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HOW THINKING ABOUT PAIN MAY CHANGE IT

Friday, April 1, 2022

In today’s newsletter, how women dared to rule the high seas and told off boorish airline passengers; the awesome honey from ‘stingless bees' … and the dazzling rock formations where dinosaurs once stood.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK THIESSEN, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

It’s not all in your head. However, can pain get worse if you ruminate on it, mentally exaggerate its level, or feel helpless in the face of it?

There’s a scale that measures this kind of thinking, or what researchers call “catastrophizing.” A growing number of studies document how scoring high on this scale correlates with poorer health outcomes.

For some experiencing chronic pain (an estimated 20 percent of Americans do) a new treatment called pain reprocessing therapy may offer hope, Nat Geo reports. A key part involves reprogramming the brain to teach patients that their ongoing agony may be caused by misfiring neural circuits related to a dread of pain. The world is awaiting solutions that don’t involve possibly addictive opioids or prescription drugs of any kind.

Read our full story here.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT CLARK, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Above, neuroscientist Vitaly Napadow uses electroencephalography to track the brain wave patterns of patients with chronic lower back pain. At top, Hannah LeBuhn, who suffers from jaw pain, watches the mesmerizing motion of jellyfish on a virtual reality headset in Luana Colloca’s University of Maryland lab.

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EARTH MONTH: ARTICLE OF THE DAY

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

PHOTOGRAPH BY EFRAIN PADRO, ALAMY

These dazzling rock formations stand where dinosaurs once roamed (pictured above)

A relentless fascination with the relics of ancient life catapulted her into a storied career in archaeology

How flower festivals are moving amid changing climate

Why national parks are cracking down on fireworks and e-bikes

Wave of ‘COVID toes’ still has scientists stumped

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

PHOTOGRAPH BY @BRENTSTIRTON

One guide—and the lesson of patience: This Tuareg person or nomadic Amazigh once led Nat Geo Explorer Brent Stirton around the fabled city of Timbuktu. The boy, who identified himself as Anara, also peddled his handmade jewelry to tourists, and to Stirton and Nat Geo colleague and writer Peter Gwin. Shortly after the two journalists left, rebels took control over the city and Westerners were forced to leave. Today, Mali is still plagued by instability. Stirton later learned that Anara died in a motorbike accident. “Now when I’m somewhere getting hustled by young street kids, I try a little harder to be patient, remembering Anara,” Stirton writes.

THE SCRIBES OF TIMBUKTU

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALBA CAMBEIRO

Faith, art, history: The Sultan Ahmed Mosque gets its nickname “Blue Mosque” from the blue hue given off by the thousands of İznik tiles in geometric and floral designs that decorate the Istanbul structure’s walls. The place of worship, one of 3,000 in Turkey’s largest city, features four half-domes around its main central dome, as well as hundreds of panels of stained glass.

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OVERHEARD AT NAT GEO

ILLUSTRATION BY SARA GÓMEZ WOOLEY

Ahoy there! Move over, Blackbeard and Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow. Did you know a woman pirate commanded a force of 70,000 buccaneers? With serious planning and negotiating skills, Ching Shih rose from a job in a floating brothel to lead a fleet of raiders in early-19th century China, we learn in this week’s episode of the Overheard podcast. “I’m not saying she was all love and kumbaya, but I think she certainly had a lot of skills that were not all murder and cutthroat activity,” historian Dian Murray tells host Amy Briggs. Ching Shih (illustrated above) was just one of several renowned women pirates, says Leigh Lewis, author of Pirate Queens: Dauntless Women Who Dared to Rule the High Seas.

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LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY BETTMANN ARCHIVE, GETTY IMAGES

Ire in the skies: Once upon a time, airlines ran salacious and sexist ads featuring flight attendants as part of their marketing strategy. In the skies, passengers often belittled, disrespected, and groped flight attendants. In 1972, fed up with unruly passengers, a group calling themselves Stewardesses for Women’s Rights fought back. (In the undated photo above, TWA flight attendants picket for a pay raise.) Female flight attendants began striking and lobbying for better treatment and higher wages in the 1960s and ’70s, Nat Geo reports. Unfortunately, abuse of flight attendants has soared during the COVID pandemic.

THE TIME THEY WALKED

This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Monica Williams, and Jen Tse. Have feedback for us? We’d love to hear from you at [email protected].

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