronym regularly.  Bad F—ing Day.  I am not sure what the “F” means in the acronym, but I don’t think it is too nice. (Let’s not have a bunch of you writing in to tell me). Everyone has bad days. Some bad days are considerably worse than others and you can pinpoint exactly what happened that made you feel this way. Some days may just feel strange or off, but you’re not necessarily sure why. Perhaps you had a bad dream that is just too far down in your subconscious that you cannot remember it; or maybe you slept in a strange position that made your back or neck cramp. Maybe you got into an argument before bed and even though you made up, you’re still upset about it. Or it could be as simple as you’re too hot, or too cold, or too hungry, or there’s a bad smell in your house that you can’t really identify. The possibilities are endless—unfortunately. And the BFD can cause a lot of undue police stress. 

Getting Worse

error on computer

In police psychology, we often find ourselves dealing with individuals who are constantly in a bad mood.

Or, if you make it through the morning wake-up feeling good, random events can turn a good day into a bad day. You’ll say the gods are conspiring against you, or you are the proverbial cat to kick because the boss is frustrated about something.  Like mosquitoes after a sudden downpour on a sunny day, they can strike silently and unexpectedly.  No one is safe, whether you’re a student, a businessman, a parent, or working in police psychology. We all know that feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach. But we all need to face the world at some point regardless of what it brings to us, and if we face the world with a negative attitude, with the bad mood that accompanies us throughout the day, we will have a much harder time working efficiently. This bad mood may not just affect our work performance; if we are rude and grumpy throughout the day, you can bet your co-workers, clients, friends, and even family will want very little to do with you.

 The main problem with waking up in a bad mood is it tends to follow you throughout the day, like an obnoxious gnat swarming around your head, or a shadow that refuses to get lost.  And, if waking up in a bad mood has an impact on the rest of our day, then the trick is to shake off those negative feelings as soon as possible.  In other words, the best thing to do when you wake up in a bad mood is to change your mood.  I know, I know…that’s easier said then done.  When you feel like there’s a black cloud floating on top of you, it can seem very difficult, maybe even impossible, to snap your fingers and make the sun shine.

 Elevator Story

I remember a story told to us in graduate school as a lead in for rational emotive therapy. It starts in an elevator that goes up 30 flights. You rush to get the elevator and are the last person in. You are crammed in, face on the opening, and can’t turn or see in any direction.   The elevator is broken and it “dings” at each floor but the doors do not open. You can’t reach the buttons to get out. You are stuck. The elevator goes up to the second floor, and you hear the ding. Then you get about a two inch round, cylindrical object hit you right in middle of the back.  You don’t think anything of it.  Next floor get the ding, a round object clips you right in the middle of the back.  You squirm to get out.  Same thing happens for ten floors.  You are angry.  You reach for the controls but can’t get to them.  You yell but the music and the crowd negates your sound. Eleventh floor same ding, same poke in the back.  Twelfth floor – ding, poke.  By twenty five floors you are fuming.  You can’t wait to get out and rip someone’s head off. You got a black and blue mark expanding from the one inch to the entire back.  You are raging.  Finally the moment comes. Thirtieth floor. The door open, you have a combination of rage and happiness cause you are getting to fulfill your destiny.  People start piling out of the elevator. You have your attack planned.  Then you see a little old blind lady in the back of the elevator trying to search for the door being open with her cane.  She almost falls forward as she reaches.  She creeps forward.  Are you still enraged?  Her cane falls between the gap of the elevator and the floor.  Are you still wanting to beat her up or has your emotion changed instantaneously?

 We need to implement our own techniques and strategies to banish the bad mood, and they can happen in an instant.  Bad moods can disappear as quickly and as unsuspecting as they appear with just a little cognitive work.  And it’s a good thing I’m here to tell you about some of the tricks I use in police psychology. Try the techniques below to help banish your bad mood.

Police psychology: simple steps3 Steps for Banishing the Bad Mood

  1. Beat Yourself Up with Positive. Bombard yourself with positive information. Read Norman Vincent Peale, or Dale Carnegie, or Gary Aumiller (ohhh, that’s me). Focus all your attention and energy on the positive information into your system.   YouTube is great for that.  Get yourself positive. Throw compliments around like confetti at a ticker tape parade. Reduce the negative in everyday things.  Brushing your teeth isn’t so bad, eating breakfast isn’t so bad, working on this article for your boss or teacher isn’t so bad.  Look at every moment as a self-contained event or activity, and focus all your effort on making yourself smile. When talking to someone, make extra eye contact with them, devote your full attention to what they are saying, and compliment them.  When walking down the street, enjoy the breeze outside, the sunshine on your face.  Don’t let yourself get distracted by past events.
  2. Find Something that Brings Good Memories. Everyone has some smells that transport him or her back to a certain moment in time, like freshly baked cookies at your grandmother’s house, or a perfume that you wore on a really fun date.  Use those scents to bring up good memories. Listen to a song that makes you happy, treat yourself to a snack or lunch that you know you enjoy, focus on the simple things that make you happy.  If you find these simple things that bring up good memories for you to savor, there won’t be any room in your mind for the bad thoughts to intrude.
  3. Plan Something in the Future. If you’re in a bad mood or experiencing a lot of stress (police stress or otherwise), one way to get out of that slump is to plan something exciting to do in the future. Plan a trip, a date, an adventure, or even a walk to your favorite spot, and hold onto that excitement and expectation throughout the day. If you do something spontaneous you enjoy it for the amount of time you did it, if you plan it in the future you enjoy it for the planning, the waiting, and the event. This goal-oriented attitude, can do wonders to banishing your bad mood.

 

Using these steps, you can begin to change the bad mood you woke up with into a good mood. A BFD into a GFD. This will help you perform better and more efficiently at work or school, help you have a much better day, and help you smile.

Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP

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Police Psychology | Manipulation Subliminal Style

Posted: July 2, 2015 in Rank and Leadership
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Police Psychology | Are You Being Manipulated?

 

A screenshot of the campaign video with the subliminal message "rats" in large letters.

Police psychology deals with media manipulation, like in the campaign video in which the word “rats” was subliminally written.

With the current feeling about racial issues in police psychology, perhaps we should review the research on manipulation and subliminal messages. If you graduated in the 80’s much of this might be new to you.

 

In 2000, there was a well-documented election scandal: in one of Bush’s campaign videos in which he discussed the Gore Prescription Plan, the word “rats” flashed across the screen following a picture of Al Gore. Following the discovery of this, a lot of media attention surrounded subliminal messages and how they affect our thoughts and behavior. Bush responded to the angry accusations saying first that it was a mistake and second that it was just a part of the word “bureaucrats” that had been formatted to appear in large letters on the screen. Suddenly, people were afraid that our thoughts would no longer be our own—that the choices we make would be controlled by external sources.

 

An Old Concept Mired in Falsehood

 

The idea behind subliminal messages dates back to 1957 when James Vicary, a market researcher, inserted two phrases into a movie: “Eat popcorn” and “drink Coke.” According to Vicary, this caused a marked increase in popcorn and Coke sales in the movie theaters. His claim: the messages he inserted into the movie (displayed for such a short amount of time that only our subconscious would have time to notice it) caused people to go out and buy popcorn and Coke. For years, this was believed to be true.   More recent studies have debunked this claim, proving subliminal messages are not as powerful as Vicary believed. (And in fact, Vicary came out with a statement that he made up some of his results as a joke. Sounds like he was doing a little marketing of his own!)

The True Power of Subliminality

 

Yet, while these two examples may be extreme and not worthy of concern, subliminal messages can still affect our lives in other ways. For example, colors may have an unconscious affect on our moods. Colors in the red spectrum tend to elicit feelings of warmth that range from love and comfort to anger. Colors in the blue spectrum tend to elicit feelings of coolness, ranging from calmness to sadness. In addition, the color of presidential candidate’s ties is designed deliberately to demonstrate different things, like power, or authority, or wealth. A second example of how subliminal messages may still play a role in our lives is in social psychology. A famous study was done in which it was demonstrated that when people are complimented by other individuals, even if they know the compliment is fake or it is only being said in order to manipulate them into doing something, they are still inclined to believe the compliment if they want this person to like them. Another study further demonstrated this idea: studies show that you should compliment a pretty girl on her taste, and compliment a plain girl on her looks (I don’t know if the same goes for men). In both cases, the individuals believe the compliments because they want to believe them. And going back to color, clothing in the color red has been shown to make men more sexually attracted to women. I guess they look more like Ferraris or something.

 

The reality: subliminal messages are really only useful as they can prime your behavior in a certain direction. For example, if you are thirsty and you are in the mood for soda, if a Coke bottle flashed across the screen at a rate too fast for you to consciously notice it, you may be more inclined to pick Coke over other soda options when you go get a drink. However, this is a time-limited effect, meaning if you have immediate access to Coke, then you are more likely to choose that drink over others, but if you need to go out to the store to go pick it up, the effects of the subliminal message might wear off by that time and you are no more likely to pick Coke over another type of soda. Thus, subliminal messages work best under highly controlled lab conditions, when you are already inclined toward that thought or behavior or when the access to target behavior is immediate. This doesn’t make it sound like we need to be worried about subliminal messages in police psychology and police stress. And yet…

Does the Media Control our Thoughts?

 

Do we need to be worried about the media controlling the election, or the media controlling the public’s perception of the police? Certainly in terms of subliminal messages, we need not fear this type of control unless it is a point of sale situation. That’s why they put stuff at counters of stores. Subliminal messages are not true manipulation, but rather they help push you in the direction in which you were planning on going anyway. If people want to believe cops are abusive to citizens, they can believe that based on a report. If people want to believe their country is the greatest in the world, subliminal message will tell them that. They do not cause a change in attitude; rather, it stimulates and reinforces your own beliefs. But even if subliminal messages do not have overt control over you that does not limit the power of the press. The media can still control the election and the public’s perception in terms of restricting what it shows. In fact, in police psychology, we are concerned about media manipulation. Certain websites and news reports will exclusively demonstrate examples of police brutality or the failings or accomplishments of the government. Does that make what they are showing a true representation of reality? Not really. But if you want to believe that it does, then it will for you.

Police psychology: simple steps3 Steps for Avoiding Subliminal Influence

 

  1. Research. Knowledge is power—if you don’t want the media to control your thoughts and opinions, then you need to research these topics on your own. Read both sides of every story. The more you research, the greater sense you will have of the reality of the situation, and the less likely you will fall into subliminal influence traps.
  2. Know Your Source. Everyone has an agenda. Know who you are dealing with when you get information and what their motivation is in the situation. The desire of most sources of information today is to first gain, and then hold a person’s attention. Some news outlets have started sensationalizing stories instead of reporting what is happening. Some internet sites have come to making outlandish claims to keep your attention.  Don’t get frustrated that you can’t get a straight story and get angry about it. Accept it, and use it in your own favor.
  3. Enjoy. In graduate school, many many years ago, we used to talk about the elegant solution. The elegant solution came from a combination of not letting anything get you too upset but still caring about outcome. Frankly, nothing is more entertaining than someone trying to manipulate you to think in their fashion. I have heard the same statistics used on both sides of an issue like gun control. I have had people try to convince me that abortion is the major issue of a presidential election. I never made the connection that how a person stands on Roe vs. Wade should determine who makes decisions about al-Qaeda or ISIS. Pretty girls, hunky men, fast cars, money, girls that were men, men that were girls, all the drippings to get my opinion swayed to one side or another or purchase a product. It is meant to be the entertainment in your life, the manipulation dance, or opera, or rock concert so you’d better enjoy it now instead of getting emotional. I need to remind myself of this one every day. THE ELEGANT SOLUTION.

Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP

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