From: zorrilla@cattell.psych.upenn.edu (Eric Zorrilla)
Newsgroups: sci.psychology
Subject: Re: Exercise vs Psychotherapy
Keywords: exercise   psychotherapy
Date: 16 Nov 92 16:16:01 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

I think you misunderstood what I was saying, Lee, because I was agreeing with
you much more than you seem to think:

>I think that to describe "getting out of the house and getting involved
>in any kind of activity" merely as distraction is to miss the point.  In
>my experience, the word *activity* here is very important.  Watching
>television or reading a book will usually not be effective.  I think it
>has to do more with putting one's brain into a different mode.  

I'm using distraction here as it is used in a cognitive framework, not
necessarily in the uninteresting way you seem to think I mean it.  That is,
you must engage your thought processes in an activity (behavioral, cognitive,
imagery, etc.) which is sufficient to jump them out of the depressogenic
thinking they're rutted in.  As you suggest, the unifying nature of such
"distractors" and they way they allow our mind to switch gears is a worthy
topic of research (and one of outcome studies).

>You see the choice as between depression being biochemical or -- for want
>of a better word -- psychological.  I think this is a false dichotomy,
>and that there are many more categories than these two.  

No, no, no!  You missed my point entirely.  I was explicitly refuting
this distinction.  My undergraduate honor's thesis specifically refuted this
distinction and proposed more viable categories!

>I don't know how to discuss this more coherently, but I just want to say
>that when we talk about the physiological aspect of emotion there's a lot
>more involved than just neurotransmitters.  And I think that when the
>brain is called upon to organize some purposeful activity, that changes the
>balance of the whole system.  
>
>And of course a really high level of physical activity will result in
>the production of endorphins, which will certainly have an effect on
>one's mental state.  The subject will feel good physically and is
>likely to translate that good feeling by saying "I feel good about
>myself."  And a psychologist might interpret that by saying that
>exercise increases self-esteem.

This is all the stuff I was talking about when I talked about neuroendocrine
and autonomic nervous system activity affected by exercise.  Believe me,
I hear you, because all my research forces are focused on the way that
these systems (among others) are related to emotional and cognitive states!

>Again, I believe that this is not just a matter of
>distraction.  I think logical thinking puts the brain into a different
>mode and perhaps changes the availability of neurotransmitters.

I never said this strategy was a distraction process.  I described this
skill as 1) recognizing the presence of an unpleasant emotional state
2) putting on your logical thinking cap tp address the distortions in
thinking that may be maintaining and promoting the undesired mood.
I would in no way differ with the assertion that such changes in thinking
would produce downstream changes in the "stress" systems (and probably the
limbic system), which might very well exert feedback effects on cortical
centers and limbic structures (and, thus, subsequent cognition as well).

This stuff IS being investigated.

-- 
[--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------]
| Eric Zorrilla - Dept. of Psychology  | zorrilla@cattell.psych.upenn.edu     |
| University of Pennsylvania           | 3815 Walnut, Philadelphia, PA 19104  |
[--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------]
Newsgroups: sci.psychology