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        general >> psychology >> calming down
        
(Message started by: paul thomas on Oct 8^th, 2002, 11:11am)

Title: calming down
Post by paul thomas on Oct 8^th, 2002, 11:11am

Explain the process of calming down from stress and anxiety. If this process is represented on a spectrum what other states are represented on this spectrum? From some websites I gather that there are two main techniques used to calm people down. The first one is the passive (breathing exercises, etc). The second is aggressive (targeted aggression). I also gather that these are derived from out primal defence mechanism fight/flight. Am I on the right track? Are these techniques: 1) points on the spectrum 2) guidance 3) diversionary tactics? Which of these or other techniques would you recommend as the best solution (city workers)?

This is for a lighting project. I would have to admit the aggression technique appeals to me more from a purely design point on view.

Gratefully,
Paul

P.S. I make a distinction between anger from stress and natural aggression.

Title: Re: calming down
Post by xplorer on Nov 3^rd, 2002, 12:25am

just a thought from someone who has
spent time thinking about it:
stress might be considered a [transient-?-temporary]
mental condition where two or more mental processes
conflict regarding perception,planning,outcome[,...+?].
The conflict is resonant, and [my presumption...]
that if you could map mental activities you would find
high-frequency oscillations in the brain resulting as
different desires/fears work their way through
toward resolution.
On the one hand,
this oscillation could be amplified by providing strobing lights
calculated to drive the oscillations harder using lighting that
starts from a yellow and descend in frequency towards red,
or (for the physics crowd, toward a lower spectrum color).
Conversely,
these stress oscillations could possibly be damped by
putting the subject in surroundings with dim green lighting
that originally fluctuates at a slower-than-heartbeat
rate and gradually slows fluctuating over a measured
period of time as the spectrum slowly rises toward a
steady pastel blue light.

My reasoning is that the 'warmer colors' down from yellow
toward red are actually tending into the range where body
tissue [brain/blood] could be thermally excited, especially by
strobing action.
A study of violence during police arrests with correlation to
the type of lighting [cherry tops? blue light specials ?]
might be in order. The quickest way to cool a riot is >not<
with flashing red lights, for sure.

Or maybe I am completely wrong.
Lacking the means to test these ideas
is depressing.

cheers

Title: Re: calming down
Post by william wu on Nov 3^rd, 2002, 2:47am

Paul,

Sorry for the late response. In general I'm rather ill-suited to answer psychology questions, since psychology is a far cry from my specialty. I'm just interested in it. However, I find your questions interesting, so you motivated me to flex my google-fu. Thanks to David Lau for giving me some search parameter pointers; he's taken Clinical Psych.

From http://www.mentalhealthchannel.net/gad/ regarding General Anxiety Disorder (GAD):

GAD is associated with irregular levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry signals across nerve endings. Neurotransmitters that seem to involve anxiety include norepinephrine, GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), and serotonin.

Norepinephrine is concentrated in the locus ceruleus (nerve cluster that lies near the brain¡¦s fourth ventricle). Increased activity in the locus ceruleus is associated with anxiety, and decreased activity in the locus ceruleus diminishes anxiety. Increased levels of GABA and serotonin seem to reduce anxiety. All of these neurotransmitters interact during heightened anxiety.

The psychodynamic theory of psychology sees anxiety as an alerting mechanism that arises when our unconscious motivations clash with the constraints of our conscious mind. This conflict is intensified in people with GAD. Behavioral theory holds that anxiety results from not knowing how to behave in a given situation. The possibility of suffering negative consequences because of inappropriate behavior may result in hesitation and inaction. The anxiety may be generalized to similar situations. For example, anxiety over taking a particular test may be generalized to taking all tests in the future.

Here are some sites on established current models of anxiety. I've had some exposure to these ideas, but I think these sites could explain them far better than I can. They're quite clear.

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/images/psychology/anxiety_model.jpg

ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
http://www.psych.usyd.edu.au/teach2002/psyc1/abnormal_tutorial/model.html

THE COGNITIVE MODEL OF ANXIETY
http://www.habitsmart.com/anx.html

Hope that helps. If any psych people can add to this thread, please feel free to post.

Title: Re: calming down
Post by william wu on Nov 3^rd, 2002, 3:05am

xplorer: Interesting ideas, and thanks for registering. I'll reply to your ideas in the colour mood thread; in the future let's keep colour discussion in that thread, and leave this one to general models of anxiety.

Title: Re: calming down
Post by KenYonRuKu on Apr 5^th, 2004, 3:05am

It's not fancy, and it doesn't have a flowery name (not to my knowledge anyway), but I find that if I feel anxious, all I have to do is close my eyes and start breathing slowly, as slowly as I can manage. After a few minutes of this, I feel invigorated and refreshed.