6 Signs You Are Dealing With A Narcissist

How to tell the difference between a narcissist and someone who just has high self-esteem.


1. Brittle self-esteem

One thing everyone notices about the narcissist is that they appear very full of themselves and self-centred.

But, some people are full of themselves because they simply have high self-esteem, and possibly for good reason.

The narcissist, though, feels they are superior to others, but at the same time not very satisfied with themselves.

Their self-esteem is brittle, ready to crack and reveal the uncertainties underneath.

At their core, they can feel a certain lack, which is why they are…
2. Susceptible to flattery

The narcissist loves nothing better than when others gather round to tell them how great they are.


And narcissists believe every single word of even the most exaggerated flattery.


While others take it with a pinch of salt, the narcissist laps it all up, believing they are only getting their due.

The reason they are so susceptible to flattery is that their ambition knows no bounds.

They really believe they are royalty.

If you don’t offer flattery to the narcissist, they will start to solicit it from you: “What do you think of my hair today, doesn’t it look nice?”
3. A big production

Narcissists love to make a big production out of everything.

They can turn on the charm in an instant.

It’s why they appear so often on reality TV shows, and TV and entertainment in general.

They adore attention and will do anything to get it from others.

This makes them very attractive, at least initially.

Their antics provide a welcome break from the workaday world.

Watching a narcissist is very entertaining…

…until, of course, they turn…


4. Envious

Most people experience the odd burst of envy from time-to-time, but for the narcissist envy burns brightly.

Narcissists are deeply involved with how they are doing in comparison to others.

This means they get pleasure from devaluing others and from showing how much better they are themselves.

Naturally, then, they are competitive and likely to be poor losers.
5. Lack of empathy

The narcissist cares little for how others feel, they are only interested in getting their own needs met.

And their own needs are simple enough: to be worshipped as a living God.

Some narcissists can be very manipulative in order to get what they want.

They take advantage and think little of others’ feelings.

Then, when they have satisfied their egos, it is all over as if nothing happened.
6. Volatile

Some narcissists fit in reasonably well with society.

‘Successful’ narcissists manage to maintain their jobs and relationships by keeping their tendencies in check.

For the more volatile narcissist, though, their narcissism escapes in most situations.

They immediately blow up at even the slightest criticism.

Their envy, insecurity and vanity boils over at every available opportunity.

The effect is to push people away, tired of being used and abused.

So the narcissist ends up continually seeking new friends and a new audience, after the old ones have got fed up with their antics.

SOURCE:

http://www.spring.org.uk/2017/05/signs-narcissist.php(accessed 24.5.17)

Οι παράξενες «παρενέργειες» του σεξ

Το γέλιο, το κλάμα, το φτάρνισμα και η φαγούρα είναι μερικές μόνο από τις ασυνήθιστες «παρενέργειες» που εμφανίζονται μετά την ολοκλήρωση της σεξουαλικής πράξης και τις οποίες οι επιστήμονες περιγράφουν με τον όρο «περι-οργασμός».


Μια νέα επιστημονική μελέτη που δημοσιεύεται στην επιθεώρηση Sexual Medicine Reviews έβαλε στο μικροσκόπιο αυτό το παράδοξο φαινόμενο της σεξουαλικής ζωής και κατέληξε σε εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέροντα συμπεράσματα.

Σύμφωνα με τους δύο ερευνητές που πραγματοποίησαν τη μελέτη, την Άννα Ρέινερτ από το Πανεπιστήμιο του Μέριλαντ και τον Τζέιμς Σάιμον από το Πανεπιστήμιο Τζορτζ Ουάσινγκτον, ως περι-οργασμικά φαινόμενα ορίζονται τα «ασυνήθιστα σωματικά ή ψυχολογικά υποκειμενικά συμπτώματα που βιώνουν κάποια άτομα στο πλαίσιο της οργασμικής τους απόκρισης και που διαφέρουν από τη συνήθη ή τη φυσιολογική οργασμική απόκριση».

Με τη βοήθεια ειδικών σε θέματα σεξουαλικής υγείας, οι δύο ερευνητές αρχικά έφτιαξαν μια λίστα με περι-οργασμικά συμπτώματα και στη συνέχεια, με τη λίστα σαν «οδηγό», αναζήτησαν τέτοια περιστατικά σε δημοσιευμένα επιστημονικά άρθρα.

Το συμπέρασμα: Ο περι-οργασμός είναι πέρα για πέρα υπαρκτός και τα περι-οργασμικά συμπτώματα παρουσιάζουν μεγάλη ποικιλία, αφού περιλαμβάνουν, μεταξύ άλλων, την καταπληξία (αιφνίδια μυϊκή αδυναμία), το κλάμα, τη δυσφορία, τον πόνο στο πρόσωπο και/ή στο αυτί, τον πόνο στο πέλμα, τον πονοκέφαλο, τη φαγούρα, το γέλιο, την κρίση πανικού, το φτάρνισμα και το σύνδρομο μετα-οργασμικής νόσου.

Οι δύο ερευνητές ευελπιστούν πως τα ευρήματά τους θα εμπνεύσουν και άλλους επιστήμονες να εξετάσουν περαιτέρω το φαινόμενο του περι-οργασμού, ρίχνοντας ενδεχομένως περισσότερο φως στους νευροφυσιολογικούς μηχανισμούς που το καθοδηγούν.

ΠΗΓΗ:

http://www.koutipandoras.gr/article/oi-paraenes-parenergeies-toy-se(accessed 24.5.17)

Treating children with electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy - in which a small electric current is passed through the brain causing a seizure - is now used much less often than it was in the middle of the last century. But controversially it is now being used in the US and some other countries as a treatment for children who exhibit severe, self-injuring behaviour.

Seventeen-year-old Jonah Lutz is severely autistic. He's also prone to outbursts of violent behaviour, in which he sometimes hits himself repeatedly.

His mother, Amy, is convinced that if it wasn't for electroconvulsive therapy - ECT - he would now have to be permanently institutionalised for his own safety, and the safety of those around him.

The use of ECT featured famously in the 1975 Hollywood movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, starring Jack Nicholson. Set in a mental institution, the Oscar-winning film cemented most people's view of ECT as barbaric.

But Amy describes the modern version of the therapy as little short of miraculous.

"ECT has been transformative for Jonah's life and for our life," she says. "We went for a period of time - for years and years - where Jonah was raging, often multiple times a day, ferociously. The only reason he's able to be at home with us, is because of ECT."

It's estimated that one in 10 severely autistic children like Jonah violently attack themselves, often causing serious injuries ranging from broken noses to detached retinas. No-one really knows why. Some theories link self-injuring behaviour to anxiety caused by an overload of sensory signals, others to frustration as the autistic child struggles to communicate.

Amy and husband Andy tried countless traditional treatments using medication or behavioural therapy before finally turning to ECT - a treatment that first began to be used on children like Jonah a decade ago, in parts of the US. Each session alleviates his symptoms for up to 10 days at a time - but it's not a cure.

Jonah's doctor, Charles Kellner, ECT director at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, is so convinced it's effective and safe that he allows Amy to witness the procedure and the BBC to film it.

Prof Kellner says the best way to overcome the negative image of ECT portrayed in popular culture is "to show people what modern ECT is really like, and show them the results with patients like Jonah".

Jonah is one of a few hundred children in the US to receive the controversial treatment. He has had about 260 ECT sessions since the age of 11.

"There's a lot of interesting new neural imaging research showing that ECT actually reverses some of the brain problems in the major psychiatric illnesses," Kellner explains, as he makes final checks on the wiring around Jonah's temples.

"We don't know exactly why it works in people with autism and superimposed mood disorders, but we think it probably reregulates the circuits in the brain that are deregulated because of autism."

The modern treatment is carried out under general anaesthetic, with muscle relaxants to prevent violent convulsions. At the flick of a switch, Kellner administers just under an amp of electric current in a series of very short pulses.

Jonah's body begins to shake as the current induces a seizure - ECT specialists think this may "reset" the malfunctioning brain. The convulsions last for about 30 seconds.

Amy is unperturbed by what she sees.

"If a doctor says they need to cut open your child's chest to conduct life-saving surgery, you would allow it. That is more barbaric yet we accept it," she says.

Within an hour Jonah is fully alert. He and his mother head out of the hospital and on to the New York street to find an ice cream parlour.

Find out more
Viewers in the UK can watch Chris Rogers's Our World documentary My Child, ECT, and Me on the BBC News Channel on Saturday 20 May or Sunday 21 May - click here for transmission times or to watch online
Viewers outside the UK can watch it on BBC World News over the coming week - click here for transmission times

Because the long-term effects of ECT on children exhibiting self-injuring behaviour are unknown, in some countries - and in a handful of US states - the treatment is not allowed. The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence doesn't recommend ECT for use on under 18s.

But ECT is a well-established treatment in adults for severe, often life-threatening depression. Its use is controversial, though, with memory loss the main acknowledged side-effect. What's disputed is the scale of the memory loss. Studies carried out by ECT doctors suggest lapses are mostly short-term and that memory function soon returns to normal. But opponents of ECT cite surveys claiming to show that more than half of patients suffer serious long-term memory loss.

"It's a traumatic brain injury," says Dr Peter Breggin, a psychiatrist who has long fought the psychiatric establishment, and campaigns for a total ban on ECT. "The electricity not only travels through the frontal lobes - that's the seat of intelligence, and thoughtfulness and creativity and judgment - it also goes through the temporal lobes - the seat of memory. You are damaging the very expression of the personality, the character, the individuality, and even, if you believe in it, the expression of the soul."

For former US Army intelligence officer Chad Calvaresi and his wife Kaci, the potential benefits of ECT far outweigh the risks for their 11-year-old, violently autistic daughter, Sofija.

"When she was aggressing towards me, my instinct as a mom was to grab her and hold her and hug her and wait," Kaci explains. "But she got so big and strong that I couldn't do that."

Sofija spent much of her early life suffering neglect and abuse in a Serbian orphanage, before Chad and Kaci adopted her in 2009. They were determined to give her a better life in America, but in 2016 they suffered the heartbreak of institutionalising her again - this time for her own safety.

"She beat herself so bad her nose was busted and bleeding, her lips were busted open and bleeding," Chad explains. "She gave herself a black eye. I was scared of my own daughter."

For six months Sofija received medication and therapy as an in-patient at the renowned Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, but there was little improvement. During her frequent violent episodes it often took three highly trained care staff - all wearing protective clothing and shielding Sofija with padded mats - to prevent her injuring herself or others.

After exhausting all other options, Sofija's doctors finally agreed to Chad and Kaci's request to give her ECT. Just a month later her behaviour had improved enough for her to return home.

We caught up with the family after six months and more than 30 treatments, and the transformation was remarkable. Sofija was swimming in the family pool and playing with her siblings, and while her violent episodes hadn't disappeared completely, her parents felt they were less intense and more manageable. Sofija was also receiving home schooling in maths and English. "She's sharp as a tack," says Kaci. "The only memory loss that Sofija has had from ECT is she forgets the procedure has actually happened."

ECT for severely self-injuring autistic children like Sofija is still in very limited use, and without a long-term scientific study it remains highly controversial. But even though Sofija is likely to need ECT every week for the foreseeable future, her parents have no regrets - they have their daughter back home.

"It's overwhelming if I think about it," says Kaci, "but what future did she have without it? My hope is she doesn't need it for the rest of her life but at this point I see it like a diabetic needing insulin. It keeps her alive. Literally it keeps her alive and it makes it possible for us to be able to have her in our home living life with our family and enjoying Sofija."Image captionSofija enjoys a maths lesson at home

For and against ECT

The Royal College of Psychiatrists says ECT is a "safe and effective treatment for severe depression" in adults but acknowledges on its website that some dispute this:

For

Many doctors and nurses will say that they have seen ECT relieve very severe depressive illnesses when other treatments have failed. Bearing in mind that 15% of people with severe depression will kill themselves, they feel that ECT has saved patients' lives, and therefore the overall benefits are greater than the risks. Some people who have had ECT will agree, and may even ask for it if they find themselves becoming depressed again.

Against

Some see ECT as a treatment that belongs to the past. They say that the side-effects are severe and that psychiatrists have, either accidentally or deliberately, ignored how severe they can be. They say that ECT permanently damages both the brain and the mind, and if it does work at all, does so in a way that is ultimately harmful for the patient. Some would want to see it banned.

SOURCE:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-39961472(accessed 21.5.17)

New studies suggest liberals are as blinkered and biased as conservatives

Officially at least, last week’s global March for Science was politically neutral. However, there’s a massive over-representation of people with liberal, left-leaning views in science, and much of the science community is unhappy, to put it mildly, with the way politics is going, such as the Trump administration’s proposed deep cuts to science funding, and here in the UK, the impact of Brexit on British science.

Against the backdrop of these anxieties, many of the banners on display – such as “Alternative hypotheses, not alternative facts” and “Science reveals the truth” – conveyed a barely concealed message: if only right-wing conservatives could be a little more objective, less biased, more open-minded – you might say a little more “scientific” – then the world would be a better place.

Plenty of past psychology research lends some credence to this perspective: for instance conservatives tend to score lower on the trait of open-mindedness than liberals, and of course conservatives, more often than liberals, are sceptical toward the scientific consensus that human activity has had a significant impact on climate change. But it’s also easy to find psychological evidence of liberals’ bias, and liberals too are often in denial of unwelcome scientific theory, such as evolutionary accounts of sex differences in behaviour.

Now two new articles, published at the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) and in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, respectively, provide further compelling evidence that liberals, as much as conservatives, are prone to partisan bias – that is, showing rapid, easy acceptance of evidence that supports their existing beliefs – and that they are just as motivated to avoid hearing viewpoints that differ from their own. Whether we’re liberal or conservative, a first step toward combating our political prejudices, the paper in SSRN concludes, is “to recognize our collective vulnerability to perceiving the world in ways that validate our political beliefs”.



That paper in SSRN is a meta-analysis that combined the results of 41 previous experimental studies into partisan bias, collectively involving over 12,000 participants self-categorized as either liberal or conservative.

Each of the included studies followed a similar format: participants rated the credibility of evidence, such as a survey, experiment or op-ed, which either supported or contradicted their existing beliefs, such as on gun ownership or affirmative action. By holding the quality of the evidence and methods the same, but altering whether it supposedly came up with data supporting or contradicting participants’ viewpoints, this kind of research is able to reveal partisan bias – that is, whether participants’ are less sceptical and discerning when confronted with evidence that backs their own views.

Looking at the combined data from all these studies, Peter Ditto at University of California, Irvine, and his colleagues, found that liberals were as prone to partisan bias as conservatives. What’s more, partisan bias on all sides was especially on display when participants were presented with scientific data, perhaps undermining the chants of the science march: that it might be easier to reach political consensus if we could all agree to just stick to the facts. As Ditto and his team put it, “the prognosis for eradicating partisan bias with harder data and better education does not seem particularly rosy.”

The other new paper, led by Jeremy Frimer at the University of Winnipeg, used five studies to test American and Canadian participants’ motivation to encounter viewpoints different from their own. For instance, the first study offered participants more money to read an essay that contradicted their own views on same-sex marriage. The researchers found that equally among liberals and conservatives, a majority of participants preferred to forego cash if that meant avoiding opposing views.

Other studies involving other topics, such as gun control, abortion and climate change, led to similar results: liberals as much as conservatives were disinclined to hear the perspective of the other side. And the reasons they gave were similar: they thought hearing opposing views would make them feel uncomfortable or angry and harm their relationship with the source of the opposing views.

“The result of this desire to avoid ideological incongruous views is that liberals and conservatives live in ideological information bubbles, and what could ultimately be a contest of ideas is being replaced by two, non-interacting monopolies,” Frimer and his colleagues concluded.

This new research has some short-comings and shouldn’t be seen as the last word. It’s obviously North-American centric, and it’s not clear how much the results would apply in other parts of the world. It’s also extremely difficult to separate the moral dimension from psychology research into politics: for instance, how to deal with the potential argument that avoiding exposure to some opinions actually is more justified than avoiding exposure to others?

So of course more careful research is required, into ways that liberals and conservatives are similar and different. But if these new studies help us recognise that we all, no matter our political colours, could work harder to be more open-minded of opposing viewpoints, then this is surely constructive. As Sean Blanda put it in a Medium essay last year “The other side is not dumb“; well, probably no more than your side anyway.

SOURCE:

https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/04/25/new-studies-suggest-liberals-are-as-blinkered-and-biased-as-conservatives/(accessed 21.5.17)

10 Ways That Running Changes Your Mind and Brain

“One 60-minute run can add 7 hours to your life” claimed The Times last week. The story was based on a new review in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases that concluded that runners live, on average, three years longer than non-runners and that running will do more for your longevity than any other form of exercise. But there’s more to running than its health-enhancing effects. Research published in recent years has shown that donning your trainers and pounding the hills or pavements changes your brain and mind in some intriguing ways, from increasing connectivity between key functional hubs, to helping you regulate your emotions. The precise effects sometimes vary according to whether you engage in intense sprints or long-distance running. Here, to coincide with a new feature article in The Psychologist – “Minds run free” – we provide a handy digest of the ways that running changes your mind and brain.



Running changes your brain wiring
David Raichlen and his colleagues scanned the brains of young, competitive distance runners and controls while they rested in a scanner with their eyes open for six minutes. As reported in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, the runners showed greater connectivity between the so-called frontal parietal network and other neural regions involved in working memory and self-control, which the researchers interpreted as likely due to the cognitive demands of running and the runners’ increased aerobic fitness. The runners also showed greater “anti-correlation” between their default mode network (the DMN, which sparks into life when we’re resting) and a series of regions involved in motor control and sensation – the researchers said this could indicate that when on the move, the runners are likely to be very cognitively engaged, with their DMN suppressed.

Intense sprints seem to boost your executive function
For a study published last year in Preventive Medicine Reports, researchers asked young volunteers (average age 12) to complete several 10-second sprints for ten minutes and then take some cognitive tests. The participants acted as their own controls and on another day (either before or after the sprint day) they completed the same mental tests after 10 minutes of rest. The participants’ performance on the Stroop Test – a long-established measure of mental control or what psychologists call “executive function” – seemed to be enhanced immediately after the sprints and 45 minutes afterwards, as compared with after resting. There were no effects of the sprints on visual-spatial memory performance or basic mental speed (as judged by the Digit Symbol Substitution test). Based on their finding of an apparent benefit of sprints on executive function, Simon Cooper and his colleagues said there was a case for including more opportunities for intense exercise in the school day.

Seven weeks of interval running training can boost your cognitive flexibility
For three times per week for seven weeks, a small group of young dinghy sailors spent 45 minutes per session, rising to 90 minutes at the end of the programme, engaged in interval training: running fast for between 200 to 1000m, interspersed with periods of rest. The researchers tested their volunteers’ cognitive function before the training period and afterwards, and compared the outcomes with a control group of young dinghy sailors who just continued their active lifestyle as usual. Writing in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Tomas Venckunas and his colleagues reported that the running group didn’t just get fitter and better at running, but also showed superior gains in their cognitive flexibility: that is, they were better at adapting to rapid switches in task instructions in a keypress task on a computer.

Ridiculously extreme long-distance running shrinks your brain (but it grows back)
In 2009, 67 endurance athletes ran nearly 3,000 miles over 64 days, without a single day’s rest, to complete the TransEurope-FootRace ultramarathon. For a paper in BMC Medicine, a team of researchers led by Wolfgang Freund scanned the brains of a sample of these runners before the race, during and eight months afterwards. During the race, the runners’ brains shrunk, in terms of grey matter volume, by about six per cent, an amount that the researchers described as “substantial” considering that normal aging is associated with volume loss of around 0.2 per cent per year. However, at the final scan, the runners’ brains had recovered to their pre-race volume. In a follow-up study in BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, the same research team pinpointed the running-related grey matter loss to four key areas, including parts of: temporoparietal cortex, occipitotemporal cortex, anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex, and caudate nucleus. Although highly speculative, they noted the overlap of these areas with the Default Mode Network and suggested the observed cell loss in these regions may reflect the combination of the metabolic demands of running combined with a prolonged lack of use of the DMN, the brain’s resting-state network.

The “runners’ high” may be linked to changes in brain chemicals
Completing a run can leave you feeling euphoric and several studies suggest this could be down to changes to the brain’s chemical messengers. For instance, a 2008 study in Cerebral Cortex used PET neuroimaging to show that a two-hour run led to enhanced opioid binding across several areas of the brain, as compared with before the run, and that this was associated with subjective feelings of euphoria. This supports the idea that running triggers the increased released of endorphins in the brain – a kind of natural high. A more recent paper in the Journal of Experimental Biology pointed to the importance of other neurotransmitters: the researchers found that an intense treadmill run, but not a walk, was associated with increased circulation of endocannabinoids – endogenous brain chemicals that bind to the same receptors in the brain as cannabis.

Running may quieten your mind
Anecdotally, many runners also say that going for a jog has a calming effect, helping their brains dial back on usual levels of worry and rumination. A study published last year in Experimental Brain Research appeared to provide some partial scientific support for this idea. Petra Wollseiffen and her colleagues used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure the surface electrical activity of the brains of 11 ultramarathoners several times during a six hour run. Running was associated with reductions in activity in the frontal cortex of the brain, and for the first hour, runners also reported feeling more relaxed and an increased sense of “flow”. However, the levels of decreased brain activity and subjective feelings of flow didn’t correlate so it would be an oversimplification to say that this research shows that running helps you to relax by switching off your brain.

Running increases the growth of new neurons (at least in mice)
It was the received wisdom through most of the last century that adults can’t grow new neurons – a process called neurogenesis. It’s now known that this isn’t true: in fact, new neurons continue to grow through life in specific areas of the brain. Interest has turned to the function of these news neurons and ways to encourage their growth. To date, much of the research is on rats and mice, in whom a recurring finding is that running seems to encourage neurogenesis. Take a seminal paper published in Nature in 1999. Fred Gage and his team reported that mice who had the opportunity to choose to run in a spinning wheel exhibited twice the amount of neurogenesis in a part of the hippocampus (a brain region involved in memory and learning), as compared with mice who had no choice but to swim or others who had to complete a water maze. More recent animal research suggests that it is particularly long-distance running, as opposed to interval-style training (short bursts of running) that may increase neurogenesis, perhaps through release of what’s known as “brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)”, a chemical that encourages cell growth.

A short jog may help you regulate your emotions
For a 2015 study in Cognition and Emotion, Emily Bernstein and Richard McNally asked volunteers to jog or stretch for 30 minutes and then they showed them a sad clip from the film The Champ. Participants who said they usually struggled to handle negative emotion were more intensely affected by the sad clip, just as you’d expect, but crucially this was less so if they had completed the jog (but not the stretching). The researchers said: “… a bout of moderate aerobic exercise appears to have helped those participants potentially more vulnerable to problematic affective dysregulation to be less susceptible to the impact or lingering effects of the stressor”.

Intense sprints may boost your ability to learn
Bernward Winter and his colleagues tested participants’ ability to learn new made-up words for objects after either two intense sprints of three-minutes length, after 40 minutes of gentle running, or after resting. Participants were able to learn 20 per cent faster after the sprints compared with the other conditions, and they showed superior memory retention when tested again a week later. Writing in the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, the researchers said the blood measures they took suggested that the participants’ enhanced learning performance after sprints may have been associated with increased levels of dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine and BDNF. “This [finding] is pertinent to the organization of learning-supportive environments, e.g., in schools (intense exercise during the breaks),” the researchers said.

Running a marathon seems to wipe your memory of the pain
Let’s not romanticise long-distance running. As Daniel Engber observed at Slate last year, “a vast, disturbing literature has now accumulated on the ill effects of running marathons”, particularly all the pain, including chaffing, blisters and cramps. One way that repeat marathon runners seem to cope is that the satisfaction of completing a run gradually wipes their memories for the pain they went through. Researchers demonstrated this for a study published in Memory: they asked marathon runners to report their pain and emotions directly after completing a marathon and then caught up with them again six months later, to ask them to recall their earlier post-marathon pain. The runners tended to have forgotten just how much pain they’d been in, and this was especially true if they’d been on an emotional high at the end of the marathon.

SOURCE:

https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/04/19/10-ways-that-running-changes-your-mind-and-brain/(accessed 14.5.17)

Psychologists have studied what’s happening when music gives us chills or makes us cry

Songs that provoked tears were considered sad and calm, whereas songs triggering chills were seen as a higher energy mix of happy and sad

Emotions can be fleeting and superficial, for example imagine the split-second of anger you experience after missing the bus. But other “peak emotional states” are more powerful and they are accompanied by intense physical reactions, such as crying or “the chills”. Often these physical manifestations accompany extreme fear or sadness, but they can also occur when we admire a magnificent sunset or enjoy a beautiful piece of music.

Now a study published in Scientific Reports by Kazuma Mori and Makoto Iwanaga has taken a closer look at the contrasting psychology and physiology underlying the chills and tears many of us experience when we’re profoundly moved by a song.


The researchers asked a group of 154 Japanese undergraduate students to estimate how often they experienced music-induced chills or tears. For this purpose, experiencing goose bumps or shivers was defined as chills, while tears were broadly understood as weeping or feeling a lump in the throat. Participants who had reported at least one such peak emotion in response to music were assigned to the chills or tear group, depending on what they had experienced more often. There were 32 students in the chills group, and 34 in the tears group. There was no difference between the groups in terms of musical experience, such as instrument or singing classes.

Next, the researchers asked each participant to name three songs that had already elicited tears or chills in them, and these were used in the next part of the study. All songs were Japanese pop/rock with lyrics, such as Hello Hello by Superfly, which elicited chills, and This Love by Angela Aki, which elicited tears. To control for non-emotional effects of songs (such as increased in tempo or pitch), the experimenters also picked three musically similar control songs.

Each participant then listened to their six individual songs in a sound-attenuated room while attached to psychophysiological instruments that measured their heart rate, breathing and sweating. Every time they experienced chills or tears, participants were instructed to perform a mouse click. They also gave real-time feedback on how they were feeling using a sliding scale on a computer. After each song, the participants indicated how strongly they had experienced peak emotions (tears or chills), whether these had been positive or negative and how excited or moved they were feeling. Also, they rated how the song was making them feeling in general (happy, sad, calm or fearful).

The study yielded some very interesting findings. For one, while all the self-picked emotional songs increased physiological arousal at first (faster heart rate, breathing and more sweating), there was a clear differentiation around the onset of peak emotion. As the researchers expected, chills were associated with increasing physiological arousal, whereas tears were associated with slower breathing and physiological calming. Contrary to the tears caused by situations of distress or grief, tears evoked by music in this study were associated with subsequent calming, with could be viewed as a release of tension. These results seem to support the idea that music-induced tears have a cathartic, relieving function.

Despite this difference in physiology, both chills and tears were experienced as pleasurable, although there were psychological differences as well. Songs that induced chills were perceived as a mix of happy and sad, while a song that evoked tears was generally considered sad. What is more, tear-inducing songs were generally rated as calmer than chills-inducing songs. Interestingly, the researchers showed that physiological changes were likely not a consequence of the musical characteristics of the songs. Rather, they suggested that physiological arousal and calming occurred as an inherent feature of whether the listener experienced chills or tears, respectively.

One of the main limitations of this study was that chills were not assessed in the tears group and vice versa. As previous studies have suggested that chills and tears can co-occur, it remains a possibility that some sad songs triggered both chills and tears. However, this study’s finding that music-induced tears and chills seem to reflect inherently different peak emotions would seem to argue against this possibility. Another potential problem was that emotional songs were familiar to the participants, which opens the doors to possible confounding. For example, songs might trigger emotional memories, which would mean that, rather than the song, a triggered memory was causing the crying or shivering.

And clearly, findings from Japan are not easily generalised to Western Europe, where emotions likely carry a different meaning.

So what’s the take-home message? The results give credit to the idea that tears, especially in moments of intense emotion in response to music, are not necessarily bad. Instead, they seem to offer relief by releasing tension, adding to past research that has attempted to find out why so many of us seem to enjoy listening to sad music. It will be interesting to see if these new findings can be replicated in a Western sample.

SOURCE:

https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/05/02/psychologists-have-studied-whats-happening-when-music-gives-us-chills-or-makes-us-cry/(accessed 14.5.17)

Are people who think they can multitask deluding themselves?

We’ve all tried to juggle several things at once. So does it work, or is it better to concentrate on just one task at a time?

Can he do it? Er, probably not.


You may be reading this while on a conference call, pushing your child on a swing – or both. But is multitasking really a good idea, or does it make us do everything more slowly and less well than if we were concentrating on one task at a time?
The solution


Psychologists cite robust research that paying more attention to a task improves performance. Humans, they argue, are good at doing rapidly sequential tasks, rather than simultaneous ones. My teenagers insist it is fine to revise while texting and watching YouTube – but they are wrong. In 2009, a research team from Stanford, led by Clifford Nass, compared heavy versus light media multitaskers in a series of tests. Nass thought the heavier multitaskers would be better at organising and storing information and have superior memories, but it turned out that the opposite was true. When the groups were shown configurations of coloured shapes and asked to remember their positions and ignore others, the multitaskers couldn’t do it. They were constantly distracted and their ability to switch between tasks, filter irrelevant information and remember what they had seen was worse than the lighter multitaskers.

A team led by David Strayer at the University of Utah looked at people who drive while using the phone and found that they were more than twice as likely to miss stop signs. In a later study, Strayer found that people who are most likely to multitask are those who think they are great at it. Seventy per cent of the 310 students in his study thought they were above average at multitasking. People who multitasked the most had high levels of impulsive behaviour and were generally the most ill-suited to attempt more than one job at a time.


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Using a mobile, even hands-free, while driving delays the amount of time needed to brake in an emergency and halves the information that drivers are aware of. But Strayer found that people consistently overestimated how good they were at driving while on the phone.

Nass’s research led him to suggest that we should spend 20 minutes on one task and then switch to another, rather than flitting any faster between the two. Tests that measure the ability to remember shapes are less compelling than real-life multitasking research, but the evidence suggests that we delude ourselves if we think we can do more than one thing well at the same time. Limited research suggests that women may be a teeny bit better at it, but few of us are naturals. Strayer’s research suggests that around 3% of the population are “supertaskers” who do better the more they do. The rest of us, however, should stick to one thing at a time.

SOURCE:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/08/people-think-can-multitask-deluding-themselves-concentration?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=225097&subid=1612830&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2(accessed 10.5.17)

Η σημασία της συναισθηματικής επικοινωνίας γονέων - παιδιών

Δεν υπάρχει o τέλειος γονιός, υπάρχει ο αρκετά καλός γονιός.


Τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες οι έρευνες από πολλές χώρες αποδεικνύουν την αύξηση της συχνότητας των ψυχοκοινωνικών και συναισθηματικών προβλημάτων καθώς και δυσκολίες στη σχολική προσαρμογή και επίδοση των παιδιών και των εφήβων.

Στη φύση της παιδικής ηλικίας βλέπουμε να συμβαίνουν μεγάλες αλλαγές. Οι αλλαγές αυτές είναι ευρείες, με αποτέλεσμα οι γονείς να πρέπει να αναπτύξουν νέους ευφυείς τρόπους προκειμένου να διδάξουν στα παιδιά τους τα βασικά συναισθήματα και τους κοινωνικούς κανόνες.

Αυτά που ίσχυαν στο παρελθόν δεν είναι εφικτό να εφαρμοστούν στον παρόν καθώς πολύ απλά "δεν πιάνουν". Τα παιδιά εμφανίζονται περισσότερο ευερέθιστα,νευρικά, κακόκεφα, μελαγχολικά, παρορμητικά και ανυπάκουα. Πίσω από αυτές τις αλλαγές, φυσικά, υποκρύπτονται διάφορα προβλήματα...

Σίγουρα, όμως, υπάρχουν κάποια πράγματα που μένουν σταθερά και δεν αλλάζουν. Για παράδειγμα, ήταν και είναι σημαντικό τα παιδιά να μάθουν τις βασικές ανθρώπινες δεξιότητες.

Δηλαδή, το παιδί να μπορεί να καταλαβαίνει τι νιώθει ο άλλος, να κατανοεί και να διαχειρίζεται τα αρνητικά του συναισθήματα (όπως θυμός, απογοήτευση, κ.ά), να ελέγχει τις παρορμήσεις του, να υπακούει σε βασικούς κανόνες, να μην βλάπτει τους άλλους, να μην τα παρατά και να προσπαθεί να λύνει τα προβλήματά του.

Αυτά ήταν, είναι και θα είναι από τις σημαντικότερες συναισθηματικές και κοινωνικές δεξιότητες που πρέπει να εκπαιδευτεί το άτομο στην πορεία τη ζωής του καθώς καθορίζουν την επιτυχία και την ευτυχία στη ζωή του.

"Η οικογενειακή ζωή είναι το πρώτο σχολείο της συναισθηματικής μάθησης", γράφει ο D.Goleman. Οι γονείς χρειάζεται να διαπαιδαγωγήσουν σωστά το παιδί τους. Να το εκπαιδεύσουν με τέτοιο τρόπο ώστε το παιδί να είναι στο μέλλον έτοιμο να αντιμετωπίσει τους δύσκολους αγώνες της ζωής.

Αυτοί οι γονείς, λοιπόν, διδάσκουν στα παιδιά τους τρόπους να διαχειρίζονται τον θυμό, τον φόβο ή την απογοήτευσή τους και δεν ενοχλούνται όταν βλέπουν το παιδί τους θυμωμένο, φοβισμένο ή απογοητευμένο.

Όταν τα παιδιά τους βιώνουν αρνητικά συναισθήματα κατανοούν ότι πρέπει να βρίσκονται κοντά τους, να τα ακούσουν κι αν χρειαστεί να τα καθοδηγήσουν. Τα παιδιά που αισθάνονται ότι οι οικογένειές τους τα σέβονται και τα εκτιμούν είναι καλύτεροι μαθητές, έχουν περισσότερους φίλους και μία υγιέστερη και πιο επιτυχημένη ζωή.

Οι γονείς στις προηγούμενες γενιές, δυστυχώς, δεν αναγνώριζαν -πάντα- την ανάγκη για αυτοέλεγχο, υπομονή και σεβασμό των παιδιών. Καθώς τα χρόνια περνούν βλέπουμε οι γονείς να ασχολούνται όλο και περισσότερο με την ικανοποίηση των ψυχολογικών και συναισθηματικών αναγκών των παιδιών τους.

Όπως γράφει και ο deMause "η ανατροφή του παιδιού έγινε λιγότερο μία διαδικασία συντριβής της θέλησής του και περισσότερο μία διαδικασία εκπαίδευσής του, καθοδήγησής του σε σωστά μονοπάτια, προσαρμογής και κοινωνικοποίησής του". Οι γονείς σήμερα είναι απαραίτητο να ασχοληθούν με τα παιδιά τους πολύ περισσότερο από το να τους εξασφαλίσουν τροφή ή μία καλή εκπαίδευση.

Στα εργαστήρια ψυχολογίας πλέον αξιολογείται και επιβεβαιώνεται η σημασία και τα οφέλη της υγιούς συναισθηματικής επικοινωνίας γονέων - παιδιών. Ο Gottman αναφέρει ότι: "Κατανοούμε ότι οι αλληλεπιδράσεις ενός νηπίου με τους γονείς του μπορεί να επηρεάσουν καθοριστικά το νευρικό του σύστημα και τη συναισθηματική υγεία του παιδιού για όλη του τη ζωή.

Γνωρίζουμε, πλέον, ότι η αντοχή και η σταθερότητα ενός γάμου επηρεάζουν τη ψυχική υγεία των παιδιών της οικογένειας, όπως γνωρίζουμε τις τεράστιες δυνάμεις της συναισθηματικής εμπλοκής ενός πατέρα με τα παιδιά του".

Η επίγνωση των γονέων για τα συναισθήματα είναι ο πυρήνας για τη βελτίωση της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης των παιδιών. Τα συναισθήματα των παιδιών παύουν να υπάρχουν όταν οι γονείς τα συμβουλεύουν λέγοντάς τους να "μην αισθάνονται έτσι" .

Κάθε γονιός μπορεί να δώσει στο παιδί του "συναισθηματικά μαθήματα". Αυτό που ίσως να δυσκολεύει κάποιους να δώσουν την επιθυμητή συναισθηματική αγωγή είναι ο τρόπος που οι ίδιοι μεγάλωσαν από τις δικές τους οικογένειες και πως, τελικά, διαχειρίζονται τα δικά τους συναισθήματα. Αυτό αποτελεί ένα σημαντικό εμπόδιο ώστε να γίνουν οι ισχυροί και υποστηρικτικοί πατέρες ή μητέρες που θα επιθυμούσαν.

Το σημαντικό, όμως, είναι οι γονείς να ασχοληθούν με τα συναισθήματα των παιδιών τους. Τα συναισθήματα των παιδιών δεν γίνεται να καταπιεστούν. Μακροπρόθεσμα θα βρείτε μπροστά σας σωρεία προβλημάτων τα οποία θα αντιμετωπιστούν δυσκολότερα καθώς το παιδί θα βρίσκεται πολύ μακριά σας συναισθηματικά.

Για να χτιστεί η γέφυρα επικοινωνίας, έπειτα, θα χρειαστεί περισσότερος χρόνος, υπομονή και κατανόηση καθώς τα προβλήματα θα έχουν εδραιωθεί. Τέλος, να θυμάστε ότι κάποιες φορές δεν χρειάζονται τα λόγια. Η "συναισθηματική" σας παρουσία "μιλάει" στην καρδιά του παιδιού.....και η αγκαλιά ή ένα χάδι είναι πολύ πιο σημαντικά από οποιαδήποτε λέξη κάποιες στιγμές που το παιδί παλεύει με τη λύπη ή τον φόβο.

ΠΗΓΗ:

http://www.thessalonikiartsandculture.gr/paidi/arthra/i-simasia-tis-synaisthimatikis-epikoinonias-goneon-paidion(accessed 8.5.17)

The Amazing Reason Walking Is So Good For Your Brain

“I have two doctors, my left leg and my right.” – G.M. Trevelyan



When your foot hits the ground, it sends a pressure wave through the body that increases blood flow to the brain.

The new finding is a surprise to researchers who thought that blood flow to the brain was relatively unaffected by blood pressure changes.

Running also causes similar backward-flowing waves through the arteries, helping to regular blood circulation through the brain.

Dr Ernest Greene, the study’s first author, said:


“What is surprising is that it took so long for us to finally measure these obvious hydraulic effects on cerebral blood flow.

There is an optimizing rhythm between brain blood flow and ambulating.

Stride rates and their foot impacts are within the range of our normal heart rates (about 120/minute) when we are briskly moving along.”

For the study, ultrasound was used to measure blood flow through the carotid artery, which carries blood to the head.

The researchers found that walking produces much lighter foot impacts than running.


However, the effect on blood flow to the brain was still significant.


The study’s authors write:


“New data now strongly suggest that brain blood flow is very dynamic and depends directly on cyclic aortic pressures that interact with retrograde pressure pulses from foot impacts.

There is a continuum of hemodynamic effects on human brain blood flow within pedaling, walking and running. Speculatively, these activities may optimize brain perfusion, function, and overall sense of wellbeing during exercise.”
The art of walking

With or without the scientific explanation, though, humans have instinctively understood the benefits of walking for thousands of years.

It is only in the last century that we have become a society of passengers, sitting bored in metal boxes and tubes, wishing we were already there.

Walking and the art of walking are being lost.

The study “Acute Effects of Walking on Human Internal Carotid Blood Flow” was presented at the APS annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2017 in Chicago.

SOURCE:

http://www.spring.org.uk/2017/05/the-amazing-reason-walking-is-so-good-for-your-brain.php(accessed 8.5.17)

Η χρήση κινητών τηλεφώνων βλάπτει σοβαρά την οικογενειακή ζωή

Σύμφωνα με το πόρισμα της έρευνας, η υπερβολική χρήση κινητών τηλεφώνων από τους γονείς έχει σοβαρές επιδράσεις στην οικογενειακή ζωή και επηρεάζει πολλές φορές σημαντικά την ψυχολογία των παιδιών.

Συγκεκριμένα, το ένα τρίτο των ερωτηθέντων - 2.000 μαθητές δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης, ηλικίας μεταξύ 11 και 18 ετών, απάντησαν ότι έχουν ζητήσει επανειλημμένα από τους γονείς τους να σταματήσουν να ασχολούνται διαρκώς με τη συσκευή κινητής τηλεφωνίας. Το 14% αυτών δήλωσαν ότι οι γονείς τους χρησιμοποιούν το κινητό τους ακόμα και την ώρα των οικογενειακών γευμάτων -όχι μόνο για κλήσεις αλλά και για να σερφάρουν στο Διαδίκτυο- εντούτοις, το 95% των ερωτηθέντων γονέων - 3.000 ενήλικες συμμετείχαν στην έρευνα- αρνήθηκε ότι ισχύει κάτι τέτοιο.

Μεταξύ των μαθητών: το 82% αισθάνεται ότι κατά τη διάρκεια των γευμάτων θα πρέπει να μην γίνεται χρήση κινητού τηλεφώνου από κανένα μέλος της οικογένειας. Το 22% δήλωσε ότι η εκτεταμένη χρήση του κινητού αποξενώνει τα μέλη της οικογένειας. Το 36% των ερωτηθέντων υπογράμμισαν ότι έχουν ζητήσει από τους γονείς τους να αφήσουν στην άκρη τη συσκευή. Από αυτό το ποσοστό, το 46% δήλωσαν ότι οι γονείς τους δεν δίνουν καμία σημασία στη συγκεκριμένη έκκλησή τους, ενώ το 44% των μαθητών δήλωσαν απογοήτευση για αυτή τη συμπεριφορά.

Παρά τα παραπάνω συμπεράσματα, μόλις το 10% των γονέων πιστεύουν ότι η εκτεταμένη χρήση κινητών τηλεφώνων από την πλευρά τους προκαλεί ανησυχία στα παιδιά τους, παρόλο που σχεδόν το 43% παραδέχτηκαν ότι πιθανόν ξοδεύουν πολύ από τον χρόνο τους στο Διαδίκτυο.

Το 37% των γονέων δήλωσαν επίσης ότι ο χρόνος που περνούν καθημερινά στο Διαδίκτυο κυμαίνεται μεταξύ 3 με 5 ώρες την ημέρα, ενώ το 5% αυτών απάντησαν ότι ο χρόνος αυτός αυξάνεται σημαντικά κατά τη διάρκεια του Σαββατοκύριακου (συνολικά περίπου 15 ώρες).

Σύμφωνα με την έρευνα, σχεδόν τα τρία τέταρτα των μαθητών (72%) δήλωσαν ότι ξοδεύουν περίπου 10 ώρες την ημέρα στο Διαδίκτυο. Η μεγαλύτερη έγνοια που εξέφρασε το σχεδόν το ήμισυ των μαθητών (47%) είναι ότι η πολύωρη χρήση του Διαδικτύου οδηγεί σε στέρηση ύπνου, ωστόσο μόλις το 10% των γονέων που συμμετείχαν στην έρευνα δήλωσαν ότι αυτό τους προκαλεί ανησυχία.

ΠΗΓΗ:

http://www.msn.com/el-gr/lifestyle/family/%CE%B7-%CF%87%CF%81%CE%AE%CF%83%CE%B7-%CE%BA%CE%B9%CE%BD%CE%B7%CF%84%CF%8E%CE%BD-%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%BB%CE%B5%CF%86%CF%8E%CE%BD%CF%89%CE%BD-%CE%B2%CE%BB%CE%AC%CF%80%CF%84%CE%B5%CE%B9-%CF%83%CE%BF%CE%B2%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%AC-%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%BD-%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%BF%CE%B3%CE%B5%CE%BD%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BA%CE%AE-%CE%B6%CF%89%CE%AE/ar-BBAeCyY(accessed 4.5.17)

Αρρενωπότητα στο στόχαστρο της γυναικομαστίας

Η εξωτερική εμφάνιση αποτελεί πολύ σημαντικό κομμάτι για κάθε άνθρωπο. Τα πρότυπα ομορφιάς που έχουν επικρατήσει ζητούν ο σύγχρονος άνδρας να παραμένει νέος, γυμνασμένος και ελκυστικός. Ένα πολύ συχνό πρόβλημα που αντιμετωπίζουν οι άνδρες είναι η γυναικομαστία. Πρόκειται για μία παθολογική κατάσταση κατά την οποία το ανδρικό στήθος παρουσιάζει γυναικεία όψη. Η αιτία εμφάνισης της γυναικομαστίας μπορεί να είναι ιδιοπαθής, πολλές φορές όμως οφείλεται σε ορμονική διαταραχή ή στη λήψη φαρμάκων.

Ψυχολογικές επιπτώσεις γυναικομαστίας σε εφήβους και ενήλικες

Η γυναικομαστία είναι μια πάθηση που εκτός από την εξωτερική εμφάνιση επηρεάζει και την ψυχολογία του άνδρα. Ιδίως όταν το πρόβλημα εκδηλώνεται στην εφηβική ηλικία οι επιπτώσεις στην αυτοεκτίμηση του αγοριού είναι ακόμη πιο σοβαρές.
Η εφηβεία είναι μια μεταβατική περίοδος στην οποία το αγόρι σταδιακά ωριμάζει. Η αλλαγή στη φωνή του και η αυξημένη τριχοφυΐα είναι δυο αναμενόμενες αλλαγές. Όταν όμως ένας έφηβος παρατηρήσει ξαφνικά το στήθος του να αλλάζει και να μεγαλώνει, μπερδεύεται και νιώθει διαφορετικός. Εξαιτίας του φόβου της απόρριψης το αγόρι αρχίζει να απομονώνεται από την οικογένεια και τους φίλους του και να απορρίπτει δραστηριότητες που στην πραγματικότητα θα ήθελε να κάνει. Πολλοί έφηβοι φτάνουν στο σημείο να αντιμετωπίζουν προβλήματα κατάθλιψης, κρίσεων πανικού, διατροφικών διαταραχών και γίνονται θύματα bulling από άλλα άτομα ίδιας ηλικίας.

Και στους ενήλικες η εμφάνιση της γυναικομαστίας έχει αρνητικές επιπτώσεις στην αυτοεκτίμησή τους. Ο άνδρας νιώθει ότι χάνει την αρρενωπότητά του και γίνεται ανασφαλής. Αυτό το αίσθημα αμηχανίας και ντροπής, τον κάνει να προσπαθεί συνεχώς να κρύψει το στήθος του, φορώντας φαρδιά και άκομψα ρούχα. Οι διαπροσωπικές του σχέσεις αλλάζουν και ο φόβος της απόρριψης από το αντίθετο φύλο αυξάνεται.

Τι ρόλο παίζουν οι ορμόνες στην εμφάνιση γυναικομαστίας

Το ανδρικό στήθος αποτελείται από τη θηλή, τη θηλαία άλω, το μαζικό αδένα και λίπος (ανάλογο με το σωματικό βάρος του ατόμου). Η ανάπτυξη του μαζικού αδένα είναι αποτέλεσμα της δράσης των οιστρογόνων. Στο ανδρικό φύλο ο μαζικός αδένας παραμένει ατροφικός και επικρατεί το λίπος, ενώ στο γυναικείο λόγω των ορμονών συνεχίζει να αναπτύσσεται. Στους άνδρες με γυναικομαστία που οφείλεται σε ορμονική διαταραχή (π.χ. αυξημένα οιστρογόνα, μειωμένα ανδρογόνα) παρατηρείται υπέρμετρη αύξηση στο μέγεθος του μαζικού αδένα. Σε αυτή την κατηγορία ανήκουν περιστατικά γυναικομαστίας σε εφήβους. Μόλις τα επίπεδα των ορμονών επανέλθουν, το πρόβλημα αποκαθίσταται.



Συχνότητα εκδήλωσης γυναικομαστίας

Τα ποσοστά εμφάνισης γυναικομαστίας αγγίζουν και το 35%. Στα περισσότερα περιστατικά είναι αμφοτερόπλευρη, υπάρχουν όμως και περιπτώσεις στις οποίες είναι ετερόπλευρη, δηλαδή είναι εμφανής στον ένα από τους δύο μαστούς.

Μπορεί η γυναικομαστία να οφείλεται στην παχυσαρκία;

Ένας υπέρβαρος έφηβος ή άνδρας λόγω της συσσώρευσης λίπους σε όλο του το σώμα, άρα και στην περιοχή του στήθους μπορεί να εμφανίσει ψευδογυναικομαστία. Με σωστή διατροφή και άσκηση, η αύξηση του στήθους που οφείλεται σε λιπώδη ιστό μπορεί να αντιμετωπιστεί σε διάστημα μερικών μηνών.

Πότε απαιτείται χειρουργική επέμβαση

Στις περισσότερες περιπτώσεις ειδικά όταν η γυναικομαστία οφείλεται σε διόγκωση του μαζικού αδένα η χειρουργική επέμβαση αποτελεί τη μοναδική λύση. Εκτός από τη βελτίωση του αισθητικού μέρους, επιτυγχάνεται και βελτίωση της ψυχολογίας και κατ’ επέκταση της ποιότητας ζωής του άνδρα.

ΠΗΓΗ:

http://www.kathimerini.gr/903219/article/epikairothta/ygeia/arrenwpothta-sto-stoxastro-ths-gynaikomastias(accessed 4.5.17)

Why idle moments are crucial for creativity

Our brains are at their most innovative when they are resting, so why aren’t we making time for quiet reflection?

Last month, both the US Department of Homeland Security and the UK Department of Transport issued a new ban. Passengers flying from certain areas of North Africa and the Middle East can no longer carry electronics larger than a smartphone on flights.

Royal Jordanian airlines cheekily responded by offering travellers “12 things to do on a 12-hour flight with no tablet or laptop.” Number 11 was “analyse the meaning of life.”


These days, spare moments are filled with using our smartphones and other devices

There’s nothing inherently funny about this suggestion. It’s amusing because the thought of quiet contemplation on a long flight rather than being entertained via a screen is, in today’s world, ridiculous.

Humans have daydreamed for thousands of years, and yet, these days, spare moments are filled with using our smartphones and other devices—scrolling through social media, listening to podcasts, responding to emails—leaving us little time to let our minds wander. This may seem a small change, but its effect, on the way our minds work and on our collective creativity, could be far-reaching. In fact, it could be hindering your ability to come up with fresh, innovative ideas.

Lightbulb moments

In 2012, researchers found that letting your mind wander can lead to better creative problem solving. And anecdotal links between daydreaming and creativity abound. From Einstein to Nobel Prize-winning chemists to the inventor of the Post-it note, many of the world’s great thinkers have espoused the benefits of giving your mind a rest. And perhaps you too have noticed that your best ideas come in the shower or while out for a walk.


Daydreaming is how we access our big-picture state of mind

When your mind is able to wander, it is accessing memories, emotions and random bits of stored knowledge, says Amy Fries, author of Daydreams at Work: Wake Up Your Creative Powers and a writer and editor for Psychology Today.

“Daydreaming is how we access our big-picture state of mind,” Fries says. “When you’re in a daydreaming state of mind, you can visualise or simulate your own version of events."

This visualisation can help us gain a new perspective on a problem or link two previously disjointed thoughts to come up with an original idea.





According to Nielsen, Americans spend 10.5 hours a day consuming media. And UK residents are close behind at almost 10 hours a day, according to eMarketer. (Credit: Getty Images)



“My most creative moments come when my brain is allowed to rest,” says Megan King, a graphic designer for the architecture and engineering firm exp Global Inc. As a designer, King is expected to come up with new, compelling ideas all the time. “Sometimes I’ll spend all day working on a project and I’ll feel that I never quite created something that I’m really happy with,” King says. “I’ll get a good night’s sleep and [the next day], get something done in 15 minutes that is more innovative.”

But “I’m addicted to my smartphone,” she says.

She’s not alone. According to Nielsen, Americans spend 10.5 hours a day consuming media. And UK residents are close behind at almost 10 hours a day, according to eMarketer. This extended screen time has made some of us uncomfortable sitting alone with our own thoughts. Scientists conducted a study in which they gave people the option of either sitting alone with no distractions for a period of 6–15 minutes or enduring a mild electric shock. Many people chose the shock.

Different states

When your eyes are on your phone, your mind is in a very different state than when it’s daydreaming.

Over years of studies, researchers found that our brain has two separate attention systems, says Daniel Willingham, Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia — an external one and an internal one. The internal attention system, which is activated during daydreaming, is called the default network.





When your eyes are on your phone, your mind is in a very different state than when it’s daydreaming. (Credit: Getty Images)



“The default network is particularly active when you are thinking about yourself, thinking about the past, thinking about the future,” Willingham says. “You can’t really have both [attention systems] active at the same time, but they’re in some ways linked.”

If both systems can’t be active at the same time and we’re spending 10 hours a day in one attention system, it begs the question: what is that doing to our brains — and our ability to come up with creative ideas?

“This is not a small intervention that we are conducting on ourselves. In many cases this is an enormous amount of time,” Willingham says, “especially for teenage kids.”


From a psychological point of view, we’re more concerned about what this will do to us over the course of many years

“From a psychological point of view, we’re more concerned about what this will do to us over the course of many years,” he says. The consequences, as of now, are not fully known, but all this phone staring, all this time spent in one attention system, may very well have a long-term effect.

Digital detox

The good news is that some people are already self-regulating their overuse. King recently went off Facebook after realising she was spending too much time on the site in her in-between moments.

“I’ve been developing a self-awareness recently about my overuse,” she says. “I’ve been trying to curb it, but it’s hard.”





Some people are already starting to self-regulate when it comes to their internet and screen usage, scheduling in time for technology detoxes (Credit: Alamy)



Willingham, who used to listen to podcasts or books on tape while he walked for exercise, has started leaving his devices at home. He’s much happier with the silence. And Fries consciously limits her phone and television time, and if she could, would go even further.

“I actually have fantasies about going off the grid for about a year,” she says.

Barring that, Fries recommends starting with self-awareness. Notice when you’re looking at your phone and how it makes you feel. If you’re tapped out for creativity, go for a walk or do some other activity that doesn’t require focused attention. Most importantly, give yourself the time and permission to daydream, which, especially in our culture of busyness, is easier said than done.


Accepting your own daydreaming state of mind is almost revolutionary

“I think it’s something individuals can own,” Fries says. “Accepting your own daydreaming state of mind is almost revolutionary.”

Companies would also benefit from giving their employees the space to let their minds wander, she says, allowing them to come up with better, more innovative ideas.

“Any leader in any area, I can guarantee you they’re a big daydreamer,” Fries says.

In addition to going off Facebook, King has stopped taking her phone or computer to meetings when possible, and it’s helped her access better and more unique ideas, she says. Plus, she gives herself the time to exercise, get good sleep and take midday breaks—like heading to a nearby park with just some paper and a pencil.

“That is my ultimate ideal to get some creative juices flowing,” King says. “I feel like time just stops when you’re sitting there.”

SOURCE:

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170414-why-idle-moments-are-crucial-for-creativity(accessed 1.5.17)

Πώς είναι το να ακούς φωνές;

Είναι δύσκολο να εξηγήσει κανείς πώς είναι το να ακούς «φωνές», ειδικά αν δεν έχεις ακούσει ποτέ φωνές ο ίδιος. Όμως, η εμπειρία του να ακούς φωνές δεν είναι τόσο ξένη όσο γενικά θεωρείται.

Καταρχάς, μπορεί να είναι το ίδιο με το να ακούς μία φωνή κανονικά με τα αυτιά σου, με τη διαφορά πως η «φωνή» δεν έχει φυσική αιτία – αλλά όπως και με τις κανονικές φωνές, υπάρχει ποικιλία και κάθε εμπειρία έχει διαφορετικά χαρακτηριστικά. Μπορεί να νομίζεις ότι δεν έχεις βιώσει ποτέ κάτι τέτοιο, αλλά είσαι σίγουρος/η; Ίσως κάποτε άκουσες κάποιον/α να φωνάζει το όνομά σου για να διαπιστώσεις τελικά πως δεν υπήρχε κανείς εκεί. Όντως, έρευνες δείχνουν ότι ειδικά για ανθρώπους που πενθούν, δεν αποτελεί ασυνήθιστη εμπειρία το να ακούν τη φωνή του προσώπου που πέθανε πρόσφατα.

Εκτός από το να ακούν φωνές με τα αυτιά τους, οι άνθρωποι ακούν επίσης φωνές σαν να είναι σκέψεις που εισβάλλουν στο μυαλό από κάπου αλλού, έξω από τον εαυτό τους. Αυτό δεν είναι το ίδιο με μία ξαφνική ιδέα, την οποία οι άνθρωποι συχνά αναγνωρίζουν ότι προέρχεται από τον εαυτό τους. Αντιθέτως, αυτές οι σκέψεις δεν είναι δικές τους και μοιάζουν σαν να έρχονται απ’ έξω από τη συνείδησή τους, όπως συμβαίνει με την τηλεπάθεια.

Ένα καλό παράδειγμα γι’ αυτό είναι η εμπειρία του να ανακαλείς ένα στίχο ή μια μελωδία, την οποία ανακαλύπτεις πως επαναλαμβάνεις μόνος/η σου ασυνείδητα και η οποία σου έρχεται στο νου ξανά και ξανά. Μπορεί ακόμη και να πιάσεις τον εαυτό σου να τη μουρμουρίζει. Δεν πήρες ποτέ την απόφαση να αρχίσεις να τη σκέφτεσαι και είναι δύσκολο να σταματήσεις να τη σκέφτεσαι. Η διαφορά ανάμεσα στη μελωδία και στη «φωνή-σκέψη», που παρουσιάζεται σαν λέξη στο μυαλό σου, είναι ότι η τελευταία ίσως συνεχίσει να σου μιλάει κατανοητά και ακόμη και να συζητά μαζί σου. Δεν είσαι εσύ υπεύθυνος/η γι’ αυτό και δεν έχεις ιδέα τι πρόκειται να πει η «φωνή» στη συνέχεια.

Υπάρχουν πολλοί διαφορετικοί τρόποι να ακούς φωνές. Οι φωνές μπορεί να βιώνονται στο κεφάλι, έξω από αυτό ή ακόμα και στο σώμα. Μπορεί να είναι μία φωνή ή πολλές φωνές. Η φωνή μπορεί να μιλάει σε σένα ή για σένα.

Υπάρχουν και άλλοι τρόποι να ακούς φωνές. Κάποιοι από αυτούς δεν περιγράφονται επαρκώς με τη φράση «ακούω φωνές» και ίσως μια μέρα θα έχουμε βρει μία καλύτερη περιγραφή – επειδή δεν είναι ποτέ το ίδιο για όλους. Μερικοί άνθρωποι, για παράδειγμα, βιώνουν μη λεκτικές σκέψεις, εικόνες και οράματα, γεύσεις, οσμές και άγγιγμα. Όλα αυτά τα βιώματα δεν έχουν φυσική αιτία και όλα είναι αισθήσεις που δεν προκάλεσαν οι ίδιοι.

Οι φωνές μπορεί να είναι σαν τα όνειρα. Όλοι μας ονειρευόμαστε και βιώνουμε λέξεις, εικόνες, ακόμη και αισθήσεις. Όταν βαριόμαστε μπορούμε να ταξιδέψουμε με το νου μας και να δούμε ένα σύντομο όνειρο. Όταν ονειρευόμαστε, διάφορα παράξενα πράγματα μπορούν να μας συμβούν, αλλά εξακολουθούμε να πιστεύουμε ότι πραγματικά μας συμβαίνουν. Το να ακούς φωνές μπορεί να είναι κάπως έτσι: ένα όνειρο που βλέπεις ενώ είσαι ξύπνιος/α, αλλά που βιώνεται ως πραγματικό.

Για τους ανθρώπους που ακούνε φωνές, οι φωνές αυτές μπορεί να είναι παρούσες όλη την ημέρα και ως αποτέλεσμα να τους εμποδίζουν από το να κάνουν πράγματα στην καθημερινή ζωή τους. Οι φωνές μπορεί ακόμη και να τιμωρούν αυτόν/ήν που τις ακούει, αν δεν κάνει αυτό που θέλουν, για παράδειγμα, αν δεν φύγει από ένα πάρτι όταν του/της πουν ή αν μιλήσει σε άλλους για τις φωνές. Έτσι κάποιοι άνθρωποι που ακούνε φωνές σιωπούν και κατά συνέπεια απομονώνονται από τους άλλους ανθρώπους.

Μπορεί να υπάρχει μία ευχάριστη πλευρά στο να ακούς φωνές. Μερικές φορές η φαινομενική σοφία είναι πραγματική και οι φωνές, ή τουλάχιστον κάποιες από αυτές, ίσως να φαίνονται έξυπνες. Άνθρωποι που ακούν φωνές αναφέρουν ότι οι φωνές τους είπαν πράγματα που δεν ήξεραν ή που δε μπορούσαν να κατανοήσουν από μόνοι τους και ότι οι φωνές πραγματικά τους βοήθησαν. Κάποιοι άνθρωποι θεωρούν αυτή την εμπειρία ένα δώρο, κάτι σαν πολύτιμη ενόραση ή ακόμη και εξω-αισθητηριακή αντίληψη, και έτσι οι ίδιοι τις εμπιστεύονται. Οι φωνές μπορεί να είναι έξυπνες, πνευματώδεις, αστείες και γλαφυρές.

Οι φωνές μπορούν από μόνες τους να αποτελούν μηχανισμό αντιμετώπισης. Αυτό που οι φωνές λένε αντιστοιχεί με την επίδραση που έχει ο κοινωνικός και συναισθηματικός κόσμος σ’ αυτόν που τις ακούει. Οι φωνές συχνά σχολιάζουν το πώς το άτομο που τις ακούει βιώνει τον κόσμο και κατ’ αυτόν τον τρόπο οι φωνές μπορεί να αποτελούν έναν αμυντικό μηχανισμό ενάντια σε αφόρητα και απαγορευμένα συναισθήματα. Οι φωνές συχνά σχετίζονται με την ιστορία ζωής του ατόμου, όπως με ένα τραύμα πρόσφατο ή από την παιδική ηλικία, και τότε μιλούν για αδυναμία και αδικία. Αυτή είναι μία σύνθετη προσωπική εμπειρία και οι φωνές μπορεί να παίζουν ρόλο είτε καθοδηγητικό είτε επικριτικό.

Μπορείς να ελέγξεις τις φωνές; Τι κάνεις με τις φωνές που δεν είναι με το μέρος σου, που σε κακολογούν και σε προσβάλουν ή διακόπτουν τις σκέψεις σου ή σου δίνουν επιβλαβείς συμβουλές και σου λένε να κάνεις ανόητα πράγματα; Το πρώτο πράγμα που πρέπει να συνειδητοποιήσεις είναι ότι, παρόλο που η φωνή μπορεί να παρεμβαίνει στη συνείδησή σου, αυτό δε σημαίνει πως θα πρέπει να ακολουθείς τυφλά ό,τι λέει. Θα έσπευδες να διαπράξεις φόνο, αν κάποιος σου το ζητούσε; Όχι βέβαια.

Οι άνθρωποι που ακούν φωνές έχουν το ίδιο δικαίωμα στην αυτοδιάθεση όπως οποιοσδήποτε άλλος και μπορείς να πεις στις φωνές ακριβώς αυτό. Αν κάποιες από τις φωνές είναι ευχάριστες και φιλικές, τότε μπορείς να συζητάς μαζί τους, αλλά όχι μ’ εκείνες που δε λειτουργούν έτσι. Μπορείς να πεις στις δυσάρεστες φωνές πως δεν τις βρίσκεις ούτε ευχάριστες ούτε χρήσιμες και ότι δεν έχεις λόγο να τις ανέχεσαι αν δεν αλλάξουν. Τι γίνεται με τις κακόβουλες φωνές, που μπορούν να προκαλέσουν οξύτατο ψυχικό πόνο και να σε διατάξουν να κάνεις πράγματα (όπως το να μένεις μέσα και να αποφεύγεις τους ανθρώπους); Μία λύση είναι να απομακρύνεις όσο περισσότερο μπορείς το στρες από τη ζωή σου. Το στρες όχι μόνο αυξάνει τις φωνές αλλά τις κάνει να λένε και πιο δυσάρεστα πράγματα. Δεύτερον, μην αγνοείς τις φωνές, επειδή τότε τείνουν να γίνονται πιο επιθετικές, όμως την ίδια στιγμή μην τις αφήνεις να ρυθμίζουν τη ζωή σου χωρίς την άδειά σου.



Πρωτότυπο: What is it like to hear voices?

http://www.intervoiceonline.org/2006/12/6/information-about-hearing-voices-contents (May 13, 2011)

ΠΗΓΗ:

http://www.hearingvoices.gr/index.php/el/component/content/article?id=72(1.5.17)