… however, after giving nostalgia much consideration you realize there are different types. Each type signifies the pain of not being able to return home. (The Greek word nostos means return, and algos is translated as suffering.)
Wallow Nostalgia (WN)
“If you’re yearning for the good old days, just turn off the air conditioning.” ~ Owens Lee Pomeroy
Wallow nostalgia is believing the past was better than today and continually longing for it. The problem with WN is that you are trying to get something from the past because it is missing now. It could be a person, a sense of safety, comfort, being taken care of, a particular atmosphere, or youth . . .
It seems that even when listening to music, working on a craft, enjoying a walk, or a conversation our thinking mind spends up to 70% of that time daydreaming, or wandering away from what we are doing (presidential debates excluded?). This is not to say that all daydreaming is useless, but it does have consequences.
Daydreaming does not make you happier, even if you daydream about pleasant or enjoyable things; daydream about negative things and your level of happiness will decrease 15 minutes after the daydream. This is the conclusion of a study done by Harvard University . . .
When we remember something, we are not remembering the original event.
Instead, we remember the last time we thought about it. This means after a fearful or painful memory first forms in our mind, it re-forms and re-stabilizes every time we think about it. The more it is thought about and re-stabilized, the more lasting the memory becomes . . .
Scanning information on golf psychology confirms that, without doubt, life is a game. The primary mental mistakes that golfers make are the same mistakes we all make while schlepping through our days.
What separates great golfers from the average weekend hacker is avoiding the mental ponds and sand traps that rob equanimity and focus. The same mind hazards can frustrate us to no end in the games of leisure, school, employment, or relationships.
Like golfers, we all need to know what the mental bogie-makers are, though knowledge does not guarantee avoidance . . .
Managing anxiety is a crux of non-sport mental health counseling as well. Not all anxiety is performance anxiety though, or is it? This question might prompt someone to stop and think about our everyday fears in terms of performance, particularly our fears of opening up to one another . . .
Maintaining good mental health is a holistic endeavor. We must not only take care of our mind, but also our body, and emotions. Your body, mind, and emotions are intertwined and every experience will touch all three at once. Trouble in one of the three areas can lead to problems for all . . .
This research indicates that math anxiety is not a dislike for numbers or mathematics, but is a physical stress response triggered by having to solve math problems; but, why the anxiety?
It is not clear if the migraine-depression link is causal (migraines trigger depression), circumstantial (it is depressing to live with migraines), or inherent (both illnesses come from the same genetic predisposition). Researchers are also looking into biological connections such as neurotransmitters that trigger both diagnoses.
One of the most frustrating things about menopause is the brain glitch of forgetfulness, fuzzy-headedness, wobbly concentration, or not being able to find the simple word you are searching for. It’s unnerving to misplace the name of a woman you’ve shared an office with for ten years.
For some women, these “brain farts” are more troublesome than hot flashes or night sweats. What’s going on anyway? One theory points to fluctuating levels of the hormone estrogen as the culprit . . .
An important thing to remember when going through a divorce is that feelings serve a purpose but are not fact. Feelings are based on our inner reality while facts are shared observations over time.
It may be impossible to completely separate thought from emotion but humans can see things subjectively (emotion) and objectively (mind). It is an amazing ability.
Your inner, subjective reality is based on history, culture, education, beliefs, and environment. It is a long nerve that holds all the experiences, remembered or not, of your life. If something touches on a memory that is attached to this nerve, the feelings associated with the memory are felt in the present moment . . .
WASHINGTON, April 14, 2012 - Some of us remember one or both parents hovering over tax forms, a pencil in their mouth, madly punching numbers into a mechanical calculator. Somehow, they managed to stuff the IRS envelope and make it to the post office before midnight on April 15th, year after year. It is quite a feat of timing when you think about it, almost an art form.
Procrastination is, however, considered and undesirable trait despite its popularity. Those called procrastinators are usually people who put off unpleasant tasks, but there are other kinds of activity people put off too. Thinking for one’s self, or considering the emotional impact our actions have on others, are two intangibles that people can avoid… …
Mike Wallace did the mental health community a favor in 1996 by going public with his diagnosis of depression. Although there is still stigma attached to having any mental illness, Wallace’s admission made it clear that depression does not descend only upon the faint of heart, and that it can be treated … .
The sun shines on everyone. It is no respecter of persons. None of us receive light because we deserve it, but because we are in the path of the sun’s rays. That is rather humbling when you consider it. Individuals may become as special or important as they can, and the sun will not grant them a spotlight. This also means we are each as deserving of the light as everyone else.
WASHINGTON, March 22, 2012 - March is Women in History month and Dorothea Dix is a mouse that roared.
After witnessing a gross injustice, Dorothea Dix took on U.S. and Canadian legislators to advocate for people who were politically and economically powerless. She worked to relieve the suffering of many, though she could have spent the second half of her life living comfortably without lifting a finger … .
WASHINGTON, March 18, 2012 – Imagine a college band performing at half time during a football game.
The band members miraculously play their instruments while carrying out a choreographed march, forming interesting patterns on the field. If, in the middle of their song, the bass drums starting beating too slowly, what would happen?
The band director would madly flail away in an attempt to keep the performers in step. As each tardy bass drum beat is struck, the straight lines of the marching band start waffling. Players start turning corners into one another and soon little piles of performers begin forming, like ant hills. Snatches of the melody are heard here and there over a fading dissonant background.
That can happen in our brain too. It has a rhythm determined by how frequently our brain cells, or neurons, fire off their signals. If some neurons start firing a beat(s) too slow, our choreographed brain patterns begin waffling and bumping into each other. These tangled signals may lead to the symptom of an illness … .
