dreams, jaws, eyes, etc
I decided today that the reason I hate being sick most is the dreaming.
I don't remember them ever being so strong before, so here's what I've come to guess: I have crazy dreams when I'm sick, due actually to the sickness itself and/or any herbal supplements/vitamins I'm ingesting before bed. I also tend to have crazy (or just intensely vivid) dreams when I'm sleeping with Bill (it's a remarkable difference, my sleeping when he's not there and what happens when we pass out together). Now that my situation involves both of those factors, my mind all but explodes when I'm sick and next to Bill.
I woke up last night from a dream that was so intense, my jaw was hurting from how hard I was grinding my teeth in my sleep. It was really hard.
Today it was the same thing when I came home from dropping Bill off in Absecon and getting an oil change. I woke up exhausted from my nap, though the dreaming was not as intense.
BAH I keep forgetting to talk about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy. My Ab Psych professor mentioned it to us the other day during a lecture on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A therapist named Francine Shapiro, Ph. D developed it some ten years ago. I can't go into it now (because Bill just called and said he's going to be on campus in a short while) but I trust that those of you who are intrigued will pursue more information at your leisure.
The basics of EMDR is this (and I'm really butchering it, I'm sure): the client moves his or her eyes from left to right while pondering the event or situation which causes their panic. What eventually happens (and it does actually happen) is that somehow, the threatening thoughts/memories seem less threatening. The theory is that though we don't know how to control which hemisphere of the brain processes the information and emotion, by moving the eyes from side to side stimulates both the left and the right brains and somehow [we don't know] processes the traumatic event, rather than panicking in response to it again and again.
Is that not fucking amazing?
There is controversy because though it works, we have no idea how it works, simply because we're not nearly familiar enough with the brain and its functioning for that shit to be obvious.
I've been trying to use the same method with other brain processing functions, like while listening to music to see if I recall the lyrics or melodies in any remarkably quickly time, or while going over a new recipe in my head to see if memorization takes place any faster. I've also tried doing it while attempting to retrieve older memories (eg, how many steps lead up to the upstairs part of my grandmother's house, what shirt Josh wore the last time Bill threw a party, or the words to my favourite nursery rhyme when I was young).
Bill's here! Can't proofread.
I don't remember them ever being so strong before, so here's what I've come to guess: I have crazy dreams when I'm sick, due actually to the sickness itself and/or any herbal supplements/vitamins I'm ingesting before bed. I also tend to have crazy (or just intensely vivid) dreams when I'm sleeping with Bill (it's a remarkable difference, my sleeping when he's not there and what happens when we pass out together). Now that my situation involves both of those factors, my mind all but explodes when I'm sick and next to Bill.
I woke up last night from a dream that was so intense, my jaw was hurting from how hard I was grinding my teeth in my sleep. It was really hard.
Today it was the same thing when I came home from dropping Bill off in Absecon and getting an oil change. I woke up exhausted from my nap, though the dreaming was not as intense.
BAH I keep forgetting to talk about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy. My Ab Psych professor mentioned it to us the other day during a lecture on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A therapist named Francine Shapiro, Ph. D developed it some ten years ago. I can't go into it now (because Bill just called and said he's going to be on campus in a short while) but I trust that those of you who are intrigued will pursue more information at your leisure.
The basics of EMDR is this (and I'm really butchering it, I'm sure): the client moves his or her eyes from left to right while pondering the event or situation which causes their panic. What eventually happens (and it does actually happen) is that somehow, the threatening thoughts/memories seem less threatening. The theory is that though we don't know how to control which hemisphere of the brain processes the information and emotion, by moving the eyes from side to side stimulates both the left and the right brains and somehow [we don't know] processes the traumatic event, rather than panicking in response to it again and again.
Is that not fucking amazing?
There is controversy because though it works, we have no idea how it works, simply because we're not nearly familiar enough with the brain and its functioning for that shit to be obvious.
I've been trying to use the same method with other brain processing functions, like while listening to music to see if I recall the lyrics or melodies in any remarkably quickly time, or while going over a new recipe in my head to see if memorization takes place any faster. I've also tried doing it while attempting to retrieve older memories (eg, how many steps lead up to the upstairs part of my grandmother's house, what shirt Josh wore the last time Bill threw a party, or the words to my favourite nursery rhyme when I was young).
Bill's here! Can't proofread.