We belong to a remarkably quirky species. Despite our best efforts, some of our strangest foibles still defy explanation. But as science probes deeper into these eccentricities, it is becoming clear that behaviours and attributes that seem frivolous at first glance often go to the heart of what it means to be human.

1. Blushing
2. Laughter
3. Pubic hair
4. Teenagers
5. Dreams
6. Altruism
7. Art
8. Superstition
9. Kissing
10. Nose-picking

Read the full article here.

“Wash your hands when you shake hands; cover your mouth when you cough,” President Obama urged us at last Wednesday’s news conference when discussing the swine flu. “I know it sounds trivial, but it makes a huge difference. If you are sick, stay home. If your child is sick, keep them out of school. If you are feeling certain flu symptoms, don’t get on an airplane, don’t get on a — any system of public transportation where you’re confined and you could potentially spread the virus.” Is such modest, homespun advice merely good manners, or is it a moral injunction?

This guidance rises to the level of ethics because it concerns the effect of our actions on other people. Etiquette codifies behavior that is merely a matter of form and hence apt to have a trivial impact on others. Whether or not to rob a guy? Ethics. Whether or not to curtsey after robbing a guy? Etiquette. Similarly, the old-school demand that a man on a bus surrender his seat to a woman — any woman, no matter how robust — is etiquette, a social convention (and a sexist one at that). A better approach is for a seated passenger, man or woman, to offer a seat to anyone in need, regardless of gender — a frail older man, a very pregnant woman, a weary Joe Biden (should he muster his courage and return to public transportation). This is ethics (albeit small-scale ethics): an effort to assist those who need it.

And so is Obama’s hand-washing recommendation, echoing the wise counsel that our parents gave us when we were children and that Ignaz Semmelweis gave to medical students in the maternity clinic at the Vienna General Hospital in 1847. It is an ethical imperative, meant to mitigate the harm we might do to others. That hand-washing also diminishes your own chance of becoming ill makes it more desirable, though it does not further elevate the moral status of the act. In ethics, intent counts; the reason why you wash your hands matters. (That’s not to deny, of course, the virtue of sparing the community the costs of your infirmity — medical care, missed work — a rationale sometimes used to justify seatbelt or helmet laws.)

Those presidential dictates, while fundamentally ethical, are not universally applicable. Some employees, particularly low-wage workers, risk losing pay or even getting fired if they stay home from work to avoid infecting their coworkers. If we expect individuals to act ethically, we have a societal obligation to protect them when they do — for instance, by guaranteeing paid sick days to all.

Another argument for a community response, for the practice of civic virtue: even if someone displays impressive individual rectitude, he may still unknowingly infect other people with swine flu (or, if you prefer a more pork-chop-friendly designation, the H1N1 virus). Dr. Michele Barry, the dean of Global Health at Stanford University, says, “You may not be aware you are transmitting it early on.” People can be contagious for as long as six days before displaying any symptoms — and, she adds, “longer in kids and immuno-compromised folks.”

Some healthy people have taken aggressively individualistic action, asking a friend or relative who is a doctor for prescriptions for Tamiflu, an antiviral medication, to keep around the house just in case. To make such a request is unwise, to honor it unethical. In most cases, doctors “should certainly not be in the business of writing prescriptions for those they have neither examined nor taken a medical history” from, says Dr. Tia Powell, who is the director of the Montefiore-Einstein Center for Bioethics. And while it can be awkward for a doctor to turn down the aunt who will host the family’s next Thanksgiving dinner, that is what medical ethics requires (as I discussed in “The Ethicist” in 2005, responding to a query about avian flu).

A healthy person should not ask such a thing even of his or her own physician. To hoard antiviral medications can make them unavailable to those in immediate need. Temporary local shortages have been reported from New York to Honolulu. Even if there were unlimited supplies of antiviral agents, Barry would caution against their prophylactic use, except by people traveling to the center of the epidemic, because using such medications improperly can breed Tamiflu-resistant strains of the virus.

Thus some individual actions, like the presidentially endorsed washing of hands, are genuinely ethical, while others, like stocking up on antiviral medications, are not. Each must be judged on its merits. What’s more, universally esteemed acts do not obviate the need for community actions. And even those we deem outside the realm of ethics, that we consider to be matters of etiquette, can still be valuable social lubricants. Samuel Johnson was a great defender of politeness, calling it “fictitious benevolence” and asserting that “the want of it never fails to produce something disagreeable.”

From the New York Times…

In the quest for better health, many people turn to doctors, self-help books or herbal supplements. But they overlook a powerful weapon that could help them fight illness and depression, speed recovery, slow aging and prolong life: their friends.

Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship and social networks in overall health. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends. A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk for obesity among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could promote brain health as we age.

“In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’t terribly well appreciated,” said Rebecca G. Adams, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. “There is just scads of stuff on families and marriage, but very little on friendship. It baffles me. Friendship has a bigger impact on our psychological well-being than family relationships.”

read the full article…

Image from here

The perception is that 20-somethings are youthful and robust, in the peak of their health.

But a report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that young adults have their fair share of health woes.

A third of 18- to 29-year-olds, a demographic the insurance industry calls “young invincibles,” are cigarette smokers. A quarter are obese, as the rates among young adults have tripled in the past three decades. Nearly two-thirds of young adults reported not having regular leisure-time physical activity.

“At that age, people tend to be healthy but take it for granted,” said Dr. Jennifer Shu, CNNhealth’s Living Well expert. “Diabetes and heart disease start at much earlier ages now. The obesity and cigarettes can impact how young you might be when you get a serious illness.”

And when young adults get seriously ill, they can find themselves in a bind: A third of people ages 20 to 24 are uninsured. They are too old to qualify for their parents’ insurance, looking for work or in a job that doesn’t provide health insurance.

read full article…

Wesleyan Resources: Health Services offers Wesleyan students health care for illness, injury and well visits and coordinates the university’s student insurance plan. Call 860.685.2470 with questions.

http://www.artbywicks.com/time%20to%20rest.jpg

Time to Rest (artbywicks.com)

Now that final exams are winding down, the staff of WesWELL wishes all Wesleyan students a restful and restorative winter break.  Whether you are traveling, working or simply relaxing for the next five weeks, we hope you return to campus ready to tackle the spring semester with enthusiasm! 

Be well!

Ever wondered why WesWELL exists at Wesleyan? Why we even spend time talking about health as a component of academic success? Here’s the proof: 

“Our study shows that there is a direct link between college students’ health and their academic achievement. This is the first time that anything like this has been published where Grade Point Average is linked to all these behaviors,” said Dr. Ed Ehlinger, the director and chief health officer of the University of Minnesota Boynton Health Service.

To download the study, go to http://www.bhs.umn.edu/reports/HealthAcademicPerformanceReport_2007.zip

To view a video about the study, visithttp://www1.umn.edu/urelate/newsservice

Fall and winter in New England bring many pleasures; colds and flu are not one of them. Fortunately there are many ways to help prevent getting sick this season, as well as many ways to treat yourself naturally if you do become sick. 

During this talk we will focus on ways you can optimize your immune system and overall health so that you are less susceptible (and feeling more optimal health and energy!). Some of the ways we can accomplish this are:

• Healthy Nutrition
• Stress Reduction Techniques 
• Exercise
• Proper Amount of Sleep 
• Using Nutrients/Supplements when needed 
• Using Herbs when needed 
• Using Homeopathy when needed 

We will also have time for a Q & A session on any topic you are interested in Natural Health and Wellness. 

Date: Wednesday, November 19
Time: 4:30pm
Location: PAC 001 

Sponsored by WesWELL, the Office of Health Education

We can see dandelions as a weed that invades the pristine beauty of our gardens.
Or, we can see it as a beautiful flower or a fluffy white ball to wish upon or as a source of nourishing food and drink.

We can see a mud puddle and see only dirty shoes, soiled clothes, and stained carpets.
Or, we can see it as a pool to stomp in, splash around in, and have fun.

We can feel a wind and worry about how it will muss our hair or toss leaves on our manicured lawns.
Or, we can close our eyes, let it massage our face, and imagine we’re soaring on an updraft like an eagle.

We can see a rain storm and see only that we will be drenched, depressed by the grayness, and that the warm rays of the sun will disappear.
Or, we can sing and play in the rain as if it was a water fountain, realize the raindrops are nourishing our gardens, and think warmly of the sun that still shines above the gray clouds.

How do you choose to view attending to your health?

As a chore? As something the government guidelines say you should do a certain number of minutes a day or in a particular combination of foods or by not doing this or not doing that? As a requirement to check off your “To Do” list, if you get around to doing it at all?

Or as a gift to yourself? As a way to keep your mind, body and spirit strong and functioning in a way that will help you reach your goals? As a means to the end of being a successful person who can give of themselves freely since their cup is filled to overflowing?

How do you choose to view attending to your health? It may make all the difference.

Dr. Louanne Weston Cole, in her Sex Matters blog at WebMD.com, shares an intriguing study on the differences between men and women in how they interpret words differently in sexual situations:

I was reading an article about a new book, Studies in Applied Interpersonal Communication, by Michael Motley, a University of California at Davis professor. He did an interesting study on how males and females interpret what females say when in the very early stages of sexual kissing.

When a female says, “It’s getting late,” she means that she wants to stop what they’re doing and go their separate ways. If she finished her sentence, it would go, “I should already be home in bed – alone.” Most males in this study, however, interpreted this to mean that she wants to skip the preliminaries and go forward a bit more quickly.

Or, if a woman says, “I’m seeing someone else,” (meaning that she wants to stop because her affections are really with another man), males tend to think this means, “Keep going, but let’s be discreet,” or “Keep going, but I want you to know that I’m not making a commitment.”

Motley concludes that in their efforts to not offend or upset their male partners with direct and forceful words, women are merely confusing them. He found out that men would prefer to hear it loud and clear, even if it smarts a little bit, rather than trying to read the woman’s mind and risk offending her and/or losing the sexual opportunity. read full article…

While the research is a bit locked up in the gender binary and heterosexual relationships, it still illustrates an important point: what we say may not be what is heard. It’s extraordinarily difficult to get what you want (and avoid what you don’t) if your attempts to communicate your intentions aren’t interpreted correctly.

Discussion Questions:
What does this mean for how we should be communicating with our partners?
Would being more forceful and direct in what we say solve the problem?
Or could our words continue to be misinterpreted even when said with conviction?
How do our cultural attitudes about sex and gender stereotypes play into this?

Wesleyan Resources:
Sexual Violence information
Emotional Abuse information
Sexual Misconduct Policy
Office of Behavioral Health for Students

 If you suffer from low confidence and feel insecure about your own abilities, you may find it difficult to make even the simplest of decisions. Even the horrid choice of choosing where to go for dinner sends you into a frenzy. Insecurity occurs for several reasons. Perhaps at a young age your parents striped your ability to make any choices by choosing everything you ate, everything you wore, etc.

Now that you are grown and in the workforce, you find yourself suddenly having to make a lot more decisions. With little or no previous experience, it is no wonder that you start to fumble. Anxiety and worry are your constant companions during the decision making process. While trying to decide on your options, you spend hours playing out the possible scenarios of failure. You are nervous about what others may say and think, swearing that you can already hear the sounds of snickering in your head. read full article…

Wesleyan Resources: Office of Behavioral Health for Students

Discussion Questions: What helps you to improve your decision making ability?