# data[].attributes.headline
“Why do people use substances?” (Video by Anglicare)

# data[].attributes.subject
“Why do people use substances?” (Video by Anglicare)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How we interpret and respond to the world around us makes up who we are and contributes to our quality of life. The study of emotional psychology allows researchers to dive into what makes humans react as they do to certain stimuli and how those reactions affect us both physically and mentally. While the study of emotional psychology is vast and complex, researchers have discovered quite a bit about what constitutes our emotions and our behavioral and physical reactions to them.

Defining Emotions

Emotions are often confused with feelings and moods, but the three terms are not interchangeable. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), emotion is defined as "a complex reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioral and physiological elements." Emotions are how individuals deal with matters or situations they find personally significant. Emotional experiences have three components: a subjective experience, a physiological response and a behavioral or expressive response.

Feelings arise from an emotional experience. Because a person is conscious of the experience, this is classified in the same category as hunger or pain. A feeling is the result of an emotion and may be influenced by memories, beliefs and other factors.

A mood is described by the APA as "any short-lived emotional state, usually of low intensity." Moods differ from emotions because they lack stimuli and have no clear starting point. For example, insults can trigger the emotion of anger while an angry mood may arise without apparent cause.

Defining emotions is a task that is not yet complete. Many researchers are still proposing theories about what makes up our emotions, and existing theories are constantly being challenged. Still, there's a good basis of knowledge to analyze when exploring the topic.

The Process of Emotion

While there is debate about sequence, there is general agreement that emotions, as mentioned earlier, are made up of three parts: subjective experiences, physiological responses and behavioral responses. Let's look at each of these parts in more detail.

Subjective Experiences

All emotions begin with a subjective experience, also referred to as a stimulus, but what does that mean? While basic emotions are expressed by all individuals regardless of culture or upbringing, the experience that produces them can he highly subjective.

Subjective experiences can range from something as simple as seeing a color to something as major as losing a loved one or getting married. No matter how intense the experience is, it can provoke many emotions in a single individual and the emotions each individual feel may be different. For example, one person may feel anger and regret at the loss of a loved one while another may experience intense sadness.

Physiological Responses

We all know how it feels to have our heart beat fast with fear. This physiological response is the result of the autonomic nervous system's reaction to the emotion we're experiencing. The autonomic nervous system controls our involuntary bodily responses and regulates our fight-or-flight response. According to many psychologists, our physiological responses are likely how emotion helped us evolve and survive as humans throughout history.

Interestingly, studies have shown autonomic physiological responses are strongest when a person's facial expressions most closely resemble the expression of the emotion they're experiencing. In other words, facial expressions play an important role in responding accordingly to an emotion in a physical sense.

Behavioral Responses

The behavioral response aspect of the emotional response is the actual expression of the emotion. Behavioral responses can include a smile, a grimace, a laugh or a sigh, along with many other reactions depending on societal norms and personality.

While plentiful research suggests that many facial expressions are universal, such as a frown to indicate sadness, sociocultural norms and individual upbringings play a role in our behavioral responses. For example, how love is expressed is different both from person to person and across cultures.

Behavioral responses are important to signal to others how we're feeling, but research shows that they're also vital to individuals' well-being. A study in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that while watching negative and positive emotional films, suppression of behavioral responses to emotion had physical effects on the participants. The effects included elevated heart rates. This suggests that expressing behavioral responses to stimuli, both positive and negative, is better for your overall health than holding those responses inside. Thus, there are benefits of smiling, laughing and expressing negative emotions in a healthy way.

The physiological and behavioral responses associated with emotions illustrate that emotion is much more than a mental state. Emotion affects our whole demeanor and our health. Furthermore, our ability to understand others' behavioral responses plays a huge role in our emotional intelligence, which will be discussed in more detail later.

Emotions and Psychology

Theories and hypotheses about emotions date back centuries. In fact, basic or primary emotions are referenced in the Book of Rights, a first-century Chinese encyclopedia. Emotion is much harder to measure and properly define than many other human responses. Much of the study that has been done in emotional psychology is about basic emotions, our psychological and behavioral responses, and the role of emotional intelligence in our lives.

Basic and Complex Emotions

In emotional psychology, emotions are split into two groups: basic and complex.

Basic emotions are associated with recognizable facial expressions and tend to happen automatically. Charles Darwin was the first to suggest that emotion-induced facial expressions are universal. This suggestion was a centerpiece idea to his theory of evolution, implying that emotions and their expressions were biological and adaptive. In fact, emotions have been observed in animals by researchers for several years, suggesting that they're pivotal to survival in other species as well. Basic emotions are likely to have played a role in our survival throughout human evolution, signaling to those around us to react accordingly.

Emotional psychologist Paul Ekman identified six basic emotions that could be interpreted through facial expressions. They included happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust. He expanded the list in 1999 to also include embarrassment, excitement, contempt, shame, pride, satisfaction and amusement, though those additions have not been widely adapted.

List of the six basic emotions

Sadness

Happiness

Fear

Anger

Surprise

Disgust

Similarly, in the 1980s, psychologist Robert Plutchik identified eight basic emotions which he grouped into pairs of opposites, including joy and sadness, anger and fear, trust and disgust, and surprise and anticipation. This classification is known as a wheel of emotions and can be compared to a color wheel in that certain emotions mixed together can create new complex emotions.

More recently, a new study from the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Glasgow in 2014 found that instead of six, there may only be four easily recognizable basic emotions. The study discovered that anger and disgust shared similar facial expressions, as did surprise and fear. This suggests that the differences between those emotions are sociologically-based and not biologically-based. Despite all the conflicting research and adaptations, most research acknowledge that there are a set of universal basic emotions with recognizable facial features.

Interested in Psychology?

If you want to join the ranks of those studying emotions, consider an online bachelor's degree in psychology. A bachelor's degree from the UWA will give you a foundation in experimental design and data analysis.
Explore Degree

Complex emotions have differing appearances and may not be as easily recognizable, such as grief, jealousy or regret. Complex emotions are defined as "any emotion that is an aggregate of two or more others." The APA uses the example of hate being a fusion of fear, anger and disgust. Basic emotions, on the other hand, are unmixed and innate. Other complex emotions include love, embarrassment, envy, gratitude, guilt, pride, and worry, among many others.

Complex emotions vary greatly in how they appear on a person's face and don't have easily recognizable expressions. Grief looks quite different between cultures and individuals. Some complex emotions, such as jealousy, may have no accompanying facial expression at all.

Theories of Emotion

As we've explored, emotion is multifaceted and debatable. Thus, many theories of emotion exist. While some theories directly refute others, many build upon each other. Here are some common theories of emotional psychology that have helped shape the field and how humans view emotions.

James-Lange Theory

The James-Lange Theory of Emotion is one of the earliest emotion theories of modern psychology. Developed by William James and Carl Lange in the 19th century, the theory hypothesizes that physiological stimuli (arousal) causes the autonomic nervous system to react which in turn causes individuals to experience emotion. The reactions of the nervous system could include a fast heartbeat, tensed muscles, sweating and more. According to this theory, the physiological response comes before the emotional behavior. Over time, the James-Lange theory has been challenged, as well as expanded upon in other theories, suggesting that emotion is the mix of physiological and psychological response.

Facial-Feedback Theory

The Facial-Feedback Theory of Emotion suggests that facial expressions are crucial to experiencing emotion. This theory is connected to the work of Charles Darwin and William James that hypothesized that facial expressions impact emotion as opposed to their being a response to an emotion. This theory holds that emotions are directly tied to physical changes in the facial muscles. Thus, someone who forced himself to smile would be happier than someone who wore a frown.

Cannon-Bard Theory

Developed by Walter Cannon and Philip Bard in the 1920s, the Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion was developed to refute the James-Lange theory. This theory posits that bodily changes and emotions occur simultaneously instead of one right after the other. This theory is backed by neurobiological science that says that the once a stimulating event is detected, the information is relayed to both the amygdala and the brain cortex at the same time. If this holds true, arousal and emotion are a simultaneous event.

Schachter-Singer Theory

This theory, developed by Stanley Schachter and Jerome E. Singer, introduces the element of reasoning into the process of emotion. The theory hypothesizes that when we experience an event that causes physiological arousal, we try to find a reason for the arousal. Then, we experience the emotion.

Cognitive Appraisal Theory

Richard Lazarus pioneered this theory of emotion. According to the Cognitive Appraisal Theory, thinking must occur before experiencing emotion. Thus, a person would first experience a stimulus, think, and then simultaneously experience a physiological response and the emotion.

These are far from the only theories of emotion that exist, but they provide great examples of how the ideas about how emotion is generated differ from each other. What all theories of emotion have in common is the idea that an emotion is based off some sort of personally significant stimulus or experience, prompting a biological and psychological reaction.

Benefits of Understanding Emotions

As discussed, emotions have helped humans evolve and survive. According to Ekman, who developed the wheel of emotion, "It would be very dangerous if we didn't have emotions. It would also be a very dull life. Because, basically, our emotions drive us - excitement, pleasure, even anger." That is why it's important that we're able to understand emotions as they play such an important role in how we behave.

Ekman argues that emotions are fundamentally constructive. They are influenced by what is good for our species overall and what we learned during our upbringing. They guide our behavior in a way that should lead us to a positive outcome. However, emotions can become destructive if the emotions we've learned are the correct response no longer fit our situation, or if subconscious emotions cause reactions that we are unable to understand. Being in touch with your emotions and turning your understanding into action is called emotional awareness. Being able to do this with others as well is referred to as emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions. The term was first coined by researchers Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer and found popularity through Dan Goleman's 1996 book. They define it as the ability to recognize, understand and manage our own emotions as well as recognize, understand and influence those of others. The study of emotional intelligence has gained much popularity since the mid-1990s, with business professionals, relationship coaches and more using the term to encourage others to improve their lives. Many researchers believe that emotional intelligence can be improved over time, while some argue that it's a trait we're born with or without.

The components of emotional intelligence include:

Appraising and expressing emotions in the self and others: Recognizing or expressing verbal or nonverbal cues about emotion

Regulating emotion in the self and others: Managing emotions so that all parties are motivated towards a positive outcome.

Using emotions in adaptive ways: Using emotion and the interpretation of emotions to result in positive outcomes.

Those who have emotional intelligence open themselves to positive and negative emotional experiences, identify the emotions and communicate those emotions appropriately. Emotionally intelligent people can use their understanding of their emotions and the emotions of others to move toward personal and social growth. Those with low emotional intelligence may unable to understand and control their emotions or those of others. This could leave others feeling badly when they don't understand their emotions, feelings, or expressions.

Clearly, there are personal and professional benefits to improving your emotional intelligence. In Forbes, Co-Chair of Nobel Peace prize-nominated campaign and New York Times best-selling author Chade-Meng Tan addressed the benefits of improving emotional intelligence. He pointed out that high emotional intelligence correlates with better work performance, makes people better leaders and creates the conditions for personal happiness. He stated, "There are also compelling personal benefits, and the most basic of those occur in three categories: calmness and clarity of mind, resilience and more satisfying relationships."

Emotional intelligence plays a role in overall success much like traditional intelligence. In fact, some researchers argue that it plays a bigger role. In his 1995 book "Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ," psychologist Daniel Goleman introduced the idea of an EQ. Much like an IQ, an EQ is a measurement for individuals' emotional intelligence aptitude. Goleman argues that EQ counts twice as much as IQ and technical skills combined when it comes to becoming successful.

Whether or not that is true is certainly debatable, but emotional intelligence has served humans well throughout our evolution and history. It played a role long before it was officially defined, and likely will for years to come.

The Future of Emotional Psychology

While numerous studies and robust research about emotions has already been done, the field of emotional psychology undoubtedly has an exciting future. From artificial intelligence to new challenges to long-held theories, there's no telling what our understanding of humans and their emotional responses will be.

If you want to join the ranks of those studying emotions, consider an online bachelor's degree in psychology. A bachelor's degree from the University of West Alabama will give you a foundation in experimental design and data analysis.

Already have a bachelor's degree? Further your psychology career with an online masters in experimental psychology. Our experienced faculty have Ph.D.s in diverse areas of experimental psychology. The connections you make and the skills you learn will prepare you for employment in the field or further study.

Earn your degree entirely online at one of the state's most affordable institutions. Our culturally and intellectually diverse institution and flexible structure allow you to challenge yourself while still fitting education into your busy lifestyle. We proudly provide all our students with personal support from application to graduation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Science of Emotion: Exploring the Basics of Emotional Psychology | UWA Online

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How we interpret and respond to the world around us makes up who we are and contributes to our quality of life. The study of emotional psychology allows researchers to dive into what makes humans react as they do to certain stimuli and how those reactions affect us both physically and mentally.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Danny Gokey - Make A Difference (Official Lyric Video)

# data[].attributes.body
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1871_Vereshchagin_Apotheose_des_Krieges_anagoria.JPG

# data[].attributes.body
https://youtu.be/HKTOpHIr9mc?si=8MAhx_dTz5xjZKuY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Comparison can be toxic, here is how I overcome it | Man To Ip | TEDxEDHECBusinessSchool

# data[].attributes.headline
“What makes humans human?” written by Tom Scheve 

# data[].attributes.subject
“What makes humans human?” written by Tom Scheve 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Chimps share almost 99 percent of our genetic makeup. What makes up that tiny, 1 percent difference? What are the things that differentiate us from other great apes?

# data[].attributes.body
https://youtu.be/lXYy4W5wAfM?si=TeRHY4FBDQzfMhJ9

# data[].attributes.headline
LOVE. (feat. Zacari) - Kendrick Lamar (Song)

# data[].attributes.subject
LOVE. (feat. Zacari) - Kendrick Lamar (Song)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
LOVE. (feat. Zacari) (Clean Version) (Audio) - Kendrick Lamar

# data[].attributes.headline
“Three Reasons Why We Need Leaders” (video)

# data[].attributes.subject
“Three Reasons Why We Need Leaders” (video)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 Reasons Why We Need Leaders [Security, Purpose & Achievement]

# data[].attributes.headline
Why do people commit crimes informational texts/paragraphs

# data[].attributes.subject
Why do people commit crimes informational texts/paragraphs

# data[].attributes.headline
"Hope is the thing with feathers..." by Emily Dickinson, poem

# data[].attributes.subject
"Hope is the thing with feathers..." by Emily Dickinson, poem

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Notes:

Note to POL students: The inclusion or omission of the numeral in the title of the poem should not affect the accuracy score. It is optional during recitation.

Originally titled "'Hope' is the thing with feathers - (314)"

Emily Dickinson, "'Hope' is the Thing with Feathers" from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, ed., Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University press, Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reprinted by permissions of the publishers and Trustees of Amherst College.

Source: The Poems of Emily Dickinson Edited by R. W. Franklin (Harvard University Press, 1999)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"Hope" is the thing with feathers by Emily... | Poetry Foundation

# data[].attributes.headline
Lucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace (Movie Trailer)

# data[].attributes.subject
Lucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace (Movie Trailer)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Lucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace (2020) | Trailer | Scarlett Diamond | Vincent Vargas

# data[].attributes.headline
“The English dictionary is the hardest language to learn”- by Darryl Miller - comedic skit

# data[].attributes.subject
“The English dictionary is the hardest language to learn”- by Darryl Miller - comedic skit

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Is english language easy for you?💀 #tiktok #funny #shorts #learning Credit tiktok: Darryl Miller

# data[].attributes.headline
"Here Comes the Sun" by the Beetles, song

# data[].attributes.subject
"Here Comes the Sun" by the Beetles, song

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun (2019 Mix)

# data[].attributes.headline
“How your Brain falls in love” (TED Talk)

# data[].attributes.subject
“How your Brain falls in love” (TED Talk)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Your Brain Falls In Love | Dawn Maslar | TEDxBocaRaton

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A blessing for those who grieve, from John O’Donohue’s book of blessings.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
ALL WE NEED IS LOVE and a really soft pillow READ ALOUD KIDS BOOK (Peter H. Reynolds) #storytime

# data[].attributes.headline
“The Science of Falling in Love” (Video)

# data[].attributes.subject
“The Science of Falling in Love” (Video)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The science of falling in love - Shannon Odell

# data[].attributes.body
“How to make a difference” Short film

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Abstract

Dreams are a common experience. Some are scary, some are funny. Recent research into how the brain works helps us understand why we dream. Strange combinations of ideas in our dreams may make us more creative and give us ideas that help us to solve problems. Or, when memories from the day are repeated in the brain during sleep, memories may get stronger. Dreams may also improve our moods. Together, these studies show that dreams and sleep are important for performing well when we are awake.

When she was 8, my daughter told me about one of her dreams. She was in a spaceship with some animals. Although she knew she was in a spaceship in her dream, when telling me about the dream, she realized the spaceship was actually a washing machine. At times, she and the animals would be out in space, but they also came back to earth. She told me the dream with a laugh and then moved on with her day, ignoring the crazy animals and spaceships that entertained her in her sleep.

Since we remember our dreams and then often forget them, what is their purpose? Why do we dream about the things we do? New research tools, particularly those that can be used to investigate the brain, are being used to answer these questions.

What Are Dreams?

Although it is hard to define what a dream is, for the purpose of this article, we will define dreams as our thoughts during sleep that we recall when we wake up. So, sleeping dreams are not the same as "daydreaming." Dreams are mostly visual (made up of scenes and faces; sound, taste, and smell are rare in dreams []). Dreams can range from truly strange to rather boring, snapshots from a recent event.

To study dreams, scientists need a measure of dreaming. Most studies use dream reports (a person writes out her dreams when she wakes up) or questionnaires (a person answers questions like "How many dreams have you recalled in the past month?" []). Dreams are more likely to be recalled when a person is woken up from REM sleep. REM sleep is a type of sleep that is named for the rapid eye movements that can be measured during this stage of sleep. We do not dream as much in non-REM sleep, the sleep stages that make up the rest of the night, and dream reports from non-REM sleep are often less strange.

Dream frequency (how often dreams happen) and content (what dreams are about) is very different for everyone, and there are many reasons why this may be true. For example, you will remember dreams more if you are woken up by someone or by an alarm clock. This might be because you can still recall that dream memory while it is fresh but, if you wake up on your own, you will transition through a few sleep stages and possibly lose that dream memory. Dream recall changes with age, too. Older people are less likely to report dreaming. This could also be related to memory: since older people have weaker memories, it could be that they dream but cannot remember their dreams by the time they wake up. A brain area called the medial prefrontal cortex is also related to dream recall. If this brain area is damaged, the person recalls few dreams, which may mean the person dreams less (or not at all). Also, how tightly packed the brain cells are in the medial prefrontal cortex can vary from person to person, which may cause some healthy people to dream more or less than other healthy people. There are also genes that affect how much REM sleep people get. People with less REM sleep may not have the strange dreams that tend to come in REM. So, how long you sleep, your age, and your genetics may all explain why you dream more or less than someone else.

Do dreams actually happen while we sleep, or are they ideas that come to us when we wake up and we just "feel" like it happened during sleep? A recent study using a type of brain imaging called magnetic resonance imaging or (MRI: Read more in the Young Minds article "How Is Magnetic Resonance Imaging Used to Learn About the Brain?" []) helped answer this question ( Figure 1A). The scientists made maps of the brain activity that occurred when people looked at pictures of things-keys, beds, airplanes. Later, the people in the study slept in the MRI machine. The scientists matched the pattern of brain activity from the people as they slept to brain activity patterns for the pictures they viewed earlier, and then chose the best match ( Figures 1B,C). This match predicted what the person said they dreamed about 60% of the time. Although 60% is not perfect, it is better than guessing! []. This means that dreams are created in the brain during sleep.

Figure 1 - (A) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a way to investigate the brain.

The person lies on a bed inside a giant magnet. (B) MRI can measure the structure of the brain and the areas of the brain that are active. (C) MRI was used to measure dreaming. First, while the participant was awake, they viewed thousands of pictures in the MRI. This told scientists the specific brain responses to specific pictures. Later, when the participant slept in the MRI, scientists measured the brain activity patterns and matched this to the brain responses to the pictures the participant saw when they were awake. Scientists guessed that the best match would tell them what the participant was dreaming about. By asking the participant about their dreams in the MRI, scientists found that the dreams did tend to match the pictures predicted by the brain activity.

Dreams Support Memories

What is the purpose of our dreams? Researchers have found that sleep is important for memory (see this Frontiers for Young Minds article; "Thanks for the Memories..." []). Memories move from temporary storage in the hippocampus, a brain structure that is very important for short-term memory, to permanent storage in other parts of the brain. This makes the memories easier to remember later. Memories improve with sleep because the memories are replayed during sleep []. If you want to learn all the words to your favorite scene in a movie, you might re-watch that scene over and over again. The brain works the same way: (brain cells) that are active with learning are active again and replay the learned material during sleep. This helps store the memory more permanently.

Memory replay may show up in our dreams. Dreams in non-REM sleep, when most memory replay happens, often contain normal people and objects from recent events. However, sleep switches between non-REM and REM sleep (see Figure 2). So, bizarre dreams in REM sleep may come from a combination of many different recent memories, which were replayed in non-REM sleep, and get jumbled up during REM sleep. If dreams help with memory processing, does that mean your memories are not being processed if you do not dream? No. Memories are moving to storage even if we do not dream.

Figure 2 - There are four types of sleep-REM sleep (purple) and three stages of non-REM sleep (blue).

REM stands for rapid eye movements, which happen during this stage of sleep. During REM sleep, muscle and brain activity also differ from other sleep stages. Characteristics of dreams tend to be different for each of these sleep stages.

Dreams Improve Creativity and Problem Solving

My daughter's dream of a spaceship made a great story that she recited to me, and later, to her classmates. The images were intense and interesting, inspiring her to draw scenes in a notebook and write about the dream for school. This is an example of how dreams can help make us more creative. Mary Shelley, the author of the book Frankenstein, got the idea for her book from a dream. Even scientists get ideas from dreams [].

To measure creative problem solving, scientists used a remote associates task, in which three unrelated words are shown, and the person is to come up with a word they have in common. For instance, HEART, SIXTEEN, and COOKIES seem unrelated until you realize they all are related to SWEET (sweetheart, sweet sixteen, and cookies are sweet) ( Figure 3). The scientists wanted to see whether sleep helped people do better on this task. They found that people were better at thinking of the remote solution if they had a nap, particularly a nap with REM sleep. Given that REM is when most bizarre dreaming occurs, this supports the idea that these dreams might help us find creative solutions to problems [].

Figure 3 - REM sleep helps people find creative solutions.

In the morning, participants did two tasks to test creativity and problem solving (A). They did one task again in the afternoon. In between, they either stayed awake ("wake" group) or took a nap. Those that took naps either did not have REM sleep in their nap ("nREM" group) or had both nREM and REM sleep ("nREM + REM" group). (B) If subjects stayed awake between the morning and afternoon tests (yellow bar), they did not improve on the task. They also did not improve if they had a nap that was only nREM sleep (light blue bar). But, if they had a nap with both nREM and REM sleep, they did better in the afternoon compared with when they did the task in the morning (dark blue bar). So, REM sleep must help us find creative solutions (from Cai et al. [8]).

This study and research like it gives us reason to believe that REM dreams may help us be more creative and solve problems. Many different memories may be activated at the same time and when these memories are mixed together, the result when we wake up may be both the memory of a strange dream and a unique perspective on problems.

Dreams Regulate Our Moods and Emotions

Dreams are usually emotional. One study found that most dreams are scary, angry, or sad.

Dreams might seem to be emotional simply because we tend to remember emotional things better than non-emotional things. For example, in waking life, the day you got a puppy is more memorable than a normal school day. So, dreams about emotional events might be remembered more easily than boring, non-emotional dreams. It is also possible that dreams are emotional because one job of dreams is to help us process emotions from our day []. This may be why the , an area of the brain that responds to emotions when we are awake, is active during REM sleep. If you had a sad day, you are more likely to have sad dreams. But, sleep also improves mood-sleep after a disagreement or sad event will make you happier.

Dreams could also help prepare us for emotional events, through something called threat simulation theory []. For example, when I dreamt that my young daughter, who could not swim, fell into a swimming pool, recall of that dream convinced me to sign her up for swim lessons. By simulating this fearful situation, I could prevent it by being prepared.

These studies show us that sleep and dreams are important for our emotions. By processing emotions in sleep, we may be better prepared and in a better mood the next day.

Conclusions

There are different ways scientists measure dreams-from asking questions to using MRI. These studies show us that activity in the brain while we sleep gives us the interesting dreams we recall when we wake up. These dreams help us remember things, be more creative, and process our emotions.

We know most kids do not get enough sleep. Some diseases (like Alzheimer's disease) also make people sleep less, while others (like REM sleep behavior disorder and mood disorders) affect dreams directly. It is important to study sleep and dreams to understand what happens when we do not get enough sleep and how we can treat people with these diseases.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Glossary

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dreams are a common experience. Some are scary, some are funny. Recent research into how the brain works helps us understand why we dream. Strange combinations of ideas in our dreams may make us more creative and give us ideas that help us to solve problems. Or, when memories from the day are repeated in the brain during sleep, memories may get stronger.

# data[].attributes.body
“The Chaos” by Gerald Nolst Trenité

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
~ An Independence Walk Sequel

"What is grief, if not love persevering?"

Dear Shina,

It's been two years since you left. Two years today. Today we held a little dinner in your honour. I hosted it at your mum's. I sat in the corner and just watched everyone for most of it. I'm sure you are smiling because it's typical of me to refuse to socialize at an event I'm hosting. And as I always told you, I like it. It allows me to think, and I did a lot of thinking today.

I thought about growth, about how far we've - most of us present in the room - all come since that night to this point today. To be in a room where your physical absence was so felt, but to be able to smile, tell jokes and share stories about you. And cry, because there may always be tears when we're thinking about you. Sitting in my little corner though, I could see how we were all beginning to cry different tears. Up to this point, we'd cried tears of pain for the life you'd lost, today we cried for the life you lived. These tears come down more freely and dry up faster.

In the two years since you were brutally taken from me Shina, I've gone through a myriad of emotions. I'm still going through them honestly. Today I'm strong enough to wear a black dress and heels and smile and cook for nearly a hundred people. I'm strong enough to sit down and pen you this letter. Tomorrow I may be unable to get out of bed, the pain washing over me, taking me back to that night, on that stony ground whispering your name over and over as you bled out in my arms. I still see that night so clearly in my head Shina, and with it is the stomach-churning cluster of emotions, anger, heartbreak, pain Shina, so much pain. Every time I think back to that night it's hard to not picture all the what-ifs. Too many times I've sat and picked apart the events trying to see what we could have done differently, that would have averted that tragedy. I could be working and I'd remember a minute detail from that night, something we didn't take seriously at the time. For example, I remember that as we left the club that night, Stella joked about not wanting the party to end. She suggested we have a sleepover at their place. We'd laughed it off, but had we taken her seriously we'd never have crossed paths with those policemen and you'd still be alive today. I think of all of us having to get down from the car and the fact that the only reason the car documents were in the booth was that I'd thrown them there while cleaning. It was a bad habit of mine that we'd always joked about, you were forever haranguing me because you're 'Mr put-everything-in-their-rightful-place' and I was miss 'Drop them wherever it occurs to you'. Now I put everything where it should be. Lesson learned too late. Sometimes when I sat with Muyiwa (around the time you'd just died), he would go over the what-ifs himself. What if he wasn't so prickly and didn't antagonize the policemen? What if? I would set aside my doubts and questions and tell him there's nothing he could have done differently, there was nothing he did that night that warranted an officer shooting you, and how you wouldn't want him to blame himself because you were 'Mr sensible' and you'd be the first to say there was no point in crying over things you couldn't undo. Logically I knew everything I was saying was the truth, but how did I expect him to believe it when I, myself hadn't bought my own words? Even now I know he is still plagued by those questions, he starts statements with 'If only...' and then just shakes his head and tears fill my eyes because I can understand, I can relate. Shina, 'If only' and 'what if' are my two worst phrases right now.

Dear Shina, I miss you.

I miss you every day even when I'm not actively thinking of you. The knowledge of my loss is always there at the back of my mind. A sense of something missing, something that I once had, something stolen really. There is always a dull ache in my chest that will never let me forget.

At first, I hung so many pictures of you around the house. So many that my elder sister said I'd created a shrine. I was so scared I would forget you and I didn't want to. I have since realized, I could never forget you. While the details about your looks, if you had a mole on your right eye or your left eye, might get fuzzy in my mind. I would never forget your heart of generosity, your talent for putting people at ease, the warmth you carried that always drew people to you because we live in a cold cold world, and your easy laughter that could make me forget all my worries in a second. Most importantly your light, that shone in the darkest places. What I am saying is I could never forget your essence, and I think your essence is who you were more than your face. I have now taken down most of these pictures, so my family doesn't try to have me committed.

There's a picture of us that Stella took that night while we were kissing outside the club - at the time we didn't know it would be our last kiss. It was nearly midnight and so dark out that you can barely make out our shapes. We look like a dark blob, two figures melted into one. It's the only picture of us still hanging on my wall. I like that, that was the last picture taken of us. United. One. Even though one can't see anything in the picture staring at it takes me back to that moment. How happy we were, how much love we felt, and how bright the future looked at that moment. It reminds me that the hours before you were killed were some of the happiest of our time together, and you spent them in the company of people who loved you and supported you. It is more than some people get...I guess.

People around me keep saying I'm quieter and I know you'll call me dramatic if I say it's because you're not here anymore, but it's true. You are the first person I want to share any good news with, the first person I used to tell any juicy gossip to, and when it hits me again that you're not here and I just swallow it down. I miss that, I miss telling you all the tea about our friends and you'd listen to me patiently and give appropriate reactions even though you already knew all of it. After I had spoken you'd give me the fully detailed gist and I'd be upset because you always had more gist than I did. I'd say that boys gossiped more than girls and why did you let me waste my time telling you at all then you'd say that it's because my voice was prettier than the person who told you. No one has told me that I have a pretty voice since you died. If they did, it wouldn't be the same.

It's all so hard Shina.

The hardest part of everything has been accepting the fact that life just goes on. Someone that meant everything to you could die and the next day the sun would rise as usual, and your neighbour would put on Bob Marley and loudly lipsync 'no woman no cry', and the street outside would be busy as usual, the loud honks of buses reminding you that other people were moving while you were at a standstill.

Even now people come up to me talking about letting go and moving on, and healing, and what they really mean is - and Shina this is a direct quote from that silly Ebube - 'thank God you weren't married yet. At least you're not a widow, you're still young and you can find another husband. This one that you're doing is one step away from shaving head oo. After two years for someone you did not marry.'

Shina, you don't know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back just like that. The funny thing is I don't know what metric these people are using to judge me and my progress. Ebube wasn't there in the days following your death when I shut myself in my room, turned off all the lights and closed the windows and just cried. I just wanted to cry myself to death, I was convinced that I was going to do just that. If you had told me the day after we buried you that I would be able to stand in front of your friends, in front of your sisters, in front of your mother, in front of people who loved you, who lost you, who miss you and who love you still, and tell my favourite stories about you, that doing that would bring me some pleasure instead of pain I would not have believed it.

I am getting better though. Nkechi, my therapist calls it acceptance.

But today your mum called me aside after the event and said it was time to get back in the dating pool. She very nearly shattered me. I can't imagine building what we had with someone else, not while I am still mourning what we were not allowed to have. Like the fact that she started calling me 'iyawo wa' when we hit the six-month mark and I never got the chance to be that - 'our wife'.

If anything I've learnt that dreams can be snatched in an instant, in the time it takes to aim a gun at someone's chest and shoot your life's trajectory can change. Tomorrow's not promised. Live your best life now. All that inspirational bs my therapist wants me to take away from this. I wish I could tell you that I was living by these words, but I am not. Maybe if I'd watched you die from a sickness, but the senselessness of your death makes it harder for me to seek comfort in platitudes, because no one deserves to be killed for no reason. To just be killed because of trigger-happy people.

I find it ironic that your favourite catchphrase was about moving on. I used to laugh about how cringe it was, and how silly your friends were chanting it with you, encouraging you to keep it. Now I say it to myself when I find myself wanting to dig my heel in and be stuck in a bad place. I say 'onward forever' and sometimes when I'm not strong enough to say it to myself, I hear it in a whisper, your whisper, 'onward forever'. So I keep moving because really who am I to disobey you, Shina?

I have had a lot of support though. So many people have shown up for me and your family.

Feyisara and Muyiwa have been a force that kept me pushing even as they simultaneously battled their grief. We have cried angry tears with each other, cursing the unfairness of it all, the slowness of the people who should secure swift justice for you. We have yelled at each other - that was Muyiwa and me when he got tired of me living in the dark, we just shouted at each other for hours, I told him to get out and he told me I wasn't the only one affected by your death and when we'd run out of words, he just sat down on the floor and cried and I realized that I had been blinded by the severity of my own emotions I had forgotten that it was not only me that had lost your light. I opened up my curtains, we called a truce and I started 'moving on'. We have also sat in silence with each other communicating with only long sighs and back pats because sometimes words aren't necessary to speak about you. We have processed our trauma from that night together. Feyisara didn't see the officer shoot you, but she startles every time she hears a loud noise and you can't get her to drink a drop of alcohol anymore. I had to learn to walk past the police without reliving that gun being aimed at you, without shaking from fear, hands clammy, bile in my throat, my heart in my mouth, and tears in my eyes. Panic attack tings, yunno. I love them more now than I did two years ago when they were just your best friends to me. Thank you for giving them to me, they have become family.

Stella and Doro make sure your family members and I never go without. They've funded both remembrances that we've held. They check up on me, pray with me, send me things and constantly remind me that I am not alone. They weren't able to come home for today's remembrance - they moved to Canada last year - but Stella was on the phone with me making sure everything was perfect for today. To them, it's the least they can do, but I am so grateful for them.

Your mum. She is a powerhouse and I aspire to be as resilient, graceful and caring as she is. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was tell her that you've gone. I watched her heart break. Then I watched her pick herself back up, and offer her shoulder to everyone else to lean upon despite the cracks in her heart. I have so many times drawn from her well of courage. On the days when I couldn't leave my bed, she would visit me and feed me pepper soup she made herself and tell me stories of all your boyhood mischievousness and we'd cry a little together. Then she would make me get up, have my bath and change my clothes. It sounds light now that I write it, but it was a feat to overcome then. I want you to know that she might have lost a son, but she also gained a daughter.

I saw this quote by Andrew Garfield, he was talking about losing his mum, I think, he says, "I hope this grief stays with me because it is all the unexpressed love I didn't gell to tell her." I couldn't have said how I feel better Shina. I don't know what the future looks like but I hope that my grief stays with me, because it is a manifestation of all the love I still carry in me. You know how when people die they say they've left a hole that cannot be filled, your position in my heart can't be filled either not because you left a hole but because you are still there. I carry you in my heart always.

Here are a few things I know;

The good ones do die young.

You were a good one Shina. The very best.

And I just know you're in heaven outshining all the other angels there.

I love you, Shina, now and always.

Onward Forever, my love.

Yours,

Temi.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Love Letter To the Dead; A Short Story

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's been two years since you left. Two years today. Today we held a little dinner in your honour. I hosted it at your mum's. I sat in the corner and just watched everyone for most of it. I'm sure...

# data[].attributes.headline
“Why is English so hard?” By Cher Huesers English is hard

# data[].attributes.subject
“Why is English so hard?” By Cher Huesers English is hard

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I had never seen this poem prior to teaching English. It really opened my eyes, and I still find it stunning today:-) The complexities of the English language was an every day experience after I started teaching. Even after several years now, I am still learning. What do you think about this poem?

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes, But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes. One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese, Yet the plural of moose should never be meese. You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice, Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men, Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen? If I speak of my foot and show you my feet, And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet? If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth, Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those, Yet hat in the plural would never be hose, And the plural of cat is cats, not cose. We speak of a brother and also of brethren, But though we say mother, we never say methren. Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him, But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I had never seen this poem prior to teaching English. It really opened my eyes, and I still find it stunning today:-) The complexities of the English language was an every day experience after I st...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
‘Fear is the basis of human psychology’: how self-doubt haunts the NBA

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Players such as Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz have been accused of suffering from the yips. But every player has to confront fear at some point

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Failure and Fear

Did I do the right thing?
Should I have used my voice?
Is it error on my part?
Did I make the right choice?

Did I lose my respect
of the ones I hold dear?
Is everything backsliding?
Or is it failure and fear?

25 Jan 2008

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Failure And Fear - Failure And Fear Poem by JoAnn McGrath

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Read Failure And Fear poem by JoAnn McGrath written. Failure And Fear poem is from JoAnn McGrath poems. Failure And Fear poem summary, analysis and comments.

# data[].attributes.body
Rant by Bo Burnham a song that is explicit but describes the English dictionary as the worst language

# data[].attributes.headline
A short poem written by butterfly rising 

# data[].attributes.subject
A short poem written by butterfly rising 

# data[].attributes.body
“let the
wonder and beauty
of your existence
fall out of you
everywhere, unafraid
no matter who may take it in
or hold it with care
let it all be
unshaken by the cold”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Imagine this. You're enjoying a deep, restful snooze when suddenly you startle awake. However, it's not from noise outside, but a vivid dream.

That's not necessarily out of the ordinary. But you might wonder why your dreams are so realistic. And what does it mean when you dream about someone? What do falling dreams mean? What about recurring dreams?

Psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung developed theories to explain what dreams mean. "Freud thought dreams are repressed content, ideas or themes," says behavioral sleep medicine expert Michelle Drerup, PsyD, DBSM. "And Jungian theory came out of Freud's ideas and has this idea of collective unconscious. It's something that you're carrying from your ancestors."

But from a medical perspective, dream interpretation is still a mystery. "There's no real consistent, scientifically proven theory linking specific content back to what a dream means," Dr. Drerup notes.

What are dreams?

Dreams themselves are a little less mysterious. "Dreams are mental imagery or activity that occur when you sleep," explains Dr. Drerup. You can dream at any stage of sleep, but your most vivid dreams typically occur in rapid eye movement sleep, or REM sleep. That's the period of sleep when your brain is highly active, your eyes move rapidly behind your closed eyes and you have temporary loss of muscle tone.

"In REM sleep, we have less autonomic stability," says Dr. Drerup. "Our heart rate increases. We don't have the kind of steady, calm respiration that we do during other stages of non-REM sleep."

Researchers find it challenging to analyze dreams because we often don't remember them. "Even if you're having a sleep study, it's not like we can look in your brain and see what's happening during a dream," says Dr. Drerup. "That's part of the reason why they're still kind of mysterious - they're difficult to study."

Why do we dream?

Doctors have several working theories as to why we dream. For starters, Dr. Drerup says you also tend to dream more in REM sleep. Additionally, dreaming during this stage is associated with "consolidation of memories," she adds.

"That dreaming may represent important cognitive functioning. Brain activity that occurs when we're dreaming is similar to the memory processing brain activity we experience when we're awake."

When you're experiencing more stress or anxiety, you tend to dream more, too. The types of dreams you have also change. Dr. Drerup says that nightmares or stressful dreams - for example, about being chased or being in a frightening situation - are also common when you're stressed. "That's one of the theories of why we dream," she says. "Our dreams might help us process and manage our emotions."

Interestingly enough, Dr. Drerup notes that researchers have found that people living in certain places might have similar nighttime visions, although they aren't quite sure why. "There seems to be some cultural influence on dreams," she explains. "For example, the same type of dream might be more common in Germany."

What do dreams mean?

Determining what dreams mean is a big question, one that doctors, researchers and scientists are still trying to answer. But Dr. Drerup stresses that dream interpretation is subjective. "That's always what I tell people - the meaning that you ascribe to the dream is going to be much more meaningful than anything I ascribe to the dream," she says. "Because it's probably something from your life that's represented in that dream."

As an example, Dr. Drerup notes that you might have the same dream as someone else, but yours will be more representative of what you're personally experiencing. "For example, if someone recently lost their job, a certain dream about not being able to find their shoes might mean something very different to them versus someone who recently went through a divorce."

Dreaming that you're pregnant - in other words, involved with a new life - is also subjective. This could occur maybe when you're trying to get pregnant or if you were pregnant and had a miscarriage. Or maybe not. "It's much more of what this dream means to you. Your dream of pregnancy could be much more about, 'I'm starting a new career.' A new life, in a sense. The dream could mean a whole lot of different things."

Although experiences you have in a dream might be based on real-life events, that doesn't mean your dreams are always realistic. "A person might be distorted in the dream, or in a situation or place where they wouldn't normally be," notes Dr. Drerup. "What does that mean? Your guess is as good as mine."

However, sometimes even the strangest dreams have logical explanations. Dreams about your teeth falling out could be happening because you're grinding your teeth in your sleep, a condition called bruxism. "This dream is more a sign of psychological stress," says Dr. Drerup.

What causes nightmares?

Nightmares can be terrifying and have lingering effects even when you're awake. "With nightmares, especially recurring nightmares, it can feel like you're playing out a story," says Dr. Drerup. "People often say it's like the same movie's playing."

Talking about a nightmare like you would a movie you've seen can bring about unexpected consequences. "If you have a nightmare, you'll tell everybody about it because it was so weird, right?" ventures Dr. Drerup. "But rehearsing that nightmare over and over again means your neural pathways are getting reinforced. It's like you're developing a memory of that nightmare. Then, it's more likely the dream will reoccur."

Dr. Drerup says nightmares are commonly associated with a variety of other conditions and events as well, such as:

PTSD

For someone living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), nightmares are often a component of re-experiencing or re-living their trauma.

Alcohol

Overindulging a bit too much can exacerbate nightmares.

Stress

High stress levels can lead to more dreams and nightmares. According to Dr. Drerup, this is likely because the stress is kicking the emotional processing that occurs during dreaming into overdrive.

Psychological disorders

Dr. Drerup says psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety are associated more frequently with nightmares.

Medication withdrawal

Withdrawing from certain medications can also cause more nightmares. "Antidepressants suppress REM sleep, and decrease the amount of REM sleep that we have," explains Dr. Drerup. "When you go off of an antidepressant, you tend to have REM rebound."

In other words, you experience more REM sleep, which then makes it more likely that you're spending time where dreaming happens. "People will often have an increase in dreams or nightmares when they discontinue antidepressants," she adds.

Addressing untreated sleep apnea

People who get help for untreated sleep apnea often have "a high level of dream recall and potentially nightmares as well," says Dr. Drerup. "If you have sleep apnea, you're having fragmented disrupted sleep." Getting better quality sleep means you're going into REM sleep - and staying there, "instead of having these brief arousals that are keeping you out of that stage of sleep," she notes. "You'll have that REM rebound as well."

Can sleep disorders affect dreaming?

Sleep disorders can affect all aspects of slumber, including dreaming.

Nightmare disorder

For some people, nightmares are more than just a temporary scare. They have a sleep disorder called nightmare disorder.

"With nightmare disorder, you have these really distressing nightmares that are repetitive," says Dr. Drerup. "They occur frequently. They wake you from sleep. You can't get back to sleep afterwards. You have a panicked feeling upon awakening and take a while to reorient."

This disorder can be debilitating, as you're often very tired during the day. But Dr. Drerup says treating nightmare disorder is possible using what's called imagery rehearsal therapy.

"This treatment has some really significant research backing behind it," says Dr. Drerup. "You work with your therapist to rewrite the nightmare to contain less disturbing content, and then practice the new dream imagery during the daytime."

"It's like guided imagery of that new content to make the dream less distressing," she continues. "The image you're practicing can replace or decrease the frequency of that disruptive nightmare, or completely eliminate it altogether."

REM sleep behavior disorder

A sleep disorder called REM sleep behavior disorder can also cause abnormal dreaming. "During REM sleep, your muscles are typically paralyzed, so you don't act out dreams," says Dr. Drerup. "From an evolutionary standpoint, it happened because it was more protective for us to not be able to move when dreaming."

People living with REM sleep behavior disorder, however, actually aren't paralyzed - meaning they can move in their sleep while dreaming. Dr. Drerup says it's not always an issue, but can be in certain situations.

"It's often not as disruptive to you unless you're punching someone in your dream, and then punch your spouse or the nightstand and injure yourself," she says. "There are safety concerns with this."

REM sleep behavior disorder can also foreshadow bigger health problems. "When someone is diagnosed with REM sleep behavior disorder really early in life, that's linked to a really high conversion rate of someone eventually developing Parkinson's disease or Lewy body dementia. "

Is it normal not to dream?

Dr. Drerup says there is a rare condition called Charcot-Wilbrand syndrome where people don't dream at all. This dream loss occurs following focal brain damage (typically a stroke) that's specifically characterized by you losing the ability to mentally recall (or "revisualize") images.

Most people do dream, though - you just don't recall them. "People will say, 'I don't dream at all, because I don't sleep well.' And that's not necessarily the case," explains Dr. Drerup. "Just because you don't have dream content doesn't mean that you're not dreaming. We usually don't remember our dreams unless we're awoken from them."

At the end of the day, however, dream interpretation is still a big mystery yet to be solved. But if you're trying to puzzle out what your subconscious is trying to tell you, look to your day-to-day life for clues.

"We can have really good recall of a dream when we wake up, and then it'll fade away," says Dr. Drerup. "And then you think back, 'I know I had a weird dream, but I don't remember it.' So, if you want to have more awareness, jot details down as soon as you wake up - what was the dream, identify if there's patterns."

"Once again, it's much more what meaning you ascribe to dreams," she adds. "That's key. That's more relevant than dream interpretation books that list specific interpretations."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Dreams: What They Are and What They Mean

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dreams are mental images or activity that occur when you sleep, although from a medical perspective, determining dream interpretations is still a mystery

# data[].attributes.headline
How Fear of Failure Sabotages Goals (article)

# data[].attributes.subject
How Fear of Failure Sabotages Goals (article)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Also known as atychiphobia, a fear of failure can sabotage your highest goals if not dealt with properly.

# data[].attributes.body
Malcolm X 1992 dictionary scene

# data[].attributes.headline
5 Reasons Teens Use Marijuana (written by RAYCHELLE C. LOHMANN article)

# data[].attributes.subject
5 Reasons Teens Use Marijuana (written by RAYCHELLE C. LOHMANN article)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kid Cudi - Pursuit Of Happiness (Lyrics) ft. MGMT

# data[].attributes.headline
Why is spelling so weird by TedEd and Arika Okrent a short video

# data[].attributes.subject
Why is spelling so weird by TedEd and Arika Okrent a short video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why is English so confusing? - Arika Okrent

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Speech To Change Your Life Today! Admiral McRaven "Make Your Bed" Motivational Words Of Wisdom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Makes Me Angry... - What Makes Me Angry... Poem by Samantha Wallace

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Read What Makes Me Angry... poem by Samantha Wallace written. What Makes Me Angry... poem is from Samantha Wallace poems. What Makes Me Angry... poem summary, analysis and comments.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Able Heart - Why You Mad? (Official Audio)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Short Story: The Final Goodbye — MELINA MARIA MORRY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After a battle with brain cancer, her father succumbs to his illness. She is left to deal with her grief in the aftermath. The Final Goodbye is part of the Thirteen Emotions collection.

# data[].attributes.headline
Life Is A Competition Poem by Francis Duggan

# data[].attributes.subject
Life Is A Competition Poem by Francis Duggan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Life is a competition that's how it seems to be
Young people compete for a uni degree
Competition in sport to be the best athlete
Even for a job start people have to compete

Life is a competition would you not agree
At least anyhow that's how it seems to me
People competing for promotion in their workplace every day
Us humans are quite competitive it does seem this way

Life's not meant to be easy of this there's not a doubt
For one for to win someone else does lose out
We all cannot be winners despite what some do say
Luck and circumstance in life has a huge part to play

It is said from hard work and endeavor we receive our due
But that life is a competition i believe to be true
In all facets of life people compete to succeed
And that winners are grinners does seem true indeed.

Topic(s) of this poem: life

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Life Is A Competition - Life Is A Competition Poem by Francis Duggan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Read Life Is A Competition poem by Francis Duggan written. Life Is A Competition poem is from Francis Duggan poems. Life Is A Competition poem summary, analysis and comments.

# data[].attributes.headline
Love is More Thicker Than Forget by E. E. Cummings (Poem)

# data[].attributes.subject
Love is More Thicker Than Forget by E. E. Cummings (Poem)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
E.E. Cummings, "[love is more thicker than forget]" from Complete Poems 1904-1962, edited by George J. Firmage. Copyright 1926, 1954, 1991 by the Trustees for the E.E. Cummings Trust. Copyright © 1985 by George James Firmage. Reprinted with the permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation.

Source: Complete Poems 1904-1962 (Liveright Publishing Corporation, 1994)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
[love is more thicker than forget] by E. E. Cummings | Poetry Magazine

# data[].attributes.headline
This could be why your depressed (Ted talk)

# data[].attributes.subject
This could be why your depressed (Ted talk)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Johann Hari: This could be why you’re depressed or anxious | TED Talk

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In a moving talk, journalist Johann Hari shares fresh insights on the causes of depression and anxiety from experts around the world -- as well as some exciting emerging solutions. “If you’re depressed or anxious, you’re not weak and you’re not crazy -- you’re a human being with unmet needs,” Hari says.

# data[].attributes.headline
Depression is funny like that (spoken word poem)

# data[].attributes.subject
Depression is funny like that (spoken word poem)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reagan Myers - Depression Is Funny Like That

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to avoid being a pushy parent * Dyslexia Octopus

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Found on Google from dyslexiaoctopus.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Depression Actually Feels - Makin Wellness

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many people have the misconception that depression just feels like sadness. This is not the case. Depression can feel like a complex web of differing negative

# data[].attributes.headline
Why Wars Keep Happening - Engelsbergideas.com

# data[].attributes.subject
Why Wars Keep Happening - Engelsbergideas.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A market-based approach to conflict misses essential elements of why, despite interdependence and the emergence of international norms, wars that make little rational sense continue.

# data[].attributes.headline
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Movie Clip)

# data[].attributes.subject
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Movie Clip)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Gwen Confides in Miles | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld)

# data[].attributes.headline
A Chemical imbalance doesn’t explain depression. So what does? (Article)

# data[].attributes.subject
A Chemical imbalance doesn’t explain depression. So what does? (Article)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You'd be forgiven for thinking that depression has a simple explanation.

The same mantra - that the mood disorder comes from a chemical imbalance in the brain - is repeated in doctors' offices, medical textbooks and pharmaceutical advertisements. Those ads tell us that depression can be eased by tweaking the chemicals that are off-kilter in the brain. The only problem - and it's a big one - is that this explanation isn't true.

The phrase "chemical imbalance" is too vague to be true or false; it doesn't mean much of anything when it comes to the brain and all its complexity. Serotonin, the chemical messenger often tied to depression, is not the one key thing that explains depression. The same goes for other brain chemicals.

The hard truth is that despite decades of sophisticated research, we still don't understand what depression is. There are no clear descriptions of it, and no obvious signs of it in the brain or blood.

The reasons we're in this position are as complex as the disease itself. Commonly used measures of depression, created decades ago, neglect some important symptoms and overemphasize others, particularly among certain groups of people. Even if depression could be measured perfectly, the disorder exists amid myriad levels of complexity, from biological confluences of minuscule molecules in the brain all the way out to the influences of the world at large. Countless combinations of genetics, personality, history and life circumstances may all conspire to create the disorder in any one person. No wonder the science is stuck.

It's easy to see why a simple "chemical imbalance" explanation holds appeal, even if it's false, says Awais Aftab, a psychiatrist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. What causes depression is nuanced, he says - "not something that can easily be captured in a slogan or buzzword."

So here, up front, is your fair warning: There will be no satisfying wrap-up at the end of this story. You will not come away with a scientific explanation for depression, because one does not exist. But there is a way forward for depression researchers, Aftab says. It requires grappling with nuances, complexity and imperfect data.

Those hard examinations are under way. "There's been some really interesting and exciting scientific and philosophical work," Aftab says. That forward motion, however slow, gives him hope and may ultimately benefit the millions of people around the world weighed down by depression.

How is depression measured?

Many people who feel depressed go into a doctor's office and get assessed with a checklist. "Yes" to trouble sleeping, "yes" to weight loss and "yes" to a depressed mood would all yield points that get tallied into a cumulative score. A high enough score may get someone a diagnosis. The process seems straightforward. But it's not. "Even basic issues regarding measurement of depression are actually still quite open for debate," Aftab says.

That's why there are dozens of methods to assess depression, including the standard description set by the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5. This manual is meant to standardize categories of illness.

Variety in measurement is a real problem for the field and points to the lack of understanding of the disease itself, says Eiko Fried, a clinical psychologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Current ways of measuring depression "leave you with a really impoverished, tiny look," Fried says.

Scales can miss important symptoms, leaving people out. "Mental pain," for instance, was described by patients with depression and their caregivers as an important feature of the illness, researchers reported in 2020 in Lancet Psychiatry. Yet the term doesn't show up on standard depression measurements.

One reason for the trouble is that the experience of depression is, by its nature, deeply personal, says clinical psychologist Ioana Alina Cristea of the University of Pavia in Italy. Individual patient complaints are often the best tool for diagnosing the disorder, she says. "We can never let these elements of subjectivity go."

In the middle of the 20th century, depression was diagnosed through subjective conversation and psychoanalysis, and considered by some to be an illness of the soul. In 1960, psychiatrist Max Hamilton attempted to course-correct toward objectivity. Working at the University of Leeds in England, he published a depression scale. Today, that scale, known by its acronyms HAM-D or HRSD, is one of the most widely used depression screening tools, often used in studies measuring depression and evaluating the promise of possible treatments.

Who is depressed?

According to data from 2020, an estimated 21 million adults in the United States have had a major depressive episode in the last year, putting the overall prevalence at 8.4 percent. Rates are notably higher among females, people ages 18 to 25 and people who reported belonging to two or more races. But the widely varied scales used to diagnose depression may not accurately capture the true rates among some populations.

Portion of U.S. adults who have had a major depressive episode in the last year

T. Tibbitts T. Tibbitts

"It's a great scheme for a scale that was made in 1960," Fried says. Since the HRSD was published, "we have put a man on the moon, invented the internet and created powerful computers small enough to fit in people's pockets," Fried and his colleagues wrote in April in Nature Reviews Psychology. Yet this 60-year-old tool remains a gold standard.

Hamilton developed his scale by observing patients who had already been diagnosed with depression. They exhibited symptoms such as weight loss and slowed speech. But those mixtures of symptoms don't apply to everyone with depression, nor do they capture nuance in symptoms.

To spot these nuances, Fried looked at 52 depression symptoms across seven different scales for depression, including Hamilton's scale. On average, each symptom appeared in three of the seven scales. A whopping 40 percent of the symptoms appeared in only one scale, Fried reported in 2017 in the Journal of Affective Disorders. The only specific symptom common to all seven scales? "Sad mood."

In a study that examined depression symptoms reported by 3,703 people, Fried and Randolph Nesse, an evolutionary psychiatrist at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, found 1,030 unique symptom profiles. Roughly 14 percent of participants had combinations of symptoms that were not shared with anyone else, the researchers reported in 2015 in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Before reliable thermometers, the concept of temperature was murky. How do you understand the science of hot and cold without the tools to measure it? "You don't," Fried says. "You make a terrible measurement, and you have a terrible theory of what it is." Depression presents a similar challenge, he says. Without good measurements, how can you possibly diagnose depression, determine whether symptoms get better with treatments or even prevent it in the first place?

Depression differs by gender, race and culture

The story gets murkier when considering who these depression scales were made for. Symptoms differ among groups of people, making the diagnosis even less relevant for certain groups.

Depression symptoms measured by seven scales

Seven common rating tools for depression measure a wide variety of symptoms. When researchers reviewed the 52 symptoms measured by these scales, only one specific symptom appeared in all seven - sad mood.

E.I. FRIED, J.K. FLAKE AND D.J. ROBINAUGH/NATURE REVIEWS PSYCHOLOGY 2022

Behavioral researcher Leslie Adams of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health studies depression in Black men. "It's clear that [depression] is negatively impacting their work lives, social lives and relationships. But they're not being diagnosed at the same rate" as other groups, she says. For instance, white people have a lifetime risk of major depression disorder of almost 18 percent; Black people's lifetime risk is 10.4 percent, researchers reported in 2007 in JAMA Psychiatry. This discrepancy led Adams to ask: "Could there be a problem with diagnostic tools?"

Turns out, there is. Black men with depression have several characteristics that common scales miss, such as feelings of internal conflict, not communicating with others and feeling the burdens of societal pressure, Adams and colleagues reported in 2021 in BMC Public Health. A lot of depression measurements are based on questions that don't capture these symptoms, Adams says. " 'Are you very sad?' 'Are you crying?' Some people do not emote in the same way," she says. "You may be missing things."

American Indian women living in the Southeast United States also experience symptoms that aren't adequately caught by the scales, Adams and her team found in a separate study. These women also reported experiences that do not necessarily signal depression for them but generally do for wider populations.

On common scales, "there are some items that really do not capture the experience of depression for these groups," Adams says. For instance, a common question asks how well someone agrees with the sentence: "I felt everything I did was an effort." That "can mean a lot of things, and it's not necessarily tied to depression," Adams says. The same goes for items such as, "People dislike me." A person of color faced with racism and marginalization might agree with that, regardless of depression, she says.

Our ways to measure depression capture only a tiny slice of the big picture. The same can be said about our understanding of what's happening in the brain.

The flawed serotonin hypothesis

Serotonin came into the spotlight in part because of the serendipitous discovery of drugs that affected serotonin receptors, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. After getting its start in the late 1960s, the "serotonin hypothesis" flourished in the late '90s, as advertisers ran commercials that told viewers that SSRIs fixed the serotonin deficit that can accompany depression. These messages changed the way people talked and thought about depression. Having a simple biological explanation helped some people and their doctors, in part by easing the shame some people felt for not being able to snap out of it on their own. It gave doctors ways to talk with people about the mood disorder.

But it was a simplified picture. A recent review of evidence, published in July in Molecular Psychiatry, finds no consistent data supporting the idea that low serotonin causes depression. Some headlines declared that the study was a grand takedown of the serotonin hypothesis. To depression researchers, the findings weren't a surprise. Many had already realized this simple description wasn't helpful.

There's plenty of data suggesting that serotonin, and other chemical messengers such as dopamine and norepinephrine, are somehow involved in depression, including a study by neuropharmacologist Gitte Moos Knudsen of the University of Copenhagen. She and colleagues recently found that 17 people who were in the midst of a depressive episode released, on average, less serotonin in certain brain areas than 20 people who weren't depressed. The study is small, but it's one of the first to look at serotonin release in living human brains of people with depression.

But Knudsen cautions that those results, published in October in Biological Psychiatry, don't mean that depression is fully caused by low serotonin levels. "It's easy to defer to simple explanations," she says.

SSRIs essentially form a molecular blockade, stopping serotonin from being reabsorbed into nerve cells and keeping the levels high between the cells. Those high levels are thought to influence nerve cell activity in ways that help people feel better.

Because the drugs can ease symptoms in about half of people with depression, it seemed to make sense that depression was caused by problems with serotonin. But just because a treatment works by doing something doesn't mean the disease works in the opposite way. That's backward logic, psychiatrist Nassir Ghaemi of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston wrote in October in a Psychology Today essay. Aspirin can ease a headache, but a headache isn't caused by low aspirin.

"We think we have a much more nuanced picture of what depression is today," Knudsen says. The trouble is figuring out the many details. "We need to be honest with patients, to say that we don't know everything about this," she says.

The brain contains seven distinct classes of receptors that sense serotonin. That's not even accounting for sensors for other messengers such as dopamine and norepinephrine. And these receptors sit on a wide variety of nerve cells, some that send signals when they sense serotonin, some that dampen signals. And serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine are just a few of dozens of chemicals that carry information throughout a multitude of interconnected brain circuits. This complexity is so great that it renders the phrase "chemical imbalance" meaningless.

Overly simple claims - low serotonin causes depression, or low serotonin isn't involved - serve only to keep us stymied, Aftab says. "[It] just keeps up that unhelpful binary."

How treatment helps depression patients

A large study called STAR*D enrolled more than 4,000 people with depression across the United States and offered a window into how well treatment works. In the study, volunteers who didn't respond to one treatment were switched to a second and so on. At each step, the portion of people in remission increased, though gains were smaller for later steps.

Depression remission rate with treatments

T. Tibbitts T. Tibbitts

Source: B.N. GAYNES ET AL/PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES 2009

Depression research can't ignore the world

In the 1990s, Aftab says, depression researchers got intensely focused on the brain. "They were trying to find the broken part of the brain that causes depression." That limited view "really hurt depression research," Aftab says. In the last 10 years or so, "there's a general recognition that that sort of mind-set is not going to give us the answers."

Reducing depression to specific problems of biology in the brain didn't work, Cristea says. "If you were a doctor 10 years ago, the dream was that the neuroscience would give us the markers. We would look at the markers and say, 'OK. You [get] this drug. You, this kind of therapy.' But it hasn't happened." Part of that, she says, is because depression is an "existentially complicated disorder" that's tough to simplify, quantify and study in a lab.

Our friendships, our loves, our setbacks and our stress can all influence our health. Take a recent study of first-year doctors in the United States. The more these doctors worked, the higher the rate of depression, scientists reported in October in the New England Journal of Medicine. Similar trends exist for caregivers of people with dementia and health care workers who kept emergency departments open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their high-stress experiences may have prompted depression in some way.

"Depression is linked to the state of the world - and there is no denying it," Aftab says.

What depression scales don't ask

In a concept mapping study, descriptions of depression symptoms provided by Black men and key individuals supporting Black men's health, including Black women and doctors, were clustered into six categories: physical states, emotional states, diminished drive, communication with others, internal conflict and social pressures. Communication with others and internal conflict were each asked about in only one of three commonly used depression assessments studied. Social pressures weren't reflected in any of the three assessments.

Reflected in three assessments

Physical states: Descriptions in this category included high blood pressure, self-harm or suicidal behavior, binge eating, insomnia, heart palpitations and weight loss and/or gain.

Emotional states: Descriptions in this category included not being able to "get up and go," a lack of motivation, anger, fatigue, hopelessness, frustration, worry, bursts of crying, low self-esteem, feeling stuck and feeling out of control.

Diminished drive: This category included descriptions of an untidy appearance, the inability to complete tasks and life goals, not being able to provide for family and excessive substance use, such as marijuana, cigarettes and alcohol.

Reflected in one assessment

Communication with others: Descriptions in this category included not being able to communicate properly, including ignoring emails and phone calls, isolation from others, withdrawal from everyday activities, volatile behavior toward others, blunted emotional expression and difficulty maintaining romantic relationships.

Internal conflict: This category included having a pessimistic outlook, feeling guilty, feeling unqualified, feeling attacked or defensive, feeling helpless in the face of aging, and a heightened sense of fear or dread.

Not reflected in the assessments

Social pressures: Descriptions in this category included not being able to keep up appearances, fear of unknown consequences of today's political environment, adherence to cultural norms of success and power, a lack of work/life balance, seeking happiness through accumulated materials and increased attendance at religious institutions.

Today's research on depression ought to be more pluralistic, Adams says. "There are so many factors at play that we can't just rest on one solution," she says. Research from neuroscience and genetics has helped identify brain circuits, chemical messengers, cell types, molecules and genes that all may be involved in the disorder. But researchers aren't satisfied with that. "There is other evidence that remains unexplored," Adams says. "With our neuroscience advances, there should be similar advances in public health and psychiatric work."

That's happening. For her part, Adams and colleagues have just begun a study looking at moment-to-moment stressors in the lives of Black adolescents, ages 12 to 18, as measured by cell phone questionnaires. Responses, she hopes, will yield clues about depression and risk of suicide.

Other researchers are trying to fit together all of these different ways of seeing the problem. Fried, for example, is developing new concepts of depression that acknowledge the interacting systems. You tug on one aspect of it - using an antidepressant for instance, or changing sleep patterns - and see how the rest of the system reacts.

Approaches like these recognize the complexity of the problem and aim to figure out ways to handle it. We will never have a simple explanation for depression; we are now learning that one cannot possibly exist. That may sound like cold comfort to people in depression's grip. But seeing the challenge with clear eyes may be the thing that moves us forward.

What you think you know about depression is probably wrong

We've all heard that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, but science shows that the truth is much more complex.

Questions or comments on this article? E-mail us at feedback@sciencenews.org | Reprints FAQ

Citations

E. I. Fried, J. K. Flake and D. J. Robinaugh. Revisiting the theoretical and methodological foundations of depression measurement. Nature Reviews Psychology. June, 2022. doi: 10.1038/s44159-022-00050-2.

L. B. Adams et al. Refining Black men's depression measurement using participatory approaches: a concept mapping study. BMC Public Health. Published online June 22, 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11137-5.

A. Chevance et al. Identifying outcomes for depression that matter to patients, informal caregivers, and health-care professionals: qualitative content analysis of a large international online survey. Lancet Psychiatry. Vol. 7, August, 2020, p. 692-702. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30191-7.

E. I. Fried. The 52 symptoms of major depression: Lack of content overlap among seven common depression scales. Journal of Affective Disorders. Vol 208, January 2017, p. 191-197. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.10.019.

E. I. Fried and R. M. Nesse. Depression is not a consistent syndrome: An investigation of unique symptom patterns in the STAR*D study. Journal of Affective Disorders. Vol. 172, published online February 1, 2015, p. 96-102. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2014.10.010.

D. R. Williams et al. Prevalence and distribution of major depressive disorder in African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and Non-Hispanic whites: Results from the national survey of American life. JAMA Psychiatry. Vol. 64, March, 2007. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.64.3.305.

J. Moncrieff et al. The serotonin theory of depression: A systematic umbrella review of the evidence. Molecular Psychiatry. Published online July 20, 2022. doi: 10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0.

D. Erritzoe et al. Brain serotonin release is reduced in patients with depression: A [11C]Cimbi-36 PET study with a D-Amphetamine challenge. Biological Psychiatry. Published online October 28, 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.10.012.

Y. Fang et al. Work hours and depression in U.S. first-year physicians. New England Journal of Medicine. October 20, 2022. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2210365.

Laura Sanders is the neuroscience writer. She holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Southern California.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A chemical imbalance doesn't explain depression. So what does?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The causes of depression are much more complex than the serotonin hypothesis suggests

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why do we make war? | Hector Garcia | TEDxSanAntonio

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
War & Human Nature: Crash Course World History 204

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations; a period of such armed conflict; state of war... See the full definition

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A Story of Hope!

Once upon a time, there was a small bird named Hope. Hope lived in a beautiful forest filled with tall trees and chirping birds. One day, a huge storm hit the forest, and all the trees were destroyed, leaving Hope without a place to call home.

Hope flew from tree to tree, searching for shelter but found nothing. Despair began to set in, but then Hope remembered its mother's words, "where there's life, there's hope." Hope realized that even though its home was destroyed, it was still alive and could create a new home.

Hope began to search for materials to build a nest. It found sticks, twigs, and leaves and worked tirelessly, weaving them together to make a cozy and safe home. As Hope worked, other birds in the forest saw its determination and came to help. Soon, a beautiful new community was formed, filled with hope and love.

The sun shone brightly, and the flowers bloomed, filling the air with their sweet fragrance. Hope's hard work and determination had paid off, and it was now living in a place that was even more beautiful than its old home.

From that day on, Hope served as an inspiration to all the other birds in the forest. Whenever they faced a challenge, they thought of Hope and its unwavering hope and belief that things would get better. The forest became a place of peace, love, and happiness, all because of one little bird's hope.

The end.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Once upon a time, there was a small bird named Hope. Hope lived in a beautiful forest filled with tall trees and chirping birds. One day, a huge storm hit the forest, and all the trees were...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Glass of Water - A Short Inspirational Story About Motivation and Stress Management

# data[].attributes.headline
"Every little thing gonna be alright" (song)

# data[].attributes.subject
"Every little thing gonna be alright" (song)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"Every little thing gonna be all right" (Bob Marley)

# data[].attributes.headline
The science behind why some people love animals and others couldn’t care less(Article)

# data[].attributes.subject
The science behind why some people love animals and others couldn’t care less(Article)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The recent popularity of "designer" dogs, cats, micro-pigs and other pets may seem to suggest that pet keeping is no more than a fad. Indeed, it is often assumed that pets are a Western affectation, a weird relic of the working animals kept by communities of the past.

About half of the households in Britain alone include some kind of pet; roughly 10m of those are dogs while cats make up another 10m. Pets cost time and money, and nowadays bring little in the way of material benefits. But during the 2008 financial crisis, spending on pets remained almost unaffected, which suggests that for most owners pets are not a luxury but an integral and deeply loved part of the family.

Some people are into pets, however, while others simply aren't interested. Why is this the case? It is highly probable that our desire for the company of animals actually goes back tens of thousands of years and has played an important part in our evolution. If so, then genetics might help explain why a love of animals is something some people just don't get.

PanyaStudio / Shutterstock.com

The health question

In recent times, much attention has been devoted to the notion that keeping a dog (or possibly a cat) can benefit the owner's health in multiple ways - reducing the risk of heart disease, combating loneliness, and alleviating depression and the symptoms of depression and dementia.

As I explore in my new book, there are two problems with these claims. First, there are a similar number of studies that suggest that pets have no or even a slight negative impact on health. Second, pet owners don't live any longer than those who have never entertained the idea of having an animal about the house, which they should if the claims were true. And even if they were real, these supposed health benefits only apply to today's stressed urbanites, not their hunter-gatherer ancestors, so they cannot be considered as the reason that we began keeping pets in the first place.

Penguin, Author provided

The urge to bring animals into our homes is so widespread that it's tempting to think of it as a universal feature of human nature, but not all societies have a tradition of pet-keeping. Even in the West there are plenty of people who feel no particular affinity for animals, whether pets or no.

The pet-keeping habit often runs in families: this was once ascribed to children coming to imitate their parents' lifestyles when they leave home, but recent research has suggested that it also has a genetic basis. Some people, whatever their upbringing, seem predisposed to seek out the company of animals, others less so.

So the genes that promote pet-keeping may be unique to humans, but they are not universal, suggesting that in the past some societies or individuals - but not all - thrived due to an instinctive rapport with animals.

Conrado/Shutterstock.com

Pet DNA

The DNA of today's domesticated animals reveals that each species separated from its wild counterpart between 15,000 and 5,000 years ago, in the late Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods. Yes, this was also when we started breeding livestock. But it is not easy to see how this could have been achieved if those first dogs, cats, cattle and pigs were treated as mere commodities.

If this were so, the technologies available would have been inadequate to prevent unwanted interbreeding of domestic and wild stock, which in the early stages would have had ready access to one another, endlessly diluting the genes for "tameness" and thus slowing further domestication to a crawl - or even reversing it. Also, periods of famine would also have encouraged the slaughter of the breeding stock, locally wiping out the "tame" genes entirely.

But if at least some of these early domestic animals had been treated as pets, physical containment within human habitations would have prevented wild males from having their way with domesticated females; special social status, as afforded to some extant hunter-gatherer pets, would have inhibited their consumption as food. Kept isolated in these ways, the new semi-domesticated animals would have been able to evolve away from their ancestors' wild ways, and become the pliable beasts we know today.

Penguin, Author provided

The very same genes which today predispose some people to take on their first cat or dog would have spread among those early farmers. Groups which included people with empathy for animals and an understanding of animal husbandry would have flourished at the expense of those without, who would have had to continue to rely on hunting to obtain meat. Why doesn't everyone feel the same way? Probably because at some point in history the alternative strategies of stealing domestic animals or enslaving their human carers became viable.

There's a final twist to this story: recent studies have shown that affection for pets goes hand-in-hand with concern for the natural world. It seems that people can be roughly divided into those that feel little affinity for animals or the environment, and those who are predisposed to delight in both, adopting pet-keeping as one of the few available outlets in today's urbanised society.

As such, pets may help us to reconnect with the world of nature from which we evolved.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The science behind why some people love animals and others couldn't care less

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The recent popularity of "designer" dogs, cats, micro-pigs and other pets may seem to suggest that pet keeping is no more than a fad. Indeed, it is often assumed that pets are a Western affectation, a weird relic of the working animals kept by communities of the past.

# data[].attributes.headline
The science behind why some people love animals and others couldn’t care less(article)

# data[].attributes.subject
The science behind why some people love animals and others couldn’t care less(article)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The recent popularity of "designer" dogs, cats, micro-pigs and other pets may seem to suggest that pet keeping is no more than a fad. Indeed, it is often assumed that pets are a Western affectation, a weird relic of the working animals kept by communities of the past.

About half of the households in Britain alone include some kind of pet; roughly 10m of those are dogs while cats make up another 10m. Pets cost time and money, and nowadays bring little in the way of material benefits. But during the 2008 financial crisis, spending on pets remained almost unaffected, which suggests that for most owners pets are not a luxury but an integral and deeply loved part of the family.

Some people are into pets, however, while others simply aren't interested. Why is this the case? It is highly probable that our desire for the company of animals actually goes back tens of thousands of years and has played an important part in our evolution. If so, then genetics might help explain why a love of animals is something some people just don't get.

PanyaStudio / Shutterstock.com

The health question

In recent times, much attention has been devoted to the notion that keeping a dog (or possibly a cat) can benefit the owner's health in multiple ways - reducing the risk of heart disease, combating loneliness, and alleviating depression and the symptoms of depression and dementia.

As I explore in my new book, there are two problems with these claims. First, there are a similar number of studies that suggest that pets have no or even a slight negative impact on health. Second, pet owners don't live any longer than those who have never entertained the idea of having an animal about the house, which they should if the claims were true. And even if they were real, these supposed health benefits only apply to today's stressed urbanites, not their hunter-gatherer ancestors, so they cannot be considered as the reason that we began keeping pets in the first place.

Penguin, Author provided

The urge to bring animals into our homes is so widespread that it's tempting to think of it as a universal feature of human nature, but not all societies have a tradition of pet-keeping. Even in the West there are plenty of people who feel no particular affinity for animals, whether pets or no.

The pet-keeping habit often runs in families: this was once ascribed to children coming to imitate their parents' lifestyles when they leave home, but recent research has suggested that it also has a genetic basis. Some people, whatever their upbringing, seem predisposed to seek out the company of animals, others less so.

So the genes that promote pet-keeping may be unique to humans, but they are not universal, suggesting that in the past some societies or individuals - but not all - thrived due to an instinctive rapport with animals.

Conrado/Shutterstock.com

Pet DNA

The DNA of today's domesticated animals reveals that each species separated from its wild counterpart between 15,000 and 5,000 years ago, in the late Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods. Yes, this was also when we started breeding livestock. But it is not easy to see how this could have been achieved if those first dogs, cats, cattle and pigs were treated as mere commodities.

If this were so, the technologies available would have been inadequate to prevent unwanted interbreeding of domestic and wild stock, which in the early stages would have had ready access to one another, endlessly diluting the genes for "tameness" and thus slowing further domestication to a crawl - or even reversing it. Also, periods of famine would also have encouraged the slaughter of the breeding stock, locally wiping out the "tame" genes entirely.

But if at least some of these early domestic animals had been treated as pets, physical containment within human habitations would have prevented wild males from having their way with domesticated females; special social status, as afforded to some extant hunter-gatherer pets, would have inhibited their consumption as food. Kept isolated in these ways, the new semi-domesticated animals would have been able to evolve away from their ancestors' wild ways, and become the pliable beasts we know today.

Penguin, Author provided

The very same genes which today predispose some people to take on their first cat or dog would have spread among those early farmers. Groups which included people with empathy for animals and an understanding of animal husbandry would have flourished at the expense of those without, who would have had to continue to rely on hunting to obtain meat. Why doesn't everyone feel the same way? Probably because at some point in history the alternative strategies of stealing domestic animals or enslaving their human carers became viable.

There's a final twist to this story: recent studies have shown that affection for pets goes hand-in-hand with concern for the natural world. It seems that people can be roughly divided into those that feel little affinity for animals or the environment, and those who are predisposed to delight in both, adopting pet-keeping as one of the few available outlets in today's urbanised society.

As such, pets may help us to reconnect with the world of nature from which we evolved.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The science behind why some people love animals and others couldn't care less

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The recent popularity of "designer" dogs, cats, micro-pigs and other pets may seem to suggest that pet keeping is no more than a fad. Indeed, it is often assumed that pets are a Western affectation, a weird relic of the working animals kept by communities of the past.

# data[].attributes.headline
Happy by Pharrell Williams (song) (music video)

# data[].attributes.subject
Happy by Pharrell Williams (song) (music video)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On my 10th birthday, I got a puppy. I was so shocked-I had wanted a dog for as long as I could remember-and so overwhelmed with happiness that I burst into tears. For the next 14 years, Happy, a beagle, charmed everyone he met. And when he passed, all of us who had known him mourned, as we would for any loved one. Two in three American households have a pet-that is, an animal kept primarily for companionship. And despite the fact that these housemates may bear scales, fur, fins or feathers, people often view their animals as family members. In 2017 we spent an estimated $69 billion on our animal companions and untold hours caring for them.

For 50 years psychologists have been trying to unravel the appeals of animal companionship in hopes of deciphering just why we invest so much in these creatures. In the process, anthrozoologists-scientists who study human-animal relationships-have discovered a window into human sociality more broadly. Our interactions with animals can be useful models for understanding how issues of identity, nurturing, support and attachment play out in a relationship. "It's all about human psychology," says anthrozoologist Pauleen Bennett of La Trobe University in Australia. "Pets help us fill our need for social connectedness."

Although the motivations for pet ownership may vary as much as a Golden Retriever and a goldfish, scientists are finding that some common threads tie people to their household pets. Our attraction to animals may be subconscious, driven by biological and social forces that we do not fully acknowledge. In addition, the emotional bond between pets and their owners can bring varied benefits, from lowered stress to novel adventures. The more we uncover about our companion animals, the more we may learn about our human attachments as well.

Inborn Attraction?

Part of our attraction to animal companionship is innate. In 2013 psychologist Vanessa LoBue of Rutgers University and her colleagues revealed that toddlers one to three years old spend more time interacting with live animals-whether fish, hamsters, snakes, spiders or geckos-than they do with inanimate toys when given a choice between the two.

Humans even have specialized brain cells for recognizing animal life. Researchers led by Christof Koch of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle (he also serves on Scientific American 's board of advisers) have found neurons in the amygdala, an area involved in emotions, that respond preferentially to animal images. The 2011 finding hints at a neural basis for the powerful emotional reactions animals elicit from us.

Many animals seem to tap into humans' attraction to the adorable, a drive that also may motivate good parenting. Behavioral researchers have long noticed that humans seem to have inborn, positive responses to beings with characteristics typical of human infants-such as wide eyes, broad foreheads and large head-to-body ratios.

To better understand the responses that cuteness can elicit, psychologist Hiroshi Nittono, then at Hiroshima University in Japan, and his colleagues published a series of experiments in 2012 in which college students, 132 in all, searched for a digit in numerical matrices or lifted tiny objects from small holes using tweezers. Afterward, participants viewed a series of photographs before attempting the attention or motor task for a second time.

Nittono and his colleagues found that students who viewed adult animals or food-stimuli they had rated as pleasant but not cute-did not improve between trials. But the students who saw cute baby animals did the tweezer task faster and more dexterously and performed the visual search task faster the second time, suggesting that being exposed to such creatures motivates focused, attentive behavior. This finding suggests that humans are primed to attend to fragile, young infants, who may require greater care than other beings. Clearly, baby animals exploit the same instinctive responses in us that human infants elicit.

Such findings lend credence to the idea that our interest in pets stems from what biologist E. O. Wilson has called "biophilia," or an inherent tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes. Our fascination with all manner of fauna might explain why people adopt such a wide range of animal life, from tarantulas to salamanders.

Yet Wilson has also acknowledged that our interest in animals depends on personal and cultural experience. For example, dogs are popular in many Western countries but are considered unclean in traditional Islamic communities. Indeed, psychologist Harold A. Herzog of Western Carolina University has argued that pet keeping is driven principally by culture. In a paper published in 2013 Herzog and his colleagues assessed the fluctuating popularity of dog breeds using the American Kennel Club's registry from 1926 to 2005. They found no relationship between a breed's health, longevity or behavioral traits such as aggressiveness or trainability and its popularity. Instead, they argued, the trends in top dogs were erratic and seemed to shift suddenly, as if driven by fashion. In 2014 three of the authors, including Herzog, further discovered that movies featuring specific dog breeds would boost that pooch's popularity for up to a decade. In the 10 years following the 1963 release of The Incredible Journey, starring a Labrador Retriever, people registered Labs in the kennel club at an average rate of 2,223 dogs a year, in contrast to 452 dogs a year in the previous decade.

Extending these findings to other species, Herzog posited that people may keep pets simply because other people keep pets, reflecting our penchant for imitation. He pointed to a brief craze in the U.S. for turtle keeping, a koi fish fad in Japan and what he jokingly identified as a brief "epidemic of Irish Setters" as further evidence.

Sign up for Scientific American 's free newsletters.

Friends with Benefits

But even if imitation plays a role in their choices, most people profess to wanting pets for companionship. This friendship then sustains the connection despite the costs of ownership. Indeed, some animal-human relationships feel similar in certain ways to human relationships. In a study published in 2014 Massachusetts General Hospital veterinarian Lori Palley and her colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain activity in 14 mothers while they were looking at pictures of their children or their dogs or at pictures of other people's children or unfamiliar dogs. The researchers found that the brain activation patterns evoked by images of the women's own children and dogs were very similar and that those patterns were distinct from those elicited by unknown children and canines, suggesting that maternal feelings may extend to animals. Pets may thus help fill a human need to nurture other living beings.

An animal also can be on the flip side of this relationship, serving as a source of comfort. In the 1960s Yeshiva University child psychologist Boris Levinson observed that troubled, socially withdrawn children became talkative and enthusiastic about therapy when his dog, Jingles, was present during a session. This observation spurred a series of investigations into whether or not keeping pets could improve well-being. In a 1980 study of 92 people, biologist Erika Friedmann, then at the University of Pennsylvania, reported that pet owners were more likely to be alive a year after a heart attack than were people who did not have a companion animal-possibly because the animals afforded some form of stress relief. Yet efforts to replicate such findings have had mixed results, and animal-assisted therapy, the field that Levinson's work inspired, has been criticized for overstating the ability of animals to ameliorate mental illness [see "Can Animals Aid Therapy?" by Scott O. Lilienfeld and Hal Arkowitz].

Nevertheless, some people may gain psychological support from their pets and keep them for exactly this reason. In a study published in 2012 psychologist Sigal Zilcha-Mano, then at the Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel, and her colleagues asked 285 cat or dog owners to answer a questionnaire assessing their emotional connection with their pet. Then the researchers asked 120 of these pet owners to take a challenging word test. By recording her subjects' blood pressure-a measure of stress-during the test, Zilcha-Mano found that individuals who had their pet present or thought about the pet before taking the test had lower stress than people who had no contact with the pet. Yet the strength of this benefit depended on how attached the owner was to his or her pet. In other words, the level of emotional sustenance a pet owner receives depends on how close he or she feels to the animal.

Different hormonal cocktails seem to underpin various degrees of animal-human attachment. In a study published in 2012 biologist Linda Handlin of the University of Skövde in Sweden and her colleagues measured levels of the bonding hormone oxytocin and stress hormone cortisol in 10 owners of female Labrador Retrievers and correlated the results with self-reported data about the owners' relationships with their dogs. Owners who had higher oxytocin levels and lower cortisol levels when interacting with their dogs tended to have closer bonds with their pets. People who frequently kissed their dogs, for example, had higher levels of oxytocin, and women who reported that they dreaded their dog's death had lower cortisol levels, perhaps because they rely on their animals for stress relief.

A person's social orientation could also factor into the strength of the pet-person tie. In a study published in 2012 psychologist Andrea Beetz of the University of Rostock in Germany and her colleagues asked 47 seven- to 11-year-old boys who had difficulties forming social attachments to present a story before a committee of unfamiliar adults and then take a math test. During this ordeal, 24 of the children were accompanied by a dog, 10 had a friendly human by their side and the others had a toy dog nearby.

Beetz found that children accompanied by a real dog had the lowest cortisol levels and that those with human company had the highest, probably because people made these boys nervous. Furthermore, among those boys who benefited from the dog, those who engaged in the most petting and other physical contact with the dog during the test showed the least stress, as measured by salivary cortisol. Thus, interacting with animals may be an especially good buffer against stress for those who find human social interaction difficult. "Some things are much easier with animals," Beetz says. "They are easier to forgive, don't talk back, and there's less inhibition when it comes to physical contact."

Animal Antics

Yet pets are much more than human substitutes. Many people with no obvious social deficits reap varied psychological benefits from owning a pet. A 2015 phone survey of Australian city dwellers found dogs were "social icebreakers": a puppy can be a great way to meet neighbors. In 2016 a small Korean study found that seniors who tended crickets for eight weeks had improved mental states, perhaps because the responsibility gave their routine added meaning.

In 2012 Bennett presented preliminary findings from a student, psychologist Jordan Schaan, then at Monash University in Australia, who had interviewed 37 dog owners who were personally and professionally successful and had an above-average connection to their animals. (The subjects were educated and affluent and had fulfilling romantic partnerships, for instance.) Among the benefits of dog ownership that these individuals reported was amusement; the animals' antics made their owners laugh. Furthermore, many pet owners described their companion animals as instructors in a simpler, more virtuous lifestyle. Bennett and Schaan discovered that their highly successful subjects actually looked to their dogs as role models for a better life. People felt they could derive unconditional love and forgiveness from their dogs, whereas human beings seemed more likely to disappoint one another. "There's something about animals that's very genuine and honest," Bennett says. "We miss that in our human interactions."

Bennett and other anthrozoologists acknowledge that owners project some of this dynamic onto their animals. An owner can "read" a response into an animal companion's behavior regardless of the animal's intentions. Yet such projections are precisely what make this field ripe for psychology: they reveal our own social needs and desires. Animal relationships may someday provide useful comparison points to human connections-a benchmark for investigating empathy, caring and even decision making. That these creatures can fit many molds while being so different from us makes these friendships uniquely valuable.

The study of animal companionship is still in its infancy. But without this research, we could not begin to fathom the rich and varied range of relationships that make up human experience.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On my 10th birthday, I got a puppy. I was so shocked-I had wanted a dog for as long as I could remember-and so overwhelmed with happiness that I burst into tears. For the next 14 years, Happy, a beagle, charmed everyone he met.

# data[].attributes.headline
What is happiness by rutger Kopland (poem)

# data[].attributes.subject
What is happiness by rutger Kopland (poem)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
POEM A DAY: WHAT IS HAPPINESS - The Poetry Book Society

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is happiness?... we remember it and it reminds us. - Rutger Kopland, Memories of the Unknown, Maclehose Press. Join the Poetry Book Society for a world of poetry delivered straight to your door. If you’re a fan of world poetry in translation in particular then check out our World Poetry membership option here.

# data[].attributes.body
https://hero-health.org/blog/what-is-gratitude-a-poem/

# data[].attributes.headline
The truth about lying (Informational document)

# data[].attributes.subject
The truth about lying (Informational document)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Truth About Lying - Health Encyclopedia - University of Rochester Medical Center

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For your birthday, your aunt knits you a sweater that is, well, downright hideous. You tell her, 1) “I’d go out in an army blanket before wearing that;” 2) “It would look better on a peacock;” or 3) “It’s beautiful, Aunt Sylvia! I really need a sweater.”

# data[].attributes.body
https://youtu.be/qGXt37PfyiI?si=qQAaQ2DXJE7-nxet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Oh, To Be Grateful | Spoken Word Poem by Natalie Patterson

# data[].attributes.body
Scientifically proven to be the best song ever made.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Science of Emotions with Tony Hale- Video 

# data[].attributes.subject
The Science of Emotions with Tony Hale- Video 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Science of Emotions with Tony Hale | National Geographic | Inside Out 2

# data[].attributes.headline
Why We Explore - 2 Videos and a Photograph

# data[].attributes.subject
Why We Explore - 2 Videos and a Photograph

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSunflowers_%2528van_Gogh_series%2529&psig=AOvVaw3giwjSqVFlCXV8pBCQCLsB&ust=1733423585237000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBEQjRxqFwoTCPCa7ZngjooDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE

# data[].attributes.body
https://genius.com/Louis-armstrong-what-a-wonderful-world-lyrics

# data[].attributes.body
The science of happiness (article)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Although happiness can feel like an amorphous concept, science has explored key pieces of the experience, such as which choices, activities, and mindsets lead to fulfillment, common misunderstandings of happiness, and theories that may explain the origin and attainment of well-being.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Pets Teach Us About Life - Why Humans Like Having Pets

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shutterstock.com%2Fsearch%2Fbeing-boring%3Fimage_type%3Dillustration&psig=AOvVaw0XxfNA0oSmDEv7szpcxajB&ust=1733423472414000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBQQjRxqFwoTCLDx4_DfjooDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAc

# data[].attributes.body
This episode from the 1984 Series Thomas and Friends tells a story about the natural urge to explore, and how not all of us will be able to explore in life, but we can still feel the feelings to, this is shown most in the final 20 seconds in the episode.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
All at Sea (Season 3, Episode 18, US, George Carlin)

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-m-bored-a-short-poem/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
THERE is a world of being
We range from pole to pole,
Through seasons of the spirit
And weather of the soul.
It has its new-born Aprils,
With gladness in the air,
Its golden Junes of rapture,
Its winters of despair.
And in its tranquil autumns
We halt to re-enforce
Our tattered scarlet pennons
With valor and resource.
From undiscovered regions
Only the angels know,
Great winds of aspiration
Perpetually blow,
To free the sap of impulse
From torpor of distrust,
And into flowers of joyance
Quicken the sentient dust.
From nowhere of a sudden
Loom sudden clouds of fault,
With thunders of oppression
And lightnings of revolt.
With hush of apprehension
And quaking of the heart,
There breed the storms of anger,
And floods of sorrow start.
And there shall fall,-how gently!-
To make them fertile yet,
The rain of absolution
On acres of regret.
Till snows of mercy cover
The dream that shall come true,
When time makes all things wondrous,
And life makes all things new.

Last updated January 14, 2019

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
THERE is a world of being We range from pole to pole, Through seasons of the spirit And weather of the soul. It has its new-born Aprils, With gladness in the air, Its golden Junes of rapture,