Marijuana (cannabis), thanks to the powerful depressing action of its active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is one of the oldest and most widely used means of self-medication against acute and chronic stress. THC users report experiencing a pleasurable state of relaxation, with heightened sensory experiences of taste, sound and color. In addition to its psychological effects,…
Tips and coaching for making sense of stress.
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Eat Your Way Out of Stress: Orthomolecularity
The food most of us consume today is not as rich in nutritional value as it once was due to the significant industrial processing it must undergo to be preserved, packaged and shipped and to the significant effects of pollution in the air, water and soil. Therefore, the human body, especially in heavily industrialized societies,…
Hear and Feel Your Stress Drift Away
Can music reduce stress? Yes, and the evidence is strong. Music can reduce stress, lessen pain, diminish hostility and have a positive effect on emotions and cognition. Beginning with an experimental study by Hatta and Nakamura (1991), researchers have continued to investigate the effects of relaxing music on psychological stress, finding good evidence of its…
Sigmund Freud: What a Funny Guy!
Sigmund Freud lived and worked in the Austrian capital, Vienna until the Nazi Anschluss of 1938 placed him and his family in great peril. Freud was allowed to leave Austria with his family through the intercession of his patients Princess Marie Bonaparte and William Bullitt, and diplomatic pressure by the United States. One condition imposed…
The Ineffable Madness of War
Over 2.2 million American service members have served in Iraq or Afghanistan since September 11, 2001. Detailed statistics have been recently released that reveal the enormous cost in lives and health of these two ongoing American wars: The US Veteran’s Administration (VA) has diagnosed 167,000 new cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 195,000 cases of…
Stress and the Female Brain Advantage
In 1994, Louann Brizendine, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of California, established the Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic in San Francisco—one of very few such institutions in the world—and focused her attention on the etiology and functioning of the female nervous system. In 2007, she published The Female Brain as the culmination of her 20…
The History of Stress In Very Small Bites: 6
By far the most important figure in the history of the concept of stress as applied to human behavior is Hans H. B. Selye (1907-1982), who is credited with starting modern research into the concept itself and its physiopsychological manifestations. In 1950, in addressing the American Psychological Association convention, Selye introduced his theory of stress…
Stress Like an Egyptian
Power stresses. Absolute power stresses absolutely. This easy paraphrase of a famous saying about the corruptive effect of political power can perhaps convey the enormous stress that tyrannical political power can cause at the micro and macro levels of a nation-state. The classic fight-flight-freeze stress reaction is magnified by the stark reality of the actual…
How to Get a Larger Brain
How do you increase the volume of gray matter in your brain? Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), one of the most widely used mindfulness training programs, may be the answer. MBSR is receiving increasing attention for the significant morphological changes that it appears to produce on brain structures. The most recent results come from a controlled…
Abuse in Childhood May Mean Shorter Life
According to an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the experience of verbal, physical, sexual abuse, or severe family dysfunction, such as an incarcerated, mentally ill, or substance-abusing family member, domestic violence, or absence of a parent because of divorce or separation, is directly linked to serious problems in adulthood, which…