Well its a few days since the All Blacks were knocked out of the world cup. Reading the newspapers has been an interesting exercise. For those that dont watch or really like rugby, they cannot fathom why people are so upset and are chastising the media for making such a song and dance about it. For those All Black Fanatics (especially the ones who left NZ on a plane after the quarter finals to watch their favourite team in the semis and win the final) who wont get their fix, they are frustrated and angry and looking for someone to blame.

The reason for this split is simple. For those of us that love rugby and get a thrill out of seeing Rococoko slicing through the defence and get all tingly when Dan Carter slots another one through the uprights, we wont get our chemical reward. Its addictive that dopamine surge when the Blacks have smashed the Aussies or humbled the Boks. WE FEEL GREAT. Now we will be denied that surge of neurotransmitters. Instead of nourishing our pleasure centres we have activated our grumpy units. Gone is the dopamine, seorotonin and endorphins, replaced by Cortisol and other unhealthy substances.

We feel like crap, our mood descends and our view of the world becomes the wrong sort of black.

For those who do not suffer this physical addiction to watching footy, they are perplexed. Its like telling a smoker to JUST STOP or a Chocoholic to eat carrots. Thats not what drives the addictive chemicals in our hard drive (the brain)

Its a double whammy as for us footy addicts or even enthusiasists, we wont get our highs and we get a bad chemical buzz instead.

So if we are feeling a bit down, spare a thought for the chemical cascades the players and mangagement are feeling right now. They have been cut off at the knees (or should I say the limbic system).

Even the post match beers wont short term lift the mood, they are likely to make it worse.

I would be interested to see if the number of heart attacks, ulcers or cancers increase as a result of the loss. After 9/11 the number of heart attacks rose in the USA. Not just in the major centres but even in isolated areas. People felt threatened and stressed and unhealthy chemicals are released into the blood stream like cortisol which have nasty side effects.

The mind body link is now irrefutable. What we think not only determines how we feel, how we act but how our immune system acts. A positive attitide and healthy thinking can reduce the effects of cancer, reduce heart attacks, improve wound healing, survival with HIV and other diesases.

So the answer lies in our expectation and how we mange and process disappointment. An All Blacks loss gives us opportunity to do something else that can stimulate dopamine. Play footy with our kids, go for a walk, do something pleasurable. Turn those Lemons to Lemonade by changing your attitude and behaviour. Turn that cortisol into dopamine (in a roundabout way) by using Healthy Thinking. Changing your software program (your mind) can influence your hardware (your brain)

I remember Conrad Smith when he broke his leg in a game of rugby and missing a tour saying his first thought wasthinking, Now I can go and see U2 in concert! Now thats Healthy Thinking and I suspect his leg healed quicker for it.

Dr Tom Mulholland

Chief Emotional Architect

11.10.07