Tag Archives: dopamine

The lost art of joy – Music

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With only five days to go before Christmas, most people are rushing into the shops to purchase those last minute items.

The average shopping centre in the pre-Christmas week is an auditory and visual cacophony. Not only are there people EVERYWHERE, there are fairy lights, baubles, and tinsel everywhere! Then there are those Christmas carols, the auditory froth of tinny Christmas melody bubbling incessantly in the background. It’s all enough to make you want to shop on-line.

It’s such a shame the way Christmas carols have been subjugated and exploited for commercial gain. So many of the old Christmas carols are euphonious in their own right, with a lyrical profundity that encapsulates the deeper meaning of Christmas in just a few words.

In fact, music in general is fundamental to us as a language of emotion. The linguist Steven Pinker once said that music was “auditory cheesecake,” a purposeless byproduct of language development. But music is deeper than language. Neuroscience suggests that we’re hardwired to interpret and react emotionally to music from before we’re able to crawl, and well and truly before we develop language. Music activates most of our brain, from our frontal lobe and temporal lobe to process the sounds across both sides of the brain. Music also activates our visual cortex, our motor cortex, our memory centres and, not surprisingly, our deep emotional brain centres. It’s only if the song has lyrics that our language processing areas are activated.

Music has been shown to affect our physical bodies and our minds. Music helped to reduce blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety in heart disease patients, while upbeat music can have a very positive effect on our emotional wellbeing, so long as the music was happy and upbeat. Music that we expect to be happy also results in an increase of dopamine, the neurotransmitter of pleasure.

So the emotional connection that music carries is very important for our overall joy.

Listening to music can increase our joy. While the research supports the improvement in mood that comes from listening to happy, upbeat music, there’s a place for ‘sad’ or ‘angry’ songs too, which can connect directly to our souls and provide a type of catharsis that goes beyond trying to express our emotions through the clunky limitation of speech.

Music can help to scaffold memories, especially emotional memories. Remember the music playing when you had your first kiss? Or the song that they played at a friends funeral? Playing those songs related to happy times in your life can help you to recall and re-experience those uplifting emotions if you’re feeling down.

Music creates opportunities for healing. Hospitalised children were happier during music therapy (in which all the children were involved and could play with simple musical instruments like maracas and bells while a leader played the guitar) than they were in standard play therapy when their options puzzles and toys.

But more than anything, music increases joy through the power of human connection. Music is emotionally deeper than language and the social bond that music can create between people is much stronger than any intellectual or verbal connection. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate this – people who go to concerts and who go dancing report higher levels of subjective wellbeing than those people who listen to music on their own. People who create music together have higher levels of happiness and find other activities more pleasurable overall, an effect which has been demonstrated in groups of both adults and school children.

So if you want to increase your joy, engage with music, and use music to engage with other people … even if it is singing Christmas carols.

The lost art of joy – Learning

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Solomon wrote: “Of the making of many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness unto the flesh”.

I loved that verse when I was at school. It was utilised more than once when my teachers wanted to give us more homework – “But, sir, the Bible says that too much homework is bad for you.” Not that my teachers cared, they just gave me more homework anyway.

Much study may be a weariness unto the flesh, but some study is actually very beneficial. Learning helps to promote joy, and joy helps to promote learning.

It’s been shown that learning is much easier when there’s joy involved. Co-founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute, Dr David Rock said,

“Engagement is a state of being willing to do difficult things, to take risks, to think deeply about issues and develop new solutions … Interest, happiness, joy, and desire are approach emotions. This state is one of increased dopamine levels, important for interest and learning.”

and

“There is a large and growing body of research which indicates that people experiencing positive emotions perceive more options when trying to solve problems, solve more non-linear problems that require insight, [and they] collaborate better and generally perform better overall.”

This makes sense. According to the classical psychology principle of the Yerkes-Dodson law, optimal task performance occurs at an intermediate level of arousal, with relatively poorer performance at both lower and higher arousal levels. Too much stress (anxiety) or not enough stress (boredom) results in reduced performance. When someone is happy and engaged, their learning is at its optimum level.

But while it’s true that happiness and engagement create the optimal conditions for learning, it’s also true that learning created a sense of joy.

Learning new things is stimulating. Exposure to new information makes the brain work harder. We are very predictive creatures, and our brain has adapted to be predictive because it’s the most efficient way of processing the vast amount of information that we come across each day. After a while of being exposed to the same stimuli, our brains get a bit lazy. There’s no need to grow new branches and our brains become a bit stagnant. There’s no stimulation, so there’s no dopamine rush. We just get into our rut. But being exposed to new experiences, to new stimuli, is invigorating. Our brain can not longer rely on the same old predictive pathways, and new parts of the brain need to be engaged to process all of the different things we’re being exposed to. The dopamine cloud that comes from all of the novel stimuli is quite euphoric.

Learning something new helps our brain to stay supple. The brain is like a muscle – the only way to keep it flexible and strong is to exercise it. By constantly providing stimulation, our brain can better cope when unexpected events occur, because we’re already used to novel challenges. It helps us stay resilient by improving our psychological flexibility.

Learning something new can also give us a sense of accomplishment which is always good for our self-esteem and self-confidence.

There are many ways to learn new things – read new books, or if you’re not the reading type, find some interesting, factual documentaries. A great way of stimulating your brain is to learn a second language, which also gives you a great excuse to do the other thing that helps to grow your brain and your joy, which is to travel to a different country. Trying to speak a new language in a foreign country will really give your brain a workout, which may seem very daunting at first, but will help you grow immensely. You can also learn a new skill like craft, or a musical instrument. Your learning doesn’t just have to be about yourself – learn to juggle or make balloon animals, and use those skills to entertain people, or put a smile on a child’s face. That way the joy is shared through learning and giving.

Just remember your values when deciding what you would like to learn so that your learning is in step with your authentic self and enriches your life. And make sure you keep your work and life in balance as you carve out time to learn something new, all that study doesn’t become a weariness unto the flesh.

The Prospering Soul – Christians and Depression Part 1

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In the average charismatic church, from the time you park your car in the parking lot, to the time the music starts at the beginning of the service, the smiles of at least a hundred people beam at you, and at least one third of those smiles are also attached to enthusiastic handshakes and exhortations like, “Isn’t it great to be in church this morning!”

When you’re a Christian, especially at the happy-clappy end of the church spectrum, you’re supposed to be constantly full of the Holy Spirit and experiencing the joy of the Lord.

Which is why for most church-goers, putting the terms “Christian” and “depression” in the same sentence just doesn’t seem natural, even though depression affects a lot more of the church than the church is aware of.

So, how much of the church is affected by depression? The lifetime prevalence (how likely you are to suffer from depression at one stage through your life) is about twenty-five percent, or about one in four people. The point prevalence (those who are suffering from clinical depression at any particular time) is about six percent.

I used to attend a church which had a regular congregation of about 2500 people. So statistically, one hundred and fifty people in that congregation are suffering from depression every Sunday, and more than 600 will experience depression in their lifetime.

And by ‘depression’, we’re not talking about feeling a little sad … that Bill Shorten might become Prime Minister one day, or Ben Hunt can’t catch, or that One Direction isn’t the same without Zayn. Sadness for genuine reasons … you broke up with a long term partner, someone stole your purse out of your bag, or there’s the threat of redundancies at your office … also doesn’t mean you’re depressed.

The DSM5 is the current standard for psychiatric diagnoses around the world. I’ve included the full definition of depression at the end of this blog, but suffice to say, depression is more than just unhappiness. Proper depression symptoms “cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.” In other words, you’re so low that your social life or work is affected, and for more than two whole weeks. It’s also important to know that depression isn’t just low mood but can also be experienced as “Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day”.

Depression has a number of causes and correlations. People who are chronically unwell, be that from chronic pain, long term illness such as cancer or autoimmune disease, or life threatening illnesses such as those who’ve suffered from heart attacks or meningitis, have a higher rate of depression. People who have experienced significant physical or psychological trauma also have a higher rate of depression. In fact, stress of any form is highly correlated with depression (that is, people who suffer from any severe stress are more likely to develop depression).

This observation led to a theory about the development of depression, called the Stress Exposure Model of depression [1] – You develop depression because you’ve suffered from stress. This is one of the most common assumptions about depression in our society, and there are some important consequences from this line of thinking. Like, if being stressed is the cause of depression then the cure for depression is simply reducing stress. This is probably why most people assume that depression is a choice, or a simple weakness, and why depressed people are often told just to snap out of it.

But there’s more to depression than just better dealing with stress. Fundamentally, I understand depression as the end result of the brains capacity to deal with the demands of life. Too many demands or not enough resources overwhelms the brain and low mood is the end result.

Some depression is predominantly biological. People with biological depression can’t effectively deal with even a normal amount of demand on their system, because their brain doesn’t have the resources to process the incoming signals correctly or efficiently. The main biological cause is a deficiency of a growth factor called BDNF, which is needed for the nerve cells to grow new branches, which enable the brain to process new information. This theory is called the Neurotrophic Hypothesis of Depression [2] (‘neuro’ = nerve and ‘trophic’ = growth). BDNF isn’t the only critical factor in the biological story of depression. There are many others, including the stress hormone system [3], the serotonin system [4] and the dopamine/rewards system [5].

Some depression is predominantly psychological. There are certain situations in which there’s so much going on and so much change and adaptation is required, and the brains coping systems simply can’t cope. So, severe and sudden stressors would fit into this category. For example, people trying to cope with natural disasters, or a tragedy like a massive house fire.

Most of the time, depression is a combination of both biological and psychological. Genetic factors change our capacity to handle the incoming. The nerve cells don’t have enough BDNF and are slow to grow new branches. Genetics are also important in determining other mechanisms of resilience, and people with poor resilience are also more prone to depression [6-8]. Genetic factors also determine other factors involved in the way we process the incoming stream of sensory input – our personality. People with the neurotic personality type, the classical introverts/pessimists, are more prone to depression, because of the way their brain naturally biases the flavour of the incoming information [9]. What’s also very interesting is that these tendencies to depression also tend to create more stress [1, 10]. So stress is important to the risk of depression, but ironically, it is the risk of depression which influences the risk of stress.

The risk of depression is related to an increased tendency towards stress, and poor processing of that stress because of personality factors and a reduced capacity to cope. All three of these factors are influenced by a broad array of genetic factors.

What’s also important to see here is that being depressed isn’t because of “toxic thinking” or because of “negative confessions”. What we say and what we think are signs of what is going on underneath, not the cause of it. And more importantly, you can make as many faith-filled confessions as you like, but if they don’t help you to change your capacity to cope, then they’re just hot air.

In the next instalment, we’ll look at ways to handle depression, and what the Bible says about being depressed.

References

[1]        Liu RT, Alloy LB. Stress generation in depression: A systematic review of the empirical literature and recommendations for future study. Clinical psychology review 2010 Jul;30(5):582-93.
[2]        Duman RS, Li N. A neurotrophic hypothesis of depression: role of synaptogenesis in the actions of NMDA receptor antagonists. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological sciences 2012 Sep 5;367(1601):2475-84.
[3]        Hauger RL, Risbrough V, Oakley RH, Olivares-Reyes JA, Dautzenberg FM. Role of CRF receptor signaling in stress vulnerability, anxiety, and depression. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2009 Oct;1179:120-43.
[4]        Caspi A, Hariri AR, Holmes A, Uher R, Moffitt TE. Genetic sensitivity to the environment: the case of the serotonin transporter gene and its implications for studying complex diseases and traits. The American journal of psychiatry 2010 May;167(5):509-27.
[5]        Felten A, Montag C, Markett S, Walter NT, Reuter M. Genetically determined dopamine availability predicts disposition for depression. Brain and behavior 2011 Nov;1(2):109-18.
[6]        Karatsoreos IN, McEwen BS. Resilience and vulnerability: a neurobiological perspective. F1000prime reports 2013;5:13.
[7]        Wu G, Feder A, Cohen H, et al. Understanding resilience. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience 2013;7:10.
[8]        Russo SJ, Murrough JW, Han M-H, Charney DS, Nestler EJ. Neurobiology of resilience. Nature neuroscience 2012 November;15(11):1475-84.
[9]        Hansell NK, Wright MJ, Medland SE, et al. Genetic co-morbidity between neuroticism, anxiety/depression and somatic distress in a population sample of adolescent and young adult twins. Psychological medicine 2012 Jun;42(6):1249-60.
[10]      Boardman JD, Alexander KB, Stallings MC. Stressful life events and depression among adolescent twin pairs. Biodemography and social biology 2011;57(1):53-66.

The DSM5 Formal Diagnostic Criteria for Depression

A. Five (or more) of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2- week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.

(Note: Do not include symptoms that are clearly due to a general medical condition, or mood-incongruent delusions or hallucinations.)

  • Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). Note: In children and adolescents, can be irritable mood.
  • Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either subjective account or observation made by others).
  • Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5 percent of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. Note: In children, consider failure to make expected weight gains.
  • Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day.
  • Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).
  • Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.
  • Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick).
  • Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others).
  • Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

B. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.
C. The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hypothyroidism).

The truth about ADHD

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ADHD is always a popular topic … and an apoplexic topic. Any mention of ADHD seems to induce everyone within ear-shot to uncontrollably expectorate their half-baked opinion on the subject, like the Tourette’s syndrome of ignorance.

I’ve heard them all over the years …

ADHD is over diagnosed.
ADHD is just a label for bad parenting.
ADHD is caused by sugar.
ADHD is caused by food colouring / preservatives / gluten / (any other fad ‘toxin’)
ADHD is cured by diet / meditation / supplements / swiss balls.
ADHD medication (Ritalin) is overused / irresponsible / lazy parenting / harmful / ungodly.
ADHD doesn’t exist in France.
ADHD doesn’t exist at all.

I could go on, but if I do, I’m just going to get myself in a tizz.

ADHD is the new AIDS. There is so much misinformation and discrimination surrounding ADHD in our modern enlightened society that the stigma is worse than the actual illness, which really says something about how badly ADHD is treated in our communities.

One of the cruellest aspects of the cultural mismanagement of ADHD is the fact that it maligns the sufferers while simultaneously isolating them from much needed support. Saying that children with ADHD should just behave themselves, or parents of children with ADHD should just have better parenting skills is victim blaming at its worst.

In order to counter the prevalent ignorance of ADHD, even just a little, I want to give a crash course on the science so that at least somewhere on the searchable web, there is a counterbalance to the thousands of misinformed arm-chair ‘experts’ whose only experience with ADHD is reading the misguided perspectives of other so-called ‘experts’.

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

The current formal definition that must be matched to have a diagnosis of ADHD is:

  1. Inattention: Six or more symptoms of inattention for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months, and they are inappropriate for developmental level:
    * Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, at work, or with other activities.
    * Often has trouble holding attention on tasks or play activities.
    * Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
    * Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (e.g., loses focus, side-tracked).
    * Often has trouble organizing tasks and activities.
    * Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to do tasks that require mental effort over a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
    * Often loses things necessary for tasks and activities (e.g. school materials, pencils, books, tools, wallets, keys, paperwork, eyeglasses, mobile telephones).
    * Is often easily distracted
    * Is often forgetful in daily activities.
  1. Hyperactivity and Impulsivity: Six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for the person’s developmental level:
    * Often fidgets with or taps hands or feet, or squirms in seat.
    * Often leaves seat in situations when remaining seated is expected.
    * Often runs about or climbs in situations where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may be limited to feeling restless).
    * Often unable to play or take part in leisure activities quietly.
    * Is often “on the go” acting as if “driven by a motor”.
    * Often talks excessively.
    * Often blurts out an answer before a question has been completed.
    * Often has trouble waiting his/her turn.
    * Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games)

In addition, the following conditions must be met:
– Several inattentive or hyperactive-impulsive symptoms were present before age 12 years.
– Several symptoms are present in two or more setting, (e.g., at home, school or work; with friends or relatives; in other activities).
– There is clear evidence that the symptoms interfere with, or reduce the quality of, social, school, or work functioning.
– The symptoms do not happen only during the course of schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder.
– The symptoms are not better explained by another mental disorder (e.g. Mood Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Dissociative Disorder, or a Personality Disorder.
(http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/diagnosis.html)

In Australia, ADHD cannot be formally diagnosed by anyone other than a paediatrician or a psychiatrist. So even as an experienced GP, I can’t officially diagnose it. The school counsellor or local naturopath can’t diagnose it. You can’t just pluck it out of the air. The diagnosis can only come from a medical specialist with at least a decade of university level training.

The official prevalence rate of ADHD (the number of people with a current diagnosis) is only 5%. According to some US based community surveys, nearly a half of those children are not on medication for it (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/data.html). So much for Ritalin being overprescribed.

Stimulants vs nothing

ADHD is a predominantly genetic disorder which leads to specific structural deficiencies in the brain. Children with ADHD have a significant global reduction in the volume of grey matter, most prominently in a part of the brain called the right lentiform nucleus. These changes usually improve with age and improve with stimulant medication. There is also evidence of changes to the shape and size of other brain structures such as the amygdala and the thalamus (areas of the brain integral to sensory and emotional processing). Early evidence also exists which suggests changes in the white matter pathways connecting a number of critical brain regions. Studies investigating brain development have estimated that the frontal lobe development of ADHD children lags that of normal children by an average of about three years.

These changes in the brain are not caused by the child’s behaviour, since other studies have shown the same changes in the brains of unaffected first degree relatives (brothers or sisters), just to a milder degree.

Modern functional imaging techniques show that the brains of children with ADHD have abnormally low functioning in most of the brain structures related to attention and planning (numerous areas of the frontal cortex as well as the basal ganglia, thalamus and parietal cortices). At the same time, there is extra activity in portions of the brain related to the Default Mode Network (the day-dreaming part of your brain). So children with ADHD have brains in which the ‘day-dreaming’ network activity persists into, or emerges during, periods of task-related activity. This takes processing power away from the competing task-specific processing causing a deficit in performance. Studies show that Ritalin normalises this dysfunction.

The best evidence suggests that dopamine is the main neurotransmitter involved in ADHD. Other neurotransmitters are likely to be involved but the evidence is still being confirmed. Medications like Ritalin improve ADHD symptoms by increasing the amount of dopamine that the nerve cells have access to, improving the clarity of the signal between them.

Underlying all of these neural changes are genetics. While there have been no specific genes discovered in research thus far, twin studies have demonstrated a heritability of ADHD of up to 76%. The most significant environmental factors that are responsible for the remainder of the influence on ADHD are not nutritional factors such as sugar or food additives, but are low birth weight/prematurity and exposure to smoking during pregnancy.

Are there any better treatments for ADHD other than stimulants like Ritalin? Other non-stimulant medications are available although at this stage, Ritalin and Dexamphetamine still out-perform them. Cognitive therapies may mimic some of the brain changes of Ritalin but it is not clear whether the effectiveness of cognitive therapies are equal to or better than the stimulant medications. What is clear is that Ritalin doesn’t lead to a euphoric state (a “drug high”) when given orally. So children can not get addicted to Ritalin when used responsibly.

In summary, ADHD exists. It’s caused by the interaction of a number of genes and some environmental factors such as those related to prematurity, low birth weight and maternal smoking, which alter the growth and development of the brain, specifically the grey matter of the frontal cortex, the basal ganglia and thalamus, and the pathways which connect them. These structural changes cause the day-dreaming part of the brain to be more active and the attention and planning parts of the brain to be less active.

ADHD is not caused by food additives or sugar. There is no evidence that autoimmunity plays a significant part. Forcing your child to consume bone broth or stop eating gluten will not cure them.

ADHD is not caused by bad parenting. Ritalin is not evil. Medications like Ritalin and Dexamphetamine have been shown to improve the functioning of children with ADHD and improve their underlying neurological deficits.

It’s time to cut the crap. Our culture needs to stop victimising the child with ADHD and their parents, who already suffer enough from the ADHD without ignorant busy-bodies and self-titled experts chiming in and making their suffering even more pronounced. It’s time to stop judging those who choose the best for their child by medicating them, who do so in spite of the unfair and ill-informed criticism of everyone from their mother-in-law to the milkman when they do. It’s time to remove the stigma from one of the most common psychiatric disorders of childhood so that every child has an equal chance of growing into an adult that can realise their full potential.

That’s the truth about ADHD.

Bibliography:

Cortese, S. (2012). The neurobiology and genetics of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): what every clinician should know. Eur J Paediatr Neurol, 16(5), 422-433. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpn.2012.01.009