It is interesting, but man, the last thing I want to learn about myself is that my brain is smaller!

Not smaller, lopsided!

Actually, and I know this is just the nutball “I worry about everything” side of me, but I would much rather have a lifetime of depression than alzheimer’s.

For the record, make sure safe search is on google images when searching “lopsided”

Here is the WebMD article I was telling you about regarding dreams and coping. Now I’m kinda glad I am doing my Dreamblog to help me identify what issues my mind is working on!

Oops! Forgot to insert the addy: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/the-health-benefits-of-dreams

Actually, I just remembered…When I was in the hospital in Victoria, there was a fellow patient who got to see the the very famous shrink who treated patients on the ward (I had a well-known doctor, too, but she was pretty useless unfortunately; I have no idea how she got to be so well known when she couldn’t be bothered reading anyone’s charts…but that’s another story). Anyway, this shrink told the fellow patient of mine that that people with major depression actually do have some shrinkage occur in their brains. I’m not sure if it was a particular part of the brain or the brain in general, but there was shrinkage. It was a very disconcerting thing to learn.

@WC

*sigh*

Ok, so my brain is getting smaller…. It’s a very disconcerting thing to hear, actually.

@Anju

It’s odd, now that I think about it, that I feel less “stressed” when I remember my dreams. I also notice that I tend to dream more when I’m not depressed.

Seems to me that “one-sided” use of the brain quite logically makes the brain develop “one-sidedness”. Neuroplasticity. I wouldn’t get too disconcerted. Just enough to start training the neglected, understimulated part of my brain.

The last line is indeed what’s most disconcerting to me too. Do pills train anything else but Big Pharma’s bank account?…

@Marian

Good to see you!

That is a very good point, just start to re-wire/re-map the brain to take on the tasks.

While I know this is an extreme example Kim Peek is a perfect case of how the human body can re-map the functions of the mind.

Ah, yes. I remember, I once saw a documentary about him. Amazing. I wish, I could read at that speed, and recall the whole thing. At least, I wish, I’d been able to during school and university

I think, it’s somehow the same with all kinds of “mental illness”. The question is, if the abnormality was there from day one, or if your brain develops in a certain way, depending on the stimuli from your environment. I mean, if you for instance grow up with one or both of your parents “depressed”, that means a both stressful and especially in regard to joy and content, not that stimulating environment. If you’re exposed to that from an early age on, and maybe for decades, no wonder your brain eventually looks different from that of someone, who’s a lot less exposed to stress. I’d say, it’s only logic that a lack of emotional balance can create physical imbalances in your brain.

The tricky part then is to find ways how to achieve mental states of joy and content with a brain, that is underdeveloped in exactly the areas, you’d need to feel these emotions. A vicious circle, that needs a lot of awareness and hard, goal-directed work to break. I seriously doubt, any pill ever will be able to do that work.

Hm, I’m no expert in “depression”, but don’t they say, “depression” comes with “flattened affect”, and isn’t it the right brain hemisphere where emotion is located?

You bring up a great question, Marian. Was that always in the individual physical make up or was it something that grew over time.

Not on the topic of depression, but I knew someone that had a medical issue late in life but it turns out the condition was life long (malformed organ) and it didn’t show up until one day… As you pointed out, I could easily see how day in/day out exposure to stress could change the physical within the brain. Even in the most basic sense, changing the method one things changes the way the brain “fires”. I also agree that no pill will ever be able to develop those areas of the brain….

While it has been YEARS since my psychology classes, so I may be way off base here, but emotions (fear, joy, love, hate) I believe start in the Basal Ganglia. I think that is in the center of the brain (center/back). Ok, now I have to go do some reading! I want to know more on this.

You’re right, of course. It’s me, who oversimplified things a bit here. Maybe it’s more like, where in the brain (these) emotions get consciously experienced, something. However, my point here is, that I, in regard to emotional distress, don’t believe in the idea of biological brain diseases, that anyone is stuck with for life, and “Hey, look! They actually do have abnormal brains!” Yeah, maybe. But I think it’s the emotional distress, that has shaped the brain. Not the other way round.

I just recently read an article (Danish frigging psychologist writing in Danish, but I do have the link, if anyone wants to read it… ), that claimed reduced cognitive abilities to be a bio-marker for so-called “schizophrenia”. That I found really disconcerting. That a psychologist totally and completely ignores the fact, that stress very well may reduce the stressed individual’s cognitive abilities – and that neuroleptics are proven to shrink the brain – and attributes these reduced abilities to a mysterious brain disease, that no one so far has been able to establish any valid scientific evidence of its actual existence.

Usually I don’t like to talk about IQs, but between us here: I took a test when I was in my teens (extremely stressful period in my life), and I took one again a couple of years ago (same type of), about three years after my last crisis, i.e. after three years of hard work on an emotional as well as cognitive level. I scored 26 points higher in the latter. So much for “schizophrenia” per se causing progressive cognitive dysfunctionality. And for this dysfunctionality being a bio-marker for the alleged disease.

Hi Marian,

I understand your point, and I agree. I think the emotional effects (positive and negative) have the ability to change the way ones brain functions. Over a longer period of time I could understand how the physical aspects of the brain may also change.

The hard part is remembering we have the ability to impact our emotions. Remembering that we have the ability to make changes. Some times it is not easy, sometimes we CANNOT majge to do so at the moment we want, but we can make our own impact.

Interesting on the IQ perspective. I had not put much thought into ones IQ level changing based on emotional and cognitive growth (or recession) and it makes an outstanding point – we can change.

Just so you know, Marian, I really enjoy having your comments and input during discussions. They are always thought provoking and you bring up aspects of topics I hadn’t given perspective to.

Just thought you should know.

interesting and all I can think of to say right this second is in regards to your concern with the last line. Medications=BIG MONEY. and they generally do not help which equals even more money as patients return for more visits and different medications. Not one doctor in 20 years has offered up some sort of holistic, healthier approach. SAD!

It is scary. It quickly turns into a situation where the ultimate person involved (the child) gets overlooked while some method of holistic treatment would work.

What was once a machine pumping out drugs and getting profit may change, but there needs to be a mass awakening to have that happen

@Kim

I was thinking about this some more… the ones who do offer a holistic approach are often looked at as nutballs.

Even if it does help. Still Nutballs.