Mental Health | Quality of Life

Health is Important – Don’t Forget Your Brain as You Age

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When you’re working toward health, make sure you include your brain. Mental health matters, and there are plenty of ways you can improve it. Keep in mind, though, that there are some things you won’t be able to change. Aging, for example, isn’t a reversible process. You can do things to make yourself look younger, but there is no way to actually turn back the clock. If you accept aging as inevitable and look for the joys in it, you’ll likely feel a lot better about it. One of the things you can do to help yourself as you age is keep your mind active. Helping both your brain and body stay healthy can get you into old age much more easily – and help you enjoy your ‘golden years’ a lot more than you otherwise would.

Playing brain games and word games can help you stay mentally active. Even playing video games can help to keep your mind from aging too rapidly. The key is to find something that you enjoy and that exercises your mind. It could be a little bit of trial and error to find that, but don’t give up. There are certainly hobbies you enjoy or would like to take up, and not all of them are physical. As long as you do something that’s challenging mentally but not so difficult that you don’t enjoy it, you’ll be helping your mental health and keeping your brain more active and ‘young,’ even as you (and it) get older.

Sometimes, the health of your brain is something you can’t do anything about because of an illness or accident. People who have brain tumors, for example, often have trouble with their mental health and there are only so many things they can do about keeping their mind active. If the tumor presses on or damages part of the brain, it might not be possible to get the function you lost back entirely. In that case, working around the deficiency and still doing what you can for as long as you can will help your brain age better.

Filed Under: Health, Treatment, Tumor Tagged With: Ageing, Mental health, Tumor

Bipolar Disorder

Many people are dealing with bipolar disorder. You may think that you are alone and that there is nothing that you can do to help your disorder. The good news is that there are things that you can do. You may be wondering what bipolar disorder is. This is a disorder where you are not in control of your emotions and sometimes your actions. You may notice long periods of sadness or where you have the other extreme of a lot of energy.

There are some symptoms that you should look at when you are thinking about bipolar disorder. The first is long periods of depression. This means that you are sad for longer than a few days. You may also notice these symptoms come in cycles. These symptoms will come and go in these cycles monthly or weekly.

Another symptom is increased energy. You may notice that you are staying up late doing things that do not really need to be done right away. You may also notice that you are making choices that are not really the best for you. These choices can sometimes harm you or your family because you make choices that could hurt your finances or your relationships.

Another symptom that you may notice is that you feel as though you do not have control over your body and what you are doing. This can be a little scary and can make you feel like there is something really wrong with you. You should make sure that you talk to your doctor and let them know what you are feeling. That way they will be aware of what your problems are and how you are feeling about them. This can make a big difference when it comes to your health and dealing with the disease.

Filed Under: Addiction, Health, Rehab, Treatment Tagged With: Bipolar disorder, Disorders, Mental health

Questions About Depression

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Depression is a mental health feeling that often leaves a person with feelings of sadness or hopelessness. If you are suffering from what you think may be depression, you may have a lot of questions.

You may be wondering if depression is common. There are millions of people that suffer from depression each year. Whether it is because of the stress of daily life or if its true depression, the answer isn’t known. The use of antidepressants has climbed over the years, though.

You may be wondering if you have real depression or are just having depressed feelings because of an event in your life. If you are constantly depressed and the feeling has lasted every single day for more than two weeks, you may want to see someone about getting diagnosed.

If you are diagnosed with depression, you don’t have to be scared. You can feel relieved that you finally know what you have. You can be glad that there is medication out there that can help you. No longer will you have an unknown condition that nobody can figure out. Your feelings of hope may rise because you now feel as if there may be a solution.

You may be worried about what your friends and family will think. There is nothing embarrassing about being diagnosed with depression. Explain to your friends and family that you didn’t choose for this to happen and also that you want to get help for your disorder so that you can be on the path to wellness again.

If you are unsure of where to get help, talk to your doctor. He or she can point you in the direction of a psychologist that may be able to help you get rid of your depression. They can also find the right combination of medication that could work for you.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Depression, Disorders, Health, Major depressive disorder, Mental health, Mood, Mood disorder, Support group

What is Chronic Depression?

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Chronic depression, also known as dysthymia, is a form of depression that lasts for years. It is on a lower level, but it is still classified as a mental health disorder that needs treatment. Many people live for years with chronic depression and never think they can do anything about it.

This disorder is qualified as chronic depression because it lasts at least two years without any sign of going away. While chronic depression doesn’t affect a person’s daily functioning of life, it can prevent a person from achieving full happiness and the most out of life.

People with chronic depression can also suffer from symptoms such as insomnia, loss of appetite, overeating, fatigue, brain fog and helplessness. Chronic depression is often misdiagnosed, so some doctors fail to diagnose and treat it. However, once it is diagnosed, it can be treated with counseling and medical drugs.

Antidepressants are often used to treat chronic depression. If the patient doesn’t want to take drugs though, lifestyle changes can be made to help combat this mental health disorder. Changing your diet can often help with symptoms of low self-esteem. You may start to feel better about yourself if you start dieting and exercising. Exercise has proven to be a mood lifter as well.

You can also get help from family and friends. You are not alone and there are many people willing to help you. Join a support group so that you can listen to other people’s stories or even share your own. A group setting is ideal so that you can form a bond with the other members. Getting out and talking about why you are depressed may help you get out of that funk.

Don’t push family and friends away because all they are trying to do is help you. Taking any help you can get can be beneficial so that you can heal faster.

Filed Under: Health, Research Tagged With: Antidepressant, Depression, Disorders, Dysthymia, Health, Major depressive disorder, Mental health, Support group

Recognizing OCD in Children and Teens

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Obsessive compulsive disorder is one of the most crippling diseases in the world. Millions of people suffer from this disease everyday. The disease, which is characterized as an anxiety disorder where the patient will act out behaviors in a repetitive manner in order to quell and calm the anxiety, can form at any age but is usually noticed at a young age. As parents it is your job to try and find these traits in your children. They are not easy as all children can have behaviors that might seem odd or peculiar but that does not mean that they have a clinical disorder.

As a parent you must understand that the environment that your child is raised in can greatly affect them forming the disorder. A child who is raised in an environment that is chaotic and full of disorder will often use OCD as a way to cope with this lack of order in their life. If a child comes from a house where parental figures are shuffled in and out or if the routine of family life is not present children are at a great risk for OCD.

The other determining factor for a parent is the behavior of the child themselves. If a child likes to arrange blocks in a certain order during playtime there is nothing unusual about that. If the child continues to arrange blocks to the point where disrupting the blocks will cause the child to be unhappy or to set of any anxiety, then there might be an issue with the child’s coping skills. This could lead you to believe you might need to keep an eye on this behavior for it could be something that is developing into OCD. Watching for warning signs and monitoring your children’s behavior could lead you to catching the disease early.

Filed Under: Addiction Tagged With: Anxiety, Child, Disease, Disorders, Health, Mental health, Obsessive-Compulsive, Obsessive–compulsive disorder

Dealing With Teen Depression

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It’s often difficult for a parent to understand everything your child goes through. Certainly you were a kid once and understand the issues with heartache, peer pressure, and rejection. However, there are kids who have issues that extend far beyond the confines of normal teen angst. The reality is that teens suffer from real problems and none more so debilitating than depression.

Teen depression is a rising issue all over the world and one where there is an increasing importance to spot it early and make sure teens receive the clinical treatment they need. The harder part for a parent is approaching a teen about their depression. Often times parents are apprehensive to approach a teen for fear of how they would react.

The bottom line is that a parent must be willing to address the issue and address it in the right way. Without addressing the issue they are only allow the issue to become bigger and the effects of the depression can become harmful.

The key in a conversation with a teen is to come from a place of caring. Letting a teen know that they are loved and their feeling better is a top priority makes a difference in how the teen might feel about being approached. They will be resistant to help in most cases. They may not even understand the depths of their own depression.

While it is important to be nurturing and caring, it’s also important to be stern. Help is something that you cannot allow to go without. They need to be treated and so even if they are resistant to the idea of treatment it is up to the parents to make sure that they do whatever they have to do. Depression can be crippling but treatable. Don’t let a teen go without treatment.

Filed Under: Treatment Tagged With: Adolescence, Depression, Disorders, Health, John Curry, Major depressive disorder, Mental health, Parent

Symptoms of Depression

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Depression is a mental health disorder that results in emotional pain or sadness lasting more than two weeks. Depression can have a major affect on a person’s life. Those going through depression should seek help, especially if they are having thoughts of suicide. There are many symptoms that prevail in those that are suffering from depression.

A person suffering from this mental health condition often exhibits feelings of sadness or emptiness. They may often cry a lot, either by themselves or around other people. A depressed person may also have a lack of emotion about many things they would normally enjoy or care about.

Unexpected weight gain or loss may also be a sign in a person that is depressed. Insomnia is also another sign that a person might be going through this. Trouble sleeping may be the result of thinking too much, or just not having the will enough to sleep at night.

A loss of energy is common in depressed patients. Not having the motivation to do anything often results in fatigue and the ability to not care. One may also suffer from brain fog, which is the inability to think or make rational decisions.

A person going through depression should seek professional help. Depression is a mental health problem that needs to be taken care of before getting worse. A psychologist or counselor can help you talk through your feelings and may even be able to find out what the root of the problem is. Once the initial problem can be found, a depressed person can then go on to get the help that they need.

That may be in the form of psychiatrist sessions, meditation or even medication. There are many different medications out there for a person suffering from depression.

A depressed person needs to remember that they are not alone and that there are many people out there willing to help.

Filed Under: Health, Research Tagged With: Depression, Disorders, Health, Major depressive disorder, Mental health, Mood, Person, Suffering

What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

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Unlike many mental disorders that are genetic, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is what the name implies: stress caused after a traumatic event. There are many different types of events that can cause PTSD. This could include being shot or seeing someone you love getting shot or hurt, being rapes, being in a natural disaster, experiencing domestic violence, being in a car accident, etc. Warfare is a very common cause for PTSD as well.

For PTSD to occur, you must have been in a situation where you thought you would lose your life or your safety. The situation causes fear, horror, and helplessness. The symptoms will be more severe if the situation was more severe.

One thing that is interesting about PTSD is the brain is actually altered by the experience. For those with PTSD, an MRI scan or a PET scan can actually show a change in the brain including how the brain stores memories.

With PTSD often comes of other disorders. It’s been found that 88 percent of men and 79 percent of women who suffer from PTSD will have major depression, anxiety disorders, social phobia, or some other psychiatric disorder.

Symptoms of PTSD

Flashbacks: One of the worst symptoms of PTSD is having flashbacks that cause you to relive what caused the PTSD in the first place. Sometimes this happens while you sleep, but for some, it can happen when you’re awake and you think you’re somewhere entirely different. They can still happen even 30 years after the event is over.

Emotional detachment: For some, PTSD can cause you to pull away from family members and can make it hard for you to show love.

Jumpiness: Sudden noises can cause someone with PTSD to have a hyperactive startle reflex (much stronger than is typical).

Sometimes PTSD is a short-term problem, especially if the event was mild. If the symptoms continue to occur and effect your daily life (possibly preventing you from working or having a normal relationship with family members), then the best thing you can do is get help from a professional trained to help those with PTSD.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Anxiety, Disorders, Health, Mental health, Post-traumatic Stress, Posttraumatic stress disorder, Psychological trauma, Symptom

Celebrate your Life with Rewards

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It is essential that we find ways to reward ourselves for positive experiences in our lives. When we motivate and reward ourselves, it helps to keep us going, achieving, trying new things, experiencing new things and perhaps most importantly, growing as people. If you want to grow as a person, to set goals and to achieve them, then one of the ways that you can get yourself motivated is to promise yourself trinkets, gifts and other rewards as motivators for your success. Do you want to achieve an important goal like buying a new car or going back to school, buying a new home or losing 20 lbs?

Would you feel more motivated if you promised yourself designer jewelry or a spa weekend if you achieve your goal? If you are serious about achieving your goal, then it would be a wise choice to motivate yourself with healthy and motivating gifts, trinkets, rewards and other motivating factors. Even simply promising yourself a weekend without chores, or a night out on the town just for you, it is important that you choose a reward system that is actually going to motivate you to achieve all of the goals that you are setting. If you create achievements and rewards that do not suit you, you will not feel compelled to achieve them.

If you want to celebrate your life and motivate yourself more, giving yourself small gifts and rewards is absolutely essential. What this is going to do is give you motivators to meet your goals and achieve what you want to in life. It is important that you give yourself rewards so you have something to work toward, because rewards are a great way to get yourself feeling positive about what it is that you hope to achieve, and beautiful gifts like spa weekends and designer jewelry can really help with this process.

Filed Under: Addiction, General, News & Events, Research Tagged With: Gift, Goal, Health, Mental health, Motivation, Reward system, Self-Help, University of Rochester

Effect of Positive Thinking on Your Health

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Eating healthy and exercising are important to being healthy, but have you thought about how your thoughts affect your health? It’s been found in studies that thinking positively can reduce stress, which can increase your health overall.

Many people, however, confuse optimism with acting like nothing is ever wrong and pretending that bad things don’t happen. This is not optimism and acting in this manner can cause stress to build up until your emotions burst out. Instead of acting like unpleasantness doesn’t exist, those who look at the glass half-full approach negative situations with a positive outlook that is productive.

Thinking positively begins with what thoughts generally take space in your brain throughout the day including self-talk. Many people will automatically have positive thoughts or negative thoughts depending on their natural personality and what they have learned, but even if negative thoughts dominate your brain naturally, you can train your brain to think more positively. This will take time and practice, and it’s important to not get down on yourself if you start to fall back into your old habits. Here are some tips for changing your thought patterns to be more positive.

Time outs. Throughout the day, take a moment to evaluate how your thoughts are overall and decide whether your thoughts are predominantly positive or negative. If you find they’re mostly negative, put a spin on them so they’re positive, looking for the good in what’s happening.

Have positive friends. By being around people who are positive, you’re more likely to think positively yourself.

Look at things humorously. When things happen that are frustrating, try to look at it as if it were funny. If you drop and bowl of chocolate pudding, for example, and it goes everywhere (the walls, the kitchen counter, your clothes, your hair), think about how ridiculous you must look and laugh about it.

Benefits of positive thinking include the following:

â€¢ Living longer
â€¢ Decreasing chances of experiencing depression
â€¢ Decreased stress levels
â€¢ Less likely getting sick from colds
â€¢ Less likely dying from cardiovascular disease
â€¢ More easily dealing with hardships

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Brain, Health, Mental health, negative, Optimism, Shopping, Stress, Thought