Scientists strike back at fear - AP

[BridgeTheGap]

Scientists strike back at fear - Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Science is getting a grip on people's fears.

As Americans revel in all things scary on Halloween, scientists say they now know better what's going on inside our brains when something spooky jumps out and scares us. Knowing how fear rules the brain should lead to treatments for a major medical problem: When irrational fears go haywire.

"We're making a lot of progress," said University of Michigan psychology professor Stephen Maren. "We're taking all of what we learned from the basic studies of animals and bringing that into the clinical practices that help people. Things are starting to come together in a very important way."

About 40 million Americans suffer from anxiety disorders, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. A Harvard Medical School study estimated the annual cost to the U.S. economy in 1999 at roughly $42 billion.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071031/NEWS01/71031004

[liberal N proud]

1. Does this mean there might be a cure for all those who drank the fear kool aid?

And we can end this nightmare of fear in this nation once and for all? An end to the bu$h regime use of fear to control the public?

[Az]

2. The other side of this coin

Is that marketers and political advisers have learned a lot from scientists studying fear as well as other mental states. And they have learned to use this to manipulate us in advertisements and other forms of marketing. They can quite easily turn off our thinking mind and reduce us to reactionary emotional animals that can be herded according to their whim.

[BoneDaddy]

3. Be rest assured there will be some DUers who will now be anti-halloween

cause the gods know we now have to protect ourselves from fear.

[mondo joe]

5. And a number that will be pro-fear because science says otherwise.

;-)

[BoneDaddy]

6. can you expound on that?

[groovedaddy]

4. Your great brain adventure

Not many people know the legacy of T.D. Lingo, but it is quite fascinating and right in line with this topic. Can the amygdala in the human brain be controlled through conscious effort? Check it out:
http://www.neilslade.com/