1. ) Our mood can be changed just as much by exercise as it could be by antidepressants. True or False?
True. "One of the most telling studies was reported recently, in which an exercise program was equal in benefit to routine doses of Zoloft, a common antidepressant.Blumenthal The Zoloft and the exercise program were tapered off after 4 months; then the researchers tested the participants again, about 8 months after the treatments were stopped. At that point, the exercise group was doing better than the group that had received Zoloft.Babyak Exercise appears to affect brain chemistry and brain cells in much the same way, perhaps exactly the same way, as antidepressant medications (increasing the "cell fertilizers" discussed in Part II of the Brain Chemistry of Mood Disorders essay).Ernsthttp://www.psycheducation.org/hormones/Insulin/exercise.htm
2) Emotions are purely psychological. True or false?
False. Different parts of our brains control different aspects of emotion. Therefore, emotions are not only psychological, but neurological. In other words our emotions are dependent on our certain structures in the brain. If there is brain damage to these structures, it could cause changes in our emotions, behavior and even personality. The right side of the brain is perceived to be more emotional than the left. Happiness is triggered in one part of the brain, and anger in another. Fear is often associated with our primitive limbic systems, deep within the brain.
3) We must pay attention to our body's reactions to know how we really feel about a situation. True or False?
True. "At the end of the last century, William James proposed that a person, after perceiving a stimulus that somehow affected him or her, endures disturbing physiological changes such as palpitations, shortness of breath, anxiety, etc.. It is precisely the acknowledgment of these symptoms (by the brain) that creates emotion. Stating it in a different way, we could say that physical sensations are the emotion." See my page Understanding Your Emotions