laziness and helplessness

Laziness can often appear as indifference of emotional, physical, and social life in apathy. Laziness is sometimes a derivative of learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is the feeling of, well, helplessness. S/he who has it, feels as though they cannot do anything about life, so they just sit back, and let it pass by. They feel that every decision has a possibility for negative consequences, so they don't make that decision. There are physical, social, and mental implications to learned helplessness and laziness. Neglect of diet, exercise, and medical treatment lead to physical health problems. Mental health issues can be caused by failed academic subjects and dedication to work. Children who have learned helplessness tend to use it as an excuse to get out of doing something. People don't tend to have high expectations in the individual, so s/he doesn't try to impress other people. There is also social implications. People who are usually extremely shy, passive, anxious, and depressed can easily learn helplessness to provide answers to such discontent. Therapy can "cure" this "disease". Laziness and learned helplessness are truly just mind sets that can be changed.

Gifts: More or Better?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212124829.htm

The paradox of gift giving. If you want to buy someone a cashmere sweater as one gift and the other option is to buy the sweater and a $10 gift card, if your money would allow it you would get both. The reciever of the gift doesn't see it that way. They view the gift as a whole where as the gift-giver goes by 'more is better'. "The luxury sweater represents a generous 'big' gift. Adding on a 'little' gift makes the total package seems less big." There is a simple remedy, take the view as the reciever and ask yourself what you would think if that gift is given to you. How would you like it and what would be your opinion.

I feel that this article is very interesting because it is in some ways true. If someone gives you a great gift then another not so good one the value over all is lessened, but they paid more for it. It is something good to learn and I'm glad that I found this article, especially around Christmas time and the holidays.

Now when I give a present I will think about what the reciever will think about it and whether or not they would like it. I wouldn't want to give some one a present that they hated or didn't want. Or worse one that they sell or give away.

Nostalgia

Research from earlier years has shown that nostalgia can increase one's self esteem, boost perceptions of meaning in life, and bring up a sense of social connectedness. Nostalgia is a yearning or want for the past, be it a good event or a bad one. In studies, nostalgia has shown to increase the amount of charity donations, such as for an earthquake that may relate to the donor's past. Nostalgia, in this case, increases empathy for others. Strangely, however, nostalgia has been regarded as a negative emotion for several hundred years.

Music

All over the world poepele spend, time, money, and effort into music. It has been proven in studies that children who took keyboard or singing lessons often did better and got a higher grade on tests. Another study that was done, it said that boys between the ages of 6 and 15 who took music lessons got a higher score on verbal memory tests. Rather than the control group who did not have any music lessons. It has also been found that patients who are getting ready to have surgery, who had listened to piano, harp, synthesizer, orchestra or slow jazz, hadless post-surgical pain than those who did not. Music help autistic children to stay calm when they are under stress also. So from that they are able to socialize better. So all in all music helps you in school, or with disabilites. Music is a very powerful thing that many people appreicate, some more than others.

Meditation

Meditation has been used to help center your body, mind, and soul. Monks are usually the ones to be referred to when meditation is brought up. Mantra meditation is when words such as "om" "ah" and "hum" are used to connect yourself with the correlating part. "om" connects your body, "ah" connects your speech, and "hum" connects your mind. "om" of course is the stereotypical word for used when meditating, but other words are valid. Meditation can help by: increasing intelligence, decreasing insomnia, increased personal development, decreased stress and anxiety, reduced cardiovascular related death, lowered blood pressure, easier concentration, and reduced risk of disease and illness. Meditation is essentially relaxation. Taking a break if you will. When we take a break, give ourselves some "me time", we refuel our "batteries". This allows for more focus usually. When practiced enough, meditation could be a form of this. You may look stupid, but meditation can really help. Would you rather be cool, or healthy?

Anti-stress peptide helps block alcohol dependence in animal model

Anti-stress peptide helps block alcohol dependence in animal model

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/11120915052.htm

The Scripps Research Institute has published a new study entitled "Nociceptin/ Orphanin FQ Blockade of CRF-induced GABA Release in Central Amygdala is Enhanced after Chronic Ethanol Exposure" in the journal Biological Psychiatry. The researchers identified a stress peptide that promotes excessive alcohol drinking, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), and an anti-stress peptide, nociceptin. Both peptides have opposite effects on the inhibitory neuro-transmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the amygdala. CRF stimulates GABA while nociceptin inhibits it to help control alcohol intake. They also found it didn't matter if the CRF or nociceptin were introduced first, because the nociceptin drove down levels of GABA regardless. The researchers were also able to determine both peptides effected the amygdala neurons of alcohol-dependent rats vs. non-dependent controls more. And both peptides rely on the same enzyme, protein kinase A (PKA), to regulate GABA release. The researchers hope these discoveries will help lead to a new treatment of alcoholism.
"Alcoholism is a complex disorder with many contributing factors, one of which is stress. By targeting a particular system that's associated with stress, we can better understand the interaction of alcohol and stress in the brain." stated first author of the study, Maureen Cruz. Alcoholism is a chronic, complex disease that won't be treatable by just one new pill, but this is a new approach that tackles the stress factor.

Yawning

Have you ever seen someone yawn, and a few seconds later yawn yourself? It is often said that yawning is contagious, and in a sense, this is true. Recent studies have shown that yawning can be a sign of empathy towards people, such as family and friends. The research shows people yawn more often when the person they see yawning is a family member, and much less often if a person is a complete stranger. They say that seeing a person yawn triggers multiple brain functions, such as imitation, movement, and social behaviors. This trigger is overstimulated if the person is someone you care about, thus causing a yawn.