As you may know, a report came out in the news the other day that between 2007 and 2010 the net worth of the average American dropped by 40%. Times of economic scarcity can help generate the exact kind of stress and deprivation that can bring on low temperatures and “hibernation mode”.
What’s interesting is that in our day and age such a physiologic response can be mal-adaptive.
If we were hunter-gatherers and food was scarce then slowing of the metabolism would be a good thing. However, no matter how tough things get in the United States, most people still have access to plenty of food. Low temperatures and plenty of food make it easy to gain a lot of weight.
Also, symptoms of fatigue, depression, and headaches might be adaptive if you’re a cave man because it might keep you from burning energy you don’t have and can’t replace (leading to starvation). But, such symptoms in these days are going to make it very hard to be productive so people can earn the income they need.
It’s always amazing to me how much of these symptoms can be due to just a low temperature. Of course, it’s natural to feel down during times of scarcity. But what’s amazing is the change that can occur in someone’s disposition by just normalizing their body temperatures! In a matter of days, people can start coming back to life and feeling well again, even though the conditions of scarcity haven’t changed at all! Very convincing indeed.
By getting their temperatures up, people’s minds tend to clear and they are often able to see opportunities and act on them when they were unable to before. Life can be much different at 98.6F. Normalizing your low temperature may help you have much more energy so you can be happier and get much more accomplished much more easily in these difficult times.
Best regards,
Denis Wilson, MD
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