How Do We Deal with Regret?

The article, “You Won’t Regret Reading This,” by Gregory B Bissonette, Daniel W Bryden, and Matthew R. Roesch is used in the talk given by Brian Sweis. This study focuses on how the OFC and ventral striatum are involved in how animals feel about decisions they have made or will make in the future. Scientists developed an experiment where a rat was put in a maze with several different reward zones, each containing a different type of food.  Once they enter the zone, a sound is triggered that lets the rat know how long it will have to wait. When a rat becomes impatient, they move on to the next zone. However, if that zone takes even more time or even the same amount of time as the first zone they were at, they will look back at the first zone which scientists interpret as regret. They connect this behavior to the OFC and ventral striatum because of the brain activity that is detected in those areas when a rat is experiencing what they understand as regret. With humans, it has been observed that people with damaged OFCs do not experience regret as well as people with schizophrenia. This experiment helps pinpoint how regret is formulated in the human brain, which can eventually help develop new techniques for treating people with damage to the OFC and mental disorders.

            An article that relates the to Brian Sweis’s talk is called, “How to Deal with Regret, “ by Natalie Caine. This article approaches the concept of regret from a less scientific perspective compared to the article discussed in the first paragraph.  Caine discusses how several people experience the feeling of regret in their lives. She gives examples relating to retired individuals, people unhappy with the jobs they have had for several years, and even older couples that regret not having grandchildren earlier. Some people accept regret in their lives and others dwell and sulk over it. Caine offers several coping mechanisms for people experiencing regret. A few ideas that stood out in this article relate to specific things people can do to make themselves feel better about their situation. If someone is experiencing regret, the main cure is to reflect on it through writing, walking through nature, or even discussing what one regrets with another person. Once people open up about their regrets in life, they can start to accept it and move forward instead of being critical about everything they wish they could have done. Caine suggests that regret is a learning process and you must reflect in order to move forward in life.

            Both of these articles discuss the idea of regret in different ways. “You Won’t Regret Reading This, “ approached this idea from a biological perspective. On the other hand, “How to Deal with Regret,” presents the issues with regret from a more psychological perspective. Even though these two articles do not discuss the same mechanisms for regret, they both offer insights to how people can relieve regret in their lives. It seems that “You Won’t Regret This” is a nice segue way into practicing the different options one can utilize when experiencing regret that is discussed in Caine’s article. The scientific proof for where regret originates from can help psychologists use the techniques in Caine’s article for different types of patients. Overall, both articles positivity contribute to the cause and cure for regret.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2015/03/17/how-to-deal-with-regret/
Picture: http://kyliemcgirr.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Rat-in-Maze.jpg