RADIO PROGRAMS ON
STRESS MANAGEMENT
AND RELATED TOPICS

Studies Suggest Forgiveness Has Health Benefits
Religious leaders have long hailed forgiveness as an act of virtue. Now, some researchers are claiming that, in addition to improving your spiritual health, forgiveness may have benefits for your physical health, too.

The Perils of Perfectionism  
New research on perfectionism reveals that the urge to get things just right can go too far. It's linked with compulsive behavior, eating disorders, and depression. The perfect, it turns out, really is the enemy of the good -- or, at least, of good health.

Examining the Health Effects of Stress - December 2, 2005
Scientists say stress can stifle creativity, lower immune function and even make the flu vaccine less effective. But can stress ever be good for you? Also, for some caught up in a crisis, the stress becomes too much to bear. How do some people manage to avoid it? This is a remote broadcast from the American Psychological Association's Science Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

GUESTS: Wendy Berry Mendes, assistant professor of psychology at Harvard University. Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, S. Robert Davis Chair, medicine professor of psychiatry and psychology; director, Division of Health Psychology, Department of Psychiatry; Ohio State University. Farris Tuma, chief of the Traumatic Stress Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health. David Krantz, professor and chairman in the Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Md.

The Happiness Hypothesis: Jonathan Haidt
The ability to manage stress is related to our happiness. What makes life worth living? That deep question is one of the many asked by the advocates of something called ?positive psychology.? Jonathan Haidt of the University of Virginia is one of the field?s proponents, and the author of The Happiness Hypothesis. He dropped by WNRN to talk with guest-host Pete Ronayne on the June 25 edition of WNRN?s Sunday Morning Wake-Up.  

Stress and the Balance Within - Esther Sternberg
The American experience of stress has spawned a multi-billion dollar self-help industry. Wary of this, Sternberg says that, until recently, modern science did not have the tools or the inclination to take emotional stress seriously. She shares fascinating new scientific insight into the molecular level of the mind-body connection.

Science and the Origins of Addictions
June 16, 2006 · Drugs, alcohol, gambling, video games -- why do some people become addicted? Is it genetic, or something in the environment? Can study of the neurobiology of addiction lead scientists to a cure?

GUESTS: Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse; National Institutes of Health Dr. Shelly F. Greenfield, associate professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; associate clinical director of the alcohol and drug abuse treatment program, McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. Rob Malenka, Pritzker professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Stanford University Marvin Seppala, M.D., chief medical officer, the Hazelden Foundation

Lonely Americans - On Point 6/28/06
In the era of cell phones, email, and MySpace you might think that Americans are more connected to their closest friends than ever. But in fact, they're more alone. At least that's the conclusion of new research.

GUESTS: Lynn Smith-Lovin, Sociologist at Duke University and co-author of the study "Social Isolation in America" published in American Sociological Review. Jacqueline Olds, Psychiatrist, Harvard Medical School and co-author of "Overcoming Loneliness in Everyday Life." Bernice Pescosolido, Medical Sociologist at Indiana University and Director of the Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research.
Prayer and Medicine: HEBERT BENSON, M.D.
Behavioral Medicine Division Chief, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Founding President, Mind/Body Medical Institute, Boston MICHAEL SHERMER, Ph.D. Psychologist Author, Why People Believe Weird Things Publisher, Skeptics Magazine Director, Skeptics Society, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena California Recent studies appear to indicate a relationship between prayer and healing; between faith and health. But some scientists call the relationship dubious. Is the correlation well-founded? Or is it gaining acceptance because of the growing popularity of "alternative" medical techniques? Join Ray Suarez and guests for a discussion of religion and medicine

Procrastination Nation: Talk of the Nation 12/14/05
December 14, 2005 · Mark Twain once said: "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." We sometimes delay tasks until the last minute, but is this a healthy habit or does it lead to needless stress?

GUESTS: Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Bruce Tuckman, professor of education at Ohio State University. Amy Dickinson, author of the Chicago Tribune syndicated column "Ask Amy"

How Stress Effects Your Health: Robert M. Sopolsky
Can stress make you sick? From depression, insomnia and addiction, to cancer, heart disease and stroke, stress plays a crucial role in a host of physical ailments. September 10th, 2004.

GUEST: Robert M. Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers and A Primate's Memoir

Science and Meditation
This hour on Here on Earth, Jean Feraca explores new synergies between neuroscience and Buddhism and a proposal to teach meditation in the public schools.

GUEST:  Richard Davidson, Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Philosophical Counseling
A new type of counseling called philosophical counseling is gaining steam. NPR now has a show "Philosophy Talk," and there are bestselling books on the topic.

GUESTS: Lou Marinoff, professor of philosophy, City College of New York. He is founding president of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association and author of the book, "Plato! Not Prozac: Applying Eternal Wisdom to Everyday Problems"

Elliot Cohen, co-executive director, American Society for Philosophy Counseling and Psychotherapy. He is director of the Institute of Critical Thinking in Port Lucie, Florida and author of eleven books, including "What Would Aristotle Do? Self-Control through the Power of Reason"

Maura Tumulty, assistant professor of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University. She specializes in philosophy of mind and philosophy of psychology.

The Pursuit of Happiness
When it comes to human happiness, the ancients were under no illusions. "The gate is narrow, and the way is hard," says the Bible. And without the gods on your side, thought the ancient Greeks, the search was hopeless

GUESTS: Darrin M. McMahon, author of "Happiness: A History." Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst. Christopher Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.

The Feeling Brain
What good are feelings? Neuroscientist Antionio Damasio will tell you that they are behind human self-preservation. From joy to sorrow, feelings are the cornerstone of our survival and well-being. An exploration of the feeling brain--and why this may be a 21st century revolution in understanding what makes us who we are.

GUEST: Antonio Damasio, author, "Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain

"The End of Stress As We Know It" Dr. Bruce McEwen
December 4, 2002 · Bruce McEwen is a pioneering expert on the ways in which the brain influences the body. He is the author of ""The End of Stress As We Know It" (with Elizabeth Norton Lasley, published by Joseph Henry Press). The book examines the response of the body to stress, what happens when the body's stress response turns against us, and how to keep that from happening. Dr. McEwen is head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University in New York City.

"Stress"

The body has a system for getting out of trouble. Back when trouble meant being chased by a tiger, that system gave us a real survival edge. But these days, "trouble" is more likely to mean waiting in traffic... and "the system" is more likely to make us sick. Stanford University neurologist (and part-time "baboonologist") Dr. Robert Sapolsky takes us through what happens on our insides when we stand in the wrong line at the supermarket and offers a few coping strategies: gnawing on wood, beating the crap out of somebody, and having friends.

"Placebo"

Could the best medicine be no medicine at all? With new research demonstrating the startling power of the placebo effect, Radio Lab examines the chemical consequences of belief and imagination...from the symbolic power of the doctor coat to the very real stash of opium in your mind.

"Teaching Happiness "

A new science of happiness is attempting to pin down what really lifts the spirit -- to measure it, and to teach it. Happier people live longer. They get fewer colds. They have better relationships and do more for others.

Since the time of the ancients, we've had advice on the good life. Now, after a century of measuring well-being by the march of economic indicators, psychologists are saying let's measure and teach well-being itself.
"The Biology of the Spirit "

We speak with a surgeon and author who reflects on life by way of elegant detail about physiological realities. He speaks about his sense of wonder at the body's capacity to sustain life and support our pursuits of order and meaning, and why he believes the spirit is an evolutionary accomplishment of the brain.

Sherwin Nuland is Clinical Professor of Surgery at Yale University and author of many books, including How We Die and The Wisdom of the Body
"Heart and Soul: The Integrative Medicine of Dr. Mehmets Oz"

We speak with a surgeon and author who reflects on life by way of elegant detail about physiological realities. He speaks about his sense of wonder at the body's capacity to sustain life and support our pursuits of order and meaning, and why he believes the spirit is an evolutionary accomplishment of the brain.

Sherwin Nuland is Clinical Professor of Surgery at Yale University and author of many books, including How We Die and The Wisdom of the Body