Being in a frisky mood may improve your chances in the dating world
Positive, romantic thoughts could produce positive, romantic outcomes while dating.
25 September, 2020
Credit: 4 PM production on Shutterstock
- Fear of rejection, self-doubt, and anxiety are just some of the obstacles humans need to overcome to make a meaningful, romantic connection with another person.
- According to a 2020 project by a group of psychologists at the University of Rochester (and the Israeli-based Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya), humans see possible romantic partners as a lot more attractive if they go into the interaction with a "sexy mindset."
- Across three separate studies, this team discovered that this sexual activation helps people initiate relationships by inducing them to project their desires onto prospective partners.
<p>What encourages us to seek out potential partners? What interactions encourage us to keep dating, despite the possibility of being rejected? The sexual behavioral system of humans has evolved over millennia and has been the topic of many scientific studies over the years. The concept of dating and pursuing romantic partners has been a curiosity to everyone, it seems, with <a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/79140/10-fascinating-facts-about-evolution-dating-and-courtship" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lists like this one from Mental Floss</a> detailing what dating was like throughout the centuries.</p><p>Ultimately, romantic "success" depends on our ability to target the right potential partner whom we not only find attractive but who is also attracted to us. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563218301870" target="_blank">Fear of rejection</a>, self-doubt, and <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/how-anxiety-can-cause-relationship-problems-1393090" target="_blank">anxiety</a> are just some of the obstacles humans need to overcome to make a meaningful, romantic connection with another person.</p><ul class="ee-ul"></ul>
Being in a frisky mood improves your chances with potential romantic partners
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzNzk0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0Mjc3MDA5NH0.lwJquRq9_gTYX5c_2sRzCBfkyWldjMqCJig_kGCL1uA/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C6%2C0%2C98&height=700" id="f2719" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9a29ad6b50ff3868c867fd2d0a64b8aa" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="man and woman on date woman" />The right mood could land you the right date, according to a new study.
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<p><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-09/uor-ffm092320.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According to a 2020 study</a> by a group of psychologists at the University of Rochester (and the Israeli-based Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya), humans see possible romantic partners as a lot more attractive if they go into the interaction with a "sexy mindset."</p><p><a href="https://www.sas.rochester.edu/psy/people/faculty/reis_harry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Harry Reis</a>, professor of psychology and the Dean's Professor in Arts, Sciences & Engineering at Rochester, and <a href="https://www.idc.ac.il/en/pages/faculty.aspx?username=birnbag" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gurit Birnbaum</a>, a social psychologist and associate professor of psychology at the IDC (Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya) have dedicated decades of their lives to studying the intricate dynamics of sexual attraction and human sexual behavior. </p><p>In <a href="https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/relationships-uncertainty-are-you-really-in-to-me-323512/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a previous study,</a> the pair discovered that when people feel greater certainty about a romantic partner's interest, they put more effort into seeing that person again. Additionally, this study found people will rate the possible partner as more "sexually attractive" if they knew the person was interested in seeing them again.</p><p><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-09/uor-ffm092320.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">For this project</a>, Reis and Birnbaum, along with their team, examined what would happen if a person's sexual system is activated by exposing them to brief sexual cues that induced a thought process that included the potential for sex or heightened attraction. </p><p>Across three separate studies, the team discovered that this sexual activation helps people initiate relationships by inducing them to project their desires onto prospective partners. </p><p><strong>Study one: Immediacy</strong></p><p>In the first study, 112 heterosexual participants (between the ages of 20-32) who were not in a romantic relationship were randomly paired with an unacquainted participant of the opposite sex. Participants introduced themselves to each other (speaking about their hobbies, positive traits, career plans, etc.), all while being recorded. </p><p>The team then coded the recorded interactions and searched for nonverbal expressions of immediacy (such as close proximity, frequent eye contact, smiles, etc.) that could indicate interest in starting a romantic relationship. </p><p>In the study, the team determined that the participants exposed to a sexual stimulus before the meeting (versus those exposed to a neutral stimulus) exhibited more immediacy behaviors towards their potential partners and also perceived the partners as more attractive and/or more interested in them. </p><p><strong>Study two: Interest</strong></p><p>In the second study, 150 heterosexual participants (between the ages of 19-30) who were not in a romantic relationship served as a control for the potential partner's attractiveness and reactions. All participants in study two watched the same pre-recorded video introduction of a potential partner of the opposite sex. They then introduced themselves to the partner while being filmed themselves. </p><p>The researchers found that the activation of the sexual system led to participants viewing the potential partner as more attractive as well as more interested in them. </p><p><strong>Study three: How it all ties together</strong></p><p>In the third and final study, the team investigated whether a partner's romantic interest could explain why sexual activation impacts how we view other people's romantic interest in ourselves. </p><p>In this study, 120 single heterosexual participants (between the ages of 21-31) interacted online with another participant who was actually an attractive opposite-sex member of the research team. This was a casual "get-to-know-you" kind of interaction. The participants rated their romantic interest in the other person as well as that person's attractiveness and interest in them.</p><p>Again, the team found that sexual activation increased a person's romantic interest in the other person, which, in turn, predicted that the other person would then be more interested in a romantic partnership as well. </p><p><strong>The takeaway: Positive, romantic thoughts could produce positive, romantic outcomes. </strong></p><p>The basis of this multi-study theory is simple: Having active sexual thoughts arouses romantic interest in a prospective partner and often leads to an optimistic outlook on dating. </p><p>"Sexual feelings do more than just motivate us to seek out partners. It also leads us to project our feelings onto the other person," <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-09/uor-ffm092320.php" target="_blank">said Reis to Eurekalert</a>. </p><p>Reis goes on to explain, "...the sexual feelings need not come from the other person; they can be aroused in any number of ways that have nothing to do with the other person."</p>
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Symptoms of mental exhaustion and tips for overcoming it
Are you mentally exhausted? Here's how to tell (and what to do about it).
22 September, 2020
Credit: Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
- Mental exhaustion is a symptom of long-term stress. It can affect physical well-being, causing a person to feel physically exhausted.
- There are some things you can do yourself to alleviate your mental strain, which will then eliminate some of the mental exhaustion you're feeling.
- Seeking medical assistance for mental exhaustion is common, with therapists working alongside patients to help develop healthy coping mechanisms and doctors assisting with treatments such as antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications where needed.
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What is mental exhaustion?
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQyODkzMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTc4NTU3OX0.iBdbs1EPqupUid5hsvZGyfNiEM_lsMvZM7UHHq8Z41Q/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C188%2C0%2C97&height=700" id="9b597" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b02945182cfd16b4010fea2238310c05" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="illustratioon woman leaning over desk stressed and exhausted concept of mental exhaustion and burnout" />Knowing the symptoms of mental exhaustion can help you understand when to seek help.
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<p>According to <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/mentally-exhausted#symptoms" target="_blank">Medical News Today</a>, mental exhaustion can affect physical well-being, causing a person to feel physically exhausted.</p><p><strong>What are the symptoms of mental exhaustion? </strong></p><ul><li>Low emotional resilience</li><li>Feeling stressed or anxious</li><li>Cynicism or pessimism, feeling like nothing is going right</li><li>Apathy (a feeling of not caring)</li><li>Difficulty concentrating</li><li>Feelings of helplessness</li><li>Physical exhaustion or fatigue</li><li>Sleep problems (sleeping too much or too little)</li><li>Feelings of being overwhelmed</li><li>Low motivation</li><li>Feeling distracted or on edge</li><li>Difficulty with memory</li><li>Headaches</li><li>Drastic weight gain/loss</li><li>Changes in appetite</li><li>Depression/depressive symptoms</li><li>Suicidal ideation </li><li>Irritability </li></ul><p><strong>What is the difference between stress and mental exhaustion? </strong></p><p>Stress is something we all experience - it's the body's natural response to situations that are new, scary, worrisome, etc. The biological response is a surge of stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) that helps us react quickly to perceived threats or high-pressure situations. With stress, once the "threat" has been removed, your body will stop the surge of hormones and you should go back to your normal state. </p><p>Mental exhaustion, however, is a symptom of long-term stress. When you are continually dealing with things that activate your body's natural stress response, your cortisol and adrenaline levels remain high. Eventually, this begins to interfere with your body's normal functions (such as digestions, sleep, your immune system, etc.). </p><p><strong>What causes mental exhaustion? </strong></p><p>Mental exhaustion or "burn out" are terms that are often used to explain the feeling of being overworked or generally stressed about things relating to your work, but mental exhaustion can be caused by a long period of persistent stress in any areas of your life. It could be work, it could be your home life, or it could be a combination. </p><p>Mental exhaustion can be caused by high-pressure jobs, working long hours, being dissatisfied at work, being the caregiver for an ill loved one, living with a chronic illness, the sudden death of a loved one, poor work-life balance, lack of social support, or a number of other factors. </p><p><strong>How can I tell if I'm emotionally exhausted?</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-chronicles-infertility/201905/8-questions-check-if-youre-emotionally-exhausted" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Psychology Today</a> has an incredibly helpful "emotional exhaustion inventory" to check your status: </p><ol><li>I smile less frequently than I used to, even in situations I typically would find funny.</li><li>My senses seem dulled, so food tastes flat, music doesn't move me, back rubs give me no pleasure/release, and I reach for black or grey clothes.</li><li>I can't sleep. Either I can't fall asleep, stay asleep, or all I want to do is sleep. </li><li>Socializing is difficult. When I am with friends or family, I feel disconnected and have a hard time paying attention to what they say.</li><li>I get startled easily by voices, noises or movement. I feel jumpy and jittery. </li><li>I am more irritable than I used to be, especially in lines, online and on the phone. </li><li>My anxiety level is higher than usual, and crowds and traffic make me feel claustrophobic. </li><li>I cry more easily, particularly during movies, sad news reports, sentimental stories and even shows with happy endings.</li></ol><p>If any of these statements sound familiar, you could be dealing with mental/emotional exhaustion.</p>How can you treat mental exhaustion?
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQyODkzMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTM2NzMyM30.87ZoD3LF4QI42oZwslTSxhH1LV6LYYjeXsXXKIHvqUU/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C353%2C0%2C354&height=700" id="6e07c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="edca51bb754a009eaf4a32a819fdc856" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="therapy illustration" />Seeking medical assistance for emotional exhaustion can help you get back on track.
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<p>How can mental exhaustion be treated? There are some things you can do yourself to alleviate your mental strain and thus eliminate some of the mental exhaustion you're feeling.</p><p><strong>Remove the stressors in your life. </strong></p><p>If you're overwhelmed with your tasks at work, consider asking for help or delegating some of your tasks to others, if possible. If you're feeling overwhelmed at home, consider enlisting the help of a babysitter or house cleaner to eliminate some of your stress. </p><p><strong>Keep a journal. </strong></p><p>Writing can be extremely therapeutic. Writing about things you are thankful for (especially at a time in your life where you are overwhelmed) can positively impact your mental health way more than you realize. <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-chronicles-infertility/201905/8-questions-check-if-youre-emotionally-exhausted" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Research</a> has showed that people who practice gratitude (and gratitude expression exercises) often have a higher sense of well-being, fewer symptoms of physical illness, reduced stress, and higher relationship satisfaction.</p><p><strong>Exercise regularly.</strong></p><p>While you may not have time to visit the gym, there are many ways you can incorporate a bit of exercise into your daily activities, such as taking the stairs more often than the elevator at work, waking up early to go for a walk/run or even doing some physical activity while watching television at the end of the day. </p><p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029210000117" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A 2010 study</a> of 533 Swiss police officers and emergency service corps found that exercise was associated with enhanced health and actually protected against stress-related health problems. The participants of this study also reported feeling better prepared to cope with the chronic stress of their jobs. </p><p><strong>Incorporate relaxation techniques into your daily routine. </strong></p><p>Meditation, according to a 2013 Bangkok study, lowers cortisol levels in the blood, which may then lower the risk of diseases associated with stress. If you're not into meditation, other forms of relaxation including yoga, deep breathing exercises, massage, aromatherapy, or tai chi may also be helpful. </p><p><strong>Adjust your sleeping patterns. </strong></p><p>Sleep is essential for your emotional well-being. <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-exhaustion#treatment-and-coping" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HealthLine</a> suggests developing a bedtime routine and sticking to it. It can also be particularly helpful if this routine occurs at roughly the same time every evening. This can be doing some light reading for a few minutes before bed at the same time every night, for example. </p><p><strong>Seek medical assistance from a doctor and/or therapist. </strong></p><p>Mental exhaustion is an incredibly real and difficult thing to cope with, and seeking medical treatment for it could be one of the best choices you make. A therapist, for example, can provide you with the tools you need to cope with daily stressors. A doctor can talk to you about your symptoms and potentially prescribe medicines (such as antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications) if they feel it may be helpful. </p>
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To be a great innovator, learn to embrace and thrive in uncertainty
Innovators don't ignore risk; they are just better able to analyze it in uncertain situations.
19 September, 2020
David McNew/Getty Images
Madam C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, was America's first female self-made millionaire.
<p> She pioneered a line of hair care and beauty products for people of color early in the 20th century, and the recent Netflix series "Self Made" details the story of this talented innovator and the challenges she overcame on the way to her success.</p><p>To accomplish her goals, she had to face overwhelming uncertainties. How would she finance her business? Would her partnerships fail? Would her products sell? Would ruthless competition and racism get in her way? Madame Walker's future was far from certain when she began her journey, but that did not dissuade her.</p><p>It is tempting to think that innovators are a breed apart or perhaps lucky to be in the right place and time. But research shows this is not the case. So what characteristics do innovators like Madam Walker have that lead them to the seemingly serendipitous moment? What makes for a successful innovator or entrepreneur?</p><p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=qxpLL24AAAAJ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">researcher and professor</a> who studies strategy and entrepreneurship. I am also myself an entrepreneur, angel investor and board member for startups and innovative firms. Pop culture might have you believe it is a tolerance for or even an obsession with risk that makes great innovators. But in fact, research has for decades demonstrated that innovators and entrepreneurs are <a href="https://hbr.org/2009/12/the-innovators-dna" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">no more risk-taking than the average person</a>.</p><p>Generally, innovators are much more comfortable making decisions under conditions of uncertainty than the average person. Additionally, innovators tend to have a set of skills that allows them to better navigate this uncertainty. My experience and research has shown that not only are these abilities effective, but they can also be learned and practiced and anyone can improve their innovation skills.</p>
<h2>What is risk? What is uncertainty?</h2><p>Risk is when the factors determining success or failure are out of your control but the odds of success are known – a game of dice, for example. You can't control whether a 2 or a 12 is rolled, but you know the odds.</p><p>Uncertainty is when the factors determining success or failure are not necessarily out of your control, but are simply unknown. It is accepting a challenge to play a game that you do not completely know the rules of. Innovators tend to be more willing to venture into the unknown, and therefore are more likely to engage in ambitious projects even when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0149206305279486" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">outcomes and probabilities</a> are a mystery.</p><p>Interestingly, risk and uncertainty appear to trigger <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00927" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">activity in different parts of the brain</a>. Functional magnetic resonance imaging has allowed researchers to discover that risk analysis is a largely rational and calculation-driven process, but uncertainty triggers the ancient fight-or-flight part of the brain. This research would suggest that experienced innovators are better able to maintain their analytical capabilities in spite of the adrenaline and instinctual response that arises when confronting uncertainty.</p><p>Innovators don't ignore risk; they are just better able to analyze it in uncertain situations.</p>
<h2>Skills of innovation can be learned</h2><p>The chemical response to risk and uncertainty may be hardwired in our brains, but that doesn't mean you are either born an innovator or not. Innovative capacity can be learned.</p><p>Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and the late Clay Christensen spent years investigating the characteristics of successful innovators and broadly divide the skills of innovation into two categories: <a href="https://hbr.org/2009/12/the-innovators-dna" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">delivery skills and discovery skills</a>.</p><p>Delivery skills include quantitative analysis, planning, detail-oriented implementation and disciplined execution. These are certainly essential characteristics for success in many occupations, but for innovation, discovery must come before delivery.</p><p>Discovery skills are the ones more involved in developing ideas and managing uncertain situations. The most notable are:</p><ul><li>The ability to draw connections between seemingly disparate ideas and contexts.</li><li>A tendency to question assumptions and the status quo.</li><li>A habit of looking at what is contributing to a problem before rushing to a solution.</li><li>The frequent use of systematic experimentation to prove hypotheses about cause and effect.</li><li>The ability to network and broaden a set of relationships, even without an intentional purpose.</li></ul><p>Like any skills, these can be learned and cultivated through a combination of guidance, practice and experience. By asking the right questions, being observant or mindful, experimenting and networking with the right supporters, innovators will be more likely to identify opportunity and succeed.</p><p>My colleagues' and my own research and experience are summed up in our book "<a href="https://www.titaniceffect.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Titanic Effect</a>." We describe the PEP model of successful entrepreneurs and innovators. It stands for passion, experience and persistence.</p><p>Successful innovators are passionate about the problem they are solving and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1212" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">share this passion</a> with friends and family, potential customers, supporters and other stakeholders.</p><p>Innovators also tend to have personal experience with the problem they are solving, and this yields valuable insight and firsthand knowledge.</p><p>Finally, innovation takes persistence. As Walker experienced, growing a business – even with proven products – does not happen overnight. It takes someone willing to push the boulder uphill to make it happen, and often, the more disruptive the innovation, the longer society may take to embrace it. Madam Walker amply <a href="https://www.titaniceffect.com/blog/2020/7/17/self-madewhat-can-startups-learn-from-madam-cj-walker" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">personifies the PEP model</a>.</p>
<h2>Innovation now and in the future</h2><p>
During this pandemic, many people might be inclined to batten down the hatches, tighten their belts and ride things out by sticking to what they already know.
</p><p>
But uncertainty and change create opportunity and a <a href="https://store.hbr.org/product/the-innovator-s-solution-creating-and-sustaining-successful-growth/16444" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">need for innovation</a>. The pandemic has created or exacerbated many problems that are ripe for innovative solutions.
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Practices that were until recently on the fringe of acceptance – such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-telemedicine-is-great-when-you-want-to-stay-distant-from-your-doctor-but-older-laws-are-standing-in-the-way-134885" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">telehealth</a>, food or grocery delivery, <a href="https://theconversation.com/chess-is-taking-over-the-online-video-game-world-and-both-are-changing-from-this-unlikely-pairing-143790" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">e-sports</a> and online education – are now being accepted by mainstream society. As with anything relatively new, there is lots of room for radical improvement.
</p><p>Now is not the time to put blinders on and close your eyes to uncertainty. If you build your discovery skills, you are more likely to create opportunity and persist through uncertainty. Like Walker, anyone can cultivate the abilities to navigate uncertainty and create positive change. Innovators are not a breed apart.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143876/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"></p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/todd-saxton-301452" target="_blank">Todd Saxton</a>, Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/iupui-2368" target="_blank">IUPUI</a></em></p><p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-be-a-great-innovator-learn-to-embrace-and-thrive-in-uncertainty-143876" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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Is it COVID-19 or anxiety? Here's how to tell the difference
Examining the differences between anxiety and COVID-19 symptoms and discussing the possibility of IAD (illness anxiety disorder) during a global pandemic.
15 September, 2020
Credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash
- Anxiety can cause symptoms that may mimic (or have you worried about) coronavirus symptoms.
- There are several symptoms of anxiety that are also symptoms of COVID-19, however, there are also key differences in the symptoms of both.
- IAD (illness anxiety disorder) may also lead to some confusion about symptoms. The World Health Organization offers guidelines for when to seek medical attention.
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDI3NTUyMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMjAyMjQ2Mn0.BNVPgIjRlkAk6ZfHijnIxIy73YHQYrx1tMFUl4u2za8/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=12%2C0%2C13%2C0&height=700" id="1df55" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="70ea174c79adbf22861f64f5c72dcc10" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="illustration of anxiety over COVID-19 symptoms" />
It's important to note the differences in symptoms of anxiety and COVID-19, although some may overlap.
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<p>During the coronavirus pandemic, many people may be overwhelmed and experiencing higher levels of anxiety. Anxiety can cause symptoms that may mimic (or have you worried about) coronavirus symptoms.</p><p>Additionally, some people may experience illness anxiety disorder (IAD), which is commonly referred to as health anxiety and previously referred to as hypochondria.</p><p><strong>Common symptoms of anxiety: </strong></p><ul><li>Chest pain</li><li>Feeling faint/dizzy</li><li>Chills</li><li>Nausea </li><li>Dry mouth</li><li>Disassociation </li><li>Hot flashes and/or sweating </li><li>Fatigue and/or mental exhaustion</li><li>Muscle aches due to tension/stress</li><li>Shortness of breath </li><li>Numbness </li></ul><p><strong>Symptoms of COVID-19:</strong></p><ul><li>Fever and/or chills</li><li>Cough </li><li>Shortness of breath</li><li>Fatigue</li><li>Headaches</li><li>Muscle aches</li><li>Loss of taste and/or smell</li><li>Congestion</li><li>Nausea and/or vomiting</li><li>Diarrhea</li></ul><p>The symptoms that could present in both cases include shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, chest pain, nausea/vomiting, head or muscle aches, fatigue, and chills.<br></p><p>When examining the difference between anxiety symptoms and COVID-19, it's important to note the symptoms of COVID-19 that are <em>not </em>present in anxiety attacks. </p><p><strong>The difference in symptoms </strong></p><p>A person with anxiety may experience heart palpitations, trembling, tingling, or sweating (without a fever). These are all common anxiety symptoms, but not symptoms often associated with COVID-19. </p><p>Meanwhile, a person with COVID may experience symptoms that will not be present in anxiety cases, such as a sore throat, loss of taste/smell, a dry cough, and congestion.</p><p>It's not uncommon for people to experience symptoms (or assume they are experiencing symptoms) of a virus that has reached the level of a global pandemic. This is why it's important to distinguish the differences in the symptoms you're feeling and the actual symptoms of the COVID-19 virus.</p><p>Chest pain, for example, can be felt in both anxiety and coronavirus patients, but there are some key differences in how that chest pain presents. outlines the differences between a panic attack (commonly associated with high anxiety levels) and COVID-19 symptoms. If you're having a panic attack, according to <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/anxiety-symptoms-vs-covid-19-symptoms#chest-pain-comparison" target="_blank">Medical News Today</a>, your chest pain may last anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour and feel like sharp, stabbing pains. This is often accompanied by mental symptoms such as negative thoughts and emotions. </p><p>COVID-19 chest pain is slightly different. It will be persistent and feel like more of a pressure than sharp pains. These pains may be accompanied by other flu-like symptoms, such as a cough.</p>What is illness anxiety disorder (IAD) and how common is it?
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDI3NTcxNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDQ5MDcwMX0.2TV71vbMTsigdY3isJ7qYvh1hpb0pLgPbqO4-bYOMLA/img.jpg?width=980" id="2dad6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9ddeaf604b2cb31bd1e730b6003296b4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="newspaper clippings related to COVID19" />What is IAD (illness anxiety disorder) and how does it impact you?
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<p>Illness anxiety disorder is the fear or worry that you are, or may become, seriously ill. You may have no physical symptoms, or you may worry that normal sensations or minor symptoms are signs of severe illness.</p><p><strong>How common is illness anxiety disorder (IAD)?</strong> </p><p>IAD is a relatively new disorder, having only been added to the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) in 2013. It has replaced the now-obsolete "hypochondria disorder."</p><p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554399/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According to research</a>, among the patients who were previously diagnosed with hypochondriasis, about 25 percent of them will meet the criteria for IAD. Patients with IAD typically remain dissatisfied with negative evaluations from health practitioners and may attempt to consult multiple hospitals or doctors for the same medical problem.</p><p><strong>IAD and COVID-19: When should I seek coronavirus testing?</strong></p><p>Knowing the difference between anxiety-related symptoms and the general fear and anxiety surrounding COVID-19 and its symptoms can be difficult, so how do you know when you should seek medical attention? </p><p><a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses" target="_blank">According to the World Health Organization (WHO)</a>, 1 in 6 people experience serious symptoms of COVID-19. If a person is struggling with minor symptoms (such as a cough or fever), the WHO suggests they self-isolate and monitor their symptoms carefully. If their symptoms progress or become more serious, they should seek medical attention.</p><p>If a person believes they have serious symptoms of COVID-19, they should call their doctor to discuss appropriate next steps and testing for the virus. If you have been cleared from the virus through testing and still seem to be struggling with anxiety caused by the global pandemic, your doctor can offer alternate treatment plans.</p><p>Consult the WHO's coronavirus page on their website <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</p>
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Say yes to the world: On Nietzsche and affirmation
Can we affirm everything in life, the beauty and the suffering? Nietzsche says yes.
10 September, 2020
Photo by Iswanto Arif on Unsplash
There cannot be any comparable sentence in the history of Western thought.
<p> Although it is exactly 148 years old, to this day some still interpret it in a manner contrary to its author's intentions. Nor can one conceal the fact that it brought him an extremely bad reputation. But meanwhile its meaning – however ominous it may sound – is actually very simple.</p><p>The sentence is: "God is dead."</p><p>It appeared for the first time in 1882, in <em>The Gay Science</em> by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the most important philosophers of modern times. But the world is familiar with it mainly from another of Nietzsche's works, perhaps his most famous, written a year later, <em>Thus Spoke Zarathustra</em>. This very strange, poetic text, full of unusual metaphors and lyrical inspiration, predicts the coming of a new era. Its prophet is to be the eponymous Zarathustra, a figure whose name Nietzsche took from an ancient Persian priest, the creator of Zoroastrianism, one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. But despite the mystical aura that Zarathustra radiates, his message has nothing to do with conventional religious ideas. Quite the contrary – for he announces the death of God. And consequently challenges people to conduct a thorough revaluation of everything they think about the world and about themselves.</p>
<h3>A new prophet</h3><p>But what does 'the death of God' mean? Certainly not death in the literal sense – it is not that after aeons of existence a divine being, an old man with a long grey beard who resides in heaven, suddenly ceases to be. Nothing of the kind. The 'death of God' is simply a metaphor for the historical moment whose advent Nietzsche sensed perfectly in advance. The moment when religion – both as a prospect from which to perceive reality, and as a specific doctrine, in particular Christianity – was bound to undergo irrevocable disintegration.</p><p>In Nietzsche's view, these were the ultimate consequences of processes that were set off within Western culture by the age of enlightenment. The new independence of human reason that came about at this time, the creation of the framework of modern science, the departure from the stage of self-incurred immaturity – as Immanuel Kant expressed it – led to the erosion of the great edifice of the religious view of the world. Humanity had finally produced tools that allowed it to distinguish mythology from knowledge, and by this token to unmask the claims of religious institutions and high priests. Finally it was possible to see that the power and social status they had enjoyed until now was entirely built on phantasmal foundations.</p><p>Yet in Nietzsche's day not everyone was aware of this, or rather not everyone was prepared to take it on board. That was why a new, charismatic prophet had to appear, who – by referring to religious, prophetic symbols – would formulate something like a new gospel. And would fully express man's situation in a world from which by now every last trace of the metaphysical had irrevocably been removed.</p>
<h3>New values</h3><p>What is at the heart of this message? It is most fully expressed by a single word: affirmation. The person whose fortunes no imaginary providence is guarding any more, the person living in a world that was not created by any god and that no god is watching, the person now independent of all the religious institutions that disinherited him of his own power and spontaneity, the person who gets back all the wonderful features and possibilities ascribed until now to a deity – only this sort of person has a genuine opportunity to say 'yes' to the world, with all its original meaninglessness, chaos, cruelty and unpredictability. Because only the sort of affirmation that takes account of all this, that does not disguise its meaninglessness with mawkish stories and its cruelty with metaphysical tales of final judgement, actually deserves to be called by that name.</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzg5Njc3MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODMxNTI0N30.mazDgPsvO_DWd4Nj20Uv2GXbT85vpwiyO9KabBEylf8/img.jpg?width=980" id="c1ad4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6d8c7c599600ffcde9df4db6eaa75b30" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="German philosopher and writer Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)" />
German philosopher and writer Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900).
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<p>But to reach this affirmation, first a person must fully and genuinely become aware of his own situation – and draw radical consequences from it. In Nietzsche's view, Christianity was a religion based on resentment, and thus on the sense of dislike or even envy that the weak harbour towards the strong – dislike or envy that is institutionalized, harnessed to an entire, complex mythological system, at the centre of which stands a figure of sanctified weakness, humility and modesty. According to Nietzsche, this is nothing other than a systematic means of depriving man of access to his own power, and at the same time it is the perfect way to exalt those who have voluntarily renounced this access. This form of exaltation also has a deeper sense, in that it gives the representatives of religious institutions a guarantee that the believers will be obedient to them, and by this token their position will remain unthreatened. And so the main purpose of this sort of ideology is to restrain those who could by nature pose a genuine threat to the domination of religious institutions.</p><p>Whereas Zarathustra brings a new message that allows mankind to break the chains for good and all, and to overthrow the last vestiges of the old order. Vestiges that were not so much material, as rooted in thinking and ethics based on Christian values. This is exactly what is meant by another famous Nietzschean maxim, about 'the revaluation of all values' – the profound revision of a moral system that, under the guise of goodness and noble-mindedness, leads above all to slavery.</p><p>In any case, the theme of an endless play-off between strength and weakness was, according to Nietzsche, central to the history of humanity long before Christianity became its dominant religion. This is superbly demonstrated by Professor Tadeusz Bartoś in his latest book, <em>Klątwa Parmenidesa</em> [The Curse of Parmenides]. Nietzsche had already perceived this sort of conflict within Greek culture, which for him was the basic point of departure. It was expressed in various features, including the famous division into what was Dionysian and what was Apollonian: chaos, passion and ecstasy versus structure, rationality and abstract thought.</p><h3>The new man</h3><p>Nietzsche viewed his own contemporary era through this same prism – as a world of people who were at a standstill, entirely cut off from any enlivening sources. Christianity was just one of many factors – alongside a taste for danger, a cult of averageness, mediocrity and general indolence – responsible for this state of affairs. In a brilliant flash of intuition, perhaps sensing in advance the radical shocks that the 20th century would bring, Nietzsche announced the need for the era of the 'superman' to arrive, someone who would elude all the classifications derived from the old value systems.</p><p>A few decades later, the concept of the 'superman' (in German, <em>Übermensch</em>) – although in actual fact it wasn't entirely clear who exactly he was meant to be – would be given a nightmare interpretation by the Nazi movement, whose representatives were eager to refer to Nietzsche's philosophy. This occurred to a vast extent because of his sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche who, as an ardent anti-Semite and nationalist, and also a member of the Nazi Party, thoroughly manipulated her brother's oeuvre and message. The Nazi reception of Nietzsche's texts is one of the most agonizing examples of a profoundly inadequate interpretation of a philosophical work. Nietzsche had nothing in common with the national-socialist ideology – if he had lived in the days of Hitler, he would undoubtedly have spoken of him with the utmost contempt.</p><p>"In Nietzsche's eyes, the Nazi <em>Übermensch</em>," writes Bartoś in his new book, "would have been a coward, a hidden assassin, the essence of the epitome of weakness – regrettable resentment. Moreover, if we trace Hitler's frustrations as recorded in <em>Mein Kampf</em>, when he talks for instance about the Slavic threat in Austria and his other phobias, it is plain to see that this criminal was not the embodiment of strength, but of weakness, which he chose to address by conspiring, manipulating and murdering. This is a textbook example of resentment in action."</p>
<h3>All over again</h3><p>Full affirmation of life – with its splendour and its cruelty, with everything that prompts horror as well as fascination, with passion as well as order – would not actually be full if not for one particular property of the world around us, which in Nietzsche's opinion was also a simple consequence of moving away from thinking in terms of a deity, a final judgement or letting any other metaphysical idea dominate time and creation.</p><p>And this property is the eternal return of the same thing. The world is an eternal, but finite whole, declares Zarathustra, in which everything dies and everything is reborn. Thus inevitably, though after an unimaginable length of time, every component of the current situation, all the tiniest elements that have come together to form it, will be repeated in exactly the same way. So there will be no final salvation, liberation, or end of time. Everything will keep happening over and over again <em>ad infinitum</em>. We shall relive our lives a countless number of times, in exactly the same way, second by second, minute by minute, day by day.</p><p>We could of course see this as a reason for despair, but we could just as well surrender to it ecstatically. As we are doomed to it anyway, as everything is bound to be repeated anyway, why not endure it with joy and acceptance, asks Nietzsche.</p><p>And indeed – why not?</p><p><em>Translated from <a href="https://przekroj.pl/spoleczenstwo/powiedziec-swiatu-tak-tomasz-stawiszynski" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Polish</a> by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.</em></p><p>Reprinted with permission of <a href="https://przekroj.pl/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="">Przekrój</a>. Read the <a href="https://przekroj.pl/en/society/say-yes-to-the-world-tomasz-stawiszynski" target="_blank">original article</a>. </p>
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