29. October 2009 by John Schinnerer.

 Guide To Self with Dr. John Schinnerer
Optimal Human Functioning Via Positive Psychology
925-575-0258
John@GuideToSelf.com

Dear Friends:

I have been invited to conduct a training class at a speaking platform like no other and wanted to invite you to listen. The class is complimentary and you can listen to as many classes as you wish from the comfort of your home and convenience of your telephone or computer.

The class I am offering a complementary training course, Positive Psychology: The Science of Optimal Human Functioning, on November 18th, 2009 at 6 pm PST.
To find out more, please go to: http://www.globalteleclass.com
 

At this platform you will be trained, motivated and inspired by some of the most respected speakers in the Health, Personal Development and Sales & Marketing Industries.

For the month of November, scheduled speakers include:

Health Department: Steven Frank, Jennifer Hough, Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, Elaine Petrone, Eric Rolf, Nancy Desjardins, Dr. John Schinnerer, and Jimmy Moore

Sales & Marketing Department: Beatty Carmichael, Angela Treat Lyon, Heather Picken, Jerry Ellefson, Rik Schnabel, Ed Dacey, and Mary Beth Lozano

Personal Development Department: Joan Marie Whelan, Dr. Rick Brinkman, Satyen Raja, Leslie Householder, Dr. Gloria Burgess, Ken Foster & Amazon John Easterling, Debbie Friedman, Stephanie Frank, Nanette Geiger, Katana Abbott, Philip Tirone, Deborah Skye King, Michelle Rigg, Wes Hopper, and Steve Keough.

Remember, these classes are being offered at no cost to you and you can listen from the comfort of your home and convenience of your telephone or computer.

To your success,

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.
Positive Psychology Coach
Guide To Self, Inc.
913 San Ramon Valley Blvd. #280
Danville, CA 94526
(925) 575-0258

Dr. John Schinnerer is in private practice coaching individuals to their optimal human functioning using the science of positive psychology. He is President of Guide To Self (http://www.guidetoself.com), a company that focuses on executive coaching, emotional management skills and mindful living.  He holds a doctorate from U.C. Berkeley in psychology. Dr. Schinnerer hosted Guide To Self Radio, a prime time radio show on positive psychology and emotional management. Dr. Schinnerer started in the private sector as President of Infinet Assessment (http://www.infinetassessment.com), a psychological testing company to help firms select the best applicants. Dr. Schinnerer is the award-winning author of Guide To Self: The Beginner’s Guide To Managing Emotion and Thought and numerous articles. His book may be found at Amazon.com, Target.com and BarnesAndNoble.com.

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28. October 2009 by John Schinnerer.

From ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2009) — More than half the people who take antidepressants for depression never get relief.Why? Because the cause of depression has been oversimplified and drugs designed to treat it aim at the wrong target, according to new research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The medications are like arrows shot at the outer rings of a bull’s eye instead of the center.A study from the laboratory of long-time depression researcher Eva Redei, presented at the Neuroscience 2009 conference in Chicago this week, appears to topple two strongly held beliefs about depression. One is that stressful life events are a major cause of depression. The other is that an imbalance in neurotransmitters in the brain triggers depressive symptoms.Both findings are significant because these beliefs were the basis for developing drugs currently used to treat depression.Redei, the David Lawrence Stein Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern’s Feinberg School, found powerful molecular evidence that quashes the long-held dogma that stress is generally a major cause of depression. Her new research reveals that there is almost no overlap between stress-related genes and depression-related genes.“This is a huge study and statistically powerful,” Redei said. “This research opens up new routes to develop new antidepressants that may be more effective. There hasn’t been an antidepressant based on a novel concept in 20 years.”

 For the full article, please click here.

What are you learning today? Stay curious!

 John Schinnerer, Ph.D.Guide To Self, Inc.Executive coach, speaker, authorDanville,  San Ramon,  Alamo CA

Posted in National speakers, The human brain, Danville CA, San Ramon CA, Executive coach, Managing Sadness, Emotional mind, Life coach, Dr. John Schinnerer, Emotional IQ, Guide To Self Beginners Guide To Managing Emotion, Depression, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

28. October 2009 by John Schinnerer.

NonWestern communal cultures keep biology from having its way with depression

From EurekaAlert.org…

EVANSTON, Ill. — A genetic tendency to depression is much less likely to be realized in a culture centered on collectivistic rather than individualistic values, according to a new Northwestern University study.

In other words, a genetic vulnerability to depression is much more likely to be realized in a Western culture than an East Asian culture that is more about we than me-me-me.

The study coming out of the growing field of cultural neuroscience takes a global look at mental health across social groups and nations.

Depression, research overwhelmingly shows, results from genes, environment and the interplay between the two. One of the most profound ways that people across cultural groups differ markedly, cultural psychology demonstrates, is in how they think of themselves.

“People from highly individualistic cultures like the United States and Western Europe are more likely to value uniqueness over harmony, expression over agreement, and to define themselves as unique or different from the group,” said Joan Chiao, the lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern.

In contrast, people from collectivist cultures are more likely to value social harmony over individuality. “Relative to people in an individualistic culture, they are more likely to endorse behaviors that increase group cohesion and interdependence,” Chiao said.

Collectivist cultures may give individuals who are genetically susceptible to depression a tacit or explicit expectation of social support. “Such support seems to buffer vulnerable individuals from the environmental risks or stressors that serve as triggers to depressive episodes,” Chiao said.

The study by Chiao and Northwestern graduate student Katherine Blizinsky, “Culture-gene coevolution of individualism-collectivism and the serotonin transporter gene,” will be published online in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

For full release, please click here.

It’s interesting to note that many of the third wave of mental health therapies originate in Eastern cultures, such as mindfulness, nonattachment, nonjudgment, and accepting reality as it is. All of these skills originated in the East via Zen Buddhism or in Buddhism proper. And all of these skills are essential elements of Dialetic Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).  All of these therapies have been shown to be effective in dealing with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD,  eating disorders, and several personality disorders such as the most difficult one to treat (in my opinion) - borderline personality disorder.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Guide To Self, Inc.

Posted in Mindfulness, The human brain, Men's emotions, Alexithymia, Awareness, National speakers, Brain plasticity, Emotion & productivity, Danville CA, Managing Sadness, Managing Anxiety, Guide to Self, Life coach, Dr. John Schinnerer, Measuring emotions, Staying calm, Tips to help anxiety, Emotional management, Emotional mind, Depression, Managing stress | Print | No Comments »

23. October 2009 by John Schinnerer.

I am an avid football fan and have been since I was six years old. I grew up down the street from Gene Upshaw, Hall of Fame offensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders, and Head of the Player’s Union for years. I love football.

That said, my 12-year-old son and I have an ongoing debate over whether or not he can play PeeWee Football (in the San Ramon Valley it’s called Thunderbirds). I have told him repeatedly that the damage done to his body, in particular his brain, is not worth any success that may be had playing football.

The brain is the consistency of a wet sponge or a soft boiled egg. The human skull is hard to keep your brain safe from injury. However, the inside of the skull has pointed ridges which can damage the brain when the head and body are stopped suddenly, such as that which happens on many plays in football. Even those hits which don’t result in a ‘concussion’ still bruise the brain to an extent. It’s not as simple as one has a concussion or one does not. It’s not black and white. Damage to the brain occurs on a continuum. Think of it as a 1 to 10 scale with 1 being uninjured and 10 being a severe concussion.

Even lesser hits in football can result in minor bruises to the brain, bruises which may not be considered even mild concussions. But there is still a cumulative negative effect on the brain. And we’re beginning to see the results thanks to former NFL and college players who have donated their brains after death.

We’ve known for roughly 20 years that ex-NFL players suffer from the degenerative brain disease known as CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE is the only fully preventable cause of dementia of which we know.

A new study has revealed that the brain of a deceased 18-year-old former college football player showed early signs of CTE. This is the youngest age that signs of CTE have been found, to my knowledge.

The same study also report that Mike Borich, a former college football player who passed away at the age of 42, showed advanced signs of CTE. This is the first time that advanced signs of CTE have been identified in a former college player who never played in the NFL. It is also the first time that CTE signs have been found in one who played the position of wide receiver. This means that the damage done to the brain in high school and college football is taking a toll on the brain that adversely affects quality of life later on. Adverse effects of CTE may include symptoms such as change in personality, self-destructive behaviors, addictive behaviors, memory loss and more.

According to Dr. Robert Cantu, a leading sports concussion expert and clinical professor of neurosurgery at Boston University School of Medicine, ‘It is our hope that this evidence helps draw the focus of the CTE discussion to amateur athletes, where it belongs. Young men and women are voluntarily exposing themselves to repetitive brain trauma without full knowledge of the potential consequences, and the rules of the games are designed without an appreciation for the risks carried by the players.’

Cantu and the other co-directors of the BUSM CSTE, Robert Stern, PhD, and Chris Nowinski, a former division I football player, published a paper that reported these CTE findings in the July issue of the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology (2009, vol.68¸ pp. 709-735). The results were also presented to the NFL Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee and NFL Players Association.

As long as I’m in charge of my son’s health, he won’t be playing football. The risk is too high. The importance of a healthy brain is too great. Odds are, he will be angry with me for some time. I’m willing to risk it.  

All the best,

John Schinnerer, PhD

Guide To Self, Inc.

Posted in National speakers, The human brain, Danville CA, Emotion & productivity, Brain plasticity, Executive coach, Men's emotions, Consciousness, Life coach, Dr. John Schinnerer, Guide To Self Beginners Guide To Managing Emotion, Parenting, Anger Management, Abusive Coaches | Print | No Comments »

22. October 2009 by John Schinnerer.

ScienceDaily (Oct. 21, 2009) — Women are better than men at distinguishing between emotions, especially fear and disgust, according to a new study published in the online version of the journal Neuropsychologia. As part of the investigation, Olivier Collignon and a team from the Université de Montréal Centre de recherche en neuropsychologie et cognition (CERNEC) demonstrated that women are better than men at processing auditory, visual and audiovisual emotions.

While women have long been thought to outperform men in neuropsychological tests, until now, these findings were inconsistent. To obtain more conclusive evidence, the Université de Montréal researchers did not use photographs to analyze the reaction of subjects. Instead, the scientists hired actors and actresses to simulate fear and disgust. “Facial movements have been shown to play an important role in the perception of an emotion’s intensity as well as stimulate different parts of the brain used in the treatment of such information,” says Collignon, who also works as a researcher at the Université catholique de Louvain’s Institute of Neuroscience in Belgium.

[snip]

The study found that women were superior in completing assessments and responded quicker when emotions were portrayed by a female rather than a male actor. Compared to men, women were faster at processing facial and multisensory expressions.

[snip]

Autism and emotions

In 2002, researchers Baron and Cohen put forth a controversial theory stipulating that autism and Asperger’s syndrome are an extreme in male interpersonal behavior that’s characterized by impaired empathy and enhanced systematizing. “Seeing as our results show that men identify and express emotions less efficiently than women, it supports this theory to a certain extent,” says Collignon.

Differences between men and women

Are women natured or nurtured to be different? Biology may play a role, since there are few opportunities for socialization to shape such gender differences. Evolutionary psychologists have suggested that females, because of their role as primary caretakers, are wired to quickly and accurately decode or detect distress in preverbal infants or threatening signals from other adults to enhance their chances at survival.

For full article, please click here.

At some level, this feels like ‘Well, duh, of course women identify and express emotions more quickly and accurately.’ However, this is not something that has been scientifically proven beyond doubt. This study helps to swing the pendulum in the direction of females being more tuned in to the emotions of fear and disgust.

Cheers,

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Guide To Self, Inc.

Posted in Alexithymia, Managing Anxiety, Men's emotions, Emotion & learning, Danville CA, Emotional management, Emotional mind, Dr. John Schinnerer, Measuring emotions, Life coach, Anxiety, Nature vs. nurture, Managing stress | Print | No Comments »