The Science and Practice of Happiness Across the Lifespan

Uploaded on Jul 1, 2011

Is happiness a skill? Modern neuroscientific research and the wisdom of ancient contemplative traditions converge in suggesting that happiness is the product of skills that can be enhanced through training and such training exemplifies how transforming the mind can change the brain. 

Kent Berridge, Richie Davidson, and Daniel Gilbert speak at the Aspen Ideas Festival

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• Music

  • "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" by Dick Hyman (iTunes • eMusic)

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  • Science & Technology

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  • Standard YouTube License

Link: https://youtu.be/MDTi2_PHiiM

Living with a Purpose

Conclusion:

A sense of purpose in life also gives you this considerable advantage:

"People with a sense of purpose in life have a lower risk of death and cardiovascular disease."

The conclusions come from over 136,000 people who took part in 10 different studies.

Participants in the studies were mostly from the US and Japan.


The US studies asked people:

• how useful they felt to others,
• about their sense of purpose, and
• the meaning they got out of life.

The Japanese studies asked people about ‘ikigai’ or whether their life was worth living.
The participants, whose average age was 67, were tracked for around 7 years.

During that time almost 20,000 died.
 
But, amongst those with a strong sense of purpose or high ‘ikigai’, the risk of death was one-fifth lower.

Despite the link between sense of purpose and health being so intuitive, scientists are not sure of the mechanism.

Sense of purpose is likely to improve health by strengthening the body against stress.

It is also likely to be linked to healthier behaviours.

Dr. Alan Rozanski, one of the study’s authors, said:

“Of note, having a strong sense of life purpose has long been postulated to be an important dimension of life, providing people with a sense of vitality motivation and resilience.

Nevertheless, the medical implications of living with a high or low sense of life purpose have only recently caught the attention of investigators.

The current findings are important because they may open up new potential interventions for helping people to promote their health and sense of well-being.”

This research on links between sense of purpose in life and longevity is getting stronger all the time:

• “A 2009 study of 1,238 elderly people found that those with a sense of purpose lived longer.
• A 2010 study of 900 older adults found that those with a greater sense of purpose were much less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
• Survey data often links a sense of purpose in life with increased happiness.

No matter what your age, then, it’s worth thinking about what gives your life meaning.”



Read More:

Find out what kinds of things people say give their lives meaning.

Here’s an exercise for increasing meaningfulness

And a study finding that feeling you belong increases the sense of meaning.

The study was published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine (Cohen et al., 2015).




Link: http://www.spring.org.uk/2015/12/here-is-why-a-sense-of-purpose-in-life-is-important-for-health.php?utm_source=PsyBlog&utm_campaign=20bb99705f-WEEKLY_RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_MAILCHIMP&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_10ef814328-20bb99705f-213925841

Nature Takes Back

 

Tips to Stay Smart, Sharp, and Focused

Your daily habits can have a big impact on your memory, focus, and mood. Here's what to do to help keep your mind sharp.

Use Your Brain

It's true: Use it or lose it. Stretching your brain keeps your mind sharp. People who are more active in mentally challenging activities are much less likely to get Alzheimer's disease. Try these:

• Read a book.
• Go to a lecture.
• Listen to the radio.
• Play a game.
• Visit a museum.
• Learn a second language.

 

Mix Things Up

Remember trying to talk backwards as a child? Researchers at Duke University created exercises they call "neurobics," which challenge your brain to think in new ways. Since your five senses are key to learning, use them to exercise your mind. If you're right-handed, try using your left hand. Drive to work by another route. Close your eyes and see if you can recognize food by taste.

Work Out to Stay Sharp

Exercise, especially the kind that gets your heart rate up like walking or swimming, has mental pluses, too. Although experts aren't sure why, physical activity might increase the blood supply to the brain and improve links between brain cells. Staying active can help memory, imagination, and even your ability to plan tasks.

A Healthy Diet Builds Brainpower

Do your brain a favor and choose foods that are good for your heart and waistline. Being obese in middle age makes you twice as likely to have dementia later on. High cholesterol and high blood pressure raise your chances, too. Try these easy tips:

• Bake or grill foods instead of frying.
• Cook with "good" fats like oils from nuts, seeds, and olives instead of cream, butter, and fats from meat.
• Eat colorful fruits and veggies.

Watch What You Drink

You know that too many drinks can affect your judgment, speech, movement, and memory. But did you know alcohol can have long-term effects? Too much drinking over a long period of time can shrink the frontal lobes of your brain. And that damage can last forever, even if you quit drinking. A healthy amount is considered one drink a day for women and two for men.

Video Games Train Your Brain

Grab that joystick. Several studies found that playing video games stimulates the parts of the brain that control movement, memory, planning, and fine motor skills. Some experts say gaming only makes you better at gaming. The verdict may still be out, but why let kids have all the fun?

Music Helps Your Brain

Thank your mom for making you practice the piano. Playing an instrument early in life pays off in clearer thinking when you're older. Musical experience boosts mental functions that have nothing to do with music, such as memory and ability to plan. It also helps with greater hand coordination. Plus, it's fun -- and it's never too late to start.

Make Friends for Your Mind

Be a people person! Talking with others actually sharpens your brain, whether at work, at home, or out in your community. Studies show social activities improve your mind. So volunteer, sign up for a class, or call a friend.

Stay Calm

Too much stress can hurt your gray matter, which contains cells that store and process information. Here are some ways to chill:

• Take deep breaths.
• Find something that makes you laugh.
• Listen to music.
• Try yoga or meditation.
• Find someone to talk to.

Sleep and the Brain

Get enough sleep before and after you learn something new. You need sleep on both ends. When you start out tired, it's hard to focus on things. And when you sleep afterward, your brain files away the new info so you can recall it later. A long night's rest is best for memory and your mood. Adults need 7-8 hours of sleep every night.

Memory Helpers

Everybody spaces out now and then. As you get older, you may not remember things as easily as you used to. That's a normal part of aging. Some helpful hints:

• Write things down.
• Use the calendar and reminder functions in your phone, even for simple things (Call Dad!).
• Focus on one task at a time.
• Learn new things one step at a time.

The Name Game

Have trouble recalling names? Always repeat a person's name while you're talking to them -- at least in your head, if not out loud. Or invent a funny image or rhyme that you link with their name. For example, think of Bob bobbing out in the ocean.

Link: http://www.webmd.com/brain/ss/slideshow-fit-brains?ecd=wnl_men_120115&ctr=wnl-men-120115_nsl-ld-stry_desc&mb=%2fYEUKcm5jBiihqPGg%2fPGD2dEpmNqbUHLAOXXq3hWp98%3d

Ship in a Bottle

Art in a Bottle- How Did They Get That Ship in There

The Schooner Virginia Races the Pride of Baltimore II past Thimble Shoals Lighthouse.
Created by marine artist Heather Gabrielle Rogers.

The first known ship inside a bottle was created during the early years of the 19th century. Like other sailor-made art forms, these were created aboard old sailing ships in an era when sea voyages lasted months and sometimes years. Whalemen, during their idle hours, produced scrimshaw for family members, sweethearts, and friends. Decorative and utilitarian objects were carved from bone, ivory teeth, and baleen, and designs were engraved on the same materials. But other materials such as wood, rope and yarn were also used, and many interesting and decorative objects were created from these.

Two tall ships pass each other in this early 20th century ship in a bottle diorama.

It is not surprising then that an empty spirit or a medicine bottle lying around aboard ship might have spurred the imagination of a 19th century seaman into devising a way to display a model ship in it. Whatever the origin, the technique for placing ships into bottles was passed along and over time became a favored art form for sailors. Some sailors produced a facsimile of the ship that they sailed aboard; others may have created multiple ships passing by under full sail on rough painted clay seas or a diorama of a ship in harbor with the seaport in a background, a lighthouse at the harbor’s edge, possibly with tugboats in tow. These works can now be found in maritime museums around the world for there are few sailor-made decorations as nautical as a bottled ship.

Tom Applegate prepares the US Coast Guard tall ship "Eagle" for launching in the bottle.

Today, ship-in-bottle artists have taken the old sailor art form and produce exceptional works of art with microscopic detailing that will rival anyone’s imagination of “how did they get that in the bottle.” A selection of new works by Heather Gabrielle Rogers and Tom Applegate will also be a focus of this nautical show.

The US Coast Guard tall ship "Eagle" under sail on blue clay seas.

Skipjack Nautical Wares & Marine Gallery is hosting “Art in a Bottle,” a collection of exceptional ship-in-bottles and dioramas from the 19th century through the present and featuring recent creations by maritime
artists Heather Gabrielle Rogers and Tom Applegate.

Heather Gabrielle Rogers- As a passionate crafter of ships in bottles, Heather has developed a huge appreciation for the challenge of constructing these tiny ships with my main focus directed towards detail. Her overall goal is to always produce what appears to be a miniature version of a ship or vessel captured in a moment in time.

Thomas Applegate- From as far back as he could remember he has had a love for the sea. In the early 1970's he made his first ship in a bottle, a brigantine. Being self taught, he found it very challenging and rewarding. Over the years, he has researched each vessel he has created in order to make them a work of art while being true to life.

LOCATION

Skipjack nautical Wares & Marine Gallery is located on the riverfront, 1 High Street next to the High Street Landing in Olde Towne Portsmouth, Virginia. Parking is available in the municiple parking lot next to the gallery and the Water Street garage located across the street of the building and along High Street.

Link: http://skipjacksnauticalliving.blogspot.ca/

Achieving Manageable, Meaningful Change

Intentional Change Theory

Achieving Manageable, Meaningful Change

Intentional Change Theory gives you the tools you need to transform yourself.

How many times have you tried to change something about yourself, only to find yourself slipping back into old habits?

Change is never easy, whether you're trying to change a behavior, an attitude, or your current circumstances.

The process is likely to be more "stop, start, stop, start" than the smooth transition you'd like it to be, as willpower flags and as other priorities vie for your attention.

Change is especially tough if you haven't wholly bought into it – for example, if you're trying to make a change that, deep down, you don't want to make, or if you're making a change that was designed for someone else and that doesn't fully align with your aspirations.

This is why it's helpful to create a personalized change plan. In this article, we'll look at Intentional Change Theory, a framework that you can use to create a change plan that is tailored to you – with your own unique strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, dreams, and support networks.

Note:

This article focuses on career-related change. However, you can apply Intentional Change Theory to personal goals, too: for example, you can use it for a diet or fitness plan, for home interests or study, or for changing a habit or belief that's holding you back.


About the Tool

Richard Boyatzis, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, developed Intentional Change Theory (ICT) as part of his work on individual and organizational change.

He published it in 2006 in the Journal of Management Development.

The theory outlines five common-sense steps that you need to follow if you want to make a lasting change within yourself. These five steps are:

Discover your ideal self.

Discover your real self.

Create your learning agenda.

Experiment with and practice new habits.

Get support.

From Boyatzis, R.E. (2006) 'An Overview of Intentional Change From a Complexity Perspective,' Journal of Management Development, Vol. 25, No. 7. Reproduced with permission of Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

These steps guide you through the process of mapping out your plans, putting them into practice, and making them part of your life.

Applying Intentional Change Theory

Let's look at each step in detail, and explore how to follow each one through.

1. Discover Your Ideal Self

There is often a gap between who we are and who we ultimately want to be. So, the first step in making an intentional change is to define your ideal self.

Start by forming a clear sense of what you'd like to achieve. Think about your hopes and aspirations, and clarify them into short- and long-term goals .

Pay attention to what excites you during this process. Discard goals that you don't feel enthusiastic about, and keep exploring until you find ones that you'd truly like to achieve. Remember that they might be drastically different from what you're doing now.

Write down all of your dreams, however far-fetched they seem. At this stage of the process, it's helpful to see all of your hopes and aspirations, even if you later decide that some of them are not immediately achievable.

Next, think about what kind of person you'd like to be. Be specific: would you like to have more empathy? Arrive at work with more energy? Have more patience? Visualize the person that you'd like to become in detail, and write this down.

Tip 1:

One way to motivate yourself during your period of change is to create a Treasure Map of your goals. Alternatively, you may find that a personal mission and vision statement inspires you.

Tip 2:

Our Life Plan Workbook ($) gives you a comprehensive framework for exploring and clarifying your life goals.


2. Discover Your Real Self

Your next step is to define your real self – the person you are right now. This can be a challenging step, because many of us have trouble seeing our strengths and weaknesses clearly. However, it's essential to uncover both the good and the bad: you'll struggle to reach your goal if you are not clear about your starting point.

Start by defining your own strengths and weaknesses. Use tools such as the StrengthsFinder , Personal SWOT Analysis , and Myers-Briggs to uncover more about your real self.

Alternatively, start with a simple list. What do you like most about yourself? What needs to change? Explore your current attitudes, assumptions, behaviors, and habits.

Also, ask for feedback  from family, friends, colleagues, and your boss, explaining that you'd like their opinion on your strengths and weaknesses, so that you can work on these. Then use the Feedback Matrix  to explore this feedback in more detail.
3. Create Your Learning Agenda

Now that you've defined who you are and who you'd like to be, you can create a "learning agenda" to align reality with the vision. Your learning agenda (also known as a personal development plan ) will also help you stay on track.

First, define what you need to do to move from your current self to your ideal self. Who can help you along this path? What resources do you need? Brainstorm the ways that you can access the information or training you need.

Then, identify your learning style . When you know this, you can learn more effectively – both on your own and in a group. For example, if you know that you prefer to learn by reflecting on information, schedule time to do this after a class or at the end of a study session.

Find a mentor or coach who can help you become your ideal self. This person might be a work colleague, friend, business associate, or professional coach.

Tip 1:

It's essential to do a reality check at this stage. There may be some changes that just aren't possible right now. Note these down on a "bigger picture" list of plans. You can work on these when your circumstances or resources change.

Tip 2:

You may be held back by a lack of time, or by conflicting demands. You can deal with this by focusing on a few changes at a time. Also, and where appropriate, embed your learning in your working life to help avoid frustration: our article on finding time for professional development outlines ways that you can fit learning into your schedule.


4. Experiment and Practice New Habits

Once you're heading in the right direction, it's time to practice. This will help you turn the changes you've made into new habits. Whether you're adopting a new skill, starting a micro-business, or changing an attitude or belief, do something – however small – every day that reinforces the changes you've made.

This step is also about experimenting – that is, finding stimulating ways to learn – and then testing your new knowledge, skills, or attitudes.

Tip:

Quick wins are an important source of motivation and self-confidence. For example, imagine that you're trying to be more patient with others. Find a small way to build your patience with your team every day.


5. Get Support

None of us gets far alone. Friends, family, colleagues, and our community can encourage us and give support that propels us through challenging times.

As you're going through the intentional change process, draw on the support of the people around you. Tell people you trust about what you want to do, and why you want to do it. Share your learning agenda, and ask for their support as you move forward.

Tip:

Remember, you're not the only person who's trying to change him- or herself positively. Build good work relationships by helping your colleagues with their own development: this way, you can give one-another support.

Key Points

Richard Boyatzis, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, created the Intentional Change Theory (ICT) and published it in the Journal of Management Development in 2006.

The model recommends that you use the following five steps to make a lasting change:

Discover your ideal self.
Discover your real self.
Create your learning agenda.
Experiment with and practice new habits.
Get support.

You can use the framework to customize your change process to suit your own life, learning style, and environment. However, change will only happen if you build small changes into your life, practice them to build new habits, and ask for support when you need it.


This site teaches you the skills you need for a happy and successful career; and this is just one of many tools and resources that you'll find here at Mind Tools.

 Subscribe to our free newsletter, or join the Mind Tools Club and really supercharge your career!

By Caroline Smith and the Mind Tools Team

Source: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/intentional-change-theory.htm

O VAGABUNDO - Charles Chaplin

Link: https://youtu.be/ye1If4cjwY4

Robbie Burns: To A Mouse

 

 

TO A MOUSE

ON TURNING HER UP IN HER NEST WITH THE PLOUGH, NOVEMBER, 1785

by: Robert Burns (1759-1796)

I

 

EE, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,

Oh, what a panic's in thy breastie!

Thou need na start awa sae hasty,

Wi' bickering brattle!

I was be laith to rin an' chase thee,

Wi' murd'ring pattle!

 

II

 

I'm truly sorry man's dominion

Has broken Nature's social union,

An' justifies that ill opinion

Which makes thee startle

At me, thy poor, earth-born companion

An' fellow-mortal!

 

III

 

I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;

What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!

A daimen-icker in a thrave

'S a sma' request;

I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,

And never miss't!

 

IV

 

Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!

Its silly wa's the win's are strewin!

An' naething, now, to big a new ane,

O' foggage green!

An' bleak December's winds ensuin,

Baith snell an' keen!

 

V

 

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,

An' weary winter comin fast,

An' cozie here, beneath the blast,

Thou thought to dwell,

Till crash! the cruel coulter past

Out thro' thy cell.

 

VI

 

That wee bit heap o' leaves an stibble,

Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!

Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,

But house or hald,

To thole the winter's sleety dribble,

An' cranreuch cauld!

 

VII

 

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,

In proving foresight may be vain:

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men

Gang aft a-gley,

An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,

For promis'd joy!

 

VIII

 

Still thou art blest, compared wi' me!

The present only toucheth thee:

But och! I backward cast my e'e,

On prospects drear!

An' forward, tho' I cannot see,

I guess an' fear!

"To a Mouse" is reprinted from English Poems. Ed. Edward Chauncey Baldwin & Harry G. Paul. New York: American Book Company, 1908.

 Source:
 http://www.poetry-archive.com/b/to_a_mouse.html

  

 Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth
(By permission of the National Galleries of Scotland) 

Embrace Change

The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress
– Charles F. Kettering



The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
- Socrates


What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.
- C. S. Lewis



An investment in life is an investment in change... When you are changing all the time, you've got to continue to keep adjusting to change, which means that you are going to be constantly facing new obstacles. That's the joy of living. And once you're involved in the process of becoming, there is no stopping.
- Leo F. Buscaglia



All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy, for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another.
- Anatole France




Become a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain constant.
- Anthony D'Angelo'

Addiction and Recovery

 
Home » Substance-Related Disorders

Psychiatric Times. Vol. 28 No. 6

SUBSTANCE ABUSE: ADDICTION and RECOVERY

Novel Therapies for Cognitive Dysfunction Secondary to Substance Abuse
Brief Screening, Referral, and Cognitive Rehabilitation

*By Antonio Verdejo-García, PhD | June 8, 2011


The prevalence and durability of cognitive deficits in patients with substance use disorders raises the need to develop specific assessment and rehabilitation strategies. This is pertinent because general deficits in cognitive function and specific deficits in executive functions are robustly associated with worse drug treatment outcomes, including poorer adherence, shorter retention, and greater risk of relapse.14-16

In this article, I propose the use of a brief screening instrument for frontal-executive deficits in patients with substance use disorders and provide examples of novel treatment interventions aimed at addressing these deficits.

Instruments to assess substance use–related cognitive deficits

Key manifestations of cognitive/executive dysfunction among patients with substance use disorders are:

• Difficulties in understanding complex instructions

• Distractibility

• Premature or disinhibited responses

• Thought and behavioral inflexibility

• Some other symptoms may be neglected by the patient but stressed by significant collaterals, including:

- problems with initiating and planning novel activities, 

- disorganized behavior, 

- lack of insight into his or her mistakes, and 

- lack of concern about the consequences.
Insight is often lacking in the patient, which underscores the need for the clinician to effectively screen for cognitive dysfunction.

If cognitive impairment is suspected in light of clinical observations and interviews, I recommend the use of a brief screening instrument to detect frontostriatal systems–derived cognitive, behavioral, and emotional deficits. For example, the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe) is a sensitive instrument used to detect frontostriatal-related deficits in patients with substance use disorders.17-19

The FrSBe is composed of 46 items (rated on a 1 to 5 Likert scale) that yield 3 scores for:

-symptoms of apathy, 

- disinhibition, and executive dysfunction (working memory, planning, or awareness deficits), as well as

- an overall score of frontostriatal-systems dysfunction.

The scale includes a self-report and a collateral report. Both reports have shown adequate reliability indices, but the use of the latter is especially recommended when the patient’s insight deficits are overtly manifest.17

The scale also possesses norms extracted from the healthy population of the United States, which provides easy classification of patients as impaired or nonimpaired in comparison with demographically adjusted norms.

If the information from the clinical interviews and the scale’s scores converges to suggest at least mild cognitive impairment (below 1.5 standard deviations [SDs] in some of the FrSBe scales), the clinician can complement the assessment by administering a brief battery of neuropsychological tests focused on those cognitive abilities with well-known implications for addiction treatment prognosis (Table). Response inhibition is measured with the Stroop test, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is used to measure flexibility/perseveration, decision-making capacity is measured using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT).14-16

The Stroop test measures response inhibition, and it is based on the interference effect driven by the demand of naming the color of a word that is printed in a color incongruent with the name (eg, the word blue printed in red).20

The test consists of 3 conditions.

1. The first condition (W) presents the words red, blue, and green printed in black ink, and patients are requested to read aloud these words.

2. The second condition (C) presents strings of XXX printed in the same 3 colors, and patients have to name the colors as quickly and accurately as possible.

3. The third condition (WC) introduces the interference effect: the words red, blue, and green are printed in incongruent colors and patients have to name the color and ignore the word.

The interference score (IS) is calculated by subtracting a weighted mean of the first 2 conditions from the third condition [IS = WC 2 (C 3 W)/(C + W)]; then results are compared with normative values to evaluate the degree of impairment.

The WCST21 is a measure of flexibility to change. It measures response patterns in the face of changing schedules of reinforcement. The clinician presents 4 stimulus cards; the shapes on the cards differ in color, quantity, and design. 

The patient is given a stack of 64 cards that he has to sort according to initially unknown criteria. However, the examiner knows the criteria (the first sorting criterion is the color of the shapes, the second is the design of the shapes, and the third is the number of shapes) and provides trial-by-trial feedback of the correctness or incorrectness of each card sorted.

Patients try to sort the cards correctly by adjusting their performance to the ongoing feedback. Critically, the sorting criteria change across the test (without any overt warning from the examiner): after 10 consecutive hits in sorting by color, the criterion changes to shape, and then to number.





*Dr Verdejo-García is Researcher and Lecturer at the Department of Clinical Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience, Universidad de Granada, Spain. He reports no conflicts of interest concerning the subject matter of this article.



Read More:
Source:  http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/substance-use-disorder

ANIMAL FRIENDS IN PICTURES