Lay Understanding Of Familial Risk Of Common Chronic: Fill & Download for Free

Scientifically, happiness has the greatest influence over health, wealth, love, relationships, and spirituality. You may think this statement is fluffy but it is rooted in strong scientific evidence that makes this conclusion logical when you know how everything is related to each other. Let’s walk through it together.Let’s start by reflecting on what happiness is first.Happiness is an emotion.What is the purpose of an emotion?This is the bit that excites me the most. In 2007, scientists finally figured out that the purpose of emotions is to guide our behavior and that positive emotions indicate we are moving toward self-actualization and negative emotions indicate that our thoughts are moving in opposition to self-actualization.[1], [2], [3], [4], [5]Why would humans have a system that guides us toward feeling good?Emotions are indicators that let us know, thought-by-thought, how much stress the thought we are thinking is causing to our mind and body.Happiness is an indicator of low stress.Frequent positive emotion is a sign that an individual frequently experiences low levels of stress.Now, let’s look at the effect of chronic stress on the others choices of the most important factor:HealthChronic stress has an adverse effect on physical, mental, and behavioral health.[6] Positive emotions even affect whether genetic switches that turn on diseases are switched. Well, it’s actually stress that causes the switch but people who are happy aren’t stressed so being happy is protective against diseases you have a genetic risk of experiencing. It’s not a cure but it certainly lessens the risk.Functional Somatic SyndromesFor example, recent research relating to FSS (Functional Somatic Syndromes)[7] emphatically stated that stress plays a significant role in the manifestation and continuation of symptoms:“In a large sample of adults, the investigators suggested that in order for FSS to manifest, there had to be an early life trauma followed by chronic stress that triggers the illness. In 30% of the participants, stress predicted increases in active symptoms and stress was required to maintain symptoms.”[8]“Our findings have several clinical implications, suggesting a role for stress management training in the prevention and treatment of functional somatic syndromes.”[9]Cardiovascular (Heart) DiseaseA study from the Harvard School of Public Health stated that positivity reduces the risk of developing heart disease (CVD) by 50%.[10]Type 2 DiabetesThe risk of Type 2 Diabetes increases when someone is chronically stressed.[11]CancerThis quote is from the “clinical focus” parts of my White Paper on the association between chronic stress and health. It’s pretty clinical so I’ll summarize it in lay terms at the end.“Stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary axis, leading to the release of stress hormones (e.g., cortisol and catecholamines) that trigger dysfunctions of the immune system related to various diseases. Here we describe part of this process in a nutshell. On the one hand, cortisol secretion decreases lymphocytes counts (notably natural killer cells), which results in increased vulnerability to diseases and infections. On the other hand, catecholamines induce an elevation of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Abnormally high concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines are related to several conditions and risks including cardiovascular risk factors and coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, depression and schizophrenia. Indeed, psychological stress predicts a variety of somatic diseases and mental illnesses. Stressed individuals are more at risk of developing depression and psychosis. Somatic complaints related to stress can range from minor or mild symptoms and diseases such as sore throat, headache sand influenza, to life threatening conditions such as heart attacks, cancer, and organ failure. Further, chronic diseases can be triggered by high levels of stress. In particular, the onset of autoimmune diseases is preceded by important stress episodes in 80% of cases. Differentiated exposure to stressors explains part of the gender differences in health.”[12]In other words, our mind and body respond to stress with biological changes that increase the risk of developing mental and physical health problems over the long-term. There are studies that show current stress levels can increase the risk of and duration of colds and flu.Mental HealthMental health issues from anxiety, depression, PTSD, BPD, schizophrenia and psychosis are all strongly associated with chronic stress and trauma (which is a severe stressor).Stated another say, someone who is chronically unhappy has an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, FSS, Diabetes, mental illness, and other illnesses.Pro-Health BehaviorsMost of the “preventative” health behaviors recommended are about diet, exercise, smoking, sleep, and weight. There are four significant problems with this approach.Positively focused people automatically exhibit more pro-health behaviors. The same individual makes better choices about diet, exercise, smoking, sleep, and weight when they are happy than they do when they are stressed.Stressed individuals almost always fail to meet their own goals related to diet, exercise, smoking, sleep, and weight. People who can meet their goals in these areas when they aren’t stressed (aka when they are happy) fail to meet their goals as frequently when they are stressed. Someone who sticks to a diet when they are happy and falls off the diet due to stress will consume higher fat and calorie foods than they eat when they aren’t on a diet.The focus on this area while ignoring stress increases stress through two pathways. People beat themselves up and don’t recognize the reason for their failure (effects of stress). Others negatively judge them (i.e. fat shamming) which increases stress and makes it less likely the person will be successful.This approach is secondary prevention. It is frequently referred to as prevention but it is not a root cause prevention effort.WealthThe body of research showing that positive emotions increase success and decrease divorce (a reason many people who could have become wealthy didn’t) has grown substantially over the last twenty years.One example is the Harvard Men’s Study that followed a Harvard class from the early 1930’s for over 80 years.[13] Before becoming familiar with various studies on the relationship between positive emotions and success, I would assume that anyone who had the benefit of a Harvard education in the same class as John F. Kennedy would have a good life. I would have been wrong. Members of the class who were more positive experienced the types of lives I would expect privileged men to experience. The more pessimistic members of the class did not enjoy the benefits of privilege. The pessimistic classmates experienced more divorces, alcoholism, bankruptcies, and even suicide.Resilience is a key factor in success. Resilience is primarily associated with the underlying traits of optimism, healthy self-esteem, and an internal locus of control. Self-compassion has recently been mentioned as an underlying factor in resilience. All four of these factors also support positive emotions and being happy. One reason resilient people are resilient is their mental approach to problems causes less stress initially because of the way they perceive themselves and their ability to work through problems.Mood congruent perceptions also plays a role in success.[14] Our judgments about our own success and capabilities are affected by our emotional state. When we believe we are capable, we set higher goals which facilities greater success.RelationshipsPositive emotions improve relationships of all types. Our thoughts are mood congruent.Does our mood at the time of making such judgments influence how we interpret and remember our social encounters? Existing work suggests that mood influences not only memory but also a range of other social and cognitive processes Affective states [emotional state is referred to as “affect” in scientific literature] are likely to play a particularly important role in thinking about social events; as Zajonc (1980) argued, “affect [aka emotional state] dominates social interaction, and is the major currency in which social intercourse is transacted” [15]When someone says something to us, or even when someone looks at us,[16] we interpret it through a lens that is colored by our emotional state. This means that when we’re not happy we interpret their words and actions more negatively than we do when we are happy. When we are happy, we are more likely to give others the benefit of the doubt (but his is not necessarily so when we shouldn’t because positive emotions tend to increase access to our intuitive nature which can help us recognize scoundrels, cheats, and people who have ill intent).When we are unhappy, we are less likely to give associates, friends, or family the benefit of the doubt even when they deserve it. This has a detrimental effect on our relationships at home, in the community, and at work.LoveHappy people are more likely to get married.[17] The Harvard Men’s showed that positivity was associated with fewer divorces. Pessimism can make a partner less satisfying but it can also keep a not very happy marriage intact because of fears of the unknown such as returning to dating or being alone and lonely.SpiritualitySpirituality or religiousness is a mixed bag. It really boils down to whether your religious or spiritual practice:Increases your stress or decreases your stressContributes to fewer risky behaviors or more pro-health behaviorsIncreases social connections that provide health and stress relief benefitsIndividuals who feel forced into their religious practice receive far fewer benefits than other members of the same religion who attend out of a desire to attend.Overall, the studies show that being religious or spiritual has a positive influence on health.People who are happy with their spiritual practice are more likely to participate and gain the social benefits of doing so. If participating makes someone less happy, they are more likely to withdraw from participation.Other Important RelationshipsEmployee EngagementToday, only 30% of employees are engaged. Being disengaged at work is associated with poorer health and poorer relationships (at work and at home).“Dawson et al. (2016) found that even with support and control resources, hindrance demands were more strain-producing than challenge demands, suggesting that appraisal of the stressor is important. In fact, “many people respond well to challenging work” (Beehr et al., 2001, p. 126). Kożusznik et al. (2012) recommend training employees to change the way they view work demands in order to increase engagement, considering that part of the problem may be about how the person appraises his or her environment and, thus, copes with the stressors.”[18]Source: Empowered Employees are Engaged Employees (One of my books)We all pay a price for poor employee engagement. It increased the cost of goods and services because it reduces productivity, increases errors, and adds to the health care burden.SuicideThis is so obvious it almost doesn’t need to be mentioned but the prevalence of suicide as a cause of death warrants mentioning that happy people aren’t suicidal (although increased positive effect may be a warning sign of an imminent attempt when it follows a period of depression).BurnoutBurnout is at epidemic levels in numerous occupations. Burnout is associated with worse mental and physical health outcomes. More than 1/2 of physicians are reporting at least one symptom of burnout. The problem extends to teachers, law enforcement, call center employees, and others. Low autonomy in the role increases the prevalence of burnout because it increases stress. The perception of autonomy can be adjusted using stress management strategies that increase happiness (reduce stress).AddictionsFor the most part, addictions occur because an individual lacks stress management skills for the stressors they are experiencing and they use a dysfunctional method of stress management because they don’t know an adaptive one. Relapses are usually associated with increased stress. Teaching stress management skills to someone who is attempting to beat an addiction can greatly increase their chances of not sliding back into addiction.Crime PreventionHappy people aren’t committing crimes.[19] Negative emotions (aka stress) has a negative effect on our cognitive abilities. We are less likely to be able to see solutions to our problems. Crimes that we would never consider when we are happy can be perceived as the only way out of a tough decision. This is why white collar crime increases during economic downturns. Teaching children healthy stress management skills reduces their risk of committing crimes and of being incarcerated or addicted.[20]ConclusionIt is becoming more common for research in physical, mental, and behavioral health to recommend stress management training as a potential solution. I’ve seen the same recommendations in crime prevention, addiction prevention, and employee engagement research. Unfortunately, it’s not being acted on very often so society, individuals, and businesses aren’t yet receiving the benefits of the scientific research—mostly they’re waiting for a happy pill.A happy pill would be counter-productive given what we now know about the purpose of emotions. A happy pill would be like saying you don’t like bad things on TV and sitting in front of the TV with a blindfold and ear plugs. The solution is to understand the correct way to interpret emotions and some skill at healthy emotion and stress management.Footnotes[1] How emotion shapes behavior: feedback, anticipation, and reflection, rather than direct causation.[2] The unconscious pursuit of emotion regulation: implications for psychological health.[3] Comparing predicted and actual affective responses to process versus outcome: an emotion-as-feedback perspective.[4] Emotion: The Self-regulatory Sense.[5] Control Processes, Priority Management, and Affective Dynamics[6] Jeanine Joy's answer to Should I put my mental health first?[7] Stress and Resilience in Functional Somatic Syndromes – A Structural Equation Modeling Approach[8] Stress and Resilience in Functional Somatic Syndromes – A Structural Equation Modeling Approach[9] Stress and resilience in functional somatic syndromes--a structural equation modeling approach.[10] The heart's content: the association between positive psychological well-being and cardiovascular health.[11] Stress increases the risk of type 2 diabetes onset in women: A 12-year longitudinal study using causal modelling[12] Gender roles and traits in stress and health[13] Over nearly 80 years, Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life[14] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02699930500294996[15] https://web.stanford.edu/~gbower/1984/influence_mood_perceptions.pdf[16] https://www.mhfmjournal.com/open-access/dont-look-at-me-in-that-tone-of-voice-disturbances-in-the-perception-of-emotion-in-facial-expression-and-vocal-intonation-by-depre.pdf[17] Does marriage make people happy, or do happy people get married?[18] http://psychology.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.001.0001/acrefore-9780190236557-e-30 (http://psychology.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.001.0001/acrefore-9780190236557-e-30)[19] Happiness can deter crime, a new study finds[20] Jeanine Joy's answer to How can research be applied to reduce crime and violence?

My perspective is that of an informed lay consumer; if a professional has better information, please let me know.The factors for high insurance costs depend upon the type of coverage. However, there are several factors that together are unique to the US market:Fragmentation and inefficiency of market. Each State regulates insurance i.e. there is no national insurance market for most fields.In the case of health insurance, that means that the largest market would be California. That’s 35.5 million people is smaller than the national markets of 9 European countries (ending with Poland) and Japan, among the “developed nations”.This leads to some insurers being allowed to avoid, withdraw or apply higher premium levels by State (or even smaller subunits). This translates as higher costs due to lack of competition, especially in those States that have greater “risk” i.e.a small populationfew insurersan above average “high risk” populationEven if an insurer has national scope, it has to administer and underwrite policies compliant with each State’s regulations. This translates as much higher administrative costs and staff per person.Punitive Monetary Judgments in Liability. The US is a country where regulations are enacted only when there is some catastrophic phenomenon. Otherwise, laws and policies are made and only when there is some egregious accident, mistake or negligence that it ends up as a class action lawsuit.In those cases, judgments are so punitive that they are meant as dissuasive and may, despite lobbying by insurers, lead to national or State regulation of a specific field.The “adversarial” presentation between parties in court cases also favors massive payouts. Some of the factors include “bundling of claims” in “class action suits” and “contingency fees” of lawyers. When an individual has a strong case but no funds to face the years of lawsuits with a major company, many may band together and collectively sue a company and pay their attorneys as a percent of the eventual award. Unfortunately, class action suits are usually an “investment” by a law firm that aims for multi-million or billion dollar awards.The highly fragmented and overlapping legislative regimes in the US. Besides Federal law, each State, each county and each municipality can independently enact laws. Those laws are not systematically vetted by an impartial body for compliance with State or Federal constitutionality.One nefarious result is that you need a lawyer for even the seemingly simplest of legal issues as it is impossible for the lay person to be cognizant of all the regimes that are also subject to revision in an unscheduled manner!The other nefarious result is that smaller jurisdictions may enact unconstitutional laws resulting in injustice. However, it usually takes severe damage (e.g. deaths), years and a lawsuit to challenge and dismiss such “bad” laws.A Deformed, non-”Free Market”. In the “Healthcare Insurance Market”, the Insurer is also the Payor despite not being the end customer.The health insurance market is a structurally a non-competitive, price-obscure, deformed market; it is the antithesis of a “free market”.Lack of information about internal costs. The providers (hospitals, doctors etc.) do not have a clear understanding their internal costs by procedure; they are just picked out of a hat.Lack of price information by end users. The end users (patients) do not have a clear understanding of total billing, before or after a treatment!There are multiple “providers” for a given disease or incident treatment; each provider bills separately, leading to an unspecified period and amount of billingThe amount of the bill is highly variable, depending upon the “negotiated rate” of the specific policy in question; often, they can be negotiated down by informed patients or agencies.The most un-capitalistic situation is having the insurer as gatekeeper payor with no regulation or common structures in administering claims.This is akin to being told by a vendor that you would be billed for a device after your purchase, but the amount would “depend” on your situation and could come in spearate bills of indeterminate amount. In addition, the billing is completely arbitrary, uncoupled from any identifiable component cost.In addition, with complete freedom to construct policies, insurers have created hundreds or thousands of varying claims processes and payments. This lead of a massive administrative overhead. In medical practices, administrative staff now outnumber MDs and paramedical staff! In some estimates, in-patient health care costs are 40% due to administration!“Health Insurance” is a hybrid product, service provision and insurance.Insurance is a collective financial tool to prevent catastrophic financial loss. Every policyholder pays a little to finance the few who have a loss. Usually, it’s a product you have to have, but hope you never use.“Health insurance” also has the aspect of service provision at negotiated rated akin to a buyer’s club.The government, in most cases, do not provide coverage for severe or chronic illness - unlike all other developed nations. In France, for example, private health insurance is much cheaper as the risk of chronic, deblitating or severe illness is removed - paid by the French State.If one has hemophilia or cancer, costs may be $100k or more per year.Patients may have to sell all their assets to pay for caseFor those with insurance, their premium levels have to cover such cases.In the medical field, medical costs are much higher than elsewhere.Medical education can be very expensive, with some doctors ending up with as much as half to a million dollars in debt. This provides an incentive to choose highly-remunerative specialites to the detriment of family practice.The lack of family practioners means inefficient medical management and overreliance on multiple referrals and tests by specialistsThe focus on treatment over prevention.US MDs earn about 3 to 5 times gross income compared to other developed nations; part of that is to cover the much higher debt, staffing and malpractice premiums in the US.Each State has protectionist regulation of MDs.Out-of-state MDs cannot practice unless they are registered with a State Board of MDsForeign Medical Doctors face a highly dissuasive 5 years to become registered on average, forced to do exams and seek hard-to-find in-hospital training jobs.This means less competition and higher medical charges.Medical malpractice insurance can be astronomical.The most “risky” specialities, like neurosurgery, have premium levels exceeding $100k per year. In addition, even the threat of lawsuits can cause the destruction of a career, however skilled a doctor may be.Punitive damages in the US legal system also make insurance very costlyDue to inaccessibility, patients with no insurance end up with severe pathologies that must be treated in hospitals.The cost is covered by public funds (Medicaid or other)Paying customers (i.e. the insurers) also cover the cost through the higher expense budgets of the providers.

I’m going to cite my unpopular opinion here, and say that Voldemort was both a villain and a victim.Why? For the sheer fact of growing up in an orphanage, which, as per J.K. Rowling, is the sole reason why Tom Riddle became Lord Voldemort.Ravleen: How much does the fact that Voldemort was conceived under a love potion have to do with his inability to understand love? Is it more symbolic?J.K. Rowling: [The love potion use] was a symbolic way of showing that he came from a loveless union – but of course, everything would have changed [for Tom] if Merope had survived and raised [Tom] herself and loved him. (Source)J.K. Rowling also runs a charity called Lumos, which aims to “eliminate” (or, at least improve with a better system) orphanages around the world.According to Lumos, more than 80 years of research has shown that, despite the best intentions of many people who support and work in them, institutions (orphanages) harm the health and development of children.Separating children from their parents and placing them in large residential institutions deprives them of the love, care, and consistent caregiver engagement they need to grow, prosper, and to reach their full potential – physically, intellectually, and emotionally. Research suggests that children with intellectual disabilities can be particularly at risk of failing to thrive – to the extent of malnutrition and death – through a lack of sustained, specialist care and engagement.Life outcomes for institutionalized children are often poor. One study found that young adults raised in institutions are:6x more likely to have been abused10x more likely to be involved in prostitution40x more likely to have a criminal record500x more likely to commit suicide than their peersLumos is dedicated to transform the lives of those eight million of disadvantaged children who live in institutions and so-called “orphanages” around the world.Lumos uses the phrase ‘so-called’ when referring to orphanages, because the vast majority of children are not orphans but are in institutions because their parents face extreme poverty; when children have physical or intellectual disabilities, and their parents cannot afford treatment; or because they are from a socially excluded group.In 2004, [presumably on doing research for Tom Riddle’s backstory for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince], after seeing an article in The Sunday Times about children being kept in caged beds in institutions, J.K. Rowling felt compelled to address what she saw as a terrible problem.As a result, she founded the charity that became Lumos. Rowling wrote:“It was a black-and-white photograph in a newspaper. It showed a small boy, locked in a caged bed in a residential institution. His hands clutched what appeared to be chicken wire containing him, and his expression was agonised. There would be no Lumos – the charity dedicated to closing child institutions and so-called orphanages – if there hadn’t first been this picture.I knew the immediate shameful impulse to turn away, to hide the page, not to look.I could try to justify that impulse by saying that I was pregnant at the time, feeling vulnerable and hormonal. The sad truth remains that my instinctive reaction to that picture could stand as a metaphor for the attitude that has enabled the unjustifiable incarceration of 8 million children around this world to take place with little outrage or comment.Ashamed of that reflexive refusal to look, I forced myself to turn back to the picture and read the article.It told of a nightmarish institution, where children as young as six were caged most of the day and night. I ripped the article out, and the following day I began writing letters to everybody I could think of with influence in the matter.These efforts led quickly to the establishment of Lumos, named for the spell I created in Harry Potter to bring light to some dark and frightening places. Part of our work in Lumos is to shed light on the lives of those millions of children separated from their families for reasons of poverty, disability and discrimination.I looked at that photograph of the boy in his cage bed, and felt he had absolutely no voice. This touched me as nothing else had, because I can think of nobody more powerless than a child, perhaps, with a mental or a physical disability, locked away from their family. It was a very shocking realization to me, and that's where the whole thing started.The idea of any child being taken from their family and locked away, all too often in atrocious conditions, is particularly poignant at this time of year. For children in institutions, life too often resembles the darkest of Grimms’ fairytales. Georgette Mulheir, CEO of Lumos, tells how one Christmas she took sweets to the 270 children in a particular institution. What she discovered [at the orphanage] was nightmarish. It was minus 25 outside, the heating was broken, children lay shivering in their beds, dressed in all their clothes, wrapped in threadbare blankets.[…] [when I tell others,] they are aghast and disbelieving.“How could that happen,” they ask, “without the whole world knowing?”The answer is really quite simple: who is easier to silence than a child? Especially a child with mental or physical disabilities, who is taken away from a family that has been convinced that it is for the best, or whose only alternative is watching that child starve…There is now a wealth of scientific proof that institutions cause children measurable and sometimes irreparable harm. Institutionalised children are far less likely to be educated, and [far less likely] to be physically or mentally well. Malnutrition is all too common. They are many more times likely to be abused or trafficked. The effects on infants are particularly chronic, with many failing to thrive, or dying.The impact of not having the love and attention of a dedicated carer is profound. It can cause stunting, developmental delays and psychological trauma. I have seen babies who have learned not to cry because nobody comes. I have met children so desperate for affection that they will crawl into any stranger’s lap.Damage is done very early [to children in orphanages], and it is lasting. Cut off from society, institutionalised children return to the world with their chances of a happy, healthy life greatly impaired, often unable to find employment, excluded from the community, and more likely to enter into a lifetime of poverty and dependency.A crucial point is that these dire effects apply to children from all kinds of institutions, including those that are well-resourced. The solution is not pretty murals, or comfier beds, or teddy bears. The solution is no institutions.” (Source)Now, let’s consider the case of Tom Riddle.His mother, Merope Gaunt, was poor and destitute, and certainly couldn’t afford to take care of her child; likewise, it’s obvious that she suffered from some sort of physical, and mental, disabilities.She was reduced to selling Slytherin’s Locket for a measley 10 Galleons, just in order to try and keep herself (and her unborn child) alive. She couldn’t afford medical care. Presumably, she was living on the streets, perhaps even begging.Even though Merope stumbled into Wool’s Orphanage of the night of 31 December 1926, gravely ill, she was unaware of just what her son would suffer (as per Rowling) by growing up there. To her, growing up anywhere but on the streets, where her child would certainly die, was probably a much better alternative.Merope thought she was giving her newborn son a chance at survival - and she did, though it did not come without a steep price. Her child, Tom Marvolo Riddle, grew up “never experiencing love” - and, very likely, she subjected him, indrectly, to years of abuse, neglect, or even child prostitution.Indirectly, the actions of Voldemort’s parents, Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle Sr., doomed Tom Marvolo Riddle (Lord Voldemort) to his fate. He was a victim of his parents’ choices, of essentially having no choice but to grow up in an orphanage, and suffer neglect and abuse.“And [Voldemort’s] knowledge remained woefully incomplete, Harry! That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend…of love, and loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic…[it] is a truth he never grasped…but then, if [Tom Riddle] had been able to understand [love], he could not be Lord Voldemort, and might not have murdered at all.” - Albus Dumbledore, Deathly Hallows