The Healing Brain: Integrating Positive Psychology, 12-Step & Neurochemistry into a

Model for Recovery5th annual Lifestyle Intervention Conference

October 5, 20158:30 – 10:00

Ralph E Carson, PhD, RDNutritionist & Exercise Physiologist

www.FitRxBrentwoodrcarson@contactaac.com

What Would You like to Say You Achieved Following Treatment?

And What Will That Make You?

• People in the US rank HAPPINESS as their most important goal

Duchene SmileAuthentic

Pseudo-

How Can You Tell if Someone is Happy?

• Zygomaticus• Obicularis oculi

– Constrict eyes– Raise cheeks– Gather skin towards

bridge of nose

STRESS

Left Prefrontal Cortex Right Prefrontal Cortex

Prefrontal Cortex

Happiness Anger Fear

Disgust

Striatum or Nucleus AccumbensDopamine Circuit

Left Prefrontal Cortex Right Prefrontal Cortex

Prefrontal Cortex

Happiness Anger Fear

Disgust

Pleasantness Circuit(Davidson ’98, ’00, ’02, ‘03a, ‘03b, ‘07; Tomarken ’92; Lyubomirsky ’07 )

NEUROGENESIS

What Makes Humans Unique?

• Ability to think and act in the future

• Uniquely strong herd instinct

Herd Instinct

Orbitofrontal Cortex

What Medications Besides Antibiotics and Chemotherapy Cure a Disease?

• None• The Body Heals Itself

• Medications• Act as a catalyst for

healing• Prevent or reduce the

risk of disease• Mitigate Symptoms

Asked High School Students “What Would make You Happy?”

• Money• Beauty• Popularity• Residence• Education• Age• Health

Certain Problems for which there are no

Solutions!• Economic Collapse

– Higher Taxes– Real Estate Bust – Stock Market Crash

• Poverty– Jobless rate

• Disease– Cancer– Alzheimer’s

• Community unrest– Aurora CO

• Terrorism– Iran– Afghanistan

• Global Warming– Hurricanes; Tornados

Worry, Unresolved Stress: Amygdala; HPACortisol is Neurotoxic (Schoenfeld ‘12)

Stress Damages the Brain and Alters Repair(Kim ‘02)

• Loss of dendritic spines (Chen ’10; Muchu ‘11)

• 8% reduction in Hippocampal volume (Bremner’00; Carrioin ’06; Iris-Tatjana ‘07)

Entropy: Organization → Disorganization

1977 Cancer Survival Rate:

5% lived >2 years

20O7 Cancer Survival Rate:

80% lived > 5 years(Howlander ‘12)

HOPE: Thinking & Acting Positively in the Future

We Judge Science by whether or not it agrees with what we believe

• Placebo: – Believe in the act of

being treated

• Nocebo– Believe we will get sick

• Results is what matters; and not how we got there

Those with less hope have more heart problems

(Pedersen & Sherer ‘10; Sherer ‘07)

• Genes that ↑ heart disease are the same genes that make us prone to depression

• Less Hopeful– More vulnerable– Greater symptoms– Lack energy to exercise– Follow a poor diet– Less likely to take

medications

• Luck• Optimism

• Wishful thinking • Coincidence

• Higher Power• Recovery Community

• Personal Epiphany• Others Believe in you

Assurance of Hope

God spot (Peel ’09; Urgesi ‘10; Kapogianis ‘09a; ‘09b)

God Gene (Hammer ‘04; Silvaira ‘08; Kluger ’04; Newberg ‘09)

Identify Your Personal Strengths and Virtues

And Use Them for the

Betterment of Mankind

FORGIVENESS

Health Problems: Unforgiveness(Tibbits ‘06; Worthington ‘05, ‘07; Landers Row ‘08)

• High Blood Pressure• Elevated heart rate• Muscle tension• Immunosuppressant• Addictions• Medications• Cortisol: Neural Cell

Death (Root ‘09; Cunningham-Bussel‘09)

• Who Are You Hurting if You Don’t Forgive?

Rudy Tomjonovich12/9/77

To Not Forgive Is Like Drinking Poison

• And Hoping Someone Else Dies Buddah

Meditation

EEG

Psyche Grad Students Buddhist Monks

Removing Necrotic Skin from Burn Patient

Left Prefrontal Cortex Right Prefrontal Cortex

Prefrontal Cortex

Happiness Anger Fear

Disgust

Listened to Abused Screaming

Compassion & Empathy (Kluger ’07, Panksepp 2009; Decety ’08; Schulman,

Hauser)

• Compassion: Recognizing the suffering of others and wishing for that suffering to be alleviated

• Empathy: The ability to imagine what someone else might be feeling

Gratitude

Health Benefits: Gratitude

(Emmons ’03; ‘04; Norville ‘07; McCarty ‘95; Oelklaus ‘08; Danner ‘01; Kern ‘04)

• Addiction recovery• Weight management• Reduce pain and

headaches• Lower blood pressure• Improve

cardiovascular function

• Improve longevity• Reduce cortisol

Altruism(Andreoni ‘09; Dietin ‘10; Smith ‘09)

• Giving without expectation of reward

• Put welfare of other’s ahead of their own

Relationships

• Relationships: Single most important factor responsible for survival (Berscheid ‘07)

• Selfishness: Root cause of addiction (Pagano ‘11)

Confide: One whom you can be candid without fear of reprisal or stigma

• Survey: How many people can you confide in?

• 1985: Three (10% only 1)

• 2004: Two (25% no one; 25% 1) (McPherson ’06)

What Does This Plan Sound Like?

Study the Great Religions of the World

• Christianity• Judaism

• Islam• Buddhism• Hinduism

12 – STEP(Addictions)

Positive Psychology(Neurochemisty)

Christian Values(Fruits of the Spirit)

Higher Power - Faith Belief God - FaithHope

(1-3) Hope Hope

Inventory Faults (4,5 10) Strengths & Virtues Self-control

Forgiveness (6-9) Forgiveness Peace

Meditation – Prayer (11)

Compassion/ Empathy Kindness

Service (12) Gratitude & Altruism Gentleness &

Generosity

Support GroupsSponsor Relationships Agape - Love

Sobriety Happiness Joy

Sensory - Thalamo -Cortical

• Relay station: Filters what gets through– Auditory– Visual– Associative– Somatosensory

• Gustatory• Touch

– Prefrontal Cortex– Motor

Thalamus: D2 Receptor Deficiency

• ↓Thalamic D2BP (D2

binding potential)– ↓ Filtering– ↑ Cortical excitement– ↑ Creativity

• Reduced in (Santosa ‘07)

– Addiction– ADHD– Bipolar– Schizophrenia

Change: Letting Go• “Change is inevitable; the

only sure thing in life is change “ unknown

• “Change is inevitable; suffering is optional” Zen Buddhism

• “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we are not really living” Gail Sheehy

• “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that is troublesome” Isaac Asimov

WE DON’T Have to HIT BOTTOM

• “We rarely change when life is cool and comfortable; we change when we feel the heat”

• “Life is like a bicycle: In order to sat balance you have got to keep moving”

• “A turtle doesn’t make progress until it sticks its head out….”

• How many psychologist does it take to change a light bulb?

• “We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing” (Cloud ‘10; Mesiti ‘06)

• “Get over it”• “It’s time to get real”• “Is it working for you”• “Awareness without

action is worthless”

• “Keep doing what you have always done and you will keep on getting what you have always gotten” Ed Foreman

• “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting it to come out differently”

Choose Your Battles Carefullyin the world of public opinion

“People judge science by whether or not it agrees with what they believe”

“What matters is the results; not how you got

their”

“Clinical guidelines are consensus based and not

evidenced based”

“Statistically significant is not always clinically

significant”

Serenity Prayer (Letting Go)

• God, grant me the -• Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

• Courage to change the things I can, • Wisdom to know the difference

• Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr

Resilience & Cross Addiction

• Whack down one addiction or compulsion and another pops up

• Resilience: Ability to cope with stress and adversity

Recovery• Process rather than an outcome

– Give yourself permission to take time to make new neural connections

• Journey to rediscover the “True Self”– Overcome problems that stand in your way– Feel Feelings– Reclaim your Gifts and Potentials– Align behavior with personal virtues– Fulfill your purpose in life

God's Wheel by Shel Silverstein (Silverstiein ’81)

God says to me with kind of a smile,"Hey how would you like to be God awhile

And steer the world?""Okay," says I, "I'll give it a try.

Where do I set?How much do I get?What time is lunch?When can I quit?"

"Gimme back that wheel," says God,"I don't think you're quite ready yet."