Interpersonal Psychology

Interpersonal Psychology

The psychology of interpersonal relations and human interaction is important to normal day-to-day functioning. Even a simple task such as buying milk at the corner depanneur (convenience store in Canadian French) would be impossible without a rudimentary understanding of the intricacies of social behaviour.

Humans are often said to be social animals. Indeed, not all animals are social, even though they are equal. Tigers and koalas are mostly solitary, while lions and chimpanzees live in groups. In the animal kingdom, and as is hypothesised for our prehistoric ancestors, such gatherings help survival by resource multiplication, protection and signalling.

Just as animals, human beings are dependent on caregivers in infancy. What comes as a surprise is the sad study that was carried out in Romanian orphanages. Due to several circumstances, at that point in time, Romanian orphanages were overcrowded and some infants failed to get the human contact required for them to develop normally. These babies were fed, bathed and kept warm, but there was little to no human presence involved. The consequences were that some failed to survive, while others grew up with strongly affected personalities (Chisholm et al., 2009).

Relationships permeate human existence. Many holidays are dedicated to social associations (Mother’s Day, Father’s day, Valentine’s Day). The Beatles sang “…all you need is love…” and scientists are consistently finding that the first and most famous boy band were indeed correct.

Research has demonstrated that social support can have not only beneficial psychological outcomes such as lifted mood, perspective taking, comfort, feelings of closeness and intimacy, but also direct physical health effects (Uchino et al., 1996). A study found that the larger the number of friends and acquaintances a person had, the less likely they were to suffer from the flu. The experimenters theorised that social support boosted the immune system. The conclusion seems possible, since although someone who is in contact with more people has a greater statistical chance to get infected, stress and guilt have been linked to flu-like symptoms. Further, they say laughter is the best medicine, it may well be that the good humours provided by pleasant friendly encounters have the opposite effect.

Social psychologists tend to explain attractiveness in terms of likeness, reciprocity and proximity. A study done in college dorms (Priest & Sawyer, 1967) showed that persons (all of whom were complete strangers prior to the beginning of the school term) were more likely to become friends with those who lived directly across the hall than with those who lived two doors down. The scientific truth is paralleled in the TV series Friends, if not in the plot then at least in the physical set up, where sister, brother and the entire circle, live close by.

According to literature accounts, friendships tend to form between those similar in intelligence, views, hobbies, education, family values and age. Of course, exceptions abound.

References:

Chisholm, K., Carter, M. C., Ames, E. W. & Morison, S. J. (1995). Attachment security and indiscriminately friendly behavior in children adopted from Romanian orphanages. Development and Psychopathology, 7 (2): 283-294.

Uchino, B. N., Cacioppo, J. T. & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (1996). The relationship between social support and physiological processes: A review with emphasis on underlying mechanisms and implications for health. Psychological Bulletin, 119 (3): 488-531.

Priest, R. F. & Sawyer, J. (1967). Proximity and peership: Bases of balance in interpersonal attraction. The American Journal of Sociology, 72 (6): 633-649.

Interpersonal Psychology. Illustration by Elena.

Delusions

Delusions

Delusions are persistent irrational beliefs, immune to contrary evidence and causing great distress and/or social, professional, academic, and personal dysfunction.

While hallucinations and delusions are most commonly associated with schizophrenia, psychotic features can be present in Bipolar Disorder, severe Depression, Delusional Disorder, Dementia, Substance-Induced Psychosis and other psychiatric conditions.

Further, a person may present with schizotypy without having schizophrenia, such as in Schizoaffective Disorder or Schizoid Personality Disorder. According to Peters et al. (1999), psychotic symptoms could be viewed as the maladaptive extremes of a continuum of traits present in the general population and quantified in order to prevent breakdowns and improve treatment.

The diathesis-stress model can be defined as such: An individual has a, presumably inherited, predisposition towards an illness, but the problems will only manifest themselves if the organism experiences a significant stressor. The main themes delusions center on are grandeur, persecution (paranoid thinking), disintegration and contrition, as defined by the Delusions-Symptoms-States-Inventory (DSSI, Foulds & Bedford; 1975).

The authors found that the majority (93.3%) of their sample (480 clinical patients in psychiatry) had symptoms in agreement with the scale. The Present State Examination (Wing et al., 1974) adds three other categories, while the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association) expands to include erotomanic, jealous, somatic and mixed subtypes in addition to the initial four. Bowins & Shugar (1998) found that a person’s self-esteem and self-regard greatly influenced the content of his or her delusional ideation, and led to “delusions [being] experienced as comfortable (or uncomfortable) and enhancing (or diminishing)” (154).

Delusions are persistent irrational beliefs. Illustration by Elena.

The following list represents the delusions’ subdivisions found in their study, in order of frequency:

I. delusions of reference

II. delusions of persecution

III. grandiose delusions

IV. delusions of control

V. thought insertion

VI. thought broadcasting (feeling that others can hear one’s thoughts)

VII. somatic delusions (hypochondriac)

VIII. delusions of guilt

IX. thought withdrawal

X. thought reading

XI. religious delusions

XII. delusions of jealousy

XIII. delusions of catastrophe

XIV. delusions of thought control

XV. sexual delusions

The scientific literature is divided on the function that delusions serve in relation to self-esteem, if any, but these experimenters were able to demonstrate that among current active psychosis inpatients, self-esteem and self regard were positively correlated with delusional substance.

Thus, subjects with better global self-images had delusions that reflected that notion more than their lower self-appraised counterparts. Bowins & Shugar (1998) also noticed that the higher self-esteem patients rated their deluded experiences more enhancing and comforting. However, the subsets of the personality variable reflecting professional, academic, physical and social dimensions failed to be translated into delusional content.

Perhaps the above information helps to understand why patients with delusions cling to their unsupported worldviews so strongly, despite the impairment it causes in their lives, especially in cases where the irrational thoughts are enacted. Even if the inner consistency rationale elucidates the disturbances, it lacks the ability to make it any easier for those afflicted as well as for their close ones. Hopefully, scientific breakthroughs will alleviate those burdens in the near foreseeable future.

“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.” (Leo Tolstoy, The Kreutzer Sonata). Image: Megan Jorgensen.

Demonology

Now, some people are not religious, agnostic or even atheist - and I believe that's ok. I believe in God, but I also believe in democracy and freedom of choice. But lately… I'm starting to understand that there are also demons! They look just like humans, but they are real demons underneath. You can usually tell, by the way their treat their own mothers, for example…

Demonology is a pseudoscience akin to astrology. Remember astrophysics and astronomy? We'll, it's nothing like that! Luckily, there are also angels, and archangels; and they fight fire with fire. Everyday. For man(and woman)kind ;)

References:

• Bowins, B. & Shugar, G. (1998). Delusions and self-esteem. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 43 (March): 154-8.
• Foulds, G. A. & Bedford, A. (1975). A hierarchy of classes of personal illness. Psychological Medicine, 5 (2): 181-92.
• Peters, E., Joseph, S. A. & Garety, P. A. (1999). Measurement of delusional ideation in the normal population: Introducing the PDI (Peters et al. Delusions Inventory). Schizophrenia Bulletin, 25 (3): 553-76.
• Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974). Measurement and classification of psychiatric symptoms. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Serotonin

Serotonin

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) is a neurotransmitter that is primarily involved in mood regulation. The neuromodulator is best known for its involvement in depression, although its malfunction has also been implicated in other psychiatric conditions, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Post-Partum Blues, Autism, eating disorders, panic attacks, phobias and even Schizophrenia (an affliction also involving dopamine overabundance).

Patients with Major Depressive Disorder produce less serotonin as measured by neuroimaging techniques, and this finding is the basis for the common medications used to treat depression, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). Perhaps the most famous SSRI is fluoxetine, brand name Prozac. The production of serotonin may depend on whether the individual is homozygous (two copies) or heterozygous (one copy) of the 5-HT short allele, homozygotes are more likely to succumb to depression even if under the same stressful circumstances than heterozygotes or those who have not inherited that allele at all (Caspi et al., 2003). Individuals with two copies of the long 5-HT allele are the least prone to developing the illness. Notwithstanding, in their meta-analysis across studies, Risch et al. (2009) found little evidence supporting this result.

According to Nugent et al. (2008), severe tryptophan depletion leads to a relapse of depressive symptoms. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid found in aliments such as pasta and turkey and a precursor to serotonin synthesis. In the experiment, subjects returned to normal as soon as tryptophan was reincorporated into their diet.

In their review of findings, Russo et al. (2009) cite several authors that have attested to serotonin mediating sleep, aggression, anxiety, thermoregulation, satiety and stress, Curiously, neurogenesis also seems to depend on serotonin. The reviewers also explain the brain reaction to low tryptophan blood plasma levels and “speculate about the possible survival value of this mechanism” (259).

Neurogenesis is the appearance of new brain cells (neurons) and Banasr et al. (2004) found that adult neurogenesis is enhanced by serotonin agonists (agonists stimulate, antagonists inhibit). Several receptor subtypes are implicated in the process, and the scientists came to the conclusion that serotonin was beneficial to adult cell proliferation, especially in the following brain regions: subgranular layer (SGL), subventricular zone (SVZ), dentate gyrus (DG) and olfactory bulb. A small reminder that gyrus (plural form gyri) refers to convex parts of the brain surface gray matter, while sulci (singular form sulcus) denote concave parts.

Dayan et al. (2008) suggest that serotonin deficiency mitigates impulse control by lowering inhibition, thus making the action with potentially adverse consequences more likely. The authors also discuss serotonergic pathways’ implication in thought processes related to aversive thought processes. Recalling that in encountering a new stimulus, an organism is often faced with an internal aversion versus approach conflict, the decision resting on whether the object in question poses a threat or promises a reward, respectively.

“Most people are about as happy as their self confidence will allow them to be.” (Shannon L. Alder). Illustration : Megan Jorgensen.

References:

• Banasr, M., Hery, M., Printemps, R. & Daszuta, A. (2004). Neuropsychopharmacology, 29 (3): 450-60.
• Caspi, A., Sugden, K., Moffitt, T. E., Taylor, A., Craig, I. W., Harrington, HL., McClay, J., Mill, J., Martin, J., Braithwaite, A. & Poulton, R. (2003). Influence of life stress on depression: Moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene. Science, 301 (5631): 386-9.
• Dayan, P.  & Huys, Q. J. M. (2008). Serotonin, inhibition and negative mood. PLoS Computational Biology, 4 (2): 0001-11.
• Nugent, A. C, Neumeister, A., Goldman, D., Herscovitch, P., Charney, D. S. & Drevets, W. C. (2008). Serotonin transporter genotype and depressive phenotype determination by discriminant analysis of glucose metabolism under acute tryptophan depletion. Neuroimage, 43(4): 764–774
• Risch, N., Herrell, R., Lehner, T., Liang, K. -Y., Eaves, L., Hoh, J., Griem, A., Kovacs, M., Ott, J. & Merikangas, K. R. (2009). Interaction between the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), stressful life events and risk of depression: A meta-analysis. JAMA, 301(23): 2462–2471.
• Russo, S., Kema, I. P., Bosker, F., Haavik, J. & Korf, J. (2009). Tryptophan as an evolutionary conserved signal to brain serotonin: Molecular evidence and psychiatric implications. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 10: 258-68.

Murder in the Paradise

The Life and Death of Stars

Most processes occurring in the visible universe involve stars in some way. In fact, all elements, with just a few exceptions, were formed in the nuclear furnaces of stars. This includes the heavier elements such as oxygen and carbon, the main constituents of living organisms (among the exceptions we find lithium, deuterium, helium, hydrogen which were created in the big bang).

Astronomers classify stars using many schemas, including their color, brightness, size, temperature, mass, association with other stars. The system of magnitude of stars introduced by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus in the second century AD is still in use today. Hipparchus divided stars by visual brightness from magnitude 1 (brightest) to magnitude 6 (faintest). Each level represents a 2.5-fold change in brightness.

With the arrival of the telescope and later the camera, stars as faint as magnitude 30 became detectable. These stars are four billion times fainter than could be observed with the naked eye.

The modern and most meaningful way of characterizing and analyzing stars is by spectral class. We classify them by the letters OBAFGKM (the famous mnemonic for remembering this sequence is Oh, Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me). A star’s spectral class is defined by its characteristics of temperature, size, and density. The hottest and most massive stars are in the O and B classes and typically emit blue to white light. Stars of intermediate temperature and mass range from A- to G-type and emit white to yellow light. The coolest, least massive stars are K- and M-type and emit orange to red light. In fact, two new classes have been added (L and T) to account for the discovery of very low-mass stars.

The lifetime of a star is directly related to its mass. Indeed, stars that are actively fusing hydrogen to helium, such as our Sun, are called main-sequence stars. We know that stars generally spend about 90 percent of their lives on the main sequence. And when stars exhaust their hydrogen fuel, they begin the inevitable process of stellar death.

At the point of “stellar death” in their evolution, stars begin to leave the main sequence.

Thus the most massive stars rapidly use up their fuel and may live only a few million years. This is in contrast to lower-mass stars, such as the Sun, which may enjoy a main-sequence life of over ten billion years.

As a sun-like star exhausts its hydrogen core and begins to die, a new process begins. Helium fuses to carbon and later to oxygen, which will sustain the star for a short period but at the expense of further core collapse, higher core temperatures, and continued surface expansion. The surface of the star, no longer checked by gravity, bloats and cools. At this stage, the star is referred as a red giant and the bloated diameter can exceed ten times that of our Sun. The star begins a futile cycle of further core collapse and surface expansion that can end either passively as a white dwarf surrounded by a planetary nebula or, for more massive stars, in a cataclysmic explosion known as a supernova.

Steller death is an inevitable stage in the evolution of every star. Image by © Megan Jorgensen.

Lost

Lost

By Gregory Maguire

Waugh was an overweight estate agent with a belt made of rattlesnake skin. He huffed and panted as he led Winnie toward the back of the flat where a man and a woman where muttering to themselves in disagreement. “My clients are nearly through here but we have another place to see down on Honeybourn Road,” said Kendall Waugh. “Let me just answer their questions, Miss Prizzy, and then I'll show you round quickly.”

“I can have a look myself,” she said. She was looking as she spoke. The layout of the flat for sale was identical to John's flat above, and, she assumed, to Mrs Maddingly's flat below. These small rooms in the older building, facing Weatherhall Walk, two additional rooms snugly joined to her newer house behind. The flat had belonged to Mrs. Maddingly several decades ago, but there was no sign of her whimsical disarray. The place was empty of furniture and sorely need of sprucing up. The coping was dingy. But Winnie wasn't in the market for a flat, she was supposed to be hunting for some natural cause of the unnatural disasters occurring in John's flat upstairs.

She could see nothing of interest. The chimney stack rose from below and continued above, exactly as geometry and architecture would have it. In the large room it had once heated and lit, the chimney breast was boarded over. “Could this fireplace be opened up and made to work?” she said to Kendall Waugh.

“I'll just finish here if I may have a moment, one moment,” he called, affecting patience, but unconvincingly. Winnie stood in the gloom, in a box of cold room, and heard the voices in the annex. In certain sorts of rain, when the clouds came down close as they were today, it was sometimes hard to keep the mind fixed to the current year.

She's noticed the syndrome mostly on gray February days, back when she was living in the more expensive and so more thinly developed Boston suburbs. The wet tree trunks, the low sky the color of tarnished silver, the muted smoky green of of yews and white pines and arborvitae, the retracting mounds of dirty snow, the skin of the world pulling in phlegmy puddles, the occasional stab of red in holly berries, it was the same cold world of the Wampanoags, the Puritans, the colonists and revolutionaries, the Federalists, and revivalists, and Victorians, and so on.

Similarly, in London, the wind bullied the windows in their casing as rattingly as it must have done all through the past three hundred years and more. The gray skies drawn in over the mighty and inattentive Atlantic were the very same gray, corrected for reduction of pollution from coal fires, of course, thanks to the Clean Air Act.

She roused herself back to whatever of the here and now she could still trust, or care about. She heard Kenndall Waugh answering a question. ”That, I can tell you actually. We've got at the office a very fine pamphlet that talks about this street and actually mentions the structure. It was put up in the early nineteenth century, which makes it almost two hundred years old of course as you know, by a merchant named Rudge. Rudge House and all that. He was in imports, the tea trade.”

Lost. Photo by Elena.