VIRUSES AND US*

There is an unfathomable number of viruses in and around us all the time. There are more viruses on Earth than stars in the known universe.
Among the most primitive living replicating things in existence— simpler than plants—they have great power over us: they have the potential to change our world, our personal essence, the core of our being.

Tiny bits of genetic material enclosed by a protective shell,
they sit lifeless and inert waiting for a favorable environment in which to reproduce.

They have multiple methods of spreading.  They can be carried
by insects and droplets in the air. They escape via water droplets
expelled from the air of the lungs, sweat from sweat glands and exuded from other body parts as fluids. They can be transmitted from infected surfaces where they land to unwilling hosts.

Viruses enter our bodies and travel to find their way inside the DNA of our cells. Once inside, a chain reaction of molecular events is set in motion. The virus attaches itself to the outer wall of the cell, enters inside it, and travels to the cell’s genome. There it merges with the host’s genes and commandeers the cells to make more copies of itself. Viruses are the ultimate parasites, producing as many as a million in all tissues of the body before it dies. From a Darwinian point of view, viruses are extremely successful. They are diverse and ever-evolving.

Scientists have discovered that the traits that make them effective at transmitting disease also make them an essential part of our genetic makeup.  In 2016, researchers at the University of Utah discovered a gene called Arc that plays a role in the ability to make memories. Mice with a mutation in the Arc gene, can find their way through a maze to the cheese at its center, while mice with the normal Arc gene can’t remember the route by the next day. In humans, changes to the Arc gene have been linked to disorders ranging from schizophrenia to dementia. Most amazing, the researchers discovered that this memory gene is a modified virus! Additionally, a German team found that as many as 85 genes derived from viruses may be a work in different parts of the brain and in pregnancy. They conclude that viruses have contributed to our genome over the eons to account for a range of important human qualities.

Deeper mapping of the human genome has revealed ancient viruses hiding inside our genomes and that almost 8% of the human genome is made up of viruses. These viruses that once infected us and our world for a history of four billion years have been rendered inactive. Astounding too is the finding that we have four times more viral genetic material inside our genome than our own genes!

In other words, our genome is a graveyard for ancient viruses that attacked our ancestors’ genomes eons ago. They were disabled and have become remnants of past infections. In current terminology, the hacker, the invading parasite, can be hacked to our benefit.

Although the current situation is entirely new and different to us, I am assured by knowing that, since the beginning of time, for worse and better, viruses have played a part in our lives, deaths and evolution.

Although we’ve lost a good deal of control in our lives now,
we can celebrate our free will to choose to be safe, to keep our social distance, and wash our hands! And we can explore some ways to be creative in our own space. For example, a woman I know started a yeast culture and is learning to crochet.

Dear Reader, I welcome your comments. Please share the ways you have discovered to enrich your life in your own space. Jsimon145@gmail.com

*With thanks to Neil Shubin and his March 14, 2020 article in the Wall Street Journal, “The Viruses That Shaped Our DNA.”

OUR QUEST FOR PREDICTABILITY (in the face of the novel coronavirus)

Few predicted the pandemic of Covid-19.

To say that most of us like predictability is an understatement.

A rare person craves the excitement of an unplanned adventure. Even those who like adventure, anticipate (and certainly hope for) a certain amount of the expected. I’m quite sure that mountain climbers bank on good weather and the absence of avalanches.

Yet, humans are the least predictable animals on Earth and viruses, which are not animals, are even less predictable.  And their invisibility heightens their challenging and scary nature. The combination of their ability to sicken us, and their invisibility lead to a heck of a lot of anxiety in us humans.

What can we do in the face of this unpredictability?

Of course, we can focus on the predictable. But these days what seemed predictable, isn’t.  Everyday essentials like like toilet paper, towels and tissues have disappeared from grocery and pharmacy shelves. Whoever became more anxious first, and perhaps better informed (or misinformed), made certain assumptions about availability of these items and became hoarders.

What we can predict is that panic and hysteria do not boost our immune systems or our ability to cope and think through the problem at hand.

We know that panic and hysteria weaken us— our body, mind and spirit—and lessen our chances for survival.

This is certain! So, in the face of unpredictability, let us first focus on how to avoid panic and hysteria.

1.     We can do this by imagining that things will get better, not worse. 

2.     We can be present in the moment and focus on our positive on our positive connections: the presence  (or thoughts) of a friend, lover, mate, children, and/or a pet(s). (Pets possess what seems like a magical power to reassure. We are their caretakers, and yet with their constancy and predictability and unconditional love, they take care of us.)

In brief, in the face of unpredictability, let’s focus on our connections to those we like and/or love and to taking care of ourselves and others.

Self-care involves a healthy, nutritious diet, rest, relaxation and exercise and of course positive thinking.

Let’s remember the lesson of Victor Frankl who survived in the concentration camp during World War II and boosted his spirit with the creativity of his mind. An Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, he introduced a novel psychological theory of logotherapy by focusing on and envisioning those he loved.

Frankl wrote the following: 

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. 

When we can’t change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

Between stimulus and response there is a space and in that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

The salvation of man is through love and in love.

In our minds, let’s find as many persons, animals, things and places that we love. 

History shows us that we have to overcome many dire situations, and that we’ll overcome this one too. This much is predictable.

Dear Reader, I look forward to your comments.

jsimon145@gmail.com

On Being a Nice, Productive Narcissist

OK, so I’m a narcissist. I own it. But a nice narcissist, not one of those malignant, tyrannical types that wants to take over the world. Essentially, after many years of trying to deny what may be obvious to many well-educated psychologists, the reality has become apparent to me. What this means is that I do not really completely like and accept myself, but must constantly strive to achieve. Striving (and receiving approval) makes living with myself bearable. 

Karen Horney, M.D., a gifted psychological theoretician, outlined the dynamics of this pervasive diagnosis. They can be high achievers, even overachievers. (My high school teachers threw this term around to describe me, and it peeved me.) 

But the narcissist’s psyche is fragile. The inner core is composed of self-doubt vulnerable to criticism from within one’s self and without, from the world. By contrast, an outer manifestation reveals a focus on appearance and accomplishments, and at times, even displays an air of grandiosity that stems from an overestimation of their abilities.

Taking an example from my practice, Mr. P. was devastated when he realized he wasn’t above having to worry about his weight. I tried to reassure him that most people do have to be concerned about weight, and allot some attention to what they eat, in order to maintain a youthful figure. 

Mr. P. had invested pride in this matter of weight and worry. He prided himself on being superior in the realm of physique. To be like everyone else, to be human with human flaws, can throw the narcissist into the ditch of self-hatred. 

.           

The core of cure rests in our self-acceptance. Thinking about my parents’ expectations of me and having grown up with their brand of nurturance reassures me that of course I have these narcissistic tendencies. They were high achievers and expected the same of their offspring. (When I was 10 years old, my fourth sibling was born, and my overwhelmed mother who had no time to hug me, said I was too old for hugs now. Instead I was appreciated not for my real and “inconvenient” need for affection, but for “helping.”)

  

But I own and use my needs well in my daily life. I delight in my work, in the progress of my patients that is enhanced by understanding myself. I love dogs and have an affectionate one.  Dogs give us unconditional regard, are never ambivalent about us, always glad to see us, and allow hugs whenever we want.  

When an attack of self-hate threatens, I stand aside with my observing ego, and say, “Of course, there you go again. Just accept the fact that you are human. That isn’t really so terrible after all. In fact, it is a relief.”

P.S. The narcissist has been said to lack empathy with others. In the course of my own psychotherapeutic treatment, I’ve learned to be empathic and in turn, have helped patients learn this gift that humanizes and fulfils us.