Convincing parents apnea isnt bad (HELP)

[thin_air]

help, my mom, having seemingly forgotten that i enjoy holding my breath, saw me do a 3min. static and went nuts (actually she only saw the last minute, the contractions which is the worst part)

anyway, i need some help proving that apnea doesnt kill braincells ( "I" already know it doesnt kill (that m)any) and i also need help proving that its not going to stop my growth and mental developement..

i have already spoken to her about the issues discussed in the "apnea promotes genius" thread, and she was skeptical, i also told her that im not starving my self of O2 because im still concious(therefore enough O2 to function...) and i also told her the part about it being good for respiration rate and heartrate...

i need some other arguments

HELP PLEASE

thanks

[Gabriel]

It is a well known fact that no one can commit suicide by holding (voluntarily) their breath. The brain protects itself by shutting down consciousness before any type of damage occurs (and then the autonomous nervous system enters into action to initiate breathing again). So the dangers of apnea as a sport do not relate to damage due to lack of oxygen (at least if after a blackout the subject can breathe again, which of course will not happen if he/she is under water without a respirator). In fact, there are many reasons to suspect that apnea training is good for the brain, as discussed on another thread. The standard myth about the 5 minute time span before permanent brain damage occurs is only applicable AFTER THE SUBJECT HAS LOST CONSCIOUSNESS.

I am sorry for not having time to write more for the moment but I hope this helps.

(Ill be back to the forums soon I hope, sorry to keep some threads incomplete).

Gabriel

[Gabriel]

thin_air:

You can tell your mother to post her worries here. I am sure we will all be happy to debate with her and answer questions.

The type of stress induced by holding breath repeatedly does not stunt growth and most certainly the enormous production of norepinephrine induced by this stress actually promotes physical and mental activity.

One suggestion is for you to buy ThinkFast, that way you can prove to your mother (in an objective way) that your training is actually making you smarter and since this program can be used to measure mental decline any damage that she suspects you are causing yourself can be picked up by the daily testing.

Probably what worries her the most is the disturbing spectacle of the contractions and the enormous amount of stress trough which you undergo as you hold your breath (not a pretty sight to be sure). Just remember her that the same type of observation can be made of training with heavy weights (and doing so in the proper manner is actually health enhancing).

Semi-starvation can strengthen brain cells (the constant "shedding off" of brain cells as we age can be retarded by such a stimulus) and almost certainly apnea causes oxygen starvation so you can draw the proper conclusion.

I hope this helps.

Gabriel

[thin_air]

thanks gabriel,

that helps alot, (and now i have an excuse to get them to pay for thinkfast... i was looking at the program but i dont have enough mula$$$$)

now for trying to convince her, the hard part


thanks for the help

[Gabriel]

The difficult part in convincing a mother (I say this from experience) lies in the way "they" think. You will not convince her with purely rational arguments. When she saw you contracting she immediately knew there was something really wrong with that. And yes, when you are actually asphyxiating yourself THERE IS SOMETHING TERRIBLY WRONG HAPENING!. Your body interprets this as a treat to his continuous existence. That is why the immediate effects are so powerful. Your mother’s intuition scared her because she actually saw something really bad happening to you. But the important thing is WHAT HAPENS AS A RESULT (ADAPTATIONS) OF SUCH A STRESS. And what will happen with continuous training is that brain oxygenation procedures will be tremendously strengthened as a way to protect you from such treats. And this is the basis of the many beneficial effects that result from this protocol So in fact, even if the immediate result looks scary (the actual asphyxia) the end result is immensely beneficial (the brain optimizes blood flow trough it and therefore it gets much more nutrients and oxygen). So as you see (and can explain to her) your mothers intuition was right, at the moment of asphyxia your body is in a state of emergency, but not only this does not damage a single brain cell, it actually strengthens your mind!.

Good luck!

Gabriel

[ApneaBlue]

This is what I told my mom when she said that I was killing brain cells...

Mom, well, you see, since I don't drink, smoke, or take drugs like others my age I think by the time we are all older I will normal everyone else...I just choose to kill my brain cells in a different way.

So that didn't work but she didn't stop me

But on a serious note...Damage doesn't occur until after the brain shuts everything down.

<- after a long static

[Amphibious]

Hey lil'Buddy - I started the breath-holding thing young too. My mom went ape when she found out. the CNN report about "worlds most dangerous sport" didn't help either!

The winning argument was that my chossen past-time was absolute contradiction to drug use and alcohol abuse. hard to freedive hungover (btdt).

Seemed to ease her worries - figured that if I spent my highschool days in the bottom of a pool I was less likely to need bail money

and besides - chicks dig big fins - and I always had the best view of the swim team

(I know - can't help it - just a pervert with a fetish for rubber suits)


Willer