WonderCon 2001

If you're going to be at WonderCon April 1-3, stop by for the panel I'm on:

About Did you ever wonder why experiencing trauma led Batman to become a hero but Harvey Dent to become a villain? Why Superman hasn't given up his Herculean task for good after being exposed to so much loss, stress, and destruction? What makes superheroes keep fighting without getting burnt out, disillusioned, or becoming villains? Join psychologists Andrea Letamendi (UC San Diego) and Robin Rosenberg (Psychology of Superheroes), psychology professor Travis Langley (Henderson State University), and WonderCon special guest Marv Wolfman as they address these questions, applying what we know about trauma in our world to the world of superheroes to better understand why the same types of events can lead some folks to heroism and others to villainy.

Hope to see you there!

The Rush to Diagnose Charlie Sheen

Many articles and blog posts have speculated about Charlie Sheen's recent bizarre behavior, and various possible diagnoses have been mentioned. People want to understand him -- what's wrong with him, why he's behaving this way and what can be done to help him.

Although mental health clinicians might seem to be the perfect folks to opine on Sheen's behavior and its root cause, in fact it is unethical for clinicians to diagnose someone from afar, without actually evaluating the person.

So I won't attempt to put a diagnostic label on him. But I do think it's worth examining some of the larger issues that are at play as we all, yet again, witness a famous person apparently melting down.

Read the rest on AOL News here.

Copyright 2011 by Robin S. Rosenberg. All rights reserved.
Robin S. Rosenberg is a clinical psychologist. Her website is DrRobinRosenberg.com.