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Training Our Brains: As a Man Thinks in His Heart

5/26/2014

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 Training our Brains: As a man thinks in his heart…

What we choose to think about matters. How we decide to think about people matters a lot. It matters so much that our Savior Jesus Christ warned us against dwelling on bad thoughts about others. Anger towards another is placed in the same category as murder!

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…” (Mat 5:21-22 KJV)

Unjustified, unbiblical anger can lead to murder.

At the same time over and over again we are commanded to love each other! “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35 KJV)

 

The idea that God can change us from people who hate others to people who love is the heart of Christianity. While part of our society is busy about redefining behavior spoken of in scripture as sin into “normal” behavior that cannot change, the authors of the New Testament did not see it that way. Paul tells us that if we are in Christ, we are new creatures with old things passing away and new things coming. (see 2Corinthians 5:17) Instead of being stuck doing the same old sins, Christians can look forward to change. And, research published this week agrees.

 

A study published in PLoS ONE, that examined the ability of test subjects to change how they felt about others. “Volunteers who received real time information of their ongoing neural activity could change brain network function among connected areas related to tenderness and affection felt toward loved ones, while the control group who performed the same fMRI task without neurofeedback did not show such improvement.”[i] In plain English, the volunteers were given information from their fMRI brain scans that showed how the part of their brain would light up in response to positive feelings about their loved ones. Practice thinking about their affection for their loved ones strengthened the response seen in the brain.

 

An important note about the research was that the control group in the study was not given any feedback on their brain scans. And, as they practiced the tasks given their brain activity did not change. The researchers believed that this kind of brain training activity could have application for those who struggled with post-partum depression and personality disorders.[ii]

 

It is always interesting when science goes to great effort to demonstrate something the Bible has already told us. Paul told us to “lay aside the old self… to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

 and put on the new self…” (Eph 4:22-24 NAU) This process in the Christian is powered by the grace of God and it is powered by the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts. The whole process is tied to studying the scriptures as Christ said, “Sanctify them through Your truth, Your word is truth.” (John 17:17) It is implemented by doing what we learn in that word by grace. (James 1:22)

 

The good news of the gospel is that those who trust in Christ are no longer slaves to sinful habits, but have the privilege to choose to serve instead. As Paul said “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

 (Rom 6:17-18 NASB)

 



[i] Instituto D'Or de Pesquisa e Ensino (IDOR). "Training brain patterns of empathy using functional brain imaging." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 May 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140521180016.htm>.

[ii] Jorge Moll, Julie H. Weingartner, Patricia Bado, Rodrigo Basilio, João R. Sato, Bruno R. Melo, Ivanei E. Bramati, Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza, Roland Zahn. Voluntary Enhancement of Neural Signatures of Affiliative Emotion Using fMRI Neurofeedback. PLoS ONE, 2014; 9 (5): e97343 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097343

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Blog Trotter

5/26/2014

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I have no idea why, but blog trotter decided to send out email notification for 10 of past blog posts this morning at 8:45am. It reminds of Hal and the concept that computers can develop a will of their own. Sorry for any inconvenience! :-)
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Family Life Today & Good Mood Bad Mood

5/26/2014

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The blog today can be found at the Biblical Counseling Coalition Website at http://t.co/QiuaTVTjKo. I had the privilege of talking with Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine in January about Good Mood Bad Mood and from that conversation came 3 radio programs which will air this Wednesday 5/28 through Friday 5/30.

In the BCC blog there is a description of those programs. Please click the link and read about them there.

The blog at goodmoodbadmood.com will return this week with more comments about scientific articles that are important to Biblical counselors.

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Antidepressants and Self Harm Risk in Children and Young Adults.

5/3/2014

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A recent article published in JAMA Internal medicine is a reminder that current antidepressant drugs are not free of side effects or risks.[i] Researchers found that individuals age 10 to 24 treated with higher than normal starting doses were twice has likely to have suicidal thinking as compared to those treated with placebo. (A pill that looked like but did not contain the active ingredient) In this same age group those treated with the higher starting doses were twice as likely to harm themselves.[ii] [iii]

This is very important information for lots of reasons. The first is that no one should think that the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa and Lexapro are as safe as taking Tylenol or a couple of aspirin. These are serious medicines that bring with them significant side effects. Patients who are offered these medicines should be asking their doctors to carefully inform them about the possible side effects.

Second, it is vitally important to be certain that the individual being treated is actually struggling with depression. This is a real problem today because since 1980 normal sadness has been turned into depression. Individuals who are struggling with normal grieving over loss do not have a disease. When they are treated with medication that is meant for a disease they will often simply be sad and then have the side effects of the medicine.

Third, it is important to note that younger individuals seem to have more trouble with this side effect of the SSRI antidepressant than older ones. As the researchers noted, “…the efficacy of antidepressant therapy for youth seems to be modest.” With that being said, taking medicine that has significant side effects and risks should be a last resort, not the first thing we reach for.

In Good Mood Bad Mood, I outline the research that deals with the importance of dealing with people grieving over loss differently than with those who cannot tell us why they are sad.[iv] The latter has been described for years as disordered sadness and used to be the one of the main criteria for making a diagnosis of depression.

Up to 90% of individuals who carry the label of depression today can tell us when it started and what they lost. They are far more likely to be struggling with normal sadness than a disease.  And at the same time, it appears that that nearly 90% of people who take the currently available antidepressant do not benefit from them any more than they would from taking a placebo pill.[v]

The first principle of medicine that all physicians must learn is “first do no harm.” Few of us in medicine would be satisfied with just leaving it at that. I would say that most of us in medicine are always looking for better ways to help and yes, to cure. But, the benefit of taking medicine must be worth the risk.

When we add in the significant problem of side effects, most of these strugglers would probably do better just talking to anyone with training, compassion and skill. And, many could profit greatly from counseling from the Bible that deals with how God wants to love and help them in the middle of their sorrow. 


[i] The JAMA Network Journals. "High doses of antidepressants appear to increase risk of self-harm in children young adult." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 April 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140428164111.htm>.

[ii] Matthew Miller, Sonja A. Swanson, Deborah Azrael, Virginia Pate, Til Stürmer. Antidepressant Dose, Age, and the Risk of Deliberate Self-harm. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2014; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.1053

[iii] David A. Brent, Robert Gibbons. Initial Dose of Antidepressant and Suicidal Behavior in Youth. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2014; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.14016

[iv]  Good Mood Bad Mood, Shepherd Press, Chapter 5.

[v] Ibid. p.49.

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    Charles D Hodges Jr. MD
    I have been counseling people with mood problems and other family issues  for 25 years.  

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