Anxiety in the news
Master's student Aliya McNeil and Dr. Christine Purdon provide important findings regarding the relationship between anxiety and COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy: Anxiety disorders had no effect on vaccine hesitancy
Dr. Christine Purdon provides her insights in a new CBC article: Almost anyone can become a life coach. A hidden camera investigation reveals why that's a problem
In a new article from UW Imprint, Dr. Purdon and other experts discuss how nature can help us improve our health.
Dr. Christine Purdon talks compulsions and OCD in a new profile from Psychology Tools.
Mark Gorman Legacy Fund
Mark Gorman (May 6, 1952 - September 8, 2020) was a Canadian poet, arts reviewer, script writer and broadcaster who fought a lifelong battle with anxiety and depression.
We are grateful to have received a substantial legacy gift from Mr. Gorman in support of our ongoing research on the nature and treatment of anxiety and related disorders.
Mr. Gorman’s legacy fund will strengthen our efforts to understand the factors that cause and maintain anxiety disorders, to develop more effective evidence-based psychological interventions to help ease people’s suffering, and to train graduate students in Clinical Psychology to become Canada’s next generation of scientist-practitioners.
Dr. Christine Purdon recently presented at the 2021 Virtual OCD-UK conference. Watch her presentation here: "Why Are Compulsions So Compelling?"
Check out this new interview from Faculti, where Dr. Christine Purdon discusses how there is a lot more to compulsions than meets the eye.
Dr. Christine Purdon recently contributed to an article on choosingtherapy.com: "Just Right OCD: Obsessions, Compulsions, & Treatments"
Check out this article from Interac, where Dr. Christine Purdon was interviewed about how anxiety can increase our susceptibility to fraud.
Dr. Christine Purdon was recently featured on the Finding Genius podcast, where she shared her insight into the effects of anxiety and depression on the individual.
Click the link to hear Dr. Christine Purdon share what's new in OCD research on the podcast "The OCD Chronicles"
It is Canadian Men's Health Month, and the theme this year is "move for your mental health." Click the link to learn more! We are interested in learning more about men's experiences to ensure that our research adequately addresses men's mental health concerns!
If you are interested in the effects of mask wearing on social anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic, the review article "Effects of mask wearing on social anxiety: an exploratory review" summarizes the relationship between social anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, ambiguous feedback, and safety behaviours in the context of mask wearing.
Click the link below to learn about five practical ways to manage stress during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Campus Well article "5 Practical Tips for Managing Stress"
Click the link below to read Dr. Christine Purdon's tips for coping with a needle phobia when getting the COVID-19 vaccine, in the CTV news article "Tips for Coping with Needle Phobia Before Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine"
Click the link to watch Dr. Christine Purdon's interview about anxiety and COVID-19 stress on the Beyond the Bulletin podcast; "COVID Anxiety"
Click the link to watch Dr. Christine Purdon's interview about coping with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic on CBC News; "A Psychologist's Advice For Dealing With Pandemic Stress"
Click the link to read Dr. Christine Purdon's input in The Toronto Sun's article; "Don't Let COVID Stress Become 'Blind Rage'"
Click the link to see Dr. Christine Purdon's input on COVID-19 and obsessive-compulsive disorder on Al Jazeera's podcast series "The Take"
Click on the link to see Dr. David Moscovitch's quote in the article "Coronavirus Masks Have an Unintended Effect on Socially Anxious People".
Clink the link to access Dr. Owen Kelly's podcast series; "Thoughts on Record". Our own Dr. Christine Purdon was interviewed to speak about coping with OCD during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Click on the link to see Dr. Christine Purdon's interview on Waterloo's Podcast "Beyond The Bulletin Episode 38: Coronavirus Anxiety, Supporting Community, Teaching Online".
Click on the link to see Dr. Christine Purdon's interview in CTV news; "Managing Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic".
Click on the link to read Dr. Christine Purdon's input in The Toronto Sun's article; "Health Worries? Cyberchondria Will Make You Sick".
Click on the link to read Dr. Christine Purdon's article in The Toronto Sun; "Dealing With Coronavirus a Marathon, Not a Sprint".
Click on the link to read Dr. David Moscovitch's article in The Toronto Life magazine; "What are the Rules of Social Distancing? One Family's Quest to Figure it Out".
Click on the link to read Dr. Christine Purdon's article in the Toronto Star's magazine about managing anxiety around the news; "How Do You Manage The Anxiety of The News Cycle? Hint: Don't Unplug".
What does anxiety look like?
Read about the Canadian and Global cost of not treating anxiety.
Read about the evolution of worry.
A new article in The Atlantic outlines the different ways that people are affected by social anxiety, and how exposing people to some of their social fears (e.g., having them intentionally commit blunders or mishaps and observe that the effects are typically not as catastrophic as they imagine) can be an important part of treatment for social anxiety.
Most people have experienced some kind of social blunder (e.g., tripping, spilling coffee). However, people with social anxiety tend to interpret these mishaps as having negative social costs (e.g., ridicule, rejection, embarrassment or shame) and some of our very own research provides insight into why this might be the case. Read on for more information.
Below, see photos of Dr. Christine Purdon deliver her Plenary Address, and graduate student Olivia Merritt deliver her open paper session at the 9th Annual World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies in Berlin, Germany. This is a conference that takes place every 3 years and was composed of over 4000 delegates.
Dr. Purdon (pictured above) presents her Plenary Address which gave an overview on the complexities of compulsions in OCD, why they persist despite people's best efforts, and how to better help people overcome them.
Olivia Merritt (pictured above) presents her data on the perseveration of checking and attention to threat cues in the open paper session.
Read about anxiety and self-sabotage in an interview with Dr. Christine Purdon.
Watch Dr. Christine Purdon and her student Brenda Chiang talk about OCD on CTV News.
Read about why OCD is a disorder than cannot be ignored from the New York Times.
Worried about flying? See what Dr. Purdon has to say about how recent plane crashes validate our fears here (clip begins at 9:15).
Our very own, Dr. Christine Purdon, talking about 11 habits of people who never worry.
Check out Col. Chris Hadfield's Ted talk on the role of exposure in overcoming fear and anxiety.