It's All in Your Head

I recently read an article about scientific myths and the number one on the list was placebos.

Ever since first hearing about placebos in science class I have been intrigued by them.

In this article it talks about how the mind actually alters your bodies biochemistry. 

What they did was:

1)induce pain in subjects

2)supply morphine

Then they later:

3)induced pain

4) supplied a saline solution (ie sugar/salt water)

They found that the subjects reacted as if they had been given morphine.

They then:

5)induced pain

6)supplied solution which contained a drug that BLOCKED the affects of morphine.

They found that subjects continued to feel pain.

They concluded that the mind/brain was actually affecting the biochemistry of the body. Afterall you can find biochemicals within the body which are same/similar to morphine (I forget what they are called... opioids that are something else... I'll maybe look it up later).

Other studies have shown that the placebo effect can decrease the size of tumors, reduced stiffness in parkinsons, cure depression and a vast array of other affects.

Cool, no?

For more details click here to read the article.

Good Little Girl Syndrome

A female co-worker of mine described some girls as having "Good little girl syndrome" which is tagged onto women that want to please others and are "nice".

I found that distinctly insulting on behalf of the women who are nice.

She went onto say that women like that won't be successful at work and get trampled on. That they are socially trained to behave in a manner that isn't truly female. I admit this is partially true but my belief that has to do with unconfident women that feel they need to be submissive.

I thought the term (it was in Finnish) was... let's say wrong.

It is generally not used outside of Feminist discourse. And feminism is strong in Finland.

There is nothing wrong with a woman in power.

But I think Finns might be taking it a bit far (or at least the older generation and some of mine).

They see the "feminine" as weak. Nurturing, caring, and other characteristics.

I think that these characteristics generally occure naturally in women (hormones, genes etc). I believe it is both a strength and weakness.

We exist in dualities. There is male and female, black and white, love and hated, etc etc.

Neither is better or worse than the other.

I think it is truly sad that there are women out there that do not glory in being female.

There is strength in being Female, it is not always the same as Male but both can be used to get ahead in life.

Work life is highlighted in Finland as being incredibly important, and that Feminine characteristics do not let you get ahead in that field, ergo belittling them.

However I believe a truly confident woman, who has embraced her duality can be successful as well.

And also thinking on this, will that woman be truly happy suppressing her feminine side and bringing the masculine side to the fore even though it makes her successful business?

I don't know... 

What do you think?

Change

A friend of mine asked how do you get a person with negative thoughts to change how they think.

I told him that they have to be a) willing to change or b) brainwashed.

I'm more for the willing to change aspect than the forceful brainwashing. Brainwashing is easy to do on most people, however if they have a strongly defined sense of Self than most likely regular and even some advanced brainwashing techniques won't work.

I think however if you approach the matter the right way you can get a negative person to at least try thinking in a more positive manner.

A simple exercise can be done to show them how. Have them keep a journal of their thoughts and experiences.

Then have them go back with a marker and highlight all the negative word choices and phrases. Then have them rewrite whatever possible in a more positive light.

That's one way, there are others. But thats a basic psychological technique used to treat people with depression and other psychological issues.

Also being positive relieves stress, generally keeps you healthier and happier as well.

Seeing the Negative

Ever met one of those people that always see the negative in everything?

A former co-worker would always find something negative. For example it was a cloudy day, "It's dark and depressing out there" When the sky was blue, sun shining and the birds singing, she'd say "I hate this time of year, it's too bright!"

I think in the two months I knew her she did not say a single positive thing about anything.

For myself I can't get how a mind can stay so negative all the time and function. It was depressing just talking to her, I don't know why anyone would want to be in that state of mind.

And seriously it is a choice. A person can choose whether or not to have positive or negative thoughts. One of the treatments for depression IS changing cognitive thought patterns. And that method is much more effective in the long term than any drugs.

If I start thinking negatively, start hearing those "woe is me", "buts..." "I hate" thoughts in my head and change it around to the positive. 

It just take a little effort until your mind catches on and starts doing it automatically.

Ramblings 27: In the Moment

I was just on Reddit reading comments made by a person who was high and also happened to have a psychology degree.

He talked about living in the moment, living in the now and setting a goal and defining what is important in your life.

His really long comments had to do with a person asking how to stop drinking.

I really couldnt agree more with what he said. The power is in you to change, not some external thing.

If you don't want to, then you wont.

And I think AA is another way people are brainwashed :x. I look at the steps and all I can do is shake my head, believe in a higher power, acknowledge you have no control... etc etc.

*Shudders*

I'm sure it works for some... but thinking that I have no power or choice... no will over what I do. Well that's just something I can't and never will accept.

Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/8aknp/hey_reddit_i_need_help_ive_become_an_alcoholic_it/

Author: cedargrove

About Me

I thought I'd post a little about myself :)

I am a twenty-something female, currently living in Finland.

I have lived in Finland, Canada (Ontario and Quebec) and the USA (Florida and Atlanta).

I dual majored in Psychology and Writing & Communication at the University of Toronto.

I love languages, and I love to read just about everything. I university I took a variety of classes from philosophy to economics.

At about the later half of my time at University I started having the feelings that I wasn't being taught something really valuable.

I was being taught facts, but it felt like I was giving puzzle pieces, except the pieces didn't fit and were sometimes missing.

Did you ever have that?

The most notable of this was during my psychology courses. We would speak of genetics, evolution, and a more holistic approach. But it was as if we were touching the surface and part of that surface was fake and the insides nearly empty.

I think a lot of this came from my Writing Program. In that course we were taught to think. Taught to doubt, question, analyze and be critical of everything. We were taught to research ourselves.

No longer were the words of my professors something written in stone. I realized they didn't really know what they were talking about in somethings or simply alluding to others.

One of the best things to do, I discovered, was look at who was involved in research, check out who did the funding. 

For example would you REALLY trust a study on the affects of smoking funded by the Tobacco companies? So why do you trust research funded by companies such as Monsanto with the quality of your food?

No matter the checks and controls in a study, the person funding it has a say in its release. If it will be, how much will be released. And also what information and how it is worded.

Did you know it is incredibly hard to find research in the USA that is not funded by someone that shouldn't be funding it in the first place?

Do you want good research? Then check out torrents, European, Asian and non-USA journals.

But always always check. Sometimes they do it through a third party company or by another branch name that isn't easily recognized.

Well back to me, I have a brother also that influenced me when he started doing his own diggings into truth and health.

He would send me articles and videos about his discoveries. From hard-core conspiracies to things that have been proven to be true (though they were conspiracies at the time).

Our world just isn't what it seems. Time to take off the bull-shit glasses and take a look.

Miserable Weather

Weather has this annoying affect on me. If it is cloudy and dreary it makes me sleepy and bummed out.

I think it probably affects a lot of us like that. I think it also has to do with the lack of sun.

Ever heard of Seasonal Depressive Disorder? That's when people feel depressed in the winter months.

Some people think that this depression is all in the mind, and not due to lack of sunlight.

But it is funny how it is "cured" when the people who suffer from it purchase Natural Lights, (light bulb that mimic the sun's light) and have the light in the room with them.

Supposedly shining it on the back of your legs (knee joints) helps as well.

I kind of wonder why every Finn in Finland doesn't have those lights in their home. After all they barely have 4 hours of light in the winter. I think a little natural light might boost the mood here. 

The problem is not so great in Canada, though I think we could all benefit from those lights... especially people who sit in front of their computers all day. You know who you are!

Human beings are just walking, talking plants! We need the sun to survive and apparently not just for Vitamin D.

Relationships

When is it too much?

I seem to be coming across a recent theme in clingy relationships.

I have been getting texts, calls and emails about wanting advice to improbe a relationship. From brand new ones to decade old.

I really don't know why everyone comes to me! I try to help, but I'm not you/them, I can't see all your past experiences, all I can offer is a new look at what they view as an insurmountable obstacle. Generally it is smaller than they think... other times not so much.

There current theme of neediness. I am frequently hearing "Oh, I can't live without him/her" I think my life will just stop! Oh maybe I should break it off right now so it won't hurt more! etc etc etc

And as some of you know or have figured out I tend to be practical and logical about certain things. Also I refuse to go into a relationship where the person I am with is "the air I breathe". Maybe I am a little cynical after having to deal with giving advice so often in these relationships.

But I am not a dramatic person, nor am I excessively emotional generally (or so I think... am I wrong?)

Yes I want a person that can make me happier, that can show me new things and open different worlds for me. But I don't want to loose me. I could become more. But I don't want to stop being me. Make sense?

I want a partner, not a crutch or life support system.

Oh, I like that.

But anyway the usual problem in all the relationships I hear about is lack of COMMUNICATION.

Oh, sure you nod your heads and go, but I do talk to him or her! He/She doesn't listen.

Here's the thing men and women talk different. Men are generally more about showing instead of telling. Women tend to be more verbal. When a woman has a problem she tells her man and he gives her a solution, but that isn't what she wants, she just wants a shoulder to cry on.

Most guys don't want to listen to women as they talk on about things that are unimportant.

Women see this as the men not caring about them. But most guys, wouldn't be with you in the first place if they didn't feel something for you. Vice versa by the way.

But of course most of us are so screwed up that you might just be with a person for security or that you don't want to be alone, etc etc.

Now communication is key, you have to figure out how to do it. You have to be open and honest and not try to manipulate, control or for godsakes CHANGE your partner.

You can NOT change a person unless they themselves want to change. 

Anyway talk with, not AT.

If you tell yourself he/she wouldn't care, wouldn't understand or any tens of thousands of excuses then you are either;

A) Not communicating properly

B) In a relationship you should not be in, in the first place!

I like helping people I do, but I am not a counsellor, psychiatrist, psychologist or in any way a professional.

So why is it that everyone seems to come to me? From strangers to colleagues to friends?

It's not like I have been in thousands of relationships and have tons of experience or something... really I don't! Get that smirk off your face, I'm not lying! 

Do I make sense? I'm losing track.

Okay my little rant is over.

DISCLAIMER: Don't get me wrong, I like when people talk to me or I get to talk to them about problems. But when every where you look the problem has the same root... and all you ever hear about is the solution... 

enjoy your emotions, 

don't drown in them

Ramblings 12: Want & Need

I believe the field of Psychology gave us a great disservice when it went and tied itself to marketing.

Through psychology the marketing system was able to shift our preception of WANT in to NEED.

Humans need only a few things to survive, water, food, shelter and as a species sex. You can also add that we need contact with others, this is tied to our mental health. A baby will die if it is not touched, it does not matter if you feed it and shelter it.

Today people believe they need a new car, a new house, new shoes, a new game and new hairstyle or something immaterial.

People drive themselves crazy for things they believe they need, but only in fact want.

People no longer look to themselves to fulfill their needs. So many look without to define themselves. Like somehow a new car will make you loved by all and accepted.

I'm not saying I am immune to this. I'm not saying we do not need money.

In fact today we need money, we can't get food, water or shelter without it. But using money to buy things so that you can be loved or to better define yourself...

You look at magazines, at TV, at what your neighbor does and compare. Will you be liked if you buy that handbag? Get that new iPod, will you be hip and accepted?

Well yes, but not for you, just that empty shell that is composed entirely of the material.

I think it is sad that our selves are defined not by us but by what we own, the country we are from, the job we have, and the neighborhood we are from.

We are defined now by Society. Many have lost their central selves, and let others tell them what to be.

You are told you can not be a leader, you can not come up with a better way of doing something, that you will get no where, that you are defined by what you own.

What are you when everything is stripped away?

Shouldn't we be more than the sum of our material possessions?

How often have you thought "someone else will do it". How often do you shift responsibility on to another and not take action? Do you not take action because you believe from the very start that you cannot succeed?

I think a lot of our world is a lot of talking and very little action. We seem to be puppets to the ones that do.

It is funny in writing, the biggest point is to SHOW, not tell. Don't tell me, SHOW me.

And yeah, I am also a person that has talked and not put what I said into action. Things I should have, because I believed someone else could do it better. That what I do would have no effect.

But really, everything you do impacts something else.

Don't tell me, show me.



***See this is ramblings, I started with talking about want and need and somehow started talking about taking up action in what you believe in. Go figure! It was fun to write though!

Ramblings 4: Learned Helplessness

Learned Helplessness: We're not so Independent

I was on my way to work when I suddenly recalled a study that I had read about in psychology. 

It had to do with operant and classical conditioning, which is when you condition an animal/person to do certain behaviours. 

Like training a dog to sit, fetch or come when you call. You call dog, dog looks at you, you give it a treat. Then you build up from there, withholding treat until the dog gets up and comes to you when called. That is it simplified, there are other ways as well.

The experiment was done by Seligman in early 1965. He trained various dogs to avoid shocks from an electrified floor in a cage when a light turned on. When the light was on the dog would jump over the barrier to safety. They also had condition with no light. The dog would still jump.

Then he thought of this; he put the dog in a hammock and did the same light and shock association. thinking that after the dog was removed from the hammock it would learn to jump to safety.

What he discovered is something called Learned Helplessness. When the dog was released and shown the light it just cowered, and lay down taking the shocks. 

Not even attempting to get away. It was had learned not to react since it believed there was nothing it could do.

However not all dogs cowered in later experiments some became vicious.

In another experiment the scientists gradually increased the voltage on a dog that could not get away. What they did was give it a weak shock then a stronger and then the next “weak” shock would be slightly stronger than the last and the stronger shock stronger than the last. The dog would react less and less to the weaker shocks even though they were the equivalent of stronger shocks made later. Eventually the dog did not react to any shock.

Know the frog experiment? Toss a frog into boiling water and it will jump out but if you put it in a pot of cool water and gradually turn up the heat the frog will just stay in that water until it boils to death?

Well, that was a bit long winded. I thought I should give you a little background… I hope it wasn’t too garbled!

Main Point:

The above is what I think about whenever I see peoples reactions to debt, gas prices, food prices or any changes in the world. 

Gas prices soar to 2 dollars from 60 cents, people cry outrage. The gas price, drops to 70, then shoots up to nearly 2,50 dollars and then drops to 80. Etc, etc, and each time people react less and less to prices they nearly rioted over a year ago. 

It is so… blatant.

You can see this kind of MARKETING strategy in a lot of places, you can see it in our food, our clothes, in products we buy and in the wars that are fought.

People are being conditioned, there’s even brainwashing involved in this to make sure you don’t think too hard about your conditioned responses.

Because of our conditioning we think always that someone else will do something. Someone else will take care of it. One person can not make change. Though almost everywhere you go you hear that you can do it.

It's why if someone collapses in a crowded hallway, you don't say SOMEONE CALL 911! You say YOU IN GREEN SWEATER CALL 911 NOW! Otherwise you stand the chance that no one will call.

Humans adapt, we can get used to almost anything… but why should we get accustomed to things that isn't good for us?

Why is it that we study so much psychology and science but rarely carry it over as to how it is used on us? 

Guess we don't like to admit how easily we are manipulated. I know I don't.

Info about learned helplessness: http://www.noogenesis.com/malama/discouragement/helplessness.html