Hug the Monkey

Talking Tonight with Lesa Trapp of Odd Mind

Lesa interviews artists and writers for her BlogTalk Radio show, Odd Mind. I'm excited to talk with her tonight about my book, The Chemistry of Connection, and also the writing process. Not so much the creative process, but just getting it off the ground as a book project.

The show is at 7 PM Pacific tonight, May 14. You'll be able to listen to the archived show online, but it would be soooo fun if you participated, either via chat or telephone call-in. You can find all the info on her radio show's site: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theoddmind

Homebirth in the Hospital

Santa Rosa, Calif. midwife Stacey Marie Kerr's new book, Homebirth in the Hospital, aims to help expectant couples find a balance between medical care and natural childbirth.

According to the article in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Kerr, who has worked with legendary midwife Ina May Gaskin, believes that, while hospital personnel often overreact and intervene too much, some couples -- likely, the majority in our society -- will still need or choose to have a hospital birth.

Her book tells the stories of 15 women who managed to have closer-to-natural births in hospitals. There are thousands of women who went into a hospital expecting a natural birth with physicians standing by only for emergencies who then felt pushed down the medical path. But according to her book, it can be done.

She told Press Democrat writer Meg McConahey, "If you could have a really good experience offered to you, why would you say no? If I won a cruise to the Caribbean, would I say no? That is why I want women who have to birth in the hospital,” she says, “to be able to have at least some if not all of the emotional, spiritual, empowering advantages of staying at home."

See also, Try the Middle Ground Between Natural and Hospital Birth. 

Love Styles and Oxytocin

I use the phrase "love styles" to refer to the concept of attachment styles put forth by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Ainsworth developed a test, the Strange Situation, to see what kind of relationship babies had with their mothers. They came up with three: Secure, anxious or avoidant attachment. Some psychologists have create subcategories or changed these a bit. But the basic theory is, you can be securely attached to your mother, you maybe anxious that she's not going to be there for you, or you can be so scared or hurt that you withdraw into yourself and try not to need anyone else.

I believe that you can also look at these as oxytocin styles. Because the way our brains release and react to oxytocin is shaped by our earliest experiences,  these love styles are likely the result of the way that the  oxytocin response developed.

I'm fascinated by this kind of thing, because understanding it helps me understand myself and my relationships.

This is a long-way-round introduction to my interview with Deb Harper  of Psychjourney. Deb creates podcasts with authors, psychologists and thinkers on psychological topics. We talked about attachment styles and oxytocin in the wide-ranging interview. The conversation was very interesting for me, and I hope you'll think so, too.

CORRECTED: You can download the Chemistry of Connection podcast here.

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• 08:03 Had an interesting discussion with Deb Harper of PsychJourney about connection betw oxytocin and attachment styles goowef.notlong.com #

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• 13:17 pondering the possibility of an oxytocin-based orgasm, discovered by OneTaste.us #

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• 17:21 @angyl belated thanks for the reco and also for Bee Quorums!! #
• 11:37 caring for the sick or elderly helps you live longer -- thanks to oxytocin www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30565985/ #

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• 07:16 oxytocin makes strangers look more attractive xrl.us/berem7 #

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Oxytocin Better than Beer for Hooking Up?

Okay, I am being facetious. But a new study found that inhaling oxytocin made study subjects feel more positively about strangers.

ABC News reported on the study by Angeliki Theodoridou, a psychologist at the University of Bristol, UK. This makes sense, because oxytocin has previously been shown to reduce activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain that makes pre-conscious, friend-or-foe decisions. Oxytocin seems to act as a trust signal, letting us gradually approach other people.

Theodoridou was on the team led by Eric Hollander that found oxytocin reduced symptoms of autism and increased adult autistics' ability to detect emotional meaning in speech.