Best and Worst Life Experiences from Social Connections

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 30, 2010

New research finds that social events are the most meaningful times in an individual’s life. Although social connections bring us the most pleasure, they also deliver the most pain.

In the first study of its kind, researchers have found compelling evidence that our best and worst experiences in life are likely to involve not individual accomplishments, but interaction with other people and the fulfillment of an urge for social connection.

The findings, which run contrary to implications of previous research, are reported in “What Makes Us Feel the Best Also Makes Us Feel the Worst: The Emotional Impact of Independent and Interdependent Experiences.”

The study reports on research conducted at the University at Buffalo and will appear in the forthcoming print issue of Self and Identity.

Co-author Shira Gabriel, PhD, associate professor of psychology at UB, says, “Most of us spend much of our time and effort focused on individual achievements such as work, hobbies and schooling.

“However this research suggests that the events that end up being most important in our lives, the events that bring us the most happiness and also carry the potential for the most pain, are social events — moments of connecting to others and feeling their connections to us.”

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/30/best-and-worst-life-experiences-from-social-connections/17427.html

Coping with Divorce: Words Tell the Story

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 7, 2010

University of Arizona researchers say that people in the midst of divorce reveal how they are handling things – not so much by what they say but how they say it.

Apparently the truth is fairly easy to determine; even complete strangers were able to figure out how people were coping with their emotions using relatively small amounts of information.

The investigation elaborates on recent person-perception studies that examine interpersonal distress, in this case when a marriage ends.

“We wanted to know how much information people actually need in order to know how another person is coping,” said Ashley Mason, a UA doctoral student who conducted the research.

“There’s been a lot of person-perception research in terms of perceiving a stranger’s personality or intelligence. And data have shown that we really don’t need much.”

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/07/coping-with-divorce-words-tell-the-story/17774.html

Related Clinical Articles

• Tips for Helping Children Handle Divorce
• Divorce and the Unexpected Reversal
• Reduce the Stress of a Divorce

The Bipolar Relationship: How to Understand, Help, and Love Your Partner

By Jon P. Bloch, PHD, Bernard Golden, PHD and Nancy Rosenfeld

Reviewed by Gillian Fournier

The Bipolar Relationship: How to Understand, Help, and Love Your Partner by Jon P. Bloch, PHD, Bernard Golden, PHD and Nancy Rosenfeld is a very detailed and helpful book meant specifically for romantic partners of bipolar people. Though it contains a large amount of information that could be helpful to an actual bipolar person, the book focuses on the role that the partner plays in their partner’s mental health. It covers all aspects of daily life from basic definitions and types of the disorder to the effective management of a healthy sex life and overall adjustments that can make life easier for both parties.

The book begins by going over the most basic definition of the disorder. It discusses the symptoms of mania and depression, lists the types of the disorder in very simple words, and touches briefly on the current research. The first few chapters do not contain any groundbreaking revelations because they use that time to help the reader get their bearings on the subject.

Someone who knows a lot about the disorder may want to bypass pages 1-14 — this information could be found online or in any basic bipolar publication. After page 14 though, it goes into more depth about the behavioral signs of the disorder and becomes much more interesting.

One aspect I had not considered is the need to address how others perceive the bipolar partner. It makes a very strong case for listening to doctors, friends and even people who don’t have any clue that the person you are dating is bipolar. Sometimes when you are in a relationship with a bipolar person it can seem like you are the only person in the situation. This book urges you to realize that you most definitely are not.

The book also notes that bipolar is different for each person, but it does list commonalities to help the partner try to diagnose the issues and combat them. This section of the book is, in my opinion, the most interesting and helpful part. It talks about approaching bipolar anger in a calm and collected way (most people react in an equally angry fashion, causing more issues in the long run), trying out couples therapy and the options for medication. The book’s authors clearly are pro-medication, but to their credit they do mention the importance of therapy in conjunction with pharmaceutical treatment.

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/lib/2010/the-bipolar-relationship-how-to-understand-help-and-love-your-partner/

How to Improve Mood, Raise Energy and Reduce Tension

What strategies do you use to make yourself feel better, increase your energy levels and reduce your tension? That’s the question Robert Thayer and colleagues at California State University were motivated by in looking for the strategies people use and find effective (Thayer, Newman & McClain, 1994). There’s no revelations in the results but the fact that the same three main strategies were useful in changing mood and reducing tension and raising energy speaks volumes:

• *Exercise: rated as the most effective for changing a bad mood, also good for raising energy and reducing tension.
• *Music: rated the second most successful way to change a bad mood, and raising energy and reducing tension. This may be a surprising finding for some people.
• *Social interaction: good for changing a bad mood and reducing tension although not necessarily so good for raising energy.

Apart from these main categories that were good across the board, there were other strategies that worked in a more selective fashion:

• *Pep talk: this was rated as most successful for energy enhancement – above both exercise and music.
• *Distractions (like shopping, reading, chores and hobbies): seen as useful for changing a bad mood.

At the other end of the scale, the things people rated as relatively less successful were:

• *TV: less effective for reducing tension
• *Eating: also less effective for reducing tension.
• *Coffee: not that good for raising energy, relative to the other categories.

Gender differences were also seen. Men are more likely to try and distract themselves or seek pleasure, while women are more likely to seek social support.

One surprising finding from this study is how successful music is in all three categories of mood regulation, energy raising and tension reduction. In fact I’ve written before about the seven ways music influences mood.

Read in Full:  http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/08/how-to-change-bad-mood-raise-energy-and.php

Wherever you go, go with all your heart. ~Confucius

How to Be Happy, Confucian Style

“The one who would be in constant happiness must frequently change.” –Confucius

In China two and half thousand years ago one man, Kong Qui, and his followers, synthesised the traditions of the Chinese people to create what they believed were the fundamental principles of humanity. Of course what Westerners now call Confucianism has changed over the years, just like the other major philosophies that have flourished in the East: Buddhism and Taoism. But to have survived this long, these systems of thought must have at their cores a useful set of principles that help people live the ‘good life’.

Following on from previous posts on philosophers Epicurus and Schopenhauer, as well as the modern obsession with self-help books, I look at what Ancient Chinese philosophies have to teach us about how to be happy.

In an article in the Journal of Happiness Studies, Zhang and Veenhoven (in press) compare the ancient Chinese versions of Taosim, Buddhism and Confucianism with the modern conditions of happiness. They use findings from the multitude of studies collected in the World Database of Happiness to reach the conclusion that, compared to ancient Buddhism and Taoism, it is Confucius’ philosophical teachings that are most likely to lead to a happy life.

So, here (briefly) is Confucius’ advice on how to live the good life, contrasted with some of the tenets of Taoism and Buddhism.

1. Invest in intimate ties

Confucianism’s view of life is built on the idea of ‘Jen’. This means a feeling of concern for the wellbeing of others. Those following Confucianism should bring Jen into both their social relations and, so far as they are able, into society itself.

Compared with the modern observed conditions of happiness this looks like good advice. Generally speaking marriage makes us happier, more friends make us happier and people are especially happy if they have someone to confide in. Classical Taoism goes along with this point but ancient Buddhism runs counter to the evidence, advising the avoidance of intimate ties.

2. Embrace society

Society is accepted within Confucianism and the philosophy encourages its followers to engage in it. Looking at the research, this is also good advice. People who are members of clubs, churches and other organisations are happier, people who have a job are happier, and so on. The evidence shows that this is also true at a societal level. Countries in which people have the densest networks of friends are also those in which people are the happiest.

In comparison, ancient Taoism says retreat to nature and Buddhism says withdraw completely from society – both these points of view are suspect if happiness is your goal.

3. Be successful

Confucianism recommends a devotion to your occupation. The wealth earned from working is also seen in a positive light within Confucianism. Generally speaking people with more money and higher status are happier (but bear in mind that more money doesn’t always equal more happiness). In contrast both ancient Taoism and Buddhism are sniffy about earnings.

4. Have fun

Confucius thought moderate amounts of fun were acceptable. This is backed up by modern research finding that people who engage in pleasurable activities are happier (I know, surprise surprise!). Follow-up studies show no long-term disadvantages to a bit of short-term fun. So there’s no point rejecting the possibility of happiness, as does ancient Chinese Buddhism, which warns that the pursuit of happiness will only end in disappointment.

5. Live healthily

Still in the land of the blindingly obvious – yes, people who are healthier are happier. Still, just because the advice is obvious doesn’t mean it’s any less relevant, or any more likely for people to actually act on! Despite this the self-evident nature of this advice, ancient Chinese Buddhism actually recommends physical privation. Again, we’ll stick with Confucius on this one.

6. Meet your obligations

One of the most important aspects of ancient Chinese Confucianism is a sense of duty and responsibility. There’s some sparse evidence from the individual level that this might lead to greater happiness. At a societal level, however, people who live in collectivist societies, like the Chinese, tend to be less happier than those who live in individualistic societies. This may be because collectivist societies stifle the individual’s search for self-actualisation.

7. School yourself

You’ve guessed it, the well-educated are also happier. On the other hand education mostly contributes to happiness by enabling you to get a better job, and lots of education doesn’t necessarily lead to more happiness. One thing is clear though, it is better to live in a more educated society, even if others are more educated than us.

Education is partly endorsed by Taoism, while classical Buddhism advises avoiding school completely. Again, Confucianism wins on this one.

Read in Full:  http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/01/how-to-be-happy-confucian-style.php

 

Christy Matta, M.A. Updated: Sep 9th 2010

When it comes to communication, words are only a small part of the story. Body language tells people a great deal about you, whether you’re putting your thoughts into words or not.

Think of someone who is speaking publicly. Their rate of speech, eye contact, tone of voice and hand gestures communicate to us. They may say they are confident, but if the body language doesn’t match, we’re likely to think they have doubts.

In fact, when body language and words don’t match, people are more likely to believe body language. If a friend tells you she’s doing ok after a break-up, but her voice cracks while she’s talking, you’re more likely to believe the crack in her voice than her verbal message.

But what if you’re someone whose body language doesn’t accurately reflect your inner feelings? For some, body language is not a more accurate reflection of what they think and feel. Some people may be born with less expressive emotional systems. Some learn to inhibit expression from a family culture that values even tempers and minimal expression. For others, early trauma and abuse might teach them to mask their feelings. By the time they are adults, some are experts at camouflaging their body language, although they may not even be unaware that they do it.

Read in Full:  http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=39551&cn=474

 

Ariel Bond/Daily

Temple Grandin speaks at the Michigan Theatre as the first speaker in the Penny W. Stamps lecture series on Thursday, September 9, 2010.

By: Stephanie Berliant
Daily Staff Reporter
Published September 9th, 2010

Fresh from hearing her name called five times at this year’s Emmy Awards, Temple Grandin addressed a packed audience at the Michigan Theater last night.

Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and top innovator in the field of animal behavior, spoke as the first in the Penny Stamps Series of lectures sponsored by the School of Art & Design. In the lecture called “Autism, Animals and Art” Grandin focused on how different types of thinking can be used to advance society.

Though impressive by their own merit, Grandin’s accomplishments are magnified by the fact that she was diagnosed in childhood with a severe form of autism, a neurological disorder that impairs social and communication abilities. Grandin couldn’t talk until she was four years old and doctors advised her mother to institutionalize her, but her mother instead chose to seek intensive treatment for Grandin.

As a result, Grandin became one of a small minority of children with autism born in the 1940s to greatly improve in communication and today she is considered high-functioning.

Grandin is known for putting her unique viewpoints into everything she does and offering continuous examples of the way she sees things differently from most people. Last night’s event was no exception.

In her distinct Kansas accent, Grandin described the doubts people had about her methods at the start of her career in the 1970s.

After watching cattle become easily upset when walking down shoots to be slaughtered, Grandin walked through a cattle shoot herself, and realized that there were sensory distractions in the shoots like too much or too little light.

“People said, ‘Why would you look at things the cattle’s looking at?’” Grandin said. “But getting in their position was what figured it out.”

To a crowd of about 1,700, Grandin described how people with autism and animals think the same way — one of the reasons she was drawn to the field of animal behavior. People with autism use “bottom-up” processing, she said, in which they see the details first and piece together larger meanings from there.

Grandin related this bottom-up processing to autistic people’s lack of understanding of generalized situations. For example, telling a child not to run in the street outside his or her home may not translate to a school or park. A child with autism might need to be told in each situation until he or she understands that running in streets, in general, is not acceptable, she explained.

Read in Full:  http://www.michigandaily.com/content/animal-behavior-scholar-autism-activist-temple-grandin-talks-power-different-thinking

 

Mr Chen, who has no formal legal training, became known as the “barefoot lawyer”

A blind activist jailed after revealing rights abuses under China’s one-child policy has been freed after a four-year prison term, rights groups say.

Chen Guangcheng accused officials in Shandong province of forcing 7,000 women into abortions or sterilisations.

Chinese Human Rights Defenders said he was released from jail in the city of Linyi, where he had helped people sue over the injustices.

Mr Chen, 39, is a contender for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Mr Chen, who lost his sight in childhood, has no formal legal training as the blind were not permitted to attend college.

He has also advised farmers in land disputes and campaigned for improved treatment of the disabled.

International criticism

The BBC was unable to immediately contact relatives of Mr Chen or his lawyer to confirm his release.

However, activist lawyer Teng Biao told the BBC he had received a text message from an unknown source confirming that Mr Chen had been freed.

“I have not changed at all… I want to thank all the friends who have been concerned about me,” Mr Chen was quoted as saying by the Chinese Human Rights Defenders on his release.

Mr Chen was reportedly escorted to his village early on Thursday. He is said to be weak and thin, and is suffering from chronic gastroenteritis.

Human rights groups say that although Mr Chen has been freed he is likely to remain under tight guard by the authorities.

His family has been under close surveillance and the mobile and landline phones services of several relatives have been cut, his relative Yin Dongjiang told the Associated Press.

“There’s a lot of people in the village right now and the family isn’t allowed to leave their home,” said Mr Yin was quoted as saying.

Mr Chen was sentenced to four years and three months in prison after being convicted of damaging property and disrupting traffic.

The charges were made after a rally by supporters of Mr Chen who were angered by police treatment of him.

Supporters clashed with police during the rally outside Mr Chen’s home while he was under house arrest in 2006.

The sentence drew international criticism, with campaigners and supporters claiming that the prosecution was politically motivated.

Source:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11240597

 

FWD:

 

Alex is participating in his longest run ever – the Maritime 50k Fox
Run, in honour of Terry Fox, on September 19th. I’ll be biking the
first 37+ Kms and walking the last 12.9 across the Confederation
Bridge between New Brunswick to PEI. This 50Km ( ~ 31 mile) run will
include 3 provinces and cross 2 provincial borders. Full details are
here: http://therunman.blogspot.com/2010/09/maritime-50k-fox-run.html

 

In the past a number of you have supported the Terry Fox Run by
sponsoring Alex and I hope you’ll consider doing so again.

 

Thanks!
-jypsy

 

 Update

 

Stephen Brun/Journal Pioneer   Fifteen Island runners chose to tack on an added challenge – they ran 50 km, starting from Tidnish, N.S.

Fwd:

 

ScienceDaily (Sep. 6, 2010) — Major depression is a common and disabling brain condition marked not only by the presence of depressed mood but also by its effects on sleep, energy, decision-making, memory and thoughts of death or of suicide.

Major depression affects 15 million adults in the U.S., and the World Health Organization projects that by 2020, it will be the largest contributor to disability in the world after heart disease.

While antidepressants have helped many to recover and resume their lives, only 30 percent of patients will experience full remission with the first medication they use. Patients typically move on to try a series of other antidepressants. A persistent problem with such drugs has been major side effects, including obesity, sexual dysfunction, fatigue, drowsiness and nausea.

Now, a unique new therapy that applies electrical stimulation to a major nerve emanating from the brain is showing promise.

In a recently completed clinical trial at UCLA, trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) achieved an average of a 70 percent reduction in symptom severity over an eight-week study period. The study’s principal investigator, Dr. Ian A. Cook, the Miller Family Professor of Psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, presented the results at a recent National Institutes of Health conference on depression and other psychiatric disorders, noting that 80 percent of the subjects achieved remission, a highly significant result in this pilot study.

TNS is not new to UCLA. It was pioneered for treatment-resistant epilepsy in humans by Dr. Christopher M. DeGiorgio, a UCLA professor of neurology. The results of a positive 12-patient feasibility trial in epilepsy were reported last year in the journal Neurology. A larger, double-blind pilot epilepsy clinical trial is underway at UCLA and the University of Southern California.

The stimulator that was used in the depression clinical trial is about the size of a large cell phone. Two wires from the stimulator are passed under the clothing and connected to electrodes attached to the forehead by adhesive. The electrodes transmit an electrical current to the nerve. All the patients in the trial used the device for approximately eight hours every night while asleep. In contrast to antidepressants, no major side effects were noted.

“The major branches of the trigeminal nerve in the face are located close to the surface of the skull and can be stimulated either with non-invasive external electrodes, as we used in this trial, or with minimally invasive subcutaneous electrodes,” Cook said.

He added that some patients may prefer to have miniature subcutaneous electrodes implanted under the skin rather than applying new electrodes daily.

In describing TNS, DeGiorgio, co-principal investigator for the depression trial, explained that what is remarkable about the TNS approach is that it is possible to send signals to key structures deep in the brain without penetrating into the skull.

Cook hypothesized that electrical stimulation of the trigeminal nerve generates a cascading sequence of events in the existing neuronal infrastructure. In essence, he said, “TNS provides a high-bandwidth pathway into the brain.”

To help bring the TNS out of the laboratory and into patient care, UCLA’s Office of Intellectual Property recently executed an exclusive worldwide license for the TNS with NeuroSigma, a Los Angeles-based neuromodulation company formed in 2008 to commercialize promising technologies developed at leading universities and research institutions. DeGiorgio and Cook are among UCLA’s inventors of the TNS technology and are unpaid advisers to NeuroSigma. Dr. Antonio De Salles and Jack Judy, also UCLA faculty members, are co-founders of NeuroSigma and are minority shareholders. They report no role in this project.

The project was supported by the Joanne and George Miller and Family Endowment in Depression Research and by an anonymous philanthropic donation to UCLA.

Source:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100903092507.htm

 

 

By John M Grohol PsyD

 

ScienceDaily (Sep. 8, 2010) — In groups with high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as the survivors of the Nazi Death Camps, the adjustment problems of their children, the so-called “Second Generation,” have received attention by researchers. Studies suggested that some symptoms or personality traits associated with PTSD may be more common in the Second Generation than the general population. It has been assumed that these trans-generational effects reflected the impact of PTSD upon the parent-child relationship rather than a trait passed biologically from parent to child.

However, Dr. Isabelle Mansuy and colleagues provide new evidence in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry that some aspects of the impact of trauma cross generations and are associated with epigenetic changes, i.e., the regulation of the pattern of gene expression, without changing the DNA sequence.

They found thatearly-life stress induced depressive-like behaviors and altered behavioral responses to aversive environments in mice. Importantly, these behavioral alterations were also found in the offspring of males subjected to early stress even though the offspring were raised normally without any stress. In parallel, the profile of DNA methylation was altered in several genes in the germline (sperm) of the fathers, and in the brain and germline of their offspring.

“It is fascinating that clinical observations in humans have suggested the possibility that specific traits acquired during life and influenced by environmental factors may be transmitted across generations. It is even more challenging to think that when related to behavioral alterations, these traits could explain some psychiatric conditions in families,” said Dr. Mansuy, lead author on this project. “Our findings in mice provide a first step in this direction and suggest the intervention of epigenetic processes in such phenomenon.”

“The idea that traumatic stress responses may alter the regulation of genes in the germline cells in males means that these stress effects may be passed across generations. It is distressing to think that the negative consequences of exposure to horrible life events could cross generations,” commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry. “However, one could imagine that these types of responses might prepare the offspring to cope with hostile environments. Further, if environmental events can produce negative effects, one wonders whether the opposite pattern of DNA methylation emerges when offspring are reared in supportive environments.”

Further research will be necessary to answer those questions, but these findings open a new door in the emerging field of neuroepigenetics.

 

Journal Reference:

1. Tamara B. Franklin, Holger Russig, Isabelle C. Weiss, Johannes Gräff, Natacha Linder, Aubin Michalon, Sandor Vizi, Isabelle M. Mansuy. Epigenetic Transmission of the Impact of Early Stress Across Generations. Biological Psychiatry, 2010; 68 (5): 408 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.05.036

 

Article Date: 08 Sep 2010 – 5:00 PDT

NPR reports on post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury in troops returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Though thousands of soldiers are diagnosed with PTSD, many more suffer without treatment. Among those who do seek treatment, doctors are finding another, distinctly different problem called traumatic brain injury, or TBI. The two conditions have similar symptoms, but the causes are quite different. While PTSD is a psychological disorder that can be treated with medication and therapy, TBI is physical injury to the brain that requires cognitive treatment to help rebuild function.

Read in Full:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/200291.php