Emotions In The News
This
segment is a list of links to research about the relationship between the
mind and the body. Western society as a whole is becoming increasingly aware
of the mind/body link, and we hear more and more about prevention in the form
of stress management and relaxation techniques. Holosync brain entrainment is an almost effortless (well, you do have to turn the cd player on and find
an hour to listen!) way to dissolve your emotional blockages that may be keeping
you from optimal health. To help you understand how solving long-standing
emotional issues is beneficial to your physical health, I have compiled the
following summaries.
Who says we need to chase the blues away all the time? Feeling sad is part of being human and learning. Feeling depressed, however, can lead to suicide.
"Giving antidepressants to people whose real problem is something else - a bad relationship, for instance - may allow the person to continue in an unhealthy situation instead of addressing the underlying problem...So which is more dangerous: to over-medicate normal sadness, a feeling which may lead us to re-evaluate our lives after the loss of a job or the end of a relationship, or under-medicate clinical depression?"
Where do doctors draw the line between sadness and depression? It's getting to be a very fuzzy line indeed.
Is it really bad to be sad? New Scientist, January 2009
CBS News, January 2010. Author Susan Piver spoke to Maggie Rodriguez about how to leave behind 2009's emotional baggage. Susan clarifies the difference between being sad and being depressed. When you're depressed, nothing matters, and when you're sad, everything does.
Here is a story about Americans and narcissism. Rage and anger are associated with narcissistic tendencies.
Anger in America ABC News, Jan 21, 2008.
Here is an explanation of the basic psyche of an addict, which is what America would be if it were a person (besides being a sociopath, to boot!) An addict is hindered by emotional denial.
Economic Crisis is an Emotional Problem, Huffington Post, March 4, 2009
BBC is a british news channel. This news report about post partum depression
suggests that it would be better to call it Maternal Anxiety and Mood Imbalance
because most of the mothers who have it don't even feel depressed, they feel
angry.
Childbirth left me feeling angry BBC, October 2006
Through research of my own, I have found out that a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids in the mother may cause her to feel depressed, anxious, or out of sorts after childbirth. The baby takes all the available omega-3 while in vitro, depleting the mother's stores. Great Britain is not known for its high consumption of fish, and neither is the USA. I highly suggest supplementing the diet with pre- and post-natal omega-3 formulations during and after pregnancy. The cost is completely worth the benefit, since it boosts baby's brain development and makes mommy feel calmer.
Here is an article that outlines a study of the link between anger and lung
functions. The eight year study concluded that of 670 military men, “those
with high levels of hostility had poorer lung function than their happier
peers.” The following is a quote from Dr John Moore-Gillon, a lung specialist
and spokesman for the British Thoracic Society. "The research highlights our
growing awareness of the close links between the mind and the body, and the
years to come may lead to further important insights."
Anger 'compromises lung function' at BBC News; August 30, 2006
Newsweek's article on the mind-body connection brings neurotechnology to
the public eye. Newsweek investigates the placebo effect's relationship to
actual healing. "Mind-body medicine offers a saner starting place. If
it fulfills half its promise, it could reduce medical costs while improving
our health and our lives. And whatever its limitations, it has the advantage
of doing no harm."
Brain Check at Newsweek; September 27, 2004 issue
A doctor who specializes in panic treatment outlines how patients' depression
and anxiety actually affect their emotions. She found that depressed patients
tend to remember negative events and forget positive ones. Normal people are
the opposite. Patients with panic attacks also behave in ways that exacerbate
their propensity for panic.
Susan Mineka, Ph.D. Panel: Encountering Daily Life: How Our Emotions Affect Us, "Anxiety Disorders." Project on the Decade of the Brain, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The long-term abuse of alcohol can cause confusion in recognizing the difference
between certain emotional facial expressions, because of the damage done to
the part of the brain used in differentiating expressions. This will result
in misinterpretation or exaggeration of others' actions, and emotional strain
ensues.
New
research reveals the emotional costs of alcoholism March 2002
Brightsurf.com, The Resource for Science Information
Check this short article for a list of physical signs that your emotional health is out of balance.
How Emotions Affect your Health Family Doctor.ORG article.
HealthEmotions Research Institute, founded 1996, at the University of Wisconsin,
has the largest concentration of researchers interested in finding out how
emotions influence our health.
Effects of Stress and Mood on Disease Progression and Mortality in Free Ranging Monkeys. (Sorry, original article went missing.)
"Individual responses to stressful events appear to be more complexly related to disease progression than was earlier thought."
It is noted that there is a direct link between how we cope with negative stressors and disease progression. This study aims to find out the biological factors that promote resilience.
The Biological Bases of Positive Affective Styles. (Sorry, original article went missing.)
People who have a positive outlook on life use a part of their brain called the left prefrontal cortex. It has been noted in monkeys that those individuals who use their left prefrontal region of the brain more also have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.