Physician to Meta-Physician

STRESSED BRAIN SYNDROME [SBS] & NEUROFEEDBACK

Heard of  Stressed Brain Syndrome [SBS] ?  Don't feel bad if you haven't.  I just made the term up.  But most of you fellow travelers at the dawn of 2010 know what I mean.

Is stress worse now than ever ? Hard to be sure but I contend that it many ways it is.  Bad news has always been there and we have evolved to respond to it with our physiologic and neurochemical defense mechanisms.  After the failure to respond to stress can be fatal.

Our problem today is that we are under enormous chronic, continuous stress.  The field of psychoneuroimmunology has revealed powerful connections between the brain, the autonomic nervous system, neuroendocrine transmitters, the hypocampus [limbic system], hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis etc.

Our immune systems crash, our ability to remember and be creative suffer.  We suffer.

Why is it worse today?  Sensory overload from techonological and communication devices.  We all know what that means:  24hr news cycles, email, twitter, crackberry addictions, social networking insanity.

Is this SBS merely the beginning of cognitive/emotional stress--the 21st century"s gift to a human brain which cannot possibly evolve quickly enough to deal with it?

Any wonder that we stand on the precipice of  physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual collapse ?

  Is there hope ?  Perhaps neurofeedback will offer us some.  I have written about it before and will continue to do so.  It may very well be the technology we need to tolerate the rest of the technology that seems to be the source of our suffering.

It may be the noninvasive technological "implant" that allows us to calm, learn, expand our brain's capacities without resorting to drugs.

More to come.

 

 

 

 

2010--THE PARADOX --TECHNOLOGY & STRESS

Forget about predictions about the future.  In the 60s, 70s and 80s prognosticators wrote about the liberating benefits of technology.  The future was to offer us such a degree of technological sophistication that we would be awash in free time !

Certainly the irony of such a "miss" is obvious to us all.

Technology may offer enormous benefits but "free time" is certainly not one of them.  Personal computers, Iphones, Blackberries, and their hybrids have made us slaves to technology. The assorted social networking programs [Twitter, Facebook,etc] merely exacerbate the problem.  Baseball?  Texting is the new national pastime.

Information, communication, constant contact is the new addiction and like any addiction, the addict will ultimately suffer for it.

In the "good old days" the inability to reach another human being was an assumption.  If someone returned your phone call within the same 24hr time cycle, it was a great accomplishment.

We also received our news of the day via daily newspapers or the evening TV news.  The obvious traumas of the world were not in our face 24/7 as they are at present.

We actually had time to decompress, to de-stress from the horrors that surround us.  Not now!

The same great technology assaults us with life's anxiety-producing news continuously!

Those who study stress recognize its evolutionary benefits: awareness of danger saves us.  But Darwin could not possibly have condoned the chronic, continuous stress that technology has delivered to us. 

From a physiologic perspective: acute stress can be life saving, chronic stress will kill us.  It will deplete our immune system, induce hypertension and cardiac disease, cripple us with irritable bowel syndrome, make us susceptible to infections and cancer.  Read Hans Selye's analysis of stress--it will become clear.

So as we welcome in a New Year we must acknowledge the dangers of technology and attempt to deal with them and heal from them.  We will not turn back the clock on technology. We will have to learn to live with our addiction.

But perhaps we will recognize, more than ever, the need to deal with the stress.  Meditation, exercise, leaving our Blackberries alone for a few hours, perhaps neurofeedback...... More to come in 2010

Happy New Year!

CAPTURING CARBON-- THE NATURAL WAY

The science section of the New York Times has an article by Henry Fountain on new materials to capture carbon.

That's great but in our carbon obsessed culture we often forget the greatest carbon capturing apparatus of all--green plants.

Recall Biology 101.  Yes it is photosynthesis that does what we desire and it does so completely naturally.  Of course it's been occurring since the first cyanobacteria popped up several billion years ago.  These blue-green algae possess this amazing alchemy.  They turn invisible carbon dioxide gas, in the presence of the energy of the sun into water, oxygen and carbon-based biomass.

Feed the planet more carbon dioxide and more will be taken up by chlorophyll containing plants. 

Hell, plant all the green beings you like.  Not only do they suck out the dreaded carbon from our atmosphere, they provide a toxic residue which tend to appreciate--oxygen itself.

So forget about the technology of carbon capturing and do something esthetically pleasing.  Call your landscaper.

THE GIFT OF ADVERSITY

Does it sound strange, ironic or even bizarre to state that adversity is a gift to each of us?  Clearly, we would not consciously choose to suffer or to see others suffer.

But adversity can be seen as a gift to us on a deeper metaphysical level.  Mystics of all religious backgrounds have viewed suffering as the ultimate lesson in compassion.  When we go through difficult times, we should at least feel compassion and empathy for others.  Only when we have truly shared an emotional state of being can we legitimately offer caring and compassion which carries with it the sense of authenticity which truly heals.

Suffering offers us a shared sense of what it means to be human.  It allows us to at least temporarily dismantle our self-created fortress, the defense against feeling too much of another's pain.

Suffering is also a karmic gift to us.  When someone in need seeks our help, we are given a special opportunity to offer charity, caring, empathy.  To selflessly offer something of ourselves to another is the highest form of spiritual enlightenment.  The trap is to avoid letting our ego take all the credit for "doing good".  That is why the medieval Jewish physician and philosopher Moses Maimonides stated that the greatest charity is that which is  given anonymously. 

The beggars of Jerusalem understand the Kabbalistic notion of charity.  They brazenly invite donations, understanding that their approach IS a gift--the opportunity to do good is all we can desire.  

The rest is up to us.

 

ARE WE NATURE'S ALTRUIST'S ?

A recent NYTimes article entitled We May Be Born With An Urge to Help by Nicholas Wade [Nov 30] seems at first glance to contradict my last blog posting on the tribal gene.  But I contend  it does not.

The article speaks to the observation that young children will offer assistance to others who are in need of help. This appears at an age prior to any parental or environmental influence, thereby suggesting a genetic impulse towards altruism.

The article uses such terms as "shared intentionality", "obligatory cooperation" and others to explain this behavior in evolutionary terms.  They were necessary traits to ensure the survival of our hunter-gatherer ancestors.

Group cooperation was clearly necessary, likely facilitated by the acquisition of language. References to the nature of the human eye, the presence of sclera, the tendency of babies to watch the movement of eyes rather than the head all suggest an innate ability to "read" the feelings and intentions others.

This is probably when autistic individuals seem so unusual to us--apparently they are not as capable of decoding the more subtle signs of human feeling which contributes to relating to others.

Still, why does all the evidence of human behavior and history unmistakably demonstrate cruelty, abominable behavior towards others--genocides, holocausts, war ?

The answer, I still maintain, is that tribal gene. 

Altruism, cooperative behavior, empathy all seem to end at the gate of the "other".

We love who we love.  We will sacrifice for our "kin".  But if we declare someone to be outside our tribal identity--all bets are off!!

This is the only way to explain what are seemingly contradictory aspects of human nature.  We need to be aware of the true nature of man, if we are to address those horrific consequences of the tribal gene.

BEWARE OF THE TRIBAL GENE

I have no idea where the tribal gene lies within the human genome.  I cannot say if it is one gene or some combination of genes.  I only know for sure that it exists. 

It is responsible for our kind's most horrific acts:  genocides, holocausts, wars.

The ability of human beings to de-humanize another human being in the name of religion, country, ideology and to brutally destroy them--man, woman and child--reflects this dark side to human nature.

Notice how easily we are trapped by its lure.  We seem to innately see ourselves in small tribal units for which we willingly sacrifice our own lives for its existence.  This is manifested by the hero who does just that.  Does this contradict our nature desire for survival?  Actually no.  There is a sense within us all--some more developed than others--that self-sacrifice for the sake of our "kin" is justified.

Its so interesting to observe the tendency to become exclusive rather than inclusive.  Within Christianity, for example, there are numerous sects and denominations.  Each has felt justified in separating itself off from the greater whole.  But all religions tend to splinter themselves into divergent factions.   Wars have been fought over such ideological differences.

If we seek the biological sources for this gene, we should look no further than our closest genetic relative--the chimpanzee.  I saw a chilling documentary on chimp behavior.  It showed an overhead video of chimps in the wild jungles, marching single file in order to surprise and destroy another tribe .  When they reached the other tribe, they literally ripped them apart.  No one was spared, including the elderly, females  and babies.

People question how the Nazi's carried out their horrific policies, yet tucked their own babies in bed at night and rested without remorse.  They simply dehumanized their "enemy".  Any atrocity could be justified in such a manner.

Our only hope as a species is to be aware of this genetic tendency.  We all share it so blaming Germans, Africans, Rwandans, Hut sis etc is a cop out.

It is us--we are tribal beasts.  Perhaps by revealing the truth, we can attempt to reign in our genetic imperative.  Unlikely, but we have nothing to lose by trying.

THE METAPHYSICS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR always is associated with neuropeptide release and acitivity. In an article in the NYTimes science section, Natalie Angier describes the effects of oxytocin on "kindness", "empathy", "trust". It seems to mediate romantic attachment, as well as parental connectedness to children. There seem to be two variants of this gene which may explain a bit of variation among us. The A variant may explain the difficulties with which autistic individuals have "reading' the emotions of others. "Poor parenting" may be explained away by the same variant.

I'm not sure what to do with this information. But it is fascinating to understand the neurobiology of behavior. Does it excuse certain behavior? Does it lead us to design those traits which we deem desirable? More to come on the science behind the mind/body connection.

HAVENING--A Preview of A New Healing Modaliy

I had the opportunity to witness a fascinating form of healing known as Havening.  I was invited to accompany Steven Ruden to Rhode Island where, in the presence of about twenty-five onlookers and participants, he performed a  healing of previous emotional and physical traumas in a strange appearing "performance" lasting about six minutes.

The methods may appear somewhat familiar to those who know the work of Roger Callahan's TFT [thought field therapy] and Gary Craig's EFT [emotional freedom therapy].  It involves a series of tapping on the face and forehead along what might appear to be acupressure meridian lines. The rest of the technique should await official publication  by Steven Ruden's twin brother Ronald

As a student of various forms of healing I can only state that the results were compelling.

What makes the Havening approach unique is that its mechanism has been elucidated down to the molecular level.  The breakthrough that Ruden has achieved is to link traumatic events and the subsequent suffering that ensues with brain neurotransmitters.

According to this theory [an apparently established by neuroscientific research] periods of extreme stress result in the release in the brain of dopamine and norepinephrine.  These prepare the organism for "fight or flight".  In the animal kingdom, mammals who survive an attack or escape one  are  subsequently relieved of their extreme anxiety by the release of serotonin which re-establishes normal equilibrium and allows for normal functioning.

In human beings, traumatic physical/emotional events also release dopamine and norepinephrine.  In some individuals for a variety of reasons serotonin is not released in sufficient quantities to allow the individual to move on with their lives, trauma-free.

In short, Havening resurrects the traumatic event with all of its emotional power, then, through the steps which ensue, produces a surge of serotonin.  This effectively breaks the previously entrenched power of the traumatic event.  Participants report an immediate reduction, if not elimination in their physical symptoms and emotional memory of the event.  The healing, we are reassured, is permanent.

As I noted this is a preview of what appears to be a new and powerful tool for physical and emotional healing.  I await the official publication of the book which should follow in 2010.

I hope to be introducing this method of  healing for selected patients in my practice in the near future.

SPEAKING TO "J.J"--An ADC from the Lips of a Young Child

Do you question the notion of a spiritual dimension to reality?  Does belief in the survival of the soul after death seem completely irrational to you?

Or are you a believer in the possibility of soul survival as evidenced by ADCs [after-death communication].

In my book META-PHYSICIAN ON CALL FOR BETTER HEALTH  I relate several such examples from ordinary, sane individuals who have high credibility quotients.  Essentially they gain nothing by fabricating such an experience.

I will offer another story just received from a nurse I work with.  Again I will state that she has nothing to gain by making this experience up.  I would ask the reader to make a personal judgment as to its meaning, but do not deny that it occurred as written.

It simply involves the Maria [pseudonym] and her 2 1/2 year old granddaughter Sally.

Maria observed Sally speaking directly towards an empty chair.  When questioned, Sally responded that she was speaking to "J.J.".

Maria was shocked.  It seemed that "J.J." was a close friend of the family who had died several years before Sally had been born.  It was impossible for Sally to have even heard about him since no one had mentioned his name.  Even more improbable, Sally could not have known that she was speaking to J.J. in the chair in which he always sat.

There is a precedent for children communicating with the dead.  They seem to do so effortlessly and without fear. 

I have previously referred to a three year old who would stop her playing, stare into the corner of a room and note that the "ghost is speaking to me".  At other times she would yell out "don't sit in that chair, the ghost is sitting there".  Even later, when shown a family album she noted "that's the ghost" and pointed to the picture of her previously deceased grandfather who had lived in that home.

NEUROFEEDBACK--New Opportunity for Healing

In my quest to understand the underlying of human nature and the potential for healing, I have come across the concept of neurofeedback.  It involves a brain mapping component known as quantitative EEG (QEEG) followed by a series of sessions in which brain wave activity is assessed regarding the condition to be treated and the relative amounts of alpha, beta, delta and theta wave frequencies.

I admit that my interest remains open-minded but skeptical at present.  Some preliminary data seem to equate its effectiveness in ADHD with medical therapy.  This, in itself, would provide a tremendous healing tool.  Other work with autism, addiction, emotional disorders, cognitive dysfunction after traumatic injuries and dementia  have been utilized as well.

I will hopefully begin a study of  Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients who clearly suffer from a mind-body syndrome.

There is a bit of reverse logic to neurofeedback and even its cousin biofeedback.  Brain wave activity was assumed to be the consequence of biologic or emotional trauma or dysfunction.  These healing approaches reverses the entire sequence.  It takes the "effect" and alters it.  The result is a "normalization" of brain wave patterns utilizing training tactics. 

The healing that occurs results in better brain functioning.  I will be happy to explore it further and keep my readers informed.