Yes. Meditation. We can also alter our brain chemistry through diet, sleep and exercise. All healthy ways to moderate our brain chemistry. Much better than drugs - which usually come with side effects. My story: Crazy low testosterone. Tons of tests. Everything checked out normal (facial hair patterns, sperm count, etc. ) other than my penis being small but not small enough to be medically significant. The urologist cautioned me against going on T-therapy. If you get it from the doctors . . . your body stops making it. Some people end up on a roller coaster of T going way too high, then too low and if you stop the T-therapy, then your body is really screwed. I was able to raise my testosterone to the low end of normal range with improved diet, sleep and exercise. My understanding of testosterone is that it is inversely proportional to cortisol levels. Low T = high stress and anxiety. High T = less stress. It does lead to increased muscle mass, which might reinforce aggressive tendencies, but wouldn't less stress help to reduce aggression? Or maybe it feeds the confidence to act aggressively.
But then again we also have data that shows that there's a relation between T and the drive for aggression in males of many species.
Stress and anxiety is difficult shadow to overcome, but I think blind resistance is what makes the issue persist. Also, a belief system tailored to believing its all due to genetics, robs you of any mental power against it and that sets up a losing battle. As someone who shares a struggle with anxiety/stress, I can mention that my better days are when I stick to a routine and prioritize self-care, amongst the things I mentioned in the last post. A predisposition does not mean a life sentence, it just means a dedication to discipline in certain avenues. I don't buy into a chemical imbalance theory. I believe the only "mechanism" that will assist in the regard of aggression is simple, education in emotional management and proper expression from a very young age. I don't think the answer comes from any down regulation on a hormonal spectrum.
Be wary of chocolate, it can be anxiety inducing, especially for someone who is prone to it. Stay clear from anything with sugar/caffeine in it.
It really isn't a slippery slope. And looking at the health benefits of having high testosterone and the difference between men with low T and high T when it comes to their quality of life, it's clear that the benefit is greater when a man has higher T
In a way yes, my father, but he manages it differently. My tendency is to go inwards and self-destruct when it happens, he keeps himself busy and works physically or mentally to distract from the event. I have made large improvements over time, but I still have work to do in this category. How about you?
It's only because you aren't looking at the damaging side-effects of T. Testosterone is among the basic reasons men are more impulsive than women, and also more prone to violence on average than women. Which comes with a whole load of problems and threatens to destabilize society. On the other hand, it's true that T decline had been a key point in human evolution, and somehow human males found a way to adapt to this change without experiencing the destabilising side-effects of T decline. So how did that happen ?
My biological father too, he always told my mother I inherited his restlessness and hyperactive brain.
I would argue that the destabilizing side effect are happening, but there are so many unhealthy distractions and medications that sedate someone, these things have poor stitches keeping the man running, seemingly normally. Even though the reality is, that he is suffering daily.
Taking a step away from our disagreements , I know that anxiety and stress are very difficult to handle, I do hope you find some form of solace and improvement with this in your life.
It's only because you aren't looking at the healing side-effects of T. Testosterone is among the basic reasons men are able to live happy healthy lives, and prone to protecting on average people weaker than them. Which comes with a whole lot of benefits and stabilizes society. On the other hand, it's untrue that T decline had been a key point in human evolution, and definitely men have not found a way to adapt to this change without experience the horrendous effects that T decline has on their bodies. So how did this happen?
That's because the mechanism through which our ancestors experienced a decline isn't the same that is happening now. The decline our ancestors experienced was the product of natural selection, meaning that males with natural lower T levels survived and reproduced more, not that the males who had naturally higher T levels experienced a drop and found a way to coexist with it. Then again another question comes, is how did natural selection favour males with lower T levels ? Yeah, thanks. I hope you do too.
Thanks. I'm not so sure of this, I believe that our ancestors decline in Testosterone is due to periods of complacency and over satiation and indulgence in easy pleasures(of their time). Perhaps the men with higher T, were the outliers of their society, meaning they were looked down upon for not partaking in over satiation and indulgence. Women to this day find physical traits that are tied to higher T levels attractive(Chiseled face etc), so I cannot agree with what you are saying about natural selection favouring males with lower T and I don't believe there is any clear and accurate way of proving that it is the way you mention going back historically. I believe the general male population's decrease in Testosterone over periods of time come from what I mentioned above and the acute decrease in our current age comes from over indulgence, high stress, environmental factors , poor nutritional density of foods and poor emotional management, which leads them to aggressive behaviours.
It depends on the culture you live in. For example in South East Asia, the beauty standards are much different. And the growing popularity of Asian media is also shifting the beauty standards in the west. There's also the possibility that males with higher T levels were more prone to aggression and therefore regularly instigated conflicts, and threatened the social cohesion the group deseperately needs to maintain in order to maximize their chances of survival. Hence the males with higher T levels were either killed off, or exiled from their group. Except that this a genetic trait we're talking about, something that can be transmitted from one generation to the next. The Testorsterone decline that arises from nutrition, stress or whatever environemental cause, isn't a genetic trait that can be transmitted to the following generation of males.
I believe that this is due to the factors I mentioned above, women’s hormones have also been affected and men have become more effeminate. All those factors influence genetic switches that reside in the genome which influence genetic traits and down regulates the average over time. We are talking about very slow and steady alterations over time and from one generation to the next. Each establishing a new norm, not that it’s favourable. If the decrease in T were an asset for reduction in male aggression, you would see a sharp decline in todays day and age. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2373379/ https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/science/gene-env/index.cfm
This is a really interesting Topic. What I say can be Pseudo Science but I had always the Feeling that the more my Father ate Meat, the more he gets aggressive. Maybe there is a clue that we eat the Stresses of other Animals Hormones after they get slaughtered that makes us aggressive and also behave Sadistic without to recognize that we are thinking or acting like this. (Of course this doesn't mean that vegetarians or vegans can't be aggressive as well) But my Father ate alot of Meat and he has beaten my Mother almost to Death. Her teeths were broken her chin were injured and she has spit alot of blood in the Past. This was a horrible Past in the 80s and 90s. May Father has died in 2017 of severe Illnesses. He made most of our Family Members mentally unstable because of his Actings. My oldest sister has corrected her nose because he made fun of her big nose which he said is "always going down in the soup." My other Sister were since his aggressive Actings always underweight. My Mother always screams and is sometimes hyperactive. The other Aspect is definetly: Education.!!! It is sad to see that even in Germany we are not educated enough that Violence against Woman and other beings such as Animals or Children is morally not okay. Even Topics like how to "First Aid" as a 12 year old and not to use Drugs is not enough being told in western society like in Schools. And then there is Education in Households. It is a complete Mess! And it doesn't matter anymore, if you are coming from a liberal or conservative Family. They fail unfortunately all together. And You know why? Most Parents today treat their Kids like Kings and Queens if thats not the case they abuse them mentally or physically. And both Family Education are failing. Only afew do it the right way. You have to show your kids some borders and love them the correct way and tell them that we should be standing for Peace or trying to protect other beings. And the other Point is massive consumption of PMO. You get really lazy with PMO and then Aggression comes with Laziness all along. Because you have enough from all work thst you want to do and experiencing a mental and physical Downfall.
