Does working hard have to be painful?

It is often said that in order for a fitness workout to be successful, it is necessary to endure pain. I'm sure that all of you have heard of the saying, "No pain, no gain," which is a popular belief among both men and women in terms of exercising. However, the necessity of pain during a workout is put into question in this article, Feeling Pain written by Pirkko Markula.  Markula focuses on the feminine aspect of the issue, in which he says that women have adopted male principles in that they often ignore and endure the pain they experience while exercising because they feel as if pain is an essential element of fitness. Many women think of pain as just being "part of the game," such as in running and other physically demanding sports. However, this article addresses the fact that women athletes must learn to differentiate between the different types of pain that one may endure.

There are two different types of pain that one may experience while exercising -- good pain and bad pain. Good pain refers to the everyday "hurt" that is associated with muscles  whereas pain in joints, ligaments, and bones indicate bad pain. One must have the ability to stop when they realize that they are enduring bad pain and when it becomes too much for his or her body to handle. While pain is considered an essential aspect of many sport women's experiences, it can become a problem when the female chooses to ignore pain and allow it to become "numb" to their bodily feelings, such as in dancing. In the article, the author talks about a study that he conducted of dancers and their experiences with pain. He found that dancers are known to accept pain as a necessary part of their culture and many have said that they need to be in pain in order to know that they are pushing their limits. They have some difficulty, however, trying to distinguish between pain and injury and thus, do not always realize when they pass from feeling pain to actually injuring their bodies. They have the determined mindset that as long as they have the ability to move, the pain can be ignored.

While exercising, it may be difficult to feel as if you are really working hard without enduring some kind of pain. However, this article supports that the most important part of exercising is learning when the pain has the capability of passing from just a simple "hurt" to a possible injury. Pain is an expected and accepted aspect of exercise culture. During physical activities, bodily pain is usually a sign that something is wrong. While dancers and athletes are aware of this fact, they feel as if they cannot afford to stop due to the requirements of their performance culture. So now, I am asking you for your thoughts. Does working hard have to be painful? Do you think that exercise needs to hurt in order to attain maximum performance? How can you distinguish between good and bad pain during an exercise? How is an exerciser to know when to push his or her body or when to stop?

Is being grateful the gateway to happiness?

With Thanksgiving just past the corner, I'm sure some of us all remember exactly what we said we were thankful for around the table. Family, friends, college acceptance- I think it's a pretty safe bet that we all took a moment to remember the things we're grateful for before digging into whatever kind of turkey and potatoes you had on the menu.

This really only happens once a year, though, we need a specific day to remember what we're thankful for, and oftentimes with some prompting. But what if we took time out of every day to remember what we're grateful for? This article by Mary MacVean says there's long lasting evidence that, if we took a second to stop and allow ourselves to feel grateful for what we have, we'd greatly decrease our chances of depression and stress-related illnesses.

The article says that being grateful leads to acknowledging that humanity is, in essence, good, and that thought alone can lead to a reduction of stress. Gratefulness allows us to remember that we have people in our lives to help us out if we need it, and that we wouldn't be the person we are if we'd been completely alone, that other people help to shape us.

But is taking time our of our daily lives to be grateful too much of a stretch? While Thanksgiving is a specific day meant to be used to express our thanks, even it is being pushed under the rug in favor of consumeristic events, like Black Friday, and the rush to Christmas. Is it really feasible for us to use this idea of taking time out of our days to think of what we're thankful? Or are we always going to be too caught up in the here and now than to stop and think.

What do you think? Could you see yourself doing it, or is being grateful always going to be overshadowed by thoughts of the things we need or want, rather than what people have already helped us achieve? Even simpler than that- do you think it makes sense that being grateful could help relieve stress and ward off depression?

Can Eight Minutes Change Your Day?

           I’m almost positive that everyone has had one of those horrible days when it seems like your world is close to ending. You might think that there’s no possible way you could be happy after failing a test, forgetting a project or just having too much to do after school. Think again, according to psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky, forty percent of our happiness may be within our power to control. In the article “The Happiness Diet,” she explains a recent study, she found that found people who thought about happy life events for eight minutes every day for three days felt increased life satisfaction four weeks later than they had prior to the study. She calls this theory the “40 Percent Solution. In her book, "The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want,” she lists various activities to make yourself happy. Psychologists have been using these “happiness activities” to help their clients achieve true happiness in their lives.

            Lyubomirsky mainly focuses on the differences between happy people and unhappy people and how to increase the number of the happy ones. She looks at happiness as a diet. You can’t eat healthy one day and expect to lose ten pounds; you have to work at it. Just like a diet, you need to work on your happiness all the time as well. You can’t do one happiness exercise and expect to be happy for the rest of your life. You have to do it every day and really put effort into boosting your own happiness. I know you may be thinking that you barely have time to breathe during the day…where are you supposed to find the time to make yourself happy. Just remember it only takes about eight minutes of your day and it will probably help make you motivate and more productive with your work.

            Many people believe the myth that weather can add to your happiness. That people in Florida where it is always warm and sunny are happier than people in Maine where it is usually cold. Weather actually has nothing to do with it because you become adapted to the weather wherever you live. However, if you move to Florida you may have an increase in your happiness for a little bit because the warm and sunny weather is new to you. But after a while you will adapt to it and that happiness will return to normal. This is one reason why people like to go on vacation so much: change of scenery. Variety changes the way we look at things and that helps us to truly enjoy what we have.

            Happiness not only will give you a new outlook on life but it can improve relationships, creativity, social life and leadership skills. Happiness has so many benefits to it, why live a life controlled by all the negatives. So I challenge you to ask yourself: What makes you happy? Do you think that eight minutes can change your whole day? How can you change up your everyday routine? Would you look at things differently if you were in a better mood?

Shop 'til You Drop

As Christmas approaches, most of us will be spending more and more time shopping and in this article, "Consuming Passion: Human psychology shapes the shopping experience" Kay Randall explains the tendencies of shoppers. Randall also describes the different types of products and methods used my different groups of people based on age and gender.

Randall differentiates the two methods based on gender. Men are more goal-orientated thinkers who decide what they need before going to the store, as soon as they arrive they find it and check out. Women, however, shop for the experience and usually for nothing in particular, they are waiting for an item to spark their interest. And females tend to take much longer shopping than men because we love to try things on.

Not only are women better at coordinating outfits from items throughout the store, but they are quite more capable than men. Men have difficulty pairing a shirt and pant together unless it is displayed for them, otherwise they will purchase only one of the products and move on. That is why it is important for retailers to place outfits in the same display for men while women do not need that aid. Also, stores tend to place candy and gum on the lower shelves, like at the check out at pharmacies, so children are tempted to grab it and beg their parents to purchase it. Even elderly people are targeted in stores, by sales on certain products at certain times of the day because most elderly people do not work and have a fixed income, they also spend time shopping because of their retirement.

Randall also presents the different types of products in a store, such as pain killers or cough medicine have minimal display because people will purchase these utilitarian products when necessary and will not leave a store without it. But luxury items like Godiva chocolate or fancy electronics are displayed to attract attention and interest. If successful, these displays will draw people to purchase these hedonic items, but people will take in to consideration the price and quality of the good more so than if it were a necessity.

There are a lot of factors that draw people to purchase goods: the store ambiance and aroma and customer service are just two examples. Retailers know how to get your attention and mainly your money, especially during the holiday season.

Do you agree with Randall's research? How do you complete your Christmas shopping? What process works best for you? Do you find yourself easily tempted by the candy and gum at the cash register of CVS, do you think this method is productive in business? 

Is there a wrong way to promote fitness?

As a response to the rising obesity rates, the media has recently been making more efforts to promote exercise and fitness to encourage healthy lifestyles. Whether it’s a commercial on the radio or a talk show on T.V., we never stop hearing doctors, celebrity icons, and fitness experts talk about the benefits exercise has for both the mind and body. However, for decades research has shown that a solid 40% of Americans never exercise, as reported in the article “Updating the Message to Get Americans Moving.” 

Why is it then that people are still not taking the initiative to work out? Why is it so difficult for Americans to find the drive to get moving, knowing it will make them feel better, happier, and more energetic? 

The NY times article suggests that the reason is routed in the way fitness messages are delivered; they are taken to heart by people who already enjoy exercise, but go over the heads of people who don’t know how to exercise. Simply telling sedentary people that jogging 20 minutes a day will make them feel good isn’t going to make them stop being a couch potato, and advertisements for intense fitness programs are clearly not any more motivating. 

Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s research has found that people only remember the parts of their workout that made them feel best, which are the climax, when the endorphin production is at its peak, and the end, when it’s all over. Because everyone is at different fitness levels, it’s impossible to just give people an exercise prescription and expect them to stick with it. Doctors such as Dr. Ekkekakis are therefore suggesting that the key to motivating Americans to get active is to help them find the intensity level that makes them feel best, rather than just telling them to do a certain exercise. 

What do you think: what’s wrong with the media’s fitness messages and why aren’t they getting across to Americans? If people knew the level at which they get that “runner’s high” feeling, would they be more enthusiastic about working out? How do you find the motivation to exercise? 

Re-learning How to Eat

I'm pretty positive that if I said that America is the most obese country in the world, it would not come as a surprise to anyone. I'm also sure that if I said that our portions are out of control, we are surrounded by tempting food advertisements and we no longer eat to fulfill hunger, most of you would agree. Well, we individually can not change the portions we get when we order at a restaurant or the food commercials and shows that we see on the TV. However, we CAN control our own eating habits.

Clinical psychologist Jean Kristeller  started a program called Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training  to help binge eaters develop mature eating habits. It is important to strengthen and draw attention to  mindful habits because the problem that many people face is that we are not aware of our overeating until the "food coma" hits. Some Mindful Habits are being aware of hunger, chewing food slowly, tuning in to taste, noticing fullness, and being aware of negative emotions, cravings and impulsivity.

 Kristeller stresses eating to satisfy hunger and stopping once that is completed. It is proven that our taste buds get tired after the first few bites  and after eating large amounts of food, we no longer  taste the food  to its fully capacity anymore.  Once we become aware of this, we can learn to leave food on the plate when the taste no longer satisfies us. This technique can help us deal with the large portions we are served at restaurants. Since Kristeller's program does not put any particular food in an "off-limits" category, this technique will also allow us to enjoy a few bites of chocolate cake, for example, but then put it down and walk away. Another valuable technique is chewing slowly which helps us to realize when we are full and stop so we do not go beyond that point. Remember, eating food is about quality not quantity.

Kristeller also puts a great emphasis on getting out of the routine of eating.  She states that, "We eat when it's time to eat, when food is put in front of us or because we need to handle feelings of anger, anxiety, depression or simple boredom ". We wake up in the morning and make breakfast regardless of what time you wake up at or if you are even hungry or not. Another bad habit is eating while watching TV, doing homework or surfing the internet. While eating, our body must be our main focus. We need to close ourselves off from distractions so we do not accidentally over eat. For those of us you "eat our emotions", a good technique to control this is meditation. By calming our mind, we become les stressed and can zone in on our priorities and tasks at hand.

So….. How do you control binge eating? What do you think of these techniques? What other exercises can you think of to control overeating? When do you find yourself overeating? Why do you find yourself bingeing? Are these practices enough to positively affect the obesity epidemic? 

I Want To Be Famous

Admit it, at least in one point of your life you wanted to be famous. We have all longed to live the rich and glamorous lifestyle of a celebrity. Everyone knows your name and everyone wants to be your friend. You get to live in a multi-million dollar mansion, wear the most beautiful clothes and date the most beautiful people. Sounds perfect, right? However, thanks to numerous tabloids, we know that celebrities are normal people just like the rest of us.  They have their struggles, fears, insecurities, and failures just like everyone else. To make it worse, they deal with the problems we have to deal with while being scrutinized under the public eye. Their seemingly perfect lifestyle is not as great as it appears and those who live this lifestyle aren't that much happier or better off than we are. Then what is with all this hoopla about celebrities? Why do we crave fame?

 You could blame the media for this widespread fascination. However, In Carlina Flora's article, "Seeing by Starlight: Celebrity Obsession", Flora explains that our minds are responsible for our obsession with celebrities. She says that "Celebrities tap into powerful motivational systems designed to foster romantic love and to urge us to find a mate. Stars summon our most human yearnings: to love, admire, copy and, of course, to gossip and to jeer. It's only natural that we get pulled into their gravitational field."

Flora also suggests that our love and idolization for celebrities is a modern form of ritualized idol worship and  that celebrity culture is taking the place of religion. Psychologist James Houran speculates that "nonreligious people tend to be more interested in celebrity culture" because celebrities fill "some of the same roles the church fills for believers, like the desire to admire the powerful and the drive to fit into a community of people with shared values." In the secular society we live into, our longing for ritualized idol worship can be placed onto stars.

Flora also suggests that we adore celebrities because they give us the inspiration to tackle our own problems. Anthropologist Helen Fisher explains that "celebrities motivate us to make it". We are inspired by Demi Lovato who made it through her breakdown and bipolar disorder and Oprah Winfrey who made it through poverty, sexual abuse and racial discrimination to become wealthy and successful stars. If they can make it through their struggles with success, why can't the rest of us?

So do you agree with Flora? Do you think that celebrity culture could take the place of religion? Do you find comfort in engaging in the lives of the rich and famous? What do you think is behind all the hoopla about celebrities?

Anxiety Hurts, Changing Perceptions Can Help.

Performance anxiety is a major issue for students who are struggling with subjects such as mathematics in school, so much so that the anticipation of doing a math or reading homework problem causes pain. According to this article, a study was conducted on 28 adults who were asked to do math and word problems while their brain activity was being recorded through an fMRI scan. And what did the scans record exactly? Before being shown each problem, the "participants were given... a visual symbol that warned if the next problem was going to be a word task or a math task." And one of most significant results of the scans was that "individuals with math anxiety experienced more brain activity in regions linked with threat detection and physical pain." These individuals experienced more anxiety even if the upcoming problem was a word one and not a math one. This result also remained true when the participants' "overall trait anxiety and competence on math problems" were controlled in the experiment.

Therein lies one of the foremost problems for children with anxiety- the more anxious they feel about a subject, the less they practice it, the worse they do in it, and the more their anxiety increases. The interesting fact shown by the study, however, is not that anxious people fear the task when they are doing it, but only before they start it- the article states that "when these same participants went on to perform the math tasks, they did not experience elevated activity levels in the pain-perceiving parts of the brain... the psychological pain was linked only with the anticipation of the deed, not the deed itself."

So, how can we help students with anxiety do better in the subjects they fear? The article suggests "finding ways to make difficult intellectual tasks more rewarding... [by considering] what motivates professional thinkers, mathematicians, and scientists- the delights of tinkering and exploration... the satisfaction that comes from finding a deeper meaning." Personally, I feel that this is a great stepping stone to making kids feel better in the classroom, especially as one who struggles with anxiety in and out of a school setting, but that this is only a small change that can be made.

What suggestions do you have for students who struggle with anxiety in school? How do you feel about the results of the study? Do you think you suffer more from anxiety by anticipating something or doing it?

(image credit)

The Dangers of Smartphones

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, many of us were left without power for an extended period of time. Personally, I just got power back today! I was lucky enough to get lent a generator this last Thursday, but the last two weeks, I have been charging my phone and other electronics at the gym like it was an absolute necessity. For the first three days after the storm, I could not get out of my plan due to a hanging wire that prevented cars from getting in or out of the neighborhood. During this period, my phone died, and I had nowhere to charge it. Little did I expect that this would affect me so much. I felt as if I was disconnected from the world. No Twitter, no Facebook, not even email to stay in touch.

            In this article by Nancy Colier from Psychology today, she talks about how smartphones are quote on quote “stealing our lives.” That we get so caught up in recording pictures and videos or keeping in touch through social media, that we are losing the present moment. She says that our need to capture every moment or document every minutes stems from our fear of losing that experience. We do not want it to end so we  capture it for perpetuity.

In some ways, this storm was a good thing, aside from the damage or loss of course. I spent more time with my family, not watching a TV, but talking and playing board games like when we were little and smartphone-less. I became aware of my need to “keep up” with everything on the internet and TV, and now I know that sometimes I let my life pass me by trying to keep in touch with everything at once. One thing I definitely learned about myself: I am a really good card player ;)

What about you? Did you have a similar experience with electronics during super storm Sandy? Do you think that our smartphones are keeping us from living our lives to the fullest?

Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy: Good or Bad?

When predictions of Hurricane Sandy were made, no one quite knew exactly how devastating it would be. States around and including New Jersey are not accustomed to experiencing natural disasters, unlike states like California or Florida. Most of us went to the food store to stock up on food, found some flash lights, and hoped for the best. Little did we know this "super storm" could change our lives as we know it.

 Hurricane Sandy has turned millions of lives on the East Coast upside down, especially in New jersey. Millions of people lost power for a week and some continue to live without power and heat. Trees have fallen on top of houses, roads, and power lines. Gas lines have waits as long as five hours. Some houses were flooded and now have lasting water damage.

The Jersey shore has been destroyed. Full houses have been ripped from their foundations and moved somewhere else. Rides along the boardwalk at Seaside are now floating along the ocean current. Houses are completely destroyed and families have nowhere to come home to. Living in north Jersey, going "down the shore" is something we can all enjoy every summer. It is truly sad to think the beloved shore where we have had so many memories is gone and cannot be fixed any time soon.

                                                                           

People's main priority for the past week has been to be safe and warm. Those things that always seem so important to us, like watching our favorite TV show or getting all your homework done ahead of time, seemed petty all of a sudden. Because of the state of panic we were all in, we had to make do without our luxuries we depend so much on.

In an article in Psychology Today "What We Re-Learn in Crisis"  Marietta McCarty talks about Hurricane Sandy in a much brighter light. Although the negatives of the storm are obvious and dominant, she suggests looking at some benefits. She said that as a community, we all stuck together and helped each other out. We got away from our hectic lives and focused on the things that are most important to us. We got in touch with our families and friends, helped a neighbor if they needed it, and showed how much we care about each other.

Do you agree with Marietta? Did we all band together as a community and help each other during this crisis? Or were we only concerned about our own well being and survival?

Sugary Drinks: How much is to much?

Obesity has always been a major problem in America and has caused millions of health problems for this country. According to a NY Times Article, "More than half of adult New Yorkers are obese or overweight, according to the city’s health department, which said it believed 5,000 New Yorkers died every year as a result of health problems related to obesity." Weather it includes over eating or simply just eating the wrong foods, New York has finally decided to think of a way to help this problem. Mayor Bloomberg is currently in the process of trying to pass a restriction on sugary drinks that contains more than 16 oz in order to prevent obesity in New York. This ban if passed in March would now watch over movie theaters and stadium concession stands but would excuse 711 and its king-sized drinks, vending machines and some newsstands.

 Mayor Bloomberg's Ban on Sugar Drinks do not include fruit juices or dairy products such as milkshakes. His plan would only have health inspectors watch over places with self served drinks and fast food restaurants. This would then avoid people going to McDonald's and getting 5 big macs and a giant 20 oz drink.  

Some argue that this will be pointless because this will not stop people from getting refills with a smaller cup that could equal the same amount as just getting a 20 oz drink. Also a few argue that the government is getting to involved with society and what they want. Another point that was raised was the fact that it could put many small businesses out of work because of this possibly new limitation rule on drinks. Although this is a problem, I believe that the fact that more that 5,000 New Yorkers die every year because of obesity is a bigger problem. Dr. Deepthiman K. Gowda, a professor of medicine at Columbia University and a member of the Board of Health said, “The same way that we’ve become acclimatized and normalized to sodas that are 32 ounces, we’ve started to become acclimatized to the prevalence of obesity in our society.” America needs to start to become active in the fight against obesity and not make it a norm for people to be 20 pounds over their expected weight limit.

What do you guys think, should all people of New York be punished because of obesity of some? Will this new ban do much for New York? Do you think that other states will pick up this consumer ban as well?  

Reality TV: A danger to our mental health?

Over the last decade or so, reality TV has become increasingly popular, and a main source of entertainment for many.  I’ll be the first to admit I watch way more reality TV shows than is probably healthy, and I’m sure many of you can relate.  The list can go on forever, with popular shows such as Housewives, Jersey Shore, Dance Moms, and Honey Boo Boo, to name a few.  The question is whether or not constant viewing of these “reality” shows is becoming a danger to our mental health.  In this article, psychologist Reef Karim investigates the effect that reality TV can have on our minds.  Our obsession with reality TV first stems from the cast members themselves, who in most cases are just normal people trying to get their 15 minutes of fame and gain attention that they have desperately lacked.  For the viewers, watching these shows is a way for us to identify with these “real life” characters across our TV screens. 

According to the article, people who participate in reality TV shows are “cast” on the shows, and given tests to see if their personalities would attract viewers.  They are also screened and interviewed to see if they are psychologically able to handle being on the show.  However, if you screen out everyone who has some sort of personality disorder, it would not make for an entertaining show.  After the show is filmed and the adoration of the cast members has died down, the participants, especially those with predisposed mental health conditions, become mentally unstable after filming the show. 

On the side of the viewers, reality TV viewing becomes unhealthy when we begin living vicariously through the TV show participants, and when we don’t need stimulation or activity in our own lives because we are getting it from TV.  The article also suggests that our ability to connect with each other authentically and to deal with anger, conflict, and anxiety has been seriously challenged.  However, there could be a positive, educational side to reality TV viewing.  Certain shows may motivates us to go out and learn a new skill, or learn more about addiction or whatever the focus of the show is. 

So what do you think? Is reality TV a danger to our mental health, or a harmless means of education and motivation?

Can Scrapbooking Lead to Low Self-Esteem?

With recent technologies, the ability to photograph and film every aspect of life is at our fingertips. Scrapbooks and photo albums that were once dedicated to a full year's activities are now divided into monthly photos because the amount taken has increased. Facebook albums are uploaded more frequently, and photos are not simply taken at significant events, but just throughout everyday life.

This boom in photography and film has spiked the interest of children of younger ages, making them more susceptible to negative side affects. In this article published by the New York Times, the amount of photos taken of children in today's society is questioned. My little cousin is obsessed with my phone, constantly asking me to take pictures and videos of her on it. But is this preoccupation with personal photos reason for concern? According to the article it may appear to be beneficial that a child become aware of his or herself in relation to others, but many studies have shown that this self-awareness can also lead to self-consciousness and a host of other problems, from anxiety to vanity.


According to Dr. Alain Morin, a psychologist from Mount Royal University, "frequently being photographed and filmed likely induces self-awareness and thus self-evaluation, self-criticism, and may lead to other aversive consequences." Along with these issues, children constantly being filmed increases the likely hood for personality disorders because children, and adults, tend to behave differently in front of a camera. 

So is this world of documenting everything with photos and videos cause for concern? Should we not take as many pictures of little kids to capture their adorableness? Is it affecting them negatively? What do you think?

The Science of Sensation

 This Wednesday, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to two Americans, Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka, for their study of protein receptors that enable our cells to sense and respond to stimuli.

It was previously unknown how cells interacted with and adapted to the environment, like the activation of the fight-or-flight response, but scientists believed there was some type of receptor on cells. Now, Scientists Lefkowitz and Kobilka have discovered a whole family of mysterious G-protein-coupled receptors, on which many medications act. These receptors allow the body to sense chemical signals, and things like light, sound, and smell. This discovery will lead to the development of medications that act better on these receptor and are better able to fight diseases.

This discovery is also explained in the video below between 3:22 to 5:25, this is a little hard to follow, but still interesting if you want to know more about these proteins!

Some may hate the biochemical aspect of psychology while some may love it. What do you all think about the connection between chemistry and psychology? How important do you think the study other science is to psychology? Is psychology an interdisciplinary field?

                As winter approaches and the days begin to shorten, do you feel more tired, less motivated to carry out everyday activities, inclined to eat more or just sad?  No need to fret, these are all normal effects of SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder. SAD is a type of depression that begins in fall and ends in the late spring. In Seeking Light in the Refrigerator, Judith J. Wurtman says that “waking up in the dark, leaving work in the dark, and encountering gloomy, cloudy, overcast skies at lunchtime may have a dramatic effect on one’s quality of life” and that in can cause changes in mood, appetite and energy.

            The most prevalent symptom, according to Wurtman, is tiredness. Many people attribute it to little sleep, hectic schedules or an oncoming sickness. People may feel deprived of sleep and cannot sum up the energy to complete daily tasks rather they desire to just lounge on the couch. Other symptoms include a lackadaisical attitude towards work, a lack of interest in a social life and a desire to eat carbohydrates.

            Have you ever suffered from these symptoms, what was your experience? How do you keep your “winter blues” at bay? 

Phantoms in the Brain Videos

Below are the 2 videos we watched in class from Dr. V.S. Ramachandran. Ramachandran is the Director of Neuroscience and Psychology at UC San Diego.

How To Ruin A Marriage Without Even Trying

How many times have you heard that as you get older, you become more and more like your parents? Personality, as we previously discussed in class, is a biological trait we inherit from our parents. At the same time, the people in our environment influence our behavior. Therefore, parents have the most influence on shaping the behavior of their children because of both their genetic and environmental influences. So does that mean our relationships will model those of our parents? Chances are, it's pretty likely.

According to this article, children who are raised in homes with fighting parents are likely to engage in unhealthy relationships in adulthood, even more so than children whose parents have divorced and are living separately. Because parents are children's first and most influential role models, children learn interpersonal behaviors from observing their parents. If children learn behavior that is jealous, moody, and critical from their parents, they are much more likely to display those qualities in their own relationships.

This poses an interesting dilemma for feuding couples with the best interests of their children in mind. Many times, parents will stay together solely for the fact of not disrupting the normal, everyday lives of their children. Some couples feel that they would be able to provide a more stable home environment for their children through a loveless marriage than they would be able to should they divorce and force their children into lives of two bedrooms, two home routines, and split holiday schedules. On the other hand, parents may actually be hurting their children by exposing them to tumultuous marriages for the sake of trying to maintain a degree of normalcy in their lives.

To what extent are children's relationships influenced by their parents'? Is it better for fighting parents to divorce or stay together for the sake of their children? Is it more important for children to remain comfortable in the lives they are used in spite of a failing marriage or for parents to divorce at the expense of their children's stable home lives?

Your Bed Misses You

On this lovely three-day weekend we're having, I presume that most of you are looking forward to catching up on sleep above all else with this Monday off. Senior year has definitely come in at full throttle, with the balance of school, work, college applications, sports, etc., and it's hard to remember to fulfill our basic needs sometimes. I know I'm not alone in forgetting to shower, go to the gym, or even eat dinner sometimes. There simply aren't enough hours in the day for us and all our work. Unfortunately, the one that suffers the most as a result of our crazy schedules is usually our sleep cycles.

The National Sleep Foundation claims that teens our age should be aiming for eight-and-a-half to almost nine-and-a-half hours of sleep each night. My response to that was "Over eight hours?? My nights usually average five to seven hours! This is unrealistic." However, I am the first to admit, the morning after those five-hour nights, I am a zombie. I don't want to talk to anybody except the sacred Starbucks barista and his endless fountains of caffeine. My overall functioning that day is inhibited. And as the vicious cycle would have it, when I stress about not getting enough sleep, it just keeps me up at night even later.

In the article linked here, Siri Carpenter presents multiple sides of the argument. One side says that the less sleep we get, the lower our grades are. A statistic about car accidents is also included, attributing drowsiness and fatigue to the cause of around 100,000 accidents among  young drivers. Another doctors opinion, however, says that as we get older, we just need less sleep, so we don't feel the need to try and get those eight hours. The article lists tons of possible effects of our insomnia on our developing minds, many of which I'm sure you are all aware of.

What do you think? Do you function better on less sleep?  Do you ever feel the need to pull all-nighters? How do you feel you perform your daily tasks (tests, homework, driving) on minimal amount of sleep? Do you think this has taken a toll on your health? 

Toddlers In Tiaras: Entertaining or Abusive?

TLC is home to the abnormally entertaining and impressively weird. However, where should we draw the line between entertainment and abuse? The popular reality television show “Toddlers and Tiaras” has sparked a nation-wide movement of pageant-frenzy.  This reality TV show is the guilty pleasure of many, and spin-off shows such as “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” earned higher ratings than the Republican National 

Convention.

According to the TLC website, Toddlers & Tiaras is a show that follows little girls who “parade around wearing makeup, false eyelashes, spray tans, and fake hair to be judged on their beauty and personality.”  The dress up game we once played as little girls has developed into a business. Toddler pageants have become a multi-million dollar industry characterized by forcing four year old girls and boys to use unhealthy beauty enhancers and wear provocative clothing.

According to this article written by Dr. Martina M. Cartwright, early participation in activities that focus on physical appearance  can have a detrimental effect on a person’s self-worth and self-esteem throughout adulthood. A study done in 2005 concluded that ex-beauty pageant contestants have higher rates of eating disorders than individuals who did not participate in body-conscious competitions.  This raises the question: if pageants are so detrimental to a young child’s psyche, why do they continue?

In my opinion, the problem stems from two distinct things: money and pageant moms. Any lack of physical ‘beauty’ causes a loss of income for an entire family. Therefore, education takes a back seat to pageantry as a child’s life is devoted entirely to looking like a miniature Beyonce. Five year old girls who should be learning the alphabet are getting spray tans and practicing their smile, instead.  Pageant moms are living some sort of twisted dream through their daughters, and sometimes even their sons, treating them like a source of income rather than a child who needs to be nurtured.

Most would argue that Toddlers and Tiaras is entertaining primarily because it displays the weirdest and quirkiest Americans in the country. However, when does it stop being entertainment and start being abusive?

What are your thoughts? Are toddler pageants a cruel way of gaining TV viewers or are they harmless mediums of entertainment?

Is it SAT Smart or SAT Savvy?

While many students excel on the SAT due to pure intelligence, some excel simply because they are what is known as SAT savvy – they know how to “play the game.” At this stage in the game, I am sure that everyone has taken the SAT at least once. That being said, how many of your friends have shocked you with their scores? Students taking three AP courses, participating in National Honor Society, and receiving distinguished honors every marking period may very well have gotten a less than outstanding SAT score. Of the same accord, students in all college prep classes with below average GPAs have achieved SAT scores you’ve always dreamed of getting. Whether SAT scores are true measures of intelligence has stirred up quite a bit of controversy lately, called to attention in the article “What Does the SAT Actually Measure?”

Fun fact, the SATs were originally intended to be a different form of an IQ test and thus were considered able to measure “innate scholastic ability.” However, it is believed that many individuals famous for their academic achievement, such as Albert Einstein, would have flunked their SATs miserably. If that’s the case, how is it that those of average intelligence are supposed to be able to excel on the SATs if even geniuses couldn’t? Well, it turns out that the SAT doesn’t actually measure overall intelligence. Huh? Then why bother? The SAT actually is intended to measure “a particular kind of academic intelligence.” If you think about it, that actually makes a lot of sense. No, the SAT is not your average classroom test; however, it was never meant to be. It only tests specific academic skills, not overall intelligence. Perhaps that is why they don’t include a history section on the SAT. Since the critical reading portion is already included, all the history section would cover would be the simple memorization of facts – which is not one of the skills the SAT emphasizes.

Maybe the better question is, does the SAT predict success? In my opinion, absolutely not. While the SAT may provide an accurate depiction of intelligence based on the skills it does test, I do not believe that it is a symbol of pure intelligence, common sense, or any indication of how successful an individual will be. How many wealthy and successful adults have told you not to go too crazy over schoolwork, SATs included? Referring back to the Albert Einstein example, if you were him, would you really care about your SAT scores if you were one of the greatest physicists of all time? I don’t think so. Your high school SAT scores are not an indication of what the rest of your life will be like. Who’s to say you won’t end up living in a gorgeous, million dollar apartment in the city working on Wall Street? Tell me, will your SAT scores matter then? Will they even matter once we’re all actually admitted into a school? By May, chances are, the SAT won’t cross our minds again until our siblings or our own children are studying for them.

What do you think? Were your SAT scores an accurate portrayal of your intelligence? Is there a better way to test a student’s intelligence? Do you feel that the SAT predicts success? Do you think it’s important that we even take the SATs? 

A World Obsessed With Barbies

When I was seven, Condoleeza Rice was using her unwavering drive to protect the United States as the first female African American National Security Advisor, Sandra Bullock worked tirelessly and completed her 30th major film before she turned 40, and J.K. Rowling had released five of the seven books which would later turn into a profit of millions of dollars from merchandizing, movies, and an amusement park. I, along with thousands of little girls, sat in my room picking out a bright pink Barbie outfit to go along with her marker-highlighted hair, as I watched Snow White being rescued by Prince Charming on my TV.

From childhood, girls are influenced by an attitude of "pink, pretty, and sassy". Being anything else, it seemed, is unacceptable. In the article What's the Matter With Girls These Days?, written by Marilyn Wedge, the drastic affects of this societal influence are explained through the increase of adolescent girls with different types of depression, low self-esteem, and poor self-image. Since "society" doesn't seem to value girls who are smart, confident, and driven, adolescent females with these qualities are torn between being themselves and being the "sexy" young woman that society wants them to be.

Take the character Cady Heron from Mean Girls for example. Originally an intelligent and compassionate teenage girl, she eventually dumbs herself down to get a boy's attention and begins to hurt the people she loves in order to gain popularity with girls she thinks are the "in crowd". Spoiler alert, at the end of the movie she realizes that she wasn't being herself, just what everyone else wanted her to be, and she fixes her mistakes.

Before we had such "wise" characters like Cady Heron to learn from, women struggled for years trying to attain equal treatment to men. Now that their mission is almost complete, Snow White and Cinderella have come along and quickly ruined what progress they made. Now, instead of dreaming of becoming the first woman president of the United States, girls are sitting at home wondering when their Prince Charming will come along and save them too. It seems almost impossible for young women to grow up when the world around them is still obsessed with Barbies.

Why do societal values have such a large influence on girls' lives? Why does today's media emphasize the "pink, pretty, and sassy" image of females over that of strong, successful women? Does the conflict between being yourself and being what society wants you to be personally affect you?

Facebook v. Reality

I bet it's safe to say that most (if not all) of you have a Facebook account. Social media, Facebook in particular, has become such an integral part of our lives; so much so that to go without one of our networks can actually create stress.   Now don't get me wrong... I love being able to stay connected and up to date with my friends, family, and former students [you can friend me when you graduate].  I know days/months in advance of my family when friends of mine are getting married, are pregnant, bought a house, etc. But....there are always 2 sides to every coin.

In this recently published article  Is Facebook the New Reality TV?  in Psychology Today, Dr. Goal Saedi questions how Facebook is changing our lives and the psychological impact it may have on us.

When I started reading this article, I was first captivated by her description of being in an ornate, peaceful church disrupted by others snapping photos. It immediately brought me back to my summer trip to Europe, where my husband and I visited countless churches including the awesome St. Peter's Basilica and breathtaking Notre Dame Cathedral. As tourists, we certainly took our share of photos, but at times I did feel like I was missing out on the experience, too worries about capturing it to revisit later.  Of course, we were able to access wifi and upload several pictures to emails and facebook. I even created an album entitled: "A Few from Along the Way" for my friends and family to track our trip. Why did I feel the need to do this? Of course, with no one in my family ever traveling out of the country, I felt incredibly grateful to have the chance to share my trip with them....but I could have just done that via email. Why did I feel the need to share my experience with my 718 "friends" (most of whom I likely will never see again in real life).

As Dr. Saedi writes, it is hard to ignore how Facebook shoves everyone's successes in our face. It seems we all are captivated by each others' lives and are constantly comparing our own to theirs.  Does this make us feel worse about ourselves?  I often remind students that no one wants to post pictures of what their boring weekends look like...only the fun times at parties with friends. Then again, I've noticed the recent Instagram tags #WIDN (What I'm Doing Now) where people post their actual momentary happenings...such as sipping coffee, organizing clothes, or lounging on the couch with their dog. While it seems more "realistic" it still does keep us in the constant "what is everyone else's life like" mode.

What do you think? Has Facebook taken over your life in this way? Is this a good or bad thing? Do you find yourself comparing your successes and failures to others?  Do you think that your college process has been/will be influenced by facebook (think... "she goes to ___ college and her pics look fun so I want to go there..." or... "She goes to ___ Univ. and it looks SO boringgggg...." ..or... "I'm friending my roommate today to see if I like her..."). What are the pros and cons to these situations?   If you do not have Facebook, tell us why! Do you ever feel "left out" of what's going on with everyone else?

Read the article and share your opinions. Don't just repeat what others say.... share your experiences, link us to other articles, show us proof... 

p.s. as I wrote this, I did not capitalize Facebook in one spot and it was highlighted as a spelling error....seems that the term is now in our dictionaries... what's next?