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greythinking.com

As of today, we are greythinking.com!  The original address, greythinking.wordpress.com, will continue to work, as will all of the original posts and links.  I figured it was about time that I got a “real” domain, though.

If anyone has problems with their RSS feeds (though you shouldn’t), let me know….

Serious apology…

…. for my absence these past several months.  a LOT has been going on in my life (thankfully mostly good things!) that have prevented me from having any free time… however, I AM back – and with a lot to say!  (some things never change).  so stay tuned…

GT’s first poll

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve added a poll to Grey Thinking’s sidebar (on the front page of the blog). I’ve thought about doing polls before, and while this one is not particularly creative, it is something that I’ve been wondering — how did you find out about GT?

I promise that future polls will be more interesting….

GT's first poll

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve added a poll to Grey Thinking’s sidebar (on the front page of the blog). I’ve thought about doing polls before, and while this one is not particularly creative, it is something that I’ve been wondering — how did you find out about GT?

I promise that future polls will be more interesting….

My cells feel unsafe

I had never really heard the word “safe” used in a non-physically risky context until my first inpatient stay. After that, I hardly could describe what I was feeling without using the word. Feeling “unsafe” was like saying I felt not-okay + restless + fearful + on-edge + anxious + in danger. It’s hard to explain because it is just this underlying/unconscious/indescribable feeling.

When I stumbled upon this article (Safety Can Be Learned – And Helps Combat Depression), everything seemed to just make sense — the fear conditioning occurs on a cellular level. I never really thought of it this way, but this explains why I can feel “unsafe” even when there isn’t an immediate stressor. Chronic fear causes changes in cellular and molecular processes, resulting in depression and this persistent “unsafe” feeling.

What was even MORE interesting was the idea of “learned safety.” Again, probably not a new concept, but the idea of associating a specific stimuli with a feeling of safety and reducing fear on a molecular level is pretty cool.

According to the article, fear causes that unsafe feeling. Chronically, this results in depression. Learned safety can be used to reduce fear… which means that it should also decrease depression.

Some technical highlights from the article:

Learned safety leads to cell biology reactions such as those caused by antidepressants but uses different molecular mechanisms.

Learned safety has a positive effect on newly created cells in a specific region of the hippocampus (dentate gyrus) in the brain. This was because significantly more new cells survived there when they had previously experienced a stimulus through learned safety. This effect on cell survival could be traced to increased expression of the protein BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which is also triggered by learned safety.

Now, my antidepressants don’t do much for the unsafe feeling that I sometimes get — maybe that’s why I never put the two together. However, if learned safety really can help combat depression, this could be a great adjunct to current MDD treatment…

Fresh paint

Sorry for the lack of updates — I’ve been working on redesigning Grey Thinking instead.  I haven’t had a chance to test it outside of Firefox on my Mac yet, so I apologize if everything looks wrong in Internet Explorer 6.0 :-

Regular blog posts to follow, shortly…

Remission in is (and Recovered is so last season)

There has been a lot of talk about remission in eating disorders lately, and I couldn’t be happier to hear about it. I have long believed that EDs are chronic and that even though it’s probably possible to reach a point of 98% recovery, there’s no hitting 100%. There is no recoverED.

While this probably sounds depressing, I actually think that the idea of remission is very validating. It gives you another shade of gray in the sick to healthy spectrum. Plus, I think there’s a fear (and hence a danger) that comes with the idea of being completely recovered. While recovery suggests, “You’re done! It’s over! You are cured, have a nice life!,” remission leaves the door open. To me it says “You’re doing great right now, but come back [to treatment] if you need to in the future.”

When you have been declared recoverED, do I think that you are less likely to go back and get treatment if things start to go south in the future? Absolutely. I mean heck, you recovered! The eating disorder is over. With remission, there’s more of a “okay, this is acting up again, I should do something about it” feeling. The relapse could be just as significant in either case, but it feels more reasonable to ask for help in the second case.

“duh” research (the first of many)

I’ve often wanted to write a weekly “did they seriously publish this?!” column, with a round-up of (what I consider to be) useless “research”… but I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with it due to my erratic blogging. Still, consider this post #1 of “please tell me time and resources were not wasted on this”:

MDLinx Health News: Eat more fruits, veggies:
Replacing high fat desserts and snacks with fruit and vegetables can help control weight, lower blood pressure and cholesterol along with adding antioxidants to your diet. Maintaining a healthy weight for adults and children may also help prevent many medical diseases such as hypertension, sleep apnea, pre-diabetes and heart disease….

(grey’s comment: No, you don’t say! Fruit and vegetables are good for you? Epiphany.)

The Irish Times: Mental illness linked to genes, says expert:
“‘There is a strong genetic component to most psychiatric disorders, with evidence coming from studies of twins and families,’ said Prof Peter McGuffin from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College in London”

“Behaviour can also be in part down to genes, he added. “There’s a lot of evidence from good old-fashioned twin and adoption studies that criminal behaviour is influenced by genes,” he said.”

“In addition to genes and the environment adding up together there’s something called gene-environment interaction, which means that some people are more susceptible to stresses than others. He cited alcoholism as an example: “Suppose you have an inherited predisposition to alcoholism – your parents might also have alcohol problems and you grew up in an environment where you were exposed to alcohol.

(grey’s comment: *cough* biopsychiatry *cough*)

That’s it for now — more later (for sure).

"duh" research (the first of many)

I’ve often wanted to write a weekly “did they seriously publish this?!” column, with a round-up of (what I consider to be) useless “research”… but I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with it due to my erratic blogging. Still, consider this post #1 of “please tell me time and resources were not wasted on this”:

MDLinx Health News: Eat more fruits, veggies:
Replacing high fat desserts and snacks with fruit and vegetables can help control weight, lower blood pressure and cholesterol along with adding antioxidants to your diet. Maintaining a healthy weight for adults and children may also help prevent many medical diseases such as hypertension, sleep apnea, pre-diabetes and heart disease….

(grey’s comment: No, you don’t say! Fruit and vegetables are good for you? Epiphany.)

The Irish Times: Mental illness linked to genes, says expert:
“‘There is a strong genetic component to most psychiatric disorders, with evidence coming from studies of twins and families,’ said Prof Peter McGuffin from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College in London”

“Behaviour can also be in part down to genes, he added. “There’s a lot of evidence from good old-fashioned twin and adoption studies that criminal behaviour is influenced by genes,” he said.”

“In addition to genes and the environment adding up together there’s something called gene-environment interaction, which means that some people are more susceptible to stresses than others. He cited alcoholism as an example: “Suppose you have an inherited predisposition to alcoholism – your parents might also have alcohol problems and you grew up in an environment where you were exposed to alcohol.

(grey’s comment: *cough* biopsychiatry *cough*)

That’s it for now — more later (for sure).