We can share experiences with a person online, but the experiences seem thin when compared with face-to-face experiences. Online adventures (social networking, gaming) can certainly strengthen friendship bonds that were forged in more embodied interactions, but can they create those bonds? The kind of presence required for deep friendship does not seem cultivated in many online interactions. Presence in friendship requires “being with” and “doing for” (sacrifice). The forms of “being with” and “doing for” on social networking sites (or even (...) in interactive gaming) seem trivial because the stakes are very low. More important, the “shared space” of digital life is disembodied space. We cannot really touch one another, smell one another, detect facial expressions or moods, and so on. Real bonding is more biological than psychological and requires physical contact. The emotional entanglement of real friendship produces oxytocin and endorphins in the brains and bodies of friends — cementing them together in ways that are more profound than other relationships. -/- It is possible that virtual reality and augmented reality technology will soon be able to generate such friendship-forming experiences. Having embodied adventures with another person — even in a V.R. suit — is more likely to trigger the deeper oxytocin-based bonding. Current social networking, however, seems to privilege the shallow triggers of the brain’s reward system (dopamine squirts in the ventral tegumental area). (shrink)

My understanding of the process of human endeavour began when I witnessed what happens when working memory capacity is met. The current theory is that when this occurs, memory fails, and that is as far as research has come to date. The fact is that which takes place at this moment is far more important, complex, and interesting than previously thought. When this happened, I was given the opportunity and ability to extrapolate an understanding of the logical process of human (...) endeavour, from the initial presentation of stimuli to the negotiation of successful endeavours and to the repercussions of failed ones. -/- It is true that when WMC is met, our memory fails, and we forget what we were doing. It is also true that when we experience overwhelming pain from a debilitating injury, a mechanism is activated that was previously attributed to Melzack and Wall's 'Gate Theory', which explained our innate ability to extract ourselves from danger when the pain would otherwise be considered to be too inhibitory. This mechanism sedates and, in turn, forces us to forget the current contents of our working memory, effectively disconnecting us from this pain and allowing us to recommence the negotiation of our current environment. Lastly, it is true that when endorphins are triggered, we effectively forget pain by being disconnected from any experience of physical and psychological injury. -/- The interesting fact is that all of these forgetting events take place for the same reason: we have become overwhelmed, which is definitively what happens when our WMC is met or exceeded. Further, in all of these situations, we have lost the ability to recall these memories without some external stimulus to remind us. Therefore, only when injury causes the event are we able to reconstruct our memory of the event, failing another person or visual cue to do the same. However, in the case of the experience of pain, the neural pathway to the injury remains sedated, as it is our prerogative. -/- If you cannot believe that this forgetting process occurs, then I challenge you to attempt to recall what you were trying to do at the time (apart from when you received a physical injury), whether you found an answer, what was the atmosphere, the situation, the scenario, or the environment you were in? Who were the people you were with, what time of day did it occur, what were you wearing, what were you eating, what was the weather like, how did you arrive at the place you were at or were you at home, were you well, or did you have a sniffle? Prove it; write it down. ‘Recall’ is generated when we engage and successfully ratify stimuli, and if we take away that recall, we take away affective access to that memory. It’s part of the process of forgetting through necessity. Without recall, memories do not exist. (shrink)

Background: The complexity of diagnostic presentations of an inpatient psychiatry population requires an integrative approach to health and well-being. In this sense, the primary need of this research aims at developing clinical strategies and healthier coping skills for anger, anxiety, and depression; promoting self-esteem, healthier sleep, and anxiety reduction; as well as enhancing mood and emotional–behavioral regulation via exercise and nutrition education. Objectives: The primary objective is to promote exercise, fitness, and physical health in inpatient psychiatry patients. The secondary objective (...) includes therapeutic management of depressive symptoms and patient-centered approach to mania, angry outbursts, and generalized disruptive behavior. The tertiary objective is promoting research in the psychophysiological effectors of exercise and nutrition education in combination with psychotherapy. Method: Monitoring self-reported changes in mood and general well-being via administration of surveys and questionnaires pre- and postexercise sessions. Results: The research yielded positive outcomes in all areas investigated, suggesting the positive effects of exercise and mind–body strategies in the context of psychotherapy in inpatient psychiatry. Conclusion: Physical exercise may be a helpful way to reduce mental health disorders in the context of inpatient psychiatry by targeting anxiety, depression, anger, psychomotor agitation, and muscle tension and addressing stressors and triggers and to develop a more balanced and integrated sense of self. (shrink)