WEBVTT - Slay Your Paper Tigers 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:06.960 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:13.880 Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:15.920 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Duklass, and 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:18.640 today we were talking about tigers. We're talking about paper tigers, 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:22.040 which instantly brings to mind like a you know, an 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:25.160 oregony savor tooth tiger up the mint size, like chasing 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:27.520 you down in your dreams, catching up with you and 0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:30.600 then just carrying into you with its with a thousand 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:34.240 paper cuts and just ripping you to shreds. That's about right, yea, yeah, 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:36.120 And it's kind of a stand in for for many 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:39.240 different things. Historically, a paper tiger was a stand in 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:43.400 for a country that really had sort of no political might, 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:46.160 but posed a threat or was trying to pose a threat. 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:50.239 But then it's been sort of h used in the 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:54.440 vernacular to mean like some sort of threat that that 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:58.640 doesn't really um have any physical manifestation, and yet it 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:00.520 can't help but chew your brains out. Yeah, I mean, 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:03.440 especially if you if you go ahead and apply the 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:07.840 actual paper aspect of this to paperwork. Um. As this 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:10.319 podcast is coming out, we're smack dab in the middle 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.679 of tax season, so you know, everyone's you know, even 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:15.640 though there's less I guess paper involved in it if 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.200 you're doing it online, but still all the paperwork of 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.480 getting your taxes in like that is a huge paper 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:23.440 tiger because you have you know, we were talking about 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:26.600 this yesterday. It's it's not only the stress of the moment. 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:29.959 It's like an entire year, maybe an entire life's stress 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.160 uh about money and about finance and about your your 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:37.960 very spending habits and uh and your life choices, you know, houses, uh, 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:40.800 your marital status. All of these things just wound up 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.560 into one confusing task and if you get it wrong, 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:47.680 then if you mess it up, then you end up 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:49.840 having to pay more money or you go to jail. 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:53.800 It's it can be a high stress situation. Well see, 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:56.360 that's the thing about these paper tigers is that they 0:01:56.720 --> 0:02:00.600 do cause stress. And just even saying taxes, I noticed this, um, 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:02.840 and maybe it's because I've had too much coffee this morning, 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:05.840 but my palms are beginning to sweat because I'm starting 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.040 to think about the anxiety that I've had before and 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:10.639 trying to do my taxes. And as you mentioned, if 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:13.400 you mess up WOA, that that can be like a 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:17.720 year long nightmare to try to repair. Yeah. Yeah, so 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.000 that is what we are talking about today, because this 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:25.359 is very interesting. This this lightning fast physiological response that 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:28.480 comes from from the paper tigers you know, real or 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:34.880 imagined and really having their um beginnings and real tigers 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.280 like saber tooth tigers. Right, yeah, because again we this 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.239 is one of those examples where we we go back 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:44.520 to a mythical prehistoric plane, you know, where primordial humans 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:47.160 are hanging out and occasionally savory thooth tigers jump out 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:50.239 and eat them. Um, you know, ignore the actual archaeology 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:52.000 of of this example, but it's you know, the idea 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:54.440 that there was a time when humans didn't have it 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:58.000 knocked and that every day was a life and death 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:01.680 battle with the environment and a predator could just decide 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:05.600 to eat. And this is something called the stress response. Right, 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:09.600 It's really important to have the stress response, particularly in 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:12.320 this example. So what is happening when you're having this 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:15.880 kind of response, Well, your heart rate just goes bananas, right, 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:20.240 goes up, your blood flow increases, your digestive system actually 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.799 begins to shut down because uh, you know, you don't 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:25.720 want to be digesting something you want to use that 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:28.560 energy to confront the problem in front of you. Same 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:32.600 thing with your immune system that gets repressed because again, 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.040 the bigger threat is in front of you, not some 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:37.080 sort of germ that your immune system is trying to 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.640 fight off. So temporarily your body says, hey, immune system, 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:42.040 you can knock it off for a couple of minutes. 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:44.280 Why we're trying to figure this out. And then I 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.600 think this is so cool. Your eyes, the pupils in 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.360 your eyes actually dilate, and they do this because they're 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:53.400 trying to take in more light. Because when they do that, 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:57.840 you have this temporarily increased vision. So it's almost sort 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:00.440 of like the super human moment that you have. And 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:03.120 at last, just seconds all the settings changed. We go 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:06.080 into this fear mode, this fight or flight mode. And 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:10.240 we've discussed before we were talking about memory that even 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:13.080 even memory gets kind of twisted about. There's that the idea, 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:15.800 you know that everyone thinks that they remember exactly what 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.599 they were wearing and eating on Stay nine eleven, or 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:22.560 they're you know, older when Kennedy was shot, but in reality, 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:25.440 the brain kind of bypasses those memories and lets you 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.280 not unless you makes you think that you remember those things, 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:30.679 because ultimately the brain is saying, don't worry about your cereal, 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:33.320 don't worry about what you're wearing. You're you're in a 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:35.839 stressed out mode. You need to worry about survival. Yeah, 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:37.920 it's macro and up micro. We don't need to know 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.080 details right now. We just need to know if this 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:42.560 is a real threat in front of us, and that 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.880 flight or fight is really defined by the adrenaline coursing 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:48.800 through our bodies, the cortisol, which is the stress hormone 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.800 that gets released. Um, you probably have heard these examples 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:55.640 of a mother or father picking up a thousand or 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.760 two thousand pound car to try to release their child 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:01.560 stuck underneath it. And that's that's a good example of 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:06.200 this sort of superhuman strength or these abilities beyond ourselves 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:10.839 that we can evoke when we are experiencing the stress response. So, yeah, 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.919 your body charges up to to to fight something or 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.039 to run away, to to take all of this this 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:19.200 energy in these new settings and apply them to either 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:22.240 beating the tar out of a saber tooth tiger or 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:24.200 running as fast as you can so that does not 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:26.000 eat you. Yeah, and it's one of the reasons why 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:29.800 humans have been so successful as a species because, um, 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.159 you know, this allows us to have or to make 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.279 rapid fire decisions and act on them, and a lot 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:37.800 of times, particularly when we use that example from the past, 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:41.440 saber tooth tiger, they can have life saving outcomes. All right. 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.520 The problem with modern humans, I suppose you could say, 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:48.720 is that stress can be bad when you have insidious 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:52.560 levels of it. And when I say insidious levels, I 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:56.479 mean that our body doesn't distinguish between a real saber 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:00.240 tooth tiger and well, to some degree, uh in a 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:03.880 paper tiger, right, because the stress response is the same 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:07.039 no matter what. So if I have a deadline approaching, 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:10.279 or this is a classic one, you think that you 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.279 have sent an email to just one person and you 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:14.159 have this paranoid feeling like, oh my god, I just 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:16.040 sent it out to the entire company, and your your 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:19.240 palms begin to sweat and your heart begins to beat fast. 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:24.000 That's that is a reaction that that is over exaggerated, 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:27.679 right for for the actual instance, but it still feels 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:31.120 like a threat. And this can be really dangerous to 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:34.760 uh you know, long term to have this constant sort 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.920 of low level stress about you. Um, as we had 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:42.400 discussed in our episode about epigenome. These are the kind 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.440 of thing stress that can flip the switches that um 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:51.440 the switches that that control diseases or disorders, right, And 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.240 I mean it has a big effect on your cardiac health, 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:56.480 right because you've got inflammation in the arteries, You've got 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.479 all sorts of things going on that stress can do 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:02.359 to your body. And I think this is kind of 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:06.400 fascinating too, that increased cortisol levels which come from the 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:10.440 stress response, can actually begin to affect insulin production, and 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:12.920 that insulin can then make that decision about whether or 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:15.400 not to burn off fat or to store it. So 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:17.800 if you are at a constant low level of stress, 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.920 it's a lot harder to lose weight because it's keeping 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:23.720 you know, all those fat stores in your body. Yeah, 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:25.640 I mean it ultimately again comes down to this idea 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.520 that all this stress builds up and then we're supposed 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:32.480 to release that stress in the form of a fight 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:35.320 or a flight, but we don't. But we don't. It's 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:37.880 kind of like like if you imagine a situation where 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.640 the tiger, the saber tooth tiger almost attacks a bunch 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:43.400 of times, like you know, it's just kind of stalking 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:47.800 toying with the prey down like when is it gonna attack? 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.440 When is it gonna actually when is the uh, when 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:52.119 is this actually going to go down? And the stress 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.320 keeps building and building. But then you know what if 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:58.040 the tiger never attacks? Because yeah, I can't help but 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.520 think back to our previous use of savor tooth tiger example, 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:03.960 when we were talking about humor, the idea that that 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:07.720 that laughter emerges when something that was perceived as a 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:10.320 threat is suddenly realized to not be a threat. And 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:12.920 then what happens We laugh and it's and this is 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.200 also this is interesting too because that when what is laughter? 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:19.000 But this, this this full body experience. You could you 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:21.480 could almost look at that as in a means of 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:24.920 burning off some of the stress energy through the laughter, Like, oh, 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.720 I can laugh about it now, But but where do 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.160 you reach that point with some of these paper tigers. 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:32.320 I mean, even after you send in your taxes, do 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:37.280 you ever really laughing and my taxes are off? That's great, 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:40.439 They're done. I can laugh about it now. No, not necessarily, 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.480 you're just trying to insert your laughter. Yoga agenda, I said, 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.960 where we're going with us? No, after yoga agenda all right, 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:48.560 let's take a quick break and we get back. We 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:53.360 will talk about bosses who attack. All right, we're back, 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:55.760 and we've been talking about you know, what happens when 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.120 there's a perceived threat. We build up all that stress 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.360 in your body, and then, as an organ isn't we're 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.160 supposed to then release that stress by either fleeing from 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:06.280 the thing that is endangering us or fighting the thing 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:09.760 is endangering us. But what happens when that the thing 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:14.400 that is giving us all this stress cannot be fled 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:17.199 from and cannot be directly opposed. What if it's something 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:20.640 like your taxes or um or just like a like 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:22.600 a massive amount of paperwork you have to get done. 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:25.520 Or what if it takes an actual, like human physical 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.679 embodiment in the form of your boss, Right, yeah, I mean, 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:33.480 because really, if you could fight your boss, you could 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:35.480 you could run from your boss. You could quit your 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:37.600 job and move to a different city never see that 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:39.760 boss again. Both of these options are on the table. 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:43.000 But generally speaking, within a society, within within a culture, 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.560 we have all these weird rules. You know, when you 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:49.679 lay culture over any kind of biological reality, all these 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.080 complications come up, So you end up in the station 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:54.480 with situation where you're like, my boss is my enemy. 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:56.920 I want to fight him or her, I want to 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:58.800 flee from him or her, But neither of those are 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.600 an option because I need a job and this is 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:03.400 this is where I am, this is maybe this is 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:05.400 who I who I am? You know it's so it's 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:07.360 you can't take you to those options. Yeah, And the 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:09.480 funny thing is, it's like your boss has a boss too, 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:12.560 and it's experiencing the same thing when his boss or 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:16.760 her boss comes and stands over him or her and 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:19.320 begins to take off a to do list right or 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:21.360 to say, you know, when something got screwed up, you 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.480 began to feel that stress response, because again, it doesn't 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:26.360 matter if it's a real saber tooth tiger or your 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:29.440 boss just looming over you. You know that that you 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:34.240 began to get anxious about the situation. UM. So, of 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.679 course there are things you can do here other than 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.320 actually going mono mono with your boss, which, as you 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:42.680 pointed out, is probably not a good idea. UM. You've 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:46.160 got to have some sort of release, and we've talked 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:48.880 about a release in the form of meditation before or 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:53.040 yoga after yoga, but for my money, I have to 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:55.360 say that I think that exercise, that burst of energy 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.720 that you talked about when you think about our our 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.680 ancestors running from a saber tooth tiger, that I think 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:04.600 is is the thing that is most helpful here. Yeah, 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:07.560 I mean, because your body wants to run, So get 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:09.560 on a treadmill, run a little bit, you know, well, 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:12.400 and you've got a chemical cocktail and your body swirling 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:14.839 around with no outlet. Right, So that's why we get 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.760 this low. Look. You know, the threat may have disappeared, 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.640 but later on you're still stuck with the effects of stress. 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:22.719 So if you can burn off those chemicals in the 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:25.319 form of exercise, well then you've just accomplished the same 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:28.360 thing as is running from sabertooth tiger. Yeah. So high 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:32.120 intensity exercise it's a good way to handle it. Also, sleep, 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:34.040 a good night's sleep a good way to do it. 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:36.560 I mean we've all had that situation. I mean, hopefully 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:38.400 we're all at a point where we realized that if 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:42.280 you're stressed out about something that might be a little silly, uh, 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.160 like Monday night, go to sleep and see if it's 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.960 still bothering you Tuesday morning. This is I highly recommend 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:50.880 you have a nasty email you're about to send out 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:54.160 to somebody. Let it, let it set, let's let it 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:56.040 wait till the next day to actually send it and 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.480 see if it's still as important, uh, twenty four hours later. 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:02.160 It's true because the idea here is that you just 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:05.040 want to lower your blood pressure and and return to 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.079 normal and get out of that heightened state in whatever 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.680 way that you can. So again, it makes sense to 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:13.960 me to just do something for for thirty minutes to 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:17.040 burn off those chemicals. And by the way, studies have 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.920 shown that when you do this um this regular exercise, 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:25.320 that also helps to control stress in future episodes, so 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:29.079 you don't have an over exaggeration or as much um 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:33.120 response to whatever stimuli it is in front of you. Yeah. 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:37.439 I've also wondered what if, to what extent violent video 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:41.160 games or even just mildly violent video games provide some 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:42.920 sort of outlet like that as well, because if we're 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:44.960 building up this feeling off we need to fight something, 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.640 then maybe maybe it does bode well to then go 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.760 home and shoot a bunch of robots. I don't know. Yeah, 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:54.040 but then you don't have the physical express right, you're 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:58.040 still if anything you maybe just massaging that that feeling 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.280 a little bit when it really needs to be throw hold. 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:04.520 Do you think that we could institute HSW dance offs 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:08.000 in the office to release our stress? I think it would. 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:11.560 It might stress out some people, that's true. I don't know, 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.000 you know, everyone has their their different release, but I 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:17.440 mean I for my own part, I definitely see like 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.440 a big difference. Uh. Ever, since I started doing yoga regularly, 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:23.440 I have found that, like if there's a week that 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.199 goes by where I don't actually make it to yoga, 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.240 like my stress level all week is just a little 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:31.040 higher for not having that that release. Well, we had 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:33.360 talked about the default mode network too, and that's really 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:35.760 at play here because it's that chattering midline of the 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:38.040 brain that you have to quiet. So if you can 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:40.360 do that through yoga or meditation, then you can help 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:43.840 to tamp down the respect response to stress as well. Um, 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:46.480 but again, exercise too quick way just to blow it 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:48.760 out of there. Yeah yeah, I mean you don't you know, 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:50.560 it could be as simple as a quick dance off. 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:53.520 It could be as as simple as get up, go outside, 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:55.400 walk around the building, come back in, you know, just 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.360 do something to to burn off some of that that 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.280 fight or flight chemical cock hailed that's brewing inside you. 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.719 Those are just a couple of ways to shred those 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.719 paper tigers. All right, let's call the robot over here 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:12.520 and get some quick listener mail. Alright, the two that 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.520 come to us today here These are actual, actually Facebook messages. 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.440 The first one comes from anonymous anonymous right sentences, Hello, 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:22.600 Robert and Julie. I love your podcast. I like to 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:25.880 share with you a response to your regurgitation celebration podcast. 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:29.240 It really helped me accept that vomiting is a natural 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:32.360 part of life and can actually be beneficial depending on 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:36.200 the circumstances. Unfortunately, vomiting for me is maladaptive. I have 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:39.080 panic disorder and o c D, and I inevitably vomit 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.600 in response to a panic attack. My panic attacks are 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.480 only perpetuated by the fear of vomiting in public. As 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:48.480 a result, I obsess about vomiting of the day. Cognitive 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:50.960 behavioral therapy has helped me manage the disorders. I just 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.800 wanted to drop you all align and let you know 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:56.400 that your regurgitation episode has given me a new outlook 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:58.920 on vomiting and makes me feel less alone when I 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:02.880 do vomit from a panic attack. Sincerely, Anonymous. Well, that's 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:06.320 that's really good to hear, you know, to to whatever extent, 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.120 you know, any of the information that that we share 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:13.280 through the podcast, can you know, provide individuals with you know, 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:17.440 slightly different you know, hopefully more positive outlook on the body, 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.320 on their behavior, on the world around them, because regretation 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:22.720 is really, at the end of the day, a defense system, right, 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:24.640 So yeah, it's gone a little bit of a rye 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:26.280 in that case, but to know that it is a 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.280 defense system is is I think comforting. Yeah. I feel 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.120 like when I was younger, I definitely, you know, I 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:32.880 was just scared of vomiting. I was just like it 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:35.160 would just freak me out. But then the last the 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:37.520 last time or two that I got really sick, I 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:41.400 I realized this is going to happen and probably feel 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:43.760 better for it. It's going to be disgusting, but I'm 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:45.760 gonna feel better. And it's you know, my body wants 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:49.040 to vomit, so I should want to vomit. So there 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:52.840 you go. It's kind of long, but I think it 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:55.240 would work. We also heard from a listener by the 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:57.960 name of Andrew. Andrew Wrightson and says love the show. 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:00.000 Have you guys done a show on the pulsebo Effet, 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.640 I'd like to hear your take on the topic. Keep 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.840 up the great work. And yes, we did do an 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:08.200 episode in the Placebo Effect titled The Placebo Effect colon 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:12.600 Brain over Pain, and that was published in two thousand eleven. 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.200 But but if you go to the RSS page for 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.760 our podcast, you can find it there in the list. Uh. 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:21.000 And if you want to find that RSS link, it's 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:23.120 always at the bottom of any blood post that we 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.240 put up about the episode, so I just look for 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.200 it there. But yeah, that was a cool episode, you know. Uh, 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.320 speaking of paper tigers and stress. Sometimes I think about 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.800 that instance. Um, And I don't know if we covered 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:37.000 it specifically in that episode the Placebo one, but I 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.520 think about the person who was taking who was in 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:42.560 a drug trial and they were taking the placebo, but 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.080 they knew about the side effects, and they had taken 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:48.360 those side effects us to hurt so much so that 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:53.160 they ended up at the emergency room in horrible health 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:55.840 because their body began to shut down. Yeah, and I 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:58.120 think it's just so powerful that the you know that 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:01.560 the brain the mind over matter. Yeah, I mean with 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:05.600 the paper tigers, you end up almost feeling the possible 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:07.920 negative outcome to whatever you're doing. If you start thinking 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.359 about how did I send that email out to the 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.400 entire company or just to my friend? Do you really 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:17.640 start experiencing the reality. But like physically of having sent 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:19.680 that out to all these people, you start putting yourself 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.560 in a virtual fear environment in your own mind. Yeah, 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:25.360 and just like this little death that you begin to experience, 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:27.520 I think you're experiencing yah, and not the good kind. 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:33.000 So yeah, that was another episode. So hey, if you 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:35.240 guys would like to reach out to us and uh 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:37.879 share some thoughts on this or other topics, we'd love 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.520 to hear from you. What are your paper tigers, um, 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:42.200 and then how to what extent have you been able 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.879 to defeat them? Let us know. You can find us 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:46.760 on Facebook, you can find us on tumbled We're stuff 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:48.399 to blow your mind on both of those. You can 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.000 find us on Twitter where our handles blow the mind, 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:53.280 and you can also drop us a line at below 0:17:53.280 --> 0:18:02.040 of the mind at Discovery dot com. For more on 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:10.120 this and thousands of other topics, visit Howstuff Works dot com.