Norman E. Rosenthal's Blog, page 7

My Year of Transcendence

It is about a year now since the hardcover version of Transcendence was published, and what a year it has been!

I had never considered myself a meditative sort of person – more outgoing than contemplative; more interactive than reflective. Had I visited a fortune-teller who told me that I would write a book about retreating into the self, I would have demanded to see her certificate of clairvoyance! But she would have been right – a testimony to the surprises that life delivers with wonderful regularity.

As I look back on how I came to write Transcendence, it feels as though I followed the clues in a treasure hunt. A patient of mine tells me that Transcendental Meditation has changed his life. I tell him I learned TM long ago, but dropped the practice. He encourages me (nags me, really) to get back to it. So I do. Then it transforms my life, makes me calmer, happier, more creative. So I do research on it – and it works. And I recommend it to patients – and it works again. Before I know it, I have broken a resolution not to write any more books (what are resolutions for anyway, but to break?) and, voila! Transcendence.

It has been such a thrill for me to see people read Transcendence and say, “I should learn TM myself; what do I have to lose?” And see the changes that has brought to their lives. I should take a moment to thank all those who have offered feedback about the results of Transcendental Meditation in their own lives. They bring joy to my days.

New York Times Best Seller “Transcendence” [Video 2:43]

Take my insurance agent, Please! No, seriously folks, this is the greatest insurance agent you could ever find. He has helped me with insurance for 32 years and we have not had one cross word or disagreement in all that time. In a conversation a while back, he asked what I was doing and I told him about the book. He obtained a copy, read it, got trained in TM and says it has changed his life. Here’s what he has to say about the matter after eight weeks of practice.

Anxieties are essentially gone.

I feel true joy, natural and unforced, coming from within

I have clarity of thoughts with a pro-active and enthusiastic vision toward the future

I experience real or perceived increased mental acuity and sharpness

I feel relaxation and peacefulness that lasts through the entire day

I have increased comfort/confidence in virtually all matters of the day

I feel like I am being “real,” perhaps for the first time (a scary thought) and it feels fantastic!

I have always been considered by others to be a very positive and well-adjusted person. Now, I feel that I really am that person.

It is hard to get me upset about anything.

I feel like a different person… someone I like very much. My wife doesn’t know quite what to make of all this yet. Interestingly, I am not as concerned about what she thinks about things as I used to be… and I mean that in the kindest way.

This sort of thing happens all the time. Just yesterday I was talking to a fellow psychiatrist, who read Transcendence and is now practicing TM and recommending it to his patients. “It’s just so pleasant,” he said, echoing my own surprise that something that has been so good for me and others could also be so pleasurable. I commented that when you visit a place inside yourself that feels so pleasant, it is natural to begin to think, “I can’t be such a bad guy after all if there’s such a happy place inside of me.”

These, then, are some of the greatest rewards that writing Transcendence has brought me – the knowledge of passing along something that can be so helpful and, in some people, transformational. I am happy also to report that Transcendence received a 2012 Nautilus Book Award silver medal in the category of religion and spirituality. I am honored at this acknowledgement, especially as I read the distinguished list of past winners:

http://www.nautilusbookawards.com/Home.html

Now let me find that fortune-teller I was talking about. I am eager to discover what the next year will bring.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman

 

Veterans and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Over half a million of our veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These are people who have been exposed to violence on the battlefields serving for our country. As one of my patients said, “it can happen once in your life, but one hundred times in your mind.” The echoes linger on…

As a psychiatrist, I am painfully aware of the long-term consequences of profound trauma.  I am pleased to see that these consequences are being taken so seriously at this time. When we see the impressive effect of Transcendental Meditation on such military heroes as Jerry Yellin and Dan Burks, it is natural to wonder: How can such a simple technique provide such powerful relief to those who have suffered so much?

The answer lies in a single word – stress.  People who are terribly stressed be they soldiers under mortar fire or children being abused – feel the impact powerfully in those parts of the brain that we’ve already heard about – such as the amygdala — responsible for registering danger.  And these brain centers continue to reverberate long after the danger is over – like a gong that continues to vibrate long after it has been struck.  Our fight-or-flight responses remain on high alert, resulting in hyper-vigilance, flashbacks and nightmares.

Our veterans get bombarded on a daily basis by memories and flashbacks. It is a shocking statistic that 18 veterans everyday commit suicide.  Researchers have shown that if you startle people with unpleasant loud noises or violent movie images, those who practice Transcendental Meditation regularly will settle down far more quickly than their non-meditating counterparts.  TM appears to be acting as a surge protector, reducing the impact of stress on the body and mind.

Can Transcendental Meditation help veterans with post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, and help make the lives of our soldiers more enjoyable?

Sarina Grosswold, Ed.D. is a colleague and cognitive learning specialist who says:

“It is astounding that we have lost more to suicide than actually have been lost in combat. That is the first time ever. We put together a pilot study with returning veterans form the Iraq Afghanistan war and what we saw was within four weeks of practicing Transcendental Meditation a 50% reduction in the PTSD symptoms. I don’t think that there is anything that shows that level of response that quickly.”

Please see the video with Dr. Grosswald and myself (2:08)

Because of TM’s ability to settle down the nervous system, to slow down the fight or flight response I believe Transcendental Meditation is a promising direction for us to explore. TM is something we should be trying, testing and studying.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman

Additional Resources:

Washington Post Article, “Does Transcendental Meditation Help Veterans With PTSD?”

Video on the research and statistics of Transcendental Meditation to help veterans

Light Box Giveaway: Light Therapy for Depression

As you may know, I am passionate about light – and its power to affect the way we feel. My colleagues and I have done extensive research on light therapy for seasonal affective disorder, depression and the winter blues. Also, I have used and prescribed light therapy for years. I am very happy to be part of this giveaway to help get high-quality light therapy products into the hands of those who may enjoy and benefit from them.

To be considered for the light box giveaway please subscribe to my newsletter in the sidebar to the right.

The winners will be selected at random in two weeks time.

Full spectrum light therapy is quite simply light therapy technology that is closest to mimicking the natural light of the suns rays. You can see why it would be most useful in low light conditions.

Now, here is a chance to get an early start on your winter blues defense. The folks over at Verilux have generously offered some of their best products for our off-season giveaway. Verilux specializes in Full Spectrum Lighting, Compact Fluorescent Bulbs and UV C Light Products. They are generously giving away almost $900 worth of merchandise to six randomly selected individuals who enter to win.

Giveaway: Full Spectrum Light Therapy for Depression

2- Rise & Shine Natural Wake-Up Lights (value: $99.95 each)

2- HappyLight Deluxe Energy Lamps (value: $189.95 each)

2- HappyLight 6000 Energy Lamp (value: $89.95 each)

Please share your stories and/or comments below with the community.

Again, to be considered for the light box giveaway please subscribe to my newsletter in the sidebar to the right. The winners will be selected at random in two weeks time.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman

Additional resources you might find useful:

Winter Blues, Everything You Need to Know to Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder

Seven Tell-Tale Signs of Depression in a Friend or Loved One

How to Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder and The Winter Blues [Infographic]

On the Frontiers of SAD: How Much Light is Enough?

 

Stress, Pain and the Placebo Effect at the Library of Congress

This past month I had the pleasure and privilege of taking part in a symposium on the effects of stress on the mind and body, sponsored by the Kluge Foundation and held at the Library of Congress. The presentation that most captured my attention involved anxiety, pain, and the placebo effect, and was presented by Fabrizio Benedetti, Professor of Neurophysiology and Human Physiology at the University of Turin, Italy.

Most of us have heard about the so-called placebo effect – the non-specific effect that make people feel better when they receive treatment of any kind, mostly because when we go to a professional and are given a treatment, we hope to feel better. Indeed we expect to feel better. And it is this hope and expectation that is thought to be the driving force behind the placebo effect.

We mostly hear about the placebo effect as a nuisance that interferes with our ability to determine whether a drug or some other form of treatment is working because it really works, or because it simply generates the dratted placebo effect. In Benedetti’s work, however, the placebo effect itself is the focus of attention. How powerful is it? How does it work? Can we counteract or strengthen it? These are the sorts of questions Benedetti has asked, and has actually come up with some intriguing answers.

Before looking into some of this research, however, I want to introduce a second term into the discussion, “the nocebo effect,” less familiar that the placebo effect, but equally fascinating. A nocebo is an intervention that generates negative expectations in the person receiving it, and thereby results in the person feeling worse.

Most of Benedetti’s presentation focused on placebo and nocebo effects on pain. In one fascinating series of pictures, he showed how a woman suffering from post-surgical pain, when told to raise her arm as high as she could, was able to lift it no further than to a horizontal position. After being given a placebo pill, this same woman was able to raise her arm straight up into a vertical position. After receiving a nocebo, however – the very same pill with the explanation that it would make her pain worse – she was not able to lift her arm even as high as she could at baseline. In short, the placebo made the pain better; the nocebo made it worse – even though the two interventions involved the same pills!

How can placebos alleviate pain? Benedetti has shown that placebos activate the brain’s own painkillers – such as endogenous opiates and cannabinoids. These chemicals can be artificially stimulated by opiate drugs or artificial cannabinoids such as are present in marijuana. Nocebos can have the opposite effect on the same brain chemical systems. Another way in which nocebos do their dirty work is by raising anxiety – which occurs naturally when we expect the worst. Benedetti has worked out these cause-and-effect relationships by using drugs to enhance or counteract placebo and nocebo effects. For example, he found anxiety to be important in the the nocebo effect because when he pre-treated people with Valium-type drugs, called benzodiazepines, the nocebo effect disappeared.

Fascinating as the symposium was, the real star of the show was the Library of Congress. I am ashamed to say that I have lived in Washington, D.C. for over 30 years and have never set foot in this magnificent building before. It’s façade alone could rival those of many of the grand buildings in Europe are considered indispensable sights to include on a European trip.

The interior of the building is even more impressive. As I wondered down the halls, I had the sense of being inside a Venezian Palazzo of enormous dimensions. The floors are covered with mosaics, the ceilings painted, and marble abounds in the form of columns are archways. Lush and magnificent, it is unimaginable that any Congress would appropriate funds for such an edifice in these straightened times.

Here is a picture of the reading room, which looks more like the interior of some grand opera house.

And look at the central hall – too large to be captured in a single snapshot.

Since I am particularly interested in clinical depression, I was fascinated at this decorated paean to “divinest melancholy”, tucked away in a corner of the ceiling next to the service elevator. Although I admire the artistry, I can assure you, based on many years of experience, that there is nothing divine about melancholia.

Picture of divinest melancholy (directly above)

As you can see by this picture (to the right), even regular ceiling paintings are gorgeous. I could go on and on, and I wasn’t even an art major!

From the reading room specifically dedicated to the poet laureate, you have a wonderful view of the mall. Ironically, I could see a crowd standing outside the Supreme Court, where the justices were debating the constitutionality of the Health Care Bill.

While the glories of the Library of Congress were enough to make you forget all your pains and sorrows, thoughts of our health care mess might well produce the exactly opposite response – a clear demonstration of the placebo and nocebo effects in action.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman

The Wonders of the Night Sky

Now that the weather has taken a turn for the better, one of my favorite activities is going out for a walk during these cool spring evenings.  The lawn mowers and leaf blowers have been put to bed for the night.  The mosquitoes have not yet hatched from their larvae and are not yet thirsting for my blood (and everybody else's).  All is quiet in the suburbs, and it's a fine time to be with your own thoughts – and turn your attention to the night sky.

Heaven knows I am no astronomer, but I am perennially nosy, so when I saw two planets glowing like lanterns in the western sky, one almost directly above the other, I couldn't resist saying to myself, "How I wonder what you are!"  I called a friend, who is an inveterate night walker, and asked him which planets they were – somehow I knew he would know and he did.  Even though he lives in North Carolina, hundreds of miles away from where I am in Maryland, the night sky is more or less the same for both of us.  He told me that Venus was above Jupiter and that even though Venus is a smaller planet, it is much brighter because it is closer to earth.  Then he directed me to look in the eastern sky where small, but bright and with a faintly red tinge, Mars twinkled down at me and my fellow earthlings.

It turns out that my friend's astronomical skills have been greatly helped by a terrific I-Phone app called The Night Sky, which is available for 99 cents – and a bargain at the price.  I immediately downloaded it – and recommend it to all other would-be star gazers.

I recognize that there are places on earth far grander than the Maryland suburbs for enjoying celestial wonders, and some day I hope to travel there.  In the meanwhile, I confine myself to looking at pictures sent by Facebook friends in such exotic places.  Illona Fjellström is a schoolmate of mine from many years ago, with whom I reconnected after more than 40 years, thanks to Facebook.  It turns out that she married a Swede (Johan) and moved with him to Arjeplog, a town of about 1800 in Lappland in the north of Sweden.  In that location, Illona and Johan have been lucky enough to enjoy spectacular demonstrations of the northern lights, especially this year, when there have been unusually high levels of solar activity.  Johan, who is a photographer, was kind enough to share these amazing photos with me and my readers (see above).

I have seen the northern lights only once before, in Tromsø, a town in the far north of Norway, and they were nowhere nearly as dramatic as those shown in Johan's pictures.  A group of us stood on a rooftop terrace and saw what looked like a faint white muslin curtain waving gently in the celestial breeze.  Even so, there was something other-worldly about them.

I am looking forward to continuing my night sky explorations, perhaps with the help of a telescope, and hope one day to go and visit my friends in Lappland and catch those wondrous green streaks of light for myself.  In the meanwhile, perhaps I have stimulated some of you to go and take a look at the sky one of these fine evenings. It's a good time to be alive.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman

 

 

First Days of Spring

Der spring is sprung

Der grass is riz

I wonder where dem boidies is?

Der little boids is on der wing,

Ain't dat absoid?

Der little wings is on de boid!

Spring in the Bronx, Anonymous

Dear Friends:

For most of us, spring is finally here (or did we miss it already?)

Throughout the ages, people have looked forward to the first days of spring, even longed for them. We wait for the colors to emerge from the dull greens and grays of winter – the first purple crocuses, pushing their way through the lawn, heralding the panoply of flowers that soon will follow.

It is a time of romance. Tennyson perhaps stated it best when he said, "In spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." And that applies to young women – and older people of both genders, come to think of it.

The term spring fever aptly describes a feeling that seizes you with its urgency and impulses, driving you to pursue the object of your desires, or go on pilgrimages, depending on your particular cast of mind.

I remember the first time I was interviewed on the subject of spring fever by a reporter from the New York Times. I was standing in my office at the National Institute of Mental Health, watching a pair of turtle doves conducting their courtship ritual on the window ledge outside. Mr. Dove waddled towards Ms. Dove with determined strides. She walked away (he would have to try harder). So, with feigned indifference he turned his tail feathers on her. That rekindled her interest and now she was the pursuer. And so it went. I told the reporter what was happening on the window ledge and lo-and-behold, the turtle doves appeared in the article.

The reason the reporter was calling me in the first place is because I have studied the effects of seasons on the human mind for many years. They continue to fascinate me. I am firmly persuaded that many of the changes we experience in the spring (or in other seasons, for that matter) are driven by changes in our biology. Although these alterations are complex, here is one well-studied example. The brain chemical serotonin plays a role in feelings of happiness. Serotonin transmission in the brain is influenced by antidepressants such as Prozac, which may explain some of the benefits of these drugs.

Yet serotonin is influenced by many non-drug factors as well, for example the amount of light to which we are exposed on a given day. Basically, the more light, the more serotonin. Now, during the dark winter days, we are starved of serotonin. The receptors on our nerve cells crave serotonin almost like the receptors on the tongue of a dehydrated person crave water. When such a parched person takes a sip of water, it tastes and feels amazing – like nectar. That's how it can feel to a person after a long dark winter when all of a sudden, light comes pouring down into his or her eyes. No wonder we experience spring fever.

Dr. Frederick Cook, who went on a 19th Century expedition to Antarctica, described the seasonal rhythms of sex drive among the indigenous people he encountered on his journey.

Here is how he described them:

The passions of these people are periodical, and their courtship is usually carried on soon after the return of the sun; in fact, at this time, they almost tremble from the intensity of their passions and for several weeks most of their time is taken up in gratifying them.

Now I can't leave this topic of spring without mentioning the very strange and unusual way in which it has burst upon the scene this year.

Henry David Thoreau observed the arrival of spring from his beloved Walden Pond as follows

At the end of winter there is a season

In which we are daily expecting spring

And finally a day when it arrives.

A flock of geese

now in the dark flying low over the pond . . .

I stood at my door and could hear their wings.

I have often thought of Thoreau's words as I have strolled out to fetch my newspaper in the morning at the end of winter and said to myself, "Has spring arrived? No, not yet . . . " until finally, one day I declare, "Yes! Here it is!"

In contrast to previous years, the big question on my mind – and many other minds – is, "Where has spring gone?" Suddenly, it feels like summer with temperatures in the 70s through much of the country. Maybe spring will come back and take another bow before leaving us this year. I hope so. In South Africa, where I grew up, we had no spring or fall to speak of – just summer and winter. And I have come to love these transitional seasons. More importantly, the disappearance of spring raises concerns about the pervasive influence of global warming on our planet.

But that is a topic for another day. The important topic of today is to greet you this spring with open arms. I encourage to submit your thoughts and comments below and look forward to sharing some of them with my network. For those of you who want to find out more about the effect of seasons on the mind and brain, my book Winter Blues (Guilford Publications) is due to be released in its fourth and latest edition this coming August.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence

Norman Rosenthal

Seven Tell-Tale Signs of Depression in a Friend or Loved One

This post has been written to assist the reader in observing signs of depression in a friend or loved one.

A young couple I have treated for some time came into my office recently. Lisa was angry with Justin because he had been (in her opinion) distant and unloving towards her in recent weeks. No matter how hard she tried to please him, nothing seemed to work, and she began to wonder whether he had lost interest in her. After I asked Justin certain key questions, it became clear that he had gradually become depressed and, in doing so, had lost interest in pretty much everything that had previously given him pleasure – including Lisa. Once Justin's depression was adequately treated, he became the warm, loving and attentive man with whom Lisa had fallen in love and chosen to spend her life with.

There are some important lessons to this story.

First, depression is not always obvious. It can masquerade as something else (in this case, lack of interest in your partner).

Second, it is valuable for friends or loved ones to learn the tell-tale signs of depression so that they can offer help as early in the process as possible because depression is a painful condition, both for the person suffering from it and his or her loved ones.

So, here are seven tell-tale signs of depression that should make you wonder if your friend or loved-one is developing depression:

1. Loss of interest in things that were previously pleasurable. Sometimes this loss of pleasure – also known as anhedonia – may not be complete. So your loved one may gravitate only to those things that are easily enjoyed and require the least amount of effort, such as playing video-games, sitting in front of the TV or surfing the Web. This readily leads to thoughts or comments such as "You have plenty of time and interest for surfing the Web, but not when it comes to spending quality time with me." Engaging with another person and meeting that person's needs require more effort than surfing the Web and therefore may be an early sign of depression.

2. Sleep difficulties. This may take the form of trouble falling asleep, or waking up during the night or the early hours of the morning. You may find your loved one in another room, trying to while away the time. This may disrupt your own sleep and may feel like abandonment, leading you to say things like, "Not only isn't he/she available for me during the day, but even at night." Again, it's important not to take the symptom personally, but recognize it for what it is.

3. Eating changes – too little or too much – with corresponding weight changes in the expected direction. A husband (for example) can readily become angry with his wife and blame her for eating too much and gaining weight, misinterpreting the symptom as a sign that she no longer cares as much about their intimate life and is therefore "letting herself go."

4. Anger and irritability. A depressed person struggles to get through the day. Ordinary obstacles and challenges become more difficult and can lead to frustration and the feelings that go along with that. This is another tell-tale sign of depression that is easy to take personally.

5. Expressing negative thoughts. You might feel enthusiastic about something and your friend or loved one might come back with a "downer" of a response, such as "I don't think that will amount to anything," or "What does it matter? It makes no difference." Such negative thoughts are a cardinal symptom of depression, yet sometimes they feel almost calculated to throw a dampener on things. The depressed person is not trying to make life difficult for others even though that is often the effect of depressive thoughts and utterances.

6. Suicidal ideas. These may take a passive form such as, "I don't care if I live or die" or a more active form, such as "Sometimes I feel like driving the car off the road." Always take such statements very seriously. There is a common myth that if a person is really suicidal, they don't tell others about it; they do it. By this erroneous logic, if the person is telling you about it, you might mistakenly conclude that they won't actually do it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only are such statements key elements of depression (which warrants treatment in its own right), but they suggest that such treatment is urgent.

7. Loss of confidence in oneself and optimism about the future is sign of a depression. Depressed people feel poorly about themselves and their future. If your friend or loved one is usually more self confident and optimistic and this then changes, suspect depression.

If you detect one or more of these signs in a friend or loved one, you may want to look up a more comprehensive list of symptoms for major depression in the standard manual for psychiatric conditions, the DSM-IV.

Once you suspect depression, do encourage your friend or loved one to seek consultation and treatment with a qualified person, not only for his or her sake, but for yours. Sometimes it can also be helpful and comforting for you to offer to accompany the person to the consultation.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman

If you enjoyed this blog post you may wish to read:

Diagnosing Your Own Depression: Signs and Symptoms

How to Become an Emotional Detective: Methods Used to Uncover Basic Emotions

Winter Blues Book Giveaway

Be the first to receive the not-yet published latest version of Winter Blues AND have a chance to win a free copy once it is published.

I am delighted to let you know that the Fourth Edition of Winter Blues is due out this coming autumn. I have fully updated my survivor manual so that anyone who has trouble with the winter can have access to the latest information about light therapy and other treatments so that you can feel good all year round.

In addition, I am combining my passion for meditation with the treatment of Winter Blues in an entirely new chapter. I deal with both Transcendental Meditation and Mindfulness so that people can understand these very different techniques and what they have to offer.

What we would appreciate is some feedback from all of you as to what you think of this new book. We will send draft copies to the first 10 people who express interest in providing us with comments that we can use in describing this book to potential readers AND those people whose comments we use in this way will get free copies of Winter Blues as soon as it is published.

So, simply comment below and we will contact you by email to be the first to receive the not-yet published version of this classic AND have the chance to win a free copy once it is published.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman

Purchase current version of Winter Blues Here

How to Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder and The Winter Blues [Infographic]

My Reddit AMA Was A Blast!

For those who don't know — Reddit is a social network that some have called, "the front page of the internet." Reddit has many great features that allow its users to determine what gets seen and what falls by the wayside. I was recently told about Reddit and was delighted to interact with its users. One of Reddit's popular features is its IAmA section, where anyone who is knowledgeable about a particular field can answer questions on that topic from the public. An example would be, "IAmA defense lawyer" ask me anything — and watch the questions roll in!

The title to my IAmA was I'm Dr. Norman Rosenthal, Psychiatrist, Author and Scientist who first described Winter Depression (SAD). AMAA (Ask Me Almost Anything). The questions started appearing on my screen, I began to type away crazily and to, my amazement, climbed to #1 on Reddit's home page.

My friends in the social media industry threw out impressive numbers – thousands of visitors to my web site, tens of thousands of people "reached," whatever that means. But most meaningful to me were people I actually knew, who saw me on the home page and emailed me: my nephew in South Africa, who now thinks his uncle is "cool;" a former research assistant, and a participant in our original National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) light therapy study. My son (who is also a psychiatrist) was informed about my place on the home page by one of his patients, who arrived for a session. So, now my son thinks I'm cool too! Since I'm usually working away at one thing or another, I'm not usually perceived as cool – so it's a pleasant change.

I would like to share with you the following comments from the person who had previously participated in our NIMH study, which rapidly rose to become one of the most popular shares in the conversation:

Dr Rosenthal; I still have memories of Building 10 and the "motion/activity" detectors you used; and how they got smaller and smaller till they were just a silver metal box the size of a box of matches worn on the wrist! (And there was a minor amount of teasing at school for wearing those devices)

I do remember feeling a bit silly sitting under the full spectrum lights (and then the colored filters as well) for a few hours/day in the AM and PM when it was dark. But apparently it worked! (not that I thought it would as a kid at the time)

But thank you again for your research!!! (and the 10 year (I think) follow up after the research program as well)

Sincerely;

One of your very initial group of "Lab Rats". I'll have to tell my Mom about this (she's also a PhD in related fields, and does bio- and neurofeedback (still!))

My Reply:

Oh my! You take me back to some good old days. Thanks for the memories, whoever you are!

Her/his Reply:

Well, I'm not about to break Dr./Patient (or in this case Researcher/Lab Rat) confidentiality on a public forum. But I was one of the younger ones in your initial group of 10~15 people (if I remember correctly, it was more then 2 decades ago, and I was in middle school at the time).

I remember the long lists of questions, and the weekly or more often visits to "read out" my activity meter . . . one the plotted graphs of my motion over time to show how as light went down; so did my activity; and as the lights were used it went up; and then when the "correct" filters were used, it went up even more. I also remember that I liked to sit under the full spectrum lights much much more than the filtered spectrum ones. But the filtered ones were more effective. (and the cat really liked the full spectrum ones too… just like lying in a sunbeam)

Both my parents are PhD's in related fields, and I can't remember if mom was also doing research of some type at NIH or what, but you two did seem to know each other, at least professionally.

In any event; it's a rather nice little "check box" in my life history to know I was a (very small) part of helping the world to feel better in a measurable way. And I even got to know myself a lot better! (and I seem to have out-grown some percentage of my SAD symptoms… but I also know just what to do if they come back! A great feeling!)

And it's great to hear you are still doing well!!

Warmest Regards!

I sign off with:

And warm regards to you. Take care and thanks for helping make the world a better place.

If you would like to see the entire thread (hold on to your seat) you can find it by clicking: I'm Dr. Norman Rosenthal, Psychiatrist, Author and Scientist who first described Winter Depression (SAD). AMAA

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman Rosenthal

How Yoga Hasn’t Wrecked My Body (Yet)

Like many yoga practitioners, I read with great interest the recent New York Times article, How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body by William Broad — See New York Times article.

The article seemed to me like an important caveat, especially considering the large number of people in the US currently practicing yoga (20 million and counting, according to some estimates). It also made intuitive sense for a couple of reasons. First, many people I know personally have been injured doing yoga. Second, any exercise program has the potential to cause harm as well as good (a friend of mine recently had an almost-fatal heart attack during a kick-boxing class). And finally, although everybody knows that conventional medications and medical treatment can cause side-effects and problems – somehow anything deemed “alternative” seems to get a free ride when it comes to considering the down side.

Whenever I offer cautions about some Eastern technique, herb or nutritional supplement, I get stares from friends and patients as if to say, “How can you criticize them? They’re like motherhood and apple pie.” But we know that even motherhood can be risky to your health (such as sleep deprivation, worries about the kids, aggravation from ungrateful children etc) and apple pie can make you fat. I am not suggesting that people refrain from these activities – though they are both best enjoyed in moderation – but simply that many things that we do in life, including highly worthwhile things, are inherently risky. How then do we moderate the risk?

Some years ago, I had a chronic illness (thankfully long since cured), which made me irritable. One day I suggested to my assistant that maybe yoga would help. She seized upon the suggestion with disturbing alacrity – in fact, I had never seen her show that level of enthusiasm for any other chore I had asked of her. The next thing I knew Lakshmi, a tall, good-looking woman in a white jump suit arrived at my door, and my regular yoga classes had begun.

Many different forms of yoga are currently available. My teacher practices simple hatha yoga (the Shivananda routine, if that means anything to you), which was familiar to me as I had learned the same type of yoga 30 years earlier in South Africa. It is a balanced routine with breathing, stretching, an aerobic component (the sun salutation) and elements of meditation (mindfulness) and contemplation (one or two generic prayers that refer to peace and personal responsibility, and could offend nobody but the most hardened atheist). In this form of yoga, one moves slowly from one posture (asana) to another, and you don’t turn the ambient heat up high, which is part of the popular Bikram yoga.

As I have thought about all the different elements in my yoga routine, they all seem to offer some value of one type or another. For example, bending the spine in different ways keeps it flexible. Often when I see an elderly person teetering across the street, spine stiffened in a fixed position position – which makes it harder to stay balanced or turn suddenly – I wonder how that person might have walked differently had they practiced yoga for many years. It seems obvious that flexibility must protect the back from injury.

If there is something I’m doing in yoga that feels uncomfortable, or if some part of my body strongly resists a movement, I just don’t do it. That’s a basic rule in any exercise routine geared at keeping a person fit and healthy – not to push yourself too far. Likewise, we learn not to force open or closed a piece of equipment so as not to break it. It’s just common sense. For competitive athletes practicing under the vigilant eye of a trained coach, the rules may be different. Most yoga practitioners do not fall into that category. Yet, the competitiveness of our society encroaches upon the yoga studio, to judge by people looking around to see whether they are stretching as far as their neighbors. Clearly these are pathways to injury, and it’s not surprising that some people have wrecked their bodies due to overzealously practicing their yoga routine.

My advice is that we consider yoga part of a healthy lifestyle. We need to breathe, stretch, be mindful of our bodies, reflect, meditate and, perhaps, pray. Check your machismo at the door, stop looking at who’s doing the plow better than you are, be aware of your body, and enjoy this ancient practice. It has worked for me for the past ten or more years since Lakshmi first walked through my door and thankfully I haven’t wrecked my body yet.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman

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