Monthly Archives: August 2009

The dark side of oxytocin

August 4, 2009 – 8:00 am

Oxytocin is usually described as the ‘trust hormone’ owing to its involvement in social bonding but a new study covered by Scientific American suggests it may have a wider role in human interaction as it has been found it increase feelings of envy and gloating. The study, led by psychologist Simone Shamay-Tsoory, used a familiar [...]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Togetherness | Comments (4)

Seized by Voodoo spirits

August 3, 2009 – 8:00 am

I’ve just found a remarkable paper with several cases of epilepsy that were interpreted as voodoo possession. They were all people with roots in Haiti, where voodoo is the predominant religion, and where spirit possession is considered a common spiritual event. For thousands of years epilepsy has been explained as spirit possession in religions around [...]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Togetherness | Comments (2)

Like running through hell

August 2, 2009 – 8:00 am

The Neurocritic covers some fascinating research on how marathon runners could be a scientific window into the neuropsychology of trauma owing to the fact that they experience extremely high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. In their study, psychologists Teal Eich and Janet Metcalfe note that cortisol levels recorded 30 minutes after a marathon have [...]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Remembering | Comments (3)

Metro psychiatry

August 1, 2009 – 8:00 am

This month’s British Journal of Psychiatry has a poignant poem by Canadian poet and psychiatrist Ron Charach who muses on ‘Psychiatrists on the Subway’: Apparently the poem is from his collection Selected Portraits that contains a number of other poems on psychiatry and mental illness. Psychiatrists on the Subway One rarely spots psychiatrists on the [...]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Togetherness | Comments (1)
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