You Would Not Enjoy Living in the "Olden Days"

As we continue to move toward an age where nothing is done manually and information is ready and available, for some, reading about other centuries makes those eras seem appealing.  But why? Was the past in someway better than the society we live in today?

Simply put, the answer is no, at least according to evolutionary psychologist, Loretta Breuning.  She puts forth the idea that for many of these people, thinking about the past may trigger neurochemicals that make them feel good.  However, in reality, because our technology was less developed, life was much more problematic.  There was less sanitation and medicine, meaning that getting a fatal illness was a more likely possibility.  In addition, most societies had fewer laws regarding the wellbeing of people.  Whether in the factory and more susceptible to unsafe conditions or at home where domestic abuse was less controlled, society left room for a lack of physical security.  And all of this does not even cover the notion that minimum wage was essentially nothing in the not too distant past.  In a world that is safer, healthier, and more tolerant of different life styles, what could people possibly miss about the life in the “olden days”?

The answer is that we focus on what we lack and take for granted what we have.  When we lack something that we are interested in, the brain sets off a sort of “alarm” that gives us the sense that our survival is threatened.  Present things that we lack are fresh in the mind and setting off our brain while former lacks become historical abstractions.  In addition, pain gets the attention of the brain immediately.  In the past, hunger, injury, disease and violence were all more common in people’s lives.  Now, there is less of this pain leaving more room to experience social pain and allow for social snubs to hold more value in the mind.


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/greaseless/201107/the-good-old-days-were-awful 

An Explanation of Why Emotion Causes Stronger Memories

Picture a moment of your life that really scared you.  Did you picture it more vividly than you would a less fear-inducing memory? It is common knowledge in the psychological world that events in our lives that scared us or brought out another strong emotional response tend to be remembered more clearly.  Scientists have been searching for explanations of this phenomenon on a biological level for quite some time.  Research from the University of California in Berkeley provides a new way of understanding why this happens.

The high level of activation in the amygdala, the part of the brain centered on the fear and emotional response, actually will cause activity occur in a separate area of the brain called the hippocampus.  The hippocampus is a relay area for memory and the home of many immature stem cells.  If the emotional reaction to a situation is strong enough, the amygdala will cause the hippocampus to use a unique population of stem cells and create new memory-related neurons.  The implication is that these new neurons may be an important cause for the vivid encoding of memory.

In disorders revolving around emotional memories, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or, in some cases, depression and other forms of anxiety, there may be faulty regulation of the functionality of these young cells.  Perhaps by knowing this, developments in the psychiatric world can be made in an attempt to correct this problem. 


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110614131958.htm

Fight Panic, Anxiety with Intense Exercise

Challenging workouts may provide relief for people dealing with panic or anxiety. Scientists recently studied people with high anxiety sensitivity reacted less to panic-inducing stressors after high levels of exercise.

Psychologist Dr. Jasper Smits, lead author of the research, has this to say: “We’re not suggesting, ‘Exercise instead of pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy.’ Exercise is a useful alternative, particularly for those without access to traditional treatments. Primary care physicians already prescribe exercise for general health, so exercise may have the advantage of helping reach more people in need of treatment for depression and anxiety.”

Participants inhaled a mixture of air enriched with carbon dioxide, which usually induces panic-like symptoms. The results showed that individuals who regularly exercised showed less anxiety reactivity to the carbon dioxide stressor.

Exercise has already been linked to benefit people with stress and depression, would provide a more accessible way for people to improve mood and deal with anxiety.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/07/13/intense-exercise-helps-combat-panic-anxiety/27693.html