Why I don't love organized sports

(Koo Psychology) Psych of people who don't care about sports

Mindfulness as effective as antidepressants

The Buddha taught mindfulness.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) was found to be as effective as the antidepressant escitalopram in reducing agoraphobia, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder symptoms.

The muti-institution study, led by the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, suggests that mindfulness (sati) practices may offer a viable alternative to medication for treating anxiety disorders, with significantly fewer side effects.

Anxiety disorders affect millions of people and are frequently treated with medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Ketamine and psychedelics may also work better than toxic antidepressants.

.
While SSRIs can be an effective tool in countering the symptoms of anxiety disorders, they also come with side effects that can negatively impact a patient's quality of life in other ways.

In the case of escitalopram (sold as Lexapro and Cipralex), these adverse effects include nausea, headaches, dry mouth, excessive sweating, insomnia, and fatigue.

The research team previously demonstrated that eight weeks of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) was non-inferior to escitalopram in providing stress relief and emotional regulation without having the additional drawbacks (avoiding the side effects of synthetic allopathic drugs).

In a new research letter, "Mindfulness Meditation vs Escitalopram for Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial," published in JAMA Network Open, the team presents the secondary outcomes of patient-reported anxiety, depression, and quality of life from the previous study.

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The study

Drugs disrupt enzyme processes like magic.

The study involved 276 adults diagnosed with various anxiety disorders (including agoraphobia, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder). Participants were randomly assigned to either the MBSR program or escitalopram treatment. The MBSR group attended weekly sessions focused on mindfulness meditation techniques, while the escitalopram group received dosages ranging from 10 to 20 mg per day with regular clinical follow-ups. Researchers used multiple standardized scales to measure anxiety, depression, and quality of life, both from patient and clinician perspectives. Blinded evaluators conducted assessments using tools like the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the PROMIS Anxiety Short Form.

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Findings

I'll take Nature over Big Pharma any day.

Findings revealed that both groups experienced similar reductions in anxiety symptoms over the study period. No significant differences were detected between MBSR and escitalopram in overall anxiety reduction by Week 8, the study's primary endpoint.

Escitalopram showed a slight edge in symptom reduction at the mid-treatment point (Week 4), but these improvements were not sustained by the end of the study.

Adverse event rates were the only significant difference between the two treatments. Nearly 79% of escitalopram recipients reported at least one study-related side effect, compared to just 15% of those in the mindfulness group.

The findings lend greater support for the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction as a reliable treatment for anxiety disorders with fewer risks, making a compelling case for its broader application in clinical settings. Source: Mindfulness found as effective as leading antidepressant in treating anxiety disorders

• More info: Hiroe Hu et al, "Mindfulness Meditation vs Escitalopram for Treatment of Anxiety Disorders," JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.38453 © 2024 Science X Network.
• This story was originally published in Medical Xpress. Subscribe to newsletter for the latest sci-tech news updates
• Medical Xpress via MSN.com, 10/24/24; Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Kings and Queens of Chaos: Borderline Disorder

Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; Elizabeth Svoboda (PsychologyToday.com)

Pathologize me? Call me a which and a bic'h, but FEMEN means no more patriarchy.

I'm not a psycho-b, I'm not, I just have issues! I love you, but I HATE you!!

 .

Yeah not just cancer, baby

Part 3. Borderline personality disorder cuts a wide swath of destruction. Slowly, the condition is yielding to new understanding -- provided patients get the correct diagnosis.

It had been an idyllic day celebrating a cousin's wedding until Steve's wife turned to him during the reception and said she was having a panic attack.

The loud music in the room seemed to be engulfing her, heightening her anxiety. After the main course was served, Steve and his wife got up to go for a drive and get some air. To respect his wife's privacy, Steve did not tell anyone why they were leaving, including his half-sister, Klara, who was seated at their table.
 

I'm wit stoopid. - And I loves him so much!

Minutes after the two left the wedding, as Steve later learned, Klara started approaching family members to claim that Steve and his wife had stormed off over something she did -- and that they'd refused to tell her what she'd done wrong.
 
She marched from table to table sharing the story, adding more drama with each telling. She ended up in the ladies' room a few minutes later, sobbing, and it took Steve's mother, other sister, and several close friends to calm her down so she wouldn't disturb the festivities.

 

While trying to help his wife through her panic attack, Steve had stopped paying attention to his cell phone. When he next looked at the screen, he faced a torrent of messages from Klara, each more indignant than the last:

"I deserve better... What the f*** is wrong with you?... I HATE YOU!... Never call me again; you're dead to me!" Steve still marvels at how quick Klara was to erupt in response to her perception of events. "Despite there being no argument, no unpleasant words exchanged," he says, "our absence was presumed to be a slight directed at her and her alone."

 

I didn't know I was sick. That's part of it.

Klara's spontaneous emotional combustion at the wedding would probably seem totally unremarkable to the 14 million adults in the U.S. who are estimated to have borderline personality disorder (BPD). They make up 2 percent of the general population but 20 percent of psychiatric inpatients. Most are women, and they typically turn the ups and downs of everyday life into a roller-coaster ride of moods. In doing so, they don't just alienate others around them, they subvert their own life trajectory. Explosively reactive, and often struggling to get a grip on themselves, borderlines have difficulty maintaining stable relationships or even holding down a job. More

Why, why, why?

The Epidemic...in the U.S.

The roots of mental disorders and addiction-cravings (for self-soothing) are explained by Dr. Gabor Mate as early childhood trauma, which sets us up for a great deal of suffering and dysfunctional relationships and coping strategies. The answer? Don't add drama to the trauma. The first 20 minutes of "Zeitgeist: Moving Forward" explains it beautifully.

Don't think it's an "epidemic"? Just Diana Russell and Rebecca Bolen, who can answer in the abstract: This book is the long-awaited follow-up to Russell's landmark Sexual Exploitation. It examines the many -- and often conflicting -- findings of studies that have since been conducted on the incidence and prevalence of rape and child sexual abuse in the United States.  The wide variation in prevalence rates obtained by these studies -- for example, rape rates ranging from 2.6% to 44% -- has led many hostile critics to attack the high rates as misleading and alarmist. More

NSA is spying on texts, emails, calls (video)

DemocracyNow.org (Apr. 20, 2012); Wisdom Quarterly

 

"Brain-whatting?" "Never mind, go to sleep."

(DN) National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower William Binney drops a bombshell: Domestic surveillance has become more expansive under Pres. Obama than Pres. Bush. 

  

He estimates that the NSA has assembled 20 trillion "transactions" -- phone calls, emails, and many other forms of data such as texts -- produced by ordinary law-abiding Americans. 

  

"We need more money like the NSA gets."

This includes copies of almost all of the emails sent and received from most people living in the United States. 

  

Binney talks about Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and challenges NSA Director Keith Alexander's assertion that the NSA is not intercepting information about U.S. citizens.

    

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Uprising!

10-25-12 8:00 AM

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Study: Animals Make Plans

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – A canny chimpanzee who calmly collected a stash of rocks and then hurled them at zoo visitors in fits of rage has confirmed that apes can plan ahead just like humans, a Swedish study said Monday.

Santino the chimpanzee's anti-social behavior stunned both visitors and keepers at the Furuvik Zoo but fascinated researchers because it was so carefully prepared. More>>