Thursday, November 17, 2016

Brain science suggests “mind wandering” can help manage anxiety

When we think of anxiety disorders, we generally think of them as uncomfortable emotional responses to threat. These responses may include symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, or absolute paralysis. While there is nothing inherently wrong in thinking about anxiety this way, a recent study pointed out that there is an entirely different way of thinking about anxiety that may be even more helpful. According to psychologist Kalina Christoff and her colleagues, anxiety may be more appropriately thought of as “mind-wandering gone awry.”

The advantages of mind-wandering

In your brain, there are circuits that promote mind-wandering and they are not all bad. In fact, these very circuits help you maintain a sense of self, understand what others are thinking more accurately, become more creative, and even predict the future. Without your mind-wandering circuits, your brain’s ability to focus would become depleted, and you would be disconnected from yourself and others too.

In addition to the natural and frequent tendency for your mind to stray, it also has automatic constraints too, to ensure that it does not stray too far. When daydreaming during a boring lecture, for example, your brain may jerk you back into reality.

When mind-wandering goes awry

One of the things that a wandering mind is in search of is meaning. By connecting the past, present, and future, it helps you compose a narrative to connect the dots in your life. This narrative is constantly being updated. But sometimes, the wandering mind can encounter threats. Rather than proverbially “whistling in the dark,” the brain can overreact to these threats.

In the brain of an individual with generalized anxiety disorder, for example, the anxiety processor (the amygdala) is disrupted. Although it has strong connections to the “inner eye” (attention), it lacks a connection to the brain circuits that signal how important or significant a threat is. Without the ability to assess the significance of threats, they can all feel the same.

As a result, the “inner eye” gets fixated on negative thoughts. This fixation is a way of constraining the mind too, but it is not actually helpful. Anxious people focus more on external threats in an exaggerated way. They become glued to the threats. Anything from being teased to being ticked off feels much more troubling than it would to someone without an anxiety disorder. And it’s not just conscious threats that grab your attention. It’s subliminal threats too! Threats, of which you are completely unaware, capture your brain’s attention. A mind, once free to wander, is desperately forced to stop in its tracks in what can be construed as a catastrophic confusion of constraints.

Let your mind wander away from perceived threats

When your brain has automatically grabbed your wandering mind, and fixed your attention on threat, rather than getting a proverbial “grip” on reality, you actually have to loosen your grip on your threat-focused reality — allow your mind to wander! As Christoff and colleagues put it, you de-automatize your constraints.

Because your brain’s inner eye has its resources fixed on the threat, it gets progressively exhausted too. You can’t really summon it to help you suppress the anxiety, or get your mind off of it. Instead, you have to reactivate your mind-wandering circuits to give your attention a break.

Practically speaking, there are a few ways to do this. First, identify the negative spiral that has occurred like a pothole into which you have fallen on a mind-wandering journey. Simply name the feeling you are feeling and recognize that you need a mental reset. Rather than deliberately trying to suppress the feeling, accept that your mind is wandering, and that the fixation on threat is not the constraint solution you are looking for.

To counter this constraint, up the ante on the mind wandering — wander even more. If you’re at work, you could keep a knitting kit and start using it just when anxiety strikes, or if at home, you could go out and do some gardening. Meditation is also an effective way to get out of the fixed threat hole.

So when you’re next feeling anxious or wired, try allowing your mind to do what it naturally does — wander! You can bring it back to task gently, without fearing that you have lost your way. Or you can expect that it is wired to switch between wandering and focused states, and it will eventually come back on its own. The more you mindfully interact with this switch, the more adept your brain will become at initiating it.

The post Brain science suggests “mind wandering” can help manage anxiety appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.



From: Srini Pillay, MD http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-different-way-to-manage-anxiety-evidence-from-brain-science-2016111710659

Surgeon general reveals shocking report on substance abuse and addiction

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released startling results in a report on drug abuse. Researchers have learned nearly 21 million suffer from substance abuse, but 90 percent are not getting treatment. CBS News medical correspondent Dr Tara Narula has more on the crisis.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/surgeon-general-reveals-shocking-report-on-substance-abuse-and-addiction/

More U.S. kids suffering from these serious infections

Superbug infections can cause lengthy illness, longer hospital stays and an increased risk of death in children

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/more-u-s-kids-suffering-from-these-serious-superbug-infections/

Surgeon general report calls for major shift on treating addiction

In the first report of its kind, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for a major shift in the way addiction is treated in the United States

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/surgeon-general-report-calls-for-major-shift-on-treating-addiction/

Transgender patient freezes eggs: "I'm meant to be a dad"

Before going through hormone therapy and gender surgery, medical science can preserve the option of having children

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/transgender-patient-freezes-eggs-says-im-meant-to-be-a-dad/

Heroin's colorblind, gender-equal, easy-access assault on America

While anti-overdose drugs like Narcan have become a lifeline, there is no quick fix for the epidemic that's spread across the country

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/heroins-colorblind-sex-blind-assault-on-america/

Do Women Who Have Kids Later Live Longer?

Those who give birth at age 25 or older more likely to live to 90, study suggests



From: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20161117/do-women-who-have-kids-later-live-longer?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Drug Stelara May Ease Crohn's Disease

Medication is potentially helpful for those who didn't find relief from other treatments, researchers say



From: http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/news/20161117/drug-stelara-may-ease-crohns-disease?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Three U.S. communities choose fluoridation on Election Day

Three U.S. communities on Election Day said yes to water fluoridation, including Wilmington, Ohio, which will initiate a water fluoridation program.

From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2016-archive/november/three-us-communities-choose-fluoridation-on-election-day

Quintuplets delivered on mom's birthday

In a rare occurrence, a Kentucky mother gave birth to five babies, fulfilling her birthday wish

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/quintuplets-delivered-on-moms-birthday/

Grated Cheese Products Recalled by 4C Foods

Grated Cheese Products Recalled by 4C Foods



From: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/food-poisoning/news/20161117/grated-cheese-recall?src=RSS_PUBLIC

U.S. Surgeon General Declares War on Addiction

Report calls for proven medical treatments and compassion to combat the national crisis



From: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20161117/us-surgeon-general-declares-war-on-addiction?src=RSS_PUBLIC

New Drug Approved for Postmenopause Sexual Pain

New Drug Approved for Postmenopause Sexual Pain



From: http://www.webmd.com/menopause/news/20161117/intrarosa-approved-sexual-pain?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Surprise doctor bills from ER can add angst to injury

Researchers warn that many insured patients may be in for a shock when their medical bills arrive

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/surprise-doctor-bills-from-er-care-can-add-angst-to-injury/

DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg on America's "growing" opioid problem

Acting administrator explains agency's efforts to curtail growing public health problemd

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/america-opioid-prescription-pills-problem-drug-enforcement-agency-chuck-rosenberg/

Surgeon general: Addiction is not a character flaw

Dr. Vivek Murthy calls for a major cultural shift in the way Americans view drug and alcohol addiction

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/addiction-is-a-chronic-illness-not-character-flaw-surgeon-general-vivek-murthy/

What is the STOCK Act?



From: USDA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sLQ_N1dLpQ

“This Is Role Reversal. This Is Diabetes.”

Guadalupe and his mother

Guadalupe has 10 brothers and sisters. Thinking back on his childhood, he remembers his father, an immigrant from Mexico, working long hours every day of the week to pick produce like tomatoes, peaches and apricots in a field in California.

He remembers his mother somehow taking care of all 11 children, including cooking all of their meals, making sure they had clean clothes to wear and managing the income brought home by her husband.

Now, their roles are reversed. Guadalupe’s mother, now age 88, has been living with him in his Washington, D.C., rowhome for about six months. He’s her caregiver now—which means helping to manage her type 2 diabetes.

This is their story.

During American Diabetes Month® we’re sharing the stories of people affected by diabetes, just like Guadalupe. What do YOU want the world to know about this disease?

If you or someone you know is living with diabetes, share your story during November using #ThisIsDiabetes. And learn more at http://diabetes.org/adm.



From: American Diabetes Association http://diabetesstopshere.org/2016/11/17/this-is-guadalupe/

WHO welcomes global health funding for malaria vaccine

The world’s first malaria vaccine will be rolled out in pilot projects in sub-Saharan Africa, WHO confirmed today. Funding is now secured for the initial phase of the programme and vaccinations are due to begin in 2018.

The vaccine, known as RTS,S, acts against P. falciparum, the most deadly malaria parasite globally, and the most prevalent in Africa. Advanced clinical trials have shown RTS,S to provide partial protection against malaria in young children.

From: http://www.who.int/entity/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/funding-malaria-vaccine/en/index.html

WHO and the World Bank engage in new funding framework agreements

During Ebola outbreak crisis in 2014, WHO and World Bank joined their efforts to support emergency operations in affected countries and others under risk countries. In the absence of legally agreed implementation mechanism, a specific Agreement only restricted to responding to the Ebola Virus Disease was set up to speed up emergency operations and response for a total of US$ 60 million in two years.

Drawing from that experience, and given the recurrence of World-Bank financed operations and projects under governments that are implemented by WHO, the two Institutions have engaged in filling the gap by signing these Framework Agreements.

From: http://www.who.int/entity/mediacentre/news/notes/2016/world-bank-funding-agreements/en/index.html

Indian Dental Association honors ADA 2nd District trustee

The Indian Dental Association bestowed its Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Chad P. Gehani, ADA 2nd District trustee, Nov. 4 at a ceremony here.

From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2016-archive/november/indian-dental-association-honors-ada-2nd-district-trustee

Drug can help slow advanced breast cancer

Palbociclib, along with a standard treatment for advanced breast cancer, showed a "remarkable" benefit in new clinical trial

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/drug-palbociclib-ibrance-can-help-slow-advanced-breast-cancer/

U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions

Ahold USA (Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop New York, Giant Landover and Giant Carlisle) “Ahold USA’s retail divisions of Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop New York, Giant Landover and Giant Carlisle are always looking for innovative ways to lessen their impact on the environment.

From: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2016/11/0245.xml&contentidonly=true

Polenta with fresh vegetables



From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/recipes/polenta-with-fresh-vegetables/rcp-20049806

Orange-rosemary roasted chicken



From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/recipes/orange-rosemary-roasted-chicken/rcp-20049687

Sexual assault survivors struggle with Trump election

For some women, Donald Trump's campaign and subsequent election victory forced them to relive their own painful experiences

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sexual-assault-survivors-cope-with-donald-trump-election/

Brain science suggests “mind wandering” can help manage anxiety

When we think of anxiety disorders, we generally think of them as uncomfortable emotional responses to threat. These responses may include symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, or absolute paralysis. While there is nothing inherently wrong in thinking about anxiety this way, a recent study pointed out that there is an entirely different way of thinking about anxiety that may be even more helpful. According to psychologist Kalina Christoff and her colleagues, anxiety may be more appropriately thought of as “mind-wandering gone awry.”

The advantages of mind-wandering

In your brain, there are circuits that promote mind-wandering and they are not all bad. In fact, these very circuits help you maintain a sense of self, understand what others are thinking more accurately, become more creative, and even predict the future. Without your mind-wandering circuits, your brain’s ability to focus would become depleted, and you would be disconnected from yourself and others too.

In addition to the natural and frequent tendency for your mind to stray, it also has automatic constraints too, to ensure that it does not stray too far. When daydreaming during a boring lecture, for example, your brain may jerk you back into reality.

When mind-wandering goes awry

One of the things that a wandering mind is in search of is meaning. By connecting the past, present, and future, it helps you compose a narrative to connect the dots in your life. This narrative is constantly being updated. But sometimes, the wandering mind can encounter threats. Rather than proverbially “whistling in the dark,” the brain can overreact to these threats.

In the brain of an individual with generalized anxiety disorder, for example, the anxiety processor (the amygdala) is disrupted. Although it has strong connections to the “inner eye” (attention), it lacks a connection to the brain circuits that signal how important or significant a threat is. Without the ability to assess the significance of threats, they can all feel the same.

As a result, the “inner eye” gets fixated on negative thoughts. This fixation is a way of constraining the mind too, but it is not actually helpful. Anxious people focus more on external threats in an exaggerated way. They become glued to the threats. Anything from being teased to being ticked off feels much more troubling than it would to someone without an anxiety disorder. And it’s not just conscious threats that grab your attention. It’s subliminal threats too! Threats, of which you are completely unaware, capture your brain’s attention. A mind, once free to wander, is desperately forced to stop in its tracks in what can be construed as a catastrophic confusion of constraints.

Let your mind wander away from perceived threats

When your brain has automatically grabbed your wandering mind, and fixed your attention on threat, rather than getting a proverbial “grip” on reality, you actually have to loosen your grip on your threat-focused reality — allow your mind to wander! As Christoff and colleagues put it, you de-automatize your constraints.

Because your brain’s inner eye has its resources fixed on the threat, it gets progressively exhausted too. You can’t really summon it to help you suppress the anxiety, or get your mind off of it. Instead, you have to reactivate your mind-wandering circuits to give your attention a break.

Practically speaking, there are a few ways to do this. First, identify the negative spiral that has occurred like a pothole into which you have fallen on a mind-wandering journey. Simply name the feeling you are feeling and recognize that you need a mental reset. Rather than deliberately trying to suppress the feeling, accept that your mind is wandering, and that the fixation on threat is not the constraint solution you are looking for.

To counter this constraint, up the ante on the mind wandering — wander even more. If you’re at work, you could keep a knitting kit and start using it just when anxiety strikes, or if at home, you could go out and do some gardening. Meditation is also an effective way to get out of the fixed threat hole.

So when you’re next feeling anxious or wired, try allowing your mind to do what it naturally does — wander! You can bring it back to task gently, without fearing that you have lost your way. Or you can expect that it is wired to switch between wandering and focused states, and it will eventually come back on its own. The more you mindfully interact with this switch, the more adept your brain will become at initiating it.

The post Brain science suggests “mind wandering” can help manage anxiety appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.



From: Srini Pillay, MD http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-different-way-to-manage-anxiety-evidence-from-brain-science-2016111710659

'Yo-Yo Dieting' Hard on Older Women's Hearts

But at least one nutrition expert says it's too soon to draw conclusions



From: http://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/news/20161117/yo-yo-dieting-hard-on-older-womens-hearts-study?src=RSS_PUBLIC

More U.S. Kids Getting Drug-Resistant Infections

Finding highlights growing problem of antibiotic resistance



From: http://www.webmd.com/children/news/20161117/more-us-kids-getting-drug-resistant-infections?src=RSS_PUBLIC

U.S. surgeon general issues first report on addiction

Washington — More than 20 million people have substance use disorders, but only 1 in 10 ever receive specialty treatment, according to a new report from the U.S. surgeon general on addiction released Nov. 17.

From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2016-archive/november/us-surgeon-general-issues-first-report-on-addiction

Almost 1 in 4 Face Surprise Bills After ER Visit

Although hospital may be in insurance network, doctors who treat you may not be, study finds



From: http://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/20161116/almost-1-in-4-face-surprise-bills-after-er-visit?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Safety Group Releases Annual Dangerous Toys List

Risks include choking and suffocation, as well as injuries from shooting toys



From: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20161116/safety-group-releases-annual-dangerous-toys-list?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Many AFib Patients Missing Out on Blood Thinners

Half aren't being given these potentially lifesaving medications when discharged from hospital, researchers say



From: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/atrial-fibrillation/news/20161116/many-atrial-fibrillation-patients-missing-out-on-blood-thinners?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Secretary Vilsack’s Rural Health Day Message



From: USDA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbQLZ-US9K4

Grated cheese recalled over salmonella concerns

Callback involves of 4C Grated Cheese, Homestyle Grated Cheese, and Cento Grated Cheese Brands

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/4c-grated-cheese-recalled-over-salmonella-concerns/

Making Mayo's Recipes Roasted Cornish Hen



From: Mayo Clinic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbTUHsFE2JI

Polenta with fresh vegetables



From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/recipes/polenta-with-fresh-vegetables/rcp-20049806

Orange-rosemary roasted chicken



From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/recipes/orange-rosemary-roasted-chicken/rcp-20049687

Polenta with fresh vegetables



From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/recipes/polenta-with-fresh-vegetables/rcp-20049806

Orange-rosemary roasted chicken



From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/recipes/orange-rosemary-roasted-chicken/rcp-20049687