"Murphy was an optimist!"
Vacation Done July 23, 2012 4:53 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, Health, Mental, Of Being DadI have just completed a wonderful vacation, yet I find myself so stressed that I cannot think straight and an unclear mind does not lend well to eliminating the causes of the stress. Stress in this regard is a self-perpetuating disorder. Once upon a time, a hunter in the field was met unexpected by a herd of lion too numerous for the hunter to engage. Fight or flight stimulus, aka stress, kicked in and the hunter fled to safety where his adrenaline returned to normal levels and the hunter calmed. In today’s society, our stress response rarely eases and our body and mind suffer. I have been under constant stress for twenty years. I am ready to escape to safety. I want to know calm.
add a commentReintegrating with society June 12, 2012 12:47 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health, MentalI’ve been 7 nights in the Utah canyons (8 days) with 2 days in a hotel on either end for a total of 10 days away from the usual rigaramor (hmmm. can’t find a proper spelling nor definition). I swore to return with a clean mouth and even temper. I did return super chill but am finding my reintegration into society trying to drag me back into the pre-canyon temperament as strongly as the Sirens tempted ships to the rocks. I will not succumb!
2commentsDeep Thoughts May 15, 2012 12:23 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health, MentalToo much happening in the head; too little happening through the fingers.
add a commentState of Me May 2, 2012 11:27 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health, MentalFrustration level 99
add a commentState of Me April 24, 2012 2:49 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health, MentalToo stressed.
Frozen.
Locked up.
Overwhelmed.
It’s all over now April 19, 2012 9:13 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health, MentalI must be knocking on death’s door.
add a commentMy best friends: me, myself and I April 18, 2012 9:48 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Health, MentalI talk to my computer. It responds better when I do. My friends and family look at me sideways and pause to make sure I’m not addressing them; I’m talking to myself. Aloud. With purpose. They ask, "are you feeling okay?" They think, "he’s flown over the cuckoo’s nest!
add a commentIn a recent study published in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, psychologists Gary Lupyan (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Daniel Swingley (University of Pennsylvania) conducted a series of experiments to discover whether talking to oneself can help when searching for particular objects. … It was found that speaking to themselves helped people find the objects more quickly.
[Source, Science Daily, It Doesn’t Mean You’re Crazy – Talking to Yourself Has Cognitive Benefits, Study Finds]
[Derived from Source, AlphaGalileo Foundation, It Doesn’t Mean You’re Crazy – Talking To Yourself Has Cognitive Benefits, Study Finds]
[Original Source, Taylor & Francis Group, The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology – Self-directed speech affects visual search performance]
This is why they hurt you March 6, 2012 10:49 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Health, Mental, Of Interest"Women Happier in Relationships When Men Feel Their Pain"
add a commentScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2012) — Men like to know when their wife or girlfriend is happy while women really want the man in their life to know when they are upset, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
The study involved a diverse sample of couples and found that men’s and women’s perceptions of their significant other’s empathy, and their abilities to tell when the other is happy or upset, are linked to relationship satisfaction in distinctive ways, according to the article published online in the Journal of Family Psychology.
[Source, Science Daily, Women Happier in Relationships When Men Feel Their Pain]
Split down the middle March 5, 2012 10:03 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Health, MentalI can’t tell if I’m miserable or having a blast.
add a commentMental Me January 12, 2012 2:12 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health, MentalThe stress is far too great today.
add a commentProtected: That hollow feeling in the chest September 27, 2011 1:59 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Mental, Philosophy, PoetryToo tired? Too busy? Muster the energy and time. Read a book to your child. July 8, 2011 10:26 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Amy, Daily Life, Education, Evan, Family, Health, Mental, Of Being DadTake a moment and read this story in The New York Times. In short, a doctor tells of a 74 year old patient who couldn’t get his medicines correct.
Mr. M was a typical new patient: 74, with diabetes, hypertension and elevated cholesterol. He had some prostate enlargement and back pain. His bag of pill bottles was depressingly bulky. I spilled the bottles out at our first visit, sorting them by disease. … Mr. M didn’t remember the names of all the medicines … Mr. M was clearly still confused about his medicines…
[Source, NYT, A Problem in Following Doctor’s Orders by DANIELLE OFRI, M.D.]
In the end, we learn that Mr. M is illiterate, unable to read either Spanish or English. The story would be similar to many other stories of illiteracy leaving us emphatic, but emotionally disconnected, had it not been for the last paragraph.
My kindergarten-age daughter is just beginning to read, and she is taken aback with delirious joy each time a few random letters suddenly form a word that matches real life. It’s a painstaking process for her, but as I watch her I think about how this skill has powerful ramifications for her health and longevity. It’s a gift, really, one that I’d long to transfer to Mr. M if I could.
[Source, NYT, A Problem in Following Doctor’s Orders by DANIELLE OFRI, M.D.]
I know that joy! My son has become quite the avid reader. He no longer wants to be the listener; he wants to be the one who reads aloud. And I too wish I could give that gift to Mr. M.
Remember, they are never too old to participate in reading with you; whether you are the listener or the reader, make time to sit with your child and a book.
add a commentAnd all this time I thought I was an American May 23, 2011 4:00 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Health, Holiday, MentalApparently, I’m European!
add a comment"Americans maximize their… [happiness] by working, and Europeans maximize their [happiness] through leisure," he found.
How do you spell stress in four letters? May 16, 2011 12:36 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health, MentalD-O-U-G
add a commentOur Brains Are Shrinking January 3, 2011 9:52 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Health, Mental, Of Interest, Politics, Science, Technology, Touchy SubjectsA scientific explanation for the tea party.
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