HealthBee

An interesting new study in the British Medical Journal shows depression lifted for patients who interacted with dolphins an hour a day over a two week period. Many patients have experienced lasting effects after their sessions with the dolphins. The theory is that playing and swimming with dolphins ignites emotions and releases brain chemicals to make people feel good.

For those of us who don’t live near dolphins, the same feeling of happiness may be felt a little closer to home. Studies have long shown people feel happier simply by petting a dog or a cat. Dogs in particular seem to have a the effect. Serotonin, the hormone in the brain that makes us feel good, rises significantly after playing with a dog, even the dog is someone else’s pet.

Studies were done with robotic dogs and live dogs, and it appears there is no substitute for the real thing. Studies showed that the effects of petting a robotic dog actually caused serotonin levels to fall.

I know from personal experience, that if I feel depressed or am having a bad day, my dog can lift my mood.  Sometimes, just playing a game of ball or going for a walk will get my mind off of something that is causing me a bad day.  My dog loves me even if I’m grouchy or look bad.  And maybe that’s all that is needed:  unconditional love.

The articles are unclear if petting a dog has the same long term effects as swimming with dolphins, and hopefully, future studies will make comparisons.

I had never heard of a panic attack until months after I’d starting having them. And, truth be told, it is really hard to describe it to someone who has never experienced it for themselves. Before I had a panic attack, if someone had told me about it before I experienced it, I would have laughed and figured only people on drugs or people with serious mental issues had them. Normal people don’t have those, and of course, *I’d* never experience anything like that..right?

Panic Attack at the Office

My first panic attack happened while I was working. I worked at a large firm in an office made mostly of cubicles. The company was, and still is, known as being one of the best places to work in the city. The offices/ cubes are clean and well lit, and people actually like going to work there. I liked going to work there.

I had just started working there maybe a few months before, and I was well accepted there. While my work life was going well, my home life was not; my husband and I were having difficulties. I was sitting in my cube, busily typing away with my mind about a thousand miles away from what I was actually doing. And then, I had a thought about divorce and

BAM!!!

I felt the kind of fear you’d feel if you stumbled between a Mama bear and her cubs and were afraid for your life. My body wanted to run as fast it could. My body shook uncontrollably as I tried desperately to stay still and not make a fool out of myself in the middle of a busy office space. I was sweating and breathing like I had just run several miles and my heart felt like a hammer pounding up in my throat. And it was immediate…from 0 to full speed in 2 seconds. It took all I had not to run screaming from the building.

“I Must Be Crazy…”

I remember I felt like the two sides of my brain were arguing over which side should take control. The right side or emotional half of my brain was dumping adrenaline in my system and screaming “RUN RUN RUN! YOU’RE IN DANGER! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!” The left logical side of my brain was saying “OK eyes and ears, look and listen. Find the danger. Where is the danger. I see no danger, I hear no danger. There is no danger. Why do you feel fear when there is no danger to be found?”

And then, I remember it clearly. The left half of my brain logically put it together the only thing that made sense, “OK. There is no danger, yet you are afraid. YOU MUST BE CRAZY.”

And then, I really freaked out.

I thought I was losing my mind. I thought “Oh dear God, I don’t know what reality is.” I looked around the office like someone who believes the world is out to get them. My mind raced as I tried to figure it out. Did I die? Was I *really* in an office building? What was happening? I couldn’t stand it any longer. I ran out of my cube to the stairs to go outside. Thankfully, I held it together enough not to scream while I did it.

Once outside, I went to a grassy area and fell to my hands and knees. The ground felt good to me, and I started to calm down. My breathing and heart slowed down to almost normal, and I felt like I could think again. My head wasn’t screaming at me to run away or thinking that the world was against me.

Hiding My Fear 

In the months that followed, I experienced this every day and chalked it up to something I just had to deal with. Maybe I was going crazy, but by God, I was going to try to act as normal as I could so others wouldn’t know about it.

A few months later when I was visiting my physician about ADHD, I mentioned that I was having difficulty sleeping — by now I was awakened in the middle of the night by panic attacks. I told him I didn’t know what was going on, that I might be losing my mind, and explained about what happened every day. I told him that maybe I was losing it, but I was really trying to keep it under control, and please don’t send me to an institution.

He didn’t look at me like I had two heads or send the people with white coats to drag me from the building.

He just said,”Oh. That’s a panic attack. Sometimes that happens.”

Panic Attacks Are Not Harmful 
My Doctor changed the medication I was taking to alleviate some of the symptoms, and gave me breathing techniques to deal with a panic attack when it happened. He said most of the time, you just wait them out and breathe deeply, and the worst that could happen from a panic attack is that you faint. He assured me that I wasn’t going to die and no, I wasn’t having a heart attack.

I have never been so relieved in all my life. I’m wasn’t going crazy, I was just having a panic attack. I could actually laugh about it.

Panic Attack Symptoms

To help you determine if you suffer from panic attacks, here are the symptoms:

1. Rapid heart beat, pounding heart or palpitations
2. Sweating
3. Shaking visibly or inside
4. Choking sensations or lump in throat
5. Smothering or shortness of breath sensations
6. Chest pain or discomfort
7. Nausea, bloating, indigestion or abdominal discomfort
8. Dizziness or unsteadiness
9. Feeling light-headed
10. Feeling unreal or dreamy
11. Feeling outside yourself or like you don’t exist
12. Fear of losing control or going crazy
13. Numbness or tingling sensations in face, extremities or body
14. Chills or hot flushes
15. Skin losing colour
16. Blushing or skin blotches
17. Urgently needing to urinate or defecate

If you experience these, see your doctor. Usually, a panic attack is not harmful, and there are medications and/ or lifestyle changes that can help.

I love riding my bike. And, since I’ve started riding every day, I’ve found that it really helps me feel better when I’m feeling down or had a bad day. Exercise changes the chemistry of the blood, and can alleviate depression. Since a lot of people haven’t ridden a bike since they were a kid, I figured a tutorial about how to choose the right bicycle for you might be helpful.

Fit: The Most Important Thing

For me, personally, it is a feel thing. The bike has to *feel* like it is part of me in order for me to really want to ride it. If it is not comfortable to ride, I just won’t do it.

Components — the brakes, shifters and shocks — are secondary, particularly if you are not going to ride competively. If you do plan to ride competively, you probably won’t decide to do so right now, so for a first bike since childhood, the feel is the most important to get you to *want* to do it all the time. People go on and on about components, but honestly, the quality from one good quality bike to another is negligable unless you plan to compete. So for a first bike since you were a kid, the feel is the most important thing.

Quality

I’ve learned over the years, it is important to save up money and buy a good quality bike from a bicycle shop. I’ve learned that bicycle shops can really help fit you to your bike: a quarter of an inch in seat height can make all the difference between having knees that ache and knees that feel great. No, your knees should *not* hurt* after you ride a long distance. In fact, cycling is not hard on the knees at all, contrary to popular belief. More on that a bit.

You can expect to pay somewhere around $400 and up for a good quality new bike, but if you don’t have that much money, I’d recommend finding a good bicycle shop and seeing if they have some good quality used bicycles you can purchase for less. And, very often, bicycle shops will service your bike for free if you purchase it from them. That is very handy when you get a flat and you just don’t want to deal with changing out the tube, or you have a shifter that won’t let you get out of high gear.

I’ve had many friends buy their bikes at Walmart or some other retailer because they believe they get a better bargain. But usually what happens is, they never ride it because their knees hurt and the shifter stops working. Their knees hurt because they didn’t have anyone help them fit their bicycle to them: something a bicycle shop does for all of its customers. In the end, that bargain is a waste of money. So I do not recommend buying your bicycle from a large retailer like Wal-Mart. It really is worth it to buy from a bike shop.

The Trip to the Bicycle Shop

What I recommend is taking one or more afternoons to go to a bicycle shop. Explain to the staff to the staff you don’t know what bike you want. Tell them what types of riding you’d like to do and how much money you’d like to spend, and when the last time was you rode a bike. Explain to them you’d like to test ride some bicycles to see which one feels right to you. Most bicycle shops are glad to help you do this. You may have to leave your credit card with them or leave a cash deposit..I’d ask. But it should not cost you anything to test ride the bike.

Next, make sure you have them fit you to the bikes you are going to test ride. This is very important because you don’t want your knees/ shoulders/ back to hurt. The way they will fit you to a bike is to put the bike on a stand and have you pedal it while someone watches you from the front and back. They will ask you what your knees feel like and will know from watching you how to adjust the seat and handlebars. It may take 15 minutes or so to do this. Be patient, it is worth it.

Once you are fitted, take the bike out for a ride…at least 30 minutes or so.

How Do You Know If the Bicycle Fits?

You’ll know if the bicycle is right for you because it literally feels effortless to pedal it. You shouldn’t feel strain in your back or shoulders or knees. And, while you may be huffing and puffing due to being out of shape, you shouldn’t have aches or pains anywhere in your main muscle groups. If your knees hurt, take the bike back and tell them exactly where in your knees it hurts (outside of knee or inside) and they can readjust the seat. People with knees that hurt after cycling usually don’t have their seats adjusted correctly. Literally, a quarter of an inch up or down can make all the difference in the world.
Ride as many different types of bicycles you can. Only then will you know which one is the one that feels right. This process may take several afternoons but when you get done, you will KNOW which bike is the one for you.

What Else Do I Need?

In addition to the bike, I’d also invest in the following:

Helmet
A good pair of bicycle pants (Might be $75 or more)
Shoes
Pedals
Gloves

Helmet: you only get one brain. In my mind, helmets are non-negotiable. You are the smallest thing on the road, and people drive like crazies. Helmets now are quite comfortable and you forget you even have them on. Believe me, I didn’t know how much I’ve needed a helmet until I’ve crashed, and then I was grateful my noggin had a brain case!

Like the helmet, the pants are non-negotiable. You only have to get one saddle sore on a part of your body where you really *don’t* want a saddle sore to learn this lesson. Believe me, $75+ for a *good* pair of pants is so worthwhile. If you are shy about wearing the “everyone-can-see-my-hiney-skin-tight-roadie-pants” you can get some mountain bike pants that look like normal cargo shorts but have padded bicycle shorts underneath.

Shoes and pedals to go with them. I use speedplay frogs as my pedals and diadora for the shoes. You won’t realize how much you like shoes and pedals until you use them for a while and then ride a bike without them. They are a godsend and make hill climbing MUCH easier. Instead of just pushing with the pedals, the shoes allow you to pull up on the upstroke and make pedaling much more efficient. You’ll never want to ride a bike without them once you use them.

Gelled gloves. These prevent your arms from going numb when you ride. There is a nerve in your hand along your pinky and wrist that you rest on when you pedal and without gloves, your arm starts to go numb and *ache*. You can get fingerless, gelled gloves for about $20. Well worth it.

If you are short on cash, start off with the helmet, pants and gloves, then add the pedals and shoes when you can and if you want to.

I hope this helps you! Now, get on your bikes and ride!

Or, for more about fitting your bicycle see also:

• Why Do My Knees Hurt When I Ride My Bicycle?
• Why Do My Shoulders Hurt When I Ride My Bicycle?
• Why Do My Hands Go Numb When I Ride My Bicycle?