Does tweeting on Twitter make me a twit or a Tritter-er?
What fun!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Depression
For Darwin, depression was a clarifying force, focusing the mind on its most essential problems. In his autobiography, he speculated on the purpose of such misery; his evolutionary theory was shadowed by his own life story. “Pain or suffering of any kind,” he wrote, “if long continued, causes depression and lessens the power of action, yet it is well adapted to make a creature guard itself against any great or sudden evil.” And so sorrow was explained away, because pleasure was not enough. Sometimes, Darwin wrote, it is the sadness that informs as it “leads an animal to pursue that course of action which is most beneficial.” The darkness was a kind of light
The mystery of depression is not that it exists — the mind, like the flesh, is prone to malfunction. Instead, the paradox of depression has long been its prevalence. While most mental illnesses are extremely rare — schizophrenia, for example, is seen in less than 1 percent of the population — depression is everywhere, as inescapable as the common cold. Every year, approximately 7 percent of us will be afflicted to some degree by the awful mental state that William Styron described as a “gray drizzle of horror . . . a storm of murk.” Obsessed with our pain, we will retreat from everything. We will stop eating, unless we start eating too much. Sex will lose its appeal; sleep will become a frustrating pursuit. We will always be tired, even though we will do less and less. We will think a lot about death.
The persistence of this affliction — and the fact that it seemed to be heritable — posed a serious challenge to Darwin’s new evolutionary theory. If depression was a disorder, then evolution had made a tragic mistake, allowing an illness that impedes reproduction — it leads people to stop having sex and consider suicide — to spread throughout the population. For some unknown reason, the modern human mind is tilted toward sadness and, as we’ve now come to think, needs drugs to rescue itself.
Psychiatry has come to see rumination as a dangerous mental habit, because it leads people to fixate on their flaws and problems, thus extending their negative moods. There is nothing profound about depressive rumination. There is just a recursive loop of woe.
The bleakness of this thought process helps explain why, according to the Yale psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, people with “ruminative tendencies” are more likely to become depressed. They’re also more likely to become unnerved by stressful events. And then there are the cognitive deficits. Because rumination hijacks the stream of consciousness — we become exquisitely attentive to our pain — numerous studies have found that depressed subjects struggle to think about anything else, just like Wallace’s character. The end result is poor performance on tests for memory and executive function, especially when the task involves lots of informat
ion. (These deficits disappear when test subjects are first distracted from their depression and thus better able to focus on the exercise.) Such research has reinforced the view that rumination is a useless kind of pessimism, a perfect waste of mental energy.
Rumination was often a response to a specific psychological blow, like the death of a loved one or the loss of a job. (Darwin was plunged into a debilitating grief after his 10-year-old daughter, Annie, died following a bout of scarlet fever.) Although the D.S.M. manual, the diagnostic bible for psychiatrists, does not take such stressors into account when diagnosing depressive disorder — the exception is grief caused by bereavement, as long as the grief doesn’t last longer than two months — it’s clear that the problems of everyday life play a huge role in causing mental illness.
(exerpted from the N.Y. Times, Sunday, February 28, 2010)
The mystery of depression is not that it exists — the mind, like the flesh, is prone to malfunction. Instead, the paradox of depression has long been its prevalence. While most mental illnesses are extremely rare — schizophrenia, for example, is seen in less than 1 percent of the population — depression is everywhere, as inescapable as the common cold. Every year, approximately 7 percent of us will be afflicted to some degree by the awful mental state that William Styron described as a “gray drizzle of horror . . . a storm of murk.” Obsessed with our pain, we will retreat from everything. We will stop eating, unless we start eating too much. Sex will lose its appeal; sleep will become a frustrating pursuit. We will always be tired, even though we will do less and less. We will think a lot about death.
The persistence of this affliction — and the fact that it seemed to be heritable — posed a serious challenge to Darwin’s new evolutionary theory. If depression was a disorder, then evolution had made a tragic mistake, allowing an illness that impedes reproduction — it leads people to stop having sex and consider suicide — to spread throughout the population. For some unknown reason, the modern human mind is tilted toward sadness and, as we’ve now come to think, needs drugs to rescue itself.
Psychiatry has come to see rumination as a dangerous mental habit, because it leads people to fixate on their flaws and problems, thus extending their negative moods. There is nothing profound about depressive rumination. There is just a recursive loop of woe.
The bleakness of this thought process helps explain why, according to the Yale psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, people with “ruminative tendencies” are more likely to become depressed. They’re also more likely to become unnerved by stressful events. And then there are the cognitive deficits. Because rumination hijacks the stream of consciousness — we become exquisitely attentive to our pain — numerous studies have found that depressed subjects struggle to think about anything else, just like Wallace’s character. The end result is poor performance on tests for memory and executive function, especially when the task involves lots of informat
ion. (These deficits disappear when test subjects are first distracted from their depression and thus better able to focus on the exercise.) Such research has reinforced the view that rumination is a useless kind of pessimism, a perfect waste of mental energy.
Rumination was often a response to a specific psychological blow, like the death of a loved one or the loss of a job. (Darwin was plunged into a debilitating grief after his 10-year-old daughter, Annie, died following a bout of scarlet fever.) Although the D.S.M. manual, the diagnostic bible for psychiatrists, does not take such stressors into account when diagnosing depressive disorder — the exception is grief caused by bereavement, as long as the grief doesn’t last longer than two months — it’s clear that the problems of everyday life play a huge role in causing mental illness.
(exerpted from the N.Y. Times, Sunday, February 28, 2010)
Oh what a beautiful morning
I wake up to the site of snow on the surrounding mountains. What an absolutely breathtaking view. From all the windows on the back side of the house, we have a beautiful view. Just wish our backyard neighbors would cut down their ficus bush. then we would have an even better view just lying in bed. Wishful thinking. . . .
DH wanted to go to the COD Faire, but I had a headache and didn't want to go. I know he's disappointed. We need to look for some UV clothing for our trip to the Galapagos and he wants to buy some hand cream. Next weekend?
Going to watch the USA v Canada Gold Medal hockey game today even tho I don't like hockey.
Going home tomorrow. It's been fun staying out in the desert these past 12 days. Would like to come out next weekend cuz we won't be out for another 2 weekends after that. Have theater tickets for the 13th. The Hermosa Beach St. Patrick's Day parade is also on the 13th, and DH has an all-day meeting on the 20th.
DH wanted to go to the COD Faire, but I had a headache and didn't want to go. I know he's disappointed. We need to look for some UV clothing for our trip to the Galapagos and he wants to buy some hand cream. Next weekend?
Going to watch the USA v Canada Gold Medal hockey game today even tho I don't like hockey.
Going home tomorrow. It's been fun staying out in the desert these past 12 days. Would like to come out next weekend cuz we won't be out for another 2 weekends after that. Have theater tickets for the 13th. The Hermosa Beach St. Patrick's Day parade is also on the 13th, and DH has an all-day meeting on the 20th.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Komen 3-Day and Galapagos and Perfection
I registered for the Komen 3-Day Race in Seattle, September 24-26. I'm going to do the walk with Jennifer Hicks, another MT who lives in the Seattle area, and a friend of hers. We will be walking 60 miles in 3 days, 20 miles each day. Am I crazy? I wanted to do this walk a few years ago but ended up having knee surgery. I'm really hoping that my knees and feet hold up. If Jen can do the walk with a prosthetic leg, I know I can do it. She is my inspiration.
Can't believe the trip is about 6 weeks away. Time to really start getting in shape for lots of walking.
I keep buying things, and I realized that the reason I buy so much stuff is that I'm looking for the perfect lipstick or perfect pair of jeans or the perfect pair of shoes or the perfect purse or tote bag. The boxes are overtaking the house and SRB and SRB, Jr. are starting to get concerned about me. Pretty bad when you're on a first-name basis with the UPS driver!
Taking a leave of absence has given me so much freeedom, and I haven't gotten bored - yet. Still trying to sort things out and keep my head on straight. Good friends and family are helping me in that area.
Can't believe the trip is about 6 weeks away. Time to really start getting in shape for lots of walking.
I keep buying things, and I realized that the reason I buy so much stuff is that I'm looking for the perfect lipstick or perfect pair of jeans or the perfect pair of shoes or the perfect purse or tote bag. The boxes are overtaking the house and SRB and SRB, Jr. are starting to get concerned about me. Pretty bad when you're on a first-name basis with the UPS driver!
Taking a leave of absence has given me so much freeedom, and I haven't gotten bored - yet. Still trying to sort things out and keep my head on straight. Good friends and family are helping me in that area.
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