Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
EDS NOTE: The LoC entry is for S. Ian Robertson, while the packet is on Ian H. Robertson. Neither appears to be in CA, so the sketch has been composed on Ian H. Robertson; but the birthdate (from the LoC entry) is for S. Ian Robertson.
WORK TITLE: The Stress Test
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 4/26/1951
WEBSITE: http://ianrobertson.org/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: Irish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Robertson_(psychologist) * https://www.tcd.ie/Neuroscience/neil/people/personnel/i-robertson.php * https://www.tcd.ie/Neuroscience/partners/PI%20Profiles/Ian_Robertson2.php * http://www.leighbureau.com/speakers/IRobertson/ * http://www.brainhealth.utdallas.edu/about_us/team/ian-robertson-phd
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 84205008
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n84205008
HEADING: Robertson, Ian, 1951-
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046 __ |f 1951
100 1_ |a Robertson, Ian, |d 1951-
670 __ |a The Misuse of alcohol, 1985: |b CIP t.p. (Ian Robertson) CIP data sheet (b. 4/26/1951)
670 __ |a Communication from British Library, 3 Nov. 1999: |b (Not the same as: Robertson, Ian H., writer on neurobiology)
953 __ |a bz57 |b yz00
PERSONAL
Male.
EDUCATION:Graduated from Glasgow University; received masters and doctorate from University of London.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Psychologist and author; University of Texas at Dallas, T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist. Professor of psychology, Trinity College, Dublin, founding director, Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. Visiting professor, University College, London, Bangor University, and University of Wales; visiting scientist, Rotman Research Institute, University of Toronto. Former senior scientist, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, former fellow, Hughes Hall. Co-director, Global Brain Health Institute. Member, Wellcome Trust Neuroscience and Mental Health Committee, 2006-11; fellow, American Association for Psychological Science, 2014.
AWARDS:Royal Irish Academy (member).
WRITINGS
Contributor to professional journals and other periodicals, including Brain, Daily Telegraph, Journal of Neuroscience, Nature, Psychological Bulletin, and London Times. Former columnist, British Medical Journal.
SIDELIGHTS
Psychologist Ian H. Robertson holds the T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist chair in the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas in Dallas. “Dr. Robertson’s efforts,” wrote the contributor of a biographical blurb to the Center for Brain Health website, “… focus on building a worldwide alliance to train future leaders in brain health who will shape policies and practices.” “His research seeks to improve brain health and cognitive performance in the aging population,” said Shelly Kirkland in a release published through the UTD News Center, “with a particular focus on various brain stimulation methods.” Robertson has edited and written textbooks on psychology and has had a research position at the University of Cambridge, but he is perhaps best known for the popular studies he has published, including Mind Sculpture: Your Brain’s Untapped Potential, Opening the Mind’s Eye: How Images and Language Teach Us How to See, The Winner Effect: The Neuroscience of Success and Failure, Problem Solving: Perspectives from Cognition and Neuroscience, and The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You Stronger and Sharper.
Several of Robertson’s most well-known popular works look at the impact of modern life on human psyches. In The Winner Effect, Robertson examines the ways in which persons in positions of power and the ways in which achieving life goals can change personalities. “The author broadly explores the psychological and neurochemical factors behind the human drive for success,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “and how people’s behavior can change once they achieve it.” “Beyond the pop psychology,” said a Publishers Weekly reviewer, “Robertson does encourage readers to focus on the role power plays in interpersonal and political relationships.” In The Stress Test, the psychologist suggests that, far from being a curse of modern life, stress can be a factor in individual success. “Robertson … has dedicated his research to answering one question,” stated a Kirkus Reviews contributor: `How, when and why do some people rise to the challenge of bad experiences, while others fold under their weight?'” “Drawing on case histories from his 40-year career,” declared Daily Mail reviewer Christopher Stevens, “Robertson methodically analyses different instinctive responses to stress. He produces evidence that pain and anxiety can help us perform better: for instance, a good learning aid is to plunge one hand into a bucket of ice–the discomfort doesn’t merely focus the mind but creates longer, more accurate memories.”
Stress is widely regarded as a key factor in a number of debilitating diseases, including hypertension and stroke. “Most psychologists and self-help guides encourage people to chase happiness, and steer clear of too much pressure,” observed Sarah Knapton in the London Telegraph. In fact, the psychologist suggests, moderate amounts of success can, as the philosopher Nietzsche suggested, actually make people stronger instead of killing them. Robertson reaches the conclusion “that Nietzsche is right,” wrote Maryse Breton in Library Journal, “but also that a person’s faith in emotional self-control is essential to resilience.” “Prof Robertson believes stress is important for achievement,” Knapton continued, “and teaches that it is possible to ‘hack’ the brain and hijack ‘fight or flight’ hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, before they cause problems.”
Properly managing stress, Robertson suggests, can result in better overall brain health and can help delay or avoid brain diseases like Alzheimers. “‘Moderate stress, properly handled, increases alertness, which in turn helps brain circuits function more efficiently,'” explained Leslie Barker in the Dallas News. “He’s not, he emphasizes, talking about “severe and prolonged stress.” He’s instead talking about the kind that’s inherent with being human. Job problems. Relationship problems. Social setbacks. Money worries. Trying something new.” “According to Dr. Robertson,” stated the Guardian reviewer, “stressful situations and life traumas can trigger incredible feats of creativity which allow people to achieve far more than they would have in happier times. It is no coincidence that many of the greatest artistic endeavours emerged from bleak periods in an artist’s life.” “The conclusion is that resilient people who can muster a Beckettian ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on’ in the face of being given life’s lemons are those who are able to strike a constructive balance between attitudes of “approach” and ‘withdrawal,’” explained Steven Poole in the London Guardian. “Robertson is careful not to be Panglossian or sentimental: stress can not always be positively reinterpreted, particularly for those people who feel a lack of control over their lives, and the Nietzschean slogan is only true for adversity that is “not too severe”. But overall, his message … is an inspiring and progressive one.” “Robertson’s enlightening theories on brain chemistry,” declared a Publishers Weekly reviewer, “make fascinating food for thought and will help readers see the upside of stress.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Daily Mail, June 9, 2016, Christopher Stevens, review of The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You Stronger and Sharper.
Dallas News, https://www.dallasnews.com/ (January 9, 2017), Leslie Barker, “Who Needs Stress? We All Do. Here’s Why.”
Guardian (London, England), July 13, 2016, Steven Poole, review of The Stress Test.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2012, review of The Winner Effect: The Neuroscience of Success and Failure; November 15, 2016, review of The Stress Test.
Library Journal, November 15, 2016, Maryse Breton, review of The Stress Test, p. 102.
Publishers Weekly, July 2, 2012, review of The Winner Effect, p. 55; October 10, 2016, review of The Stress Test, p. 68.
Telegraph (London, England), July 10, 2016, Sarah Knapton, “Forget Relaxing–Use Your Stress to Become a High Achiever.”
ONLINE
Center for Brain Health, http://www.brainhealth.utdallas.edu/ (October 25, 2017), author profile.
UTD News Center, http://www.utdallas.edu/ (February 25, 2016), Shelly Kirkland, “Scientist Brings Global Research Experience to BrainHealth.”
Center for BrainHealth logo
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Home » About Us » Our Team » Ian Robertson, Ph.D.
Ian Robertson, Ph.D.
T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist
Ian Robertson, Ph.D., is the The T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist at the Center for BrainHealth. Dr. Robertson is known for his translational research into human attention, brain plasticity and rehabilitation. His research at the Center for BrainHealth will investigate the possibilities of enhancing non-pharmacological interventions to improve cognitive performance and brain health.
Most recently, Dr. Robertson’s efforts as co-director of the Global Brain Health Institute focus on building a worldwide alliance to train future leaders in brain health who will shape policies and practices around the globe to enhance brain health and delay or prevent dementia.
Dr. Robertson is the current Chair of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin and was the founding director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. He was a Fellow at Hughes Hall, Cambridge, is a visiting professor at University College in London, and has held senior academic appointments at Columbia, Cambridge, Toronto, Bangor and Padua Universities.
In addition to his work with the Global Brain Health Institute and his many academic appointments, Dr. Robertson has written more than 250 papers and several books, including co-authoring the leading international textbook on cognitive rehabilitation. In 2014, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for Psychological Science in recognition of his “sustained and outstanding distinguished contributions to psychological science”.
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Ian Robertson (psychologist)
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Professor Ian Robertson (26 April 1951) is a cognitive neuroscientist and trained clinical psychologist, and an international expert on neuropsychology.
Contents [hide]
1 Life
2 Research Interests
3 Selected publications
4 External links
5 References
Life[edit]
Ian Robertson is Professor of Psychology at Trinity College, Dublin and founding Director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. Robertson is the first psychologist in Ireland to have been elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy.[1] Robertson also holds the positions of Visiting Professor at University College London, Visiting Professor at Bangor University, University of Wales, and Visiting Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, University of Toronto. Robertson was previously a Senior Scientist at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge, where he was also a fellow at Hughes Hall. Robertson sat on the Wellcome Trust Neuroscience and Mental Health Committee from 2006–2011.[2]
Robertson is Director of the NIEL programme (Neuroenhancement for Inequalities in Elder Lives[3]). He was founding director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience.
A graduate of Glasgow University, Robertson gained his Masters (Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry) and Doctoral (Neuropsychology) degrees at the University of London.[4]
Ian Robertson has published over 250 scientific articles in leading journals, including Nature, Brain, Journal of Neuroscience, and Psychological Bulletin. Ian has also contributed to public communication and understanding of science, contributing regularly to The Times and The Daily Telegraph, he was also a columnist for the British Medical Journal.[5] Robertson is author and editor of ten scientific books, including the leading international textbook on cognitive rehabilitation (Cognitive Neurorehabilitation), and several books for the general reader which have been translated into multiple languages.[6]
Research Interests[edit]
Ian Robertson’s research focuses on behavioural change in people with impaired brain function, through linking novel rehabilitation strategies to underlying models of brain function. Methods which are now widely used and taught internationally include limb activation training for unilateral neglect,[7] sustained attention training for unilateral neglect,[8] and self-alert training for adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.[9] His current research includes several randomized controlled trials of different types of cognitive training with elderly, schizophrenic and ADHD patients. He has also developed with others a widely used method for frontal lobe impairment known as Goal Management Training.[10]
Ian Robertson has also developed a theoretical approach to cognitive rehabilitation[11] and originated some very widely used tests of attention, and has demonstrated sensitivity to key clinical conditions,[12] as well as to underlying molecular genetics.[13]
Selected publications[edit]
The Winner Effect: How Power Affects Your Brain (Bloomsbury, June 2012)
Mind Sculpture: Unleashing Your Brain’s Potential
The Mind’s Eye: The Essential Guide to Boosting Your Mental, Emotional and Physical Powers
The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You Stronger and Smarter (Bloomsbury, 2016)
External links[edit]
Neuroenhancement for Independent Lives
Trinity College, Dublin - Institute of Neuroscience - Ian Robertson Profile
The Winner Effect
Google Scholar profile page for Ian Robertson
References[edit]
Jump up ^ http://www.tcd.ie/Neuroscience/niel/people/personnel/i-robertson.php
Jump up ^ http://neurovation.cisevents.hightechcampus.nl/neurovation/ian-robertson
Jump up ^ http://www.tcd.ie/neuroscience/niel
Jump up ^ http://www.tcd.ie/Neuroscience/niel/people/personnel/i-robertson.php
Jump up ^ http://www.bmj.com/search/ian%2520robertson
Jump up ^ "THEWINNEREFFECT.COM". www.thewinnereffect.com. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
Jump up ^ http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/19658/
Jump up ^ "Rehabilitation by limb activation training reduces left-sided motor impairment in unilateral neglect patients: A single-blind randomised control trial". Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. 12: 439–454. doi:10.1080/09602010244000228.
Jump up ^ "Treatment of Attention-Deficit–Hyperactivity Disorder". New England Journal of Medicine. 340: 780–788. doi:10.1056/NEJM199903113401007.
Jump up ^ Levine, B; Schweizer, TA; O'Connor, C; Turner, G; Gillingham, S; Stuss, DT; Manly, T; Robertson, IH (2011). "Rehabilitation of executive functioning in patients with frontal lobe brain damage with goal management training.". Front Hum Neurosci. 5: 9. PMC 3043269 Freely accessible. PMID 21369362. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2011.00009.
Jump up ^ http://www.psypress.com/neuropsychological-rehabilitation/
Jump up ^ http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/staff/profile/default.aspx?go=12304
Jump up ^ Greene, CM; Bellgrove, MA; Gill, M; Robertson, IH. "Noradrenergic genotype predicts lapses in sustained attention". Neuropsychologia. 47: 591–594. PMID 18973765. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.10.003.
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Print Marked Items
Robertson, Ian: THE STRESS TEST
Kirkus Reviews.
(Nov. 15, 2016):
COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Robertson, Ian THE STRESS TEST Bloomsbury (Adult Nonfiction) $27.00 1, 3 ISBN: 978-1-63286-729-2
A veteran neuroscientist and clinical psychologist explores the changes that occur in our brains depending upon how
we deal with challenging situations.For the past 40 years, Robertson (T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist/Univ. of
Texas, Dallas; The Winner Effect: How Power Affects Your Brain, 2012, etc.) has dedicated his research to answering
one question: "How, when and why do some people rise to the challenge of bad experiences, while others fold under
their weight?" In this review of benchmarks in his career, he begins with his days as a student in the 1970s when he was
training to become a clinical psychologist. At the time, the prevailing wisdom held "that experience only molded the
very young brain." After that, the brain's neural circuitry was hard-wired and could only be changed by electric-shock
therapy or medication. "In 1984...the sky fell in," writes the author. Experiments showed that the brain is not hardwired
and is, in fact, changed by experience, and the left and right hemispheres of the brain play different roles in how
individuals respond to stress. Furthermore, neural circuits in the brain's right hemisphere activated anxiety-ridden
avoidance, while a positive response to challenge was associated with left-hemisphere activity. In 2012, another piece
of the puzzle came together when Robertson helped to establish the role of one of the brain's key chemical messengers,
noradrenaline, in helping the brain maintain attention. "Millions of mini-infusions of noradrenaline, triggered by
millions of mental challenges," create a cognitive reserve in the brain by stimulating the growth of neural networks,
provided the challenge does not create severe stress. The author, who writes clearly for a popular audience, had
identified the equivalent of a wonder drug that plays an important role in maintaining cognitive ability as we age.An
intriguing overview of important developments in brain research, specifically as it relates to finding "the right mental
balance we need for each challenge that faces us."
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Robertson, Ian: THE STRESS TEST." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA469865649&it=r&asid=31fba11733fcf112115aa284b87533d1.
Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
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The Winner Effect: The Neuroscience of Success
and Failure
Publishers Weekly.
259.27 (July 2, 2012): p55.
COPYRIGHT 2012 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Winner Effect: The Neuroscience of Success and Failure
Ian H. Robertson. St. Martin's/Dunne, $25.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-250-00167-2
Considering the question of whether winners are born or made, how power affects people, and related matters,
Robertson (Mind Sculpture), professor of psychology at Trinity College, Dublin, has produced a book that is both
utterly fascinating and deeply unsatisfying. It is fascinating in the same manner as tabloid gossip and unsatisfying
because there is no reason to accept any of the explanations offered. Robertson believes it possible to merge
experimental psychology with neuroscience to explain the behavior of famous individuals. For example he addresses
why Pablo Picasso's son, Paulo, led a dysfunctional life, why the friendship between Tony Blair and Bill Clinton
disintegrated, and why Tiger Woods missed a three-foot putt in a tournament playoff in 2006. Although Robertson
acknowledges that he's merely speculating, he writes as if individual behavior is fully deterministic. He jumps among
examples and time periods so freely that reading this book is akin to riding a roller-coaster while looking through a
kaleidoscope. Beyond the pop psychology, Robertson does encourage readers to focus on the role power plays in
interpersonal and political relationships, urging a deeper understanding of how its use can be structured to serve the
greater good. Agent: Sally Holloway, Felicity Bryan Associates (U.K.). (Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Winner Effect: The Neuroscience of Success and Failure." Publishers Weekly, 2 July 2012, p. 55. General
OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA297137185&it=r&asid=d04f2453aa4266c60638d12098b0d9dc.
Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
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Robertson, Ian. The Stress Test: How Pressure
Can Make You Stronger and Sharper
Maryse Breton
Library Journal.
141.19 (Nov. 15, 2016): p102.
COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution
permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Robertson, Ian. The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You Stronger and Sharper. Bloomsbury USA. Jan. 2017.
256p. notes, index. ISBN 9781632867292. $27; ebk. ISBN 9781408860380. PSYCH
In 1888, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in Twilight of the Idols: "What does not kill me, makes me stronger." Neuroscientist
and trained clinical psychologist Robertson (T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist, Ctr. for BrainHealth, Univ. of
Texas at Dallas; The Winner Effect) is a young graduate when he first comes across this line in 1974. Throughout his
career, this maxim comes back to him while he studies attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, spatial neglect, and
biofeedback. As a neuropsychologist, the author becomes interested in lateralization of brain functions. What he aims
to determine is how the brain and mind interact and help us rise to life's stressful events and continue on stronger. He
devotes half a chapter to anger, an emotion that it is taboo to express but can be key in surviving difficulties. Cognitive
reserve, which stems from mental challenge and social interactions and protects the brain against dementia, brings the
author closer to solving his Nietzschean puzzle. Robertson concludes positively by maintaining that Nietzsche is right,
but also that a person's faith in emotional self-control is essential to resilience. VERDICT No easy read, this book is
recommended for knowledgeable psychology and neuropsychology enthusiasts.--Maryse Breton, Bibliotheque et
Archives nationales du Quebec
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Breton, Maryse. "Robertson, Ian. The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You Stronger and Sharper." Library
Journal, 15 Nov. 2016, p. 102. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA470367248&it=r&asid=b90415b5914ed46ee7d5dafd41b82623.
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The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You
Stronger and Sharper
Publishers Weekly.
263.41 (Oct. 10, 2016): p68.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You Stronger and Sharper
Ian Robertson. Bloomsbury, $27 (256p) ISBN 978-1-63286-729-2
Clinical psychologist and neuroscientist Robertson (The Winner Effect) explores why stress energizes some people and
has devastating effects on others in this fascinating treatise on the human mind--something he describes as a malleable
object, not hardwired. "If psychological stressors can physically change the brain ... surely psychological therapies
should be able to do the same," he writes. Why do some people become energized through anxiety and stress, while
other people--often those with a more fixed view of themselves--see difficult situation as indications they aren't
competent, and crumble? It's how the "software of the mind" combines with the "hardware of the brain," Robertson
says. One key piece of that mix is noradrenaline, a chemical he calls a "natural alerting drug." It is also a
neuromodulator, which strengthens the brain's ability to form connections and thereby its learning and memory
functions. In fact, he believes noradrenaline can be a partial antidote to Alzheimer's disease, making brain cells less
susceptible to damaging amyloid proteins. The author emphasizes, however, that it's necessary to find the balance
between too little and too much stress. Robertson's enlightening theories on brain chemistry make fascinating food for
thought and will help readers see the upside of stress. Agent: Felicity Bryan, Felicity Bryan Associates (U.K.) (Jan.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You Stronger and Sharper." Publishers Weekly, 10 Oct. 2016, p. 68. General
OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA466616198&it=r&asid=2c7d3949d0e00488688a64f2ea7d5bff.
Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A466616198
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Robertson, Ian H.: THE WINNER EFFECT
Kirkus Reviews.
(Sept. 1, 2012):
COPYRIGHT 2012 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Robertson, Ian H. THE WINNER EFFECT Dunne/St. Martin's (Adult Nonfiction) $25.99 10, 16 ISBN: 978-1-250-
00167-2
Robertson (Psychology/Trinity College Dublin; Opening the Mind's Eye: How Images and Language Teach Us to See,
2003, etc.) looks at how success and power affect human behavior. The author broadly explores the psychological and
neurochemical factors behind the human drive for success and how people's behavior can change once they achieve it.
"Why do we want to win so badly, and what makes a winner?" he writes. Robertson examines these questions from
several different angles, citing numerous studies. In one section, he writes about children of successful people that were
troubled failures, and how some may have been rendered psychologically unmotivated due to unreachable expectations.
(The author oddly portrays oil-fortune heir Balthazar Getty as an unsuccessful actor, neglecting to mention Getty's
recent stint as a cast member on the ABC show Brothers & Sisters, among other achievements.) In other sections,
Robertson examines how some world leaders' behavior might be explainable, in part, due to the effects of testosterone
on their brains, and of how Oscar winners live longer, on average, than Oscar nominees. While the author makes some
interesting points, he does so while hyperactively throwing anecdotes at readers--in one six-page span, he writes about
African cichlid fish, a study of London financial traders, the 1994 World Cup final and a 1995 Mike Tyson boxing
match--making his arguments seem less well-reasoned than scattershot. His prose style can be clunky, as well, and his
habit of repeatedly urging readers to take multiple-question quizzes gives the book the feel of a self-help manual at
times. An unfocused analysis of what lies behind the desire to win.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Robertson, Ian H.: THE WINNER EFFECT." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2012. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA301262300&it=r&asid=a53b3d49eb743f5facf9bb315332a190.
Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A301262300
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The Stress Test by Ian Robertson review – why pressure is good for you
We have long known that stress can be energising. This engaging book, full of science and vivid stories, presents the case for ‘what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger’
Everyone can learn to better control their emotions, according to The Stress Test.
Keeping calm … everyone can learn to better control their emotions, according to The Stress Test. Photograph: Alamy
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Steven Poole
Wednesday 13 July 2016 10.00 EDT Last modified on Wednesday 20 September 2017 05.55 EDT
Stress is the psychological pandemic of our age, so it’s easy to forget that its modern use originated as a metaphor. Before the middle of the 20th century, “stress” was mainly a term in physics and engineering, to describe the strain that external forces exerted on a material such as wood or steel. Biology then borrowed the term to describe a mechanistic hormonal response to stimuli. But the use of “stress” in physics was itself a metaphorical borrowing from the word’s earliest recorded definition, that of hardship or adversity. The word stress, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, probably comes from “distress”.
How to manage workplace stress in five simple steps
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The popular idea of stress today is that it is something bad and inevitable. But in the mid-20th century, early theorists recognised that some stress seems to be good: it can be energising and motivating. So there was a distinction made by the endocrinologist Hans Selye between “eustress” (good) and “distress” (bad). Crucially, the difference between good and bad stress does not lie in the external stressors themselves, but in how the human or other animal responds. Or, as Hamlet says to Rosencrantz: “There is nothing / either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” In his highly enjoyable and interesting book on modern stress research, the psychologist and neuroscientist Ian Robertson cites the radical consolation famously offered by Nietzsche: what does not kill me makes me stronger. Robertson’s governing question is: can we train ourselves to be more like Nietzsche, and to respond more robustly to both trivial and grave stress in our lives?
He approaches this question first through likable scientific autobiography, noting the emergence in the 1980s of the first evidence that the brain is not “hard-wired” but changes physically in response to experience. (We now call this neuroplasticity.) “I was dizzied by this discovery,” Robertson writes: “the software of experience can re-engineer the hardware of the brain.” (Arguably this was only as surprising as it was because of the widespread misapplication of computing metaphors to human biology in the first place.) The other boot dropped when it turned out that the way genes work in the body, too, can change in response to environmental stimuli, including stressful ones. Such discoveries led Robertson to believe that “everyone can learn to better control their own mind and emotions”, and by doing so “they can within limits turn stress to their own advantage”.
The strategies for doing so include reminding yourself to interrupt your automatic pilot, sitting up straight (“a straight posture increases arousal in the brain”), concentrating on whatever you are doing (“a wandering mind was almost always less happy than a mind focused on what it was doing – even if drudgery was being done”). It apparently helps, as the Staple Singers also funkily advised, if you “respect yourself”. And try not to worry, because “Stress … seemed to push non-worriers into a performance sweet spot and worriers out of it.” These are all good ideas, though the devil lies in exactly how you are supposed to accomplish them. Being warned not to worry might just make habitual worriers even more worried, since now they are worrying about their worrying on top of everything else. To help with such problems Robertson advises that people can learn to recontextualise certain physiological symptoms (racing pulse, sweating and so forth) by telling themselves something like: “I am feeling excitement rather than anxiety”.
Robertson introduces his themes with stories but then explains complex scientific ideas with nuance
This is all elegantly and clearly explained. Robertson introduces his themes with vivid stories – about driving accidents, earthquakes, why people in art turn to their right when kissing, and patients troubled by excessive anger – but then discusses complex scientific ideas with nuance and sympathetic intelligence. Though he cites a few suggestive neuroimaging studies, he emphasises that evidence from clinical psychology and other areas is just as valuable. One upshot, we are told in a nice formulation, is that learning is “a form of neurosurgery”. (Perhaps here there is still a tang of the assumption that neuro-anything is the ultimate arbiter of truth about human experience, but it is forgivable in the current climate.)
The conclusion is that resilient people who can muster a Beckettian “I can’t go on. I’ll go on” in the face of being given life’s lemons are those who are able to strike a constructive balance between attitudes of “approach” and “withdrawal”. (Withdrawal, he points out astutely, can be constructive: whether it is withdrawal from the goals of the old self after a life-changing trauma, or withdrawal from normal patterns of thinking in search of creative solutions.) Robertson is careful not to be Panglossian or sentimental: stress can not always be positively reinterpreted, particularly for those people who feel a lack of control over their lives, and the Nietzschean slogan is only true for adversity that is “not too severe”. But overall, his message that focused practice can change the way your mind works (within limits) is an inspiring and progressive one.
It is also very old. As the Stoic philosopher Epictetus said a long time ago: “Remember that foul words or blows in themselves are no outrage, but your judgment that they are so. So when any one makes you angry, know that it is your own thought that has angered you. Wherefore make it your endeavour not to let your impressions carry you away. For if once you gain time and delay, you will find it easier to control yourself.” In our time, the founders of modern cognitive therapies such as CBT – the techniques of which underpin much of Robertson’s advice – themselves consciously took inspiration from the Stoics. And so modern science once again vindicates ancient philosophy.
• Steven Poole’s Rethink: The Surprising History of New Ideas is published by Random House. To order The Stress Test for £13.93 (RRP £16.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
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I gave up trying to learn the guitar because I was fretting too much ..
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That strikes a chord somewhere with me, too ...
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Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser.
Pressure makes diamonds.
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Pressure crushes bones.
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Want to pass that exam? Plunge your hand in an ice bucket: How pressure can make you sharper and stronger
Professor Ian Robertson analyses different instinctive responses to stress
Produces evidence that pain and anxiety can help us perform better
Book looks at why some are strengthened by ordeal, and others shattered
By Christopher Stevens for Daily Mail
Published: 19:39 EDT, 9 June 2016 | Updated: 19:44 EDT, 9 June 2016
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THE STRESS TEST
by Professor Ian Robertson
(Bloomsbury £16.99)
On an April morning in 1986, as university tutor Brian Keenan walked to work along a Beirut street, his path was blocked by an old Mercedes. Four gunmen got out and forced him into the car, ordering him to lie on the floor.
Keenan refused. He neither obeyed nor fought back: instead, he bowed his head, resting it on a kidnapper’s knees. ‘This seemed to cause much confusion,’ he noted later with satisfaction.
Professor Ian Robertson analyses different instinctive responses to stress in this book (stock picture)
+1
Professor Ian Robertson analyses different instinctive responses to stress in this book (stock picture)
Held hostage by Islamic fundamentalists, Keenan waged a constant war of resistance, exerting all the control he could, even while blindfolded and chained. He emerged after four and a half years, physically weak but mentally stronger than he had ever been.
This story supplies the key to Ian Robertson’s study of why some people are broken by traumatic events, while others take inspiration from their trials. The Dublin neuroscientist and psychology professor has been fascinated throughout his career by the effects that thoughts and emotions can have on our little grey cells.
His excellent 1999 book Mind Sculpture explored how constant use can expand specific portions of the brain, just as exercise makes muscles grow bigger. Learn a language, a musical instrument, or Braille, and - as your cortex is stimulated - it will change and grow. Experiences rewire the brain.
And if the experience is bad, the effect can be catastrophic. A single disaster, such as a burglary or a beating, can permanently change the personality, leaving the victim a wreck - sometimes afraid to leave the house, or even suicidal.
Drawing on case histories from his 40-year career, Robertson methodically analyses different instinctive responses to stress. He produces evidence that pain and anxiety can help us perform better: for instance, a good learning aid is to plunge one hand into a bucket of ice - the discomfort doesn’t merely focus the mind but creates longer, more accurate memories.
Yet one businessman was almost driven to a breakdown by stress after he embarrassed himself by forgetting his speech at a convention.
How can one man be strengthened by his ordeal as a hostage, while another is shattered by public speaking? Robertson argues convincingly that the sensation of control or helplessness is crucial: it shapes the brain.
Stress, it seems, really is good for you - as long as you feel in control
Popular science writers are prey to two main flaws, laboured analogies and excessive jargon, and Robertson is occasionally guilty of both. The book opens and closes with a heavy-handed parable about computer software which would have been better removed. But these dry patches are rare.
Chapter one, which explains why the world’s most dangerous roads are the straight ones (drivers get bored and drift off the side), includes a 25-question test to assess how absent-minded you are. Chapter three, on how to win a penalty shoot-out (strike the ball to the goalie’s left - keepers dive to the right 70 per cent of the time), reveals how a happy dog wags its tail differently from a stressed-out one.
A study into 33 pairs of identical twins in Sweden shows that the strongest defence against senile dementia is a good education. Too much television, on the other hand, saps the brain and leaves us ‘passive and drowsy’ - bad news for TV critics like me, of course.
And if you wish you could afford to take early retirement . . . don’t. In France, where many people quit work in their late 50s, mental agility declines steeply after the age of 60. In America, where most people work for another decade, their brains stay as sharp as ever.
Stress, it seems, really is good for you - as long as you feel in control.
Forget relaxing - use your stress to become a high achiever
A stressed woman sits at a computer
Stress isn't so bad for you after all according to Dr Ian Robertson Credit: Alamy
Sarah Knapton, Science Editor
10 July 2016 • 6:00am
Take a slow deep breath, puff out your chest like Superman and read this story. It might just save your life.
For one of Europe’s most eminent neuroscientists has devised a simple, four-point plan for channelling stress and turning it to one’s advantage.
Professor Ian Robertson’s “four-step brain hack to harness stress” is, he insists, based on scientific research beginning with step one: tell yourself you are excited rather than stressed.
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Step two is breathe in slowly through the nose for five seconds and then exhale for six; while step three involves posing like a superhero, puffing out your chest and standing up tall.
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Wearing a cape is not vital. Step four requires you to squeeze your right hand shut for 45 seconds, open it for 15 and then shut it again. Simple.
Sports stars like Andy Murray are experts at channeling stress hormones so they improve performance Credit: Telegraph
Prof Robertson, chair of psychology at Trinity College Dublin, founder of the university’s Institute of neuroscience and author of The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You Stronger and Sharper, said channelling stress into a positive energy can radically improve performance and creativity, making people brighter and quicker.
“Stress is a kind of energy that we can harness, “ said Prof Robertson.
His viewpoint is at odds with current thinking which has demonised stress, blaming chronic anxiety for everything from obesity to cancer and premature ageing.
Most psychologists and self-help guides encourage people to chase happiness, and steer clear of too much pressure. But Prof Robertson believes stress is important for achievement and teaches that it is possible to ‘hack’ the brain and hijack ‘fight or flight’ hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, before they cause problems.
Prof Ian Robertson
His four-step guide, he says, is underpinned by science. Even step one in which a person feeling stressed should simply say out loud, perhaps only once or twice: “I feel excited.”
Prof Robertson said: “When you are facing up to a difficult situation and feeling anxious, it’s enough to say ‘I feel excited’ once out loud and that tricks your brain. It changes the mindset from ‘threat’ to ‘challenging’.”
Step two requires the person to control their breathing.
“By controlling breathing you can control the critical part of the brain and in that way exercise control over the emotional stage you are experiencing. When we are anxious, we forget to breath,” he said.
One tip: breathe in through the nose, nice and slowly.
The idea of step three - of striking a Superhero pose - might look odd in the street but, according to prof Robertson, it has been found to increase testosterone levels in both men and women.
The Stress Test
That in itself is enough to make you feel more confident in the face of a stressful challenge.
The fourth and final tip is to squeeze the hand and then release it and repeat.
“Squeezing the hand gives a little boost to the brain. It increases activity in the left side of the brain. I always do it a few times before nerve-wracking presentations.”
Prof Robertson explained: “The stress hormone cortisol is a symptom of anxiety, but also excitement. When you are anxious or excited you can feel your heart going bang, bang, bang, and the same hormone affects you differently only depending on the context that your mind imposes upon it.
“If you are anxious cortisol will impede performance, but if you are excited, we know that it boosts performance. “There are so many little mind hacks we can use on the brain. It’s a programmable machine.”
According to Dr Robertson, stressful situations and life traumas can trigger incredible feats of creativity which allow people to achieve far more than they would have in happier times.
It is no coincidence that many of the greatest artistic endeavours emerged from bleak periods in an artist’s life.
Americans who grew up in the Great Depression were much less depressed that those who grew up in the 90s
It is thought that emotional upsets which trigger an emotional retreat in the mind activate the left side of the brain which allows for greater creative thought.
Conversely, people who never experience setbacks are often low achievers or become depressed.
Research has shown that people who grew up in buoyant economic times, with the assurance of a good education and job, tend to be more narcissistic and less happy than people who grow up during a recession.
“The wider economic and political environment moulds the personalities of people at this crucial period in their lives when their adult personalities and values are being formed,” said Prof Robertson.
“Tough economic times create people who tend to be more cautious, risk-averse and grateful for what they have got. The challenge of making a living in difficult times means they are less restless and more content with their lot.
“Good times can breed a restless striving for more of the same. Easy times create more unhappiness.”
Difficult times make people appreciate their lives
Studies in the US have shown that the depression among young adults was far lower in the Great Depression of the 1930s than in the prosperous America of the 1990s in spite of high employment and good standards of living.
Over the past ten years the number of people taking antidepressants has rocketed, with prescriptions doubling to 61 million a year since 2005.
But Prof Robertson believe that it is possible to take back control of the mind.
“I want everyone to believe that they can control the most complex organ in the known universe, the brain.
“I do worry that we are over-medicating people because of a belief that we can’t control what is happening in our minds. We can impose the emotional state on a minds so that we can achieve what we want to achieve.”
The Stress Test is published by Bloomsbury
Scientist Brings Global Research Experience to BrainHealth
Feb. 25, 2016
Dr. Ian Robertson and Dr. Sandra Chapman
Dr. Ian Robertson and Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman
Dr. Ian Robertson has joined the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas as the T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist. His research seeks to improve brain health and cognitive performance in the aging population, with a particular focus on various brain stimulation methods.
Robertson’s most recent efforts as co-director of the Global Brain Health Institute focus on building a worldwide alliance to train future leaders in brain health who will shape policies and practices that enhance brain health and delay or prevent dementia.
“Dementia is more costly than stroke, heart disease and cancer combined,” Robertson said. “It is critical that we find ways to prolong brain health to match our ever increasing lifespan. Pooling expertise and expanding capacity to develop new protocols and practices that bridge the gap between research silos to translational application excites me for future scientific discoveries to be made in collaboration with researchers at the Center for BrainHealth.”
Among healthy adults, cognitive brain performance peaks, on average, around 40 years old, and estimates suggest the number of those living with dementia will triple by 2050. What’s promising is that research suggests that up to 30 percent of dementia cases are preventable through public health and lifestyle interventions.
Robertson’s scientific study at the center will focus on investigating non-pharmacological interventions to improve cognitive performance and brain health using psychophysiological measures and neuroimaging in partnership with Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, founder and chief director of the center and Dee Wyly Distinguished University Chair, and Dr. Robert Rennaker, Texas Instruments Distinguished Chair in Bioengineering and director of the Texas Biomedical Device Center.
“One cannot consider the individual brain in isolation. It is a complex system with multiple interactions between mind, brain, body and environment,” Robertson said. “Future treatments of mind-brain disorders will need to discover and foster smart ways to influence brain function and improve real-life outcomes using modern technology and cognitive neuroscience-based methods in collaboration with molecular and cellular biology methods.”
“ He is a very articulate and charismatic expositor of the values and promises of the brain sciences, and will bring a powerful portfolio of talents to augment the scientific strength of the center and its educational outreach efforts as well.”
Dr. Hobson Wildenthal,
president ad interim
“Dr. Robertson’s research accomplishments are impressively extensive and diverse,” said Dr. Hobson Wildenthal, president ad interim. “He brings to the Center for BrainHealth not only his individual knowledge, insights and creative research ideas, but also offers a very significant expansion of the center’s international network of scientific advisors and collaborators. He is a very articulate and charismatic expositor of the values and promises of the brain sciences, and will bring a powerful portfolio of talents to augment the scientific strength of the center and its educational outreach efforts as well.”
Robertson is currently the Chair of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin and founding director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. He was a Fellow at Hughes Hall, Cambridge, and has visiting professorships at University College in London and Columbia University in New York. Robertson has published more than 400 papers and several books, including co-authoring the leading international textbook on cognitive rehabilitation. In 2014, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for Psychological Science in recognition of his “sustained and outstanding distinguished contributions to psychological science.”
“Understanding how the brain works and improving brain performance is key to quality of life,” said T. Boone Pickens, the Texas energy executive who has been a major underwriter of the center. “The Center for BrainHealth is developing breakthroughs in this field. I like being involved with people who are on the forefront of discovery that will change the future for the better. It’s clear they are committed to bringing the best talent on board to achieve their objectives, and their partnership with Dr. Ian Robertson truly exemplifies that fact.”
Media Contact: Shelly Kirkland, UT Dallas Center for BrainHealth, (214) 905-3007, shelly.kirkland@utdallas.edu
or the Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, newscenter@utdallas.edu
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Leslie Barker, Senior writer, health and fitness
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If you could do something to decrease your risk of memory failure, to increase your self-confidence, to be a better public speaker, to improve your brain, to help you deal with back pain, to bust out of your comfort zone, to make your children more resilient ... would you do it?
What if it involved embracing what we all to our utmost to steer clear of -- namely, stress?
Yeah, always a catch. Think about it though -- which Irish psychologist Ian Robertson, author of The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You Stronger and Sharper, has done as well as studied quite extensively. And you might remember quoting, oh once or twice, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
The statement, Robertson says, "has always intrigued me." He's also fond of quoting golfer Tiger Woods: "I've always said the day I'm not nervous playing is the day I quit."
Granted, stress before a golf tournament isn't exactly a life-or-death situation, but the premise is along the same lines.
"All performers and musicians and sports performers know you need that edge," says Robertson who, as the T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist at the Center for BrainHealth, spends part of his year at the University of Texas at Dallas institute and part in Ireland.
"Whether it's an opportunity or stress is hugely under our control."
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Think about it: A pounding heart, dry mouth, sweaty skin, churning stomach could be signs of anxiety -- or of excitement, fear, anger, sexual attraction, he says. "We only know what emotion we're having by interpreting these nonspecific arousal symptoms in context."
The takeaway? If you're about to give a presentation or take a new class or face another challenge, instead of saying, "I am anxious," say out loud, "I am excited." That switches the brain from avoidance mindset into challenged mindset, he says.
Cover shot of "The Stress Test," Ian Robertson's book about using stress to your advantage(Photo Center for BrainHealth
)
Cover shot of "The Stress Test," Ian Robertson's book about using stress to your advantage
(Photo Center for BrainHealth
)
As he says in an interview with Brain Matters, the Center for BrainHealth publication, "moderate stress, properly handled, increases alertness, which in turn helps brain circuits function more efficiently."
He's not, he emphasizes, talking about "severe and prolonged stress." He's instead talking about the kind that's inherent with being human. Job problems. Relationship problems. Social setbacks. Money worries. Trying something new. And, in the case of his best friend, being run over by a bus while cycling. The accident cost Robertson's friend his right arm, smashed both his knees, and almost took his life.
"The morning he woke up after surgery," Robertson recalls, "I flew in from Dublin and found myself putting my head on his forehead and saying, 'What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.'"
The act, Robertson says, was "totally unpremeditated." But later, his friend told Robertson "it was like a surge of electricity through his brain, that it electrified him. He was barely conscious. I remember him struggling up, his head barely off the pillow, and saying, 'I'm going to beat this.' "
His friend is now long-distance cycling again. And while Robertson emphasizes that he takes no credit for the "amazing, amazing journey" to health, that episode -- along with Robertson's self-described "Pollyanna" nature and his extensive research into brain damage and subsequent rehabilitation -- led to the writing of his latest book.
"Strangely enough," he says, "the brain needs to be challenged to be improved."
He cites as an example a study of people in their 70s who were experiencing the beginnings of memory failure. Two years later, follow-up tests showed a steep decline in memory -- except for one group: those "who had had one, two or three stressful life events during that period," he says.
"Severe stress does cause impairment in memory," Robertson continues. "But in this group, moderate stressors actually preserved cognitive function, so over the two years, they did not show a decline."
His hypothesis: "If you're in your 70s and living quite a sedentary way of life, things are predictable and routine; you're not challenged. But if your wife or husband has a stroke, as horrible as that is, you're being challenged and called upon to solve all sorts of new problems," he says.
Psychologist Ian Robertson is author of "The Stress Test" and the T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist at the Center for BrainHealth in Dallas.(Photo: Center for BrainHealth
)
Psychologist Ian Robertson is author of "The Stress Test" and the T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist at the Center for BrainHealth in Dallas.
(Photo: Center for BrainHealth
)
And when that happens, your brain is called upon to generate more of a neurotransmitter called norepinephrine. "It is a chemical sprayed into our brain when unexpected things happen and you have to disengage to be open to new possibilities, including the frightening and the positive," he says. "It's sprayed out if someone is frightening us, sexually attracted to us, says something unexpected. It's our brain shaking out of the hum-de-dum."
"Stress, properly conceived of, is a challenge that can be incredibly enriching for the brain."
Which is something we parents need to take to heart. Because despite how much we want to shield children from life's pressures, doing so does them no favors, Robertson says.
"Children or adolescents who have little or no adversity, little or no stress, end up more emotionally vulnerable, more likely to be depressed and not enjoying life," he says. "People who have very little adversity and those who have very severe have similar levels of emotional disturbance later in life," he says.
Those who have moderate stress end up more emotionally tough, he says. He gives an example of young people working in a job in which they get ribbing or taunts by a coworker.
"You'll learn it's not the end of the world if you feel humiliated, not the end of the world if you fail at something, not the end of the world if you're not the much admired, glowing center of someone's world."
Plus, crazy as this may sound, how adults deal with back pain can be related to stress they did or didn't experience during childhood. Those who had "little or severe stress," he says, "are more likely to be off work, on painkillers or functionally disabled by back pain. Those with moderate stress have lower doses of painkillers, are less likely to off work long-term and are less likely to be disabled by back pain."
So what can we do to leverage stress to its utmost advantage? It can be as easy as breathing, Robertson says.
"I tell people to take five long, low breaths in and out," he says. "Then I ask, 'Do you feel any different?' Ninety percent of the time they say yes. I say you've just changed the chemistry of your brain."
Affecting that chemistry, he says, "will help you build confidence and believe in your ability of control."
Here are a few other ways:
Set goals for yourself that stretch you a little, he says, "goals that are neither too easy nor too difficult. Successful people, who inevitably believe have control over their own minds, are people very, very skilled at setting goals in the Goldilocks zone." It could be as seemingly small as getting out of the house and walking 200 yards down the street -- something that challenges you to a degree and gives you a feeling of accomplishment to have completed.
Stand up straight. When you feel low and depressed, your body hunches, he says. "If we adopt a posture associated with defeat or anxiety, our brains will create an internal state corresponding to that. that's why standing straight, standing tall, let's fake it till we make it is what we need to do. Trick your brain into creating corresponding emotions.
Gently squeeze your right hand. "The go-forward anticipating network in the brain is in the left frontal lobe," Robertson says. "The right hemisphere is more active and inhibits the goal-setting part of the brain if you're depressed or anxious. One way to give the left frontal part of your brain a boost is to squeeze your right hand for 45 seconds, release it for 15. Combined with posture, breathing and goal setting, you increase the changes of having a challenged mindset rather than retreating."
Think about stressful situations you'll face in the next month, he says. A difficult conversation with a partner maybe, or a presentation.
"Visualize it. Hear yourself," he says. "Be in it to the extent that your heart is beating, your stomach churning. Feel it now and start practicing those techniques. Practice them in an imagined situation so when you actually come to that, you won't have to try to remember how to handle it. It will be a habit."
Dr. Ian Robertson will be a guest on KERA-FM (90.1)'s Think at 1 p.m. Tuesday.