psychologyoflearning

[psychologyoflearning]

Mass Shootings and Mass Desensitization

20 years ago, a mass shooting would have shaken all of us in the US to the core. Now? Not so much.

Since one of the most deadly mass shootings in the U.S. in 2012, Sandy Hook, there have been 2600+ mass shootings. It doesn't feel like there have been that many, right? It is safe to say that we have grown accustomed to the occurrences of these mass shootings. Back when mass shootings hardly occurred, every single mass shooting captured national attention. Now, some are just not covered or cared about. What once evoked shock and sadness from the whole nation now just seems to be a normal everyday occurrence. Why is this?

Let’s talk desensitization.

Simply put, desensitization is defined as “a process that diminishes emotional responsiveness to a negative, aversive or positive stimulus after repeated exposure”. Say you move into a home right next to the railroad. The first few nights you may be annoyed by the loud trains, but as time goes by, you may find that you no longer notice it. You’ve been desensitized. The same concept can be applied to the U.S. and mass shootings. When they were rare and hardly occurred, we were in shock and deeply saddened even though there was nothing we could have personally done. As more and more mass shootings occurred (Las Vegas festival, Orlando nightclub, El Paso Walmart, Stoneman Douglas, etc), we grew accustomed to weekly occurrences as in our minds, it’s out of our control and there is no reason for us to dwell. If we were affected by all mass shootings the way we reacted to the Columbine shooting, we would constantly be in a state of shock and sorrow in such a way that would be detrimental to our health.

In a study examining desensitization to media violence, it was found that repeated exposure to media violence desensitized the viewers. Instead of feeling constant sympathy for the victims of violence in the scenes, it was found that the subjects felt less sympathy the more they were exposed to the violent media. Read more about it here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19172659/. 

While violent media is not nearly on the same level as mass shootings, the idea remains the same. The more mass shootings happen, the more we expect them to occur. The more we expect them to occur, the less shocked we are when they do occur. It is sad to say but the U.S. has become accustomed to mass shootings and it seems like there’s nothing we can do about it.

[psychologyoflearning]

College students, stop stressing. It’s for your own good.

For many college students, the focus of their lives right now is to “grind”.

Grind culture is quite normalized and this mentality can be seen in students all across the nation. While grind culture can bring about some benefits such as high productivity and good grades, it can also lead to a decline in mental and physical health due to constant stress. Let’s dive a little deeper into the science of this and look at how “grinding” may be counterproductive.

Believe it or not, chronic stress can potentially interfere with your ability to learn and affect your memory. When you are stressed, your body naturally releases glucocorticoids to help deal with these stressors. This is helpful when you are in life-threatening or stressful situations, however, it is extremely harmful in excess. Too much of it will lead to a cascade of events that make your neurons energetically vulnerable and essentially more fragile. As such, constant and excessive glucocorticoids as a result of chronic stress can induce problems such as hippocampal atrophy, neurotoxicity, impaired neurogenesis, LTP and learning impairment, and degradation of your synaptic plasticity. What does this mean for you? We see that the processes and areas most important for learning are impacted when you’re constantly stressed. (You can learn more about this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvMQQsyPirM)

Not only can chronic stress affect your grades, but it can lead to many health issues as well. The long-term activation of the body’s stress response impacts your body’s functioning. When you are constantly stressed, you cause your body to increase your sensitivity to future stress. Not good.

As noted by Mayo Clinic, chronic stress can lead to the following health problems: 

Anxiety

Depression

Digestive problems

Headaches

Heart disease

Sleep problems

Weight gain

Memory and concentration impairment

While it may be normal for students in the grind culture climate to stay up late doing assignments running on Red Bull and no sleep, it does not mean it’s healthy for you. It is important to prioritize your personal health ahead of your schoolwork. However, that does not necessarily mean you need to sacrifice your grades! Prioritizing yourself may mean you need to do your assignments earlier rather than the night before. It may also mean you can spread your work throughout the day rather than cramming it all in one night. Whatever it may be, grind culture is not helping you. 

[psychologyoflearning]

Sunday American Football with a Side of TBI: Profit over People?

As America’s favorite past time sport, there is no doubt that football remains the most-watched sport to this day. The National Football League (NFL) has become a billion-dollar industry with its teams individually generating millions from merchandise, concessions, licensing, sponsorships, and ticket sales. There is no denying that the NFL is extremely successful in many ways, however, this comes at the expense of the players.

In a whistleblower study assessing brain damage in football players, 110 out of 111 former NFL player brains were neuropathologically diagnosed as having chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) caused by multiple traumatic brain injuries and concussions. As more and more players report concussions and brain injuries, researchers warned of the dangers of the sport and have garnered support nationwide for safer rules, regulations, and equipment. While not all head injuries sustained in the league have been fatal and life-threatening, there have been notable cases that prove the dangers of the sport and why there is a dire need for more safety precautions regarding head injuries.

 A notable example regarding the consequences of football-related brain injuries is Mike Webster, who played defense for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs For 16 years, Webster accrued multiple concussions and brain injuries that eventually led to the decline of his mental abilities. Post-mortem analysis of Webster’s brain indicated that he too, like many other NFL players, had CTE. Neuropathologists had diagnosed Webster with dementia pugilistica, characterized by severe memory loss, unpredictable behavior caused by repeated blows to the head. He often could not find his way home, forgot about meetings, and could only write gibberish. Memory impairment, constant mental disorientation, and language impairment caused Webster to be unable to hold a job and would later lead to his homelessness and cognitive dysfunction.

Again, while not all cases of football-related head injuries may not always lead to such degeneration of cognitive function, all head injuries sustained on the field should be treated knowing that it is highly possible. The NFL must take initiative to prevent these future problems in their players whether it be through further research, implementation of new rules, or stricter rehabilitation guidelines post-head injury. Neglecting these concerns would not only be a violation of morality but a violation of the human rights of the players.