Depression can hit at any age.

More than the blues, the overall feeling of doom can trigger some people to kill themselves. Researchers now are looking at this behavior from a new angle. Studies show that low levels of the brain chemical serotonin can in part lead to an overall insensitivity to future consequences, setting off impulsive & aggressive behaviors & perhaps culminating in suicide.

By selectively restoring the chemicals' activity researchers hope to prevent destructive behavior as well as head off suicide - the 8th leading cause of death in the U.S.

Grades are posted.

• Alex . . . 98%

• Pam ...  85%

• Nick...    91%

Your grade?

• 20%

You're upset so you talk to your teacher to find out where you went wrong. 

But what if your feelings went out of control? You rip up the posted mid-term grades & glare at your teacher as you exit the classroom. In the days that follow you experience overwhelming feelings of sadness & thoughts of ending your life. 

Why would a person behave one way rather than another? For years, scientists have agreed that some behavior flaws can arise from environmental influences including how your parents raised you or from a traumatic life crisis such as the death of a loved one.

Now a growing body of evidence suggests that a chemical dubbed serotonin (ser-oh-TOE-nin) also may play a part. Some scientists believe that low activity of the chemical in the brain can lead to an underlying inability to handle powerful feelings, which can result in impulsive acts, aggressive behaviors & suicidal tendencies.

This new line of research may lead to:

• The use of brain imaging techniques for identifying those who may be impulsively aggressive or suicidal.

• A method to monitor the serotonin medications given to suicidal depressed patients.

• New insights on the mechanisms of serotonin.

Serotonin is one of a group of chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters that carry out communication in the brain & body. The message molecules flow from a nerve cell or neuron onto other neurons that act as receivers.

There, they attach to a distinctly shaped area on the neuron called a receptor site. This union, which is like a key fitting into a lock, triggers signals that either allow the message to be passed on to other cells or prevent the message from being forwarded.

Since the discovery of serotonin in the 1950's, researchers are finding evidence that one of its roles is to mediate emotions & judgment. 

i.e., in animal studies, scientists discovered that low serotonin levels may be associated with impulsive or risky behavior. Researchers observed monkeys & found that the ones who took more dangerous leaps traveling from tree to tree had lower serotonin levels & more injuries from falling.

Other scientists examined rats & found the ones with low serotonin levels chose a small immediate reward instead of waiting for a bigger prize. 

Scientists also have compiled studies that show serotonin is implicated in aggressive acts. One example involves mice who lack one type of receptor that responds to serotonin. These defective mice attack intruders faster & more intensely.

Other researchers examined the spinal fluid of murderers in Finland. Their results indicate that these individuals have abnormally low levels of serotonin. 

Some researchers now believe that suicide may be the ultimate act of inwardly directed impulsive aggression. 

In one new area of research, scientists are examining humans with brain imaging techniques & believe defects in serotonin processing are partially responsible for suicidal behavior. Preliminary results show that depressed people who have attempted suicide exhibit lower serotonin activity in response to a drug that boosts the amount of the chemical in the brain.

In addition, the depressed had a history of comitting impulsive acts including overeating & aggressive behaviors such as lighting fires or fighting. 

Scientists plan to uncover the brain areas where serotonin's inactivity causes the most havoc & identify all the components that play a role in the defective processing. Researchers view the brain in action with a special imaging technique called positron emission tomography (pet).

These pet scans compare the brain activity of a severely depressed patient to a healthy volunteer. Both people received a drug called fenfluramine that is known to increase the availability of serotonin in the brain.

The scans demonstrate that only the healthy patient has an increase in serotonin activity, which is represented by the orange & yellow shading. This suggests that the severely depressed have a very blunted response to the neurotransmitter or very low serotonin levels.

Researchers plan to use the technology to devise imaging guidelines that would identify patients with this deficiency.

Anger is a way of asserting my rights & my opinions, a way of pushing back when I feel threatened.

I can reinforce my anger by focusing on how I see a situation. Sometimes I go over my arguments repeatedly, explaining to myself — or to anyone who'll listen — why I'm justified in feeling the way I do, justified in doing what I did or in saying what I did.

I may express my anger quietly in stony withdrawal, over time in little verbal jabs, or I may explode abruptly.

Getting angry clears out the space around me. It gives me a bigger sense of myself. It pushes other people away.

At it's best, anger can energize me to make things different, to improve my situation.

Anger is our own attention-getter, arousing us to respond to something that may hurt us or those we care about.

When serving its true function — when it's healthy — anger is brief in duration, appropriate in intensity to the situation & it yields constructive action.

But healthy anger is a rarity.

Instead of being clear, direct, focused & brief, our anger lingers, comes out in inappropriate ways, damages our relationships & makes life unpleasant.

• We seethe for days, months, years, even life-times.
• We explode over trivial incidents.
• We're sarcastic & derisive.
• We pout & complain.

Why is anger such a problem in our lives? Because we have a real reason to be angry: our lives aren't filled with the love & satisfaction that we crave.

We're angry because we aren't getting what we want & need out of life.

We aren't getting the love, the respect, the attention, the caring that we want.

Whether or not we believe that we deserve it, we all want it. We all need it.

No one can give us all that we need & we can't give anyone else all of the love & caring that they need. We just don't have it in us.

Why not? Why is there this deep, painful need within us that never gets fully satisfied?

Is there anything we can do except continue to get angry?

We have a need that no one can meet because we are meant to live in God's love, but we've forgotten how.

There's a God who loves us & not just in some vague & distant way. There's a God who wants us to experience his love.

In the experience of God's love, his caring & his acceptance of us as we are, there's freedom from the need to be angry about our lives. There's the possibility of peace & contentment.

Some Philosophizing About Lying

by Ben Best

WHAT IS LYING?

Lying is communication with the intention of creating a false belief. A sarcastic statement which isn't intended or expected to create a false belief isn't a lie, even if it creates a false belief. If a statement is true, but the communicator believes it's false, it still counts as a lie.

Although self-deception is possible, it's difficult to accomplish with full consciousness & intention. Therefore, lying is most often done by one person to one or more others.

Lies are typically motivated by a desire to persuade others to act or to refrain from acting in a certain manner - or to make decisions in one's favor. Sex, money, status, power, love - anything desired can provide temptation to kill, steal or lie. But lies can be motivated by nothing other than the creation of a false (misleadingly favorable or unfavorable) image or the fabrication of an entertaining story.

COSTS & BENEFITS OF LYING

Credibility is a form of wealth. Everyone has access to some credibility. If credibility is squandered, believers are less readily available - but "there is a sucker born every minute". This is reassuring only for persons who are content to continually populate their lives with newly-born "suckers".

Lasting relationships are built on credibility & trust. There is little that people will do for each other without some amount of trust. Truthfulness & trust are usually essential for goodwill. If one wishes to be believed when speaking the truth, one must have credibility. Credibility is also required if one is to be believed when lying.

The "perfect lie" is a lie that produces a benefit & which will never be discovered. Or a lie which misleads a person who will never again be of any consequence or value. But it isn't always easy to predict who will never be of consequence. If the pattern is repeated often enough, a mistake will be made which entails a person of considerable consequence.

Maintaining a false perception in the mind of a person with whom there is an on-going relationship requires constant maintenance & diligence - an on-going cost which isn't incurred by someone who tells the truth. Lying about one matter makes it easier to lie about others. Lies often require more lies to shore-up the false impressions. The liar must remember all the lies to maintain the illusions. Truth becomes a feared enemy of the liar. The intelligence of the duped person becomes the enemy of the liar. The accumulation of lies increases the probability of discovery. With discovery & the collapse of an elaborate fabrication comes a considerable loss of credibility & trust. Once credibility is lost it can be very difficult to regain.

The confirmed liar will only be comfortable in the company of those who are easily deceived - not those with intelligence & understanding. A person who resists lying has the capacity to build lasting relationships of trust. Trust is an important ingredient in every aspect of life which is dependent upon personal relationships - including work, business, friendship, love & family.