It’s not unusual to hear people describe themselves as emotionally 'colder'

It’s not unusual to hear people who have undergone sympathectomies describe themselves as feeling emotionally “colder” than before. Among psychologists and neurologists alike there is concern, but no evidence, that the procedure limits alertness and arousal as well as fear, and might affect memory, empathy and mental performance. Professor Ronald Rapee, the director of the Centre of Emotional Health at Sydney’s Macquarie University, says he’s counselled several people who complain of feeling “robot-like” in the long-term wake of the operation. “They’re happy they no longer blush, but they miss the highs and lows they used to feel.”
(John van Tiggelen, Good Weekend Magazine, The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, 10th March 2012)
https://archive.today/uURge

Friday, 28 November 2014

"Most patients note an immediate "calming effect" once the injection is done"

Stellate ganglion blocks have traditionally been done for pain conditions.  However, there is evidence showing some benefits for other conditions such as hyperhydrosis (excessive sweating), hot flashes,  and  painful conditions such as complex regional pain syndrome and atypical facial pain.  The stellate ganglion is the fusion of the inferior cervical ganglion and the first thoracic ganglion that mediate sympathetic fibers, also known as the adrenaline (fight or flight) nerves.  It is thought that PTSD may have sympathetically mediated pathways that are amenable to blocking this nerve structure.  Most patients note an immediate "calming effect" once the injection is done.  Some are even able to stop medications and have social interactions in public that they otherwise would not have been able to do.
http://www.painhonolulu.com/services/stellate-ganglion-blocks-for-ptsd/

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