Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Mmmm gimme gimme gimme ..... from the New York Times

Materialism is bad for you, studies say (what do you think?)

As a Lexington, Massachusetts, psychologist and couples therapist, Aline Zoldbrod is all too familiar with this picture: A husband and wife no longer connect.

They are so exhausted from the pursuit of "nice things" - a big house, private school for the kids, fancy cars - that they are time-starved and depleted. Life is luxurious but unsatisfying and simply no fun.

Zoldbrod said it is not only her clinical experience that tells her such clients are on the wrong track. It's a growing body of research.

Using statistics and psychological tests, researchers are nailing down what clerics and philosophers have preached for millennia: Materialism is bad for the soul. Only, in the new formulation, materialism is bad for your emotional well-being.

In recent years, researchers have reported an ever-growing list of downsides to getting and spending - damage to relationships and self-esteem, a heightened risk of depression and anxiety, less time for what the research indicates truly makes people happy, like family, friendship and engaging work. And maybe even headaches.

"Consumer culture is continually bombarding us with the message that materialism will make us happy," said Tim Kasser, a psychology professor at Knox College in Illinois who has led some of the recent work. "What this research shows is that that's not true."

The research is more nuanced than that, of course. For people who are living paycheck to paycheck, more money unquestionably brings greater well-being. And for the comfortable, a raise or a new purchase can certainly feel good - for a little while, anyway. Also, economic research indicates that a hunger for money can motivate people to perform better and even more creatively.

There is also a question of cause and effect. Feelings of insecurity incline people toward materialist values, the research suggests, and that insecurity can also lead to relationship troubles and other problems associated with a materialistic lifestyle.

But Kasser argues that when people turn to material things to feel better, they compound the problem, because they seek experiences that "don't do a very good job of meeting their psychological needs."

Ed Diener, a University of Illinois psychology professor and happiness expert, said in an e-mail that he has found that "those who value material success more than they value happiness are likely to experience almost as many negative moods as positive moods, whereas those who value happiness over material success are likely to experience considerably more pleasant moods and emotions than unpleasant moods and emotions."

Studies show that poor people who emphasize materialistic goals are especially likely to be unhappy, while in some studies, materialistic rich people show fewer ill effects, presumably because they are meeting more of their goals. But even for the better-off, materialism can create a nagging appetite that can never be satisfied.

Materialism becomes "a more difficult goal than many," Diener said, "because it is open-ended and goes on forever - we can always want more, which is usually not true of other goals such as friendship. With friends, we have them and enjoy them but usually are not taught that we keep needing more."

There's also an opportunity cost to chasing the wrong goals, said Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychology professor who focuses on people's flawed ability to predict their emotional reactions. When people spend their effort pursuing material goods in the belief that they will bring happiness, he said, they're ignoring other, more effective routes to happiness.

So why is materialism so common? The trouble is that the error is subtle.

"If it were the case that money made us totally miserable, we'd figure out we were wrong" to pursue it, Gilbert said. But "it's wrong in a more nuanced way. We think money will bring lots of happiness for a long time, and actually it brings a little happiness for a short time."

Whether warnings from social scientists will make a dent in popular consuming values remains to be seen. Kasser compared the expanding pool of data on the potential harm of materialism to the data on lung cancer caused by smoking. Preachers had long called smoking "the devil's work," he said, but it was only when the cancer connection was proved scientifically that smoking really began to wane.

Gilbert of Harvard, however, is skeptical. "Let's try. Let's give them the data. Let's shout it from the mountaintops," he said. "But let's not be too surprised when all the people in the valley nod their heads knowingly and then go on to covet a Porsche and a new home and tickets to the Super Bowl."

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Anzac

A Tribute to ANZAC Day

With their hair a little whiter, their step not quite so sure
Still they march on proudly as they did the year before.
Theirs were the hands that saved us, their courage showed the way
Their lives they laid down for us, that we may live today.

From Gallipoli's rugged hillsides, to the sands of Alamein
On rolling seas and in the skies, those memories will remain.
Of airmen and the sailors, of Lone Pine and Suvla Bay
The boys of the Dardenelles are remembered on this day.

They fought their way through jungles, their blood soaked desert sands
They still remember comrades who rest in foreign lands.
They remember the siege of old Tobruk, the mud of the Kokoda Trail
Some paying the supreme sacrifice with courage that did not fail.
To the icy land of Korea, the steamy jungles of Vietnam
And the heroic battle of Kapyong and that epic victory at Long Tan.

Fathers, sons and brothers, together they fought and died
That we may live in peace together, while at home their mothers cried.
When that final bugle calls them to cross that great divide
Those comrades will be waiting when they reach the other side.

Ken Bunker

Friday, April 23, 2010

Mind Venom

Living in in Australia, and particularly in Queensland, one becomes (or should become!) acutely aware that we have many venomous and highly dangerous creatures here. Possibly, we have the highest concentration of the deadliest creatures on earth as far as venom goes. Most of the well know 'biters' are snakes of course, the Inland Taipan or Fierce Snake topping the list with the worlds deadliest snake venom. It's followed closely by several others, including its coastal cousin, the Taipan. The list of creatures with a potential to cause death is quite long, several species of snake, cone shells, Box jellyfish, several spiders and the occasional death by allergic reaction to wasps and ants stings.

This brings me to the point of this particular blog. If one has a belief in a certain thing, a definite belief, its difficult for the conscious mind to argue with it. Let me give you an example. Several years ago I purchased a length of timber in a hardware store, on my way out, I spotted a spider on my arm which had obviously been transported on the timber. It moved so quickly that I couldn't identify it .... the creature ran straight up my shirt sleeve onto my chest. Without further ado it bit me! It hurt! Of course, from that moment on I was convinced that death was imminent! I sweated, was nauseous, feeling light headed, mouth dry, vision blurry ..... dreadful really! After this episode of panic I settled somewhat and realised that ... hey, I'm ok ... and looked down to see a tiny, innocuous jumping spider on my shirt. His bite is about as harmful as a gnat!

I'm sure you get my drift though. I believed it, therefore it would be! Luckily, it wasn't!

The human mind is a labyrinth of little understood phenomena. I had just experienced one of them.

In Australia, our idigenous people have used this knowledge for generations. Here is a fine example as exhibited in John Godwins book "Unsolved: The World of the Unknown" ............

In 1953, a dying Aborigine named Kinjika was flown from Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory to a hospital in Darwin. Tests revealed he had not been poisoned, injured, nor was he suffering from any sort of injury. Yet, the man was most definitely dying. After four days of agony spent in the hospital, Kinjika died on the fifth. It was said he died of bone pointing.

"Bone pointing" is a method of execution used by the Aborigines. It is said to leave no trace, and never fails to kill its victim. The bone used in this curse either made of either human, kangaroo, emu or even wood. The shape of the killing-bone, or kundela, varies from tribe to tribe. The lengths can be from six to nine inches. They look like a long needle. At the rounded end, a piece of hair is attached through the hole, and glued into place with a gummy resin from the spinifex bush. Before it can be used, the kundela is charged with a powerful psychic energy in a ritual that is kept secret from women and those who are not tribe members. To be effective, the ritual must be performed faultlessly. The bone is then given to the kurdaitcha, who are the tribe's ritual killers.

These killers then go and hunt (if the person has fled) the condemned. The name, kurdaitcha comes from the slippers they wear while on the hunt. The slippers are made of cockatoo (or emu) feathers and human hair - they virtually leave no footprints. Also, they wear kangaroo hair, which is stuck to their bodies after they coat themselves in human blood and they also don masks of emu feathers. They hunt in pairs or threes and will pursue their quarry for years if necessary, never giving up until the person has been cursed.

Once the man is caught, one of the kurdaitcha goes down onto one knee and points the kundela. The victim is said to be frozen with fear and stays to hear the curse, a brief piercing chant, that the kurdaitcha chants. Then, he and his fellow hunters return to the village and the kundela is ritually burned.

The condemned man may live for several days or even weeks. But, he believes so strongly in the curse that has been uttered, that he will surely die. It is said that the ritual loading of the kundela creates a “spear of thought” which pierces the victim when the bone is pointed at him. It is as if an actual spear has been thrust at him and his death is certain.

Kinjika had been accused of an incestuous relationship. Instead of going to his trial, he fled the village. The hunters found him and cursed him. It is said that is why he died.

Amazing stuff indeed. There is a positive side to this of course; if the mind can be used in order to magnify the negative and deadly, it may be used, conversly, to bring about the good and the positive. Makes sense does it not?

Thats the core belief in Hypnotherapy. Use the mind to bring about positive change ...... give it try why dont you ....

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Put it there buddy!

Pattern Interruption ....

Now there's a lead in title with psychobablic connotations attached to it
!

How would you like anyone that you meet to remember your name, or the first thing you ever said to them? Would it be beneficial that someone remember you with a friendly face and an open smile? How would you like to influence a salesperson in a way that benefits you? (Oooo yes I hear you say!).

Allow me to explain. As we develop psychologically within our own societies, we develop learned patterns of behaviour. Certain behaviours become unconscious and automatic in whatever situation they are relevant to.

My example here is one that most of you will relate to. Most of us at some time have shaken hands with another person (with oneself is a concern?). The handshake is usually spontaneous as one person leans forward, hand extended. This is a pattern. Its stored deep within our unconscious mind.

If we interrupt or break that pattern, it throws the other party into a trance (yes, a trance, a hypnotic state). This all takes place in a matter of a few seconds, and, if during that trance state we offer a suggestion, it is unlikely that the other party will ever forget it!

Here's what you can do to interrupt that pattern. Unless you're a Boy Scout, you would normally shake hands with the right hand, right? So, during the lead up to the handshake, offer the right hand, and then just prior to contact lift and offer your left hand instead! As you're doing this, offer the person your engaged with a verbal suggestion. For instance, a simplistic "Hi, my name is Fred Smith from Brisbane", or, "Hi, I'm certain you will give me a really low price on that vehicle". Get the picture? Keep in mind of course that as I've explained in previous comments, the person will not do anything that they feel to be wrong, unlawful (in their eyes) or runs against their code of ethics, and rightly so.

All's well unless the persons a Boy Scout of course! In that case, well ......... I'll leave that one up to you.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Pain and the Mind

I'm in the process of writing a book. Sometimes the task seems daunting and very slow indeed. I like to think of it as a "work in progress", and this salves the twinge of fear I have of never finishing it!

The book is about hypnosis, hypnotherapy and really is meant as a guide to those setting out in this field of work. I remember all too well the minefield of confusion and funk when you set out with your very first clients. It will however, I hope, be of interest to anyone who loves a book of interest that relates to Hypnotherapy.

So, where am I heading with this Blog? I've come to a chapter dedicated to pain, and the relief of it. In doing so, I've realised something that I thought I knew anyway. Pain is a very complex issue indeed. It's diverse, variable, chronic or acute, and occasionally, even for the sufferer a difficult condition to describe in words. It can be gnawing, burning, sharp, dull, biting, hot, cold, grinding ...... and so on. It may come and go, or it may be constant.

I won't go into the neurological explanation of it here, as I believe there's still some controversy in the scientific world as to how and why pain is sensed. The theory that pain is transmitted from specific pain receptors along dedicated pain fibers in the body, to a pain center in the brain, has withstood the challenge of time, though the "pain center" in the brain has now become a very elaborate neural network.

Of course, pain is there for a reason. It can protect us from further injury, and we also learn at a certain level of our mind that repetition of the injurious activity would be folly indeed! So pain is in fact extremely important to our well being. There are individuals whose ability to sense pain is diminished, either by disease or genetically induced. Some people, a very small number, are born with congenital analgesia. They feel little or no pain, and sadly their lives are usually much shorter due to this.

From my point of view, as a Hypnotherapist, I like to view pain as a construct. Simplistically speaking, its made up of three main portions. They are:
  • Memory of past pain
  • The present pain
  • Projection within the mind as to how it will progress
If we can alter, remove or modify any of the three portions, we can alter the experience, moderately or completely. In hypnosis, there are several ways in which to do this of course. Also, in many cases, the basic act of relaxing deeply when in pain can alleviate much of the discomfort. A fine analogy to this is the crushing pain of a broken bone. Around the area of the break, tissues expand, tighten and squeeze in an attempt by the body to protect itself. This is pain at its very worst, when even the slightest of movements can illicit a scream of agony. But, very shortly after the limb is immobilized and put in plaster, the pain begins to subside. Why? Because the muscles, tissues, tendons and fibers adjacent to the break can now relax. So it is with hypnosis; relax the poor soul whose suffering, and the pain will subside.

Other methods within hypnosis can illicit complete anesthesia. It's well recorded now that many surgical procedures, major and minor, have been completed using hypnosis alone to create a pain free state.

The Scottish physician James Esdaile (1808-1859) is possibly the best known of "modern" utilisers of the hypnotic state to carry out surgery. Indeed, some of Esdaile's surgical excursions were extensive! Amputations of arms, breasts, penises (penises!!! I just had a twinge of pain!), scrotal tumors and so on. Esdaile claimed an incredible increase in the survival rate of his patients, lowering the mortality rate down from 40% to 5%. This huge reduction was claimed by Esdaile to be due to the relief of the horrific pain of surgery by hypnosis. Actually, Esdaile was still calling it "mesmerism", another canny Scott named James Braid later named it "hypnosis" ('hypnos' being greek for 'sleep')

Well, I just answered myself and talked me into progressing with this chapter. It's wonderful what a little self-talk can do .... isn't it Dan? Yes, it is Dan.


Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Nature or Nurture?

A recent extract from the New York times

For years, psychiatrists have known that children who are abused or neglected run a high risk of developing mental problems later in life, from anxiety and depression to substance abuse and suicide.
The connection is not surprising, but it raises a crucial scientific question: Does the abuse cause biological changes that may increase the risk for these problems?
Over the past decade or so, researchers at McGill University in Montreal, led by Michael Meaney, have shown that affectionate mothering alters the expression of genes in animals, allowing them to dampen their physiological response to stress. These biological buffers are then passed on to the next generation: rodents and nonhuman primates biologically primed to handle stress tend to be more nurturing to their own offspring, Dr. Meaney and other researchers have found.

Now, for the first time, they have direct evidence that the same system is at work in humans. In a study of people who committed suicide published Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, researchers in Montreal report that people who were abused or neglected as children showed genetic alterations that likely made them more biologically sensitive to stress.

The findings help clarify the biology behind the wounds of a difficult childhood and hint at what constitutes resilience in those able to shake off such wounds.

The study “extends the animal work on the regulation of stress to humans in a dramatic way,” Jaak Panksepp, an adjunct professor at Washington State University who was not involved in the research, wrote in an e-mail message.

He added that the study “suggests pathways that have promoted the psychic pain that makes life intolerable,” and continued, “It’s a wonderful example of how the study of animal models of emotional resilience can lead the way to understanding human vicissitudes.”

In the study, scientists at McGill and the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences compared the brains of 12 people who had committed suicide and who had had difficult childhoods with 12 people who had committed suicide and who had not suffered abuse or neglect as children.

The scientists determined the nature of the subjects’ upbringing by doing extensive interviews with next of kin, as well as investigating medical records. The brains are preserved at Douglas Hospital in Montreal as part of the Quebec Suicide Brain Bank, a program founded by McGill researchers to promote suicide studies that receives brain donations from around the province.

When people are under stress, the hormone cortisol circulates widely, putting the body on high alert. One way the brain reduces this physical anxiety is to make receptors on brain cells that help clear the cortisol, inhibiting the distress and protecting neurons from extended exposure to the hormone, which can be damaging.

The researchers found that the genes that code for these receptors were about 40 percent less active in people who had been abused as children than in those who had not. The scientists found the same striking differences between the abused group and the brains of 12 control subjects, who had not been abused and who died from causes other than suicide. “It is good evidence that the same systems are at work in humans that we have seen in other animals,” said Patrick McGowan, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Meaney’s lab at McGill and the lead author of the study.

His co-authors, along with Dr. Meaney, were Aya Sasaki, Ana C. D’Alessio, Sergiy Dymov, Benoît Labonté and Moshe Szyf, all of McGill, and Dr. Gustavo Turecki, a McGill researcher who leads the Brain Bank.

Because of individual differences in the genetic machinery that regulates stress response, experts say, many people manage their distress despite awful childhoods. Others may find solace in other people, which helps them regulate the inevitable pain of living a full life.

“The bottom line is that this is a terrific line of work, but there is a very long way to go either to understand the effects of early experience or the causes of mental disorders,” Dr. Steven Hyman, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard, wrote in an e-mail message.


The jury is out on this one, but it's certainly seems to be of interest, does it not?