The Weekly Dose - Episode 34

The Weekly Dose...

... the latest from Dr Karan

  Here is your weekly dose...  

Hi all!Here is your weekly dose of the Sunday Six! A few things I found interesting this week. If you enjoy this please feel free to forward this to friends. families and enemies alike!**You'll find more in depth analysis of some of these subjects on my social platforms in the links just below, including Dr Karan Investigates! for deep dives into interesting topics on my YouTube channel.**

The Perception Of Control...

Be honest, how often do you press the "close door" button when using a lift? (or elevator for my transatlantic friends). This close door button is non-functional in most lifts. Some may question the point of propagating the myth and installing a button that serves no purpose in the first place. However, placebo buttons serve an important psychological function in society.

Perceived control is very important in society. One could argue it diminishes stress and promotes well-being.

Perhaps in some way, by believing that you’re in control of your fate—or at least how quickly you can make it up to the 10th floor—you’re better off. It doesn’t stop with elevators..buttons placed at pedestrian crossings are often disabled, the thermostats in many office buildings are rigged so that the temperature can’t be altered (even if the numbers appear to change). Even the shutter sound on your smartphone is just a digital noise file that has no function other than to confirm that there was an exposure made. Phones are mirrorless cameras, capable of completely being silent while making a image capture.What do you do in your life that serves no purpose to make your life better but still makes you feel good? Seemingly purpose-LESS but its value is intangible. 

Procrastination isn't laziness... 

We all procrastinate, at least I certainly do (I was meant to write this newsletter a week ago but...). 

Procrastination is not a result of laziness or poor time management. There is a hypothesis that procrastination is due to poor mood management.This makes sense if you consider that if just thinking about the task makes you anxious you will be more likely to put it off and delay its completion.Research has found that brain regions linked to threat detection and emotional regulation are different in people who chronically procrastinate compared to those who don’t procrastinate frequently.

When you avoid an unpleasant task, you also avoid the negative emotions associated with it. This sets up a reward feedback loop and conditions us to use procrastination to repair our mood. If we engage in more enjoyable tasks instead (a distraction), we get another mood boost.Tasks that are emotionally loaded or large, such as studying for an exam, or preparing for a job interview  are major candidates for procrastination 

There are a number of ways to overcome procrastination - For example, reminding yourself why the task is important so you can increase your positive feelings towards it. Forgiving yourself and avoiding admonishing yourself when you do procrastinate so you can help break the procrastination cycle. 

Doing these things can take the edge off the negative feelings we have about ourselves when we procrastinate thus making it easier to get back on track.

Ode To The Forgotten Organ...

There was an organ you once had that shrunk as you grew older and eventually was replaced by fat.This long lost part of you is the thymus. Arguably one of the most important organs you had and lost.This small organ, weighing at less than an ounce at its weightiest sat behind your sternum and trained new T cells NOT to attack the body's own cells. Only 2% of cells survived this rigorous biological bootcamp; the rest self-destructed to prevent themselves from attacking friendly cells.The thymus has a database of all the protein receptors in the body and if a new T cell accidentally attacks one of these "training dummies" it flips an internal kill switch and dissolves itself.Fun fact - thymuses are called sweetbread and are apparently quite tasty. 

  The Fake Doctor In The NHS... 

Calm down folks..it's not me.I read an article this week about a doctor who masqueraded as a psychiatrist in the UK, in the NHS for 20 bloody years. 20 years of playing dress up. Her name is Zholia Alemi.Supposedly she sent a forged certificate to the General Medical Council in 1995, and claimed to have qualified at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. A forged letter of verification referred to “six years medical trainee with satisfactory grade”. The official records showed that she completed only the first stage of the degree and was stopped from re-enrolling after failing many years of medical school. Apparently in court this letter of verification revealed the word “verify” was spelled as “varify”.The watchdog of doctors, the GMC, apparently missed this glaring error and allowed this to pass. Just to remind you, this is the Big Brother of doctors and keep a close eye on all "wrong doing". If that wasn't bad enough, over the course of her tenure in the NHS she is thought to have obtained somewhere between £1m and £1.3m. Even worse still in 2018 she apparently forged an 84-year-old woman’s will to make herself the beneficiary and forging powers of attorney! I'd be impressed by her deviant skills if it wasn't so reckless and endangered patients.It stuns me to think that over 20 years, patients have been seen, diagnosed and prescribed medication by this fake doctor. People have put their faith and trust for 2 decades in this person. The ramifications of which could be devastating. Does she know how to spot subtle mental health issues? Does she know the consequences of drug interactions? The issues here are endless. How do you unearth the butterfly effect of issues she may have caused in 20 years? Wow. 

What I'm Reading...

 Prisoners Of Geography by Tim MarshallI'm not overly political BUT I am interesting in geo-politics and the balance of power in the world and how alliances and enemies are forged. This may be due to the endless hours I spent playing Age Of Empires in my teens.In light of that, I picked this book up almost 6 or 7 years ago at an airport book store and I just finished it a few weeks ago! If you're interesting in the collision between geography, politics and history or generally the history of the world and the rise of various nations (in a political sense) this is an interesting insight into geopolitics.  

What I'm Listening To...

Heathen Chemistry - OasisI've just been in one of those moods where I'm reaching back to old classics. Last week it was Wu-Tang albums, now its Oasis. I don't think I hate any Oasis albums but this week I'm paying homage via my ears to this underrated album. It's not quite Morning Glory but it holds its own.My favourite song in this album is the opener, The Hindu Times. I can't quite describe it but it fills me with nostalgia of the late 90s / early 2000s. I came to this country as a 5 year old in 1995 and this song just makes me reminisce about that time in my life. 

As always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which of this weeks Sunday six is your favourite? Is there something you want more, or less of? I'm open to any suggestions so please let me know! Just send a  tweet to @drkaranrajan and use the hashtag #theweeklydose at the end so I can find it!

Have a wonderful week, all.

Much love,

Karan