Saturday, December 31, 2016
DREAMWALKING Webinar Audio Recording and Free Streaming Video
DREAMWALKING Webinar Archive On 11 December 2016 (Taipei time), Brian David Phillips conducted a webinar on DREAMWALKING: An Introduction to Experiential Shared Dreams via online chat at (Best Results if You Enter On Time To Avoid Weird LAG). We discuss the nature of DREAMWALKING and how to use experiential ecstatic trance methods to create various…
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December 31, 2016 at 06:49PM
NCCU English Virtual Reality Day in 360°
Welcome to VIRTUAL REALITY DAY at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. On 28 December 2016, I brought a slew of Google Cardboard VR Viewers to class and students in my Communication course got to share their experiences with one another! The short video is a highlight slideshow of photos. In any case, watch the…
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December 31, 2016 at 01:48PM
Dark Days: An Alaska Vacation
And you thought your kids were the only ones scared of the dark.
Think again.
Venturing to the Last Frontier last week, I braced for Palinesque politics, rampaging moose, and brutal weather shrouded in Alaska darkness. While I was confident the scenery would dazzle, would the omnipresent snow and chill prove too much? Bundling up in my warmest fleeces, I could prepare for the foreboding weather. But mentally, well, we would see.
While pasty snowbirds descend on tropical destinations this holiday season, I ventured north — first to Sitka, Anchorage, and then Fairbanks. Yes, I am a glutton for punishment. And, as my friends reminded me, bone-rattling cold and ice-coated roads.
Thumbing through a Lonely Planet guidebook is one thing; experiencing Alaska’s biting cold and dreary nights is entirely different. Stepping off the Anchorage flight, its darkness enveloped me. At 9:30 AM. Yes, this vacation would test my mental fortitude.
Growing up in Iowa, the interminable winters would induce an energy-drooping paralysis. Glancing outdoors at the wintry conditions, I would retreat into my cozy apartment. In these comfy confines, I would munch on corn chips, mindlessly surf the Internet, and — yes — succumb to depressive/anxious thoughts.
Would Alaska be different? And, if so, what lessons could I learn from the frozen tundra — assuming I could rouse myself from its dreary darkness.
In Alaska’s unforgiving winter, the sun is an endangered species. Hopscotching from Sitka to Anchorage to Fairbanks, its appearance was a mere rumor. Most days the sun would appear for an hour or two before beating a hasty retreat. Perhaps the sun, like me, just wanted to snuggle with a hot chocolate and good book. The only respite from the winter blues: a one-way ticket to the Lower 48. My return ticket, however, was a blustery week away.
As reality — like a winter storm — socked me in the face, I braced for Alaska’s cold bleakness. Warily eyeing the weather forecast, I wanted my vacation to consist of more than stale TV reruns and soggy pizza delivery. My strategy for survival and, yes, enjoyment in Alaska’s barren tundra: spend as much time as possible outside. Dubbing my strategy Northern Exposure, I emulated those hearty Alaskans draped in head to toe fleece. Waddling out of my hotel every morning — and, yes, bearing a striking resemblance to the Michelin Man, I greeted the dark winter with a shivering smile.
In contrast to my rental car, my mood did not capitulate to Alaska’s icy conditions. Here’s what helped me navigate Alaska’s impenetrable chill — tow truck sold separately:
- Adopting the hostel policy. In Sitka, the hostel shuttered its doors from 10 AM-6 PM. Unable to languish inside the hostel, I busied myself with Alaska’s medley of outdoor activities. As I hiked Alaska’s treacherous trials, I felt reinvigorated. The bitter cold? Here’s my prescription: layer up.
- Expose yourself to new. Trekking to Sitka, Anchorage, and Fairbanks for the first time, my mind was Mensa sharp. Why? The breathtaking surroundings, wildlife sightings, and snowy terrain absorbed my attention. Alaska’s newness riveted me. And once I became too comfortable, the next adventure beckoned. When a dull routine saps my energy, I descend into counterproductive habits: mindless Internet surfing and binge TV watching. My new routine? Try not having one.
From Anchorage to Albany and everywhere in between, old man winter has returned with a snarling vengeance. But just because old man winter has reared its winter fangs, it doesn’t mean that you have to act like an old man. So close the Internet browser, delete that Netflix account, and plan your own travel misadventure. Lonely Planet is a guidebook, not your life’s title.
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December 31, 2016 at 10:26AM
Are You an Approval Addict?
- Do you have a strong need for approval from others?
- Do you worry a lot about what others think of you?
- Do you have difficulty saying “no” to others, but feel sad when they don’t respond in kind?
If so, it’s time for you to chill out before you burn out. For, seeking approval from others is draining, diminishing and invariably disappointing.
- Draining because you use up so much energy seeking approval that you can’t focus on what’s really important to you.
- Diminishing because your needs often end up at the bottom of the pile.
- Disappointing because no matter how hard you try, some people still won’t like you, appreciate what you do, or value your opinion.
So, if you want to break your approval addiction, read on…
1. Instead of looking outward, go inward and reflect on how you want to live your life.
If you find yourself living your life to accommodate others or chasing pursuits just to fit in or gain acceptance, stop. Though it may initially feel warm and fuzzy to win another’s favor, reflect on whether it’s worth it in the long run. If you do decide to say “yes” to what others want, make sure it fits into your time schedule and is, at least partially, on your terms. Rather than taking on tasks simply to please another, aim toward living by the rules that make sense to you.
Nix the guilt if you didn’t do what someone else wanted. Nix the fear of offending others. In no way am I suggesting that you aim to be a self-centered, egotistical person. Being a generous, giving person is an admirable quality. But accommodating others just to win their approval or to prove your worthiness is another matter.
2. Know when and how to say “no.” The ability to say “no” — especially when you’re thinking “no” — will reap unexpected benefits. Here are just a few:
- Your “yes” will be more respected by others, as those who can’t say “no” are often treated as doormats.
- Saying “no” will help you set reasonable limits on your time and energy.
- Saying “no” will help you build character. Character is weakened by saying “yes” to everyone and everything.
Learn the many ways to say “no.” Most will fit into one of these four categories:
- A polite “no” “
No, but thanks for thinking of me.” - A “no” with an Explanation
“No, I’d like to join you but I just don’t have the time.” - A “no” with an Alternative Proposal
“No, I can’t drive you now but I’ll be available in an hour.” - A Blunt “NO”
“No, I won’t do it.” As a pleaser, you’ll probably use this type of “no” sparingly, saving it for those who brush off your initial “no.”
Grant yourself the freedom to use whatever type of “no” best fits your mood and situation.
3. Give yourself the approval that you seek from others.
We live in a culture in which it’s easy to feel frazzled and fried. Work harder! Faster! Better! Though this is troubling for many, it’s particularly tough for an approval junkie. Why? Because approval seekers are prone to assuming an abundance of responsibility. Add on your dislike of disappointing others and life can easily get out of hand. You know what I’m talking about, right? In your saner moments, you do know that you can’t do everything. So, if something has to give, make sure it’s not your good feelings about yourself.
Remember, always, always, always treat yourself with respect. Know your worth. Value your time. Make choices that are right for you. Instead of feeling pressured to go along with something you don’t want to do, speak up. Give yourself the kindness, acceptance and approval that you’re seeking from others.
“People often say that a person has not yet found himself.
But the self is not something that one finds.
It is something that one creates.”
~ Thomas Szasz
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December 31, 2016 at 06:39AM
A Highly Valued Personality Trait That Sadly Increases The Risk of Suicide
This hidden cause of suicide might surprise you.
Perfectionism is a bigger risk factor in suicide than is often thought, according to new research.
Perfectionism involves being highly self-critical, constantly striving to meet the standards of others (typically parents or mentors) and being unsure about the efficacy of one’s own actions.
While a certain amount of perfectionism is adaptive and necessary, when it becomes an obsession, it can lead to a vicious cycle.
People in professions which have a strong emphasis on perfectionism — like lawyers, architects and physicians — are at a higher risk of suicide.
Professor Gordon Flett of York University, who co-authored the study, said:
“Perfectionism is the need to be – or to appear – perfect.
Perfectionists are persistent, detailed and organized high achievers.
Perfectionists vary in their behaviors: some strive to conceal their imperfections; others attempt to project an image of perfection.
But all perfectionists have in common extremely high standards for themselves or for others.”
It’s not hard to see how setting impossibly high standards for yourself would sometimes lead to negative feelings when these standards are not met.
Professor Flett continued:
“We summarize data showing consistent links between perfectionism and hopelessness and discuss the need for an individualized approach that recognizes the heightened risk for perfectionists.”
The research finds that people who feel strong social pressure to be perfect are at increased risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts (Flett et al., 2014).
At the same time, perfectionists are adept at hiding these feelings from others — after all, it would contradict their perfectionist persona to admit to suicidal thoughts.
Perfectionists like to maintain a mask of cool invulnerability to others, while inside their thoughts and emotions are anything but calm.
Professor Flett continued:
“They also tend to experience hopelessness, psychological pain, life stress, overgeneralization, and a form of emotional perfectionism that restricts the willingness to disclose suicidal urges and intentions.”
Ironically, if they decide to commit suicide, their perfectionism can lead to very thorough and precise plans for suicide.
* Ten Signs Your a Perfectionist
Professor Flett gives these tell-tale signs of perfectionism:
- You can’t stop thinking about a mistake you made.
- You are intensely competitive and can’t stand doing worse than others.
- You either want to do something “just right” or not at all.
- You demand perfection from other people.
- You won’t ask for help if asking can be perceived as a flaw or weakness.
- You will persist at a task long after other people have quit.
- You are a fault-finder who must correct other people when they are wrong.
- You are highly aware of other people’s demands and expectations.
- You are very self-conscious about making mistakes in front of other people.
- * You noticed the error in the title of this list.
Image credit: Billy Wilson
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December 31, 2016 at 06:20AM
What I Learned about Politeness at a Korean Flower Shop
You're reading What I Learned about Politeness at a Korean Flower Shop, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
We take it for granted that people should know how to be polite. It seems like something universal: You say please and thank you, you smile, and you tell people you’re doing well when they ask how you are, even if your life is in turmoil. At least that’s how it works in the West. I’ve been living in Korea for the past year and a bit and it’s a little different over here. Koreans have a distinct way of saying "Yes" to each other that sounds like a dismissive grunt to the native English speaker. When my girlfriend and I first started dating, for example, I’d ask if she wanted to have pizza for dinner. “Uh,” she’d reply, and it took me a while to learn that this meant yes. Naturally, as we spent more time together, I began using “Uh” myself. Eventually it became unconscious; without noticing I would grunt “Uh” whenever I wanted to say yes to something.Why was this an issue?
I’m used to expressing politeness by using the word, “Please,” or excessively apologizing like the good Canadian boy I am. But in Korea I’m often at a loss because there’s no real word for “Please” in Korean, and if you say “Sorry” without having actually done anything to apologize for, you just seem strange and silly. Instead, politeness in Korean is expressed using different word endings. There are essentially three levels—casual, everyday formal, and super formal—and in each level you would end the last word of your sentence in a different way. It’s a little confusing, but for the sake of this story all you need to know is that using “Uh” to say “Yes” is something you would do only when speaking to someone younger than you or someone who you know very well. You would use a different word to say “Yes” in more formal situations.The other week I went to a flower shop.
There was an old Korean couple inside sitting behind the register. They were eating noodles together silently. I smiled, said hello, and began browsing the flower display. The old lady rose from her seat and asked me in Korean if I’d like to buy the bouqet that I was looking at. “Uh,” I said, without noticing. She began preparing the flowers. As she did I noticed a sour look on her husband’s face as he sucked up a few noodles from his bowl. “Would you like to pay by card?” she asked me. “Uh.” I smiled and handed her my card. Now her face looked sour too. I tried making small talk with them in Korean—something I’ve found usually delights the elderly couples here as they watch me struggle to form sentences. This time, however, I barely received a response. I sensed something was wrong. “Would you like a receipt?” she asked in a tone that seemed rather harsh. “Uh,” I said. She gave me the receipt and sat back down without thanking me or saying goodbye. I eventually figured it out as I replayed the scene in my head on the walk home. Worst of all was that I had no idea how many times I’d done the same thing to others; I imagined the number to be high. I consider myself to be a reasonably polite person, yet here I was in Korea, walking around grunting “Uh” at elders like an asshole.Politeness is often one of the first things lost in translation, as it turns out.
So the next time you see a foreigner acting in a way that seems rude in your own country, perhaps they’ve just misunderstood some of the dos and don’ts of your culture. Maybe they really do mean well and are just confused about how to express their good intentions. Maybe they aren’t accustomed to all of the strange things we do that seem normal to us. …Or maybe that particular person really just is a dick. Who knows. ;)My name is Jacob. I'm fascinated by all of the strange things we often tell ourselves that prevent us from doing what we want to do in life. Soon-to-be blogger at pooroldme.com Check me out here.
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December 31, 2016 at 06:02AM
Today's Apps Gone Free: Lose Weight Hypnosis, 17 Day Diet Complete, TextGrabber and More - AppAdvice
Today's Apps Gone Free: Lose Weight Hypnosis, 17 Day Diet Complete, TextGrabber and More
AppAdvice Lose weight through hypnosis, start your diet on the right foot, and digitize printed text with today's collection of apps. All app prices are subject to change at any time and without notice regardless of stated free duration. Price changes are solely ... |
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December 31, 2016 at 03:26AM
432 Hz SLEEP MUSIC ⧊ STRESS OUT - CALM INSIDE ⧊ POWERFUL Healing Meditation Music
Abraham Hicks 2016 - Don't be so hard on yourself or others (new)
Happy, Prosperous and Sharp 2017!
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December 31, 2016 at 02:31AM
Turning New Years Resolutions into Healthy Habits that Last with More Ease and Less Willpower
I just had an animated conversation with my 21 year old nephew who is overseas at golf university. He rang me because he is excited about a breathing technique he has been researching and wanted to know if I knew much about it. I said I would research it too and we can have another conversation soon.
We started talking about his determination to improve his golf, his well-being and his success in life. And the challenges he faces on that path. He spoke of how much he loves practicing golf — how he feels “in the zone” and that this feeling alludes him when the time comes to perform in a graded tournament. How he can be looking at the ball and feel like everything starts to fall apart — he said it spirals downwards and he can’t seem to stop it happening. He gets frustrated and asks himself why he did that. He said sometimes it’s like that with his mood off the golf course too. Many of us can relate to that experience!
He talked about his determination to study hard for his exams but how easily distracted he becomes and how readily he — and so many of us — justify the next 45 minutes we spend on Facebook even though we wish we were doing what we set out to do.
This whole conversation reminded me of our love affair with New Year’s Resolutions and that urge we often feel at this time of year to really commit to our goals with enthusiasm — and the disappointment and frustration with ourselves when it all trickles away to nothing.
I get excited for people like my nephew who have such high awareness of what is going on, and a similarly high level of motivation and determination to “make it work this time” because I know that with the right skills and tools in their hands, they will be able to achieve great things and become the master of their own destiny.
So we talked about what he was doing that was already working. What he knew about mindfulness and how developing the ability — the discipline — to control where you place your attention — removing it from something unhelpful like worry and self-critical thoughts and placing it on something helpful like your steady breath, the golf ball and the visceral memory of what flow feels like — is like getting back into the drivers’ seat of your own mind and life and maintaining that flow under pressure.
We talked about many of the things I have written about before that help us succeed with our New Year’s Resolutions and as we were talking I realized I wanted to add more emphasis to some parts of the process I had outlined two years ago. I won’t repeat anything I have said before – but do read it, it still applies. This is just fleshing it out a bit more:
The power of visualization:
Visualization helps us achieve our goals in a number of ways.
I have already described a process for doing this in a gentler, kinder and more accepting way. This is important so that we are not consolidating an aggressive and rejecting relationship with any part of ourselves in the goals that we set. Clarifying our intention
is not something you only do once, when you are deciding what your New Year’s Resolution is going to be. This is something to do every day. I find the best time to do this is upon waking.
2: Connecting to our personal values:
My nephew spoke of how easily he resisted junk food now that he was living away from home. When we dug a little deeper, it was at least partially because he valued his health and fitness, did not want to undo the good work he does at the gym and didn’t want to waste money when he could cook at home more affordably. Three values he was very clear about. (It was also about being in an environment that supported this action rather than one where he is surrounded by every unhealthy option you can imagine: so review your environment and make sure it is supporting your intention, not undermining it).
If you can visualize your New Year’s Resolution in terms of how it is living any of your deeply held values you will find it easier to act in accordance with those values and stick to the resolution. As my nephew said — it just feels good. This translates into more ease and less willpower required — you are moving towards your values not away from something you crave, which takes an enormous amount of energy on an ongoing basis. Accomplishing goals often involves sacrificing other things that would distract you from that goal, so being connected to your values is one important way of making sure the sacrifice is worth it.
3: Painting a Picture of Success: Visualize yourself having achieved your goal. Every day. Multiple times a day if possible. For my nephew, he can use the detailed experience of “flow” when he practices to help paint a picture of that happening during tournaments. This is more than the popular notion of “if you dream it, it will come”. This is about using the power of visualization and repetition of that to increase the likelihood that you will accomplish your goal. Every day you show up with clarity and commitment to accomplish to goal. You map out the path to take. You take steps towards that every day.
The power of self compassion:
When my nephew described what happens when he loses his flow on the golf course I was reminded of what I often hear from others — our tendency to respond harshly to ourselves in difficult moments. To reprimand ourselves for not performing well, for making a mistake or for simply not knowing what to do when the important moment arrives.
We know from the work of Kristin Neff that soothing our pain and being supportive towards ourselves makes it far more likely that we will continue to do what it takes to achieve our goal rather than the harsh “tough love” stance we often take towards ourselves. We will be more accepting that mistakes are part of learning and be less thrown into turmoil when they happen along the way. We also know it is associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, rumination, shame, self-criticism, fear of failure, and burnout. Not surprisingly it has also consistently been found to be related to well-being.
Having a “go to” way of soothing ourselves is an important element of any New Year’s Resolution and I recommend the practices I describe here or here as a starting point — putting it into your own words of course.
The power of stable attention and focus:
Like most of us, my nephew feels easily distracted. He WANTS to study but his mind wanders elsewhere. Mindfulness is the best training for regaining choice about where to place your attention because it helps you exercise your attention muscles – and your ability to focus and maintain your focus improves.
Without this ability to attend and focus you are unlikely to accomplish any significant goal. You have to be present to learn things that will help you progress. You have to notice that your attention has wandered so you can gently bring it back.
You can choose to move your attention away from thinking habits like worry, rumination (eg going over past failures) self consciousness ( eg performance anxiety) or self criticism — and place it back on your goal mastery. These thinking habits make us psychologically vulnerable and undermine our best selves. But with training in mindfulness and self compassion, they can be shifted.
The power of gratitude and celebration:
One of the things that often short circuits our New Year’s Resolutions is a feeling of lack. Of scarcity. Our mind has a negativity bias and its’ default state is one where it scans for problems to fix. Noticing the gap between where we are and where we want to be can be depressing! If we dwell on the gap the way our mind naturally does, we can quickly find ourselves feeling dispirited and like it’s all too hard. We might give up.
If, on the other hand, we celebrate each success along the way with gratitude, soaking up the positives of that, we increase the likelihood that we will maintain our motivation towards the intention we have set — because it feels good! Revisiting our intention and the values it brings to life in the same way infuses our whole journey with positivity.
After all, it’s about the journey as well as the destination — so why not make it feel as good as it can along the way, especially as that will help you succeed.
May your New Year’s Resolutions bring out the best in you — with much greater ease.
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December 31, 2016 at 02:24AM
A new paper in JESP explores the role of social norms in regret of actions and inactions.
A community for those who are interested in the mind, brain, language and artificial intelligence.
Want to know more? Take a look at our reading list here. If you have any suggestions for further inclusions, post them here.
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December 31, 2016 at 01:42AM
HYPNOTIC NEW YEAR SPECIALS! AWESOME SAVINGS!
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December 31, 2016 at 01:16AM
Hypnosis, Clean Language and Social Impact
If you like this, please ‘like’ and share!
A few weeks back I shared a video of Hypnotist and Coach Scott Stroud talking about using Clean Language empowerment with a classic HWT style hypnotic handstick.
In this video, I am getting into a deeper conversation with Scott on Hypnosis, Clean Language and Social Impact.
Through this conversation we explore many subjects including the relationship between Hypnosis and Clean Language, David Grove’s approach versus Symbolic Modelling, Clean Language and John Overdurf’s Attention Shifting Coaching (also known – by Igor Ledochowski – as ‘Mind Bending Language‘), approaches to learning, application of skills for social impact and outcome thinking in politics.
NOTE: If you would like to connect with the power of Clean Language in Hypnotic Changework, I invite you to attend Clean Language for Hypnotists – 2 days with James Tripp and Judy Rees, Live at Regent’s University, London (28th/29th January).
AND: To Learn about Scott’s Project: http://ift.tt/2iAnZ7x
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December 31, 2016 at 12:56AM
Police-Led Addiction Program Proves Successful
About 95 percent of individuals who came to the Gloucester Police Department in Massachusetts for help getting addiction treatment were placed in detoxification or substance-use treatment programs during the first year of a widely publicized initiative aimed at combating the opioid epidemic, according to a new report by Boston University researchers.
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the report notes that the “high direct-referral rate” by Gloucester police exceeds that of hospital-based initiatives designed to provide immediate access to detoxification and treatment.
“Despite the many barriers, including previous arrests, that may prevent persons with an opioid-use disorder from engaging with police, 376 people sought help in the first year of this program,” according to the report.
Researchers credited a number of factors for the program’s success, including the motivation of participants to enter treatment, work by police to find placements and establish a relationship with a local treatment center, and state-mandated insurance covering drug detoxification.
The police department began the initiative in June 2015. Dubbed the Angel Program, the initiative encourages people with opioid use disorder to come to the police department and ask for treatment help, with no threat of arrest. Officers work to place the substance users in local treatment programs immediately.
From June 2015 through May of this year, more than 370 people came to police for assistance, according to the report. About half had previous drug arrests, and 83 percent reported last using opioids within a day of seeking help.
Most of those requesting help (78 percent) reported injecting heroin, while 25 percent were using prescription opioids.
About a third came from Essex County, including Gloucester; 41 percent came from other parts of the state.
In 94.5 percent of cases in which a person asked for assistance, police offered a direct treatment placement. Of those offered placements, 95 percent entered their assigned program.
Additionally, 10 percent of participants came back to police after they relapsed for additional help, according to the researchers.
According to lead author Davida Schiff, MD, a pediatric fellow at Boston Medical Center, the results indicate that the program has filled a needed gap in accessing substance-use treatment services.
She and senior author David Rosenbloom, a professor of health law, policy and management at the university’s School of Public Health, noted that more than 150 other police departments in 28 states have adopted similar programs.
“When the Gloucester police chief went on Facebook to announce that his officers were going to place individuals into treatment instead of jail, he changed the conversation about how communities should deal with the disease of addiction,” Rosenbloom said. “As a result, lives are being saved every day all over the country.”
Schiff said the power of the Gloucester model “has been to meet people where they are and to provide treatment on demand, 24 hours a day, when individuals present motivated to seek care.”
Additional points of access “to a complicated, hard-to-navigate treatment system” are critical, she added.
Police departments that have adopted the model say the Gloucester approach is a promising way to address the epidemic of heroin and prescription pain pills, which killed more than 47,000 people nationwide in 2014 — more than died in car accidents, homicides or suicides.
More than 200 treatment centers across the country have signed on as partners.
From 2009 through 2013, only 21 percent of people with opioid-use disorders received any type of treatment, according to a previous study.
Source: Boston University Medical Center
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December 31, 2016 at 12:54AM
#ASMR Roleplay hypnosis; College Student hypnotize you for psychology experiment #hypnosis #NLP
Hearing Problems in Schizophrenia Patients Tied to Specific Brain Receptor
A lesser-known but common and debilitating symptom in schizophrenia patients is the inability to hear subtle changes in pitch. Now a new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) shows that this condition may be due to dysfunctional N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) brain receptors. The researchers say this hearing issue may be improved by combining auditory training exercises with a drug that targets NMDA receptors.
“Slight variations in our tone of voice are an important way of communicating emotions, such as happiness or sadness,” said lead author Joshua T. Kantrowitz, MD, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at CUMC.
“This inability to detect subtle changes in pitch can also make it difficult to “sound out” words while reading, with over 70 percent of patients meeting criteria for dyslexia and further exacerbating communication problems in social and work situations. But while psychiatrists have recommended medications for symptom control, these treatments have not addressed the underlying auditory deficits.”
For the study, the researchers compared auditory plasticity (the ability to learn from hearing tasks) in 40 stabilized schizophrenia patients and 42 healthy controls. Each participant listened to a series of tone pairs and was asked to indicate which tone was higher. Depending on the participant’s performance, the difficulty of the task was changed for the next pair of tones. When subjects correctly identified the higher tone, the pitch difference in subsequent tone pairs decreased; when subjects were incorrect, the tones were moved further apart.
In the first tone sample, there was a 50 percent difference in the pitch of the tones (e.g., 1,000 Hz and 1,500 Hz). On average, the healthy controls were able to discern between tones with a difference in pitch as little as 3 percent, while patients with schizophrenia did not improve as much, detecting an average 16 percent difference in pitch.
“People with normal auditory plasticity usually get better at discriminating between the two tones as the test progresses, reflecting the ability to learn,” said Kantrowitz. “And that was the case with the healthy controls in our study.”
EEG recordings taken during the exercises also revealed that the schizophrenia patients had lower brainwave activity than the controls. Lower brainwave activity is connected to impaired auditory sensory cortex functioning and a reduced response to the training exercises.
The research team suspected that the schizophrenia patients’ inability to improve their pitch discrimination was due to dysfunction in the NMDA receptors, which are critical for learning and memory. If their hypothesis was true, then improving NMDA activity would also enhance their ability to detect variation in pitch.
To test this theory, some schizophrenia patients in the study were given D-serine, an amino acid that activates NMDA receptors, once a week for up to three weeks, while others were given a placebo. In patients who took D-serine for two consecutive weeks, their ability to detect pitch significantly improved. No improvement was seen in patients who took D-serine only once or in those who took a placebo.
“It remains to be seen whether D-serine or another NMDA-activating drug is best suited for this purpose,” said Kantrowitz. “What’s important is that we now know that people with schizophrenia can improve their pitch detection with a combination of auditory training exercises and repeated doses of a learning-enhancing drug that effects the NMDA receptor.”
The findings are published online in the journal Brain.
Source: Columbia University Medical Center
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December 31, 2016 at 12:04AM
Did Carrie Fisher's Bipolar Disorder Contribute to Her Death?
Actress and writer Carrie Fisher, who died earlier this week after suffering a cardiac event on a flight, was not only an entertainment icon, but also a prominent mental health advocate. Fisher was well known for being outspoken about her experiences with drug and alcohol addiction and bipolar disorder, which she was diagnosed with in her early twenties, and she frequently wrote about them in articles and her best-selling 2008 memoir Wishful Drinking (Simon & Schuster). Her voice countered the stigma surrounding psychiatric disorders and helped support others with similar struggles—sometimes directly.
In an advice column she wrote for The Guardian just last month Fisher offered guidance to a young adult with bipolar disorder. In it, she explains that she initially rejected the bipolar disorder diagnosis she received at the age of 24, only accepting it at age 28, “when I overdosed and finally got sober. Only then was I able to see nothing else could explain away my behavior.” She emphasized the importance of connecting with others who have the disorder, adding, “We have been given a challenging illness, and there is no other option than to meet those challenges.”
Some have conjectured that Fisher’s earlier substance abuse and struggles with her weight may have contributed to her death, with medical doctors weighing in about the cardiovascular dangers of cocaine in particular. Though these hypotheses are speculative, one possibility that has been overlooked is the influence of her bipolar disorder, which has been linked in several studies to cardiovascular disease and mortality.
This association “has been confirmed in representative and population-wide studies and approximates a two-fold increased risk—that is, persons with bipolar disorder are about twice as likely to develop or die from cardiovascular disease than would otherwise be expected,” says Jess Fiedorowicz, an associate professor of psychiatry, internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Iowa, who published a study on this topic in 2009 in Psychosomatic Medicine. “Importantly, the onset of cardiovascular disease occurs very prematurely among people with bipolar disorder, up to 17 years earlier than in the general population,” adds Benjamin Goldstein, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Toronto, who published a related study in 2015 in Circulation.
The possible factors underlying the connection are numerous and often overlapping. “Negative lifestyle behaviors, including suboptimal nutrition, being sedentary, cigarette smoking, and excessive use of alcohol and substances are more common among people with bipolar disorder,” says Goldstein. “The distress of the mood symptoms of mania and depression that define bipolar disorder, and the life stress that occurs as a consequence of symptoms, further adds to cardiovascular risk.”
Additionally, individuals with bipolar disorder are less likely to be screened for cardiovascular disease risk factors. “Even when these risk factors are identified, they are less likely to be prescribed the appropriate treatments, and patients may be less likely to consistently adhere to them” when they are prescribed the right medications, notes Fiedorowicz. In addition, many of the medications used to treat bipolar disorder may cause adverse effects “such as weight gain, increases in triglycerides, diabetes mellitus and even sudden cardiac death due to arrhythmia,” he says. Another potential influence is bipolar disorder’s effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the autonomic nervous system, which are activated both by acute stress and by bipolar mood states.
The magnitude of the elevated heart disease risk in people with bipolar disorder, however, exceeds the effects of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, suggesting the possibility of shared causes between the two diseases. “For example, episodes of mania and depression have been linked with increased levels of inflammation, which in turn is known to increase the risk of heart disease,” explains Goldstein. “There is also evidence of problems with the function and structure of blood vessels among people with bipolar disorder, and this occurs in the brain as well as the body.” He and colleagues are currently exploring the role of tiny “microvessels” in these processes.
Future research should focus on exploring these and other possible mechanisms, as well as interventional studies regarding targeted cardiovascular risk reduction strategies that would “take into consideration barriers to optimal heart health that are unique to people with bipolar disorder,” Goldstein says. On the treatment front, there is also a “need to disseminate the types of health care delivery models that can provide integrated psychiatric and other medical care to those with bipolar and related disorders,” Fiedorowicz adds.
While Fisher fit the bill for at least several of these risk factors at different points in her life, there is no definitive way to know whether her bipolar disorder or addiction history contributed to her death. It is clear, though, that an invaluable advocate for mental health has been lost. In that November column in The Guardian, she told the advice-seeker, “Think of [your diagnosis] as an opportunity to be heroic… an emotional survival. An opportunity to be a good example to others who might share our disorder.” She certainly accomplished that in her own life.
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December 30, 2016 at 11:25PM
How We Get Our ETA Right or Wrong
To get to work on time, people tend to rely on estimates of how long the drive took last time. But different outside influences such as how many songs played on the radio last time can skew our perception of time, causing even the best-laid plans to go awry, according to time-management researchers at Washington University in St. Louis.
“Our results suggest time estimates of tasks that we need to incorporate into our later plans, like a drive to an appointment, are often based on our memory of how long it took us to perform that same drive previously,” said Dr. Emily Waldum, principal author of the paper and a postdoctoral researcher in psychological and brain sciences.
“Even if you think you estimated the duration of events accurately, external factors unrelated to that event can bias time estimates,” she said. “Something as simple as the number of songs you heard play on your phone during a run can influence whether you over- or under-estimate the duration of the run.”
Furthermore, growing older appears to alter one’s “prospective memory,” a term psychologists use to describe the process of remembering to do something in the future.
Waldum and co-author Dr. Mark McDaniel, a professor of psychological and brain sciences, designed this study to tease out differences in how people young and old approach a challenge that requires them to plan ahead and complete a series of time-based tasks by a specific deadline.
The study involved 36 college undergraduates and 34 healthy older adults in their 60s, 70s and 80s. It aimed to simulate the complicated time-based prospective memory (TBPM) challenges that people old and young experience in everyday life.
First, participants were asked to keep track of how long it took to complete a trivia quiz. The quiz always ran 11 minutes, but participants had to estimate the time without access to a clock. Some completed the quiz with no background noise, while others heard either two long songs or four short songs.
Next, the volunteers were asked to put together as many pieces of a puzzle as possible while still leaving enough time to complete the same quiz before a 20-minute deadline.
The study showed that each age group used surprisingly different strategies to estimate how much time they would need to repeat the quiz and finish the next phase of the experiment on deadline. Furthermore, contrary to previous research, the older people completed the tasks at about the same rate as the college undergraduates.
One important finding was that older adults tended to ignore the songs playing in the background, and relied instead on an internal clock to estimate how long it would take to complete the first quiz.
Consistent with other research on internal clocks and time perception, seniors in this experiment were more likely to underestimate time taken on the first quiz. This led them to spend a little too much time on the puzzle and to finish the second quiz a bit beyond deadline.
Interestingly, older adults performed about the same, regardless of whether they heard songs or not. For young people though, background music played a big role in whether they were too early or too late, Waldum said.
“When younger adults heard two long songs during the first quiz, they performed a lot like older adults, underestimating the quiz duration and winding up a bit late,” Waldum said. “When they heard four short songs, younger adults overestimated how much time they would need to repeat the quiz leading them to finish it too early.”
While the challenges of being on time may remain largely the same throughout a lifetime, this study suggests that the tricks we use to stay on schedule may evolve as we age.
The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Source: Washington University in St. Louis
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December 30, 2016 at 11:22PM
Psychology Around the Net: December 31, 2016
Happy New Year, sweet readers!
For a variety of understandable reasons, I know many of you are glad to see 2016 end.
The other night, I was talking (ranting) to my beau about how horrible this year has been and how I can’t wait for it to end because it just can’t get any worse when — BOOM! — common sense knocked me right upside the noggin mid-sentence.
- Sure, some bad things have happened, but so have some good. I am sad some of my favorite actors and musicians died. I am elated none of my family and friends died.
- Yes, it can get worse. The world didn’t end. As long as you’re still alive, you can find — or create — some happiness for yourself and for others.
- Every year brings its own mix of good and bad. When the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. January 1, 2017, trust and believe that a whole new mix of good and bad awaits. Happiness, joy, success, misery, disappointment, defeat — none of them rely on our piddly little time system to make their arrival.
Ah, perspective.
With that in mind, let’s dive into some of this week’s latest on the why we need to stop saying 2016 was the worst year ever, the role your brain plays in sabotaging resolutions, what you should look for when you travel memory lane (and why), and more!
Stop Saying That 2016 Was the ‘Worst Year’: Max Roser, an economist and media critic at the University of Oxford, explains why “Americans have such a negative view,” basically pointing the finger at a lack of knowledge about the changing world due to current media structure (i.e. focusing on negative news as quickly as possible) and warning that “if we are not aware of our history and produce and demand only the information on what goes wrong, we risk to lose faith in one another.”
Why Your Brain Makes New Year’s Resolutions Impossible to Keep: “This phenomenon—using how we feel in the moment to predict how we will feel in the future—is called affective forecasting. And it makes sense: When you make a New Year’s resolution, you feel good about it at that moment, so you predict that you are going to feel good about it in the future. But when you actually go to do that resolution, the action itself doesn’t make you feel good (or at least not as good as sitting on the couch makes you feel). So you put it off.”
10 Tips for Setting and Sticking to Goals in 2017: So, on the above note, what are some ways we can set the best goals for us and achieve them (and remember that slipping up isn’t the end).
What You Should Reflect On When You Look Back at the Past Year: Here’s something to think about as you plan your itinerary for your next stroll down memory lane: a new study found that people who focused on positive aspects of their pasts — such as certain problem-solving achievements and the moments during which they defined their identity — “have higher self-esteem, self-efficacy, and a general sense of meaning in life.”
2017: Wellness, Health and Happiness: Several top wellness experts weigh in on how we can focus on — and succeed at — improving our health, healing, and happiness in the year to come.
10 Must-Read Brain Science And Psychology Studies Of 2016: Get a quick rundown of some of 2016’s most interesting studies including the relationship between marijuana and the fight against Alzheimer’s, genetic links to depression and happiness, why it’s so hard to break your dependency to sugar, and more.
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December 30, 2016 at 10:38PM
Psychiatric Conditions May Up Risk of Opioid Use
A wide range of pre-existing psychiatric and behavioral conditions, as well as the use of psychoactive drugs, could be important risk factors leading to long-term use of opioid pain medications, according to new research.
For the study, published in PAIN, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), researchers used a nationwide insurance database to identify 10.3 million patients who filed insurance claims for opioid prescriptions between 2004 and 2013.
“We found that pre-existing psychiatric and behavioral conditions and psychoactive medications were associated with subsequent claims for prescription opioids,” said Patrick D. Quinn, Ph.D., of Indiana University.
The association appears stronger for long-term opioid use, and especially for patients with a previous history of substance use disorders, the researchers discovered.
The study also suggests that some outcomes viewed as harmful outcomes of opioid use — substance use disorders, depression, suicidal or self-injuring behavior, and motor vehicle crashes — are also predictors of which patients are at risk of long-term use of prescription opioids.
Overall, the findings suggested a “modest” increase in any opioid prescriptions for patients with previous psychiatric or behavioral conditions — depression or anxiety disorders, opioid or other substance use disorders, suicide attempts or other self-injury, motor vehicle crashes, and sleep disorders — or use of psychoactive medications.
About 1.7 percent of patients with opioid prescriptions become long-term opioid users, defined as six months or longer.
But the risk became substantially higher for patients with mental health conditions or psychoactive medication use, according to the researchers.
Relative increases in rates of long-term opioid use ranged from 1.5 times for patients taking medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, to about three times for those with previous substance use disorders other than opioids, to nearly nine times for those with previous opioid use disorders, according to the study’s findings.
Amid the continuing opioid epidemic, it’s important to understand which patients are treated with these pain medications, the researchers noted.
Previous studies have suggested a pattern of “adverse selection” — where patients at greatest risk of harmful outcomes, including those with substance abuse and other psychiatric conditions, may be more likely to be prescribed opioids in higher doses and for longer durations.
“Our results add to existing evidence that the risk of long-term opioid receipt associated with [pre-existing] psychiatric and behavioral conditions is widespread and relates to multiple diagnoses and psychoactive medications,” Quinn and his coauthors wrote in the study.
“Our findings support the ideas that clinical practice has deviated from the ‘careful selection’ under which most clinical trials are conducted and that thorough mental health assessment and intervention should be considered in conjunction with the use of long-term opioid therapy,” the researchers concluded.
Source: Wolters Kluwer Health
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December 30, 2016 at 10:32PM
Healthful food perceptions influenced by price
Researchers find that the common 'lay theory' that healthful foods always cost more influences our perceptions of what foods are good for us.
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December 30, 2016 at 08:41PM
Find a sense of purpose and you’re more likely to get rich
As the dawn breaks on a new year, now might be a good time to think about what you want to get out of life over the longer-term. We already know from past research that having a greater “sense of purpose” is good for us psychologically: it’s linked with experiencing more positive emotions and generally feeling better about life. Now a study in the Journal of Research in Personality suggests there are material benefits too. Researchers followed the same sample of people over a period of about nine years, and they found that during that time, those individuals who reported a greater sense of purpose at the study start had accumulated greater wealth.
What does it mean to have a sense of purpose? Patrick Hill and his colleagues measured it by asking 7108 US residents to rate their agreement with three statements: “Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them”; “I live life one day at a time and don’t really think about the future”; and “I sometimes feel as if I’ve done all there is to do in life.” Participants were considered to have more sense of purpose if they agreed strongly with the first statement while disagreeing strongly with the last two.
The participants also completed a basic personality questionnaire, rated their life-satisfaction, and then answered questions about their income and accumulated wealth. At the study start, participants with more sense of purpose earned more and had accumulated more wealth, even after factoring out the influence of personality and life-satisfaction.
Between seven and ten years later, the researchers managed to re-interview nearly 5000 of the same participants. They found that those individuals who’d reported more sense of purpose at the study start had accumulated more wealth over this time period, and they experienced greater increases to their income. Again, this was true even after controlling for the influence of personality and life-satisfaction. Statistically speaking, a one standard deviation increase in purpose at the study start was associated with accumulating an extra $20,857 over the ensuing nine years or so of the study.
Breaking the results down by age group, the financial benefits of purpose were stronger older participants at the study start, but the purpose-related gains over time were greater for younger participants aged 20-35. In fact, for participants older than 35, there were no long-term benefits of purpose through the study, perhaps because they had already been accrued by the study start. These age-related findings suggest that a sense of purpose might have particularly strong financial consequences as people are starting out in their careers.
It’s a shame the researchers didn’t ask the participants about the content of their sense of purpose. For example, is it only job-related or money-related long-term objectives that are likely to aid wealth acquisition, or might similar benefits accrue from any kind of sense of purpose that engenders the pursuit of more constructive daily activities and a focus on the future? Hill and his team speculated a little vaguely that more purpose in life leads to greater wealth because it goes together with a greater capability and propensity to pursue long-term goals. They acknowledged some limitations of their findings, including the fact they relied on self-reports on wealth and income. “These caveats aside,” they concluded, “the current findings provide evidence that even when it comes to finances, finding a purpose in life appears to be well worth it.”
—The value of a purposeful life: Sense of purpose predicts greater income and net worth
Christian Jarrett (@Psych_Writer) is Editor of BPS Research Digest
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December 30, 2016 at 08:00PM
Friday, December 30, 2016
Abraham Hicks 2016 - New rampage of appreciation - Tapping into the knowing of who you are
417Hz Release Subconscious Fear & Trapped Negative Ennergy Dissolve Unwanted Patterns
New Years Eve: Happy New Year Chillout Music for Private Party
One Trait Successful People Share
“Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone”
The one trait successful people have is that they are willing to put up with being uncomfortable to get what they want. Successful people come up with ways to manage the uncertainty that makes them uncomfortable when they start something new and want to turn back.
Whether the end goal is a new lifestyle, job change, starting a new business, moving, or going back to school the road to end goal is tough. It can be characterized by self-doubt, regret, financial hardships, loss of social contact, anxiety, and sadness. But the reality is that all change, progress, and exciting things happen to you when you step outside of your comfort zone. That sounds easy enough — step outside of what you are comfortable with and the result will be amazing. However, the reality is somewhat uncomfortable, at least at first.
When you do something like leave the stable job you dislike to pursue your life dream it is hard. Exiting a job, even voluntarily, is emotionally grueling. It is frightening. It causes anxiety, and can even cause you to question your identity. Job separation, regardless of the events surrounding it, causes discomfort.
The reason is that discomfort or uneasiness happens when you have two or more conflicting thoughts. For example, there is a conflict between the need to separate from a miserable job to realize your life goal to be a nurse versus the need for stable income, belongingness, and identity. In another example, if you want to move to a new city you might find that you have conflict between the familiar and safe versus the risk of the new people and places. Change is scary. Unfamiliar faces and new responsibilities are unnerving. However, if all of us abandoned all changes immediately, because we were not comfortable right off the bat progress would be impossible.
The key is to manage the discomfort now so you can be in a better place a year down the road. So, how do we handle the discomfort now to get what we want in the future? First off,
“Don’t Call it a Dream, Call it a Plan”
- State what you want clearly in one sentence. Don’t over think it. Just write in down.
- Develop a plan. Dreams are business plans put into action.
- Exercise regularly. Exercise helps you handle uncertainty. It manages anxiety and eases depression. It increases your self-confidence and self-esteem. The bottom line is this: people who work out make more money than people who do not. People that exercise tend to be leaders. They also express greater overall life satisfaction – probably because they use exercise to handle the discomfort that comes with change, progress, and goal achievement.
- Celebrate the small victories. Relish in the daily victories. At the end of each week, document your achievements.
- Acknowledge your defeats. Accept responsibility. Figure out why they happened, and state what you learned from them. Make the necessary changes in your plan. Move on. Rumination or sitting around thinking about what happened will get you nowhere.
- Seek out the right social support. Surround yourself with people that can help you achieve your goal, have similar lifestyles or jobs, and support you to change.
- Minimize expenses. Successful people manage money well. When you are starting a new venture the last thing you need is a ton of bills piling up. Cut out unnecessary expenses. You will be amazed by how liberating it is!
- Remind yourself why you are pursuing the dream and making the change. You will second guess yourself. When you do state plainly why you want to pursue the goal, and revisit why you were not fully satisfied with you prior life.
Change is uncomfortable, but it is a part of success. Successful people tolerate the discomfort and manage it knowing that it will not last forever and there is a reward at the end.
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December 30, 2016 at 10:37AM
Want to Keep a New Year’s Resolution? How to Make It Right for YOU.
Many people make New Year’s resolutions, and many people get frustrated and abandon their New Year’s resolutions.
A common mistake? Setting up the resolution in the wrong way. We think we “should be able to” do it first thing in the morning, or we think we should imitate a resolution that works well for someone else.
But there’s no one, correct way. It’s just whatever works for us.
I know this, because I used to try to indulge moderately in sweets — but I’m an Abstainer. And I used to try to do difficult writing in the afternoon — but I’m a Lark. And I use to hold myself back from buying too much at one time — but I’m an Under-buyer. Etc. Now that I set up resolutions to suit my nature, I succeed much more often.
As you set up your resolutions, be sure to consider these distinctions, as outlined in the “Strategy of Distinctions” in my book Better Than Before, which is all about the multiple strategies we can exploit to change our habits.
Before you decide on the resolution you’ll make, consider…
–are you a Marathoner or Sprinter?
–are you a Simplcity-lover or Abundance-lover?
–are you a Finisher or Opener?
–are you an Abstainer or Moderator?
-are you an Under-buyer or Over-buyer?
As you’re thinking about these distinctions, it can be helpful to ask, “When have I succeeded with this resolution in the past?” If there was a time when you exercised regularly, cooked frequently, got enough sleep, etc., that might hold clues for how you might be able to do a better job in the present.
When we know ourselves, we can set up a resolution in the way that’s right for us. It’s not that hard to keep our resolutions, and to change our habits — when we know what to do.
The post Want to Keep a New Year’s Resolution? How to Make It Right for YOU. appeared first on Gretchen Rubin.
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December 30, 2016 at 10:30AM
Sleep Problems Healing Frequencies Meditation – Melt Tension, Calm Your Mind & Body
Surviving Infidelity Requires the Partner Who Strayed to Feel Genuine Remorse
There are many practical reasons why men and women who have an affair outside of their committed relationships might wish to reverse course, reconcile, and move forward with their legitimate partner.
Affairs frequently turn messy and almost always leave emotional destruction in their wake, especially if children are caught in the middle. Children too, have many issues when their family is afflicted with infidelity.
On top of the pain the betrayer inflicts, romantic liaisons can give rise to many practical hardships. These include financial entanglements, career and professional repercussions, health-related consequences, and social and community fallout.
No wonder if after “John” betrays his commitment to “Sue,” or vice versa, he might awaken one morning with a cold sweat of regret.
But it’s not enough.
If John merely wants to reestablish his relationship with Sue because he bemoans the negative chain reaction that his behavior has set in motion, this is insufficient, and Sue should have no part of it. As much as she might covet a return to her pre-infidelity relationship with John, there are important steps that he first must take if he is to be forgiven and if there is to be a realistic chance to repair and rebuild their couple. For John to just, “kiss and make up” is not enough to ensure a healthy future for him and his family.
Importantly, John must feel genuine remorse — in his heart — and recognize that the affair was wrong, a betrayal of the commitment implicit in his relationship with Sue, and deeply hurtful to her.
After many years of counseling couples whose relationships have been fractured by infidelity, I have identified 7 Survival Steps, which if carefully followed by both partners, provide the best chance of avoiding dissolution of the relationship. In fact, these 7 Survival Steps offer a path to move forward together as a caring, dedicated, and respectful couple.
Step #3, which I discuss in this article, is: The Partner Who Strayed Must Feel Genuine Remorse for His or Her Betrayal. [You can view all of my prior Psych Central articles on infidelity and other topics here: http://ift.tt/2igqaQ3]
For the sake of illustration, I use the names “John” and “Sue” when writing about infidelity. They are a fictional couple but represent a composite of many men and women who I’ve helped over the years. The examples I provide would be no different if the roles were reversed and it was John who was betrayed and Sue who strayed.
Too often, individuals who have an affair regret getting caught or regret hurting their partner, children, and other loved ones. They tell me time and again, “I never intended to cause so much damage.”
But before John and Sue can move on to the next of the 7 Survival Steps, John must take as much time as necessary to weigh his behavior and truly, to the depth of his bones, recognize that what he did was wrong and hurtful.
John must see firsthand how he has injured his wife. In essence, he must be prepared to experience Sue’s pain and to recognize the pain he has caused others and his family. To aid him, John and Sue together may want to work with an experienced and caring relationship specialist.
For many couples working alone and attempting to give John the necessary awareness of what Sue has been going through so he will have genuine remorse, can lead to arguing and further unintended injuries. That’s why a trained therapist is often necessary to keep things calm and safe.
In words and deeds, John must demonstrate genuine contrition for his actions. Anything less will not suffice.
The purpose of Step #3 is not to punish John or stigmatize him. The goal, above all others, is to prevent a reoccurrence. Only if, and when, John truly feels the error of his ways, can both John and Sue believe it is possible he will never again violate his commitment to her.
The final portion of Step # 3 is for John to ask Sue for forgiveness. In some cases, the partner who strays begins asking to be forgiven from Day One. But such requests are insufficient and don’t reflect an enlightened understanding of what the partner is requesting to be forgiven for. An initial apology and request for forgiveness is a good start. However there is much more work to be done if trust and love are to be reestablished.
John needs to do the work necessary to fully grasp the damage his bad behavior has caused. When Sue senses that he truly understands only then can she begin to feel there is hope for the two of them together. When John senses Sue’s “hope,” only then can he too begin to have hope himself that as a couple they will recover and he will be forgiven.
Are you or a family member struggling to cope with the aftermath of infidelity? I offer other helpful articles at SurvivingInfidelity.info.
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December 30, 2016 at 06:37AM
Best practices to fund, develop and commercialize evidence-based mental health innovation
In this session we discuss key lessons learned for scientists and start-ups to successfully bring to market evidence-based innovative solutions. We will present non-dilutive funding opportunities and commercialization resources offered through the US small business research programs, and a scientist and inventor turned serial entrepreneur wrap-ups the day sharing insights from his previous venture–funded by the NIMH and sold to McKesson–and his current strategy and vision.
- Chair: Dr. Alison Fenney, Executive Director of the Neurotechnology Industry Organization
- Dr. Margaret Grabb, SBIR/STTR Program Director at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Dr. Rex Jakobovits, Founder of Vivalog Technologies and Experiad
These presentations took place at the 2016 SharpBrains Virtual Summit: Reinventing Brain Health in the Digital Age (December 6-8th, 2016).
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December 30, 2016 at 05:26AM
How Emotional Hangovers Affect Your Memory
Emotional events cause neurotransmitters to flood the brain, which affects what we remember.
Emotional experiences can lead to ’emotional hangovers’, new research finds.
These ’emotional hangovers’ are still measurable in the brain after the emotional event has finished.
Emotional hangovers can also strongly influence our memory for subsequent events.
Dr Lila Davachi, one of the study’s authors explains:
“How we remember events is not just a consequence of the external world we experience, but is also strongly influenced by our internal states — and these internal states can persist and color future experiences.”
When people have an emotional experience, their memory becomes stronger for non-emotional events that happen afterwards.
In other words, our brain stays on high alert even if subsequent events are not that exciting.
For example, after seeing a particularly emotional movie, we might have a heightened memory for a relatively everyday experience like driving home.
Dr Davachi continued:
” ‘Emotion’ is a state of mind.
These findings make clear that our cognition is highly influenced by preceding experiences and, specifically, that emotional brain states can persist for long periods of time.”
For the research people were shown a series of images, some of which were emotionally arousing.
Brain scans revealed that after viewing arousing images, the brain continues to be in a heightened state of arousal for around 20 to 30 minutes.
The study also found that emotional events release a cocktail of neurotransmitters into the brain.
Dr Davachi said:
“We see that memory for non-emotional experiences is better if they are encountered after an emotional event.”
Previous studies also tell us that emotional hangovers also work the other way: like getting the headache before you have a drink.
Emotional events can change our memory for previous events as well, colouring them in different ways.
The study was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience (Tambini et al., 2016).
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December 30, 2016 at 05:20AM
Woman fighting phobia of balloons with Skype hypnotherapy | Metro ... - Metro
Metro |
Woman fighting phobia of balloons with Skype hypnotherapy | Metro ...
Metro A woman who has spent her entire life being petrified of balloons is aiming confront her phobia in 2017 after having hypnotherapy via Skype. Lisa Potter, 36 ... Newcastle woman beats balloon phobia thanks to Skype session ...Daily Mail all 3 news articles » |
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December 30, 2016 at 02:39AM
Forget the “New Year, New Me” Goal Hype – Consider Focusing on Life Habits Instead
Adults and teens alike often achieve results by setting goals and taking actionable steps to reach those goals. But what if you can find a better way to help you accomplish your dreams? Instead of focusing on short-term goals, teens can learn how to set good habits that will carry them through life, which will naturally propel them toward achieving their goals.
Defining the Difference between Setting Goals and Learning Life Habits
Most adults and teens understand what it means to set a goal. Whether you want to learn a new language, lose 20 pounds, write a book or train for a 5K, you set a goal and then take action to reach your dream. You evaluate what you need to do to reach that goal, such as buying books on the language, listening to podcasts or CDs, watching YouTube videos, visiting a foreign country or taking college classes.
However, you can instead try a different approach — instill in your teen the value of life-long learning. He will then place a high priority on learning a new language. By emphasizing the habit instead of the goal, he will easily achieve the goal. The habit includes setting up a disciplined system to follow to accomplish any goal in life. Instead of viewing each goal as a separate dream, your teen will learn effective life skills that will serve him in whatever he does.
Developing Life Habits
If your teen focuses on life habits, such as continuing education, then he will keep learning, even if he doesn’t set a specific goal, such as speaking conversational Spanish in 18 months. Simply by disciplining himself and spending time studying for 30 to 60 minutes each day, for example, as part of developing good habits, he will learn what he sets his mind to learn, in this case, how to speak Spanish. Instead of working toward a goal, he is committing to a process. Goals have a much more immediate and urgent feel while the process allows you to focus on long-term, personal development. Furthermore, in many cases, goals might depend on something that is out of your control. Habits help you see progress while goals help you plan that progress.
Habits of Effective Teens
Author Sean Covey further outlines this process in his bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, modeled after his father’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, which focuses on adults and has sales of more than 15 million copies. Sean claims that teens should implement the following habits in order to be successful.
- Set Priorities
Time management and prioritizing activities helps teens focus and finish what they need to do. By putting first things first, they will be able to move forward past difficult situations and develop persistence during the tough times. - Consider the Goal and End Result
If you don’t know what you want from life, you will not be able to achieve your goals. Focus on setting a life vision statement that can guide you and help you determine if you are taking the right steps to move you toward the person who you want to be and that help you reach your goals. - Live Proactively
A proactive life will move a teen toward successful living. This means that your son will need to own his life and take responsibility for his actions. He alone is responsible for his feelings and can take steps to improve his situation. - Develop an Attitude of Win-Win even in Difficult Situations
Win-win means that there are no losers — everyone comes out ahead. Brainstorm solutions that benefits all parties as much as possible. By rethinking their approach, your teen will learn the art of compromise. You can instill some of this at home by making suggestions that help your teen understand how both of you can win in discussions, such as curfew, chores and responsibilities and privileges. - Work to Understand Others
When your teen understands others, they will be more likely to reciprocate and work to understand him. Teach him how to actively listen as the foundation of effective communication. - Cooperate to Obtain Better Results
Synergy means that two or more people work together to accomplish something greater than any of them can alone. This teaches teens that everyone brings different gifts to the table that enhance the end result. - Refresh and Renew
Rest and take breaks in order to avoid burnout and perform at your peak levels.
By learning good habits, teens can establish a productive foundation for their lives. They can continue to build on this foundation toward a successful future.
Resources:
http://ift.tt/2hTPZCt. Wood, Danielle. May 31, 2013.
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December 30, 2016 at 02:22AM
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When is the Truth a Lie?
The ability to deceive someone by telling the truth is not only possible, it has a name — paltering.
It’s common in negotiations and among politicians, but those who palter can do serious harm to their reputations, according to a new study.
“To date, research has primarily focused on two types of deception: Lying by commission — the active use of false statements — and lying by omission — the passive act of misleading by failing to disclose relevant information,” said lead author Todd Rogers, PhD, of Harvard University. “In this study, we make a novel contribution to the deception literature by identifying a third, and common, form of deception. Rather than misstating facts or failing to provide information, paltering involves actively making truthful statements to create a mistaken impression.”
Paltering is commonly used by politicians, according to Rogers.
“Politicians often palter when the truthful answer to a question would be harmful,” he said. “When candidates get questions they don’t want to hear, they often focus on continuing to make truthful statements, but try to mislead listeners.”
One example Rogers cited was when President Bill Clinton said “there is not a sexual relationship” between him and former White House intern Monica Lewinski. The Starr commission later discovered that there had been a sexual relationship but it had ended months before Clinton made that statement, so it was technically true, but clearly misleading.
For the study, Rogers and his colleagues conducted two pilot studies and six experiments involving more than 1,750 participants.
The first pilot study confirmed that people in general could distinguish paltering as a distinct form of deception, different from lying by commission or omission.
In the second pilot study, the researchers determined it is a common form of deception, with more than 50 percent of business executives enrolled in an advanced negotiation course at Harvard Business School admitting they had paltered in some or most of their negotiations.
In the experiments, the researchers discovered that people preferred paltering to lying by commission, but the results of being found out can be just as harsh.
While palterers tended to think of their actions as more ethical because they essentially told the truth, when the deception was revealed, they were graded as harshly by their counterparts as if they had lied by commission, according to the study’s findings.
“When individuals discover that a prospective negotiation partner has paltered to them in the past, they are less likely to trust that partner and, therefore, less likely to negotiate with that person again,” said Rogers. “Taken together, our studies identify paltering as a distinct and frequently employed form of deception.”
Rogers postulates that people palter because they have a flawed mental model. Palterers think it is OK because they are telling the truth, but their audience sees it as lying.
The study was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Source: The American Psychological Association
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December 30, 2016 at 12:50AM
Newcastle woman beats balloon phobia thanks to Skype session with hypnotherapist - Daily Mail
Daily Mail |
Newcastle woman beats balloon phobia thanks to Skype session with hypnotherapist
Daily Mail A woman who has spent her life being terrified by balloons is set to enjoy New Year's Eve celebrations for the first time after taking control of her crippling phobia. Special needs teacher Lisa Potter, 36, from Newcastle, developed an intense fear of ... and more » |
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December 30, 2016 at 12:37AM
Young Children Use Smell to Help Make Social Decisions
New research reveals that children begin using smell to help guide their responses to emotionally-expressive faces around the age of 5.
“Even though we may not be aware of it, the sense of smell influences how adults process emotional and social information to guide their decisions and behavior. Our findings establish that, beginning at the age of 5, smell also influences children’s emotional decisions,” said Valentina Parma, PhD, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia and one of the study’s authors.
In the study, published in Developmental Science, 140 children between 3 and 11 years old were invited to participate in the research while visiting a local children’s museum.
Each child was exposed to one of three odors — either rose, fish, or blank — for three seconds. Immediately afterwards, the child saw a screen containing photographs of two faces, one happy and the other disgusted, and was asked to select one. Both facial expressions were from the same person. Afterward, the children rated the pleasantness of the odor.
The findings showed that children under the age of 5 tended to choose the happy face, regardless of the associated odor or how they rated its pleasantness.
However, beginning at age 5, the odor influenced the children’s decision of which face to select, according to the researchers.
Specifically, the older children based their selection on whether the visual and olfactory cues were emotionally similar. For example, the happy face was selected more frequently when paired with an odor rated as pleasant. Exposure to the unpleasant fish odor increased the likelihood of choosing the disgusted face.
“Now that we know that children as young as 5 years old use smells to make emotionally-based decisions, it may be possible to use this information in educational settings to guide social behavior,” said Parma.
Moving forward, the researchers intend to explore whether this same developmental path applies to children with autism spectrum disorder. If so, the sense of smell might represent a useful tool to complement social and emotional treatment options, she said.
Parma also noted the value of conducting the research on site at Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum, a children’s museum focused on creating learning opportunities through play.
“Taking the research outside the lab benefitted the museum, the local community and the researchers,” said Parma. “The Please Touch Museum was able to provide children and parents with the opportunity to interact with scientists and learn about the research process. In turn, the research team established that we could conduct the research outside the laboratory setting without sacrificing methodological standards. This allowed us to enroll and test hundreds of children within a short period of time. It was a win for all involved.”
Source: The Monell Chemical Senses Center
Photo credit: First Hattiesburg.
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December 30, 2016 at 12:07AM