Mood

From Civilized Elegance to Cheery and Casual, Your Table Can Set the Mood for the Holidays

"Do you have shells for any of your guns?" "Bought some shells last weekend. I hid 'em in the lockbox. Makes me feel better knowin' they're there." Billy Parker's world is coming apart, one question at a time. His life and his problems are fictitious, but he is modeled after real soldiers in trouble: He wants to kill himself. He has a plan all worked out, and he'll sit and talk about it onscreen with anyone who has a computer. Conversations last from 15 to 45 minutes.

Rescued prisoner of war Jessica Lynch's mood has been lifted by visits from her family at a hospital in Landstuhl -- not to mention the applesauce she had been craving and a teddy bear with a red, white and blue ribbon. In one of Lynch's first phone conversations with her parents after her rescue, she said she hadn't eaten in eight days. At Landstuhl, she put in her order: turkey, steamed carrots and applesauce. But until the applesauce, she was being fed intravenously.

The next big trends relate to technology and to holistic health and well-being. "Happy" cosmetics sound like a precursor of what is being called "Mood Beauty," which is one of the overarching worldwide beauty trends that forecaster Mintel International Group predicts for this year. The trends listed below are subsets of what the company identifies as the two mega-trends: one related to technology and the other to holistic health and well-being. Mood Beauty These beauty products claim to induce a more positive mood or help you sleep better by acting on your neurotransmitters.

The Food and Drug Administration said it was investigating a possible link between Merck's drug Singulair and suicide. The agency said it was reviewing reports involving mood changes and suicidal behavior in patients who had taken the allergy and asthma drug.

Dolores Merino of Los Angeles was on vacation in Cuba early this month when she came across these women in old Havana who brightened the mood.    

Giving new meaning to the nickname Dr. Feelgood, Claremont Graduate University is establishing what it says is the world's first psychology doctoral program focusing largely on an age-old question: What makes people happy? This is no New Age enterprise. The PhD program in the emerging field of positive psychology marks an advance for serious research into human happiness and related quality-of-life concerns.

"Hatred Often Lurks in the Shadows of Mania" by Dr. Julian Lieb (Commentary, Feb. 16) is an example of misinformation which is presented in an illogical manner and stigmatizes the mentally ill. As a practicing psychiatrist for over 25 years, it has been my experience that those afflicted with manic-depressive disorder (or bipolar disorder, as it is currently named) are no more filled with hatred than the population in general. It is those who have been victims of abuse by parents and society who are most filled with rage and paranoia.

One need only look at the recent introduction of chocolate Cheerios to fully grasp Americans' fondness for the pulp from cacao beans. Savoring chocolate is normal. But, researchers said Monday, overindulging in it could be a marker for depression. Researchers at UC San Diego and UC Davis examined chocolate consumption and other dietary intake patterns among 931 men and women who were not using antidepressants. The participants were also given a depression screening test. Those who screened positive for possible depression consumed an average of 8.4 servings of chocolate — defined as one ounce of chocolate candy — per month.

What Slaughter has to say is, sadly, very true; I have perceived what he describes. But my perception is that bigotry is but a part of a swelling tide of intolerance in this country. The mood began seeping to the surface during the Reagan Administration, which made us feel comfortable with our prejudices. Not only are blacks' civil rights being threatened, but also the civil rights of other minorities and women. What a striking coincidence that this mood of bigotry and intolerance is worsening as Christian fundamentalists are becoming more politically active.