 
ScienceDaily (Feb. 23, 2010) — Children don’t trust other children when it comes to learning a new game and will turn to adults for to learn the rules instead. This is the finding of a study published online Feb. 22 in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology.
The study was carried out by Dr Hannes Rakoczy from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, who tested 44 children aged three and four. The children were shown a video of an invented game called ‘daxing’, in which either a boy or a man argued over the correct way to ‘dax’. The child was then asked to ‘dax’, and the method they chose to use was recorded. Children were also shown a puppet, who said it was his time to ‘dax’. The puppet performed ‘daxing’ either in the way the boy in the film or the man in the film did it, and the children’s reactions were recorded.
The researchers found that the children imitated the adult’s method of ‘daxing’ significantly more often than they imitated the boy’s method. Children were also more likely to intervene when the puppet performed ‘daxing’ using the boy’s method — protesting that the puppet was ‘daxing’ wrongly.
Dr Rakoczy said: “The results from our study suggest that children prefer to learn from adults rather than other children when it comes to rule-governed activities like learning a new game. They also expect other people to learn and perform actions in the way that the adults do, demonstrated by the expectation that the puppet would also follow the adult actor’s actions and not the boy’s.”
“These findings tell us that young children will accept adult’s behaviour as being right, and that adults behaviour should be followed. This could have implications for wider social learning of both good and bad behaviour.”
Story Source:
Adapted from materials provided by British Psychological Society (BPS).
 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100221201806.htm
Â
The Child Brain and the Playing Teacher
February 22, 2010 | By Simi Agarwal, DDS
Scientific research has established that the major part of the development of human brain happens in a child’s first three years of life. These first three years of pre-school life is the most impressionable period of human brain during which new neural networks are being formed in certain parts of the brain. A child who is one year old has the maximum number of brain cells the human brain can have in its entire life span. Neurobiologists believe that about 10 billion nerve cells in the infant brain are constantly making the synapses that promote thought, emotion, and physical movement. The capacity to form such neural connections depends on whether the infant brain receives proper stimulation.
Sensory stimulation such as listening to speech or watching colors or emotional stimulation by getting hugs or eye contact can change the physiological development of infant brain by changing the quality and quantity of the electrical wiring between brain cells. This promotes the growth of dendrites in the brain making stronger and richer neural connections.
At what age do children recognise the difference between sarcasm and irony?
People hold strong feelings about the meanings of irony and sarcasm. Just look at the reaction to Alanis Morissette’s global hit ‘ironic’ – despite commercial success, the apparent misunderstanding of irony conveyed by the song provoked a chorus of derision (at least everyone agreed that this state of affairs was ironic). So I’d say it’s with some courage that Melanie Glenwright and Penny Pexman have chosen to investigate the tricky issue of when exactly children learn the distinction between sarcasm and irony. Their finding is that nine- to ten-year-olds can tell the difference, although they can’t yet explicitly explain it. Four- to five-year-olds, by contrast, understand that sarcasm and irony are non-literal forms of language, but they can’t tell the difference between the two.
So that we’re all on the same page, here’s what Glenwright and Pexman recognise as the distinction between sarcasm and irony. In both cases the speaker says the opposite of what they mean, but whereas an ironic statement is aimed at a situation, a sarcastic remark is aimed at a person and is therefore more cutting.
Glenwright and Pexman presented five- to six-year-olds and nine- to ten-year-olds with puppet show scenarios that ended with one of the characters making a critical remark. This remark could be literal, aimed at a person or situation, or it could non-literal, again aimed either at a person (i.e. sarcastic) or situation (i.e. ironic). To illustrate: two puppets are playing on a trampoline, one falls on his face. ‘Great trampoline tricks,’ the other character says, sarcastically. Contrast this with two puppets playing on a saggy trampoline with little bounce. One of them says ‘great trampoline’, an ironic remark.
To gauge the children’s depth of understanding, the researchers asked them to rate how mean the utterances were (using a sliding scale of smiley to miserable faces) and asked them which character they most identified with – the idea being that in instances of sarcasm they would, out of sympathy, identify more with the target of that sarcasm.
The children’s responses showed that both age groups recognised the non-literal utterances as intending to mean the opposite of what was said. However, only the older age group showed a sensitivity to the difference between irony and sarcasm. They, but not the younger children, rated sarcastic utterances as meaner and were more likely to identify with the target of sarcasm, presumably out of sympathy. The older children’s comprehension was not complete, though. In open-ended questioning they were unable to explain their differential response to sarcasm and irony.
‘By nine to ten years of age, children’s sensitivity to the distinction between sarcasm and verbal irony highlights their impressive understanding of how people’s feelings are affected by others’ speech …’ the researchers said. ‘We investigated one distinction here, but there are other non-literal forms that should be examined, such as understatement and hyperbole.’
Glenwright M, & Pexman PM (2010). Development of children’s ability to distinguish sarcasm and verbal irony*. Journal of child language, 37 (2), 429-51 PMID: 19523264
 
Parents Still Major Influence on Child’s Decision to Pursue Science Careers
ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2010) — Parental influence and access to mathematics courses are likely to guide students to careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics or medicine (STEMM), according to research from Michigan State University.
The findings of Jon Miller, MSU Hannah Professor of Integrative Studies, and colleagues were presented at a symposium titled “Tomorrow’s Scientists and Engineers.” at this year’s meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The education of more researchers, engineers and others in the field of science is critical, said Miller.
“Failure to build and maintain a competitive scientific workforce in the decades ahead,” Miller said, “will inevitably lead to a decline in the American standard of living.”
Miller used data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, which kept track of nearly 6,000 students from middle school through college, attempting to determine what led them to or guided them away from STEMM careers.
According to Miller, “The pathway to a STEMM career begins at home.” He said this is especially true in families in which children were strongly encouraged to go to college.
“Only four percent of students who experienced low parent encouragement to attend college planned to enter a post-secondary program and major in a STEMM field,” he said. “This compares to 41 percent of students whose parents strongly encouraged college attendance.”
The research also found that sons were slightly more encouraged than daughters to do well in science and math.
Also influential, although not on the same level as parental encouragement, is the parents’ education level. The research found that approximately 27 percent of the children of college graduates planned to major in a STEMM field, compared to 18 percent of parents with a high school diploma.
The research also reinforced the role mathematics plays in the pursuit of a STEMM career.
“Mathematics is a primary gateway to a STEMM career,” Miller said, “beginning with algebra track placement in grades seven and eight, and continuing through high school and college calculus courses.”
The researchers said high school and college science courses have “small, positive effects” on a student’s decision to pursue a STEMM career, but is not at the level of mathematics.
Story Source:
Adapted from materials provided by Michigan State University.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100220204814.htm
 
 
Article Date: 21 Feb 2010 – 0:00 PST
Researchers at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute have uncovered how antidepressants stimulate the brain to improve a person’s mood.
They have discovered the class of drugs that increase levels of a neurotransmitter known as ‘norepinephrine’ triggers neurogenesis – the growth of new neurons – in a brain region called the hippocampus.
“If you block hippocampus neurogenesis, antidepressants no longer work,” lead researcher Dr Dhanisha Jhaveri said.
“That suggests antidepressants must up-regulate neurogenesis in order for them to actually have any affect on behaviour.”
However, the neuroscientists also found not all antidepressants worked in the same way.
Dr Jhaveri said surprisingly, the class of antidepressants that increase levels of the neurotransmitter called serotonin – Prozac is a common example – fails to stimulate neurogenesis.
“Norepinephrine is basically binding directly onto the precursors which then initiate a signal which leads to the production of more neurons,” she said.
“Serotonin just doesn’t do that. Prozac doesn’t work by regulating the precursor activity – it may work outside that region, but it isn’t regulating the hippocampus directly. More research is needed to find out what serotonin actually does.”
Using rodent models the research, published today in the Journal of Neuroscience , established that selectively blocking the re-uptake of norepinephrine directly activated hippocampal stem cells thereby discovering a much larger pool of dormant precursors in the hippocampus than previously thought to exist.
The researchers also improved their understanding of the mechanisms by which norepinephrine activated the precursors in the hippocampus and found the expression of beta3 adrenergic receptors is critical in mediating the effect.
Fellow researcher and team leader Professor Perry Bartlett said armed with this information, the team would be able to explore improved treatments for depression as well as dementia.
“Since dementia, especially in the ageing population, appears to be related to a decrease in neurogenesis this discovery opens up exciting new ways to stimulate the production of new neurons to alleviate the devastating effects of dementia in our society,” Professor Bartlett said.
Dr Jhaveri said the findings would also allow researchers to develop specific and more effective antidepressants.
“Depression is such a complex disorder, so we are going to test different behavioural outcomes to see whether the compounds that increase norepinephrine levels or stimulate beta3 adrenergic receptors work only for certain aspects of depression. We just don’t know yet but it may, for example, improve learning and memory, or reduce anxiety,” Dr Jhaveri said.
Source
University of Queensland
 
Regular readers of this blog will know my fascination with 
autism and psychosis as opponents on a continuum theory . I have already been privately speculating that ADHD in childhood may be a risk factor for Psychosis in later adolescence, especially as both are supposed to have underling dopamine abnormalities, so this new study by Brembs et al caught my attention.
Recently I came cross this paper by Bjorn Brembs et al that investigated attention-like processes in mutant fly models that showed memory deficits. They weer aqble to show that despite overt similar olfactory memory deficits, the attention-like processes worked in opposite ways in the two mutant models. In the rutabaga/dunce model, the atention ws hyperfocussed , resembling human autism; while in radish models , attention was flexible and distract-able resembling human ADHD.
It is increasingly apparent that many classical
They further speculate as o why these two phenotypes may be present and relate it to exploit/explore conundrum.
Attaining the right balance between persistence and flexibility is a crucial feature of adaptive behavior, because it reflects the balance between exploration and exploitation of natural resources. It is tempting to speculate that radish and dunce/rutabaga may constitute the two respective extremes of this balance. Recent work investigating torque behavior of
(Brembs, 2009).
To me, this research adds another intriguing possibility to the autism-psychosis dimension, that of ADHD as a childhood phenotype/risk factor for later psychosis.
van Swinderen, B., & Brembs, B. (2010). Attention-Like Deficit and Hyperactivity in a Drosophila Memory Mutant Journal of Neuroscience, 30 (3), 1003-1014 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4516-09.2010
Effecient Related Posts:
Related posts:
- cortex maturation: lag, span and thickness: ADHD, Schizophrenia, autism , IQ There is an article making waves regarding the delayed maturation…
- Attention allocation / Same as action selection/ New insight on ADHD #haiku #scaiku The title of my above post is a scaiku (scientific haiku…
- color memory, stroop test and models of working memory BPS research digest as well as Mixing Memory have both…
- Dopamine mediated ’sign’ based learning There is an interesting must watch Video of Paul Phillips…
- Time Space Metaphors: Do we have different metaphors based on different cultures( mouse traps) Reading about “conceptual metaphor theory†may be useful for understanding…
 
ScienceDaily (Feb. 22, 2010) — The anxiety that often accompanies a chronic illness can chip away at quality of life and make patients less likely to follow their treatment plan. But regular exercise can significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety, a new University of Georgia study shows.
In a study appearing in the Feb. 22 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed the results of 40 randomized clinical trials involving nearly 3,000 patients with a variety of medical conditions. They found that, on average, patients who exercised regularly reported a 20 percent reduction in anxiety symptoms compared to those who did not exercise.
“Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that physical activities such as walking or weight lifting may turn out to be the best medicine that physicians can prescribe to help their patients feel less anxious,” said lead author Matthew Herring, a doctoral student in the department of kinesiology, part of the UGA College of Education.
Herring pointed out that while the role of exercise in alleviating symptoms of depression has been well studied, the impact of regular exercise on anxiety symptoms has received less attention. The number of people living with chronic medical conditions is likely to increase as the population ages, he added, underscoring the need for a low-cost, effective treatment.
The researchers limited their analysis to randomized controlled trials, which are the gold standard of clinical research, to ensure that only the highest quality data were used. The patients in the studies suffered from a variety of conditions, including heart disease, multiple sclerosis, cancer and chronic pain from arthritis. In 90 percent of the studies examined, the patients randomly assigned to exercise had fewer anxiety symptoms, such as feelings of worry, apprehension and nervousness, than the control group.
“We found that exercise seems to work with just about everybody under most situations,” said study co-author Pat O’Connor, professor and co-director of the UGA Exercise Psychology Laboratory. “Exercise even helps people who are not very anxious to begin with become more calm.”
Exercise sessions greater than 30 minutes were better at reducing anxiety than sessions of less than 30 minutes, the researchers found. But surprisingly, programs with a duration of between three and twelve weeks appear to be more effective at reducing anxiety than those lasting more than 12 weeks. The researchers noted that study participants were less likely to stick with the longer exercise programs, which suggests that better participation rates result in greater reductions in anxiety.
“Because not all study participants completed every exercise session, the effect of exercise on anxiety reported in our study may be underestimated,” said study co-author Rod Dishman, also a professor of kinesiology. “Regardless, our work supports the use of exercise to treat a variety of physical and mental health conditions, with less risk of adverse events than medication.”
Journal Reference:
- Matthew P. Herring; Patrick J. O’Connor; Rodney K. Dishman. The Effect of Exercise Training on Anxiety Symptoms Among Patients: A Systematic Review. Arch Intern Med, 2010; 170 (4): 321-331 [link]
 
Eating disorders affect five times as many people as schizophrenia, and twice as many people who have Alzheimer’s disease. And yet Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia regularly make the news and research headlines, while eating disorders are relegated to the equivalent of the back pages of the public’s interest in mental health.
Sadly, eating disorders receive significantly less research funding than either schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s, for no good reason. People with an eating disorder no more “ask for it†than someone “asks†for schizophrenia. Yet schizophrenia received $350 million in research funding in 2005, while eating disorders received less than 10 percent of that amount. We clearly have a lot of work to do.
Somewhere between 3 to 4 percent of the population suffers from an eating disorder in any given year, but this statistic hides a troubling fact. Millions more go on and off diets every month as though they were fashion fads. In the U.S., we face an epidemic of obesity and over-eating. Every day our children are assaulted with images idealizing thin to the detriment of creating a healthy relationship with one’s body self-image and food.
Eating disorders may be misunderstood as only encompassing those people who have bulimia or anorexia. But eating disorders are far more common than that. Binge eating and over-eating are both commonly experienced problems that likely affect millions who may never seek out treatment for them. In fact, it’s likely most people know of a person who suffers from an eating disorder (even if the person has never told anyone). And it’s not just women who suffer from them. While eating disorders affect mostly women, over one million men in the U.S. also suffer from an eating disorder.
This week has been designated as National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. And lucky for all of us, we have a fantastic blogger — Margarita Tartakovsky — who covers eating disorders and self-image on her blog, Weightless.
We also have the honor of publishing Wendy Su McWhorter-Finney’s personal story with anorexia and bulimia, A Chance to Live, as well as Lisa W.’s story, The Eating Disorder Beast Can Be Beaten. I encourage you to check out these personal stories and see how devastating eating disorders can be.
The good news is that eating disorders — like all mental disorders — can be successfully treated. While it may take time, patience, and finding the right treatment provider, eating disorders are not something a person just has to “learn to live with.†Successful treatment of eating disorders most often includes specialized psychotherapy (with an experienced therapist in eating disorders, sometimes in a specialized eating disorder clinic or treatment center) and medications.
Read more about the myths and facts surrounding eating disorders: NEDA Week: It’s Time to Talk About Eating Disorder Myths and Facts on the Weightless blog.
Source:Â http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/02/22/national-eating-disorders-awareness-week-2010/
 
SANTA FE — Ronnie McLaughlin IV, a budding entomologist only 7 years old, was routinely searching out crawling creatures when he made a backyard find so rare it will go on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Ronnie found a pink grasshopper on Valentine’s Day. He named the inch-long insect “Love Bug†and placed it in the terrarium in his room.
When his mother, Kelly McLaughlin, contacted the museum, she got an enthusiastic return call from entomologist Erin Mills.
“I was so excited when I heard about them finding a pink grasshopper,†Mills said. “It’s just one of those kind of cool, mysterious things about nature that a lot of scientists don’t quite understand. So it’s a really cool thing to stumble upon around your home.â€
Mills, one of two entomologists at the museum, never has seen a pink grasshopper in her years working with insects.
“It’s a genetic mutation where they have not enough of one pigment, or too much of one type of pigment,†she said. “Pink grasshoppers are not totally rare, but they are unusual. It’s kind of lucky if you come across one.â€
In the insect containment room, the pink grasshopper was contentedly surveying a meal of romaine lettuce.
She (or he — it’s too soon to tell) already has gone through one molt, which means the young grasshopper is growing.
Mills hopes to surround Love Bug with a stress-free environment, through more molts and, in a few months, adulthood.
She phones the McLaughlins at their Santa Fe home to give updates and is writing a blog on the insect’s progress.
“Anything can happen with a bug,†Mills said. “Probably her biggest challenge right now is making it through all of her molts and getting to be an adult.
“They have to shed a whole skin. It can be a bit touchy.â€
Mills has high hopes for Love Bug. The entomologists could follow the example of the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans where pink katydids (a relative of grasshoppers) have been bred and put on display.
Love Bug would not necessarily have to have a pink mate in order to produce pink offspring.
“There is a possibility those genes could be carried over to the next generation,†Mills said. “I’d like to have pink grasshoppers on display all the time. It would be awesome.â€
In the meantime, Ronnie will be on the lookout for another pink sighting. He is autistic, home-schooled as part of an intensive home therapy program. One of his strongest interests is bugs.
“We told her (Mills) we would keep checking our backyard,†said McLaughlin, who also home-schools Ronnie’s younger brother, Connor.
“She said, ‘Who knows? You might have a hot spot.’â€
Source:Â http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=d409f006d55e5108
 
Poring over the works of Dr. Seuss, the adventures of the Bernstain Bears or exploring the worlds of Hans Christian Andersen with a child has always been a great parent-child bonding exercise.
But, according to George Georgiou, a University of Alberta professor in educational psychology, it is instrumental for English-speaking children if they are to acquire the language skills, particularly comprehension, essential to their future reading ability.
Georgiou and his colleagues recently published a study in Learning and Instruction examining the cognitive and non-cognitive factors that may predict future reading ability in English and Greek. Since the study was published, Georgiou has expanded his research to Finland and China, with the same outcomes.
He says the home literacy environment-what parents do at home in terms of literacy-and motivation predict children’s various initial literacy skills, such as letter knowledge and vocabulary, differently across languages. These skills, in turn, ultimately predict future reading ability.
Studying language for success
Orthography is the part of the study of language dealing with letters and spelling. Georgiou points out that English is an orthographically inconsistent language; in other words, letters can have more than one sound each. Because of this, he says, children learning English “need someone to show them the letters, teach them the letter sounds, play with letter magnets on the fridge.
“We have found that in English, you need a rich home literacy environment. It’s absolutely necessary,” he says.
But that’s not the case in other languages. Georgiou notes that students are able to learn to read faster in languages such as Greek and Finnish, because there is one-to-one correspondence between a letter and its sounds. This difference with English, he says, implies that Greek or Finnish parents do not need to read as frequently to their children to give them an edge on learning the language. Simply put, Greek or Finnish children will eventually learn to read regardless of how rich the home literacy environment may be.
“In Greece, parents intuitively know that as soon as a child goes to school, within three months, unless there are some severe situations that may interfere with learning, that child will be able to learn to read,” said Georgiou. “Alternatively, in English, having someone read to you frequently as a child-explaining what the meaning of words are and playing around with the letters-makes a big difference as to whether you will become a good reader.”
English-languages challenges for students
Without that learning support and because of the inconsistencies of English orthography, English-speaking children run the risk of falling behind at least two years in terms of their reading skill when compared to children learning to read in languages with a direct relationship between letters and sounds, he said. But, if mom and dad don’t have the time to invest in reading to their children and still want them to succeed with language development, then educational programs, such as Sesame Street, and multimedia tools, such as spelling programs or games, may be an alternative.
Georgiou also lauds the efforts of communities in getting behind literacy programs and encouraging the development of literacy skills through initiatives such as “raise a reader” and “read-in week.” He says that these types of programs pay dividends because they are a key component in motivating children to appreciate and embrace reading as a worthwhile activity.
There are key elements Canadian parents should focus on to promote the success of their children as active readers, he says. Foremost, reading to your children is vital, as is specific exercises and games to teach them letter names and sounds. Finally, having role models as a motivation to read, whether it be an NHL player reading to a classroom full of kids or a parent at bedtime, is also highly important, says Georgiou.
“Build their motivation. If your child sees you reading at home, that sends a message to that child that you value reading.”
More data on this relationship will be presented by Kister at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in Toronto.
Source:
Jamie Hanlon
University of Alberta Â
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/179412.php
 
Ian Grant
McKinnon, who was first arrested in 2002, has admitted to hacking thousands of Pentagon computers in search of material on unidentified flying objects he believed the US military was hiding.
If convicted in the US, Mckinnon faces up to 70 years in jail. If tried and found guilty in the UK he might serve a much shorter term. McKinnon has said he is content to be tried in the UK, but fears being treated as a terrorist if tried and convicted in the US.
McKinnon’s legal team has argued, so far unsuccessfully, against extradition in every court available to it in the UK and Europe. The latest hearing stems from a High Court decision to review whether the home secretary fully considered evidence that McKinnon suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, an autistic condition.
McKinnon, who has suffered deteriorating mental health as the legal process has gone on, is said to be suicidal.
His cause has been taken up by a number of celebrities and MPs, at least one of whom quit parliament over the allegedly one-sided extradition treaty between the US and UK.
Read in Full:Â http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2010/02/22/240381/gary-mckinnon-gets-new-court-date-in-extradition-marathon.htm
 Previous Updates
“Gary McKinnon Updates:
 http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/gary_mckinnon_updates_charlie_mckinnon_on_his_sons_fight_a.htm
Â
 
Hello,
On behalf of APRAIS (the Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive
Interventions and Seclusion), the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and other
APRAIS organizations is encouraging you to contact your congressional
representatives during our* National Call-In Day on February 26, 2010 and
tell them to support the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in
Schools Act (H.R. 4247, S. 2860). *
Recently, the House Committee on Education and Labor voted H.R. 4247 out of
committee with a vote of 35 to 10. Your hard work has certainly made a
difference, but we need your continued efforts to advance this important
legislation. Specifically, *we need your assistance to get the bill moved to
the floor for a full House vote and to obtain Co-sponsors for the Senate
version, S. 2860.*
Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) introduced the Preventing Harmful Restraint and
Seclusion in Schools Act in the Senate, but we need to increase the number
of Senate Co-Sponsors and get this bill out of committee as soon as
possible. Once passed, this legislation will provide students with and
without disabilities vital protections against abuse in schools.
*WHAT YOU CAN DO:*
*Ask your Congressional Representative to Co-sponsor H.R. 4247 and your
Senators to Co-Sponsor S. 2860 on Friday, February 26th!! *
– To find out the names of your US Senators and Representative, click
here [link to *www.congress. org* <http://www.congress .org/>]
– Dial the Capitol Switchboard at *202-224-3121* and ask for the offices
of your US Senators and Representative
– Ask to speak to the person working on education issues
– Identify yourself as a constituent and the organization that you
represent (if any)
Regards,
Ari Ne’eman
President
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
http://www.autistic advocacy. org
info@autisticadvoca cy.org
(202) 596-1056
———— ——— ——— ——— ———
Take a look at our innovative new Public Service Announcement produced with
the Dan Marino Foundation at http://www.nomyths. org
If you like what we do, help support the Autistic Self Advocacy Network by
making a donation at:
https://www. change.org/ donation/ create?charity_ id=211198
Â
Being out of work is a major happiness challenge, and these days, a lot of people have lost their jobs, or are worried about hanging onto their jobs.
So, given this major drain on your happiness, are there steps you can take to feel better at such a time? Even if you don’t think you can feel happy, you might be able to feel happier. Keeping yourself as serene, energetic, and cheerful as possible will make it easier to handle this tough situation.
1. Get enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep affects your mood more than you may realize. It makes difficult situations seem harder, drags down your energy, and lowers your immune system. When you’re cut off from your usual schedule, it can be tempting to stay up late, so remind yourself to turn off the light at a reasonable hour. If you’re turning off the light but having trouble sleeping because of all your worries, here are some tips for getting good sleep. Also, people who have trouble sleeping sleep better when they…
2. Get some exercise. Exercise both calms you and energizes you. If you can’t face going to the gym or going for a run, just go for a ten-minute walk outside. The sunlight and the movement will boost your spirits.
3. Stay connected to other people. You may not feel like going out, making plans, showing up, or talking to other people. But prod yourself to make the effort. Seeing other people will give you a boost and will help distract you (see #8). Also, by staying connected to other people, you’re more likely to hear information and to create relationships that might be helpful in the jobs arena.
4. Cultivate an atmosphere of growth in some area of your life. You may feel like you’ve been pushed a giant step backward; that you’re out of control of what’s happening to you. Look for a place where you can move forward and take control. Learn to do something new – a new software program, watercolors. Conquer a device – master your camera, a kitchen gadget. Clean something up – your messy garage, your attic. Create something beautiful – plant a garden, catch up on the photo albums.
5. Help someone else. Your self-esteem may have suffered a blow, so remind yourself of how much you have to give. Teach someone something useful. Make helpful connections for other people. Volunteer your skills. Donate blood. Go through your closets and give away the clothes you don’t need (see #6). If you can’t face doing anything else, you can at least sign up to be an organ donor. It takes one minute, and you have potentially saved the lives of five people. You can feel great about your day if you’ve done that!
6. Clear some clutter. For most people, outer order contributes to inner calm – and clearing clutter seems to have a disproportionately positive effect. Bringing order to a messy coat closet shouldn’t make much of a difference to happiness, but for some reason, it gives a much bigger boost than you might expect. Careful: don’t overwhelm yourself. Pick one small area of the messy kitchen counter, or clean out your fridge, or tackle one corner of your desk. Bringing order to your physical environment will help calm you – and is also a good way to observe #4.
7. Be wary of “treating†yourself. One of the Ten Myths of Happiness is that A “treat” will cheer you up. That cigarette, that extra glass of wine, that new pair of shoes, that extra brownie (or two, or three), that big mess in your kitchen because you don’t want to deal with loading the dishwasher…will these treats really make you feel happy, in the long run? Or will you be happier if you don’t treat yourself?
8. Distract yourself. Find your Area of refuge. Or rent a funny movie, re-read a book you love (I always re-read children’s literature when I’m under stress), call a friend with a good sense of humor, visit a museum, or watch some sports on TV. Let yourself take a break from your worries. When you come back to them, you’ll feel refreshed and with a better sense of perspective.
9. Remind yourself of what you have. You may have lost your job, but think about what’s going right in your life, what you have to feel grateful for. It’s a cliche to say “Count your blessings,” but it really does boost happiness.
What other strategies would you suggest? What works?
* My friend, the hilarious Pamela Redmond Satran, author of the blog and book, How Not to Act Old (she’s working blue there, so enter at your own risk), among many other things, has just created and launched Ho Springs, a serialized novel, with contributions by many other people, about “a little spa town near the gates of hell.” Check it out. I think it marks a new way to approach story-telling. The mind reels.
* It’s Word-of-Mouth Day, when I gently encourage (or, you might think, pester) you to spread the word about the Happiness Project. You might:
— Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
— Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @gretchenrubin)
— Sign up for my free monthly newsletter (about 39,000 people get it)
— Buy the book
— Join the 2010 Happiness Challenge to make 2010 a happier year
— Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
— Watch the one-minute book video
Thanks! I really appreciate any help. Word of mouth is the BEST.