This is rather fascinating. I wonder if long term use would result in the change being more permanent?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@...> wrote: > > "Have you ever wanted to take a vacation from your own head? > > "You could do it easily enough with liberal applications of alcohol, weed or > hallucinogens, but that's not the kind of vacation I'm talking about. What if > you could take a very specific vacation only from the stuff that makes it > painful to be you: the sneering inner monologue that insists you're not > capable enough or smart enough or pretty enough or whatever hideous narrative > rides you. Now that would be a vacation. You'd still be you, but you'd be > able to navigate the world without the emotional baggage that now drags on > your every decision. Can you imagine what that would feel like? > > "Late last year, I got the chance to find out, in the course of investigating > a story (in this week's New Scientist) about how researchers are using > neurofeedback and electrical brain stimulation to accelerate learning. What I > found was that electricity might be the most powerful drug I've ever used in > my life.... > > "Me without self-doubt was a revelation. There was suddenly this incredible > silence in my head; I've experienced something close to it during 2-hour > Iyengar yoga classes, but the fragile peace in my head would be shattered > almost the second I set foot outside the calm of the studio. I had certainly > never experienced instant zen in the frustrating middle of something I was > terrible at. > > "There were no unpleasant side effects. The bewitching silence of the tDCS > lasted, gradually diminishing over a period of about three days. The > inevitable reintroduction of self-doubt and inattention to my mind bore > heartbreaking similarities to the plot of Flowers for Algernon...." > > Read more: > http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2012/02/09/better-living-through-electrochemistry/ > > http://tinyurl.com/77wlgfq >
