The Dopaminergic Mind in Human Evolution and History

The Dopaminergic Mind in Human Evolution and History

Author: Fred H. Previc

Date: May, 2009.

What does it mean to be human? There are many theories of the evolution of human behavior which seek to explain how our brains evolved to support our unique abilities and personalities. Most of these have focused on the role of brain size or specific genetic adaptations of the brain. In contrast, Fred Previc presents a provocative theory that high levels of dopamine, the most widely studied neurotransmitter, account for all major aspects of modern human behavior. He further emphasizes the role of epigenetic rather than genetic factors in the rise of dopamine. Previc contrasts the great achievements of the dopaminergic mind with the harmful effects of rising dopamine levels in modern societies and concludes with a critical examination of whether the dopaminergic mind that has evolved in humans is still adaptive to the health of humans and to the planet in general.

Various Cause Effects Of Video Games Psychology Essay

The most successful aspect of video games is that they provide a huge amount of human interaction through imagery and audio, thus encouraging the player to think and act quickly(Wolf, 2001, p15). This aspect makes video games different from any other forms of non-interactive media like television or radio. Video games give clear instructions about actions to be performed to reach particular levels in the game and instils a level of confidence and spirit of victory in its players. They also serve academic purposes and can be utilised as a powerful medium for educating children and youth in a very interesting and powerful manner. For example, video games involving driving can be used as a medium to teach players the traffic rules and penalties imposed if the rules are violated. Puzzle based video games give valuable practice lessons of time management, helps to sharpen specific skills needed to succeed in the game, encourages critical analysis and thought and improves cognitive abilities (Wolf, 2001, p17; Seller, 2006, p20).

Social

Video games have a part in influencing the social behaviour of young players especially children. The interactive gaming gives a virtual environment involving the player and his opponent which is essentially the computer system. In addition to promoting a level of healthy competition among players, the penalties imposed help to give due respect to fellow participants and encourages sportsman spirit to a great extent. Games which involve military contents can help to inculcate patriotism in youngsters as they are made to believe that they are protecting their country from rival attacks. Though there has been criticisms regarding the effect of video games in sparking criminal behaviour among youth, Jenkins (n.d.) observes that the hostile factors contributing to these acts are coming from unsound minds and disrupted families rather than interactive media. In fact, James Gee’s work highlights the benefits of using video games as effective media for logical problem solving and continuous improvement, thus improving the qualitative skills (Gee, 2001).

Psychological

Apart from providing relaxation and enjoyment, video games boost the player’s confidence level and raises curiosity as in most games, each level is exciting and cannot be seen unless the players pass all the previous stages. In children, the level of psychological development obtained leads to sharpening of memory and logical skills, increased mental development and simulation, making them tougher to face the challenges of the real world.

Vices

Contrary to the popular belief that video game players are just youngsters, Entertainment Software Association(ESA) has shown that 49% of game players are in the age range of 18-49 while the demographic statistics give 52% male and 48% female players (ESA, 2009, p3). The revenue obtained by video game sales in US was $11M in 2008 with Wii console games at the top according to NPD statistics (ESA, 2009, p10).

Though the video game industry has flourished and sales figures have been accelerating over the last few decades, a lot of negative publicity has affected the popularity of interactive games to a large extent. Though there are many pros, the bad effects are so obvious and derogatory that they outweigh the advantages to a large extent.

Medical

The increasing popularity of video games is making more and more youngsters spend considerable amount of time and money in front of the gaming console or computer which has harmful medical effects arising due to addiction (Gunter, 1998, p31). The addiction can lead to childhood obesity as children will find no time for outdoor games which are healthy and provides relaxation and exercise to brain, mind and body. The strain caused by continuous exposure to harmful radiation from television affects a significant number of youngsters by ending up having problems with their eyes. The adult players are even more in danger as the addiction causes a change in lifestyle which trigger a variety of fatal illnesses from high cholesterol to heart attacks in addition to causing spinal alignment problems due to wrong posture.

Psychological

Most of the video games depict violence and the motto is to kill and succeed. Young minds are particularly interested in games involving violent attacks, abusive language and homicide. Different researches have been conducted in psychological aspects due to violent video games. Anderson et al. (2007, p12-39, p40-60) has described about the different kinds of aggressive behaviour exhibited by children based on which an aggression model is created. 

The effects of violence can arise from thefts for buying video games to thrills obtained from imitation of the shootings and attacks on innocent subjects. Continuous exposure to violent media has a profound influence on the mental balance of the young player, giving a very wrong impression that ‘killing is winning’.

Social

Recent reports have shown that an average time spent by a child playing console, arcade or home video games is almost 11-13 hours/week (Gentile, 2004, p1; Olson et al.,2007, p1). It means that they get little time for social interactions, academic reading and outdoor games. 

Decrease in peer association hinders development of social etiquettes, family ties and character. The social and emotional commitments are disrupted by over indulgence in interactive media leading to a set of humans devoid of emotions, respect or self-esteem. The increasing amount of violence and destruction involved in most games and the lonely atmosphere provided acts as detrimental to good social conduct. Stromberg (n.d.) has shown that almost 50% of popular games depict either fantasy or human violence to the extent that they encourage players to become less caring and friendly. According to Gentile & Anderson (2003, p131-152), the tendency of aggressive behaviour is affected by repeated game play which often reward the players for violence.

Critical Analysis

Wirth et al. (2003) has given that the virtual environment created by video games is essential to establish a spatial presence. But the impression of world as given by games has very little relation with the original real circumstances or actions. The violence and plan of action depicted in these scenarios, if practised in actual circumstances give horrendous repercussions for both the doer and the society. Some researches show video game learning as better to classroom learning in terms of memory retention (Moreno & Meyer, 2000, p724) but it does not in any way substitute the knowledge obtained from books, classrooms or other interactive learning techniques but just complements them.

The reason for success of video games has been described as the level of “active control” involved (Greenfield, 1984, p102). Active control often enables the player to decide on the course of action to be taken to fight the circumstances which gives them an uneven control and pseudo confidence that may urge them to enact similarly in a real situation. Moreover, the points gained during shooting or killing tends to glorify the violence depicted in games. The addiction to video games often leads to fits of anger and rows between the children and parents. The first rehabilitation centre for teenagers addicted to video games has been set up in London following the urge of parents (Taylor, 2010, p9).

Parents have expressed concerns on the influence on video games on the psychological and social behaviour of children (Gunter, 1998, p35). Most video games have parental control through which the type, intensity and mode of play can be controlled by parents. But recent research has shown that only one-fifth of the parents are exercising their control over purchase of video games, with 55% of stores educating them on ratings (Walsh et al. 2003).

Lee et al. (2009, p562) have put forward that the technological aspect has an influence on violent psychological behaviour in a way that a game played using less sophisticated graphics and audio do less harm. But here also, time is the deciding factor as continuous exposure to the virtual world even in low resolution graphics can cause psychological imbalance and health problems.

Even though clear correlation between violent shooting attacks by teenagers and interactive gaming has not been established in all cases, the increase in vocal abuse and insensitiveness towards crime itself are appalling. American Health Association’s research has given results stating that time spend by teenagers belonging to lower socio-economic status playing games was almost five fold than those of their educated and rich counterparts (ScienceDaily, 2008). This shows that education, and not money is the judging factor for use of technology.

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The Psychology of a Boston Marathon Terrorist: 10 Questions for a Retired Marine

By Elaine M. Grossman | National Journal

Many of those who knew the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, believed them to be talented students and athletes with promising careers ahead of them. So how could these seemingly “normal” young men have become terrorists -- and why?

The two brothers actually fit into an emerging trend, according toG.I. Wilson, a retired Marine Corps Reserve officer and militancy expert who specializes in counterterrorism, criminal behavior andforensic psychology.

“Terrorists are not psychotics or mentally disordered,” Wilson said on Friday. The study of terrorism over the past couple of decades has given experts “a greater appreciation of how normalcy is reflected in terrorists’ behavior,” he toldGlobal Security Newswire.

Like those implicated in the 9/11 attacks, the Tsarnaev brothers appear to have quickly assimilated from another nation into their local community and had no outwardly apparent radicalism, psychosis or inclination toward violence.

The pair of blasts near the marathon’s finish line on Monday resulted in three deaths and more than 175 injured.

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The two suspected perpetrators, whose identities were made public on Thursday, were reported to have moved to the Boston area more than five years ago from southern Russia, near the restive area of Chechnya.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was described as a gifted amateur boxer who studied at Bunker Hill Community College part time between 2006 and 2008, and hoped to become an engineer. He was killed in a firefight with police Thursday night, according to news reports.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was described an all-star wrestler in high school and a student at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He was the focus of an epic manhunt in the Boston area on Friday and remained at large at press time.

Wilson, a former infantry colonel, said a sense of normalcy can pervade groups of extremists when individuals surround themselves with like-minded compatriots.

He recalled a segment on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” more than a decade ago about Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas bomb-maker who was nicknamed “the Engineer” and was ultimately assassinated by Israeli operatives in 1996.

“One of the Engineer’s followers was asked to describe how a terrorist could do such a terrible thing. His answer: ‘He’s a very normal person, just like us,’” Wilson said.

When the CBS interviewer took exception, the militant replied, “There thousands and thousands in our country that believe what we believe -- and not only in our country, in the rest of the Arab world and even in your country,” according to terrorism expert.

Wilson, who retired in 2006 after more than 30 years of uniformed service, responded to GSNquestions about terrorism and psychology in an e-mail exchange. Edited excerpts follow.

GSN: Based on your understanding of the criminal mind, what is going on now inside the head of an accused Boston terrorist on the loose amid a major manhunt, whose alleged co-conspirator brother was just killed?

Wilson: No one can read a criminal's or terrorist’s mind, but past behavior is an indicator of future behavior.

Psychiatrist Jerrold Post … contends we should not speak of a terrorist psychology in the singular, but rather of terrorist psychologies.

Ideology is central to the terrorist's psychology, no matter their ilk. They are therefore totally committed – [or] radicalized – and [this] tends to be expressed in all-or-nothing activities.

Watch for a very violent conclusion.

GSN: Reports are that the surviving suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is a second-year medical student and came with his family to the United States about a decade ago from a Russian area near Chechnya, a region known for Islamic militancy and separatists. Any theories about why a young man like that would undertake a terrorist attack in the United States?

Wilson: Chechnya fighters -- [who typically refer to themselves as] "volunteers” -- have been seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. [It is a] matter of participating in jihad, which is an integral part of their belief system, ideology and psychology.

GSN: Specifically, news media is reporting that these young men seemed like "normal Americans," who like many in the nation are first-generation immigrants. What are we not seeing here, in terms of hidden psychological pathology?

Wilson: Appearing normal is the norm [for terrorists], and they often just blend in. [Stanford University’s Martha] Crenshaw … identifies normalcy as a characteristic feature of terrorists, rather than psychopathology or personality disturbance.

GSN: Is someone who carries out such a horrific attack necessarily a psychopath? Or could these be psychologically healthy individuals who are killing for a cause in which they deeply believe?

Wilson: Current data indicates terrorists and suicide bombers do not display any marked psychopathology. … Nevertheless, a trend and frequent perception has emerged asserting that terrorists possess traits of pathological personalities but do not possess the actual clinical disorders. This effectively paints terrorists with the psychological brush of pathology. 

Violence today may be a norm and the norm for such radicalized young people, whether it is on a wide scale or within a smaller community or family. It may come to be considered the normal response to achieve objectives. 

In fact, many terrorists view themselves as soldiers engaged in a just war. 

GSN: How could we do a better job at recognizing in society a person who has the potential to become a terrorist?

Wilson: [Counterterrorism expert Marc] Sageman found that about 70 percent of terrorists had joined while they were living as expatriates in other countries, looking for jobs and education. Prior to moving they were not strongly religious, but while in their new countries they visited mosques and moved in with other Islamic expatriates. Some of the latter were already members of terror organizations who then recruited them into those organizations.

GSN: Given what the FBI has revealed about the composition of the two pressure-cooker bombs and the way in which the suspects have operated, how likely do you think it is that they had the support of additional co-conspirators?

Wilson: While terrorists often operate in cells and are compartmented for operational security reasons, they often do need support. I would not rule out any co-conspirators or support personnel, be it intentional or unknowing support. Association with others must be looked into.

Terrorists use groups and networks for both logistical and psychological support. Groups afford a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose, perhaps even a sense of identity. 

GSN: When working with a fast-breaking case like this, how do you deal with the phenomenon of not knowing which incoming information is accurate, and which is inaccurate and leading you down false paths?

Wilson: Any operator will tell you your first information is neither your worst nor best, and generally is incomplete and inaccurate. That is very true here, as well. Every data point must be checked and verified. Never rely on single-source reporting. The best example of this was the deluge of reports of an arrest being made that were not accurate.

GSN: What would it take to plan the Boston attacks in terms of devising a plan, scoping out targets, assembling bomb materials and carrying out the logistics? Can you make sense, after all that planning, why the Boston bombers would have stuck around the area before being identified and then robbed a local convenience store?

Wilson: They lived [in the area] so they knew the "terrain" and blended in, which no doubt gave them the opportunity to do surveillance and reconnaissance.

GSN: What are one or two things you have learned from past terrorist attacks around the globe that you've thought this week might be applied to this episode?

Wilson: Their capability to adapt so very quickly using our very own system of laws and technology against us. [They employ] simplicity, sophistication, and global networks, much like third-generation street gangs. 

They have a very fast, adaptive [and] complex orientation-decision-action cycle, leveraging the physical -- for example, operationalizing IEDs and suicide bombers -- with the moral-mental aspects – for example, radicalized ideology concordant with the psychology of terrorism. [They are intent on] creating widespread global fear, giving [the] impression that governments cannot protect their people. Cartels and gangs in Mexico do much the same.

GSN: What are a couple of key questions on your mind now as the details of this episode unravel?

Wilson: Today we are recognizing many of the misconceptions regarding terrorists and their profiling. Terrorists are not psychotics or mentally disordered. Terrorists do not suffer markedly formed personality disorders nor does data support terrorism finding its genesis in personal frustration, economic deprivation, or psychological coercion.

We do have a better idea today of what is and is not psychologically related to terrorism and a greater appreciation of how normalcy is reflected in terrorists’ behavior.

Insomnia, Despair about Sleep May Raise Risk of Suicide

By Makini Brice. Counsel & Heal.
Researchers have long known that insomnia and nightmares are risk factors for suicide, but they were not sure what role that the conditions precisely played. Now, researchers believe that they may have the answer. They found that insomnia can give way to a specific form of hopelessness. While hopelessness has also long been a characteristic risk factor for suicide, this despair is different. For people who fear that they will never have a good night of sleep again, suicidal thoughts may increase.

In fact, according to WJBF, people who have insomnia that persists for over a year have up to 30 times the risk of developing depression than people who do not. An estimated 60 percent of people who have depression also have insomnia.

The study was led by Dr. W. Vaughn McCall from Georgia Regents University, and was performed in collaboration with researchers from Wake Forest University in North Carolina and the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Dr. McCall explained in a statement that he has had patients who developed increasingly negative and unfounded thoughts about their sleep, thinking that they had damaged their immune systems for good, or that one night of bad sleep would mean that their sleep for the rest of the week would be tainted as well, according to Fox News.

The study was conducted with 50 participants, with ages ranging from 20 to 80. All of the patients had depression disorder; they were all either in-patients, out-patients or being treated at the emergency department. Over half of the patients had attempted suicide before the study; most were taking some kind of antidepressant. The researchers asked all of the participants questions linked to dysfunctional sleep behavior, like "Do you think that you will ever get a good night's rest again?"

The answers surprised the researchers. "It was this dysfunctional thinking, all these negative thoughts about sleep that was the mediating factor that explained why insomnia was linked to suicide," said Dr. McCall in a statement. "If you talk with depressed people, they really feel like they have failed at so many things. It goes something like, 'My marriage is a mess, I hate my job, I can't communicate with my kids, I can't even sleep.' There is a sense of failure and hopelessness that now runs from top to bottom and this is one more thing."

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Psychology of hoarding: From collecting to being buried alive

February 7, 2013. VOXXI. By Hope Gillette.

Hoarding is classified as a type of obsessive compulsive disorder; however, emerging evidence and research suggests it may be a mental condition on its own.

According to a report from Discovery Magazine, hoarding has a unique signature within the circuitry of the brain. Instead of a form of obsessive compulsive disorder, which is in turn an anxiety disorder, hoarding is thought to be a natural human instinct gone unregulated.

“Hoarding is a compulsive tendency to acquire and hold onto things, usually that one doesn’t need and doesn’t use,” F. Diane Barth, psychotherapist in private practice in NYC, told VOXXI. “It becomes pathological when the things one has hoarded take up room in one’s living space, filling up closets and covering floors, walls or furniture. Severe hoarding makes it hard for a person to carry out normal activities of daily living.”

From collecting to hoarding

According to Barth, hoarding is collecting “gone wild.” Often, hoarders don’t know what they have in their piles of things; they may buy several versions of the same item because they have no idea where the original version is, she explained.

Hoarders also often don’t use most of what they buy or collect. Unlike most collectors, they aren’t proud of what they’ve collected and have no interest in showing it to other people. In fact, hoarders are often embarrassed by or ashamed of their hoarding issues.

“Many hoarders like to think of themselves as collectors,” said Travis Osborne, a Seattle psychologist who treats hoarding and has made appearances on The Learning Channels Hoarding: Buried Alive, in a University of Washington guest lecture. “But collectors take pride in their possessions, whereas hoarders feel shame when other people see all of the stuff that they have in their homes.”

Signs of hoarding

Approximately 2.5 to 5 percent of the population in the United States is affected by a hoarding disorder, and few hoarders ever seek out treatment for their condition.

Barth tells VOXXI there are varying degrees of hoarding, and Osborne notes studies suggest more men than women hoard. The condition also seems to be more prevalent in older adults.

“…There are people who hold onto things because they have meaning — like clothing that belonged to a parent who has died — but who have not covered their entire home with their mother’s belongings; there are people whose collections, for example, books or clothes, have gotten out of control, but who are still able to live normally in their homes,” said Barth. ”And then there are people who save everything — newspapers, books, boxes and so on — whose homes are running over with stuff, so that they can barely find space to sit on a chair, sleep on their bed or cook in their kitchen, and who can’t explain why they are holding onto these things but can’t separate from them.”

Common warning signs of hoarding, according to the Mayo Clinic, include:

• Inability or unwillingness to discard items
• Moving items from one area to another without discarding them
• Keeping stacks of paper
• Keeping useless items such as napkins or trash
• Trouble making decisions
• Procrastination
• Lack of organization
• Excessive attachment to items
• Shame or embarrassment attached to collected items
• Limited social interaction
• 
  

What items are commonly hoarded?

“Hoarding almost always starts in childhood, where they have a really hard time getting rid of things,” Osborn said in his lecture. “If there are parents or other people in the house getting rid of things, stuff doesn’t build up as much until they live on their own.”

Items commonly hoarded, according to Harvard Medical School, include:

• Food
• Newspapers
• Books
• Clothing

While television has increased the awareness of animal hoarding, experts say it is actually quite rare. Any item can be hoarded; it all depends on the individual and the emotional and mental attachment to a specific thing.

Can hoarders recover?

Cognitive behavior therapy currently shows a lot of promise in patients with hoarding issues. The method of therapy uses a trained professional to help hoarders learn to dispose of items gradually, eventually leaving them to do so on their own. Hoarders are taught to modify their thought patterns, questioning why they are keeping a particular item. Eventually, individuals are weaned off of the impulse to acquire new items.

The psychological meaning of personal record collections and the impact of changing technological forms

This study explored the personal psychological meanings ascribed to collections of recorded music in a small sample of 20 British consumers. In-depth interviews were conducted with the col-lectors and the data analysed according to the conventions of grounded theory. Three aspects of record collecting were identified as psychologically important: two aspects – records’ status as sacred objects, and record collections as a facet of the self – were felt to be typical of traditional recorded music formats, particularly vinyl. The third, music as sensual (sensory and emotional) experience, appears to be related to contemporary trends in downloading digital music for storage on an iPod or similar player. It is suggested that this third aspect may increase in importance in the future, although aspects 1 and 2 remain salient, even for younger consumers.

February 4th 2013: World Cancer Day

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Reappraisal Defuses Strong Emotional Responses to Israel-Palestine Conflict

December 18, 2012 
For Immediate Release

Contact: Anna Mikulak
Association for Psychological Science
202.293.9300
amikulak@psychologicalscience.org

Related Topics: Cognitive Processes, Cognitive Psychology, Emotional Control, Emotions, Intergroup Relations,Psychological Science

Reappraisal is a widely-used cognitive strategy that can help people to regulate their reactions to emotionally charged events. Now, new research suggests that reappraisal may even be effective in changing people’s emotional responses in the context of one of the most intractable conflicts worldwide: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Negative intergroup emotions play a crucial role in decisions that perpetuate intractable conflicts,” observes lead researcher Eran Halperin of the New School of Psychology at the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel.

With this in mind, Halperin and his colleagues wondered whether cognitive reappraisal, a strategy that involves changing the meaning of a situation to change the emotional response to it, might be effective in diminishing such negative intergroup emotions.

Their research is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

In the first study, 39 Jewish Israeli participants viewed a series of photos that were deliberately selected to induce anger. Some of the participants were trained in cognitive reappraisal — they were taught to respond to the images like scientists, considering them objectively, analytically, and in a cold and detached manner. The other participants received no instructions.

Then all of the participants watched an anger-inducing presentation. The four-minute presentation — with pictures, text, and music — described Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian response, including the launching of rockets, the election of Hamas, and the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. Before watching, participants were asked to apply the reappraisal technique they had learned.

Halperin and colleagues found that participants who were taught to reappraise their emotional responses expressed less anger towards Palestinians, greater support for conciliatory policies, and less support for aggressive policies than the participants who received no training. The results suggest that the increase in support for conciliatory policies could be explained — at least in part — by decreased intergroup anger.

To examine whether these findings would extend to conflict-related events as they occurred in the real world, Halperin and colleagues conducted a second study.

The researchers knew that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas would be presenting a bid to the United Nations seeking full UN membership for Palestine in September 2011. They recruited 60 Jewish Israelis to participate in a study and, six days before the UN bid, they asked the participants to rate their current positive and negative emotions and their general support for different types of policies.

Once again, the researchers trained half of the participants to use cognitive reappraisal. Over the course of the following week, the participants received three text message reminders to use the technique they had learned. A week after the training and two days after the bid, the researchers assessed participants’ emotional and political reactions.

As Halperin and colleagues expected, there was no difference in negative emotions among the participants before training took place. A week after training, however, the reappraisal participants reported lower levels of negative emotions toward Palestinians. The data suggest that the reappraisal actually made them more supportive of conciliatory policies and less supportive of aggressive policies, effects which could be attributed to a decrease in negative emotions.

Even more surprising, however, was the fact that these results held up five months later when the participants were asked to complete a brief questionnaire by an unfamiliar experimenter.

“We consider our findings to be preliminary yet provocative,” write Halperin and colleagues. “Political positions in conflict situations are considered rigid, well entrenched, and driven mainly by ideological rather than emotional considerations. It is therefore surprising to see shifts in these attitudes based on such minimal interventions.”

These results provide evidence that emotion regulation strategies like reappraisal can influence intergroup emotions, not just intrapersonal emotions, and can even shape political reactions.

The researchers believe that this research could eventually lead to interventions that incorporate cognitive reappraisal as a way of increasing support for peace in long-term conflicts.

Study co-authors include Roni Porat of The Hebrew University and Interdisciplinary Center – Herzliya (Israel); Maya Tamir of The Hebrew University (Israel); and James Gross of Stanford University.

###

For more information about this study, please contact: Eran Halperin at eran.halperin@idc.ac.il.

The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "Can Emotion Regulation Change Political Attitudes in Intractable Conflicts? From the Laboratory to the Field" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Anna Mikulak at 202-293-9300 or amikulak@psychologicalscience.org.

Related Topics: Cognitive Processes, Cognitive Psychology, Emotional Control, Emotions, Intergroup Relations,Psychological Science

Scrooged! The Psychology of Ebenezer-Style Transformations

By Alice G. Walton

Forbes.com Dec. 2012.

Just in time for the holidays, a new study explores the real-life Scrooge-style moments of awakening in regular 21^st century folk. If you’ve ever wished this kind of transformation for certain people in your life, or for yourself, the good news is that they’re not just the stuff of fiction – they can actually happen to real people. Of course, the downside is that there’s often a lot of pain and suffering that precedes this sort of change. But afterwards, you might be a whole new person, and this shift in consciousness could last for the long haul. But the lingering question is, can we do anything to bring about these transformations, or do they just sort of…happen to us?

“I’ve often thought about this, whether these transformations are really sudden or gradual,” said lead author of the study, Jon Skalski, which will be published in The Humanistic Psychologist. “It’s like water boiling – you can look at that as a discontinuous change from not boiling to boiling, but there are certain elements going on beneath the surface that allow for the dramatic change to take place.”

The Big Change

People who are inching towards a major psychological shift usually “hit rock bottom,” as Scrooge did, before it happens. The new paper chronicles the shifts that happened for 14 people (found, interestingly, through Craigslist ads). For example, “Kevin,” a once-successful entrepreneur, was having increasing bad luck in business, a development that disrupted his whole identity. He had neglected personal relationships (somewhat like Scrooge), and says his “psyche was in very dark place.” But when Kevin hit his psychological rock bottom, a transformation occurred.

“And so I was almost just compelled to let go, to let it go… Because if I didn’t, if I held on to that, it’s just going to destroy me… I say it’s the best thing that could’ve happened, because my life is so much more rewarding than it once was. You can’t put a price tag on certain…events that I maybe missed before – certain events, and a marriage, and a family, birthdays, you know? Certain things that are just really fun to be a part of are more meaningful, and it is happiness – the kind that lasts. I know these truths have been around forever. But for me they’re new.”

Many of the participants said they had a whole new understanding of life and all the cause-and-effect actions that take place. For some, the change was linked to a discovery of God, but not all – some just found a new connection with the universe, and certainly with the people and events in the world around them, even the negative ones. “Even things that don’t make sense, make sense,” said another person in the study. “You know, like crime or this and that. It all makes sense in its own realm, in the big picture.” And a woman who’d previously derived her self-worth almost solely from her academic accomplishments said, “Now I measure success by my – how much time I spend serving and doing those things, because those – serving and being with people – are really what bring me satisfaction now.”

How Change Happens

The common denominator for all of the people who experienced a major internal transformation was a growing sense of “disintegration” before the transformation occurred. Disintegration simply means that people experienced mounting stress, anxiety, and general internal suffering: It’s almost like a breaking down, or at least a reshuffling, which sets the stage for change to occur. “Some form of disintegration and suffering was an essential and inseparable constituent of the experience,” said Skalski, who conducted the research while he was a grad student at Brigham Young University.

Whether the change that follows is a conscious choice or not is the question. But it’s likely that it might be both – that this kind of change can “just sort of happen” to us after a certain level of pain, and that there are some ways we can actually urge a change to occur within us.

“It seemed that most of these people who had these life transformation were bottoming out and basically got smacked upside the head,” co-author Sam Hardy, PhD, told me. “There are things in my life I’d love to change and improve, so, I wondered if there was a way to embark on such life transformation without bottoming out or getting smacked upside the head. People do change, obviously, but, the question is what role they play in that change.  I believe people have agency and thus that people generally have a lot of control over their lives.”

There are some models of (intentional) behavioral change, like Dr. James Prochaska’s, which outlines five stages of change, from pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, and action to maintenance of that change. His research has helped people make overall changes to their life as well asrecover from addiction. Other researchers like Drs. Linda and and Mark Sobellhave also developed programs of behavior change that use a combination cognitive-behavioral approach, and are aimed at people battling addiction, but also those trying to instill more general positive changes in their lives.

“In short, there is evidence that people can largely self-initiate salient life changes, and in fact probably more people do so than we might think,” added Hardy. “However, it is generally more of a long and difficult process…rather than a critical life event.  And, it takes a lot of drive and guidance, so in that sense is more difficult and complicated than getting smacked upside the head.”

Here are a few tips for making changes to your life. As Hardy points out, when you’re committed to change, you’re already in the middle of the process. For people who aren’t quite ready, there are some steps to ready yourself (see this more detailed description of all the stages).

Picture who you want to be. “What would your life be like if you were that type of person? How is that different than your current life? Visualizing the traits you want to embody helps give you a target to shoot for and also motivation to change,” says Hardy.

Commit to change – to yourself and others.  “Tell others about your goals as well. This holds you more accountable,” Hardy adds. This works in a few different ways: it adds a bit of (positive) pressure to your commitment to change. It also makes you have to verbalize why you’re not fulfilling your goals, if you aren’t – and, on the flip side, you’ll have someone to share your successes with when you achieve them.

Determine the positive traits you want to develop – not just the negative traits you want to get rid of. “In other words, it is best to think not just in terms of stopping a negative behavior (e.g., smoking), but replacing it with a positive behavior (e.g., exercise or meditation),” says Hardy.

“Pray, mediate, listen.” Skalski points out that looking outside the self for guidance has worked for people over many centuries, in many different religions and philosophies. Whether you go for guidance in the universe, God, or in a friend who triggers it (like Scrooge’s dead business partner Jacob Marley), this “other” can be an important way to take you out of your own head and get you in touch with the bigger picture.

See a professional. If you’re in the market for a major personality overhaul and aren’t having the “Ah-ha” moment you want, think about seeing someone who specializes in behavior (a psychologist, life coach, etc.) and can help you work through it methodologically. Some people are lucky and can do it themselves (or it just happens to them), but others need a little help from a professional who can be a guide in the process. It might be worth a try – in a year from now you could be a whole new person.

9 Holiday Depression Busters.

By Therese J. Borchard.

PsychCentral. Dec. 2012.

It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year — but not if negative emotions take hold of your holidays. So let’s be honest. The holidays are packed with stress, and therefore provoke tons of depressionand anxiety.

But there is hope. Whether I’m fretting about something as trite as stocking stuffers or as complicated as managing difficult family relationships, I apply a few rules that I’ve learned over the years.

These 9 rules help me put the joy back into the festivities — or at least keep me from hurling a mistletoe at Santa and landing myself on the “naughty” list.

1. Expect the Worst

Now that’s a cheery thought for this jolly season. What I’m trying to say is that you have to predict bad behavior before it happens so that you can catch it in your holiday mitt and toss it back, instead of having it knock you to the floor. It’s simple math, really. If every year for the last decade, Uncle Ted has given you a bottle of Merlot, knowing full well that you are a recovering alcoholic and have been sober for more years than his kids have been out of diapers, you can safely assume he will do this again. So what do you do? Catch it in your “slightly-annoyed” mitt. (And maybe reciprocate by giving him a cheese basket for his high cholesterol.)

2. Remember to “SEE”

No, I don’t mean for you to schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist. SEE stands for Sleeping regularly, Eating well, andExercising. Without these three basics, you can forget about an enjoyable (or even tolerable) holiday. Get your seven to nine hours ofsleep and practice good sleep hygiene: go to bed at the same time every night, and wake up in the same nightgown with the same man at the same time in the same house every morning.

Eating well and exercise are codependent, at least in my body, because my biggest motivator for exercising is the reduction in guilt I feel about splurging on dessert. Large quantities of sugar or high fructose corn syrup can poison your brain. If you know your weak spot–the end of the table where Aunt Judy places her homemade hazelnut holiday balls — then swim, walk, or jog ten extra minutes to compensate for your well-deserved treat. Another acronym to remember during the holidays is HALT: don’t get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.

3. Beef Up Your Support

If you attend Al-Anon once a week, go twice a week during the holidays. If you attend a yoga class twice a week, try to fit in another. Schedule an extra therapy session as insurance against the potential meltdowns ahead of you. Pad yourself with extra layers of emotional resilience by discussing in advance specific concerns you have about X, Y, and Z with a counselor, minister, or friend (preferably one who doesn’t gossip).

In my life with two young kids, this means getting extra babysitters so that if I have a meltdown in Starbucks like I did two years ago — before I knew the mall was menacing to my inner peace — I will have an extra ten minutes to record in my journal what I learned from that experience.

4. Avoid Toxic People

This one’s difficult if the toxic people happen to be hosting Christmas dinner! But in general, just try your best to avoid pernicious humans in December. And if you absolutely must see such folks, then allow only enough time for digestion and gift-giving. Drink no more than one glass of wine in order to preserve your ability to think rationally. You don’t want to get confused and decide you really do love these people, only to hear them say something horribly offensive two minutes later, causing you to storm off all aggravated and hurt. (This would also be a good time to remember Rule #1.)

5. Know Thyself

In other words, identify your triggers. As a highly sensitive person (as described in Elaine Aron’s book, “The Highly Sensitive Person”), I know that my triggers exist in a petri dish of bacteria known as the Westfield Annapolis Mall. Between Halloween and New Years, I won’t go near that place because Santa is there and he scares me with his long beard, which holds in its cute white curls every virus of every local preschool. Before you make too many plans this holiday season, list your triggers: people, places, and things that tend to trigger your fears and bring out your worst traits.

6. Travel With Polyester, Not Linen

By this, I do not mean sporting the polyester skirt with the red sequined reindeer. I’m saying that you should lower your standards and make traveling as easy as possible, both literally and figuratively. Do you really want to be looking for an iron for that beautiful linen or cotton dress when you arrive at your destination? I didn’t think so — life’s too short for travel irons.

I used to be adamantly opposed to using a portable DVD player in the car to entertain the kids because I thought it would create two spoiled monsters whose imaginations had rotted courtesy of Disney. One nine-hour car trip home to Ohio for Christmas, I cried uncle after six hours of constant squabbling and screaming coming from the back seat. Now David and Katherine only fight over which movie they get to watch first. If you have a no-food rule policy for the car, I’d amend that one during the holidays as well.

7. Make Your Own Traditions

Of course, you don’t need the “polyester” rule if you ban holiday travel altogether. That’s what I did this year. As the daughter/sister who abandoned her family in Ohio by moving out east, it has always been my responsibility to travel during the holidays. But my kids are now four and six. I can’t continue to haul the family to the Midwest every year. We are our own family. So I said this to my mom a few weeks ago: “It’s very important that I spend time with you, but I’d like to do it as a less stressful time, like the summer, when traveling is easier.” She wasn’t thrilled, but she understood.

Making your own tradition might mean Christmas Eve is reserved for your family and the extended family is invited over for brunch on Christmas Day. Or vice versa. Basically, it’s laying down some rules so that you have better control over the situation. As a people-pleaser who hates to cook, I make a better guest than host, but sometimes serenity comes in taking the driver’s seat, and telling the passengers to fasten their seatbelts and be quiet.

8. Get Out of Yourself

According to Gandhi, the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service to others. But that doesn’t necessarily mean holding a soup ladle. Since my name and the word “kitchen” have filed a restraining order on each other, I like to think there are a variety of ways you can serve others.

Matthew 6:21 says “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In other words, start with the things you like to do. For me, that is saying a rosary for a depressed Beyond Blue reader, or visiting a priest-friend who needs encouragement and support in order to continue his ministry, or helping talented writer friends get published. I’d like to think this is service, too, because if those people are empowered by my actions, then I’ve contributed to a better world just as much as if I had dished out mashed potatoes to a homeless person at a shelter.

9. Exercise Your Funny Bone

“Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods,” says a Japanese proverb. So, if you’re with someone who thinks he’s God, the natural response would be to laugh! But seriously folks, research shows that laughing is good for your health. And, unlike exercise, it’s always enjoyable! The funniest people in my life are those who have been to hell and back, bought the t-shirt, and then accidentally shrunk it in the wash. Humor kept them alive — physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Remember, with a funny bone in place — even if it’s in a cast — everything is tolerable.

My “9 Holiday Depression Busters” are also featured in a Beliefnet gallery. You can get to it by clicking here.

Listen to the sounds of the human mind: Remixed brain scans reveal our inner music

• Researchers suggest it could potentially lead to to advances useful for clinical diagnosis or biofeedback therapy

By DAMIEN GAYLE

PUBLISHED: 17:18 GMT, 16 November 2012 | UPDATED: 17:32 GMT, 16 November 2012
Dailymail.co.uk

Scientists have combined and translated two kinds of brain waves into music, offering a unique insight into the functional activity of our minds. Researchers used electroencephalography scans to create the pitch and duration of notes and functional magnetic resonance imaging scans to control the intensity of the music.

The study, published in the open access journal PLoS ONE, reveals an improved method to reflect the physiological processes of the scale-free brain in music. Previous research published in PLoS ONE by the same group has described how EEG amplitudes and waveforms may be converted to music. In the past, researchers at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate have also explored the possibility of a form of neuro-training called 'Brain Music'.

This uses music created from an individual's brain waves to help the individual move from an anxious state to a relaxed state. But this new study by Jing Lu and colleagues from the University of Electronic Science and Technology, China, uses simultaneous EEG and fMRI recordings to better represent the activity of the brain in musical notes.

According to the researchers, this brain music 'embodies the workings of the brain as art, providing a platform for scientists and artists to work together to better understand the links between music and the human brain.' The authors also suggest that combining EEG and fMRI data may produce music that better reflects the functional activity of the brain, potentially leading to advances useful for clinical diagnosis or biofeedback therapy.