Orchids, Dandelions, Blue and Yellow

[Athena]

A few days ago I read an article about how the short version of the "Transporter Gene" predisposes a person to suffering more from stressful situations than a person with the long version of the gene. They categorize these people "Yellow people" and "Blue people".

Today, I read in the newspaper about "Orchid Children". The description sounded so similar to that for the "Blue People" in the article above. The fact that I heard about something from two completely different sources talking about essentially the same thing really piqued my curiosity, so I googled “Orchid children and transporter gene.” It appears they are talking about the same thing, but are using different words. At any rate, the implications of the research are incredible - for parents of Orchid children, and also for people who were likely Orchid children (or Blue people) with poor parenting or a stressful environment growing up.

Maybe this is common knowledge for a lot of people around here, but I have never heard of either term, and as I am trying everything I can to get rid of lifelong depression and found some "hope" if not for myself then for my kids from reading about this concept, I wanted to share it and also get some feedback. (I also posted this in the "General Parenting" forum to get different feedback - under "Orchid Children")

Here are the links that I found really interesting:

http://www.psycheducation.org/mechanism/MechanismIntro.htm

http://jezebel.com/5421559/orchid-children-a-new-way-of-looking-at-genetics-and-our-brains

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/12/the-science-of-success/7761/

[AbbyNormal]

I see a lot of information in the last two articles, especially, that I can keep in mind as the mom of a 2-year-old. It also gives me some hope, especially about the opportunity for change as an orchid-type myself. I have always thought that both nature and nurture worked together in myriad ways to create who a person is. This research seems to support it.

I'll admit that I didn't read through all of the material in the first link, though. I think that I'm a little overwhelmed by the length of it.

[Athena]

I haven't read all of the first link either. I hope I get my brain back tomorrow when my kids go back to school. I've found it next to impossible to concentrate until they are asleep.:eek: