Buried Treasure
Dig up some beautiful handmade items. Art, home decor, jewelry, wood carvings, pottery, furniture, glass, paper goods, handbags, even wedding necessities!
Healing Jewelry and Home Adornments
I’ve been busy, busy, busy, with creating new holisitc adornments for the upcoming show in June. If your in CT I’d love for you to stop by and say hi to me and all the beautiful local artists of CT Etsy Team. Check out this blog post for more info: http://esoterickat.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/handmade-jewelry-show-june-7th/
If your not familiar with Etsy you may want to browse around to see all of the beautiful handmade creations. Give a gift to your loved ones they’d never find in mass produced store. It’s also a perfect way to support your local community of artisans, just click on Geolocator and type in your home town at www.etsy.com.
Stop by my shop to see some of my new creations at www.EsotericEnchantments.etsy.com. You can also stop by to learn about the healing properties of stones, silver, gold and copper too! If your struggling with something in your life and would like my help send me a convo. I love custom orders!
Handmade Jewelry Show: June 7th
Support your local CT artists on June 7th at the North Haven Holiday Inn. You’ll love the vast handmade jewelry variety, and finding that perfect one of a kind adornment to suit your soul.
CT ETSY STREET TEAM Jewelry Spectacular
Email: CTEtsyTeam@gmail.com
Spring is in full swing and now is the time to sparkle out in the sun!
The do - it - yourselfers of the Connecticut Etsy Street Team are proud to present their second event: The Connecticut Etsy Team Jewelry Spectacular !
The event will feature over 25 jewelry artists, and accessory designers from all over the state. Also featured will be special guest, Anne Mitchell, ND, promoting breast cancer awareness and prevention. This event will take place in the Sapphire Ballroom of the Holiday Inn in North Haven on June 7th from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The team is offering one free jewelry item to the first 200 people through the doors.
WHAT IS ETSY?
Etsy.com is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade. The beauty of this is that EVERYTHING on Etsy is unique. Since there is no mass production every single item has it’s own individuality.
Etsy’s mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers.
Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice: Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.
WHAT IS THE CONNECTICUT ETSY STREET TEAM?
The team was an idea of Etsy, to start grouping people by location or craft to work together to promote each other as well as the site. How each team goes about that is a completely up to them.
The CT Etsy Street Team is a group of crafty small business owners from around the state, who are predominantly women. As a team, they hope to interest the public with their individual wares, as well as steer people away from products that are mass-produced while also trying to sway buying locally. (Besides, buying local is way cooler than shopping in some mega store!)
Anyone interested in more information can view the team’s blog at CTEtsyteam.blogspot.com for a complete list and links to each member’s store, as well as links to the Team Store and Team MySpace page. Also visit http://www.freewebs.com/jewelryspectacular for more information about the show!
For more information about this subject, or about other current events and activities please contact Team Leader - Jillian Lyons at CTEtsyTeam@gmail.com
–
Jillian Lyons
Ms. Kitty Fantastico
Etsy CT Team Leader
www.myspace.com/ctetsyteam
www.ctetsyteam.blogspot.com
www.flickr.com/groups/ctstreetteam
www.ctetsyteam.ning.com/
Herbs as a natural antihistamine and decongestant
Local honey is a wonderful way to immune yourself against your local outdoor pollens, a teaspoon a day will do wonders. Enjoy the article, Kat
Herbs are generally considered to be quite safe, and they can be an important addition to your natural allergy treatment regimen. However, be aware that natural substances are contraindicated for some conditions and they can affect the way your body utilizes certain medications.
Marshmallow Root - Known to relieve irritation of mucous membranes and helps the body expel excess mucous.
Burdock - Helps clear congestion in the respiratory system. Also used to treat colds and sore throats.
Mullein - A popular remedy for cough, asthma, and other respiratory conditions. Soothes the throat and clears congestion.
Goldenseal Root - Contains berberine which is an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. Soothes inflamed mucous membranes. When used topically, provides antibiotic effect.
Eyebright - Helpful for conditions involving the mucous membranes. Used for congestion, coughs, and hay fever. Some say Eyebright works well in conjunction with Stinging Nettle. A very effective part of any natural allergy treatment program.
Stinging Nettle - Significant relief from hay fever has been reported. A very effective part of any natural allergy treatment program.
Acerola cherry - One of the richest sources of vitamin C. Excellent as a natural anti-histamine.
Ma Huang - Contains ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Stimulates the central nervous system and opens the airways.
Capsicum - High in vitamin C. May help the respiratory system fight infection. Increases energy. Used as an expectorant. High in quercitin, a natural antihistamine, which helps those with allergies and respiratory problems.
Rosemary - Used to strengthen the nervous system. Analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties.
White Pine - Treats chest congestion, colds, and coughs. An excellent expectorant which reduces mucus secretions and helps its elimination. Also a powerful antioxidant.
Herbs for Diabetes
Since antiquity, diabetes has been treated with plant medicines. Recent scientific investigation has confirmed the efficacy of many of these preparations, some of which are remarkably effective. Only those herbs that appear most effective, are relatively non-toxic and have substantial documentation of efficacy are covered here.
Pterocarpus marsupium (Indian Kino, Malabar Kino, Pitasara, Venga)
The tree is the source of the Kino of the European pharmacopeas. The gum-resin looks like dried blood (Dragon’s blood), much used in Indian medicine. This herb has a long history of use in India as a treatment for diabetes. The flavonoid, (-)-epicatechin, extracted from the bark of this plant has been shown to prevent alloxan-induced beta cell damage in rats.
Both epicatechin and a crude alcohol extract of Pterocarpus marsupium have actually been shown to regenerate functional pancreatic beta cells. No other drug or natural agent has been shown to generate this activity.
Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia)
Bitter melon, also known as balsam pear, is a tropical vegetable widely cultivated in Asia, Africa and South America, and has been used extensively in folk medicine as a remedy for diabetes. The blood sugar lowering action of the fresh juice or extract of the unripe fruit has been clearly established in both experimental and clinical studies.
Bitter melon is composed of several compounds with confirmed anti-diabetic properties. Charantin, extracted by alcohol, is a hypoglycaemic agent composed of mixed steroids that is more potent than the drug tolbutamide which is often used in the treatment of diabetes. Momordica also contains an insulin-like polypeptide, polypeptide-P, which lowers blood sugar levels when injected subcutaneously into type 1 diabetic patients. The oral administration of 50-60 ml of the juice has shown good results in clinical trials.
Excessively high doses of bitter melon juice can cause abdominal pain and diarrhea. Small children or anyone with hypoglycemia should not take bitter melon, since this herb could theoretically trigger or worsen low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. Furthermore, diabetics taking hypoglycemic drugs (such as chlorpropamide, glyburide, or phenformin) or insulin should use bitter melon with caution, as it may potentiate the effectiveness of the drugs, leading to severe hypoglycemia.
Gymnema Sylvestre (Gurmar, Meshasringi, Cherukurinja)
Gymnema assists the pancreas in the production of insulin in Type 2 diabetes. Gymnema also improves the ability of insulin to lower blood sugar in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. It decreases cravings for sweet. This herb can be an excellent substitute for oral blood sugar-lowering drugs in Type 2 diabetes. Some people take 500 mg per day of gymnema extract.
Onion and Garlic ( Allium cepa and Allium sativum)
Onion and garlic have significant blood sugar lowering action. The principal active ingredients are believed to be allyl propyl disulphide (APDS) and diallyl disulphide oxide (allicin), although other constitutents such as flavonoids may play a role as well.
Experimental and clinical evidence suggests that APDS lowers glucose levels by competing with insulin for insulin-inactivating sites in the liver. This results in an increase of free insulin. APDS administered in doses of 125 mg/ kg to fasting humans was found to cause a marked fall in blood glucose levels and an increase in serum insulin. Allicin doses of 100 mg/kg produced a similar effect.
Onion extract was found to reduce blood sugar levels during oral and intravenous glucose tolerance. The effect improved as the dosage was increased; however, beneficial effects were observed even for low levels that used in the diet (eg., 25 to 200 grams). The effects were similar in both raw and boiled onion extracts. Onions affect the hepatic metabolism of glucose and/or increases the release of insulin, and/or prevent insulin’s destruction.
The additional benefit of the use of garlic and onions are their beneficial cardiovascular effects. They are found to lower lipid levels, inhibit platelet aggregation and are antihypertensive. So, liberal use of onion and garlic are recommended for diabetic patients.
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum)
Experimental and clinical studies have demonstrated the antidiabetic properties of fenugreek seeds. The active ingredient responsible for the antidiabetic properties of fenugreek is in the defatted portion of the seed that contains the alkaloid trogonelline, nicotinic acid and coumarin.
Blueberry leaves (Vaccinium myrtillus)
A decoction of the leaves of the blueberry has a long history of folk use in the treatment of diabetes. The compound myrtillin (an anthocyanoside) is apparently the most active ingredient. Upon injection it is somewhat weaker than insulin, but is less toxic, even at 50 times the 1 g per day therapeutic dose. A single dose can produce beneficial effects lasting several weeks.
Blueberry anthocyanosides also increase capillary integrity, inhibit free-radical damage and improve the tone of the vascular system. In Europe, it is used as an anti-haemorrhagic agent in the treatment of eye diseases including diabetic retinopathy.
Asian Ginseng
Asian ginseng is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diabetes. It has been shown to enhance the release of insulin from the pancreas and to increase the number of insulin receptors. It also has a direct blood sugar-lowering effect.
A recent study found that 200 mg of ginseng extract per day improved blood sugar control as well as energy levels in Type 2 diabetes (NIDDM).
Bilberry
Bilberry may lower the risk of some diabetic complications, such as diabetic cataracts and retinopathy.
Stevia
Stevia has been used traditionally to treat diabetes. Early reports suggested that stevia might have beneficial effects on glucose tolerance (and therefore potentially help with diabetes), although not all reports have confirmed this. Even if stevia did not have direct antidiabetic effects, its use as a sweetener could reduce intake of sugars in such patients.
Ginkgo Biloba
Ginkgo biloba extract may prove useful for prevention and treatment of early-stage diabetic neuropathy.
Cinnamon - Triples insulin’s efficiency
Barberry - One of the mildest and best liver tonics known.
Dosage: tincture, 10-30 drops; standard decoction or 3-9 g.
Herbal Combinations
For all pancreatic problems:
1 part uva ursi
1 part goldenseal
1 part elecampane
2 parts dandelion root
2 parts cedar berries
1 part fennel part ginger
Mix the powdered herbs and put them in #00 capsules. Take them after every meal.
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Mineral Deficiency
Did you know most americans are deficient in a variety of minerals that support your body? Copper, iodine, and magnesium are just a few. The more packaged foods you buy, the higher your chances that your body takes these minerals from your glands, muscles, organs and blood stream causing them work improperly and manifest as major disease.
The good news is it’s relatively easy to fix with a little bit of information, and some dietary adjustments or supplements. I highly recommend the book Earthway by Mary Summer Rain. Not only does it list the minerals found in average foods, but gives you native herbal remedies and some good guide lines to living in harmony with the earth. It’s an easy read too!
This article will skim over iodine deficiency and some of it’s effects. It does fail to mention one of the easiest tests available to the public: Grab a bottle of liquid iodine from your local drug store. On your abdomen make a circle the size of a silver dollar and let it dry before placing your clothing over it. Check back in 24 hours and if the iodine has been completely absorbed and you can no longer see the circle you are deficient. Here’s the big plus to this, if you continue to do this everyday you are supplying your body with iodine and correcting your inbalence! Pretty easy huh? Enjoy the article, and lots of love to you, Kat
http://www.naturalnews.com/023107.html
(NaturalNews) Naturally occurring iodine is a rare trace element that was discovered in the 1800’s by a French chemist. It was found to be effective in the treatment of goiter (swelling of the thyroid gland), and in 1924 the United States initiated its use as an additive to common table salt to address the high incidence of iodine deficiency. As a result, the once-common condition of goiter in the U.S. was virtually eliminated.
It is highly accepted that iodized salt is sufficient to meet the body’s requirements. Although this assertion has been taught in medical schools for several decades, many studies counter that claim. Furthermore, researchers have found that the iodine in salt has poor bioavailability, meaning that the body does not fully absorb the dosage.
Recommended Daily Allowance
The U.S. RDA of iodine is 150 micrograms (mcg) for adults, while 220 mcg and 290 mcg are recommended for pregnant and lactating women, respectively. These quantities were established to effectively prevent goiter but do not provide for the body’s other needs for optimal thyroid, endocrine or immune system function, nor are they sufficient dosages for the prevention of cancer.
Iodized salt hasn’t eliminated iodine deficiency disorders in the U.S. Recent studies by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicate low levels in more than 50% of the population (accounting for all demographic categories including ethnicity, region, economic status, race, and population density).
Adequate iodine levels are crucial for all aspects of health and well-being; in fact, in generations past, physicians routinely used iodine in medical practice. The typical dose was 1 gram of potassium iodide (KI), containing 770 mg of iodine, which far exceeds the current U.S. RDA of 150 mcg.
Dr. Albert S. Gyorgi (1893€ ¦’¶1986), the physician who discovered vitamin C, wrote: “When I was a medical student, iodine in the form of KI was the universal medicine. Nobody knew what it did, but it did something and did something good. We students used to sum up the situation in this little rhyme:
If ye don’t know where, what, and why
Prescribe ye then K and I.”
Iodine’s Role in the Body
Principally known for its job in proper metabolism and thyroid function, iodine is also necessary for a healthy immune system and has many therapeutic benefits including antibacterial, antiparasitic, antiviral and anticancer properties.
The thyroid is the body’s main storage site for iodine. The mineral is also concentrated in the glandular system, including the body’s sweat glands. The ovaries, breasts, prostate and the brain contain high concentrations of iodine, and virtually every cell in the body is dependant on this important element. When a deficiency exists, the thyroid competes with other storage sites and all become depleted. An unmet deficit puts one at risk for a variety of conditions and illnesses, including cancer.
Iodine is also essential for children’s growth and development, and a deficiency in pregnant women is the primary cause of preventable mental retardation and brain damage, as disclosed by the World Health Organization.
Hypothyroidism and Its Symptoms
David Brownstein, M.D. explains in his book Iodine, Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It how the thyroid requires iodine to produce its hormones and to regulate the body’s metabolism. Hypothyroidism is indicated by a low metabolic rate. Some of the many symptoms that indicate a hypothyroid state include: brittle nails, cold hands and feet, dry skin, elevated cholesterol, fatigue, inability to concentrate, infertility, menstrual irregularities, muscle cramps and weakness, poor memory, puffy eyes, and weight gain. Hypothyroidism is common in an iodine deficient state and Brownstein has found that proper iodine supplementation often results in curing or improving the hypothyroid condition.
Iodine As An Anti-Cancer Nutrient
The natural life cycle of normal cells includes growth, division and ultimate death. Apoptosis is a necessary and natural process that refers to the programmed death of our body’s cells. The spent cells are continually replaced by new cells as the normal cycle perpetuates. Apoptosis keeps cell division in check to ensure their normal life cycle and eventual death; however, abnormal cancer cells do not undergo this process and their uncontrolled growth eventually overwhelms and damages the body.
The research and clinical experience of Brownstein and his colleagues maintains that iodine is an anticancer nutrient that promotes apoptosis when taken in doses far exceeding the RDA, and that chronic deficiencies and the body’s inability to properly utilize iodine set the stage for cancers of hormone-sensitive tissues and glands, such as the breasts, ovaries, uterus and prostate.
Causes of Iodine Deficieny
Worldwide, we are experiencing epidemic proportions of iodine deficiency, in part due to deforestation, soil erosion, and poor farming practices that deplete minerals from the soil and yield iodine-deficient crops. There are other contributing factors that exacerbate this disturbing global problem.
Exposure to toxic chemicals hinders the uptake of iodine in the body as the toxins compete for iodine receptor sites and inhibit the body’s ability to absorb this valuable mineral. These toxins include a group of elements known as halides (and their derivatives), all of which have similar chemical structures. The halides consist of bromide, fluoride, chloride and iodide, the latter being the only one with therapeutic effects in the body.
In the 1980s, bromine (a bromide derivative) replaced iodine as a bread dough ingredient. Bromine is a known breast carcinogen. This singular change by the food industry resulted in an epidemic of bromide toxicity and increases in thyroid disorders, thyroid cancer and other illnesses resulting from iodine deficiency. Bromine is also used in crop fumigation, pest control, in some carbonated drinks and several prescription medications.
Exposure to chlorine (the oxidized form of chloride), as well as fluoride found in toothpaste, the water supply and many pharmaceutical drugs, further compound the deficiency dilemma as these toxins compete with iodine for absorption by bodily tissue. Sufficient iodine saturation in bodily tissues prevents the binding of halides and allows for their elimination from the body.
Iodine Sources
The body does not produce iodine and it is often difficult to get adequate levels from food; however, the ocean is an abundant source. Sea vegetables (sea weed) are a concentrated source of iodine, and although fish contain this mineral, most also have high levels of mercury. Soil around oceans typically has sufficient iodine levels while inland and mountainous areas contain little or none. Sea vegetables, animals that graze near coastal areas, organic crops grown in iodine-rich soil (although soil content varies, even in organic crops), animal products that have had iodine added to feed, iodized salt, and supplements are among the best known sources of iodine.
A toxic body is unable to absorb and utilize enough iodine from diet alone, and a deficiency usually requires supplementation. When the deficit is resolved, the body will gradually displace the toxic halides from tissues throughout the body, especially the thyroid and other major storage sites. Iodine’s detoxifying effect also strengthens the immune system and helps balance hormones.
Testing for Iodine Levels
The pioneering work and research of physicians Guy Abraham, M.D. (former professor of medicine at UCLA); David Brownstein, M.D. (author and Director of the Center for Holistic Medicine in W. Bloomfield, MI); and Jorge Flechas, M.D. (Director of Flechas Family Practice in Hendersonville, N.C.), confirms the body’s critical need for iodine in levels far above the RDA. Brownstein has tested for iodine sufficiency in more than 4,000 patients and found 96% to be deficient. Flechas has had similar results in lab tests of more that 21,000 cases worldwide.
Guy Abraham, M.D. and his colleagues Brownstein and Flechas have developed a reliable method of measuring iodine levels that requires a two-part test: the urinary spot test and the urine loading test. The former requires a urine sample to establish a baseline of iodine saturation in the body. This is followed by supplementation with 50 mg of an iodine/iodide combination and subsequent 24-hour collection of urine. These samples are then sent to a lab for analysis, see (www.optimax.com) for the laboratories used for testing.
This detection method is based on the concept that the more iodine-deficient the body is, the more it will retain after supplementation, and the less will be excreted in urine. If the body has sufficient iodine levels, it will excrete 90% or more of the supplemented dose. Conversely, less than 90% in the urine (more than 5 mg retained) indicates a deficiency.
Supplementing With Iodine
The iodine specialists have found that the combination of iodine and iodide is more effective than just one form because of the different concentrations throughout the body. For instance, the breasts and prostate predominantly utilize iodine, whereas the thyroid gland and skin require iodide. Other bodily tissues concentrate either form.
Working with a health care practitioner or arranging phone consultations with the testing lab is necessary to interpret the test results and to determine the proper iodine dosage, as well as what companion nutrients may be required for optimum absorption and binding of the supplement.
Adequate supplementation treats many conditions, including ADD, breast, ovarian and prostate diseases (including cancer), thyroid disorders, vaginal infections, infertility, sebaceous cysts, migraine headaches and many others. Obtaining the proper iodine dosage is critical, as too much is also problematic.
It’s useful to consider that the mainland Japanese ingest nearly 14 mg of iodine daily (mostly from seaweed) € ¦’¶- almost 100 times more than the U.S. RDA. These are large amounts by U.S. standards, yet the Japanese have extremely low rates of fibrocystic breast disease, as well as breast, endometrial, ovarian and prostrate cancers. Brownstein has found that effective doses vary between 12 and 50 mg per day for most adults.
Iodine supplementation, when necessary, not only addresses many serious health challenges, it’s also useful in health maintenance and disease prevention. Since iodine is one of the body’s most essential minerals, testing for its levels should not be overlooked by anyone trying to achieve or maintain optimum health.
Sources:
1. Brownstein, M.D., David: Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It, 3rd Edition, West Bloomfield, MI: Medical Alternative Press, 2008
2. International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, (www.iccidd.org)
3. (www.optimox.com)
4. (www.breastcancerchoices.org)
Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry Is Medicating a Nation
I would like to recommend a highly informative book that I read just a few years after giving up TV. The author is Jerry Mander and it’s called In The Absence Of The Sacred. It helped me to open my eyes to exactly how much influence the tv can have over a person, going into both the procedures used by those constructing the shows/ads, and the way our brainwaves vary when watching. You’ll understand why I made this comment as you read through the article. Much love and many blessings along your path, Kat
By Onnesha Roychoudhuri, AlterNet. Posted April 17, 2008.
Author Charles Barber discusses Americans’ unrealistic notions about happiness. We’ve medicalized a lot of life issues that aren’t mental illnesses
While we’ve now become accustomed to the barrage of prescription drug commercials on prime-time TV, it’s jarring to learn that this advertising is legal only in the United States and New Zealand. The pharmaceutical industry doesn’t just target Americans directly, but also spends roughly $25,000 per physician per year. With the aid of information from data mining companies, a pharmaceutical representative knows exactly how many prescriptions for what medication a doctor has written, allowing the industry to individually target them.
How Americans came to this fraught relationship with the pharmaceutical industry and its drugs — particularly antidepressants — is the subject of Charles Barber’s new book, Comfortably Numb. A veteran of mental health programs in homeless shelters and a lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, Barber trains his eye to the confluence of science and culture that have led to the widespread prescribing of medications once reserved for the most serious cases.
While the field of neuroscience continues to churn out new data about the way our brains work, Barber is quick to remind us how much more is yet to be understood. Barber recently spoke with AlterNet about how less sexy treatments like social interventions and therapies can be just as effective in changing the brain.
Onnesha Roychoudhuri: What led you to write the book?
Charles Barber: When I started in the mental health field in the late ’80s there wasn’t really a name for what I did. If I talked to professional, educated people, they didn’t understand psychiatric diagnoses or medications. Then, 10 years later, people were very up on diagnoses, they were sympathetic to what I was doing, and there was now a name for the field: mental health. Many of them were taking the same medications that my clients were. There was a series of events over the late ’80s and early ’90s that set all that up. The main thing being Prozac and its cousins Paxil and Zoloft, which became totally mainstream; the TV advertising of drugs in the mid-’90s, well-known figures going public with their clinical depression, and a lot of subsequent pop culture stuff: The Sopranos and A Beautiful Mind, for example. All of this brought psychiatry, particularly medications, into the fore.
OR: Can you talk about your involvement in the mental health field and what it has enabled you to observe?
CB: I fell into the field for a lot of different reasons. I worked in psychiatric homeless shelter programs for about 10 years in New York — Bellevue being the most well-known. So I was working with the really seriously mentally ill, many of whom had been in and out of prisons and state psychiatric facilities and homeless shelters. What I found was that psychiatry, at least for certain diagnoses, has confused the really serious forms of the illness with the far lesser forms. The best example is depression. Many of the folks that I worked with suffered from severe depression. I make the distinction in the book between big “D” depression and small “d” depression. In its severe forms, it’s an absolutely brutal, horrific and malevolent illness where people are at dire risk of hurting themselves.
It’s jarring to go to a cocktail party and hear people talking about being bummed out or hear that they’re going through a divorce, and their family doctor put them on an antidepressant. There has been a confusion and conflation of this diagnosis that confuses serious disorders with far lesser conditions or, in many cases, life problems. We’ve medicalized a lot of life issues that are not mental illnesses.
OR: Just to be clear, this book is not about medication as a “bad” thing.
CB: Absolutely not. I think I make clear in the book that for serious disorders, I’ve seen the medications work really, really well. However, there are often side effects that the field has overlooked and is becoming more aware of these days. And these medications still don’t work a good percentage of the time for people with serious disorders. My critique is that the further you get away from serious or moderate disorders, where you’re treating nondisorders or marginal disorders with medication, the risk/reward calculus of the medications becomes more iffy — particularly antidepressants.
When the SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants like Prozac and Zoloft and Paxil first came out, they were considered pretty much side-effect-free, largely because the previous generation of antidepressants had a lot of side effects. But in the past few years, people have become more aware that they have more side effects. These effects are seen most when people are getting on and off the drugs.
OR: You write that, in 2002, more than 11 percent of American women and five percent of American men were taking antidepressants. I was struck by the high percentages, but also the fact that more than 1 in 10 women are on these medications.
CB: Depression does affect women more than men, and the marketing has capitalized on that. So women’s magazines are a place where you see a lot of ads for antidepressants and sleep aids. The U.S. accounts for two-thirds of the market for antidepressants. I don’t think anybody knows the exact utilization figures, but the finances are largely driven by the U.S. It’s a very American phenomenon in that most of the drugs were developed here. Also an American thing is the television advertising of drugs, which is illegal everywhere in the world except for New Zealand and the U.S.
OR: Throughout the book, you connect what’s going on culturally with what’s going on scientifically. You write, for instance, that SUVs and SSRIs have similar stories.
CB: That was referencing a point that Malcolm Gladwell made in an article in the New Yorker on SUVs and how many American products have been guilty of what he calls “over-performance.” In other words, what they’re maximally capable of doing is much more than we really need on a day-to-day basis. SUVs can drive you up the Himalayas, but really we just need them to go to the grocery store. The same can be said of the antidepressants. They can be wonderful for people that really need them, but they’ve been indiscriminately given out to people and the utility is arguable. It’s this very American thing of focusing on the technology and sexy high-tech solutions, and not really looking at what is really needed.
OR: You say that the drugs came along at a culturally ripe moment, at a time when we had socially and politically moved away from collectively approaching problems.
CB: The arrival of Prozac in 1988 was a perfect storm, culturally and just in terms of the drug itself. In the ’70s Valium paved the way for Prozac. It was the first psychiatric drug for anxiety that became mainstream. The earlier generation of antidepressants had a lot of side effects and could be fatal in overdose, and Prozac seemed very clean by contrast. It was the first drug that you didn’t have to be crazy to take. You could be a judge or a journalist and take Valium and obviously millions of people did. It entered the culture, from the Rolling Stones’ “Mother’s Little Helper,” Valley of the Dolls to celebrities talking about their Valium use.
Culturally, the ’80s were the time when we gave up on collective enterprises of doing things. The country had experienced multiple recessions, and there was a sense that a college education really didn’t get you a good job anymore. With the Reagan revolution, it was time to straighten up and “pull up your bootstraps” and do things as individuals. I think that transferred into how we took our drugs. There’s not such a huge difference between illicit and licit drugs. In the early part of the ’60s, when there was a spiritual aspect to the drug taking, people took drugs together. One of the hallmarks of the Prozac revolution is that people take them individually, and even the treatment is individualized. It used to be that if you were taking a psychiatric drug, you were probably working with a therapist, and now the large majority of people taking psychiatric drugs are in no ongoing dialogue with a caregiver.
OR: As a contrast to the American cultural relationship to antidepressants, you talk about the sale of SSRIs in Japan.
CB: There wasn’t really a term for depression in Japan. The drug companies invented one [kokoro no kaze, or "one's soul catching cold"]. There weren’t any sales of antidepressants in Japan until the late 1990s, because they didn’t really think that depression was that much of a problem. I’m sure people were depressed in Japan, and part of it was probably underreported, but in any case, there was a different attitude. A cultural minister in Japan said they didn’t really think of depression, in its milder forms, as anything bad. Rather, they saw it as a sign of awareness and artistic sensitivity.
The drug companies put on a brilliant advertising campaign and, sure enough, the sales of antidepressants went up five-fold in a very short time. But our American sensibility is to be uncomfortable with unhappy feelings and root them out as quickly as possible. I want to be very clear not to romanticize suffering, but there can be a utility to some difficult emotions.
The American notion of happiness is a very recent phenomenon in human history. You could argue that only since WWII and really since the ’60s and ’70s has happiness been the goal. Ironically, I think if you set happiness to be your primary goal, it tends not to work out very well. The late Canadian novelist Robertson Davies said that happiness is a byproduct, and that you become happy when you’re engaged in productive activity or when you’re in a relationship with someone you love. So this idea that we have to be happy is a highly American thing and highly problematic concept.
OR: The British health [service] recommendations reveal a pretty different relationship to depression.
CB: The clinical guidelines to the National Health Service for mild depression recommend watchful waiting, diet and exercise, self-help and counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy, and then if all those things don’t work, to try antidepressants. Our de facto practice in the United States is pretty much the opposite. I think a critical development that coincides with the Prozac entry into the culture is that family doctors now prescribe most antidepressants. It used to be that psychiatric drugs were primarily prescribed by psychiatrists. Family doctors just realistically aren’t going to know cognitive behavioral therapists to refer people to. Or they don’t know the research on diet and exercise on even severe depression. So, managed care is yet another factor in the move towards the quick and expedient approach, which is hastily writing antidepressant prescriptions rather than plumbing the larger issues.
OR: And you say that only 20 percent of those prescribed a medication then have a follow up.
CB: The reality is that in most cases a family doctor is writing the prescription, and maybe you’ll see them six months or a year later. In most cases, no one is really following the treatment. There are people who have difficulties going on and off the medication, and it seems to me irresponsible that there’s no regular monitoring. I would argue that psychiatrists should really be the people prescribing and monitoring, as well as therapists who will be talking to a patient about how the drugs are going and then can relay that to a doctor.
OR: In the analysis of the FDA under the Bush administration, you quote a scientist who says, “There is a remarkable amount of pressure placed on reviewers to find creative ways to approve problematic drugs.” This was an eerie echo of the drive to find intelligence to justify the Iraq war. Also disconcerting was the information on the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). Can you explain its impact?
CB: This dates to the early ’90s. Before then, the money for drug evaluation was public money. Now, about 50 percent of the money to evaluate drugs is paid for by the drug companies. In the latest iteration of PDUFA, it even called for some of the drug company money to pay for the rent at a new FDA facility in Silver Spring. The fact that the drug companies are paying the bills can affect one’s judgment. I would call for two reforms: One would be getting the drug ads off television and fully public financing of FDA drug evaluation.
OR: How successful are those TV ads in increasing demand?
CB: I think they’ve been extraordinarily effective. The evidence shows that they influence patient habits and prescribing habits. They also focus on the top 20 or so blockbuster drugs — a billion or more in sales. We all know the names of these: Nexium, Prozac, Zoloft, Lipitor. They have become household names and at times household staples. The fact that they’re advertised next to toothpaste and Chevrolet makes them seem like they’re toothpaste and Chevrolet. But drugs are powerful agents.
While illicit drug use has declined among younger people in the last 10 to 15 years, the abuse of prescription drugs has soared. Part of that is their omnipresence, and part of it is the perception of kids who grow up on these ads that make the drugs seem like toothpaste.
At a more technical level, there are studies showing that when doctors are asked for antidepressants, they’re more likely to prescribe them even if the patient isn’t genuinely depressed. The patient request makes a huge difference. The advertising of drugs is unpopular among many doctors, because they feel like patients have really incomplete and naive information about the drugs and yet put pressure on them to prescribe it.
OR: You also talk about how there is so much money going into these drugs that there is a pressure to come up with as many uses for the drug as possible. You cite the irony of Zoloft’s slogan “No. 1 for millions of reasons.”
CB: Drug companies can’t advertise for diagnoses that aren’t FDA prescribed, but there has been a huge expansion of diagnosis. The first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) came out in the 1950s, and it had 50 or 60 diagnoses; the latest one has over 300. There is also off-label prescribing, which means prescribing by an individual doctor for use that’s not FDA approved. That has also gone up a lot.
OR: You also write that it seems as though diagnoses follow the pills available to treat them.
CB: Over the course of the ’90s, SSRIs were allowed to be prescribed for a number of conditions. I think at a cultural level, when Valium was king in the ’60s and ’70s, if people talked about a kind of societal disorder, it was anxiety. It was the “age of anxiety.” Then, when Prozac was king in the 1990s, if people talked about a broad issue, it was depression. And so our perception of what bothers us follows the drugs that are most in currency at that time.
OR: You mention the dramatic increase of diagnoses in the DSM. Can you give some examples of what diagnoses are now included?
CB: For example, adjustment disorder is a diagnostic category in the DSM, and essentially it’s having a difficult time dealing with a major life change. There are categories such as “phase of life problem” and “sibling relational problem.” These might be very painful issues, but are they mental illnesses? A hundred years ago psychiatry included a lot of treatments that were brutal, but it concentrated on serious disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression. Psychiatry has been sufficiently diluted by the expansion of diagnosis and the way that it has entered the culture, that we’ve created people with far lesser conditions and arguably no conditions whatsoever.
The great irony is that there hasn’t been much traction in people with severe mental illness — the kind of people that I’ve worked with. The rates of their retention and treatment haven’t really improved much in the last 20 years. You could argue that your chances of being in treatment go up as the severity of your condition goes down. I think there should be an emphasis, in any branch of medicine, on the most ill people first. In psychiatry, it has sort of been the opposite of that.
OR: In addition to the $22 billion that the pharmaceutical industry spends a year to market directly to doctors, I was shocked to read about the role that data mining plays in targeting doctors with marketing.
CB: The level of access struck me as remarkable. Data mining companies track individual doctors and what they’re prescribing, and then sell this information to pharmaceutical companies. They can then target doctors. Nobody knows about this, least of all the patient.
OR: We all know about the massive scope of the pharmaceutical industry and yet, despite all this money, you talk about how there haven’t been many new drugs. Rather, we’re seeing a lot of what you call “me-too” drugs that are slight variants of the same old thing. It echoes the publishing industry in terms of larger companies not wanting to take chances on anything new when they have a formula for what makes a lot of money.
CB: They call it the “pipeline problem.” There haven’t been many breakthrough drugs in psychiatry. The breakthrough drug happened in the 1950s with Thorazine, and most of the anti-psychotics have been variations one way or the other on that original. It’s so expensive to develop a drug that it’s much easier and economically reasonable to just play with existing paradigms. The creativity of new drugs has come from small biotech firms and universities. The big industry has been stuck in these existing paradigms for the most part.
I think the other part of it is moving away from really severe conditions that only affect a very small portion of people. It’s more profitable to hit a larger market base with people with lesser conditions or lifestyle issues. So, some of the big drugs of recent years arguably are not really about serious disorders, they’re about lifestyle issues: Viagra, Cialis, Lipitor, and antidepressants. You’re going to hit 10 percent of the population as opposed to the 2 percent that have serious depression.
OR: Throughout the book, you talk about the irony that, in the neuro-science age, psychotherapy can now be viewed as a biological treatment along with pharmaceuticals.
CB: There are a lot of very simple, straightforward approaches to depression and anxiety that can be very effective either alongside of or apart from medications, but they’re not marketed like the medications, and they don’t sell.
In a study done in 1993 at UCLA, antidepressants were given to people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Half of the patients they gave the antidepressants to and the other half they gave cognitive therapy, which is also a proven treatment for OCD. Then they did brain scans, and they found that, in the part of the brain that is associated with OCD, the activity levels had been reduced in very similar ways. There have now been many studies using the brain technology showing that psychosocial interventions and psychotherapy are capable of changing the brain in similar and different ways as the drugs. In other words, to dismiss psychotherapy as unscientific and having no durable or easily assessable impact is no longer the case. That’s not really understood by the public and even in the field there’s still this notion of “hard science” and then the rest of the people who do this mushy headed stuff that isn’t consequential.
OR: You write extensively on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Can you give a quick explanation of what it entails?
CB: It’s usually 12 to 15 highly focused, goal-oriented sessions, in which the patient collaborates with the therapist to look at the thoughts, beliefs and attitudes behind their anxiety or depression. It has also been proven to be effective for a range of conditions like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), insomnia and OCD. It allows the patient to analyze what the core beliefs are behind their issues and to look at ways of replacing them or examining them in a more accurate way. The founder of cognitive therapy found that there were a great deal of cognitive distortions or thinking errors associated with his depressed patients. They particularly had a very negative view of themselves, the future, and the world, but a lot of it based on erroneous perceptions: thinking that if something bad happened, it was always related to them. When it’s successful, cognitive therapy allows the patient to clear up some of those thinking errors, and that can have a direct effect on mood. It has since been generalized to many conditions and is the most empirically validated form of psychotherapy in the world.
OR: I think these notions of a “cure” are in part propagated by oversimplified science journalism. In the book, you write that “in just one edition of the Times, four articles appeared, each of which offered genetic and neurological explanations for behavior that a decade or two ago likely would have been analyzed in social or cultural terms. What’s the risk in couching these behaviors in genetic and neurological terms?
CB: In the ’90s, these terms and concepts started showing up like “hard-wired” for some behavior. Mental illnesses were thought of as the product of chemical imbalances, or that you’re genetically programmed a certain way. Those concepts have completely entered the culture, and you can’t pick up a publication without some latest genetic explanation of, for instance, schizophrenia. Writing about the science and talking to scientists, you learn that it’s more complicated that that. Genetic transmission can be heavily influenced by the environment itself, and so these cartoonish versions of what directs our behavior are facile. The best scientists are not prone to making these sweeping and simplistic judgments.
Eric Kandel, probably the most eminent psychiatrist in this country, writes a lot about the social influence on genes. This can be very dangerous to think of in such simple terms. In psychiatry in particular, it sets up this division of a house divided against itself: genes versus environment, psychotherapy versus drugs, or nature versus nurture. The sophisticated thinkers understand that these things work together in an infinite dance.
The pendulum is always swinging, and in the last 20 years or so it has been genetic focused. The leading genetic researcher on depression talks about depression being 50 percent genetic; that means it’s 50 percent environmental. But the way the studies are reported, it’s all hard wired and chemical imbalance-related. These things are just cartoons of the science. There is no clear chemical imbalance for any mental illness. There is no one to one relationship between any neurotransmitter.
OR: The research you cite in the book points to the fact that the brain has an incredible capacity to create new neural connections. At the same time, I recall that one study showed that the placebo effect has increased 7 percent each decade. This seems like a fascinating example of the power of faith in medicine.
CB: And also just the perception of psychiatric drugs having more and more entered the consciousness. Prozac is portrayed as a wonder drug, so people taking it think, wow, it has got to be doing something. It absolutely speaks to the cultural ways in which we regard science. These are incredibly influenced by the social dialogue. In the mid-’90s, the term “chemical imbalance” became en vogue. I was running facilities for people with severe mental illness, and a client would say to me, “I can’t go to my treatment program today, because I’ve got a chemical imbalance.” There’s a social context to all of this that is not written about much.
What do you crave?
This is a wonderful site I’ve stumbled across that will help you to learn more about what your body needs through what kind of foods you are craving! It is written by a natropathic doctor and incredibly insightful.
It is my opinion that our bodies contain all the wisdom it needs to be in a perfect state of well-being. The problem comes in when we either refuse to listen to the subtle messages from our bodies, or believe that a doctor knows more about our bodies then we do! We are gifted with a miraculous vehicle to house our souls when born onto this earth, so lets try to respect all the hard work it does for us every minute of every day and take some time to listen and learn what it has to say to us.
Click here to get more acquinted with your bodies messages:
Honey and Cinnamon Cures…
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It is found that mixture of Honey and Cinnamon cures most of the diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Honey has been used as a vital medicine for centuries. Scientists of today also accept honey as a very effective medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases. Today’s science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients also. Here we present a list of diseases that can be cured by Honey and Cinnamon as researched by western scientists.
Arthritis
Take one part honey to two parts of lukewarm water and add a small teaspoon of cinnamon powder, make a paste and massage it on the itching part of the body slowly. It is noticed that the pain recedes within a minute or two. Or arthritis patients may daily, morning and night take one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If drunk regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research done at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week out of the 200 people so treated practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.
Hair Loss
Those suffering from hair loss or baldness, may apply a paste of hot olive oil, one tablespoon of honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder before bath and keep it for approx. 15 min. and then wash the hair. It was found to be very effective.
Bladder Infections
Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of luke warm water and drink it. It destroys the germs of the bladder.
Toothache
Make a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey and apply on the aching tooth. This may be done 3 times a day daily till such time that the tooth has stopped aching.
Cholesterol
Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, if given to a cholesterol patient, it reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10% within 2 hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken 3 times a day any chronic cholesterol is cured. As per the information received in the said journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complains of cholesterol.
Cold and Cough
Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder daily for 3 days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold and clear the sinuses.
Infertility
Since ancient times, it is commonly known, that the use of honey strengthens the semen of men. If impotent men regularly take two tablespoon of honey before sleeping, their problem will be solved. In China, Japan and Far-East countries, women who do not conceive and to strengthen the uterus have been taking cinnamon powder for centuries. Women who cannot conceive may take a pinch of cinnamon powder in half teaspoon of honey and apply it on the gums frequently throughout the day, so that it slowly mixes with the saliva and enters the body.
Upset Stomach
Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.
Gas
According to the studies done in India & Japan, it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.
Heart Diseases
Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread instead of jelly and jam and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also those who have already had an attack, if they do this process daily, are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heartbeat.
Immune System
Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.
Indigestion
Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food, relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.
Influenza
It has been proved that honey contains a natural ingredient, which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu. Longevity Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly arrests the ravages of old age. Take 4 spoons of honey, 1 spoon of cinnamon powder and 3 cups of water and boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, 3 to 4 times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life span also increases and even if a person is 100 years old, starts performing the chores of a 20 year old.
Pimples
Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples completely.
Skin Infections
Eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections are cured by applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts.
Weight Loss
Daily in the morning, 1/2 hour before breakfast on an empty stomach and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup water. If taken regularly it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also drinking of this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.
Recent research has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month 3 times a day. Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful than detrimental to the body strength. Senior citizens who take honey and cinnamon power in equal parts are more alert and flexible. It is said that half tablespoon honey taken in one glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3.00 p.m. when the vitality of the body starts decreasing, increases the vitality of the body within a week.
Bad Breath
People of South America, first thing in the morning gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water. So their breath stays fresh throughout the day.
Global TED event: May 10th
Dear Friends of TED,Wherever you will be on Saturday May 10, Pangea Day, you are warmly invited to join me and countless others around the world for a powerful, first-of-its kind experience. Gathered in homes, movie theaters and larger venues, we will participate in a remarkable program of films and talks — a kind of super-charged, marathon TED session — celebrating our common humanity. If you think of yourself as something of a global soul, it could be one of the year’s highlights. And in fact you could play an invaluable role in helping it realize its full potential… If you don’t have time to read this now, please just calendar Pangea Day for Saturday, May 10th (11am-3pm US West Coast, 2-6pm US East Coast, 7-11pm in UK, 8pm-midnight in Europe and much of Africa, 9pm-1am in the Mideast, 11.30pm-3.30am India, etc.).On that day, we invite you to gather around a screen with your family, friends and neighbors, preferably from more than one country. Pangea Day will be available on TV in many areas of the world. In the US , the full four-hour program is being carried live on Current TV, available in 40m homes on cable, DirecTV and Dish Network. Current TV pioneered the vision of citizen-empowered media, and we’re delighted to be partnering with them. We have similar agreements with the massive satellite network Star TV in China/India/Asia, with MGM in Latin America, with Sky in the UK , several partners in the Mid-East, not to mention Indonesia , Mexico , New Zealand and many more. Full details will be posted on our website next week.
And thanks to partnerships with Akamai and MSN, we will also be available on a live, full-screen web-stream everywhere with a broadband Internet connection.The best way to watch Pangea Day is not just as a normal TV show or web-stream. It should be watched as a community event. We want the sense of the great global village gathering around a campfire. We already know of more than a thousand self-organized screenings taking place in homes, clubs, and movie theaters. We expect thousands more come May 10.As many of you know, the day is the result of the combined efforts of countless TED supporters around the world, inspired by the TED Prize wish of film-maker Jehane Noujaim. She dreamed of a day when people around the world could share the the same film experience at the same time. The idea has grown into a giant global project… thanks to you. To get a sense of the scale of ambition, please take a minute to watch this beautiful trailer. Here’s the state of play: - Out of thousands of submissions, we have assembled a fantastic line-up of films. There are about 20 in total, ranging in length from 2 to 15 minutes (most of them around 5). They all tell powerful stories, often without language, of what it is to be human. They are, by turns, funny, touching, dramatic, inspiring. - But you won’t just be watching films. You’ll be watching the world watching. We’re bringing in live audience images from around the world. Watching a film about reconciliation is one thing. Watching it while simultaneously witnessing the reactions of people who are supposed to hate each other will be something else altogether. - The day also features a dozen powerful three-minute talks from scientists, film-makers, story-tellers and global visionaries. Just as a session at TED takes us on a journey stimulating every part of our brains, so will Pangea Day. Don’t dismiss it as a warm & fuzzy peace-fest. The project builds on the latest ideas in anthropology, psychology and technology. We’ll be revealing how.- The whole program is being broadcast in front of a live audience of 1,000 (from more than 50 countries) at a spectacular set being built at a Sony Studios soundstage in Los Angeles . - It will look and feel like nothing you’ve seen before. If any of this excites you, please would you consider doing something to help the day realize its full potential. There are three specific things you can do.1) Make firm plans to participate on May 10th. As a friend of TED, you can apply for free tickets to our main satellite-connected locations in LA, London , Rio de Janeiro , Kigali , Cairo or Mumbai. If you know you can bring a group of at least six people who will commit to being there for the full program, please write to pangeadaytickets@gmail.com.Or, attend one of the other screenings listed in your area here. (If you happen to be in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can join a screening being organized there by a great group of TEDsters. Please write to Taylor Milsal, milsal@gmail.com)
2) Host a screening. It could be in your home with a few friends and family. Or you could book a larger venue in your neighborhood and open it for others to come join. You’ll just need a large TV screen, the right channel access (or a good Internet connection) and willingness to spend four hours as a global soul. The Pangea Day website has the details you need here. Make sure to add your screening to our fast-expanding global map.3) Most important of all. Please help us spread awareness of Pangea Day. There are numerous ways to do this:
- Forward this email to your friends and colleagues… and invite them nicely to do the same!
- Post a story on your website or blog
- Point people to some or all of the following high-impact films:
The Pangea Day website and trailer.
The series of anthems sung by one country for another that I sent you earlier this week, e.g.
France sings for USA
Kenya sings for India
A viral Pangea Day film that debuted at TED this year.
- Make use of these ads on your website. We’d love to see millions of banners out there promoting the day. - Use any contacts you have to get media coverage for Pangea Day. There are a lot of great angles to this story! - You could even offer to take out paid advertising in your local media. We have terrific material for print, web and TV. - Become a fan on Facebook by clicking hereDo please write and tell us what you’ve done (you can write to my colleague, TED Scribe Jane Wulf, jane@ted.com). We want to recognize and celebrate those who make inspired contributions to the day.OK, that’s the practical stuff.
Do you have one more minute? I’d like to just say something more about why Pangea Day is worth your time and effort. I think we can agree our world is becoming ever smaller/flatter/more inter-connected. An important consequence of this is that all of the issues that matter — war, terrorism, poverty, disease, human rights, environment, climate change — can only be tackled now from a global perspective. And yet the people supposedly trying to solve them are almost all serving narrow mandates on behalf of their nation, religion or tribe. There’s a terrifying mismatch here between the nature of the problems and the means the world is deploying to tackle them. ‘The world’ itself doesn’t even seem to have a seat at the table. But there’s no reason this should be so. It is absolutely possible in the 21st century for us to begin a truly global conversation; to start nurturing that identity we share: one humanity. Some use the language of promoting global citizenship, or reducing cross-cultural suspicion, or expanding our circle of empathy, or eliminating the ‘us/them’ mode of thinking. These goals are all linked, and any progress toward them is, I think, a very big deal.I was brought up in an international boarding school in India with kids from more than 30 countries. We had a shared experience of each others’ lives. Differences in color and race gradually faded.I’m convinced today’s media have the power to humanize ‘the other’. To help people make the mental switch from ‘them’ to ‘us’. Telling stories through film is especially powerful in this regard. At the start of a film, you see someone strange-looking. At the end you feel kinship. There’s no moral effort involved here. It’s just a natural mental repositioning. Call me idealistic, but I really believe that that mental shift holds the key to our shared future. Of course, May 10th won’t lead to an outbreak of world peace. But I do think it will reveal a sense of possibility: the possibility that there are incredible new ways of using technology as a force for good; that peoples’ minds are not locked in a dark place forever; that our global village can start the long journey from ‘us/them’ to ‘we’.As the Pangea Day website says: Films can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can.Huge thanks from me, Jehane and Pangea Day’s executive director Delia Cohen to all who have helped make this project possible, including scores of TEDsters, the amazing Pangea Day and TED teams, TED patrons Shawn and Brooke Byers, website-creators Avenue A/Razorfish and our visionary sponsor Nokia. Please join us for this final, crucial chapter.
Sincerely,
Chris AndersonTED Curator
www.pangeaday.com
