Quitting smoking can help mental health; it’s possible to practice too much; and Bill Nye’s tips for believing science.
Learn about why quitting smoking is good for your mental health, too; and why it’s possible to practice too much. We’ll also answer a listener question about how to get people to believe science, with some help from a special guest, Bill Nye.
Quitting smoking is good for your mental health, too by Steffie Drucker
It's Possible to Practice Too Much by Mae Rice
How to get people to believe science, with special guest Bill Nye (listener question from Michelle via HiHo):
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/how-to-change-minds-w-bill-nye
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about why quitting smoking is good for your mental health, too; and why it’s possible to practice too much. We’ll also answer a listener question about how to get people to believe science, with some help from a special guest, Bill Nye.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
We all know smoking is bad for your physical health. It’s the world’s number one cause of preventable illness and death, and half of smokers will die of a smoking-related disease unless they quit. But that’s not all. Scientists have also discovered quitting smoking improves mental health, and the benefits can be felt in a matter of weeks.
That might be surprising, since smoking is commonly used as a stress reliever. Nicotine is the addictive chemical in cigarettes, and it races to the brain within 10 seconds and stimulates the release of dopamine, a pleasure hormone. So at first, smoking does give people an immediate sense of relaxation. But it doesn’t actually address the underlying causes for people’s anxiety. And regular nicotine use changes the brain so smokers need more and more of the chemical to feel good. And when they don’t get enough, they get withdrawal symptoms, like depression and anxiety — which can be reduced with more nicotine. So while it may seem like a cigarette provides an instant mood boost, it actually makes smokers feel worse over time!
Many smokers are reluctant to quit because they’re concerned it would worsen their mental health. And because smoking is often a social activity, some are also afraid they’d lose friends if they quit. It’s no wonder then that 27 percent fewer people tried to quit smoking during 2020, or that pandemic stress and isolation drove cigarette sales up.
But researchers at the University of Bath found that these mental health fears are unfounded — and the opposite is actually true. They performed a Cochrane review — that’s the international gold standard when it comes to research reviews — and used evidence from more than 100 studies involving nearly 170,000 participants. They combined the results of 73 studies that measured changes in ex-smokers’ mental health after quitting, including whether they developed a diagnosed disorder. People who stopped smoking for at least six weeks experienced less anxiety, depression, and stress than those who continued. They also reported feeling more positive emotions and better psychological wellbeing overall. And what about friendships? Well, there were no signs that ex-smokers’ friends ditched them after quitting. Just like with the mental benefits, some found that their social wellbeing improved, too.
So hopefully these findings will help smokers breathe easier when it comes to quitting. Withdrawal symptoms last a few weeks, but better health and happiness are on the other side.
Practice makes perfect, right? But how much practice is the right amount? According to research from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, if you practice a physical task to the point of exhaustion, you’re practicing too much. That kind of practice can actually make you worse.
The 2019 study could have looked at any task — tennis, guitar playing, blackjack dealing — but they kept it simple. They went with pinching. They gave each participant a device that measured force — think a carnival grip test, but portable — and asked them to pinch it between their thumb and forefinger. Then, the participants practiced varying the intensity of their pinch to move a cursor across a screen.
One group practiced past the point of muscle fatigue, where their maximum grip on the device started weakening. Another group stopped just before that point.
Sure enough, people who practiced to exhaustion mastered the pinching task more slowly than those who didn’t. That’s even after a second day of practice where they didn’t practice to exhaustion. The fatigued group had to train for two extra days to catch up to their less-practiced peers.
Even more amazing, when both groups were asked to learn the same task with the other hand — the hand they hadn’t practiced with — the fatigued group was still worse off than the other group!
That shows that this wasn’t due to fatigue damaging their pinching muscles. Instead, it went all the way to their brains. When researchers used magnetic fields on the fatigued participants to disrupt their primary motor cortex — that’s the brain region responsible for learning new motor skills — they learned faster than they did when their motor cortices were working normally.
In other words, muscle fatigue seemed to impact the brain's ability to learn.
Interestingly, though, when it came to cognitive tasks, like pressing 10 computer keys in order, over-practicing was less damaging.
This study did have some limitations. For one, it only spanned a few days, so didn’t capture any long-term effects. And some physical activities, like basketball, for instance, require a mix of physical prowess and strategic thinking, so it’s not clear how over-practicing might affect those.
But it’s definitely worth thinking twice before you push yourself to the limit — not just because you might hurt yourself, but because it might make you worse in the long run.
ASHLEY: We got a listener question from Michelle in Los Angeles — but it’s not actually for us. It’s for Bill Nye! Because SOMEBODY mentioned on social media that we were going to interview him.
CODY: Dude I’ve been a little social media obsessed lately. I’ve been spending more time on Twitter and Reddit, I’m on Clubhouse… I was trying out this new social video app called HiHo, and I got super addicted to it, and I went on there and I was like “hey, we’re gonna talk to Bill Nye…” it spiraled out of control, Ashley. SPIRALED OUT OF CONTROL.
ASHLEY: Sure. Anyway, Take a listen.
[CLIP 0:20]
ASHLEY: Great question, Michelle! Bill Nye has been helping people understand science for decades. So we passed along your question to find out how HE gets people to come around, and trust the research.
[CLIP 2:20]
ASHLEY: So remember: repetition is effective. And that’s coming straight from Bill Nye — The science guy! You can find links to pick up his latest book, and listen to his podcast “Science Rules.” in today’s show notes.
Leave us a voicemail at 312-596-5208!
CODY: Before we recap what we learned today, here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll hear next week on Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Next week, you’ll learn about why narcissism may actually be driven by insecurity;
The moon’s comet-like tail that collides with Earth once a month;
A 5-step process for finding work-life balance;
The origins of treadmills as torture devices;
And more! Okay, so now, let’s recap what we learned today.
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CODY: Today’s stories were written by Steffie Drucker and Mae Rice, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Scriptwriting was by Cody Gough and Sonja Hodgen. Today’s episode was produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Have a great weekend, and join us again Monday to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!