Month: February 2018

What Happens to Those Who Survive School Shootings?

Another week, another school shooting. The shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is the eighth school shooting resulting in death or injury this year, yet we have only completed seven weeks. It is, according to the Gun Violence Archive, the 1,607th mass shooting since the rampage of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, widely thought to have been the country’s best hope at changing gun control laws.

It didn’t. And gun violence in schools continues.

But in the midst of the gun control debate, it can be easy to forget that there are humans—often children—who have borne witness to terrifying nightmarish scenes that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. What will happen to them?

While much research has been done into the minds and motives of mass shooters, the psychology of school shooting survivors is in its infancy—though the rate and increasing population of subjects means that it is a burgeoning field. According to The Washington Post, there are more than 150,000 school shooting survivors since the Columbine High School massacre of 1999, considered to be the first of modern school mass shootings.

What Happens to Those Who Survive School Shootings?

Humans breasts are unique to humans – BI

Breasts come in different shapes and sizes. But there’s one thing they all have in common. They are unique to humans. More than 5,000 mammalian species inhabit this planet. Yet, Homo sapiens are the only life forms with permanent breasts. Some may call this human anomaly sexy. But it also begs the question: Why are human breasts so big and were they an evolutionary mistake?

Every other mammal develops temporary breasts during ovulation and/or nursing. Basically, their purpose is to produce milk. So once the milk is gone, the breasts disappear. But this isn’t the case for female humans whose breasts form during puberty, not pregnancy. So at some point in our evolution, something changed … why? For example, in 1987 biologist Tim Caro explored seven existing theories on this subject. One was that breasts allowed newborns to nurse from the hip, giving their mothers more mobility to multitask. But it doesn’t explain why breasts stick around after the nursing stage is over.

Humans breasts are unique to humans – BI

Chew it over: a guide to eating slowly | Life and style | The Guardian

Chew your deep-dish filled-crust pizza slowly. Slurp your thickshake with care. Do not pour cooking oil down your neck to act as a slide for your next Cinnabon.

Eat slowly. Get thin. This is the promise underlined by researchers at Japan’s Kyushu University, who pored over the data of 60,000 Japanese health insurance claimants. Slow eaters were 42% less likely to be overweight or obese than fast eaters. Even normal-speed eaters had a 29% lower risk of being overweight.

“It’s all to do with the signal to the brain,” explains performance nutritionist Elly Rees. “Studies show that it takes up to 20 minutes for us to register that we’re full. So people who overeat tend to eat too quickly.”

That 20-minute gap can be vast. If people eat more slowly they “find that they’re actually full,” Rees says.

Chew it over: a guide to eating slowly | Life and style | The Guardian

After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea – The New York Times

I recently had a hysterectomy here in Munich, where we moved from California four years ago for my husband’s job. Even though his job ended a year ago, we decided to stay while he tries to start a business. Thanks to the German health care system, our insurance remained in force. This, however, is not a story about the benefits of universal health care.

Thanks to modern medicine, my hysterectomy was performed laparoscopically, without an overnight hospital stay. My only concern about this early release was pain management. The fibroids that necessitated the surgery were particularly large and painful, and the procedure would be more complicated.

I brought up the subject of painkillers with my gynecologist weeks before my surgery. She said that I would be given ibuprofen. “Is that it?” I asked. “That’s what I take if I have a headache. The removal of an organ certainly deserves more.”

“That’s all you will need,” she said, with the body confidence that comes from a lifetime of skiing in crisp, Alpine air.

I decided to pursue the topic with the surgeon.

After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea – The New York Times

11 Shocking Things That Happen To Your Brain When You Suffer From Even Mild Anxiety

If you have an anxiety disorder, then you already know how it can impact your brain, cause you to worry, and totally mess with your day. But did you know even mild cases of anxiety can affect you, in much the same way? Chemically speaking, any type of anxiety can alter your brain, in some pretty surprising ways. But it can also affect you psychologically — perhaps more than you’d think.

But it’s important to note how mild anxiety is different from regular nerves. “Anxiety is a natural human response that serves a purpose: to keep us safe. However, sometimes your brain is more sensitive and perceives danger when it does not exist,” licensed psychologist Crystal I. Lee, PsyD tells Bustle. “Your brain mistakenly floods itself with norepinephrine and cortisol, which triggers anxious thoughts and feelings when they’re not useful.”

That’s why you might be sitting at work, and suddenly boom — you’re filled with worry. And thanks to stress chemicals, like cortisol, going haywire in your brain, you might even struggle to think clearly, or make decisions. It can be intense for some people, which is why therapy is always a good idea, as well as taking care of great yourself — by exercising, eating well, and sleeping at least eight hours — so your symptoms can be less intrusive.

Here are a few shocking ways anxiety can affect you, according to experts.

11 Shocking Things That Happen To Your Brain When You Suffer From Even Mild Anxiety