Check out this great article that claims that in the UK , media references to mental illness are fairly scarce. I think that this kind of attitude hampers progress in the field and undermines past achievements.
What is your opinion?
Yazzie
http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/12/04/in-mainstream-media-mental-health-sti...
memyselfanxiety.com
Check out this great article that claims that in the UK , media references to mental illness are fairly scarce. I think that this kind of attitude hampers progress in the field and undermines past achievements.
What is your opinion?
Yazzie
http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/12/04/in-mainstream-media-mental-health-sti...
memyselfanxiety.com
Good news for those of you still suffering from Anxiety. Regular exercise has been shown to reduce Anxiety and promote well-being.
There is now empirical evidence showing the benefits of 20 to 40 minutes of exercise 3 times a week on Anxiety. Several studies have tested whether it is effective and all the results converge to the same conclusion, it works. Furthermore, exercise has been shown to provide the same benefits as a drug treatment (e.g., clomipramine), thus providing an alternative choice to a drug treatment.
More studies are on the way, but so far the results are very positive.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201111/phobias/exercise-anxiety
Jazzie,
Dreaming not only helps consolidate memories but a new study shows that it may also help process negative emotional events better.
The study involved participants who viewed emotionally arousing images. One group viewed the images in the morning and in the evening, while the other group viewed the same images in the evening and in the following morning (after sleeping).
The results indicated that the second group showed a decreased emotional reaction to the images compared to the first group. That conclusion was further corroborated by brain scans taken during the study that revealed reduced activity in the amygdala, an almond-shaped brain structure associated with the fear response and anxiety.
Thus, sleeping after experiencing an emotionally-arousing event may contribute to good mental health.
Jazzie.
Dreaming not only helps consolidate memories but a new study shows that it may also help process negative emotional events better.
The study involved participants who viewed emotionally arousing images. One group viewed the images in the morning and in the evening, while the other group viewed the same images in the evening and in the following morning (after sleeping).
The results indicated that the second group showed a decreased emotional reaction to the images compared to the first group. That conclusion was further corroborated by brain scans taken during the study that revealed reduced activity in the amygdala, an almond-shaped brain structure associated with the fear response and anxiety.
Thus, sleeping after experiencing an emotionally-arousing event may contribute to good mental health.
Jazzie.
The thyroid is a gland wrapped around the trachea that produces hormones. Those hormones contribute to a host of physical processes from hearbeat regulation to cognitive functoning, and more recently their effect on moods is being explored.
Often people presenting psychiatric symptoms like anxiety or depression also exhibit abnormal blood levels of thyroid hormones. More specifically, links were found between an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) and anxiety, as well as between an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) and depression. For example, a patient suffering with both anxiety and depression for 10 years saw her anxiety and depression simply disappear after undergoing treatment for her thyroid (with synthetic thyroid hormone replacement).
There is a caveat though and that is that it can be diffcult to diagnose abnormal blood levels of thyroid hormones when the actual levels range between the two extremes (too low and too high) as there is no consensus yet about what constitutes an abnormal level. In any event most doctors agree that a person presenting physical symptoms of an abnormal thyroid hormone (e.g.,fatigue, weight gain, inability to concentrate or palpitations, weigh loss and sweating) with psychiatric symptoms should check their thyroid.
Jazzie
The thyroid is a gland wrapped around the trachea that produces hormones. Those hormones contribute to a host of physical processes from hearbeat regulation to cognitive functoning, and more recently their effect on moods is being explored.
Often people presenting psychiatric symptoms like anxiety or depression also exhibit abnormal blood levels of thyroid hormones. More specifically, links were found between an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) and anxiety, as well as between an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) and depression. For example, a patient suffering with both anxiety and depression for 10 years saw her anxiety and depression simply disappear after undergoing treatment for her thyroid (with synthetic thyroid hormone replacement).
There is a caveat though and that is that it can be diffcult to diagnose abnormal blood levels of thyroid hormones when the actual levels range between the two extremes (too low and too high) as there is no consensus yet about what constitutes an abnormal level. In any event most doctors agree that a person presenting physical symptoms of an abnormal thyroid hormone (e.g.,fatigue, weight gain, inability to concentrate or palpitations, weigh loss and sweating) with psychiatric symptoms should check their thyroid.
Jazzie
