Blog Holiday

Hi everyone

I've got tonsilitis, and you don't even want to know the colour of the film coating my tongue - yuckies - so I'm taking a blog holiday. I'll be back on Monday 4th June.

My co-blogger, Nancy, may post an article or two and I'm in discussion with another individual to contribute to the blog so there may be one or two posts here during the week, but they won't be from me. I will be sitting in the sunshine drinking lemon honey drinks and when my head clears I have a pile of murder mysteries to devour.

Have a great week everyone.

Why Good Things Happen to Good People

New research proves the link between doing good and living a longer, healthier, happier life.

Rock-n-roll legend Billy Joel sang, “Only the Good Die Young”, but Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine bioethics professor Dr. Stephen Post, Ph.D., believes that the good live well.

“Sometimes, the good do die young,” he said. “But studies prove indicate that ‘the good’ are happier, healthier and live a little longer.”

In the new book, Why Good Things Happen to Good People, Dr. Post and journalist Jill Neimark weave the growing new science of love and giving with moving real-life stories to show how giving unlocks the doors to health, happiness, and a longer life.

“This book represents a dream come true for me,” said Post. “It’s dream that began when I was 16 years old. Most of my life has been focused on the science and philosophy of positive emotions and giving behaviors.”

Post has devoted much of his adult life to scientific research that sets out to prove the life-enhancing benefits of giving behavior. He serves as president of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, which conducts and funds research on altruism, compassion and service. His research shows that when we give of ourselves, especially if we start young, everything from life satisfaction to self-realization and physical health is significantly improved. Mortality is delayed. Depression is reduced. Well-being and good fortune are increased.

In this new book, Post distills academic research into an inspirational message. The research includes a 50-year study showing that people who are giving during their high school years have better physical and mental health throughout their lives. Other studies show that older people who give live longer than those who don't. Helping others has been shown to bring health benefits to those with chronic illness, including HIV, multiple sclerosis, and heart problems. And studies show that people of all ages who help others on a regular basis, even in small ways, feel happiest.

Why Good Things Happen to Good People tells the stories of lives transformed by giving. Its “love and longevity scale” allows readers to test their own habits of giving, and a chapter-by-chapter plan teaches readers how to change their own lives. According to Post, using the lessons and guidelines in each chapter, you can create a personalized plan for a more generous life, finding the style of giving that suits you best.

“This book captures great new science, great stories, practical self help, and even a carefully validated scale so readers can assess themselves in 10 different ways of doing unto others,” he said.

Participate in Well-Being Research

SWB Research is running a week long "daily diary" study. This involves completing a brief 3-minute survey each day over an 8-day period. Participants are then presented with feedback about their well-being during this one-week period.

SWB stands for 'subjective well-being' and refers to a person's own sense of wellness (e.g., how happy and satisfied you are with your life). There is no single measure of SWB. Instead, when psychological researchers study well-being, they often choose to focus on particular aspects of SWB. This includes but is not limited to: satisfaction with life in general, satisfaction with specific aspects of life (e.g., relationships, work, school, etc.), how often one experiences positive and negative emotions, and a sense of purpose and meaning in life.

This study focuses on emotions, daily satisfaction, and satisfaction with various aspects of life. Click here to sign up for the daily diary study

Yoga may help depresssion and anxiety

After years of resisting attempts to get me into Yoga I may have to rethink my stance. I've always preferred dancing to the stillness of yoga but the latest findings of Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and McLean Hospital suggest Yoga is a safe and natural remedy for depression and anxiety. It may not cure moderate to severe depression and anxiety, but it could be helpful for anyone who wants to make lifestyle changes to reduce depression and anxiety.


Practicing yoga may elevate brain gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels, the brain's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. The findings, which appear in the May issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, suggest that the practice of yoga be explored as a possible treatment for depression and anxiety, disorders associated with low GABA levels.

Currently, these disorders have been successfully treated with pharmaceutical agents designed to increase GABA levels.

Using magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging, the researchers compared the GABA levels of eight subjects prior to and after one hour of yoga, with 11 subjects who did no yoga but instead read for one hour. The researchers found a twenty-seven percent increase in GABA levels in the yoga practitioner group after their session, but no change in the comparison subject group after their reading session. The researchers do not state how long these increased GABA levels last however it would appear that you would need to undertake frequent yoga sessions to keep the GABA levels high.

According to the researchers, yoga has shown promise in improving symptoms associated with depression, anxiety and epilepsy. "Our findings clearly demonstrate that in experienced yoga practitioners, brain GABA levels increase after a session of yoga," said lead author Chris Streeter, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and neurology at BUSM and a research associate at McLean Hospital.

"This study contributes to the understanding of how the GABA system is affected by both pharmacologic and behavioral interventions and will help to guide the development of new treatments for low GABA states," said co-author Domenic Ciraulo, MD, professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry at BUSM.

"The development of an inexpensive, widely available intervention such as yoga that has no side effects but is effective in alleviating the symptoms of disorders associated with low GABA levels has clear public health advantage," added senior author Perry Renshaw, MD, PhD, director of the Brain Imaging Center at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital.

Get out the barbells to reverse aging

Not only does exercise make most people feel better and perform physical tasks better, it now appears that resistance training actually rejuvenates muscle tissue in healthy senior citizens.

A recent study, co-led by Buck Institute faculty member Simon Melov, PhD, and Mark Tarnopolsky, MD, PhD, of McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ontario, involved before and after analysis of gene expression profiles in tissue samples taken from 25 healthy older men and women who underwent six months of twice weekly resistance training, compared to a similar analysis of tissue samples taken from younger healthy men and women. The results of the study appear in the May 23 edition of the on-line, open access journal PLoS One.

The gene expression profiles involved age-specific mitochondrial function; mitochondria act as the "powerhouse" of cells. Multiple studies have suggested that mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in the loss of muscle mass and functional impairment commonly seen in older people. The study was the first to examine the gene expression profile, or the molecular "fingerprint", of aging in healthy disease-free humans.

Results showed that in the older adults, there was a decline in mitochondrial function with age.

However, exercise resulted in a remarkable reversal of the genetic fingerprint back to levels similar to those seen in the younger adults.

The study also measured muscle strength. Before exercise training, the older adults were 59% weaker than the younger adults, but after the training the strength of the older adults improved by about 50%, such that they were only 38% weaker than the young adults.

"We were very surprised by the results of the study," said Melov. "We expected to see gene expressions that stayed fairly steady in the older adults. The fact that their 'genetic fingerprints' so dramatically reversed course gives credence to the value of exercise, not only as a means of improving health, but of reversing the aging process itself, which is an additional incentive to exercise as you get older."

The study participants were recruited at McMaster University. The younger (20 to 35 with an average age of 26) and older (older than 65 with an average age of 70) adults were matched in terms of diet and exercise; none of them took medication or had diseases that can alter mitochondrial function. Tissue samples were taken from the thigh muscle. The six month resistance training was done on standard gym equipment. The twice-weekly sessions ran an hour in length and involved 30 contractions of each muscle group involved, similar to training sessions available at most fitness centers. The strength test was based on knee flexion.

The older participants, while generally active, had never participated in formal weight training said co-first author Tarnopolsky, who directs the Neuromuscular and Neurometabolic Clinic at McMaster University. In a four month follow up after the study was complete, he said most of the older adults were no longer doing formal exercise in a gym, but most were doing resistance exercises at home, lifting soup cans or using elastic bands. "They were still as strong, they still had the same muscle mass," said Tarnopolsky. "This shows that it's never too late to start exercising and that you don't have to spend your life pumping iron in a gym to reap benefits."

Future studies are being designed to determine if resistance training has any genetic impact on other types of human tissue, such as those that comprise organs; researchers also want to determine whether endurance training (running, cycling) impacts mitochondrial function and the aging process. The most recent study also points to particular gene expressions that could be used as starting points for chemical screenings that could lead to drug therapies that would modulate the aging process.

"The vast majority of aging studies are done in worms, fruit flies and mice; this study was done in humans," said Melov. "It's particularly rewarding to be able to scientifically validate something practical that people can do now to improve their health and the quality of their lives, as well as knowing that they are doing something which is actually reversing aspects of the aging process."

Speedlinking 21 May 2007

TalentSmart have produced a summary of the DISC personality profiling tool

Want to get know yourself better? Test your emotional and psychological health with a free "sanity test" from Psych Central.

Researchers have found a wealth of evidence that positive emotions can enhance the immune system, while negative emotions can suppress it. Read more about how mood can affect immunity

New research finds that antidepressant treatment induces new nerve cell growth in the hippocampus, a brain area responsible for learning. Read more about the effects of antidepressants on nerve cells

Sleep Disorder Misdiagnosed as mental illness, fibromyalgia, alien abductions!

Regular readers of this blog may recall that I have been plagued by sleeping problems for most of my life. For the last few months the specialists have been investigating this and have come to the conclusion that I have non-cataplexy narcolepsy. Talking about coming out of left field. In all the discussions I’ve had with doctors they have told me that my sleeping problems were a symptom of stress, anxiety or poor bedtime habits, rather than a primary problem in its own right. I, of course, have maintained that my sleep was the cause of my anxiety and mood changes, while the psychiatrists were equally convinced that the anxiety and mood changes caused sleep disturbance.

Narcolepsy is a very misunderstood sleep disorder which is frequently misdiagnosed. It is characterised by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and persistent feelings of fatigue. Despite this many sufferers have difficulty sleeping at night due to disturbance in their sleep-wake cycles. If any of these symptoms sound familiar to you I urge you to consult a sleep specialist or neurologist for a diagnosis.

Other symptoms can include:

• Cataplexy, or the sudden loss of voluntary muscle tone where an individual may experience a weakening in some muscles and in severe cases they may collapse
• Vivid hallucinations during sleep onset or upon awakening
• Vivid and frightening nightmares with rapid eye movement and dreaming taking place within a few minutes of falling asleep (most people don’t enter this phase of sleep until approximately 90 minutes of sleep)
• Brief episodes of total paralysis at the beginning or end of sleep
• Drop attacks where an individual can fall asleep in the middle of an activity

Drop attacks
Media tend to portray narcolepsy as the latter symptom - people who unaccountably fall asleep in the middle of conversations, while driving or doing other activities. However these “drop attacks” aren’t experienced by all patients.

In my case, I experience an overwhelming desire to sleep. It can happen while I am giving a speech, while dancing, driving or chatting on the phone. When this occurs I find that my energy levels suddenly bottom out. I can be dancing one moment and feeling fine and the next moment a wave of tiredness rolls over me and I have to lie down. Obviously when you’re in public that can be awkward. Sometimes I can sit down for a few minutes with my eyes closed and the sensation will pass. Other times I have to get to a bed or couch and lie down. It’s not uncommon on a two hour drive for me to pull over three or four times to sleep.

Misdiagnosis
The collection of symptoms that make up narcolepsy are frequently misdiagnosed as other illnesses. Many individuals experience narcolepsy for 10 or 15 years before it is diagnosed. Some of the more common diagnostic errors include:

Epilepsy
The cataplexy or loss of muscle tone is frequently misdiagnosed as an epileptic fit.

Mental Illness
The vivid dreams and hallucinatory effects that characterise sleep and the periods of waking and falling asleep can lead doctors to believe that a patient is experiencing some sort of psychotic episode. Add in the combination of excessive fatigue and irritability from disturbed sleep and it’s no wonder a patient with narcolepsy can appear to be showing the nervous “on edge” disposition of a patient experiencing psychosis.

Excessive fatigue can also lead patients to show symptoms of sluggish depression. This is further complicated by the fact that antidepressants can have a helpful effect on narcolepsy. Some tricyclics and SSRIs can improve sleep or reduce cataplexy. If the drugs work, this can lead the doctor and patient to believe they have the correct diagnosis.

Alien abductions
Alright this one is just plain weird, but some scientists have speculated that narcolepsy could explain the phenomenon of night time alien abductions. They suggest that the hallucinatory effect of narcolepsy is so terrifyingly real that individuals dreaming they have been abducted, dissected and returned to their beds may have been dreaming. There is no research to support this hypothesis but it’s an interesting concept. I can attest to the reality of the horror that I experience most night in dream state. Maybe one day they will round up all the individual claiming to have been abducted during the night and test them for narcolepsy.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Some of the symptoms of narcolepsy are similar to those of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Excessive daytime sleepiness, ongoing fatigue, night-time sleep disturbance and early onset of REM sleep and dreaming can also occur in fatigue oriented illnesses.

Treatment
Narcolepsy is a neurological condition that is not curable, however it is possible to treat it with lifestyle changes or medication. Some patients can gain relief from excessive day time sleepiness by taking a short nap each day. The other options are tricyclic antidepressants to relieve cataplexy and improve sleep, SSRI antidepressants for sleep, and methylphenidate (also known as Ritalin) to keep patients awake during the day and sleep peacefully at night. Unfortunately the side-effects of these medications can be unpalatable so some sufferers do not gain relief.

More information:
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Stanford University Center for Narcolepsy

Finding Meaning in Retirement

How Will the Boomer Generation Find Meaning in Retirement?

I recently read Sara Davidson's LEAP!: What Will We Do with the Rest of Our Lives?. The genesis of the book was an exploration of the author's own quest for meaning and substance in her work life as an aging Baby Boomer approaching retirement. The focus expanded to interviews with celebrity Boomers Carly Simon, Tom Hayden, supermodel Iman, Jane Fonda, Tracy Kidder and others. Davidson also interviewed teachers, business people and spiritual leaders.

I was prepared to find this book over-indulgent and self-involved as are so many books about Baby Boomers (and it's my demographic!). But this book was a worthwhile read. Davidson very effectively balances her own journey with the experiences of her interviewees. She explores relationships with aging parents and adult children, serious illness, death and dying, ageism, sexuality, mental health and many important issues facing this generation. I was especially struck by the level of intimacy shared in both her and her subjects' personal revelations.

At times while reading, however, it was hard to relate to people who are so well-off that they have no concept of the realities of serious financial concerns. These are not people who fear outliving their money. The easy access to comfort and security most of these subjects have is also not available to many people of the Boomer generation.

The spiritual aspects of Davidson's quest reminded me of a favorite book, Po Bronson's What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question. I highly recommend this book to people of any age who are exploring their work lives.

In both books, the creative process is an important theme. This spoke to me as a writer and artist. As a therapist, I find it helps patients heal when they begin to explore their creative selves.

Rumination leads to Depression

Guest Post By Wray Herbert

The poet Sylvia Plath once described her depression this way: “I am terrified by this dark thing/That sleeps in me; All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity.”

Plath penned the poem “Elm” in 1962, just a year before her death by suicide. Its simple lines capture one of the most difficult and paradoxical symptoms of depression: obsessive thinking about the disease itself. Many people suffering from depression describe not only an inability to banish sad memories, but also a preoccupation with the origins and nature of disabling melancholy.

Psychologists call this rumination, and it’s not surprising that Sylvia Plath was a ruminator. People with such obsessive thinking have more frequent bouts of depression, and the episodes tend to be more severe and more long-lasting. As a result, psychologists are very interested in knowing just what is happening in the brain during depressive rumination. Why can’t severely depressed people do the normal cognitive gymnastics needed to move on to healthier, happier thoughts?

One theory is that ruminators have a particular cognitive style, a neuronal inflexibility that distorts the normal executive functioning of the brain. Two psychologists at the University of Colorado, Boulder, decided to explore this idea in the laboratory, to see if they could identify the specific deficit underlying such perseveration. Anson Whitmer and Marie Banich gave several hundred young adults a widely used test to measure their ruminative tendencies. The ones who scored high were not clinically depressed, but they did display this signature cognitive style.

Then the psychologists gave both the ruminators and those who scored very low on this trait a complicated mental test in which they were required to pay attention to certain stimuli, switch their attention elsewhere, suppress thoughts and replace them with new ones, and so forth. The idea was to sort out two ways that normal attention can malfunction. Sometimes we simply can’t shake an unwanted thought, hard as we try. At other times we cannot switch from one way of thinking to a newer, fresher way. These sound similar, but to the brain’s executive neurons they are distinct. The subjects were required to respond as rapidly as they could, in order to tap into these fundamental, unconscious processes.

The results, as reported in the June issue of Psychological Science, were plain.

The ruminators, when compared to normal thinkers, had much more difficulty suppressing unwanted thoughts. Imagine trying as hard as you can not to think of the death of a loved one or a failed relationship--or trying to expel the embodiment of your melancholy--and failing; that’s the clinical equivalent of these lab results.

But Whitmer and Banich went one step further. They studied the same two cognitive processes in two other kinds of rumination, namely angry rumination and intellectual reflection. Angry rumination is, well, think of the rude guy who just cut you off in traffic—and the visceral feelings you still have, hours later. Reflection, as the word conveys, is good rumination; it’s peaceful and creative focus on an idea.

It turns out that, as different as they are emotionally, angry rumination and intellectual reflection are cognitively similar—and cognitively distinct from the distorted thinking of depression. Both involve difficulty switching to a new topic, rather than difficulty inhibiting a negative thought. In a sense, depressive rumination is an avoidance problem, while angry rumination and reflection are characterized by uncommon persistence in a way of thinking.

It’s well known that debilitating depression such as Sylvia Plath's is caused in part by distorted thinking about the self and the world. So sorting out the precise cognitive deficits underlying different forms of rumination, the authors believe, could lead to more effective therapies for targeting this symptom, and perhaps quelling "its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity."

For more insights into human nature, visit We're Only Human ...

Strawberry Quick Flavored Crystal Meth appeals to Children

First reported in the western US states in January, 2007, candied methamphetamines (crystal meth) is the latest thing in street drugs. "Strawberry Quick" (photo: left) is one of many flavors on the street. Quick is reminiscent of the powdered milk flavoring, Quik and is sure to widen the appeal of the drug.

It is not clear if the intent is to market the drug to children (it might be a way to combat the drug's bitter taste), but a "candied" version of a drug would certainly have that effect. In addition to its similarity to a popular milk flavoring, the candied meth is likened to a popular candy that fizzles in the mouth - Pop Rocks.

DEA spokesman Steve Robertson said,

"Drug traffickers are trying to lure in more customers, no matter what their age, by making the meth seem less dangerous."

News of this version of a street drug prompted U.S. senators to introduce legislation in April that would dramatically increase criminal penalties for drug dealers who entice children with candy-flavored amphetamines or other flavored drugs.

In light of this information, parents should be vigilant and remind children about taking candy, even from friends, when the source is not known.

Spring and Summer are Mania Time!

A guest post from Julie Fast of Bipolar Happens

Well, it's mania season again in the Northern Hemisphere. Mania peaks in the spring and summer and many people with bipolar disorder are often caught by surprise and may not take care of the problem before it's too late.

I actually wonder if I've been hypo manic lately. My dear friend Laura asked me if I was when we had lunch yesterday. Laura knows the signs and always says something when she sees them.

I've taught all of my close friends and all of my family members the symptoms of my mania- they have my Health Cards memorized.

When they see signs they ask me questions:

1. Have you been eating?
2. Have you stayed up late?
3. Have you been drinking?
4. Are you making sexual mistakes?
5. Are you spending more money?
6. Does the depression seem a LOT better?
7. Are you having trouble sleeping?
8. Are you agitated or irritated?

They look out for me - because by the time I can answer yes to even a few of these questions, I may not be thinking rationally.

This is because I'm just so darn thankful not to be seriously depressed.

I want my manic feelings to last forever, but they never do. I always go down. So by preventing the mania before it starts or before it goes too far, you can prevent a terrible down swing as well.

My answers to the above questions:

1. I'm definitely eating less (and am VERY happy about it!) This may be a normal fluctuation or a sign of hypomania.
2. I stayed up until 3AM last weekend. This is the first time I have done this in five years. So, this is not a good sign.
3. I did drink on the night I stayed up. I have not had too much to drink in over two years. This is definitely a sign.
4. When you're single it's especially important to look for possibly damaging sexual behavior. I'm being careful about this. Very careful as it has been quite a problem in the past when I get manic.
5. I recently went on an all cash system and this is keeping my spending down. So, this is a no. I always have spending problems when I'm manic.
6. My depression is not serious right now. I woke up depressed this morning. I was feeling better this weekend. A possible sign.
7. I have not had trouble sleeping. This means if I am manic, it is in the beginning stages.
8. I don't have agitated mania. Many of my friends with bipolar disorder do. But this is not an issue with me.

Going In and Out of Mania
Well, when I look at all of this, I can conclude that I'm going in and out of hypomania and will have to be extremely careful in the next few weeks. My family and friends will have to monitor my behavior carefully. And I will have to listen to them, even when I don't want to.

Mania Can Feel So Good!
Yes, mania can feel good. It can be such a relief- especially after a winter depression. But the feelings are false. They're chemically created and must be treating with the same aggressive treatment as you treat depression.

Remember: What goes up because of bipolar disorder ALWAYS comes down.

If you have bipolar disorder, ask yourself the above questions and be honest with yourself. Ask the people in your life to answer them for you. If you love someone with bipolar disorder, think about these questions carefully. Mania can be prevented when you know the signs and use your Health Cards. Mania can be treated successfully even when it has already started. If things are okay right now, ask yourself these questions throughout the summer months.

Staying Healthy
Let's stay healthy this summer. Say no to mania. Take care of yourself. If you love someone with the illness, help take care of them now. Use your Health Cards now and prevent the mania that often comes when the weather changes! It is possible.

Julie A Fast
Author of Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder and Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder
BipolarHappens.com

Stress Management and the Serenity Prayer

The Serenity Prayer
“God grant me the serenity to
Accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.”

A recent PC hard drive crash prompted me to think about the Serenity Prayer. Like many well-known and often recited texts, most of us know it. But it’s so familiar, we forget about the actual meaning and intent. Most often associated with Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-Step self-help groups, the Serenity Prayer is usually recited at the end of an AA meeting. As a chemical dependency counselor, I include it with the “toolbox” often used by newly–recovering people to maintain their sobriety.

When my hard drive died, it took with it ten years of business and personal files and data. Like most people, I had not backed up my data. For several days, it was unclear if the data could be retrieved. To me, this fell in the category of total loss of control. Experts on stress say that most bad stress has a strong correlation to events in our lives over which we feel we have no control.

So, how can the Serenity Prayer be used in stress management? Well, if we break it down, the first line is about loss of control - “accept the things I cannot change (control).” Traffic, the boss’s mood, illness, the weather, etc. are all things that are usually not within our control. The second line refers to things that we recognize as being within our control; things in our lives that we can impact – “courage to change the things I can.” Making changes does require courage! But it’s also very empowering.

The third part of the Serenity Prayer exemplifies the key to managing our stress – “and wisdom to know the difference.” Realizing what aspects of our lives over which we have no control is a very hard lesson. Most of our stress arises from continually trying to control or impact those things that we have very little or no power to change.

How did I apply this stress management tool to my recent PC disaster? I realized I had no control over the hard drive crashing. I did, however, recognize that I could try to impact the situation by finding a data recovery service to retrieve my data. They were able to retrieve about 90% of what I thought was lost. And I bought an external hard drive to back up my data!

Speedlinking 10 May 2007

What is rage?
According to Ronald T. Potter-Efron, Rage is more than extreme anger. It can cause complete lose of control over emotions and behaviors and even loss of conscious awareness. It can result in irreparable emotional and physical harm to the rager, his or her loved ones, and, occasionally, to innocent by-standers. Marriages and jobs are often casualties of rage.

In his book Rage renowned anger expert Ronald T. Potter-Efron offers an understanding of the four types of rage, including shame based rage, survival rage and impotent rage, with step-by-step help for overcoming each one of them. Read an extract from Rage


Relaxation
Read about five healthy ways to relax at the Parapsychology Blog


Dealing with Depression
Danielle describes her personal revelations from discovering she has depression and undergoing treatment.

The Top 5 Mind Body Spirit Books

I've been inspired by problogger to write a list of the Top 5 Mind, Body, Spirit books at this time. This list is based on a combination of the Amazon best seller list and the New York Times best seller list.

#1 The Secret, edited by Rhonda Byrne

It seems that no one can get enough of this book and DVD claiming to hold the secrets to health, wealth and happiness. Rhonda Byrne has interviewed a number of self-help experts about the secret to success which they describe as the law of attraction. The book explains in simple terms the concept of the law of attraction and how you can apply this to your life to accomplish anything you desire including weight loss, wealth, success, love and happiness.





#2 The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, by Timothy Ferriss

This book has become an overnight phenomenon. The author, Tim Ferriss, is a successful business entrepreneur who has disciplined himself to focus on the top priority tasks and to organise his work day to suit himself. He advocates conditioning your customers to be happy with your outputs, batching your work and reducing your availability so you can be successful in fewer hours and enjoy greater leisure. He also suggests automating as much as possible so that you can minimise your own inputs. A great concept!





#3 The Cure: Heal Your Body, Save Your Life by Timothy Brantley

According to Dr. Timothy Brantley, most health problems are not caused by genetics or germs but by the standard American diet. According to The Cure the solution lies in flushing toxins out of the body, to restore balance, promote natural healing, and increase vitality. This is not an entirely new concept. The Liver Cleansing Diet by Sandra Cabot was based on similar principles. Timothy Brantley believes that his principles have helped him restore his own health and restore balance to his system. He believes that The Cure is also helpful for weight loss. As it advocates a mainly raw diet and water, this is hardly surprising.




#4 Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don't, by Michael Losier

There are a number of books riding on the coat tails of the success of The Secret. The truth is that The Law of Attraction is not new and has been advocated by many self help experts including Brian Tracy, Bob Proctor, Tony Robbins, Earl Nightingale and Napolean Hill. In this book Michael Losier talks about how events that may appear to be synchronicity (or coincidence) are in fact a response to your energy vibrations. The solution to any problems in your life, therefore, lies in changing your vibrations to attract your desires. According to the reviews on Amazon this book very clearly lays out those principles and gives you step-by-step guidance to achieving your heart's desire.




#5 The Cardio-Free Diet by Jim Karas

Yes, it's another diet book. In this one, Jim Karas, trainer to media superstars such as Diane Sawyer, promises you will see results in just 2 weeks. He says, "not only does cardio fail to help you lose weight, but it kills -- it kills your time, your energy, your joints, and your motivation. You burn a few measly calories but then eat twice as many afterward. The result? Weight gain -- and lots of it." In this book he tells you how to exercise the right way in order to see incredible results.

Traumas like 9/11 make brains more reactive to fear

Exposure to trauma may create enough changes in the brain to sensitize people to overreact to an innocuous facial gesture years later, even in people who don’t have a stress-related disorder, says new research. It appears that proximity to high-intensity traumas can have long lasting effects on the brain and behavior of healthy people without causing a current clinical disorder. But these subtle changes could increase susceptibility to mental health problems later on. These findings are reported in the May issue of Emotion, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Evidence that trauma can have long-term effects on the brains of healthy individuals was demonstrated by measuring adults’ reactions to emotional stimuli several years after witnessing a trauma, said lead author Barbara Ganzel, PhD, and colleagues. In the experiment, 22 healthy adults viewed fearful and calm faces while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure their bilateral amygdala activity (part of the brain that judges emotional intensity, and that forms and stores emotional memories) between 3.5 and 4 years after September 11, 2001.

All of the participants had some level of exposure to the events of September 11. The authors wanted to determine whether close proximity to a traumatic event - September 11 - sensitized parts of the brain to emotional stimuli 41 and 48 months after the terrorist attacks. Eleven of the participants were within 1.5 miles of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and the other 11 participants lived at least 200 miles away [control group]. The control group – those participants living at least 200 miles from New York on 9/11/01 – subsequently moved to the New York metropolitan area at the time of the MRI scanning.

According to the study, participants who were within 1.5 miles of the World Trade Center on 9/11 had significantly higher bilateral amygdala activity to fearful versus calm faces compared to those who were living more than 200 miles away. These results show that exposure to traumatic events in the past was associated with emotional responses several years later in people who were close to the initial trauma. Yet, the participants did not meet the criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD, depression or anxiety at time of imaging. All the participants were screened for psychiatric, medical and neurological illnesses.

His finding indicates that a heightened amygdala reactivity following high-intensity trauma exposure may be slow to recover and can be responsible for heightened reactions to everyday emotional stimuli, said the authors. Furthermore, the group closest to the World Trade Center on 9/11 reported more current symptoms and more symptoms at the time of the trauma than the group further from 9/11. These symptoms included increased arousal (e.g., difficulty sleeping, irritability, hypervigilance), avoidance (e.g., not wanting to go downtown when they used to enjoy doing so), and intrusion (e.g., recurrent and distressing memories or dreams). And, those who reported 9/11 as their worst and most intense trauma experienced in their life time also had more brain activity when viewing the fearful faces.

"Our findings suggest that there may be long-term neurobiological correlates of trauma exposure, even in people who appear resilient. Since these effects were observable using mild, standardized emotional stimuli (not specific trauma reminders), they may extend further into everyday life than previously thought," said Dr. Ganzel. "We have known for a long time that trauma exposure can lead to subsequent vulnerability to mental health disorders years after the trauma. This research is giving us clues about the biology underlying that vulnerability. Knowing what’s going on will give us a better idea how to help."

Is Depression a Gift?

Depression is a gift. Or so says Lara Honos-Webb in her book Listening to Depression. Dr Lara Honos-Webb is a is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice and the author of the book The Gift Of ADHD: How To Transform Your Child's Problems Into Strengths.

She has an interesting perspective on depression, but not one that many people are likely to embrace at the depths of their depression. After recovery there are some who find that depression has been an important turning point that has forced them to evaluate their lives, make tough decisions and learn new skills. Many motivational speaking careers have been built on precisely this precept - "I was once at rock bottom and this is how I clawed my way out of the black hole of depression, loss, alcoholism or life-threatening injury. "

Honos-Webb suggests many depressions are masked by

• compulsive overactivity
• drugs
• alcohol
• overeating

and recommends that you look at the emptiness, agitation or other symptoms and attempt to divine the deeper meaning.



This book would be useful for people who believe depression is a message and that listening to that message will help you heal. If you believe depression is a biochemical or lifestyle problem then this approach is unlikely to appeal to you.

Honos-Webb's book reflects the typical belief of psychotherapists. You are encouraged to fully feel the uncomfortable emotions, rather than attempting to distance yourself via distraction, denial or avoidance, and to analyse these feelings to find a new and more emotionally healthy path. The book contains exercises and questions to help you with this process.

Depression can be an opportunity for introspection and many people will obtain useful insights by examining their belief systems and identifying ways in which they have contributed to their depressed state. Unfortunately the problem with the concept of depression as a gift, is that it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Personally I’d be exchanging it for a hot bath and a massage.

The author suggests that psychotherapy is better tolerated than medications, such as antidepressants, has a lower rate of relapse and is more cost-effective. Research shows that the most effective treatment is a combination treatment which includes medications, therapy and lifestyle changes.

Honos-Webb is correct when she states that the rate of relapse in patients who quit taking medication is high. However when you're spending most of the day bawling your eyes out then it can be hard to focus on making changes in your mindsets and habits. Some people find that the meds take enough of an edge off for therapy to be effective and allow them to focus their attention on creating a more positive future. I wouldn't recommend this book for people who are experiencing major depression, except in combination with anti-depressants and lifestyle changes, however it could be helpful for people who are only mildly depressed.

An Army Marches on its Stomach

Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) are developing a vitamin-packed dark chocolate that won't melt in the heat of battle and will last for years. I guess that's one way to get women to join the military!

DSTO spokeswoman Helen Ward said the idea of supplying troops with chocolate had psychological and physiological advantages. Normal chocolate melts at about 25-30 degrees celsius, but she said the new version will be expected to maintain its uniformity for extended periods at over 49 degrees celsius.

The Secret: An interview with John Demartini

In this TV3 video clip, Jackie Brown describes the best selling phenomenon, The Secret, followed by John Campbell interviewing with one of the trainers in the video, Dr John Demartini.



According to the blurb to the interview, 'The Secret' is a self-help concept that has spawned a best-selling book and The Secret DVD. It is based around something called the Law of Attraction, which essentially says you are the master of your own life through feelings and thoughts.

I particularly like the fact that this interview asks the tough questions, such as, 'Have the starving children in Africa brought their plight upon themselves through the power of their thoughts?'

Magnetic Pulses may Help Insomniacs

During research into the purpose and benefits of sleep, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that stimulating the brain with harmless magnetic pulses induces slow waves to move across the entire brain - just like they do in deep sleep. This could lead to a device to help the chronically sleep deprived achieve a deep restful sleep as well as future applications for sleeping device that allow you to achieve the benefits of a full night's sleep in only a few hours.

As one of the chronically sleep deprived who sleeps in a shallow state and dreams almost continuously I have to say this device sounds extremely exciting. One of the interesting aspects of the study, is that scientists are still learning the exact purpose of sleep and the reasons for different state changes during sleep.