Saturday, September 30, 2017

Can Anxiety and Panic Disorder Cause Depression if Left Untreated?

Mental health problems are infamously complicated. Although psychologists have a successful guidebook to identify and diagnose mental illness, those manuals are merely suggestions for treatment — and can’t predict exactly how you experience your psychological and emotional well-being. With that in mind, some people experience multiple forms of mental health disorders, often in various degrees. If somebody has several mental health conditions, it’s known as “comorbidity,” and anxiety and depression are the two most related diagnoses.

What Is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a sense of unease, for instance, worry or concern, which might be mild or severe. Additionally, it is the primary symptom of panic disorder. All of us have feelings of anxiety at some stage in our life. For instance you may feel nervous and worried about taking an exam, having medical testing done, or a job interview. During times such as these, experiencing anxiousness can be perfectly normal. However, many individuals struggle to manage constant worry. Their feelings of anxiety tend to be more frequent and can influence their everyday life.

What Is Depression?

Feeling depressed generally is a typical response to loss, life challenges, or wounded self-esteem. However, when feelings of extreme sadness, which includes hopelessness and worthlessness, continue for a number of days to weeks and keep you from functioning normally, your feelings could be something more than sadness. It could possibly be major depressive disorder.

Anxiety disorder and depression frequently manifest together. They have similar symptoms which can be hard to tell apart. Either can result in frustration, insomnia, not being able to focus, and worry.

Untreated anxiety and panic disorder can raise your potential for more serious conditions. These conditions include depression, drug abuse, and suicide.

Anxiety disorder doesn’t just influence emotional well-being. This common disorder could be intense enough to result in or aggravate headaches, gastrointestinal syndromes, abnormal heart rhythms and sleep disorders.

The link between depression and anxiety is so powerful that some antidepressants are used to address people who don’t have depression and are alternatively living with anxiety disorders. Anxiety coping strategies are often recommended for people with depression, even when the individual doesn’t suffer from anxiety. Other studies have also revealed that the same neurotransmitters might also lead to both anxiety and depression.

Depression can develop due to anxious thoughts. This seems to be particularly true of those with panic disorder, possibly since panic attacks tend to trigger feelings of fear, helplessness, and disaster. Furthermore, those coping with anxiety may not be living the life they had dreamed of and this reinforces feelings of powerlessness or loss which can ultimately lead to depression.

Many people who have anxiety and/or depression assume that treatment for these disorders may not be effective — that if you have previously tried therapy or medication without much relief, then nothing can be done for you. But it is simply not true. It may take time and effort, but don’t stop until you find the right treatment.

Current studies suggest that treatment should start with addressing depression first. A decrease in depressive symptoms often means a reduction of anxiety symptoms as well. Also, some common and efficient prescription drugs for depression hold the added bonus of decreasing anxiety.

To recover, you’ll need to be as relentless, invasive and powerful as the depression and anxiety. You are unique and treatment can be complex, but freedom from depression and anxiety is possible.

Do not let your anxiety and/or depression go untreated.

If you are experiencing chronic and unexplained feelings of anxiousness, fear, or worry, sadness or suicidal thoughts, schedule an appointment with your doctor immediately.





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3 Things that Keep Us Lonely

As a psychotherapist, I frequently observe how lonely and isolated people feel. Although they may be married or successful in their career, people often report a painful sense of disconnection or alienation.

Although there are varied reasons for experiencing a sense of isolation, here are three things I’ve noticed that may contribute to the epidemic of loneliness in our society.

Being Critical of Others

John Gottman’s research into what makes partnerships thrive has highlighted how criticism is one factor that leads to breakups (along with contempt, stonewalling, and defensiveness).

Pointing out someone’s perceived flaws is usually experienced as hurtful. Many of us have grown up with painful criticism, which is toxic to well-being. Feeling criticized in our adult life may trigger a storehouse of pain that makes us want to withdraw. Or we may react to criticism by lashing out at the person who has criticized us. Attacking or withdrawing keeps us isolated and shuts down the potential for intimacy.

As we become more mindful of when we’re being critical, we can notice the feelings and unmet needs that underlie our criticisms. Instead of telling our partner with a sharp tone of voice that he is unavailable or that their work is more important than our relationship, we can reveal our loneliness and perhaps take a risk to ask for a hug — or a heartfelt conversation.

As we replace criticism with a more vulnerable expression of our tender feelings, we’re more likely to draw our partner and other people toward us.

Shaming People

Criticism is toxic because it triggers shame. Many of us grew up with a gnawing sense that something is wrong with us. When someone criticizes us, we may revert back to the hurt child — the one who can never do anything right. Shame is an extraordinarily painful emotion. When it gets triggered, we find ways to not feel it.

Bret Lyon, PhD, and Sheila Rubin, LMFT, who lead workshops on Healing Shame, describe shame as a form of trauma. Our impulse is to avoid it by shutting down — or we shift our shame to the other person, blaming them and making them feel badly. Lyon describes how shame is like a hot potato. We want to pass it on to the one who shamed us or transfer our shame to another person. This shame-transference is a reflection of the shame we carry inside and don’t want to feel.

Shame aversion — the refusal to feel any shame and work with it skillfully — is responsible for much of our isolation. Instead of allowing ourselves to notice when it arises, we push it away or dissociate from it because it feels so threatening; it dysregulates our nervous system.

Rather than sinking into shame and getting overwhelmed by it, we can notice it, allow it some space, and realize that shame has arisen in us, but that we are not the shame.

Believing We Should Be Perfect

The desire to be perfect has an insidious way of keeping us constrained and isolated. Perfectionism is often driven by shame and fear. We cling to the notion (usually unconscious) that if we can be perfect in our words and actions, then no one can shame or criticize us; rejection won’t hurt as much if we don’t make ourselves vulnerable.

Realizing that we are imperfect might prevent us from taking risks to connect with people. We hide our true feelings and desires, fearful that if we expose them we’d be rejected or humiliated. Our intention is to protect ourselves from pain, but keeping ourselves hidden increases a painful sense of isolation.

As we find more inner strength, we realize that it’s ok to have human flaws. We can accept and love ourselves, despite how people respond to us. We have no control over how others perceive us. But we do have control over how we hold and view ourselves — hopefully with respect and dignity, despite our shortcomings.

The failure to accept our imperfections may lead to stonewalling behavior, which Gottman identifies as another factor that leads to divorce. We hesitate to engage in authentic, meaningful conversations because we’re afraid that we’ll fail — or that it will make things worse. It’s safer to refuse to talk when our partner wants to discuss our relationship. We may find it more interesting to retreat to the computer room or watch television than have a soulful conversation.

Realizing that we don’t have to be perfect may inspire us to have more authentic communication with our partner or friends. Simply listening with an open heart can help us feel less isolated. Deeper connections can happen in our life by offering the gift of non-defensive listening.

We can find more meaning and richness in our relationships as we take the risk to be more vulnerable — revealing our authentic feelings rather than attacking or shaming people. We can live a less lonely existence as we let go of the isolating belief that if we can’t say or do something perfectly, then don’t say or do it.

We often experience the same thing that others feel but don’t express. The loneliness you may feel is rampant in our society. By taking to risk to engage with people — whether through your smile, your humor, or sharing your true feelings — you take a step toward healing your isolation. At the same time, you may be offering a gift that helps others feel less isolated, too.

If you like my article, please consider viewing my Facebook page and books below.





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Hypnotic Fright Fest at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom - MiceChat


MiceChat

Hypnotic Fright Fest at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
MiceChat
I set out to spend time at Steve Daly's Hypnosis Live. I'd seen hypnotists on TV before, including one where a person was told that every time he tried to say Magic Mountain he would instead say Disneyland that practically put my rarely laughing ...





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How A Person’s Face Signals Intention To Cheat On You


Face shape is linked to sex drive in men and women and also how likely a man is to cheat on his partner.

People with shorter and wider faces have a higher sex drive, new research finds.

Men with wider, shorter faces are also more likely to report intending to cheat on their partner.

For the research, almost 500 people were asked about their sexual orientation, their relationships and whether they would consider being unfaithful to their partner.

It is the latest in a line of studies that have linked face shape to various psychological characteristics.

Men with square, wide faces are seen as more attractive as short-term partners, as well as more dominant, the research has shown.

The study’s authors write:

“…they are also perceived by naïve observers as being more socially dominant, untrustworthy, and aggressive compared to men with lower width-to-height ratios.”

The square, wide face has also been linked to financial success, prejudice, unethical behaviour and even psychopathic tendencies.

So, it is a fairly confusing cocktail of positive and negative characteristics (depending on your preferences, of course).

The theory is that it comes down to the hormones men are exposed to during development:

“Researchers have argued that the observed links between the FWHR and men’s dominant and aggressive attitudes and behavior may be a product of androgen exposure during critical periods of development.

In support of this, sex differences in facial structure arise with the onset of puberty, ostensibly reflecting increased testosterone in males relative to females.”

Hormonal exposure during development also seems to affects women’s sex drive.

Like men, women with shorter, wider faces had a higher sex drive, this study found, although they expressed no greater intention to cheat on their partner.

→ Try one of PsyBlog’s ebooks, all written by Dr Jeremy Dean:

The study was published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior (Arnocky et al., 2017).





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Ashley lost 33 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Ashley lost 33 pounds. This mom of five experienced significant weight gain during her last pregnancy. She got tired of the people commenting on how much weight she gained. She found a weight loss program that worked for her and made exercise part of her daily routine. Starting weight: 172 pounds […]

Weight Loss

Why Do Many College Students Ignore Learning Strategies?

Why Do Many College Students Ignore Learning Strategies?

Many college students don’t use self-regulated learning strategies (SRL), despite knowing they exist, according to a new study from Austria published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Psychology. The findings suggest that students may benefit from being offered specific training on how and when to use these strategies.

SRL strategies help students maximize their academic potential and are considered essential for academic success by educational researchers.

“SRL refers to evaluating, planning, and executing your own learning,” said Nora Foerst of the University of Vienna. “SRL includes many different learning strategies, such as planning your approach, structuring your learning content, rewarding yourself after accomplishing a goal or making realistic demands to avoid frustration.”

The first year in university is often a difficult one. Living away from home, managing finances, and balancing socializing with classwork are all new challenges. Another important transition is learning how to plan and organize one’s own studying, including dealing with various types of exams, from multiple-choice tests to essays.

Quite often, new college students work out their own strategies for learning, often through trial and error. However, strategies to prepare for one type of test or assignment may not work for another, and students may find themselves underprepared and struggling.

Even post-graduate students must face new challenges, such as writing a master’s thesis, that might require different learning techniques.

Earlier studies have shown that many students know about common SRL strategies. However, researchers are less sure how often these techniques are actually used, whether students know how to use them effectively and whether they can identify which techniques are most appropriate in specific learning situations.

These unanswered questions prompter Foerst and her colleagues to survey students enrolled in Bachelor’s or Master’s programs in Psychology or Economics at the University of Vienna on their learning strategy knowledge and actions.

For the study, the researchers surveyed the students to determine if they knew about beneficial SRL strategies for specific learning situations. They also assessed whether the students put the techniques into practice, and if not, why not?

As expected, most students could correctly identify several SRL strategies. However, fewer students actually applied them in their own studies. In fact, as many as one-third of the students who correctly identified a technique as beneficial admitted that they didn’t use it in their own learning.

Students in both psychology and economics programs showed a similar disconnection between knowledge and action. Psychology students were slightly better at identifying the strategies, likely because their curriculum included information about SRL techniques.

The researchers found that students have a variety of reasons for not using these learning strategies: Many students felt they didn’t have enough time to use the strategies or were unable to apply them effectively. Some failed to see the benefits of the strategies for specific tasks, or believed that using them would be too much work.

How might universities increase the number of students that benefit from self-regulated learning strategies?

“We want this study, and future studies, to encourage universities to provide more SRL training for their students,” Foerst said. “Specifically, it appears that students need hands-on training to learn how and when to apply SRL strategies for specific learning situations. In addition, they need help to understand that the techniques could save them time and enhance their learning outcomes.”

Source: Frontiers in Psychology





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Mixed Messages Can Undermine Behavior Change

Mixed Messages Can Undermine Behavior Change

Self-improvement recommendations to lose weight, quit smoking, or eat more fruits and vegetables can fall on deaf ears if the message is mixed, according to new research.

When recommending multiple behavior changes, it’s more effective if the messages are framed along similar lines, according to a new paper from Dr. Dolores Albarracin, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois.

In other words, two actions or two inactions are more effective than a mix of positive and negative instructions.

“What we found is that it’s better to combine them in a homogeneous way,” said Albarracin. “If you tell people to engage in two behaviors and the behaviors are a mix of actions and inactions, it’s likely that recipients will adhere less. It’s easier to frame the recommendations along the same axis of action or inaction. You don’t want to work against yourself or at cross-purposes with your message.”

Trying to get people to increase both their intake of fruits and their volume of exercise “goes together better in that both are increases in recommended action and may be remembered and executed more effectively,” Albarracin said.

“Telling someone to increase exercise while decreasing their fat intake isn’t nearly as effective, as shown in behavioral and clinical outcomes,” she said. “It’s better to say ‘Increase exercise and increase the amount of vegetables you eat’ than ‘Increase exercise and decrease fat intake.'”

The paper, published in the journal Health Psychology Review, is a meta-analysis of 150 research reports of interventions promoting multiple behavior changes and measuring change at the most immediate follow-up.

The findings provide important insights on how to best combine recommendations when interventions target clusters of health behaviors, Albarracin said.

“The problem of how many behaviors we can combine is important, but equally critical is how to combine them,” she said. “Previously, there wasn’t much guidance on what the optimal combination is. There wasn’t any sort of logic to it. This paper gives you a fairly robust answer because it looks at the literature as a whole.”

She notes the findings are relevant to health care organizations, health care marketing and any type of organization that is trying to change employee behavior.

“In terms of organizational behavior, if you’re trying to train people to execute a few different behaviors, it would be better to frame it this way rather than mix and match,” Albarracin said. “If you’re trying to create employee health programs, for example, think of it as one package. You don’t want to overload people with information, but you also don’t want to have a message that’s at cross-purposes with itself.”

Source: University of Illinois
 
Photo: Self-improvement messages to lose weight, quit smoking or eat more fruits and vegetables can fall on deaf ears if the intervention message is mixed, says new research from U. of I. psychology professor Dolores Albarracin. Credit: L. Brian Stauffer.





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Kid Fears in Adults: The Dark and Other Phobias

Anyone who’s ever been a kid, which means all of us with the possible exception of ageless celebrities like Cher, remembers their childhood fears. What was it for you? Maybe you were afraid of your closet, thunderstorms, or the neighbor down the street who was so old he might still owe Fred Flinstone a few bucks? For me, I distinctly remember going to the circus as a small child and bursting into tears when approached by a clown. He wasn’t exactly Stephen King’s “It,” but my fear still made sense. When we’re little and already wary of strangers, why would we giggle with delight at the strangest looking stranger we’ve ever seen?

Often, childhood fears go the way of our favorite blankies. But surprisingly often, childhood fears stick around well into adulthood—maybe you got bitten by a dog or stung by a bee and have freaked out at the sight of them ever since. Or maybe your fear has evolved, but fundamentally stayed the same. For example, a childhood fear of monsters may have morphed into a fear of burglars (how many locks are on your door?). A fear of strangers may have turned into social anxiety. Or a fear of doctors and dentists may have, well, stayed a fear of doctors and dentists.

In an excellent example, listener Oliver wrote in to say he’s an adult who’s been afraid of the dark all his life. As a kid, his parents told him to get over it, which of course is never helpful, and now his fear has continued into adulthood. For Oliver, fear of the dark means lousy sleep quality from sleeping with the light on and not being able to drive at night without feeling terrified.

So what should you do if, like Oliver, you have a lingering childhood phobia, or one that sprung up on your adult life like a boogeyman jumping out of a closet?

First, know you’re in good company. Nearly 10% of people will, at some point in life, have a phobia that gets in the way of living their life. This means way more than just making your partner kill the spider in the bathtub. This means not being able to take a job that requires using an elevator to get to your office or not being able to travel by plane, which means never seeing a Hawaiian sunset in person.

So if you’ve been foiled by a phobia, know these 4 things to finally face your fears.

 

»Continue reading on QuickAndDirtyTips.com





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Acupuncture Shown to Ease Period Pain

Research from Australia and New Zealand has found that acupuncture significantly reduces period pain intensity, duration, and symptoms over time, with improvements being sustained up to a year after treatment.

Primary dysmenorrhea (period pain) is the most common gynecological complaint in menstruating women, with up to four in five women suffering at some stage during their reproductive years.

The study involved 74 women between the ages of 18 and 45 with suspected or confirmed primary dysmenorrhea and no known cause of secondary dysmenorrhea from Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand.

Over half the women receiving acupuncture had a least a 50 percent reduction in their severity of period pain over the three months of treatment.

The study, published in the international journal PLOS ONE, also shows a connection between both the treatment timing and frequency, with high frequency of treatment providing greater improvements in health-related quality of life, such as vitality, social function, and bodily pain.

A reduction in pain relief medication when using manual acupuncture compared to electro-acupuncture was also found.

Women in the trial kept a menstrual diary and were given individualized acupuncture treatments after being randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: High frequency manual acupuncture, low frequency manual acupuncture, high frequency electro acupuncture and low frequency electro acupuncture.

Twelve treatments were performed over three menstrual cycles, either once a week (low frequency groups) or three times in the week prior to their period (high frequency groups). All groups received a treatment in the first 48 hours of their period.

According to Dr. Mike Armour, a postdoctoral research fellow with the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM) in Australia, who led the study, the results are promising. Further larger trials may lead to the development of evidence-based guidelines for acupuncture in the treatment of period pain and its associated symptoms, he added.

“Pragmatic trials of acupuncture have shown a reduction in pain intensity and an improvement in quality of life in women with period pain, however evidence has been limited for how changing the ‘dosage’ of acupuncture might affect the outcome,” he said.

“Our pilot study found that using manual stimulation of the needles, rather than an electrical pulse, commonly used in many Chinese studies for period pain, resulted in reduced need for pain-relieving medication and improvement in secondary symptoms, such as headaches and nausea,” he explained. “The latter was unexpected and will be explored further in future, larger trials.”

Source: National Institute of Complementary Medicine





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Transcending as a driver of development. - PubMed

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Loss of Smell Can Predict Cognitive Decline in Elderly

Loss of Smell Can Predict Cognitive Decline in Elderly

A long-term study of nearly 3,000 adults, aged 57 to 85, found that those who could not identify at least four out of five common odors were more than twice as likely to develop dementia within five years.

Although 78 percent of those tested were normal — correctly identifying at least four out of five scents — about 14 percent could name just three out of five, five percent could identify only two scents, two percent could name just one, and one percent of the study subjects were not able to identify a single smell, according to researchers.

Five years after the initial test, almost all of the study subjects who were unable to name a single scent had been diagnosed with dementia. Nearly 80 percent of those who provided only one or two correct answers also had dementia, the study found.

“These results show that the sense of smell is closely connected with brain function and health,” said the study’s lead author, Jayant M. Pinto, M.D., a professor of surgery at the University of Chicago and ENT specialist who studies the genetics and treatment of olfactory and sinus disease.

“We think smell ability specifically, but also sensory function more broadly, may be an important early sign, marking people at greater risk for dementia.”

“We need to understand the underlying mechanisms, so we can understand neurodegenerative disease and hopefully develop new treatments and preventative interventions,” he continued.

“Loss of the sense of smell is a strong signal that something has gone wrong and significant damage has been done,” Pinto added. “This simple smell test could provide a quick and inexpensive way to identify those who are already at high risk.”

The new study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, follows a related 2014 study, in which olfactory dysfunction was associated with increased risk of death within five years. In that study, loss of the sense of smell was a better predictor of death than a diagnosis of heart failure, cancer, or lung disease.

For both studies, the researchers used “Sniffin’Sticks,” which look like a felt-tip pen, but instead of ink, they are infused with distinct scents.

Study subjects smell each item and are asked to identify that odor, one at a time, from a set of four choices. The five odors, in order of increasing difficulty, were peppermint, fish, orange, rose, and leather.

Test results showed that:

  • 78.1 percent of those examined had a normal sense of smell;
  • 48.7 percent correctly identified five out of five odors and 29.4 percent identified four out of five;
  • 18.7 percent, considered “hyposmic,” got two or three out of five correct;
  • The remaining 3.2 percent, labelled “anosmic,” could identify just one of the five scents (2.2 percent), or none (one percent).

The olfactory nerve is the only cranial nerve directly exposed to the environment. The cells that detect smells connect directly with the olfactory bulb at the base of the brain, potentially exposing the central nervous system to environmental hazards such as pollution or pathogens, researchers explain.

Olfactory deficits are often an early sign of Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease. They get worse with disease progression, the researchers noted.

Losing the ability to smell can have a substantial impact on lifestyle and wellbeing, said Pinto.

“Smells influence nutrition and mental health,” Pinto said. “People who can’t smell face everyday problems, such as knowing whether food is spoiled, detecting smoke during a fire, or assessing the need for a shower after a workout. Being unable to smell is closely associated with depression as people don’t get as much pleasure in life.”

“This evolutionarily ancient special sense may signal a key mechanism that also underlies human cognition,” noted study co-author Martha K. McClintock, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago.

She noted that the olfactory system also has stem cells which self-regenerate, so “a decrease in the ability to smell may signal a decrease in the brain’s ability to rebuild key components that are declining with age, leading to the pathological changes of many different dementias.”

“Our test simply marks someone for closer attention,” Pinto added. “Much more work would need to be done to make it a clinical test. But it could help find people who are at risk. Then we could enroll them in early-stage prevention trials.”

“Of all human senses,” Pinto added, “smell is the most undervalued and underappreciated — until it’s gone.”

Source: University of Chicago Medical Center
 
Photo: For both studies, the researchers used a well-validated tool, known as ‘Sniffin’Sticks.’ Credit: Rob Kozloff, for the University of Chicago Medicine.





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Psychology Around the Net: September 30, 2017

Ah, the leaves are changing and the air’s getting crisper…goodbye September! I can’t say I’ll miss you (you kind of whizzed right on by?!) and October is my favorite month anyway!

This week’s Psychology Around the Net covers the real psychology behind taking a knee, what really creates the “grit” personality trait, why some people don’t need to hear “I love you” in relationships, and more.

Study Challenges Validity of the Psychological “Grit Scale”: For the past decade or so, various industries, from practical psychology to selecting employees, have used the Grit Scale to help measure a person’s “grit” — a supposed personality trait that combines perseverance to reach goals and consistency in interests. However, a new research shows that while the Grit Scale does measure perseverance and interest, the two components do not form a single trait.

The Psychology of Taking a Knee: When Colin Kaepernick took his first knee, did he realize he was starting a scientific conversation that goes way beyond his reason for the protest?

A Stanford Psychologist on the Art of Avoiding Assholes: You read that correctly: Robert Sutton, a psychology professor at Stanford University, has released The Asshole Survival Guide — seven years after his The No Asshole Rule — and he’s given an interview on everything from what exactly defines an “asshole” to how you can avoid being one.

What New Depression Drug Possibilities Are Out There? Researchers combining certain classes of medications have found these combinations can increase effectiveness, which can help doctors more quickly and efficiently determine which medicines will be the most effective for their patients.

This Photo Is A Powerful Reminder That Mental Illness Isn’t Always Visible: Many of us associate pictures of sad, gloomy-looking people with mental illness; however, there is no single — if any — kind of picture that shows mental disorders, as mental health advocate Milly Smith is trying to tell us. Smith posted a picture of herself looking and feeling happy one morning — and then tried for the third time to commit suicide seven hours later.

Why You Don’t Have To Say “I Love You” To Feel Love: Perhaps the most important thing — as simple as it sounds — is knowing what you want from the relationship and making sure you get it.





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Psychopathy: Children at risk respond differently to laughter

children laughing togetherChildren who display disruptive and unemotional behavior may feel less inclined to join in when everybody else is laughing.
For many of us, laughter is contagious. But new research suggests that for children who are at risk of becoming psychopaths in adulthood, this may not be the case.

A recent study published in the journal Current Biology examines how children at risk of psychopathy respond to laughter. The research was led by Essi Viding, a professor of developmental psychopathology at University College London in the United Kingdom.

As the Prof. Viding explains, "Psychopathy is an adult personality disorder. However, we do know from longitudinal research that there are certain children who are at a higher risk for developing psychopathy."

Such children exhibit two main personality traits: they are likely to be disruptive and show "callous-unemotional traits."

In the new study, the researchers screened for these traits and hypothesized that the children displaying them would also be somewhat "immune" to the social contagion that accompanies laughter. They looked at this hypothesis on both a behavioral and a neural level.

Prof. Viding explains the motivation for the study in the context of existing research, saying, "Most studies have focused on how individuals with psychopathic traits process negative emotions and how their lack of response to them might explain their ability to aggress against other people."

"This prior work is important," she adds, "but it has not fully addressed why these individuals fail to bond with others. We wanted to investigate how boys at risk of developing psychopathy process emotions that promote social affiliation, such as laughter."

Studying laughter contagion in children

To do so, Prof. Viding and team examined the behavioral and neural response to laughter in 32 boys aged 11 to 16 who displayed callous-unemotional traits and disruptive behavior, as well as in 30 boys with disruptive behavior but who scored low for unemotional traits.

The scientists also examined 31 control children who did not display any psychopathy risk factors. These were of the same age, ethnic makeup, and socioeconomic background as the risk group. The controls were also matched for left- or right-handedness and IQ.

Using functional MRI, the researchers examined the brain activity of these children while they listened to genuine laughter, "fake" laughter, and crying sounds as distractors.

To assess their behavioral responses, the boys were asked to answer the questions, ''How much does hearing the sound make you feel like joining in and/or feeling the emotion?'' and ''How much does the sound reflect a genuinely felt emotion?'' using a scale from 0 to 7.

The former question was designed to measure subjective laughter contagion, and the latter measured the ability to emotionally discern authentic laughter from fake laughter.

It was found that children who exhibited both risk factors for psychopathy reported a much weaker desire to join in with the laughter compared with the control group, and with the boys who were disruptive but did not have the callous-unemotional trait.

Also, the boys who exhibited both risk factors for psychopathy showed decreased brain activity in two regions: the anterior insula and the supplementary motor area.

As the authors explain, previous neuroimaging studies have shown that hearing laughter tends to activate "motor and premotor areas," as the brain prepares for vocalizations of laughter - namely, joining in.

These areas represent "a neural mechanism for experiencing these emotions vicariously and promoting social connectedness," the authors write.

'Social cues do not register in the same way'

Prof. Viding cautions that the study cannot establish causality. However, she does say that the findings should prompt further research into how children at risk of psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder display or relate to social affiliation.

The researchers are also interested in how caregiving relates to social connectedness in these children, suggesting that poor caregiving may lead to poor social affiliation. In this sense, the authors emphasize the need for longitudinal research that follows the development of these children over time.

They would also like to investigate how boys at risk of psychopathy respond to smiling faces or displays of affection.

"Those social cues that automatically give us pleasure or alert us to someone's distress," explains Prof. Viding, "do not register in the same way for these children."

"That does not mean that these children are destined to become antisocial or dangerous," she adds. "Rather, these findings shed new light on why they often make different choices from their peers."

"We are only now beginning to develop an understanding of how the processes underlying prosocial behavior might differ in these children. Such understanding is essential if we are to improve current approaches to treatment for affected children and their families who need our help and support."

Prof. Essi Viding





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Friday, September 29, 2017

An eleven-year-old boy is raising funds for hypnotherapy to battle his mental eating disorder - Dorset Echo


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A schoolboy who has ‘never eaten a chip’ is raising funds for hypnotherapy. 

Eleven-year-old Josh Groves from Dorchester is crowdfunding for hypnotherapy to tackle a mental eating disorder. 

On his Just Giving page Josh said: “To look at me I appear to be healthy and happy, however, underneath, all is not as it seems. 

“I have a rare mental eating disorder, which I really want to overcome. I am unable to eat normal food like everyone else. Something in my head is stopping me from doing this.”

Since he was a baby, Josh’s diet has consisted of jarred seven-month-old baby food, custard and digestive biscuits.

Josh’s mum, Lorraine Groves said despite repeatedly trying to overcome his disorder, Josh is till unable eat normally and he doesn’t know why. 

“It’s really affected his life. We rarely go out for family meals as he hates eating in public. 

"Lunch times at school are really challenging and he misses out on friend’s birthday parties. It’s starting to affect him more,” she said. 

Josh has been seen by paediatricians, child mental health services and a dietitian, all with no success. 

“There’s no service on the NHS that can help him. We've tried bribery, we've tried rewards, we've seen so many people.” Lorraine said. 

In a last resort to battle the condition, two years ago, Josh’s teacher recommended a hypnotherapist she believed could help.

Until this year he was deemed too young for the alternative therapy but has now seen the hypnotherapist for an initial consultation.

Lorraine said: "Coming out he was incredibly positive and determined to overcome this." 

Now, in a final bid to overcome his disorder, Josh is trying to raise £500 to help pay for the hypnotherapy course. 

He will be completing a sponsored ten mile walk and hosting a coffee and cake morning at Dewlish Village Hall on October 21 to boost his fundraising efforts. 

"My goal is to try and overcome this, so that I can sit down with my family at Christmas and eat my first ever Christmas dinner," Josh said. 

If you's like to donate to Josh visit http://ift.tt/2fYylhW.





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Australian Bird Dips Its Dinner


Of the many thousands of species of birds on Earth, only about 25 are known to do something special with their food—they dunk it in water before eating.

Nobody knows for sure why the birds do it. It might moisten foods for easier eating. Or it might wash away nasty-tasting chemicals. The behavior is seen most often in super smart species, like crows. And now it’s been observed for the first time in a bird called the Australian magpie.

"We were very, very lucky to see it. It was entirely by chance." University of Cambridge zoologist Eleanor Drinkwater.

"And so, on a day to day basis, we'd get up and we would essentially spend hours and hours following these different families of magpies around the place, and tempt them towards us and then see how they reacted when we presented them with different foods."

The researchers offered an adult male magpie a mountain katydid, an insect that's presumed to be distasteful. It’s thought that the insect defends itself against being gobbled up by secreting a bitter substance from underneath its wings as well as by vomiting a bitter-tasting cocktail.

"This one individual comes up and takes the katydid that we presented and kind of waddles off, and then goes and kind of plops it in a little stream that was behind us. We were kind of watching this together and looking at each other, like, this is a bit interesting. Haven't seen this before."

But then something even more surprising happened. The magpie dropped the wet katydid on the ground and hopped away. A few minutes later, a juvenile magpie approached, dunked the katydid once again in the puddle, and then gobbled it up. The observations were described in the journal Australian Field Ornithology. [E. Drinkwater et al, A novel observation of food dunking in the Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen]

Drinkwater thinks what they saw might be an example of social learning in this species.

"To us, it kind of appeared to be the case that it could be food washing. That would make sense within the context of this particular insect.”

While the behaviors are hard to interpret, she says that she and her team reported these observations in hopes that other researchers might investigate the behavior further.

"We were just very, very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to see this interesting behavior. And in the current day and age, there are loads of people with iPhones and cameras who I'm sure have also captured all sorts of weird and wonderful animal behavior, which might not be common knowledge to the scientific community."

And unless those folks think to share their photos and videos with experts, who knows what discoveries are out there remaining to be made.

—Jason G. Goldman

 (The above text is a transcript of this podcast)





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Marilyn L. Redmond Has the Secret - NewsReleaseWire.com (press release)

Rev. 

Rev. Marilyn L. Redmond, BA, CHT,IBRT  has found the secret to living a life free from your past or worry about the future, that brings a healthy life of joy. She can help you move into the presence of love.

Her two latest interviews with KC Armstrong bring new understanding for spirituality in your life. Her motivation is to offer assistance to those wanting to bridge the visible with the invisible with revelations and guidance. She delights in her blessings of understanding the dynamics of life and in sharing them with you.

Marilyn's stories are insightful and profound from her many experiences with the invisible world that surrounds us. She is one of the planet's true uninhibited spiritual warriors on a unique mission to help rid humanity of negative forces and embrace the light/healing desperately desired. She gives candid personal experience a new dimension.

"I found a holistic and spiritual approach to life brings "happy, joyous and free of the ego" when conventional religion and medicine failed me. She is a pioneer in the field of overcoming the ego through regression and holistic health methods to move into a higher consciousness releasing fear. Marilyn has become fearless.

While teaching metaphysical classes in colleges and wellness centers, she was asked by her students for counseling help. This led to becoming an internationally board certified regressionist (IBRT) and a member of the American Hypnotherapy Board (AHB). She combined this with graduating from Natural Psychic School of Metaphysics where she graduated as a spiritual minister with counseling, psychic, and mediumship abilities.

"So much pain and darkness and now the Light is shining brightly. With her words walking you through her pain, she then gives her words of encouragement as she walks into that Light. With these words, you too can find your way out of any situation. It does not happen overnight, but with the "tools" Marilyn gives you, you can do it, says, Rev. Darci Adams, Spiritual Counselor, Healer, and author.

These abilities led her into giving readings, exorcisms, talking to those passed over, channeling ascended masters, including Jesus and Mother Mary,  healing health issues, and relationship problems. Through her, 12 near death situations aided by her angels to stay alive, she sees angels and paints their portraits by commission.

Her clients are looking for alternative help rather than the conventional methods. Marilyn found that conventional medicine did not help with chronic conditions, but was helpful for acute illness. Several years ago, one client's doctor diagnosed her condition as terminal. After healing with Marilyn, she enjoyed her 25th Wedding anniversary, this year. Her story is in "Paradigm Busters, Reveal the Real You" at Amazon.com.

Marilyn's new perceptions about life led her think out of the box of traditional religion and medicine when her angels kept her alive. She continually is writing books that are on Amazon.com  and international columns for The Sussex Newspaper, gives readings, sees clients, and paints angel pictures.

Web site is Angelicasgifts.com

Books at http://ift.tt/2xEcnKY

Blog is marilynredmondbooks.blogspot.com

Lectures, interviews, and spiritual information on You Tube at   

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=marilyn+redmond

Mail link to subscribe to my newsletter: http://eepurl.com/73fEH

Rev. Marilyn Redmond

Marilyn Redmond, BA, CHT, IBRT

Edgewood, WA





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How to relieve IBS back pain - Bel Marra Health

IBS back pain: How irritable bowel syndrome causes back pain and what to do about it

By: Mohan Garikiparithi | Colon Health | Friday, September 29, 2017 - 07:00 AM


ibs back painIrritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and back pain may seem like two unrelated conditions, but there are some cases where they co-exist. IBS back pain is often expressed by patients and is sometimes called referred pain, meaning that pain is felt in a part of the body that isn’t the actual source. This may be the result of IBS that occurs due to gas formation, bloating, and constipation.

How does irritable bowel syndrome cause back pain?

Irritable bowel syndrome is a common disorder that affects the large colon. It causes cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation. A hallmark feature of IBS is the relief of distressing symptoms upon defecation. Only a small portion with the condition have severe symptoms, and most IBS patients can control their symptoms by managing diet, lifestyle, and stress.

There is no clear reason why IBS can cause lower back pain, but it is assumed that irritation and disturbances in the colon create pain that presents itself in the back. Having bouts of constipation can lead to physical distention of the intestinal walls, possibly activating pain receptors of the lower back.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) should not be confused with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as there are no inflammatory processes occurring in IBS.

How to relieve IBS back pain

Treatment

Considering that back pain occurs in only a small number of IBS sufferers, no proper prescribed treatment is currently available for it. It is recommended to speak to an experienced gastroenterologist if you believe back pain is related to your IBS symptoms. However, treating IBS may provide some patients with back pain relief. Medicines designed to cure constipation, bloating, and excessive gas can successfully help manage IBS.

Probiotics are designed to balance bacterial colonies within the gut, helping to promote digestion. They can be found in powder, tablet, and yogurt forms. It is still recommended to speak to a healthcare professional when choosing to incorporate probiotics into your diet.

It isn’t known what causes IBS, but various factors and triggers are thought to play a role. Successfully avoiding these triggers serves as a form of treatment for IBS and may provide IBS back pain relief. Triggers of IBS include:

  • Foods: Having a food allergy or intolerance may bring on the symptoms of IBS. Common foods include chocolate, spices, fats, beans, broccoli, milk, and alcohol.
  • Stress: Periods of stress, similar to those felt before writing an important test, may aggravate symptoms.
  • Hormones: It is known that women are about twice as likely to have IBS, and doctors think that fluctuating hormones may play a role. Many women find that symptoms of IBS tend to be worse during or after their menstrual periods.
  • Other: It is possible that suffering from an infectious case of diarrhea or having an overgrowth of gut bacteria can trigger IBS.

Home Remedies

There are various home remedies that you can implement to help relieve IBS symptoms and IBS back pain. These include:

  • Deep breathing: Helps to improve mood and reduce stress.
  • Cognitive behavioral therapy: A form of psychotherapy treatment with the goal of changing negative habits and moods.
  • Massage, meditation, or hypnotherapy: Help to relax muscles and ease pain.
  • Yoga or Tai Chi: Both forms of exercise can decrease lower back pain caused by IBS.
  • Acupuncture: Involves the insertion of fine needles into pressure points in the body. It is known for relaxing muscle spasms and easing IBS back pain.

Tips to relieve IBS back pain while sleeping

IBS back pain can make it difficult to get restful sleep. However, with some diligence and a routine, you can be certain you are doing your best to limit the amount of back pain experienced with IBS. Try these tips:

  • Exercise everyday
  • Avoid large meals and caffeinated drinks at least four hours before bed
  • Your bed should not be used for anything else besides sleep and sex.
  • Don’t sleep or lie down immediately after working out. Instead, try to incorporate a resting period during your exercise time.
  • Have a consistent sleep and wake times

Having back pain and IBS symptoms can be a challenge to deal with. If you find yourself losing an excessive amount of sleep or the pain is unbearable, seeing a doctor about your symptoms is recommended. It is possible that your back pain could be due to a different cause, or at the very least, your doctor may prescribe you something to deal with the pain.

Related: IBS vs. IBD: Causes, symptoms, risk factors, and complications


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Diamond, fair's comic hypnotist, stresses that hypnotism is not mind control - LubbockOnline.com


LubbockOnline.com

Diamond, fair's comic hypnotist, stresses that hypnotism is not mind control
LubbockOnline.com
When Ron Diamond places a group under hypnosis and suggests that they relax, some audience members become very relaxed. Diamond performs a magic show and a comic hypnosis show nightly at the Panhandle South Plains Fair in Lubbock. (Photo ...





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Talk More or Go BOOM! in 360°

Welcome to Virtual BOMB DISPOSAL at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. On 27 September 2017, I brought my Gear VR to class and students in my Communication course played the game KEEP TALKING AND NOBODY EXPLODES! In this game, one player is in Virtual Reality where they see a bomb they have to disarm.…



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Your Narcissist Friend Probably Isn’t Listening to You

If you can recognize this pattern, you can handle your favorite narcissist more effectively.

One trait of men and women with narcissistic habits makes them frustratingly difficult to deal with — either as a partner at work or someone to live with at home.

As a therapist who specializes in helping couples build more satisfying marriages, I focus on this trait in particular.

What is that habit that most people overlook about narcissists?

Get Familiar With These 20 Styles Of Narcissism

When you interact with a person with narcissistic habits, you need to stay strong. Don’t be aggressive; just strong in self-confidence. Expect to be heard. Keep nicely but confidently putting your comments back out there until you succeed.

Then you never know what might emerge. The most overlooked sign of narcissism may — or may not — melt away!

There are many signs of narcissism, but the most telling but overlooked sign is habitual non-listening.

Narcissistic folks tend to do a lot of talking and very little listening. The narcissist knows best, so why bother listening to what others have to say?

Have you ever spoken with someone who responded to whatever you said by dismissing it? Narcissists brush aside, negate, or deprecate what others say instead of truly listening.

There are 2 tip-offs that give this way:

  1. The word “but”: This deletes whatever came before — “But a better way to look at it is…”
  2. Voice tone: If the response sounds irritated or deprecating, that’s the sound of unwillingness to listen to what’s valid in what you just said.

You are especially likely to trigger a narcissistic person’s message-deafness if your comment differs from the narcissist’s viewpoint. Narcissistic folks hear the words but block out the meaning, the message of the words they are hearing.

Why do therapists tend to miss the poor listening habits when they are assessing narcissism?

People with narcissistic tendencies do tend to listen to someone they see as higher in power than themselves. If those with narcissistic habits respect their therapist, their listening can appear to their therapist to be quite normal.

If the therapist, by contrast, were to see that same client interacting with his or her spouse or employees, the listening patterns would most likely be glaringly different — dismissive, ignoring altogether, minimizing the importance of the point that the spouse or employee just made, disagreeing with it, and pointing out what was wrong with it.

Most psychologists work with individual clients rather than with couples, so they consequently miss out on seeing the narcissistic listening habits.

Furthermore, another reason why therapists seldom note the narcissistic pattern of dismissive listening is because the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) lists the factors that therapists use for diagnosing emotional problems and problematic personality patterns.

Alas, this manual makes no mention of listening deficiencies as a diagnostic factor for narcissism, so therapists tend not to look for them.

Again, psychology in general, and even more so the psychiatrists who write the DSM manual, have historically focused primarily on individuals rather than on what those individuals do when they interact with others.

What are some ways that help you deal more effectively with narcissistic dismissive listening?

1. Do Not Take It Personally.

If someone you know talks with minimal listening, first and foremost do not take it personally. Dismissing what you say as wrong or irrelevant says more about that person than it does about you or what you have said.

Just as you would not take personally the limited hearing ability of someone with partial deafness, realize that your narcissistic friend, co-worker, or loved one has a genuine disability.

What Is a Kerouac Narcissist?

2. Repeat What You Said.

Just as you would repeat, perhaps more loudly, what you were trying to say to a deaf person, find ways to repeat, tactfully, the message that you were trying to communicate.

One formula for tactfully repeating a comment that has been brushed aside is first to agree cooperatively with what the narcissist has said. Then, reiterate your prior point. That is, agree, and then add your perspective.

You: The walls in this room are an unusual color of green.

The narcissist: No, they’re not. They’re yellow.

You: Yes, I agree that they are yellowish and at the same time, there’s a lot of green in the yellow, rather like a lime color.

Why are we drawn to narcissistic people?

Narcissists initially can appear to be very attractive. Many narcissistic individuals are good-looking, earn a good living, and are fun to be around.

Women are attracted to male narcissists because they seem powerful, special, and self-confident. Men are attracted to female narcissists who are strikingly beautiful or sexually appealing.

It’s only when narcissists begin to ignore their partner’s concerns and dismiss what their partner says that narcissistic listening disorder becomes a source of relationship tensions.

Watch Dr. W. Keith Campbell discuss the psychology behind narcissism.

Why do we miss the signs of narcissistic listening deficiency earlier in the relationship?

Narcissists do listen to people who seem to more powerful or who have something that they want.

So, when they are courting, they listen very well. It’s only when the relationship feels secure that narcissists relax back into their baseline dismissive listening style.

What can you do if someone you work with or love has a narcissistic non-listening pattern?

If you have chosen someone with narcissistic habits as a life partner or you have to deal at work in an ongoing way with someone who has difficulty listening to you, begin by viewing narcissism as a handicap. In spite of their charisma, narcissists have a genuine listening deficit.

Ratchet up your self-confidence because you’ll need to speak in a way that conveys an inner sense of personal power.

And from that self-confident stance, use collaborative dialogue skills. Show that you have heard your partner’s viewpoint and then persist until you have succeeded in conveying your viewpoint as well.

Praise and affection will also get you everywhere. Narcissistic folks relax and, therefore, listen better when they feel appreciated.

And keep reminding yourself that most narcissists can and do listen, even with empathy, when they experience the person with whom they are talking as having greater power.

What’s the moral of the story?

When you interact with a person with narcissistic habits, you need to stay strong. Don’t be aggressive; just strong in self-confidence. Expect to be heard. Keep nicely but confidently putting your comments back out there until you succeed.

Then you never know what might emerge. The most overlooked sign of narcissism may — or may not — melt away!

This guest article originally appeared on YourTango.com: The Most Overlooked Symptom Of Narcissism.





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Bipolar Disorder: The Typical Symptoms You Should Know


How to tell if someone has bipolar disorder (manic depression).

Bipolar disorder — which used to be known as manic depression — affects upwards of 1 in 100 adults at some point in their lives.

Its most obvious symptom is very severe mood swings; it is a condition of extreme emotional states.

Someone experiencing the disorder will have periods of great energy and exhilaration at times.

These could last weeks or often several months.

At other times they will experience very deep depressions (there’s more on how mania and depression cycle below).

Sometimes these states are mixed together.

The highs and lows are much greater than most people will experience in their lives.

It’s way more than just feeling full of energy one morning then a little fed up in the afternoon.

During severe episodes it can make the person totally unable to deal with everyday life.

The illness often starts in late teens or the twenties but rarely after 40-years-of-age.

It affects both men and women equally.

Mania

During the ‘manic’ phase people experiencing bipolar may have one or more of these 15 feelings and behaviours:

  1. feeling euphoric: very exhilarated or elated,
  2. feeling restless,
  3. aggressive behaviour,
  4. becoming extremely irritable,
  5. talking very quickly,
  6. engaging in risky activities,
  7. sexual drive elevated,
  8. thoughts racing quickly through your head,
  9. poor concentration,
  10. loads of energy,
  11. spending too much money on the wrong things,
  12. reduced need for sleep,
  13. feeling self-important,
  14. worsening judgement,
  15. and misusing drugs or alcohol.

Depression

Depressive phases may include one or more of the following 12 thoughts and behaviours.

  1. daily life no longer of interest,
  2. feeling hopeless,
  3. appetite changes,
  4. empty emotional state,
  5. excessive guilt,
  6. suicidal feelings,
  7. considering oneself worthlessness,
  8. chronic tiredness,
  9. forgetfulness,
  10. problems sleeping or sleeping too much,
  11. weight gain or loss,
  12. and concentration problems.

Cycles

Bipolar disorder is generally categorised into different types depending on how people cycle between manic and depressive phases.

Some people experience mostly strong manic phases and short periods of depression.

Others have mostly heavy depressive phases and short periods of mania.

Still others cycle more quickly between the two.

At the extreme, bipolar people can experience delusions and hallucinations.

In a manic phase this might include believing you are the most important person in the world.

In the depressive phase it could mean believing you are the worst person in the world.

Treatment

As with many mental health problems, the cause of bipolar disorder is not well known.

However, it is likely a mix of genetic and environmental factors, like stress or childhood abuse.

It is usually treated with psychotherapy and various medications.

Psychotherapy may include strategies for monitoring mood, general coping strategies and underlining the importance of daily routines.

For medication, mood stabilisers like lithium are often tried, as are antidepressants and anticonvulsants.

The combination will depend on the person.

People who receive treatment for bipolar disorder will usually be able to deal with the symptoms in the long-term — that’s not to say it’s easy.

One study found that 98% of people’s symptoms were much improved after two years (Tohen et al., 2003).

However, the same study found that 40% of people had a relapse within a further two years.

Here is a video in which people with bipolar disorder talk about their experience.

VIDEO

→ Try one of PsyBlog’s ebooks, all written by Dr Jeremy Dean:

Mental illness image from Shutterstock





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In the '70s, the US Government thought almost everything was Soviet mind control - MuckRock


In the '70s, the US Government thought almost everything was Soviet mind control
MuckRock
As background, the report cites findings at a symposium in the U.S. that had concluded that strobe lights and other flicker effects can create disruptions in “the form of sleep, unconsciousness, hypnotic states, or other forms of interference with ...





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How different are men's and women's brains?

artistic concept of male and female headHow might differences in the brains of men and women affect their behavior and cognition? We investigate.
In a world of equal rights, pay gaps, and gender-specific toys, one question remains central to our understanding of the two biological sexes: are men's and women's brains wired differently? If so, how, and how is that relevant? 

There are many studies that aim to explore the question of underlying differences between the brains of men and women. But the results seem to vary wildly, or the interpretations given to the main findings are in disagreement.

In existing studies, researchers have looked at any physiological differences between the brains of men and women. They then studied patterns of activation in the brains of participants of both sexes to see if men and women relate to the same external stimuli and cognitive or motor tasks in the same way.

Finally, the question that emerges is: do any of these differences affect the way in which men and women perform the same tasks? And do such differences affect men versus women's susceptibility to different brain disorders?

Often, there are no clear-cut answers, and scientists tend to disagree on some of the most basic aspects - such as whether there are any notable physiological differences between the brains of men and women.

In this article, we look at some of the more recent studies dealing with these questions and give you and overview of where current research stands.

Are there 'hardwired differences?'

Increasingly, online articles and popular science books appeal to new scientific studies to deliver quick and easy explanations of "why men are from Mars and women come from Venus," to paraphrase a well-known bestseller about heterosexual relationship management.

One such example is a book from the Gurian Institute, which emphasizes that baby girls and boys should be treated differently because of their underlying neurological differences. Non-differentiated child-rearing, the authors suggest, may ultimately be unhealthy.

Cars for boys, teddies for girls?

Dr. Nirao Shah, who is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University in California, also suggests that there are some basic "behaviors [that] are essential for survival and propagation," related to reproduction and self-preservation, that are different in men and women.

These, he adds, are "innate rather than learned [...] [in animals] so the circuitry involved ought to be developmentally hardwired into the brain. These circuits should differ depending on which sex you're looking at."

rhesus monkeysA study on rhesus monkeys showed that males preferred "wheeled toys," whereas females leaned toward "plush toys."

Some examples brought to bear on these "innate differences" often come from studies on different primates, such as rhesus monkeys. One experiment offered male and female monkeys traditionally "girly" ("plush") or "boyish" ("wheeled") toys and observed which kinds of toys each would prefer.

This team of researchers found that male rhesus monkeys appeared to naturally favor "wheeled" toys, whereas the females played predominantly with "plush" toys.

This, they argued, was a sign that "boys and girls [may] prefer different physical activities with different types of behaviors and different levels of energy expenditure."

Similar findings have been reported by researchers from the United Kingdom about boys and girls between 9 and 32 months old - a period when, some researchers suggest, the children are too young to form gender stereotypes.

Apparent differences in preferences have been explained through a differential hardwiring in the female versus male brain. Yet, criticisms of this perspective also abound.

Refuting studies in monkeys, some specialists argue that, no matter how similar to human beings from a biological point of view, monkeys and other animals are still not human, and guiding our understanding of men and women by the instincts of male and female animals is erroneous.

As for studies on infants and young children, researchers often identify pitfalls. Boys and girls, some argue, can already develop gender stereotypes by age 2, and their taste for "girly" or "boyish" toys may be influenced by how their parents socialize them, even if the parents themselves are not always aware of perpetuating stereotypes.

The perspective that "gendered" preferences can be explained through hormonal activity and differences in the brains of men and women remains, therefore, controversial.

Different brain activation patterns

Still, there are a number of studies that pinpoint different patterns of activation in the brains of men versus women given the same task, or exposed to the same stimuli.

Navigation

One such study evaluated sex-specific brain activity in the context of visuospatial navigation. The researchers used functional MRI (fMRI) to monitor how men's and women's brains responded to a maze task.

In their given activity, participants of both sexes had to find their way out of a complex virtual labyrinth.

woman navigating her way out of a mazeDifferent areas in the brains of men and women "light up" during visuospatial navigation tasks.

It was noted that in men, the left hippocampus - which has been associated with context-dependent memory - lit up preferentially.

In women, however, the areas activated during this task were the right posterior parietal cortex, which is associated with spatial perception, motor control, and attention, and the right prefrontal cortex, which has been linked to episodic memory.

Another study discovered "rather robust differences" between resting brain activity in men and in women. When the brain is in a resting state, it means that it is not responding to any direct tasks - but that doesn't mean it isn't active.

Scanning a brain "at rest" is meant to reveal any activity that is "intrinsic" to that brain, and which happens spontaneously.

When looking at the differences between male and female brains "at rest," the scientists saw a "complex pattern, suggesting that several differences between males and females in behavior might have their sources in the activity of the resting brain."

What those differences in behaviour might amount to, however, is a matter of debate.

Social cues

An experiment targeting men's and women's response to perceived threat, for instance, highlighted a better evaluation of threat on the part of women.

The study, which used fMRI to scan the brain activity of teenagers and adults of both sexes, found that adult women had a strong neural response to unambiguous visual threat signals, whereas adult men - and adolescents of both sexes - exhibited a much weaker response.

Last year, Medical News Today also reported on a study that pointed to different patterns of cooperation in men and women, with possible underlying neural explanations.

Groups of male-male, female-female, and female-male couples were observed as they performed the same simple task involving cooperation and synchronization.

Overall, same-sex pairs did better than opposite sex pairs. But interbrain coherence - that is, the relative synchronization of neural activity in the brains of a pair performing a cooperative task - was observed in different locations in the brains of male-male versus female-female subjects.

Another study using fMRI also emphasized significant differences between how the brains of men and women organize their activity. There are different activation patterns in the brain networks of males and females, the researchers explain, which correlate with substantial differences in the behavior of men and of women.

Different activation patterns, but what does that mean?

A more recent study, however, disagrees that there are any fundamental functional differences. The authors of this work analyzed the MRI scans of more than 1,400 human brains, sourced from four different datasets.

a doctor looking at brain scansSome studies suggest that, despite some physiological differences, brains cannot be divided into "male" and "female."

Their findings suggest that, whatever physiological differences may exist between the brain of men and of women, they do not indicate underlying, sex-specific patterns of behaviour and socialization.

The volumes of white and gray matter in brains of people pertaining to both sexes do not differ significantly, the study found.

Also, the scientists pointed out that "most humans possess a mosaic of personality traits, attitudes, interests, and behaviors," consistent with individual physiological traits, and inconsistent with a dualistic view of "maleness" and "femaleness."

"The lack of internal consistency in human brain and gender characteristics undermines the dimorphic [dualistic] view of human brain and behavior [...] Specifically, we should shift from thinking of brains as falling into two classes, one typical of males and the other typical of females, to appreciating the variability of the human brain mosaic."

Susceptibility to brain disorders

That being said, many scientists continue to point toward evidence that the distinct physiological patterns of male and female brains lead to a differentiated susceptibility to neurocognitive diseases, as well as other health-related problems.

One recent study covered by MNT, for instance, suggests that microglia - which are specialized cells that belong to the brain's immune system - are more active in women, meaning that women are more exposed to chronic pain than men.

Yet another analysis of brain scans for both sexes suggested that women show higher brain activity in more regions of the brain than men.

According to the researchers, this heightened activation - especially of the prefrontal cortex and of the limbic regions, tied with impulse control and mood regulation - means that women are more susceptible to mood disorders such as depression and anxiety.

'Male-biased' and 'female-biased' conditions

A meta-analysis of studies related to sex-based differences in the brain confirms that men and women are susceptible to largely different brain disorders.

"Examples of male-biased conditions include autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, specific language impairment, Tourette syndrome, and dyslexia, and examples of female-biased conditions include depression, anxiety disorder, and anorexia nervosa."

The authors suggest that it is important to take into account physiological differences in order to enhance preventive approaches and treatments.

a woman cuddling her partnerMen and women are susceptible to different brain disorders.

An earlier study had also noted differentiated patterns of susceptibility to brain disorders between sexes, yet it also acknowledged some significant limitations.

First, the authors said, many previous studies did not manage to recruit similar numbers of participants of each sex, which may have led to gender bias. Additionally, they explained, "because women may seek treatment more than men, it may be easier for a researcher to recruit females."

"Both of these factors may lead to a patient sample predisposed to an uneven gender distribution," the authors admit, but their conclusion remains firm.

"[G]ender matching is essential in clinical functional imaging studies, and supports the idea of exploring male and female populations as distinct groups," the scientists urge, citing the wealth of studies that point to the same interpretation.

So, are brain differences fundamental to how men and women function? The answer is maybe. While so many studies noted different activation patterns in the brain, these did not necessarily amount to differences in the performance of given tasks.

At the same time, from a healthcare perspective, it may be important to take sex-based differences into account, so as to devise the best possible treatment plans for different individuals.





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The ins and outs of the vagina

Couple in bedControversy sourrounds the existence of the G-spot and the routes to orgasm.
Vaginal vs. clitoral orgasm, the G-spot, the vulva, and the clitoris: the female sex organs and their involvement in arousal and orgasm are shrouded in mystery.

In our increasingly digital world, sex and female body image are often misrepresented. Yet, sex makes people happy and plays an important role in social bonding as well as mental and physical health.

So, it's time to demystify common misconceptions about the female sex organs and their role in sexual pleasure.

We shine a spotlight on how the vagina, vulva, and clitoris work, as well as on what is currently known about the elusive G-spot and the female orgasm.

Inside and out: The vagina and the vulva

The vagina is the muscular tube that links to the cervix, which is the lower part of the uterus.

Also called the birth canal, the vagina allows for the passage of blood and cells in menstruation, the introduction of sperm during sex, and the delivery of the baby and placenta at the end of pregnancy.

The vagina only has a limited number of nerve endings, which is thought to be important to help women cope with the pain of childbirth.

The external part of the female genitals is the vulva. It consists of the labia majora, or the outer fold, the labia minora, or the inner fold, the urethra, and the clitoris. The shape and size of the vulva is unique to every single woman.

In a study involving 32 women, Dr. Haim Krissi - from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Soroka University Medical Centre in the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel - and team found a considerable range in the length and width of the different parts of the vulva.

The clitoris: The gateway to sexual arousal

While many people think that the clitoris is a small spot just above the vaginal opening, it is, in fact, a much larger complex. The part most visible is the glans, which is 16 millimeters in length, on average. This is the part that most people will be familiar with.

The glans is covered by the prepuce, which is a skin formed from the vaginal labia. Some people liken the prepuce to foreskin. Hidden inside the pubic bone is the rest of the clitoris, and the entire complex is similar in shape to the penis, with a total length of between 9 and 11 centimeters.

The clitoris is an erectile organ and is thought to be at the heart of female sexual arousal.

In a 2015 review published in the journal Clinical Anatomy, Dr. Rachel N. Pauls - from the Divisions of Female Pelvic Floor Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at TriHealth/Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, OH - describes the clitoris as "[...] the centre for orgasmic response."

The clitoris is highly innervated, with the densest concentration of nerve fibres found in the glans. These nerve fibres respond to stimulation by causing swelling of the erectile tissues of the clitoris.

As Dr. Pauls explains, "It is important to note that indirect stimulation of the glans is central to female sexual arousal, but the dense innervation of the glans may lead to extreme sensitivity upon direct stimulation."

That being said, the clitoris is not the only part of the female sex organs that can lead to arousal, according to some. The mysterious G-spot, said to be located inside the vagina, has been equally credited.

Does the G-spot exist?

The so-called Gräfenberg spot, or G-spot - which is named after the German-born physician Ernst Gräfenberg - is a topic of much contention.

While Gräfenberg has been widely credited with finding the purported spot guaranteed to produce sexual arousal, the name was in fact coined by Dr. Frank Addiego and colleagues in a 1981 paper published in the Journal of Sex Research.

The hunt for this elusive structure that promised unlimited pleasure has been on since then.

A study in An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology by Dr. Adam Ostrenski - from the Institute of Gynecology in St Petersburg, FL - and colleagues describes it as a collection of nerve bundles in the front, or anterior, wall of the vagina.

Using MRI scans, Anastasios Mpotsaris - from University Hospital of Cologne in Germany - and colleagues found a "distinct morphological entity" in 62 percent of study subjects in the same location.

Does this mean that the search is over? No; not all experts agree. Dr. Vincenzo Puppo - from the Centro Italiano Sessuologica in Bologna, Italy - states in an article in the journal Clinical Anatomy that there is no scientific or medical evidence that supports the existence of the G-spot.

Instead, he writes, "The G-spot has become in the centre of a multimillion dollar business: G-spot amplification, also called G-spot augmentation, G-Spotplasty, or the G-shot, is a cosmetic surgery procedure for temporarily increasing the size and sensitivity of what some believe to be the G-spot [...]."

This sentiment is echoed by Dr. Pauls, who summarizes that there is no scientific or anatomical evidence that supports the existence of the G-spot.

So, the jury on the G-spot is still out. Whether by G-spot stimulation or not, the female orgasm remains a mysterious and controversial topic.

What happens during orgasm?

The debate about the purpose and routes that lead to women experiencing an orgasm is probably as old as medical science.

Although the male orgasm has a clear role from an evolutionary standpoint, in that it is central to the propagation of the human species, experts have not been able to agree on a similar "purpose" for the female orgasm.

From a physiological point of view, the path to sexual arousal is straightforward.

Dr. Pauls explains, "In simplistic terms, genital arousal is characterized by increased blood flow to the pelvic region. In females, this vascular flow results in clitoral engorgement and erection and accompanying vulvar swelling and vaginal [secretion] of fluid."

"If a threshold is reached, orgasm can follow arousal. Activation of [nerve pathways] triggers pelvic floor skeletal muscle contractions that accompany sexual satisfaction," she adds.

So, should we view orgasms as simply being the result of reflex produced by our nerves? As so often in biology, things are more complicated. Our nerves, of course, transmit sensory signals to our brain, where studies have shown that sexual pleasure is processed similarly to other types of pleasure.

"[...] the mind may be the ultimate sexual organ, which in combination with anatomy can augment sexual enjoyment."

Dr. Pauls

The vaginal vs. clitoral orgasm

The ultimate center that causes the greatest female pleasure remains a topic of debate. Two competing theories exist: the vaginal and the clitoral orgasm.

According to Dr. Puppo, the term "vaginal orgasm" is misleading. He says that "the vagina has no anatomical structure that can cause an orgasm." Instead, "the 'vaginal' orgasm that some women report is always caused by the surrounding erectile organs," he explains.

Dr. Puppo further highlights, "Orgasms with a finger in the vagina are possible in all women, but the partner must also move the hand in a circle to stimulate all the female erectile organs."

On the other side of the argument is psychologist Prof. Stuart Brody, who argues that penile-vaginal intercourse is the route to vaginal orgasm, which he says plays a greater role in sexual satisfaction.

In a review published in the journal Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology, Prof. James G. Pfaus - from the Department of Psychology at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada - writes "it is likely that women have an enormous capability to experience orgasms of many different types [...] the subjective experience of it is not necessarily the same for each woman, and can even be different each time a woman has one."

Dr. Pauls also highlights that "[...] pressure on the vagina during sexual activity can result in traction, vibration, and clitoral stimulation."

"It is therefore problematical at best to define a 'clitoral orgasm' as a phenomenon distinct from a 'vaginal orgasm'," she adds.

Because the individual parts of the female sex organs are located very close to each other, it is difficult to identify one particular spot as the ultimate route to pleasure.

One question that remains is whether or not it is necessary to have a definition of different types of orgasms.

Does it really matter?

Every woman's sexual pleasure and orgasm is unique. A recent study showed that only 6 percent of women say that they reach orgasm every time they have sex.

Those involved in researching female sexual pleasure may argue that better knowledge of the routes to orgasm can help those struggling to achieve the satisfaction they desire. But orgasm is only one part of the experience of sex.

"Perhaps it is time," says Prof. Pfaus, "to stop treating women's orgasm as a sociopolitical entity with different sides telling women what they can and cannot experience."

Sexual satisfaction is a unique concept. Whether derived from clitoral stimulation or another route, at the end of the day, the best measure of satisfaction is the pleasure experienced by those involved. 





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