Epicurean Stability (eustatheia): A Philosophical Approach of Stress Management

Epicurus used an empirical and sensualistic approach to knowledge, creating a consistent, naturalistic, pragmatic and consequentialistic philosophy. The scientific observations of the last centuries have confirmed the basic principles of Epicurean physics, as well the psychotherapeutic approach of Epicurean ethics, which fits human nature. We know from the work “On Frank Criticism” of Epicurean philosopher Philodemus of Gadara, that the teaching methodology of Epicureans included psychoeducational counseling through therapeutic criticism based on friendly freedom of speech and aiming at τῆς ψυχῆς θεραπείαν (psychotherapy) and at knowledge of maintaining mental health and well-being. The Epicureans called εὐστάθεια (eustatheia, “stability”) the psychosomatic balance (τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ ψυχῆς εὐσταθὲς κατάστημα), which today we call homeostasis (ὁμοιόστασις), and considered it the basis of true happiness. They recognized empirically the stress that disturbed psychosomatic homeostasis as an agitation of the psyche or a painful feeling of the body and used a number of mental and affective techniques (including the tetrapharmakos) to manage stress at its onset, so that it does not evolve into the particularly troublesome conditions of anxiety and/or depression, which may become chronic psychosomatic disorders with significant social consequences. The article discusses the relation of the main ethical teachings of Epicurus with the biological basis of human brain functions and with the management of stress by cognitive and behavioral psychotherapy

From Brain Organoids to Networking Assembloids: Implications for Neuroendocrinology and Stress Medicine

Brain organoids are three-dimensional cultures that contain multiple types of cells and cytoarchitectures, and resemble fetal human brain structurally and functionally. These organoids are being used increasingly to model brain development and disorders, however, they only partially recapitulate such processes, because of several limitations, including inability to mimic the distinct cortical layers, lack of functional neuronal circuitry as well as non-neural cells and gyrification, and increased cellular stress. Efforts to create improved brain organoid culture systems have led to region-specific organoids, vascularized organoids, glia-containing organoids, assembloids, sliced organoids and polarized organoids. Assembloids are fused region-specific organoids, which attempt to recapitulate inter-regional and inter-cellular interactions as well as neural circuitry development by combining multiple brain regions and/or cell lineages. As a result, assembloids can be used to model subtle functional aberrations that reflect complex neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Mammalian organisms possess a highly complex neuroendocrine system, the stress system, whose main task is the preservation of systemic homeostasis, when the latter is threatened by adverse forces, the stressors. The main central parts of the stress system are the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and the locus caeruleus/norepinephrine-autonomic nervous system nuclei in the brainstem; these centers innervate each other and interact reciprocally as well as with various other CNS structures. Chronic dysregulation of the stress system has been implicated in major pathologies, the so-called chronic non-communicable diseases, including neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, cardiometabolic and autoimmune disorders, which lead to significant population morbidity and mortality. We speculate that brain organoids and/or assembloids could be used to model the development, regulation and dysregulation of the stress system and to better understand stress-related disorders. Novel brain organoid technologies, combined with high-throughput single-cell omics and gene editing, could, thus, have major implications for precision medicine

Stress and disorders of the stress system

Abstract | All organisms must maintain a complex dynamic equilibrium, or homeostasis, which is constantly challenged by internal or external adverse forces termed stressors. stress occurs when homeostasis is threatened or perceived to be so; homeostasis is re-established by various physiological and behavioral adaptive responses. Neuroendocrine hormones have major roles in the regulation of both basal homeostasis and responses to threats, and are involved in the pathogenesis of diseases characterized by dyshomeostasis or cacostasis. The stress response is mediated by the stress system, partly located in the central nervous system and partly in peripheral organs. The central, greatly interconnected effectors of this system include the hypothalamic hormones arginine vasopressin, corticotropin-releasing hormone and pro-opiomelanocortinderived peptides, and the locus ceruleus and autonomic norepinephrine centers in the brainstem. Targets of these effectors include the executive and/or cognitive, reward and fear systems, the wake-sleep centers of the brain, the growth, reproductive and thyroid hormone axes, and the gastrointestinal, cardiorespiratory, metabolic, and immune systems. Optimal basal activity and responsiveness of the stress system is essential for a sense of well-being, successful performance of tasks, and appropriate social interactions. By contrast, excessive or inadequate basal activity and responsiveness of this system might impair development, growth and body composition, and lead to a host of behavioral and somatic pathological conditions

Stress and disorders of the stress system

Abstract | All organisms must maintain a complex dynamic equilibrium, or homeostasis, which is constantly challenged by internal or external adverse forces termed stressors. stress occurs when homeostasis is threatened or perceived to be so; homeostasis is re-established by various physiological and behavioral adaptive responses. Neuroendocrine hormones have major roles in the regulation of both basal homeostasis and responses to threats, and are involved in the pathogenesis of diseases characterized by dyshomeostasis or cacostasis. The stress response is mediated by the stress system, partly located in the central nervous system and partly in peripheral organs. The central, greatly interconnected effectors of this system include the hypothalamic hormones arginine vasopressin, corticotropin-releasing hormone and pro-opiomelanocortinderived peptides, and the locus ceruleus and autonomic norepinephrine centers in the brainstem. Targets of these effectors include the executive and/or cognitive, reward and fear systems, the wake-sleep centers of the brain, the growth, reproductive and thyroid hormone axes, and the gastrointestinal, cardiorespiratory, metabolic, and immune systems. Optimal basal activity and responsiveness of the stress system is essential for a sense of well-being, successful performance of tasks, and appropriate social interactions. By contrast, excessive or inadequate basal activity and responsiveness of this system might impair development, growth and body composition, and lead to a host of behavioral and somatic pathological conditions

Philosophical Management of Stress based on Science and Epicurean Pragmatism: A Pilot Study

In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, we created and implemented from November 2020 to February 2021 a monthly educational pilot program of philosophical management of stress based on Science, Humanism and Epicurean Pragmatism, which was offered to employees of 26 municipalities in the Prefecture of Attica, Greece. The program named “Philosophical Distress Management Operation System” (Philo.Di.M.O.S.) is novel and unique in its kind, as it combines a certain Greek philosophical tradition (Epicurean) that concurs with modern scientific knowledge. The program was designed to be implemented in a period of crisis; therefore, it used a fast-paced, easy to learn and practice philosophical approach to stress management, based on cognitive psychotherapy. The philosophical approach to stress management has the advantage that it can be offered to most people, regardless of age and educational level. The pilot program was effective in achieving its objectives, shown by statistical comparisons of the trainees’ responses to anonymous questionnaires before and after the month-long training. The successful Philo.Di.M.O.S. program, thus, based on a solid scientific and philosophical basis, offers a paradigm of stress management during crises and could be useful in Greece and internationally

Could COVID-19's Aftermath on Children's Health Be Felt into the 22nd Century?

The COVID-19 pandemic has massively affected people’s health, societies, and the global economy. Our lives are no longer as they were before COVID-19, and, most likely, will never be the same again. We hypothesize that the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on population health and the economy will last for a very long time and will still be felt in the 22nd century. Our hypothesis is based on evidence from the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic, the Dutch famine during the Second World War, and the 2007–2008 economic crisis, as well as from the rationally predicted impact of COVID-19 on human development. We expect that the COVID-19 pandemic, including the mitigation measures taken against it, will affect children’s development in multiple ways, including obesity, both while in utero and during critical and sensitive windows of development, including the early childhood years and those of puberty and adolescence. The psychosocial and biological impact of this effect will be considerable and unequally distributed. The implications will last at least a lifetime, and, through inter-generational transmission, will likely take us to future generations, into the 22nd century. We argue for the urgent need of designing and initiating comprehensive longitudinal cohort studies to closely monitor the long-term effects of COVID-19 on children conceived, born, and raised during the pandemic. Such an approach requires a close and effective collaboration between scientists, healthcare providers, policymakers, and the younger generations, and it will hopefully uncover evidence necessary to understand and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on people’s lives in the 21st and 22nd centuries

Lamotrigine Reduces Stress Symptoms of Chronic Anxiety in the Times of the Covid-19 Natural Catastrophe-A Case Report

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been a worldwide chronic, stress-inducing natural catastrophe associated with increased emotional challenging. Patients with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-injury behavior, and obesity are predisposed to aggravation of their symptoms at this time, requiring new therapeutic approaches to balance their disrupted neuro-hormonal stress axis. Here we present our observations of an off-label treatment with lamotrigine in an adolescent girl with PTSD, self-injury behavior, and obesity. Lamotrigine was an efficacious pharmaceutical intervention that helped the patient deal with chronic stress and associated anxiety. The results are discussed based on our previous basic research outcomes in animals and humans that focused on the glutamate-cortisol circuits within the limbic brain

Gender differences in Greek centenarians. A cross-sectional nation-wide study, examining multiple socio-demographic and personality factors and health locus of control

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Centenarians are exceptional ageing paradigms, offering valuable information on achieving longevity. Although, there are several studies examining different biomedical factors as determinants of longevity in centenarians, little is known about gender differences with respect to personality traits and health locus of control.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Nation -wide study carried out in Greece, between 2007 and 2010. Our final sample of analysis consisted of 400 centenarians who reported on sociodemographic, disease-related and personality factors and health locus of control (HLC). Gender differences were investigated by simple nonparametric comparisons. Bivariate correlations between personality factors and internal and external HLC were obtained.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Women centenarians outnumbered men by a ratio of 1.68 to 1. Significant gender sociodemographic differences were noted, with men reporting less often widowhood, more often centenarian 1st degree relatives and smoking. Higher BMI score was measured in males than females. Concerning personality variables, females were more reward-dependent and adaptable than men, while men were more optimistic than women. No differences were found on health locus of control profile between the genders. Positive correlations between self-directness and spirituality with internal locus of control in men and negative correlations between optimism and external locus of control in women emerged as the main gender disparities in the correlation analyses. Self-directness in men and optimism in women were consistently correlated with the two HLC subscales.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Gender differences should be incorporated in future basic research and epidemiological studies of longevity. Informed policies on ageing and wellbeing programs should also take into account gender issues to increase efficacy by targeting health locus of control.</p