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Author Archives: Rena

Lived in Pennsylvania until I was 29, ran away to live in the woods in England for five and a half years, returned to Philly area. Used to have a late lamented webpage about Peter Gabriel, guinea pigs and model horses called "In rraven's Eyes". Here's a quick tip-remember to not leave your computer with your ex when you leave for another country. Would like to be a white horse when I grow up. But I am having fun being a freelance writer. Writing is my passion.

Complicated Grief May Be Chemically Caused

July 19, 2008 – 4:57 pm
Stored Under Topic - News and Science

girl on stairsComplicated grief is the medical term for someone who grieves for months or years after the beloved has died and does not move on with the stages of grief.    The grief is just as strong as when the day their beloved died.   Granted, grief is a very individual process and everyone needs their own span of time to grief.  The kind of grief we’re talking about here is unhealthy grief, when it consumes your life almost like an obsession.  Treating complicated grief is dicey at best.

Now, a UCLA study suggests that there may be a physical and potentially treatable reason for complicated grief.  The complete study was published in the journal NeuroImage.

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Hunger Hormone A Stress-Buster?

July 19, 2008 – 4:11 pm
Stored Under Topic - News and Science

985046_tiny_mouseA study concludes that to get happy, go a little hungry.

When you hear the word "hunger", the word "happiness" tends not to spring quickly to mind.  And yet, that seems to be the conclusion of a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.  Granted, the study was done on mice, so at least if it doesn’t translate completely over to people, we now know one thing that can make a mouse happy.  Either that, or the mice have all gotten together to try and make us hungry so there will be more food for mice.  The study was funded by several organizations, including the National Institute of Health.  As far as we know, none of the organizations have been taken over by mice.

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Seeing Things That Aren’t There

July 16, 2008 – 12:40 pm
Stored Under Topic - Health and Healing

blue-universe-cloud"Vision is controlled hallucination"  — Max Clowes

We humans rely on our sense of seeing more than any of our other senses.  Even if we can’t see it, we want the descriptions from others who have.  I’ve talked to blind people who say they make images in their heads through their other senses.  When you see something really out of place or start seeing things that aren’t there or shouldn’t be there, this can be incredibly upsetting. 

Take a deep breath and relax.  Then, look at these tips for seeing things that aren’t there.  Please keep in mind that I’m not a doctor or licensed therapist, so don’t use this in the place of a diagnosis.

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The Joy of Stupid Criminals

July 15, 2008 – 4:40 pm
Stored Under Topic - Random Thoughts

dim bulb"Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis." — Jack Handey

Although laughter can’t cure everything, it sure can cure a bad mood by getting you to laugh and, therefore, relax.  For example, I love reading about stupid criminals.  They really are funnier than a television sit com.  (When I say "stupid", I don’t mean "mentally retarded").  If you wrote a short story about the antics stupid criminals get up to, you’d never be able to get it published because the story would be "too unbelievable".  I also can’t help but feel a little better about myself.  I’ve done some bone-headed things in my day, but at least I never did what some of these guys did (knock on wood).

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Dealing with People with Opposite Viewpoints

July 12, 2008 – 10:23 am
Stored Under Topic - General Relaxation and Stress

choicesOne of the other blogs I write for is Celsias, a green blog based in New Zealand.  Although it’s a great blog to write for, it brings you directly into contact with people holding violently differing opinions — even within the green movement, who are supposedly on the same side.  I firmly believe that if you get three environmentalists in the same room, at least two of them will go for each other’s throats in about ten minutes.

Of course, this happens within any cause, not just the green movement.  But, we’re still stuck living and dealing with people with opposite viewpoints than ours.  Here are some things I do, but I am in no means an expert.  I’d love to hear your suggestions on dealing with people with opposite viewpoints.

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