Oh my....there was a thread on PMS....now I give you IMS:

Some Infos:

Male PMS?





For centuries men have had to walk on eggshells around females when they pull out their trusty get-out-of-jail-free card: "It's that time of the month."
Like you, I've had to duck the odd bucket of popcorn hurled by a grumpy lady love and, as I picked the kernels from my hair in row 9D, wondered that if creation saw fit to sway the chemical balance of one sex so profoundly, is it not possible it happens to men as well?
Some time ago I read a book by Jed Diamond called The Irritable Male Syndrome in which he claimed more than 30 per cent of blokes suffered "a state of hyper-sensitivity, anxiety, frustration and anger ... associated with biochemical changes, hormonal fluctuations, stress and loss of male identity.''
Plenty was made of the book at the time because it was ripe chat show fodder; male hosts were able to explain away their hungover brattiness or anti-social personalities with a shiny new acronym ... IMS.
Looking back, I'm still conflicted as to whether Diamond packaged up a set of universal male concerns and just gave it a name, or whether there really is merit to the argument blokes suffer at the hands of our own hormones, not just those of the missus ...
For his book, Diamond, a Californian psychotherapist, polled 9500 men about depression and irritability and found:
* Forty-six per cent of men said they were often, or almost always, stressed (I'll say yes to that).
* Forty per cent of men said they were almost never sexually satisfied (Big tick).
* Twenty-one per cent said they were depressed often or almost always (Sometimes).
* Fifty per cent said they were annoyed often or almost always (Not so often).
Diamond claims modern males, unlike females, are unable to ''use the stress relievers built
into our bodies and minds by ancestral history."
''When things happen that cause women to be afraid, they reach out for their children or call up one of their girlfriends. For men, things have changed dramatically.
"We can no longer engage in battle to defeat the threat. All of our fight-or-flight chemicals surge through our systems without being dissipated through action.''
This argument really struck me at the time because I often feel like punching the living shit out of people, especially in traffic, and I've thought what happens to all those aggression chemicals?
In an office environment, I'm sure there's plenty of you who've had to put up with absolute diminishing, humiliating crap from superiors or co-workers and gone back to your desk nausesated from all the bad ju-ju running through you.
As un-evolved as it is, men are hardwired to utilise these chemicals by running for our lives up a tree, stomping the bejesus out of each other or protecting ourselves when some other freak tries to do the same; now we have to go into the stairwell and kick the tar out of the recycling bin.
By far the biggest chemical player in this process is testosterone, levels of which oscillate every 15 to 20 minutes in men, according to Diamond, and are affected by everything from ''the seasons, competition, stress and a D cup."
Amen to that, brother.
''The morning highs, daily fluctuation and seasonal cycles whip men around,'' Diamond quotes researcher Dr Theresa Crenshaw as saying.
''Think about the moment-to moment impact of testosterone levels firing and spiking all over the place and what this must be doing to a man's temperament.''
Diamond argues that modern man's inability to naturally vent by getting out in the jungle and killing something (or each other) or dancing away under the moon, means some blokes develop IMS.
This manifests as two basic stress patterns:
When men come home after a particularly stressful day, they go into ''flight mode'' and withdraw behind the paper, TV or into their office and want to be left alone.
When they've had a day filled with conflict, these same men go into ''fight mode'', become irritable and pick at their wives and children.
Sound familiar?
I guess that's the danger with these sort of pseudo-scientific theories - they sound so reasonable but the hard data is yet to be compiled.
As far as I'm concerned, the jury is still out on IMS, but I'd be interested to hear your opinions, if you think you suffer from the "condition" and what you've done to combat it.


NEWS EXTRA

For those that are interested, Diamond's put together a questionnaire so you can decide if you suffer from IMS.
Do you find you are more:
1. Grumpy?
2. Angry?
3. Gloomy?
4. Impatient?
5. Tense?
6. Hostile?
7. Lonely?
8. Stressed at home?
9. Annoyed?
10. Touchy?
11. Stressed at work?
12. Overworked?
13. Unloved?
14. Jealous?


He reckons if you answer yes to six or more of these, you may be suffering IMS. Check out the full questionnaire here.
He also offers some solid advice for controlling your testosterone levels - saying that if they are too low or high men can have problems.
His recommendations to maximise healthy levels include:


* Enough zinc: even short-term losses of zinc can affect testosterone levels. Foods high in zinc are beef, poultry, oysters, legumes and nuts.



* Monitor alcohol: grog can cause a significant rise in estrogen (female hormone) levels.



* Beware licorice: Just seven grams of licorice can slice testosterone levels by 34 per cent.



* Manage the man boobs: Being just 4.5 kilos overweight will cause an increase in male estrogen levels.

The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: All Men Are Liars

MEN HAVE CYCLES, TOO
Although little research has been done on the topic, men have monthly cycles, too. As far back as the seventeenth century, the Italian scientist Sanctorius weighed men daily over long periods of time and discovered that men underwent a monthly weight change of about one or two pounds. More recently, a Danish endocrinologist kept daily records of hormones excreted in his urine. When analyzed, those records showed that his hormones rose and fell in roughly a thirty-day rhythm. Interestingly, beard growth also shows a rhythm of approximately thirty days; in other words, the amount of beard a man grows daily increases and decreases in a monthly cycle.
In 1929, a researcher carefully followed the moods of seventeen men and showed that men, like women, have emotional cycles of about a month to six weeks in length. According to the researcher's findings, men tend to be more apathetic and indifferent during the low period of their emotional cycles and more likely to magnify small problems into big ones. During the high period of their cycles, men have more energy, a greater sense of well-being, lower body weight, and less need for sleep.
In the early 1970s, Ms. magazine reported that a Japanese bus and taxi company used this knowledge of male monthly cycles to reduce accidents involving its vehicles. After charting the cycles of each of its drivers, the company rearranged routes and schedules to best match the men's low and high periods. The result: After two years, the company experienced a one-third drop in its accident rate.
Men, like women, may benefit from following the Japanese company's example and charting their individual monthly rhythms. Use the chart and Cycle Changes list on page 120. If you are married or living with a woman, both of you may find it interesting and helpful to chart your cycles together to see if they are in or out of sync with each other.
Cycle Changes
Here is a sampling of the physical and psychological sensations that may vary in intensity at different phases of your monthly menstrual cycle. When charting your cycle, you may wish to expand this list to include additional physical or emotional changes:
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Beneficial
Creativity
Optimism
Self-confidence
Exuberance
Feeling attractive
Feeling sexual
Contentment
Enjoying being with people
Excess energy
Disruptive
Irritability
Anger
Tension
Anxiety/Feelings of doom
Depression
Insomnia
Nightmares
Feeling unattractive
Crying spells
Feeling unsocial
PHYSICAL
Migraine headaches
Mouth sores
Weight gain
Weight loss
Swollen ankles or hands
Bloating and edema
Breast tenderness
Increased athletic performance
Decreased athletic performance
Heart palpitations
Backache
Fatigue
Acne
Fainting
Loss of appetite
Increased appetite
Reluctance to exercise
Cravings (for alcohol, salt, or sugar)
Sleepiness
More accident prone
SHORTER MALE CYCLES
In addition to its monthly rhythm, beard growth has a second – and weaker weekly rhythm in men. Beards tend to grow the most on Sunday and the least on Wednesday although the difference is not great enough for most men to notice. Because beard growth seems to be triggered by testosterone levels (which rise during sexual activity), this weekly increase and decrease in beard growth may be the result of increased sexual activity on the weekend.
One of the most perplexing and shorter male cycles involves the rise and fall in sperm count. A man's total sperm count peaks every two to five days; for most men, the peak comes every three or four days (which is also, by the way, the same rhythm exhibited by male rabbits). What causes the sperm count to rise and fall in such a rhythm or how it affects sexuality is still being explored.

The Secrets Our Body Clocks Reveals — Your Sexual Cycle

The Monthly Emotional Cycle in Every Man and Woman:
Rexford B. Hersey's Remarkable Paradigm
by David Alan Goodman


SUMMARY The basic objective of this article is to alert readers to the work of Rexford B. Hersey, one of the most original scientists of the last century. Seventy years ago this former Rhodes Scholar and Wharton professor reported seminal research on the male psyche that can impact society in revolutionary ways. Hersey's main contribution to psychological science was his discovery of a monthly emotional cycle in men as well as women. Every adult male, according to Hersey, experiences an emotional cycle lasting about a month. Of the hundreds of men Hersey studied, no matter how masculine their self-perception, they still rose up and down to the tune of their monthly emotional cycle.


The basic objective of this article is to alert readers to the work of Rexford B. Hersey, one of the most original scientists of the last century. Seventy years ago this former Rhodes Scholar and Wharton professor reported seminal research on the male psyche that can impact society in revolutionary ways. Hersey's main contribution to psychological science was his discovery of a monthly emotional cycle in men as well as women. Every adult male, according to Hersey, experiences an emotional cycle lasting about a month. Of the hundreds of men Hersey studied, no matter how masculine their self-perception, they still rose up and down to the tune of their monthly emotional cycle.

In reviewing Rexford B. Hersey's distinctive paradigm, let us begin by examining his life, his prime discovery, and his impact on popular psychological. Then we look ahead to consider the applications and implications men having a monthly emotional cycle. The primary importance of Hersey's research today is that it establishes a new level of appreciation for the equality between women and men in leadership roles.


WHO WAS REXFORD B. HERSEY?

Born in Guyandotte, West Virginia in 1895, Rexford B. Hersey attended local schools and the University of West Virginia majoring in liberal arts. He performed in the local choir, played and coached college baseball and was a member of the board of his college newspaper. When receiving the B.A. degree in 1916, he qualified for a Rhodes scholarship. In 1918-1919 he served as a Battery Commander, United States Army, and then attended Oxford University receiving a second B.A. in 1921 and an M.A. in 1922. His discovery of the monthly cycle in men was to occur while a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, an appointment he had received in 1926. He would receive a Ph.D. from Berlin University in 1930.

On faculty at the Wharton School as Professor of Industry between 1927 and 1928, Hersey examined the lives of shop foremen and mechanics working in the Pennsylvania Railroad repair shop. He received a grant from the railroad management to discover what was required for employees to work more efficiently and more productively. The Taylor Process named after Frederick J. Taylor, which was quite popular at the time, perceived workers as output systems who could be trained to become increasingly more efficient and proficient on the job.

Hersey for about a year studied in depth the shop foremen and mechanics in the repair shop. He selected seventeen of them, later to be supplemented by an additional twelve subjects in the experiment, including some students and professors contributing their observations. The men on the shop floor were questioned two to four times a day about their emotional status, answering queries of the following kind:

- Have you quarreled recently with spouse, children, workers or boss?
- Are you currently feeling happy, sad, contented, or angry?
- What do you think of your sense of humor today?
- Did you need an extra cup of coffee to get stimulated?
- How satisfying are your relations with your wife?
- Any problems experienced in digesting your food?
- Do you sleep well at night, or do you toss and turn?

Hersey visited the workers at home and queried them during nights and weekends. He chatted with wives about their husband's moods, eventually arriving at a thirteen point scale, here abridged:

Elated………………………………+6
Cheerful and joking ……………… +4
Pleasant feelings………………….. +2
Neutral……………………………..+0
Peevish and irritable………………..-2
Angry and disgusted………………..-4
Worried……………………………. -6

When Hersey reported his findings on the 29 male subjects between the ages of 19 and 58, he noticed a variation in moods during the month. The men's emotional cycles generally shifted between a positive of +3, cheerful and joking, to a negative of -2, peevish and irritable. Their cycle length averaged between 33 to 35 days; four of 10 men experienced cycles the might be appreciably longer and shorter than the group average. The extremes for the cycle length were from the longest, 63 days, to the shortest, 16 days.

Hersey noted the uniqueness of the cycle in different men. Of the cycle lengths reported, each appeared to be unique in cycle length and amplitude. Only four men shared a cycle frequency with any other man. In the group, only one man experienced an emotional cycle lasting precisely 28 days. This tended to disprove a belief of some psychologists that men tended to experience an emotional cycle lasting exactly 28 days.

What elevated Hersey's research above the ordinary psychological study was his claim that it mattered hardly at all whether a man was youth or elder, worker or supervisor, extravert or introvert like himself, the results were the same. Hersey observed in each of the men, 29 of 29 men, evidence for the monthly emotional cycle. This finding of data from all of the men confirming a previously unsuspected phenomenon was discovered in all test subjects is rare in experimental science, especially human psychology. Hersey was to spend the next three decades gathering evidence for the predictability of cyclic emotional nature.

What might be the source of cyclic human nature? Hersey believed that the work of John Fulton was relevant. Fulton believed that energy shifts from the sun, barometric pressure alterations from the moon, magnetic field changes, and gravitational pull might influence the human genes. Interestingly, Hersey seemed to have discovered a credible middle ground between traditional psychology that downplayed the emotional cycles in men, and astrology that believed that man's nature was embedded in the cycles of nature.


ALBERT WIGGAM, HERSEY'S BIOGRAPHER, REPORTS ON HIS CYCLING MOODS

In a popular 1948 book, New Techniques of Happiness, Albert Wiggam affirmed how any man knowing the regular 'ups' and 'downs' of his emotional cycle could greatly improve the quality of his life. Seated at his desk, a monthly calendar before him, or observing a wall calendar marked with pen notations, Wiggam was alerted to the days of the month when likely he would be cheerful and joking and the days when more likely to be peevish and irritable. He was to report in the book and earlier, 1932, article for the popular magazine, Cosmopolitan, that his monthly emotional cycle lasted precisely five weeks and one day.

Perceiving that his cycle lasted 36 days enabled him better to look ahead and predict days when his moods would be up and his moods would be down. Wiggam knew that exactly 18 days separated his up and down moods. His cycle across many months remained regular sufficiently that he could predict the time of his forthcoming mood swing to within three or four hours. Possessing this knowledge enabled him to realize how regardless of environmental events, his feelings could more easily be traced to what Wiggam called "position on the emotional cycle."

For example, Wiggam could imagine a lucky man winning the lottery. During the high times of the month the winner was sure to call family and friends informing them with enthusiasm, "Imagine, I won $200,000!" By way of contrast, let the fortunate event occur say 18 days later, after a brief statement of how happy he was, swarms of thoughts would rise to mind on how he would lose his privacy, taxes had to be paid to the IRS, strangers would appeal to him for money, and, the worst thought of all, his child might be kidnapped and held for ransom.

Knowing how moods cycled helped Wiggam understand the probable responses of men he met. He could listen astutely to their words, and listen for their anger or anxiety. When angry the visitor was likely to lash our when provided with any provocation. Wiggam knew better than to provoke the visitor. He simply noted the time and day, knowing that he could call the visitor in two weeks, suspecting that he would be all smiles, asking Wiggam about the wife and children, and could he take Wiggam out for lunch.

Sensual and sexual thoughts followed a monthly cycle. Wiggam was able to predict the days and nights when he was most likely to have sexual thoughts and seek intimacy with his wife. He observed during the high points of his cycle, his sexual thoughts were keen and acute. Similarly, during the low points, he thought about sharing intimacy with his wife, likely to sooth his personal insecurities and to reassure him that she still had positive feelings for him.
By querying his unmarried friends, Wiggam noted that during the high points of their emotional cycles, they were likely to call up their lady friends telling them that they would soon be visiting them. When the unmarried friends experienced the low points of their emotional cycles, they were more likely to visit the local bar, smoke and drink, and degrade women, saying, "To hell with them." That hot blonde in the shipping room who had looked so good last week now seemed to be "more trouble than she is worth."

As for the women, Wiggam claimed that they better understood monthly cycles and the regular alteration of moods, feeling good and feeling bad during the weeks of the month. Wiggam knew that hot blonde in shipping would every two weeks experience her regular mood shift. Yet Wiggam following Hersey believed that during their reproductive years women experienced two overlapping cycles, one being related to reproductive hormones, and a second, brain, cycle of the emotions. When the two cycles combined in their negative phases, the women complained about feeling bad. Yet when the reproductive cycle and the brain cycle were up and down respectively, the two cycles tended to cancel out. The result was women slipping through the usual low phases of their monthly cycle without complaint.

Regarding adolescents: Wiggam wrote, "Parents should understand that the emotional cycle is much shorter in young people than adults." He believed that an adolescent emotional cycle "runs only approximately fourteen to sixteen days." This meant that twice as frequently as older brothers and sisters, the adolescents might feel "sky high" and "down in the dumps." Wiggam noticed how in teenagers a prevailing low mood combined with rejection in love, poor grades or arguments with parents could trigger suicidal thoughts. He believed that the role of parents might be to remind children how on the day they felt worst, their emotional cycle was already on the upswing, and they were soon to feel on top of the world again.

By now it should be clear how Wiggam solved recurring family problems. He would educate Dad and Mom and Junior and Sis to chart their moods, then around the breakfast table to discuss how they felt. The most likely explanation why they argued on a given morning could be attributed to two or more of them out of phase. This tendency for arguments to begin based mood cycles out of phase tended to shift blame from events occurring in anyone's life to conflicting phases of monthly emotional cycles.


REPORTS IN POPULAR MAGAZINES ON THE HERSEY PARADIGM: 1935 TO 1954

The idea that families should discuss their moods around the breakfast table can be attributed to Wiggam in his popular book, New Techniques for Happiness, as well as the article for Cosmopolitan magazine. There were large numbers of men charting their moods between the years 1935 through 1954 writing for publications like Reader's Digest, Redbook and Science Digest, bringing their message of charting moods to families around the national breakfast tables.

Reader's Digest on "The Secrets of Your Ups and Downs"

Hersey's 1931 scientific paper was titled, "Emotional Cycles in Man," and his 1932 book, Workers Emotions in Shop and Home. One of the people fascinated by the "Hersey Cycles" was psychologist Donald A. Laird. Director of the Psychology Laboratory at Colgate University, his April 1935 article in Review of Reviews appeared in the August 1935 edition of Reader's Digest. In simple language, he declared in favor of men charting their moods. Having discovered his own emotional cycle, Laird was eager to share his findings with the world.

Laird advised men never to undertake major enterprises, establish important business contacts or make earth-shattering decisions when they were in any other emotional phase then the positive ones. Couples confronted by financial, sexual, and relational problems were advised to consider postponing vital decisions until they were in positive moods. Feeling good, they would be in a better, more efficient and confident frame of mind the take decisive action to solve their various problems. They could become aware of the "regular ebb and flow" of their energies. On a given day, either the man or the woman or both could wake up feeling down in the mouth, or up in the clouds. In particular, the man of the house should be encouraged to chart his mood cycle. He would, according to Laird, learn how to predict "what his mood may be at a given future time, much as the weather man predicts the weather." The message was that high and low points in married life could be predicted days in advance.

Laird charted a personal energy cycle lasting about six weeks, 42 days, meaning 21 days passed between his positive and negative peaks. He advised men to follow his example and to make life easier for their families by learning a great deal more about themselves by charting their moods. In conclusion he wrote: "Anyone can determine his own cycle." This was a credible route for improving the family's future.

Redbook on "Do You Know Your Emotional Cycle"

Myron M. Stearns for Redbook in 1945 asked, "Do You Know Your Emotional Cycle?" He, like Laird and Wiggam confessed to having a personal emotional cycle. His likely lasted four weeks and five days -- 33 days. He was able to interview Rexford B. Hersey, asking the psychologist how he managed to cope with his down periods. Hersey replied how during low periods he felt more critical of others, and often complained about their shortcomings. For this reason he sought to keep pretty much to himself, avoiding people when he could, often spending time in the library where he could read in peace.

When feeling positive, Hersey was more eager to meet with clients, give lectures and be interviewed by the media. When he felt high-spirited he seemed to radiate more enthusiasm. During these positive times of the month, Hersey was more active, attempting to interest others in the scope and ramifications of his work, and its potential impact on the world.

Sterns spoke of three steps to personal happiness. First, a man must take no precipitous action when feeling down. Second, a man must chart moods to become aware of his monthly cycle. Third, to expect that down moods will recur, then to plan his life accordingly. The secret of happiness could be learned after charting moods, knowing when negative moods will recur, and refusing to make important decisions on days when feeling down. By following these three easy steps could greatly increase a man's chances of achieving the greatest personal success.

Science Digest and "Chart Your Emotional Cycle"

Hersey himself in 1954 wrote "Chart Your Emotional Cycle" appearing in Science Digest, inviting readers to chart their moods. He advised readers to expect times of the month when they felt more cheerful and other times when they felt more depressed. He instructed them to learn their cycle to anticipate days when they might feel high or low -- and to take advantage of this information to predict the days when they were most likely to succeed and when they were most likely to fail.

Hersey reported on hundreds of people studied during 26 years, mostly male, who knowing the rhythmic variations in their feelings could better cope with the vicissitudes of life. They would be well advised to clear their desks of routine work during emotional lows, then during their highs when brimming with confidence they are advised to get out into the world to meet with others. Each man stated Hersey would be wise to study his moods for a minimum of four months to discover their personal variation in moods, becoming aware of their unique cycle and its intensity and frequency.

Hersey warned readers who felt they were too temperamental to avoid seeking the magic pill that was supposed to abolish the personal lows, maximize the highs, and enabling them to feel good all of the time. He advised men to be wary of altering their brains chemically before the biologists discovered the cause for the cyclic undulations. Until that day in the future, citizens were advised to understand their cyclic human nature, and to chart their moods. (His cycle lasted 34 days). When to start? Hersey answered: "Start Tomorrow. Keep a tally of your feelings twice a day." in addition, the men were to note particular outside influences or physical factors that could influence their moods.


REDISCOVERING THE MONTHLY CYCLIC MALE NATURE

Hersey, Wiggam, Laird and Stearns confessed to emotional cycles lasting 34, 36, 42 and 33 days. These men wrote between the 1930s and 1950s and in popular magazines like Science Digest, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Reader's Digest and Redbook. Between 1954 when Hersey wrote the Science Digest article, and the 1970s, biologists attempted to confirm Hersey's report of the monthly emotional cycle in all men. The most extensive research reports are the studies in the United States and Canada by Halberg and by Eastwood and Whitten. They reported conservatively that some variation in the monthly emotional cycle could be observed in about eight of 10 of adult males.

There the matter rested until in 1971 when a remarkable book appeared on the subject of cyclic human nature in man. Body Time by Gay Gaer Luce established the benchmark for thinking about monthly emotions in men. Scarcely a chapter of the volume fails to provide insights on the cyclic nature of men. Luce projected that a time was coming when healthy men would discover that "an astounding number of them" when charting their moods and dreams would discover "regular undulations" in vitality, optimism, work output, pessimism, and robust well-being. Then would these pioneers be catapulted to a whole new world of understanding of their evolved human nature.

Luce affirmed that most men were fully aware of their shifting moods, but few of them realized that their moods recurred at predicable times. There were the men, especially those artistic and creative who might argue with friends every 24 days without perceiving their recurring ride up and down on their monthly cycle. Luce suspected that a great deal of "domestic turbulence" could be prevented when men and women kept journals of the moods and their dreams, then being able to predict the probable outcomes of interactions between them on particular days of the month. Luce looked ahead to the future when men had eagerness to discover within themselves the timetable for their emotions.


Talk Show Hosts: Observing Their Recurrent Moods

The present author is one of these men who beginning in 1977 determined to chart moods and dreams, following Luce's recommendations. He noted after three or four months he was able to tell quite accurately that his mood cycle then was approximately 30 days. This caused him to perceive a new window opening into his inner self. He wondered about how more people might heed Hersey, Wiggam, Laid, Stearns and Luce. They might schedule their interviews and business trips while feeling high, then schedule desk work when they were feeling low. The key to personal understanding, however, was to watch for the recurring moods in the men he knew. There was no better place to start than to listen and watch carefully radio and television talk show hosts.

The first of the talk show hosts on radio to be charted longitudinally for weeks and months, as Luce suggested, was a host who offered masterly advice on his national show late at night. As suspected, during a typical month he rode up and down on the emotional cycle. For two weeks a month, he appeared to be cheerful and joking about the positive things happening in his life. Then, for the next two week, he sounded peevish and irritated. When visited in his office near Los Angeles, he seemed not to realize that his moods predictably cycled. He claimed instead how by means of an ancient Hebrew meditation he had conquered his emotions. Yet his audio tapes over months, broken down into blocs of seven days, clearly revealed his emotional cycle persisting and lasting precisely 28 days.

Consider second, the political commentator appearing daily on radio, being highly opinionated while representing the political far-right. It soon became clear to the astute observer that beneath the surface, he showed mood undulations lasting about a month, or more precisely 34 days. He would complain that he wasn't feeling quite right. "Probably something I ate," he would say, or he blamed his wife, or a newspaper columnist, usually a Democrat, who made him feel bad. Blaming others for his moods seemed habitual. Since his mood swings were noticeable, he qualified as a candidate to use mood-regulating drugs.

The third talk show host, on late-night television, admitted that he was no stranger to mood swings. He told an interviewer from Parade magazine that he sometimes felt disoriented when interviewing a guest. He confessed to the interviewer -- quite evident to astute watchers and listeners -- that he experienced mood swings, "Big ones." He related how one of his ways for dealing with down moods was to sit in empty room before the show, the lights turned off, and to relax before the show aired. This was hardly sufficient because his mood swings were notorious, and friends reported in confidence that he was prone to self-medicate using stimulant drugs.

Entertainers Admit to Having Bad Days

Entertainers like the folk singer who was born in Minnesota, and who made a great deal of money descanting and harmonizing on concert tours, experienced notable rides up and down the mood cycle. Asked by a journalist how he felt on a particular tour, the singer replied: "Maybe it was just that I was tired…Jet lag or something. But it happens some nights when you just feel like you are on a sinking boat." This corresponds well with the observations by Nancy Andreasen, a University of Iowa physician, professor and popular author, who has written in a series of scientific articles and in popular books that fully half of creative males had consulted a physician or psychiatrist at least once to find a way to cope with their intrusive moods.

Professional Athletes Having Streaks and Slumps

What about professional athletes? Do 80 percent of them also ride the up and down on a mood cycle affecting their performances? The author decided to interview athletes living in San Diego County where he lives. The first interview was a major League baseball player, a starting pitcher on the San Diego Padres. Asked about how he coped with moods, he admitted that like everyone else he had good and bad days. He noticed too how his teammates had devised various ways to cope with their shifting moods.

The San Diego baseball team trainer encouraged them to exercise when they needed to elevate their moods and to take the nutrient amino acid tyrosine. This advice the baseball pitcher followed, according to his revelations. Yet he too was tempted to take stimulant drugs to self-medicate. When he died mysteriously one night in his home, the police reported that it was likely an overdose of a stimulant drug like cocaine or methamphetamine.

Had the baseball pitcher read Body Time and had he and his wife kept a checklist of his daily moods and energy like Luce suggested, making notebook entries two to four times a day marking down how he felt, his life might have been saved. He likely would have noted like Hersey did that players experience streaks and slumps during particular times during their cycle. A shift of just ten percent a month might be the difference between an effective 92 mile an hour fast ball, and one that more leisurely floats up the plate, the ball being struck by the batter and being driven out of the stadium.

Football. The local professional football team, the San Diego Chargers at times has had two quarterbacks of approximately equal skills. The coach might wonder which of them he should play on a given Sunday. The author befriended a former Charger professional football coach. Conversation evolved gently to "Hersey Cycles" of the two quarterbacks. Chart their moods, and then select the one whose mood cycle was most positive. This effort could both improve team play, and it could reduce the risk of personal injury. The recommendation was not implemented although the critical documents were placed on the team trainer's desk.

Tennis. There was a moody tennis player with an Irish name. He was interviewed by a newspaper reporter on his poor performance during a recent tournament. To which he replied,
"I just couldn't think…just couldn't do anything." This honest confession by a moody tennis star suggested that fans paying to see him play on days at his emotional low point were paying to watch him play at about 90 percent of his optimal tennis self. Certainly the public would be better served should the famous tennis player limit his professional appearances to the weeks when he felt most positive.

Going further, beyond tennis and football and baseball, other professional athletes might benefit from charting their moods. Which are the days when relay runners are most likely to drop the batons? What about the downhill skiers and ice skaters? Hersey knew that boxers could place their lives in jeopardy when fighting at the lowest phase of their monthly cycle. Consider too race drivers their reflexes slowed during the down phase of their emotions at risk for smashing their cars against the wall or against the car of a competing driver, possibly resulting in paralysis or death. With such enormous purses paid to winners, a race driver cutting back on tour appearances could still earn a fantastic income. The upshot is that even a 10 percent difference between up and down days could have a large impact on sports performances.

Airplane Pilots

Hersey asked why airlines do not require their pilots to chart their emotional highs and lows. Hersey believed that for moody pilots it was "absolutely suicidal" to permit an airline pilot to leave the ground because at such times his was unable to control his physical condition. All major airlines, according to Hersey, should be equipped to provide the necessary tests, especially to pilots flying long distances across the county and over foreign territories.

Beyond Airplane Pilots, Athletes, Entertainers and Talk Show Hosts

Who else on earth needs to chart their rhythms? This list must include submarine crews and researchers living in Antarctic huts. Packed close together sharing their space and air, the submarine crew members might consider charting their monthly cycles. The Antarctic researchers, captives in their huts for a large portion of the year, they, like the submariners, would be wise to chart and compare their mood cycles.

If the submariners and Antarctic researchers are prisoners to their environments, think about real prisoners. Those incarcerated have monthly mood cycles, and days of the month when they are more likely to be violent. Knowing in advance these potentially violent days would be useful information for prison guards who also might chart their potentially violent days. Prisons suggest the success and failure of prosecuting attorneys and defense lawyers.

They too could benefit by charting emotional cycles in themselves and witnesses, jury members and the judge. Attorneys also run for public office, meaning that they too confront the media during all phases of their monthly cycle. They could benefit from knowing the days when they are likely to feel they are standing on the deck of a sinking ship.

Men working the large cranes during skyscraper construction and their counterparts designing complex software while working in an office could also benefit from charting moods. Should there be history buffs among you reading these words, consider how astonishingly moody were national leaders during World War II when 55 million people died. Critical wartime decisions were made by the likes of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Charles DeGaulle, Josef Stalin and their close advisors. How different might world history between 1940 and 1945 had each of these moody leaders been informed of the precise phase of their mood cycles -- the better to defeat their moodiest of adversaries, Adolf Hitler, whose mood cycle could also be charted. Imagine how different world history might have been had aides charted and analyzed the mood swings of wartime leaders paying special attention to the arrival of the positive peaks and negative troughs of their cycling moods.


HERSEY'S MONTHLY EMOTIONAL CYCLE AS A NEW PARADIGM FOR THE 2010s

By now, the basic argument should be clear. After 30 years of charting monthly emotional cycles, the author believes that a better world and a new consciousness lies ahead when leaders and the public alike follow the advice of Rexford B. Hersey, Albert Wiggam, Donald Laird, Gay Gaer Luce and the many scientists and intellectuals who advocated the study of inner rhythmicity as the vital factor for gaining self knowledge. The benefits of charting moods and discovering one's own inner drum beat can hardly be overstated. The new paradigm of knowing any person's unique rhythms can change the lives of as many men as women seeking to know themselves in the most profound ways.

The self-discovery of Hersey Cycles stands in direct opposition to the more familiar paradigm that has prevailed at least since the 1960s. Library shelves have been filled with books declaring how emotional rhythmicity represents the precursor to mental illness. Young people for the past four decades have lived in the shadow of diagnoses when normal mood shifts can be interpreted by medical professionals as the precursor to a bipolar disorder. The concept that every man experiences a monthly emotional cycle remains to these children a distant thought. And how many of their mothers automatically seek medications for their PMS?

There is now a better way and that is to take seriously the advice of Rexford B. Hersey to delay taking drugs before the cycles in the brain are well understood. Instead, for four decades our technological civilization has treated emotional rhythms as being more akin to mental disease. Rather than having men spend months charting moods in men as they did after reading about cycles in popular magazines, recent generations have grown up being prescribed drugs whose biological effects remain largely unknown. If the disease and medication paradigm is not remain permanent, now is a superb time to review the normal paradigm, after 40 precisely 40 years.


CONCLUSION: THERE IS NOW A BETTER WAY TO LIVE OUR LIVES

There is now a better way for people to live their lives than endless attempts to abolish moods with drugs. That is to imagine that the human mind is a natural ecosystem descended from the heavens. The cycles of the sun and moon have been adopted by astrology as determinants for personality and the mental life. Unlike Astrology, however, the updated Hersey paradigm now emerging can be traced to particular sites on the DNA. The science is called Chronomics, and it is the study of natural rhythms that we all have.

Everyone reading these words, according to Hersey and Luce and the author, experiences a monthly emotional cycle. The personal cycle may be unrelated to what you have read during the past 20 years. Yet from about 1930 to about 1955 readers of popular publications received regular instruction on how to detect personal emotional rhythms that were the source of personal well-being and ill-being, sense of humor, sex, appetite, sicknesses, and anticipations for the future.

What you must do, now, 75 years since Hersey's astonishing discovery, and 35 years since Luce advised men to map out their time cycles, is to begin at once to chart your moods. Here, very slightly modified is the Hersey thirteen-point scale for energy and emotion:

Elated……………………………….+6
Glowing……………………………..+5
Cooperative………………………….+3
Pleasant feelings…...………………..+2
Positive………………………………+1
Neutral……………………………….0
Negative…………………..…………-1
Peevish and Irritable…………………-2
Pessimistic …..………………………-3
Disgusted…………………………….-4
Despondent…………………………..-5
Worrying……………………………..-6

This simple metric for charting mood energies kept on a desk calendar requires no medical machines or prescriptions. What you must purchase is a notebook for capturing emotions during the day and a dream journal for remembering dreams at night. It is wise for you also to answer the questions presented earlier in this article, and to add your own questions to unerringly place yourself on the thirteen-point scale. Have no fixed expectations that your emotional cycle is 28 or 33 or 42 days. Just be honest, and know that you are in charge of charting your cycles and analyzing them carefully. Identify the prevalent emotions in your dreams as well and you are well on the way to profoundly knowing yourself.

Know too that in the not-too-distant future it should be possible from a single self-examination, or simple measurement or chemical analysis of a drop of blood or some other physical indicators to determine precisely your position on the emotional cycle. On that blessed day it will be possible for me to know when it is that day of the month, and women to smile knowing that both sexes monthly ride up and down on their monthly emotional cycles.

New Paradigm