Shift Your Mind

Meditation Appears to Produce Enduring Changes in Emotional Processing in the Brain

2013-05-23T13:16:00.001+03:00

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121112150339.htm

A new study has found that participating in an 8-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating. In their report in the November issue of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston University (BU), and several other research centers also found differences in those effects based on the specific type of meditation practiced.

"The two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in the response of the amygdala -- a part of the brain known for decades to be important for emotion -- to images with emotional content," says Gaëlle Desbordes, PhD, a research fellow at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH and at the BU Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, corresponding author of the report. "This is the first time that meditation training has been shown to affect emotional processing in the brain outside of a meditative state."

Several previous studies have supported the hypothesis that meditation training improves practitioners' emotional regulation. While neuroimaging studies have found that meditation training appeared to decrease activation of the amygdala -- a structure at the base of the brain that is known to have a role in processing memory and emotion -- those changes were only observed while study participants were meditating. The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that meditation training could also produce a generalized reduction in amygdala response to emotional stimuli, measurable by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Participants had enrolled in a larger investigation into the effects of two forms of meditation, based at Emory University in Atlanta. Healthy adults with no experience meditating participated in 8-week courses in either mindful attention meditation -- the most commonly studied form that focuses on developing attention and awareness of breathing, thoughts and emotions -- and compassion meditation, a less-studied form that includes methods designed to develop loving kindness and compassion for oneself and for others. A control group participated in an 8-week health education course.
Within three weeks before beginning and three weeks after completing the training, 12 participants from each group traveled to Boston for fMRI brain imaging at the Martinos Center's state-of-the-art imaging facilities. Brain scans were performed as the volunteers viewed a series of 216 different images -- 108 per session -- of people in situations with either positive, negative or neutral emotional content. Meditation was not mentioned in pre-imaging instructions to participants, and investigators confirmed afterwards that the volunteers had not meditated while in the scanner. Participants also completed assessments of symptoms of depression and anxiety before and after the training programs.
In the mindful attention group, the after-training brain scans showed a decrease in activation in the right amygdala in response to all images, supporting the hypothesis that meditation can improve emotional stability and response to stress. In the compassion meditation group, right amygdala activity also decreased in response to positive or neutral images. But among those who reported practicing compassion meditation most frequently outside of the training sessions, right amygdala activity tended to increase in response to negative images -- all of which depicted some form of human suffering. No significant changes were seen in the control group or in the left amygdala of any study participants.
"We think these two forms of meditation cultivate different aspects of mind," Desbordes explains. "Since compassion meditation is designed to enhance compassionate feelings, it makes sense that it could increase amygdala response to seeing people suffer. Increased amygdala activation was also correlated with decreased depression scores in the compassion meditation group, which suggests that having more compassion towards others may also be beneficial for oneself. Overall, these results are consistent with the overarching hypothesis that meditation may result in enduring, beneficial changes in brain function, especially in the area of emotional processing."
Eric Schwartz, PhD, of the BU Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, is senior author of the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience report. Additional co-authors are Lobsang T. Negi, PhD, and Thaddeus Pace, PhD, Emory University; Alan Wallace, PhD, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies; and Charles Raison, MD, University of Arizona College of Medicine. The study was supported by grants from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, including an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to Boston University.

We, the majority...

2013-04-24T16:01:00.000+03:00

Humans were smarter 3000 years ago, scientist says

2012-12-06T13:44:00.002+02:00

The human race is slowly losing its intellectual and emotional capabilities because it no longer faces extreme evolutionary pressures, new research contends.

Human intelligence and behavior require optimal functioning of a large number of genes, but the intricate web of genes that gives people these capabilities has started to backslide, the scientists said in an article appearing Nov. 12 in the journal Trends in Genetics.

"The development of our intellectual abilities and the optimization of thousands of intelligence genes probably occurred in relatively nonverbal, dispersed groups of peoples before our ancestors emerged from Africa," study author Dr. Gerald Crabtree, of Stanford University, said in a journal news release.

In the early stages of human evolution, intelligence was critical for survival and there was immense selective pressure acting on the genes required for intellectual development. But once humans achieved a certain level of evolutionary progress, they slowly began to lose ground.

The development of agriculture led to urbanization, which may have weakened the power of natural selection to eliminate mutations that caused intellectual disabilities, the researchers explained.

Based on the frequency that harmful mutations appear in the human genome and the assumption that 2,000 to 5,000 genes are required for intellectual ability, Crabtree estimated the effect that the past 3,000 years (about 120 generations) of human history have had on humans. He concluded that all people now carry two or more mutations harmful to their intellectual or emotional stability.

He noted, however, that the loss of intellectual and emotional capabilities is quite slow and it's likely that a solution will be found in the future.

"I think we will know each of the millions of human mutations that can compromise our intellectual function and how each of these mutations interact with each other and other processes, as well as environmental influences," Crabtree said.

"At that time, we may be able to magically correct any mutation that has occurred in all cells of any organism at any developmental stage," he said. "Thus, the brutish process of natural selection will be unnecessary."

Mothers

2012-02-03T14:20:00.000+02:00

Why Do Women Cheat?

2012-01-13T19:57:00.003+02:00

By Tammy Worth Reviewed by Marina Katz, MD

Source: WebMD

When Thea and her husband moved to Los Angeles a few years ago, she had no friends close by and was alone frequently while her husband worked long hours. Though Thea, who asked that her full name not be used, says her husband was the "best friend someone could have," the spark, and sex, were gone.

Seeking company and a little romance, Thea became a member of AshleyMadison.com, a web site that connects married people wanting to have an affair.

After a few dates with a man she connected with, she began an ongoing affair. "He was giving me all of the stuff my husband wasn't -- attention and affection," she says.

There are many reasons for infidelity, such as revenge, boredom, the thrill of sexual novelty,sexual addiction. But experts say that a large majority of the time, motivations differ by gender, with men searching for more sex or attention, and women looking to fill an emotional void.

"Women tell me, 'I was lonely, not connected, I don't feel close to my partner, and I was taken for granted,'" says Winifred Reilly, MA, MFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Berkeley, Calif. "They say they wanted to have someone who would look into their eyes and make them feel sexy again."

Emotional Reasons

Every affair is different, and so are every woman's reasons for her involvement.

That said, men are more likely to cite sexual motivations for infidelity and are less likely to fall in love with an extramarital partner, says Helen Fisher, PhD, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University and the author of Why Him? Why Her? and Why We Love.

Women tend to have an emotional connection with their lover and are more likely to have an affair because of loneliness, Fisher says.

"Women tend to be more unhappy with the relationship they are in ... while men can be a lot happier in their primary relationship and also cheat," Fisher tells WebMD. "Women are more interested in supplementing their marriage or jumping ship than men are -- for men, it is a secondary strategy as opposed to an alternate.".

In one of her studies, Fisher found that 34% of women who had affairs were happy or very happy in their marriage. A greater percentage of men who had affairs, 56%, were happy in their marriage.

In the Genes?

The theory that adultery is "natural" for men, fulfilling their Darwinian need to spread their seed, has been around a long time. But the connection women look for when having affairs may have evolutionary roots as well.

The theory, Fisher says, is that from the earliest days, women paired with a primary mate to have children. But as women went out to gather food, they slept with other men, creating an insurance policy -- to have someone who would help rear children and provide resources should their mate die.

"Women who slept around collected more meat, protection, and resources from their lovers," Fisher says. "She might even have an extra child to create more genetic variety in her lineage; if some children die, others will live on."

That theory is controversial and can’t be proven or disproven eons later. But experts say that women's motivations to have affairs are typically more than sexual. That's not to say that some women don't have affairs just for the sex or that sex wasn't important -- but in general, women's motivations aren't just about sex.

"I don't think women are doing it because they want to have more sex, but I don't think they mind if they get it," Reilly says. "It is not really about sex per se as much as the experience of being with somebody."

Jumping Ship

Diane, who asked that her full name not be used, left her marriage emotionally long before she had an affair. The Tulsa, Okla. woman says she was living with a lot of disillusionment in a disappointing, sexless marriage.

"You feel the loss of your dreams and hopes and how you thought things would turn out," Diane says. "I was very lonely; I could never understand the concept of being lonely in a marriage until it happened."

She began to flirt with other men to get attention, but she never considered having an affair. That is, not until a business trip landed her with a friend in a beautiful setting drinking wine. She began a long-term affair, a path she admits she was likely on anyway as her marriage dissolved.

Using another partner to transition out of a bad marriage is one of the common reasons women have affairs.

"They are on a sinking ship and use it as a life raft because they don't want to just jump into the cold water," Reilly says.

She also sees some women have affairs during periods of vulnerability or life change, like when a child goes off to college or after a job loss. They may see it as a form of comfort during upheaval.

Another common reason is a cry for help in the marriage. One of Reilly’s patients had an affair, ended it, and then told her husband as a way to point out they were in more trouble than he thought.

Reilly says her clinical experience has shown that affairs are almost always caused by problems in the marriage. Therapy, at times, can be helpful to avoid going down that path.

"People have affairs because they are looking for something," Reilly says. Although she sees a number of couples grappling with infidelity, "more people come to me [before it happens] because they want to save their marriage."

Accidental or On Purpose

Women are also less likely than men to have an affair that "just happens," because they tend to think longer and harder about the situation, experts say.

Some women take time " to warm up to it," says Marcella Weiner, EdD, PhD, an adjunct professor at Marymount Manhattan College in Brooklyn, N.Y. "Going in and leaving quickly isn't their thing. Men can walk away more easily, because their emotions are just different and it is unusual for a woman who wants to have sex and forget about it."

It may be an old notion that women are the ones who get attached in a relationship, Reilly says. But she sees that women do connect with their partners in affairs and think more about taking part in one.

"Women really can recognize the risk for them," Reilly says, pointing to the possibility of losing their partner because of an affair.

When it comes to affairs, society tends to more harshly judge women than men, Reilly says.

"Women don't easily have an affair," she says.

Family

2011-11-03T16:07:00.002+02:00

We Are What We Experience

2011-10-06T16:46:00.000+03:00

ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2011)

Our life experiences -- the ups and downs, and everything in between -- shape us, stay with us and influence our emotional set point as adults, according to a new study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. The study suggests that, in addition to our genes, our life experiences are important influences on our levels of anxiety and depression.

"In this time of emphasis on genes for this and that trait, it is important to remember that our environmental experiences also make important contributions to who we are as people," said principal investigator Kenneth Kendler, M.D., director of the VCU Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics.

"When I was growing up, in talking about the importance of a good diet, we used to say 'You are what you eat.' What this study shows is that to a substantial degree, 'you are what you have experienced.' That is, your life history stays with you in impacting on your background book, for good or for ill," he said.

Kendler, professor of psychiatry, and human and molecular genetics in the VCU School of Medicine, and an international team of researchers from VCU and other universities, analyzed nine data sets of more than 12,000 identical twins with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety through the lifespan.

By studying identical twins, researchers have a pair of individuals who are born with identical genetic compositions and a shared family environment. Their environments may begin to change as they begin to make divergent decisions as they get older that come with lifestyle, diet or friends.

Participants completed reports relating to their own symptoms of anxiety and depression in a five-to-six-year period. The participants varied in age and were from American and European population-based registries.

According to Kendler, statistical models, developed by his colleague Charles Gardner, Ph.D., a research associate in the VCU Department of Psychiatry, were used to observe how components of individual variation changed over time. The team observed that as the twins moved from childhood into late adult life, they increasingly diverged in their predicted levels of symptoms, but after that point, stopped further diverging. Further, they noted that environmental experiences contribute substantially to stable and predictable inter-individual differences in levels of anxiety and depression by mid-life in adults.

The study first appeared online Sept. 23, and in the October issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Read the journal's news release here.

Kendler collaborated with VCU researchers Lindon Eaves, Ph.D., Erik Loken, Ph.D., Judy Silberg, Ph.D., and Charles Gardner, Ph.D.; Nancy Pedersen, Ph.D., and Paul Lichtenstein, Ph.D., with the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden; Christel M. Middeldorp and Dorret Boomsma, with VU University, Amsterdam; and Chandra Reynolds, with the University of California, Riverside.

Depressed People Often Hide Symptoms from Doctors

2011-09-19T15:29:00.001+03:00

By Amanda MacMillan

MONDAY, September 12, 2011 (Health.com)

Family doctors and other primary care physicians are often the first health professionals to learn that a patient is depressed, but that doesn’t mean they identify all of the depression cases that walk through their offices.

Far from it: A new survey of California adults has found that 43% of people would keep their depression symptoms to themselves during a doctor’s appointment, because they feel their emotional difficulties are off-topic, they don’t want to be prescribed antidepressants, or they’re afraid a record of the conversation will be seen by employers.

The results aren’t especially surprising, but they do highlight the need to educate patients, doctors, and nurses about the importance of discussing mood problems during checkups and other routine appointments, says study coauthor Richard Kravitz, MD, a professor of internal medicine at the University of California, Davis.

“The primary care sector cares for a majority of patients with mental health conditions in America, and we know that depression is undertreated everywhere,” Dr. Kravitz says. “The number one reason for that is because recognition of depression starts with disclosure from the patient.”

Gerard Sanacora, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, says this study offers more evidence that the stigma surrounding mental illness is still an obstacle that prevents many people from seeking effective, timely treatment.

“I was actually surprised that even more people didn’t feel that it was a burden to talk to their doctor,” says Sanacora, who was not involved in the study. He suspects that if the survey hadn’t been conducted in California—one of the states most accepting of mental illness, he says—the patients would have been even more hesitant to discuss depression.

The National Institute of Mental Health funded the survey and analysis. The results were published today in the Annals of Family Medicine.

Kravitz and his colleagues surveyed 1,054 adults over the phone about their general health, access to doctors and insurance, demographics, and family and personal histories of mental health problems. The researchers then asked the respondents whether 11 potential reasons for not wanting to talk with a doctor about depression applied to them a little, a lot, or not at all. (The reasons were gathered from focus groups in a related study.)

The most common concern, which 23% of respondents said applied a lot to them, was that the doctor would recommend antidepressants. Other popular reasons were that it’s not a primary care physician’s job to deal with emotional issues (16%) and that their medical records could fall into the hands of an employer or another outside party (15%). Respondents also expressed fear about being referred to a specialist or being labeled a “psychiatric patient.”

The people who had the most to gain from talking with their doctor—individuals with moderate to severe depression symptoms at the time of the phone survey—subscribed to the most beliefs that would prevent them from doing so.

This reluctance among patients is crucial to overcome, Sanacora says, because the longer depression goes undiagnosed, the harder it can be to treat and the more permanent damage it can do. “There’s increasing evidence that the state of being depressed could actually be injurious to the brain,” he says. “Delaying treatment is probably the worst thing a patient can do for their mental health.”

Primary care physicians need to actively promote mental-health treatment in their offices, Dr. Kravitz says. “Putting pamphlets in the waiting rooms, using appropriate posters, or providing questionnaires to patients are all ways to show that depression lies within the scope of their practice,” he says.

Dr. Kravitz and his colleagues are also developing a public service announcement targeted toward high-risk demographic groups. In the survey, for instance, people who were female, Hispanic, had no family history of depression, and had less education or lower household income were all more likely than their peers to express reluctance about talking with their doctors.

Sanacora says that doctors can also do a better job at picking up on physical signs of depression that patients may be more vocal about, such as chronic pain, lack of appetite, and sleep problems.

“The emotional aspect is only a small part,” he says. “Physicians need to consider these other symptoms, and ask some pointed questions. That may eventually lead to more diagnoses.”

Behind the Masks – The Mysteries of Dissociative Identity Disorder

2011-09-08T10:47:00.000+03:00

By Veronica Pamoukaghlian, MA | Editor Shaheen E Lakhan | http://www.brainblogger.com

While Toni Collette may have pulled off making dissociative identity disorder (DID) look glamorous and sexy in the recently cancelled Showtime series United States of Tara, the reality of this disorder is much more complex. As fun as it is to watch an actress play five different parts in one show, for people with DID, the shifting is no fun at all.

One thing the show did get right is the fact that most people with DID develop it as a response to trauma, especially early childhood abuse from a parent or caregiver; studies have consistently reported this in 95-98% of the cases. People develop this disorder in order to distance themselves from the traumatic experience, by way of creating other personalities. While momentary dissociation is a technique that normal people use to cope with traumatic situations; in the case of people with DID, this dissociation goes beyond the moment, creating a whole new persona that has not been affected by the abuse, as an escape mechanism.

The prevalence of DID in the general population has been established at 1%, making it far more common than popular belief would have it. Nevertheless, the allure of the “exotic” continues to surround this condition, for example, because hypnosis is commonly used to gain access to the alters, as the different personalities are called. A scientifically accepted technique, hypnosis still remains, in the public mind, a practice bordering the world of the occult, found more at home in magic show than in the therapist´s office.

Perhaps because of its assumed rarity, it is the diagnosis of DID that poses one of the biggest problems. In 1993, a Dutch study of 71 DID patients established that:

Patients had spent an average of 8.2 years in the mental health system prior to correct diagnosis. Patients presented with many different symptoms and frequently received other psychiatric or neurological diagnoses.

Over the years, studies carried out in other parts of the world have yielded similar results, raising awareness about DID and the methods that could be used to identify it, separating it from other disorders, some of which can sometimes be comorbid with it, thus further complicating an effective diagnosis.

According to DSM IV, DID can be diagnosed whenever there is a coexistence of:

The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self).
At least two of these identity or personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behavior.
Inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness and not due to the direct effects of a substance (e.g. blackouts or chaotic behaviour during alcohol intoxication) or a general medical condition (e.g. complex partial seizures).

While some alters can be harmless, a study on DID and suicidality found a strong correlation between the disorder and repeated suicide attempts, as well as the risk of causing harm to others. As the DID patient does not control the alters, this presents a great danger. In fact, DID patients have often been involved in crime investigations, and North American law has even recognized the right of the different personalities to have different attorneys, outlining a plot fit for the ultimate trial film from Hollywood. Courts have also been known to take the testimonies of the different alters as if they were actually different people, especially in cases in which one of the “bad” alters has committed a crime that neither the patient´s main personality nor the other alters have a recollection of.

Many times, people have ended up going to jail for crimes committed by one of their alters. Even today, with all the developments and research carried out by the scientific community, it seems that DID remains as mysterious as ever, and people continue to suffer from this disorder without even being aware of it, all over the world.

For those who have been successfully diagnosed, the International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD) has developed a phasic treatment framework for dissociation disorders, including DID. The three phases are:

safety, stabilization and symptom reduction
working directly and in depth with traumatic memories
identity integration and rehabilitation

A recent study by DID expert Bethany Brand and some of her colleagues concluded, after analyzing most of the current literature and research pertaining to DID treatment results, that the three-phase treatment has been widely effective, bringing about a reduction of “symptoms of dissociation, depression, general distress, anxiety and PTSD.”

A Cure to Cancer?

2011-08-18T13:24:00.002+03:00

Causes of Cancer

DNA Damage caused by several factors, weakened immune system, or busy immune system.

The cancer has no single cause, but rather a combination of factors, the main of which are stated below.

Some Viruses (Make the immune system busy especially those viruses that remain in the body for a course of a lifetime (EBV for example).)
Chemicals (Make the immune system busy, weakened, or even some can make damages to the DNA. Smoking, unhealthy foods, detergents)
Radiations (Radiations have a role in causing damage to DNA thus leading to uncontrollable division of cells, thus making the ability to repair way below the growth of cancer cells.)
A lot of sugars (It is known that cancer cells feed on sugars, glucose and fructose to live and divide.)
Weakened Immune System (Make the immune system unable to kill the huge numbers of cancer cells over time.)
Lack of Sun Exposure (Our body needs sun as it is essential for vitamin D proper intake, in addition to boosting the mood and reducing stress. Imagine that without sun there is no life on earth, so imagine the effect of the sun on our health. It is advised to those who work at night to try to see the sun. Advised daily exposure is 10-30 minutes. Women wearing Hijab are of great risk of developing many illnesses especially cancer, MS, and osteoporosis.)
Excessive Sun Exposure (This habit can cause errors in DNA thus causing skin or lip cancer same as radiations over time.)
Insufficient Water Intake (Our body needs at least 2 liters of water daily to be able to refresh the blood cycle & get rid of many of the wastes through excretion. It is essential that we get rid of harmful intruders in our body and water is an important factor.)
Insufficient Oxygen Intake (Our body needs a considerable amount of oxygen to help blood circulation, reduce stress, and help the division of cells, whereas cancer cells hate oxygen, and do not need it to divide. Deep breathing is advised always, and relaxation sessions are of great help.)
Unhealthy habits such as lack of activity and stress (Having said all of the above, you can now imagine the effect of sports and leading a healthy life. Sports help in excretion of body wastes through increases sweating, freshening of the blood and oxygen cycle, reducing stress, and securing a high oxygen intake.)
Unhealthy Food Intake (Foods rich in vitamins, fibers, and water are always preferred. Processed food that is rich in chemicals is not recommended at all. Not necessary to go organic, but necessary to go natural rather than processed food. (Processed bread, sugar, meat such as hotdogs, etc…)

Extended exposure to the above factors due to work, smoking, viruses while weak immunity, food rich in unnatural chemicals, or other factors leads to uncontrollable growth of cancer cells as the damage to DNA outclasses the ability to repair.

Role of immune system in cancer?

Killing cancer cells

When there are a lot of cancer cells, the immune system fails to kill all cancer cells that outclass the immune system's ability, thus a tumor is formed.

Boosting the immune system?

Sports, natural vitamins, sufficient sun exposure, enough water intake, sufficient oxygen intake through slow and deep breathing.

Nowadays treatments of cancer

Treatments nowadays such as chemo or radio treatments work on killing cancer cells, yet, not tackling the causes.

Cancer prevention

Cancer prevention is possible by taking countermeasures and reversing the effect of the causes as stated above.

How?

Some Viruses (It is advised that people who have viruses such as HIV, HPV, EBV, etc… work a lot on boosting their immune system through sports, natural vitamins, and sufficient not excessive sun exposure)
Chemicals (Reduce and minimize the exposure to chemicals such as smoking, unhealthy foods, detergents, and other chemicals. Obsession about this is not healthy as it increases our stress, but it is important to minimize the exposure to chemicals if not eliminate some especially smoking…)
Radiations (Reduce exposure to radiations. If you were exposed for a long time, it is advised that you lead a very healthy life and try to boost your immune system through sports, natural vitamins, and sufficient not excessive sun exposure.)
A lot of sugars (It is known that cancer cells feed on sugars, glucose and fructose to live and divide. Limit your sugar intake, and try to take natural sugars from fruits.)
Weakened Immune System (Those who have a weak immune system are advised to boost their immune systems as stated above.)
Lack of Sun Exposure (Get a sufficient exposure to sun between 10 and 30 minutes daily. Women wearing hijab should seriously consider taking it off.)
Excessive Sun Exposure (Limit sun exposure to 30 minutes a day maximum. It is ok to get a sun tan from time to time, but make sure to use proper protection. Those with very white skin are advised to use 75%+ protection)
Insufficient Water Intake (Our body needs at least 2 liters of water daily to be able to refresh the blood cycle & get rid of many of the wastes through excretion. It is essential that we have the needed water intake on daily basis.)
Insufficient Oxygen Intake (Our body needs a considerable amount of oxygen to help blood circulation, reduce stress, and help the division of cells, whereas cancer cells hate oxygen, and do not need it to divide. Deep breathing is advised always, and relaxation sessions are of great help.)
Unhealthy habits such as lack of activity and stress (Having said all of the above, you can now imagine the effect of sports and leading a healthy life. Sports help in excretion of body wastes through increases sweating, freshening of the blood and oxygen cycle, reducing stress, and securing a high oxygen intake.)
Unhealthy Food Intake (Foods rich in vitamins, fibers, and water are always preferred. Processed food that is rich in chemicals is not recommended at all. Not necessary to go organic, but necessary to go natural rather than processed food. (Processed bread, sugar, meat such as hotdogs, etc…)

Towards Curing Cancer?

Below are some steps that would make healing cancer possible.

Surgery is recommended were possible to take out the tumors.
For a period of 6 months, do the below:

Eliminate sugars from your diet
Eliminate white bread and salt
Eliminate processed food and try to go organic
4 servings of vegetables and 3 servings of fruits
Vitamin pills
2.5 to 3 liters of NATURAL water
Make sure to be exposed to sun for 10-30 minutes daily
Make sure to do light sports for one hour daily
Make sure to meet and talk with other people for at least 3 hours daily. Avoid staying alone.
Make sure you get enough sleep (8 hours daily)
Make sure to sleep the hours from 12-5 A.M.
Avoid medicines and pills
Practice relaxation and breathing techniques on DAILY basis.
Onions, garlic, broccoli, cinnamon, ginger, and dark green vegetables in your daily food intake.
Drink tea on daily basis (Natural tea for at least 3 times daily)
Limit coffee intake though it is not harmful, but it would reduce your ability to sleep.
Avoid glucose and fructose syrups. (Natural Fructose is recommended, and that is in fruits.)

If you find that the improvement is slow:

Try taking metformin pills 3 times a day to help glucose metabolism (cancer cells feed on sugars)

Horror in the Mind – The Psychological Effects of Torture

2011-08-10T10:51:00.000+03:00

By Veronica Pamoukaghlian, MA | Editor Shaheen E Lakhan | http://brainblogger.com

When most people think of torture, the first thing that comes to mind is unimaginable, unendurable pain. Physical pain is, however, the one thing that tends to remain in the torture chamber, the hidden cells of illegal prisons after the victim has left. As terrible as the physical after effects of torture may be, the real horror is what remains in the mind.

Unfortunately, and in spite of the United Nations, Amnesty international and the Geneva Convention, torture is still practiced all over the world today, most often by all kinds of governments, may they be democratically elected or not:

Torture is widely practiced throughout the world. Recent studies indicate that 50% of all countries, including 79% of the G-20 countries, continue to practice systematic torture despite a universal ban. (Carinci, 2010)

Perceptions of horror vary depending on contextual elements. For example, institutionalized torture that comes from within one´s own country is experienced very differently from isolated acts of torture perpetrated by non-state criminals. A feeling of helplessness is central to the torture cycle, according to Metin Besoglu, one of the world´s leading experts on the subject of torture and mass violence trauma, and this helplessness is much more dramatic in a situation where an individual knows he is facing an all-powerful enemy, such as the state or a terror regime.

Studies by Besoglu and his collaborators have also determined that political activists tend to suffer more attenuated psychological trauma. This is due to the fact that a strong belief in ideas or a solid religious faith seems to make the individual´s feel less powerless in front of the victimizers, and the feeling that one is not in control has been demonstrated to be one of the prime stressors of torture, and ultimately, a prime cause for its severely traumatizing effects.

While some earlier research tried to identify a “torture syndrome,” the current literature suggests that there isn´t sufficient evidence for this, and that the disorders associated with torture experiences can be classed under the PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and CTD (cumulative trauma disorders) umbrella.

In his article Surviving Torture, after having tended to thousands of torture survivors all over the world, Mollica advises that the focus on PTSD often makes physicians forget that the main problem encountered in this population is depression, while he also observes that professionals are sometimes afraid to ask the right questions, because they are perhaps not sure how to deal with the information about such traumatic events, or they are afraid of “opening a Pandora´s box.”

In fact, post-torture symptoms range from the prevalent chronic pain, which is often connected to actual musculoskeletal damage, to neurophysiological damage associated to head injury, trauma congruent hallucinations and anhedonia. Family trauma is also very common; for example, it has been shown that

Children of tortured parents reveal more psychosomatic symptoms, headaches, depression, learning difficulties and aggressive behavior They manifest more severe ADHD, enuresis, and trauma related psychotic symptoms, developmental arrest or delays.

Surprisingly enough, research has also put forward the notion that torture survivors display some positive psychological traits, when compared to control groups. Namely, they are better equipped to grow out of the traumatic experience, more resilient and more tolerant to adversity than those who haven´t suffered tortured, while involved in the same violent environment. This is again attributed to the commitment to a collective cause and the presence of a strong belief system.

Behavioral intervention, including exposure to those situations which foster fear, has been seen to obtain very positive effects, such as PTSD and depression reduction, after even one single session. Surprisingly again, this has been the case even when the treatment takes place while the subjects are still living in an environment where they may still risk being tortured.

These findings come from a study of former Yugoslavia war survivors, which also indicated that redress and the reinstitution of a sense of justice in the world are not enough of themselves to significantly help torture survivors` psychological healing process. According to this paper by Besoglu and collaborators, regardless of any political and judicial changes that benefit the victims, “recovery from PTSD appears to require specific interventions designed to enhance sense of control over traumatic stressors” (Abildgaard, 1984).

In his article You can´t fight violence with violence, Besoglu explains how the trauma of torture and other types of mass violence commonly beget more violence. According to the same study of former Yugoslavia conflict victims, the greatest desire for vengeance was seen in people who had had loved ones tortured, raped, killed or imprisoned. Besoglu explains these violent instincts as follows:

[R]etaliatory aggression attenuates the feelings of helplessness that arise from trauma. For an intuitive understanding of those feelings, simply imagine your home suddenly being raided by invading forces and your loved ones being humiliated, imprisoned, tortured, raped or killed.

It would seem that, as if it wasn´t bad enough of itself, torture can not only destroy a family, and even a whole generation (i.e. during the Latin American dictatorships of the 1970´s), it is also a seed for new violence, planted on extremely fertile ground.

Enrique Iglesias on virginity, man love and his tiny Spanish willy...

2011-08-03T11:46:00.000+03:00

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au

ENRIQUE Iglesias's Aussie concert turned into an Oprah-style discussion of virginity, man love and tiny manhood.

Fans are divided over the concert which turned into an Oprah-style discussion of virginity, man love and tiny manhood.

The Latin chart-topper invited three Melbourne men on stage for a bizarre 20-minute interlude.

The three fans, who were quick to proclaim their heterosexuality, were spotted by Iglesias dancing in the crowd.

Once summoned on stage, they grabbed the microphone to tell the singer, "You’re the most beautiful man in the world."

From there things got stranger and stranger.

Nineteen-year-old Simeon Bisas wound up sharing with Iglesias the intimate details of losing his virginity last year.

Iglesias told the crowd he waited until he was 25 to rid himself of his virginity, even though his friends preferred to pay for their first time.

"I grew up with a lot of my friends and all of them lost their virginity with hookers, not that there’s anything wrong with that," Iglesias clarified. "They had to pay for it. I wanted to wait for the right girl so I waited until I was 25."

He soon changed his story, saying he lost it at 17-and-a-half in his brother’s house.

"I was nervous as shit the first time. Usually the first time is not the best. Let me be honest, I was 17-and-a-half, I was so nervous. It lasted 10 seconds."

When Bisas said he lasted 10 minutes the first time, Iglesias stated, "Really? I don’t even last eight minutes now."

When the lads said Iglesias’ "Spanish good looks" would help with the ladies, the singer said. "What does Spanish good looks have to do with the size of your penis? Maybe I have the Spanish looks but I have the smallest penis in the world. I’m serious."

Another of the boys, Jackson Strangward from Hawthorn, even asked Iglesias about rumours he’d split with girlfriend Anna Kournikova, saying "I thought you guys had it made in the shade."

Iglesias said, "Everything’s cool, it’s just I like to keep it as private as possible. She gave me a free pass in Melbourne."

Bisas, who had professed his man love for Iglesias, asked "Guys included?"

Iglesias said. "No, no guys included Simeon, are you talking for yourself? This is getting weird."

The singer also investigated each of the boys’ abs, revealed he waxes his chest, and gave the three continual shots of what looked like a bottle of scotch, which was emptied while their on-stage therapy session continued.

It angered many fans who just wanted Iglesias to sing. Instead Bisas sang Iglesias’ hit Escape, even running down the catwalk at Rod Laver Arena, before the four men sang a cover of Stand By Me.

Iglesias admitted he had a high fever and nearly cancelled the show but did not want to let his Melbourne fans down. He noted he probably should not have been mixing alcohol with antibiotics and kept his cap on for the entire concert.

When the concert got back on track fans were treated to back to back hits, with the R-rated version of Tonight I’m Loving You both opening and closing the show.

Other favorites included Not in Love, Bailamos, Rhythm Divine and Be With You.

Support act Havana Brown came back on stage to take over Nicole Scherzinger’s part inHeartbeat. The other opening act, rapper Pitbull, joined in for the No.1 hit I Like It.

Iglesias surfaced at the back of the venue to perform his ballad Hero, calling up Melbourne girl Kylie on stage for a slow dance. Iglesias moved Kylie’s hands onto his backside before giving her a passionate kiss on the mouth at the end of the embrace.

The singer also jumped off stage to kiss a female fan in a wheelchair at the end of the show.

Tickets are still available for Iglesias' final Melbourne show at Rod Laver Arena tonight.

Britney Spears’ ex-minder makes more allegations, including farting, sex infront of kids!

2011-07-21T14:17:00.001+03:00

Source: http://www.celebitchy.com/

Britney Spears’ ex-bodyguard Fernando Flores has opened his mouth yet again. If you’ll remember, he’s the one who’s been shilling stories to The Sun ever since he left Britney’s employment after working for her from February through May last year. At first, Fernando kept things pretty believable with claims that Brit walked around naked in front of him, tried to tempt him into her bed, and refused to wear underwear in public, the latter of which was the “last straw” because Fernando got the blame for the fallout. These things weren’t exactly flattering to Britney, but they were plausible because (as we all recall far too clearly) Britney has shown herself to be quite fond of going pantless in front of the paparazzi.

Then, Fernando escalated the game by selling the story that Britney beat her sons with belts and knowingly fed them foods to which they were allergic. When Fernando finally filed his lawsuit last September, he included the above allegations as well as the claim that Britney had sex in front of her kids. According to Radar Online, Flores has now filed a new document with the court, which is rather comical in one light but also quite serious in its potential ramifications. Flores is asking for $10 million in damages due to the “psychological damage, anxiety attacks, depression and insomnia” that he suffered because Britney farted, picked her nose, and (here’s the kicker) took many drugs, including methamphetamines. Really.

Former cop Fernando Flores is suing the star’s conservators alleging sexual harassment against Spears. Flores alleges he faced a series of bizarre come-ons from Britney, 29, who paraded naked in front of him and often beckoned him into her bedroom for sex.
In recent filings of Flores’ lawsuit, a copy of which RadarOnline.com and Star magazine have exclusively obtained, the former bodyguard ratcheted up his charges against the Toxic singer, claiming she broke wind and picked her nose “unapologetically,” did not shower for days on end, nor brushed her teeth or ever wore deodorant.
“Spears was generally personally unkempt,” Flores, 29, alleged.
The ex-staffer — who is claiming at least $10 million damages from Britney for what he describes as “repeated, unwanted sexual advances and harassment” — detailed in court papers filed in Los Angeles how the chart-topping diva craved a cocktail of drugs during the time he worked for her.
“Based on his former experience as a police officer, Plaintiff (Flores) is informed and believes and alleged thereon that Defendant Spears was often under the influence of illegal prescription and non-prescription drugs, such as Ritalin, Narcon (Naloxone) and methamphetamines,” the documents state.
He claims, “Defendant Spears was mentally unstable, and personally obnoxious and demanding, requiring her staff on various occasions and for no rationally discernable reasons to address her as ‘Jennifer’ or ‘Queen Bee,’ on other occasions, Defendant Spears would cut her hair in an erratic fashion, leaving uneven and bald spots on her head.”
Flores worked for Spears from February until July, 2010, when he stormed out of her Calabasas, Calif., mansion after she allegedly bent over in a short nightie to expose herself.
“Spears made repeated unwanted sexual advances to Plaintiff, summoning (him) to her room at her residence for no other purpose or reason than to expose her naked or near naked body to Plaintiff,” according to the suit.
But Flores insists “the sexual advances of Spears were unwanted for a variety of reasons.”
“Spears had obnoxious personal habits, such as chain smoking cigarettes, which made her smell continually of stale tobacco,” he wrote in his court document.
“She broke wind or picked her nose unselfconsciously and unapologetically before Plaintiff (Flores) and others and she was constantly and gratuitously loud and profane in her speech.
“She did not bathe for days on end, did not use deodorant, did not brush her teeth, did not fix her hair, did not wear shoes or socks.”
According to Flores, he suffered psychological damage, anxiety attacks, depression and insomnia as a result of Britney’s alleged harassment.
Soon after the suit was filed, last year, the Spears family released a statement saying it was “just another unfortunate situation where someone is trying to take advantage of the Spears family and make a name for himself.

[From Radar Online]

Britney’s camp has long since held the claim that Flores is attempting to pull a shakedown, and her attorneys have filed a motion to strike the ex-bodyguard’s latest filing. Further, a Britney source has also responded to TMZ: “He’s a liar.” Here’s the thing — this guy has progressively released statements about things that we can believe that Britney would do, such as the sexual overtures. Then, he made more serious allegations about her parenting, and now he’s coupling some bizarre complaints (the farting and nose picking) with the most potentially damaging allegation of all: those damn methamphetamines. Obviously, Flores’ logic all along has been to make many believable statements about Britney so that, in turn, we would ideally buy anything that he says about her. Yet I simply don’t think it’s possible for Britney to be a methhead when she’s been under such strict guidelines from her conservator father for the past several years. Yes, she’s not all there, mentally, but Flores is pulling a really dirty tactic here and, clearly, has crossed the line because he just wants that $10 million.

Women shy of reporting sexual diseases

2011-07-20T12:45:00.000+03:00

TNN | Jul 20, 2011

NAGPUR: Women shying away from sharing intimate details even with their close friends is somewhat justified. But an attempt on women's part to withhold personal information from their doctors could lead to complications and a delay in the treatment of diseases.

Urologists say it is a common practice among women to wrongly believe that they merely have some kind of urological problems. Later on, it emerges that they are rather plagued by cases of sexual dysfunction or infections, detected among many women in later stages.

"Many women who come to me with complaints like slow urination and other bladder conditions are actually suffering from severe problems like sexual dysfunction. Somehow, it is unimaginable for Indian women to believe that they, too, could have such diseases," said Dr Anita Patel, a urologist from Mumbai.

She said that the social atmosphere in the country prevents women from discussing such problems with those around them. Dr Patel thinks many of her male counterparts face the problem of doing away with the awkwardness that female patients face in speaking about private issues.

City gynaecologist Dr Laxmi Shrikhande said it is common for women to be referred to by urologists. "Since the first manifestation of these diseases is through the problems in urinary activity, it is natural for some confusion to prevail. The problem is, unlike the social atmosphere in the West, our society is not conducive to women being very vocal about their problems," opined Shrikhande, also the vice president of federation of obstetric and gynaecological societies of India (FOGSI).

"The things are discussed only after the problems worsen. This late reporting in many cases makes the problem chronic, adding to complications," added her uro-surgeon husband Dr Anil Shrikhande. "Middle-aged women are not very comfortable disclosing such intimate details. Although even younger women do not discuss problems freely, they know when it is time to visit the doctor," he observed.

Uro surgeon Dr Vijay Tamaskar also said he regularly sends female patients to his gynaecologist wife. "What they don't realise is even those with a single partner are prone to sexual infections. Many times, forceful intercourse among newlywed couples leads to many such complications. Several problems are such that it is not possible for women to identify until medical intervention comes into the picture," he explained.

He said that symptoms like burning sensation after passing urine, incomplete emptying of bladder, high grade fever and blood in urine are common in sexual infections as well as urological problems. However, Dr Tamaskar feels the scene is changing for the better. "The traditional role of a woman in the society is undergoing a lot of change. Today, women, especially those in the cities, are much more aware. They also have more time for themselves," he said.

Antidepressants in water cause shrimps to go crazy

2011-07-13T11:51:00.000+03:00

Antidepressant drugs are getting into coastal waters and upsetting the behaviour of shrimps, according to researchers at the University of Portsmouth.

The drugs enter the sea in human waste through the sewage system.

The researchers say this causes the shrimps to forget to hide from predators and, as a result, find themselves getting eaten.

Dr Alex Ford is one of the scientists behind the research.

Female Orgasm – Unlocking the Neuroscientific Mysteries

2011-07-04T13:01:00.000+03:00

http://www.brainblogger.com/

By Donna Reish | Editor Shaheen E Lakhan

Recently Brain Blogger featured an article entitled Your Brain on Sex and Love. While it delineated a few recent studies that focused on what goes on in the brain during sex, few recognize how little is known about human sexuality, particularly the neural and psychological responses that stem from it. Logistically, it is difficult to study human sex in a lab setting, simply because it is difficult for test subjects to engage in intercourse, or even to self-stimulate, in an fMRI scanner. MindHacks explains how the alternative use of PET scanners is still problematic:

[The test subjects] still had some considerable problems to overcome though, not least of which was timing an orgasm to occur during a predefined time-slot, during which brain activity could be monitored. PET requires a radioactive tracer to be injected into the bloodstream, and although the radiation is very weak, it’s best to use only as much as necessary. This means the intuitive approach of continuous scanning and waiting for the pop of the cork is just not feasible.

Female sexuality is particularly enigmatic, simply because the sex function in women is so much more complex than that of their male counterparts. A study conducted by Dutch scientist Gert Holstege and featured in a BigThink article showed that while the areas in male brains activated during orgasm were not surprising, the activated areas in the female brains were slightly different. For one, the female brain becomes noticeably silent in certain areas, like in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, two areas in the brain that process feelings and thoughts associated with self-control and social judgement. Holstege noted that “at the moment of orgasm, women do not have any emotional feelings.”

New Scientist published a piece late last year featuring an experiment that revealed that pain processing centers in the brain also activate during female orgasm. Dr. Kamisaruk of Rutgers University, who is an early pioneer of neuroscieintific sex studies of the female orgasm, noted that at the moment of climax, women’s pain threshold drops drastically, and that “the fact that these areas are both active during pain and intense pleasure suggests that they may be involved in the analgesic effects of orgasm.”

While of course the study of men’s sexual response is important, it may be more important from a medical standpoint to delve into the female brain considering the much higher numbers of sexual dysfunction in women. Even women in good health have a difficult time achieving climax. Reportedly, 10% of women have never had an orgasm, and as many as 50% of women have trouble being aroused.

One interesting ability that Kamisaruk found is unique to women is that some women he worked with were able to “think themselves” to orgasm. Without using any external stimulation, women closed their eyes and, using only sometimes erotic imagery but just as commonly very random and abstract thought processes, achieved an orgasm that was indistinguishable from orgasms achieved through self-stimulation. Kamisaruk also observed that when some women visualize a certain part of the body, that part of the body becomes sensitive. Kamisaruk believes that further study on this phenomenon could be helpful beyond simply treating sexual dysfunction, but could aid in pain management and the prevention of obesity, among other common health concerns.

In the final analysis, however, as pointed out in Brain Blogger and the New York Times, sexual dysfunction can be understood on a cultural level as well. Stifled sexual pleasure, particularly in women, can result from cultural taboos and poor relationships. As such, the relatively recent excitement about so-called “women’s Viagra” is still as yet a pipe dream, and would it behoove both the scientist and the average person to understand human sexuality through as many lenses as possible.
References
Komisaruk BR, & Whipple B (2005). Functional MRI of the brain during orgasm in women. Annual review of sex research, 16, 62-86 PMID: 16913288

Mental Health

2011-06-20T14:50:00.000+03:00

Our Approach:

Mental Disorders are all treatable and curable.

When you have a mental disorder, you tend to think that it is done for you. It is very probable that you believe that you will remain as you are for years, even till the end of your life. These thoughts will appear so real to you to the extent that you will tend to believe them, and lose the hope to recover. You will hate your negative thoughts, and hate the fact that you have the disorder, and your determination to get over your disorder will deteriorate, and here is where the disorder will be more persistent and dominant over you. While these thoughts and beliefs appear to be so real, it is important to know that these are just not true. Getting past your disorder is possible, you just have to want this.

Our approach is based on experience, as well as intensive research. It is a result of personal experience, and real suffering that resulted into a set of healing techniques that proved to work on all people who had the will and the determination to succeed.

Wanting to heal is 'key' in our approach. When you set healing as a project, and you want to achieve it, and put it as a priority in life, you will get the results that you want.

When you have a mental disorder, you are very likely to suspect the material you are provided. Once, someone who got this material emailed me saying:

"How can I know that what you are providing will work? What if it is mind tricks that can drive me insane, or worsen my case?"

It is very normal to think this way while you have a mental disorder, and while I can have no answer except the effectiveness of the material that I provide and the techniques presented, you can always check with a mental health professional incase you have any suspicions in what is delivered to you in this website, and to check on the validity of these material.

To summarize, our approach is based on the below points.

1. Knowing and accepting that you have a disorder
2. Being well informed of the disorder you have, knowledge is power

3. Having the will to heal
4. Courage is “key” for success
5.It is a matter of training and not a magic pill

Mental Health & Mental Disorders:

Mental health had always been a taboo, and this fact alone had always contributed to preventing those who have mental or mood disorders from improving in the course of healing.

While healing is always possible, and most if not all mental and emotional disorders are very treatable, it is important to understand that the course of healing starts from acknowledging our illness, and confronting our fears and worries.

It is also important to understand and believe that having a mental disorder is never our fault, and while we always tend to blame ourselves for being weak and vulnerable, or even stupid, it is very important to know that these thoughts that come to our minds quite often are symptoms of our mental illness. This is how you are supposed to think when you have a mental illness.
In fact, mental disorders mostly target strong people who tend to blame themselves, and hold the whole responsibility over their shoulders thinking that they are stronger than others, and more able to handle things, and thus face the feelings of guilt and despair. For instance in a relationship, someone who suffers and does not react in fear of hurting the partner’s feelings has in his mind the preconceived idea that he is stronger, and more able to handle distress and pain. When this person admits that he is human, and he has the right to say NO, and to react as well as to live peacefully and happily, he definitely will have a better picture of his situation, and will be able to take the right decisions and avoid extreme negative feelings.

Mental disorders diverse into numerous categories and sub-categories, from mood disorders, to anxiety disorders, to other more or less complicated illnesses, yet, it is important to note that you can have one or more mental disorders at a time. For instance, it is very normal that one gets depressed as he suffers from anxiety. Usually, a person who has an anxiety disorder will be depressed as he sees where anxiety has led him. On the other hand, it is very normal that depressed people feel more anxious and worried, as the gloomy thoughts lead to a feeling of insecurity that generates anxiety.

Another important aspect related to mental illnesses is that they become part of our lives to the extent that we think they are us. While this is so hard to believe, yet, our mental disorder is not us, but they are something existing other than us. They tell us things, and we believe.
Try to literally address them as something outside you, and you will know better what is meant by this. Label them, and give them a name. "Insecurities", "Worry", "Fear", "Black Thought", "Negative Thought", "Anxiety", etc… These are possible names that might or might not suit you. Actually, you may find it extremely hard to differentiate between yourself and your thoughts, but it is totally true that we are not our thoughts, but we can be what our thoughts tell us.

However, though it can be very hard, it is important to know and understand that mental disorders can be a great friend and teacher. After recovery, one will have a different and much better understanding of life.

Finally, many people think that intelligence plays a great role in healing. This is not true. In fact, people who have higher IQ's are in many times more prone to mental disorders than those who have lower IQ's. Mental disorders benefit from our intelligence to use very creative ways to fool our minds, and trick us and make us lost and confused.

Components of a Mental Illness:

In general, mental disorders are a matter of thoughts and beliefs.

"What you are is what you think about yourself".

A mental disorder can top a thought pattern and certain beliefs that are all inherited through different ways since early childhood.

A mental disorder is generally composed of one or several beliefs that are fed by numerous insignificant actions and events. These actions and events generate thoughts that we are not aware of most of the times due to our brain structure, which generates feelings of worry, anxiety, and sadness.

Examples:

1. A person who has a belief that people do not like him. If any of his acquaintances does not talk to him for any simple reason will feed and increase his feeling of rejection, hence contributing to his depression.

2. A person who has a belief that he has weak immunity will get extremely anxious as he sneezes.

3. A person who has a belief that he is not capable of taking care of babies. Feeding his babies can turn to a total anxiety and distress as he fears he might have put poison by mistake.

These beliefs are either inherited from childhood, or learnt later on through the course of life. But the good news is that all these thoughts and beliefs can be altered and conquered for good.

In the course of treatment, some people might expect not experiencing anxiety, sadness, and distress at all in the latest stage of healing.

It is important to note here that sadness, anxiety, or any other feelings are part of our human nature. Without them, one cannot live life normally. Fear and worry is part of our structure, part of our building. Nature has designed us this way to be able to escape dangers. We are designed to experience sadness, so we know happiness later on. Yet, when these feelings become frequent and persistent, and a response to unrealistic dangers or stimulants, then this is a sign that we have a disorder, and we are in a position to treat it and move on in the course of healing to lead a normal life.

Biological Factors & Our Brain Chemistry:

Science shows that that there are biological factors that contribute to various mental disorders. Scientists suggest that there is a chemical imbalance in the brains of depressed people as well as those who have anxiety disorders. Yet, it is not really known if the chemical imbalance has caused the disorder, or it happened after the disorder took place.

However, it is clinically proven that sports and diets based on fruits, vegetables, fish, and water; in addition to changes in life style highly contribute in the process of recovery. Hence, the biological factors that are related to our mental disorders whether cause or result can be altered and improved through sports and diets. It is worth noting here that sports and diets alone are capable of improving our mental health without using any thought techniques and skills.

Science shows that our brain has two hemispheres, one is mainly for emotions, and the other is for logical thinking. Many recent studies are focusing on the role of nasal breathing in our mental wellbeing. Nasal breathing is proved to be the feeder of the brain, and each opening in our nose is responsible of feeding a hemisphere in our brain that is opposite to it. So the right nasal opening is responsible of feeding the left brain hemisphere and vice versa. Therefore, it is important to know that we can highly improve our mental state through regularly breathing from the nose, and this can highly enhance our mood and relieve our anxiety.

Moreover, relaxation and breathing skills will boost our mental state through providing high levels of oxygen that our body and brain needs. (Learn more about breathing skills in the relevant section.)

Environmental Factors, Family Factors, & Though Patterns:

It is highly believed that mental disorders can run in families. Children are very exposed to thought patters that make them learn to think in a certain way that affects their approach to things in life including stressors. This thing makes children inherit the thought patterns from their parents, in addition to other environmental factors that play a great role in our mental disorders.

Examples:

1. A child who travels a lot during childhood, accompanied by stressors applied by the parents and their way of handling the instability of life, can lead to an anxiety disorder later on in life, as all the events and results are magnified inside the inexperienced child.

2. A child who always hear from his mother how hard and sad life is, and sees nothing but sadness can have a mood disorder later on as his thought patterns are inherited from the way he learnt to see life from his parents.

3. Someone who had a lot of stressors during his life is more probable to have a negative view to life compared to other people who suffered fewer stressors.

Yet, it is important to know that beliefs and thoughts, and that play a great role in our mental disorders, can change through determination, courage, and patience. While you are reading this now, you are probably miles away from such words, yet, act as if you have them, and surprisingly you will have them there in you with time.

Our Thoughts:

Research shows that thoughts have a great role in our mental disorders. Yet, we should be able to differentiate between Thoughts and Awareness. While Awareness is all about knowing and sensing the existence of things, Thoughts are judgmental and they generate feelings.

In mental disorders, thoughts become part of the symptoms, yet, it becomes very hard to notice this. We tend to think that thoughts are true, and it becomes extremely hard to notice them, or disbelieve them.

"Thoughts are thoughts; they NEVER explain the reality as they are judgmental."

Let us imagine the chain below. We will work now to differentiate between awareness, thoughts, and feelings.

1. I am fat à Awareness

2. No one will love me à Thought

3. Depressed à Generated Feeling

We usually do not notice "2" which is the Thought. We think it, but we do not notice it. This thought is the thing that generated sadness because it is judgmental.

Thoughts of the anxious or depressed people tend to be focused on expectations or facts rather than solutions. While it is so important to analyze the facts and have certain expectations, it is also worth noting that these remain thoughts, and they can change nothing and they have no affect except on our wellbeing. In fact, they have only one role: Make us sad or anxious.

"The only valid thoughts are those that generate solutions."

Arguing with Negative Thoughts is Erroneous:

Many of us mistakenly think that arguing with negative thoughts positively carries a solution to our distress. While this is so hard to believe, yet, it is important to know that even positive arguing with thoughts is an admission that the thoughts are valid. Hence, you will still be inside the same circle of thoughts. When your mood is good and relaxed, you will tend to think positively about your problems and worries. And when you are anxious or distressed, you will think negatively about them. Your main task that is worth practicing is how to make your awareness notice that these are thoughts. These are nothing but thoughts. You should go courageous to the thoughts that generate worried and despair rather than waiting for the worries and distress to come, and trying to argue with them. You should confront your fears, worries, and stressors, and practice to disregard the negative thoughts that come along.

We will learn more about this thought, and learn how to apply to our cases, and how to deal with thoughts in the relevant self-help guides in Depression and Anxiety disorders sections.

The Thought and the Thought Cloud:

This is a very hard thing to notice. It needs a lot of concentration to be able to differentiate the thought from the thought cloud. Yet, believe it or not, if you focus on your thoughts, you will notice that it is like a current covered by a cloud. The cloud is like a thought with no details. It just leads a certain track or scenario, without getting into the exact details of the thought.

Later on through the course of the disorder, the patient will not get anymore in the details of the thoughts. He will rather get the feelings whether sadness, worry, or anxiety, without knowing the details and the exact track of the thoughts that lead to these feelings. That is why some people tend to feel it extremely difficult to get over their distress, or overcome anxiety as the cloud makes it extremely difficult to notice the thoughts itself. The clouds will take the role of transferring the events and circumstances from one point to another without us even being able to know the exact details of the thought, and whether it is realistic or not.

The good news is that we will be able to detect our thoughts with some concentration, and an inside look to our minds.

This task is never an easy task. It is difficult but totally applicable. All what it needs is determination, and belief that it can be applied.

It is important to know that our mind is built to worry and get sad or anxious. Worry is a learnt process through years of life experience. As we learn from childhood to worry for the exams in order to study and do well, it becomes a thought pattern that rules our thinking, and a way our mind leads to save us, for as we worry, we will be thinking that we are preventing something bad to happen. So worry is a normal thing to do, yet, and in anxiety and mood disorders, there is a case of over usage of this tool in a way that affects our life.

Breathing:

Through breathing, we are ensuring that our body and brain are receiving enough oxygen. When the body receives enough oxygen, it will be more able to relax hence affecting the brain in return. The less oxygen we receive, the more our body will react through tension asking for more oxygen supply.

And as mentioned above, it is proven that the brain gets its oxygen supplies through the nasal cavities. Each nasal opening feeds a hemisphere in the brain whether the one responsible for emotions, or that responsible for logic.

Practicing breathing skills will play a great role in improving our mental state. You can practice these skills whenever you can, but it is recommended that you make them on daily basis, once at least. The correct way to breathe is through the nose deep into the abdomen (Not to the upper lungs only). You will feel that your abdomen is increasing in size. After no more air can be inhaled, the exhaling process starts. It should be done smoothly and slowly. Some people erroneously inhale quickly and with tense, and exhale with their lips tight or ringed. It is extremely important to know that this breathing process is to be made while we are totally relaxed including every part of our body, or else we will not get the needed results. Note the process below.

State:

· Body relaxed

· Eyes closed

· Mind focused on counting breaths.

1. Deeply inhale through your nose, very slowly

2. Keep inhaling until your feel your lungs are full, and your abdomen and chest are full as well

3. Slowly exhale from your mouth with relaxed lips and chest

4. Do this for 10 to 20 times once a day, and whenever you feel there is a need to

Practicing this breathing skill can give wonderful results when practiced in nature, or while stretching.

Music, Bathing, & Massage:

It is proven that music and massage play a great role in boosting our mental state. You can always find time to listen to good music, or go for a massage whether applied by your partner, friend, or a specialist.

The choice of music is very important. It is highly believed that listening to classical music for one to two hours is extremely efficient in relieving anxiety.

Bathing plays a great role as well in relieving feelings of distress, worry, and anxiety. Try a hot bath two to three hours before you sleep for a better sleep, and for a relaxed mind and body.

Medication (Very Optional):

Pills are believed to be beneficial in relieving mood and anxiety disorders. Yet, it is important to note that these are very optional. The benefits of pills lie in providing the ability for some people who have severe cases of depression or anxiety to be able to confront their fears and worries, and help them shift their mood in order to be able to better apply psychotherapies.

Medications are very optional. It is never necessary to take pills, and solutions are always available without the need of getting into medications and facing their side effects.

Recent studies proved that the Placebo Effect plays the biggest role in the effectiveness of anti-depressant medications rather than the effect of the medicine itself. That is patients feel better as they think that the medicine will make them better, rather than getting the benefit from the medicine itself.

Important Note:

Mental disorders affect our way of thinking to an extent that they make us doubt or suspect almost everything we read. As you were reading the previous and the following text, it is very possible that you suspect or have doubts. While this is very normal, you can always get the opinion of a professional to stand on the validity of the material you are getting.

However, it is also worth noting that the strength lying in what you are receiving now is in the fact that it is an outcome of years of experience and suffering empowered by a lot of research that resulted into these documents for your support and emotional wellbeing.

Money Can't Buy Happiness: Individualism a Stronger Predictor of Well-Being Than Wealth, Says New Study

2011-06-15T12:49:00.000+03:00

ScienceDaily (June 14, 2011) — Freedom and personal autonomy are more important to people's well-being than money, according to a meta-analysis of data from 63 countries published by the American Psychological Association.

While a great deal of research has been devoted to the predictors of happiness and life satisfaction around the world, researchers at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand wanted to know one thing: What is more important for well-being, providing people with money or providing them with choices and autonomy?
"Our findings provide new insights into well-being at the societal level," they wrote in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by APA. "Providing individuals with more autonomy appears to be important for reducing negative psychological symptoms, relatively independent of wealth."
Psychologists Ronald Fischer, PhD, and Diana Boer, PhD, looked at studies involving three different psychological tests -- the General Health Questionnaire, which measures four symptoms of distress (somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression); the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, which tests how respondents feel at a particular moment; and the Maslach Burnout Inventory, which tests for emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of personal accomplishment. Altogether, they examined a sample of 420,599 people from 63 countries spanning nearly 40 years.
Fischer and Boer statistically combined the results of the different studies, noting that their analysis was somewhat unusual in that the key variables were collected from different sources and that no single study included the two variables they were considering, i.e., wealth and individualism. (Participants only answered questions regarding one of the dependent variables of general health, anxiety or burnout.)
"Across all three studies and four data sets, we observed a very consistent and robust finding that societal values of individualism were the best predictors of well-being," the authors wrote. "Furthermore, if wealth was a significant predictor alone, this effect disappeared when individualism was entered."
In short, they found, "Money leads to autonomy but it does not add to well-being or happiness."
Previous research has shown that higher income, greater individualism, human rights and social equality are all associated with higher well-being. The effect of money on happiness has been shown to plateau -- that is, once people reach the point of being able to meet their basic needs, more money leads to marginal gains at best or even less well-being as people worry about "keeping up with the Joneses." These patterns were mostly confirmed in their findings.
Overall, more autonomy and freedom as indexed by societal level individualism are associated with more well-being, but the road to well-being is bumpy at times. In more traditional and collectivistic societies, increases in individualism can be associated with anxiety and lower well-being. In more individualistic European countries, in contrast, greater individualism leads to more well-being.
"These increases in well-being with higher individualism, however, leveled off toward the extreme ends of individualism, indicating that too much autonomy may not be beneficial … but the very strong overall pattern was that individualism is associated with better well-being overall," they wrote. This means that in some of the most individualistic societies (such as the United States), the greater independence from family and loved ones appears to go together with increased levels of stress and ill-being."

Kissing Up to the Boss May Be a Good Move

2011-06-13T13:42:00.002+03:00

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on June 10, 2011

A new study finds that sucking up to the boss can not only help individuals move up the corporate ladder, but avoid psychological distress as well.

The study, published in the Journal of Management Studies, suggests that when people skilled in office politics use the coping skill of ingratiation, they may neutralize ostracism and other psychological disturbrance that other less savvy individuals have to cope with in the workplace.

Ostracized employees experience more job tension, emotional exhaustion and depressed mood at work.
Workplace ostracism is an adult form of bullying and is often described as an individual’s belief that they are ignored or excluded by superiors or colleagues in the workplace.
Investigators reviewed a 2005 survey of 262 full-time employees and found that over a five-year period, 66 percent of respondents felt they were systematically ignored by colleagues, and 29 percent reported that other people intentionally left the area when they entered.
Previous studies have shown that ostracism is an interpersonal stressor that can lead to psychological distress, and distress in the workplace is strongly linked to life distress, employee turnover and poor physical health.
In the present study, researchers examined the relationship between workplace ostracism and employee psychological distress, with a focus on moderating effects of ingratiation and political skill.
The research team surveyed employees from two oil and gas companies in China, with 215 employees providing responses.
“Our data confirmed that workplace ostracism was positively related to psychological distress,” said Ho Kwong Kwan , a co-author of the study and a doctoral student in management at Drexel University.
“We found that ingratiation neutralized the relationship between workplace ostracism and psychological distress when used by employees with a high level of political skill, but exacerbated the association when ingratiation was used by employees with low political savvy.”
Although the tactic of ingratiation appears to be successful, study authors recommend that organizations create a workplace culture that discourages workplace ostracism.
Tactics could include training of managers and employees in techniques to enhance self-esteem, improve problem solving, and promote the development of political skills.

Source: Wiley-Blackwell

Bullying harms kids' mental health: Study says

2011-06-11T12:45:00.000+03:00

NEW YORK | Wed Feb 6, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study provides strong evidence that being bullied can cause children to develop depression and anxiety.

Among identical twin pairs in which one experienced bullying between the ages of 7 and 9 and the other did not, the bullied twin was significantly more likely to have symptoms of internalizing problems at age 10, Dr. Louise Arsenault of King's College, London, and her colleagues found.
Internalizing problems are psychological problems in which negativity is directed inward toward the self, such as depression, as opposed to outwardly, such as conduct disorder.

This research "really supports the assumption or the belief that being bullied is bad for children's health," Arsenault told Reuters Health. And the fact that children were having these symptoms, which include frequent crying, fear of being alone, and stomach aches --at such a young age strongly suggests that they need help, she added.
Bullied children are known to be more likely to have anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide, as well as to experience social isolation, Arsenault and her team note in their report. But the question of whether bullying itself is the cause of these mental health problems remains open. It's possible, the researchers explain, that bullying and mental health problems stem from the same risk factors, such as living in a poor neighborhood or parental neglect, or even that a child with mental health problems is more likely to draw bullies' attention.
To investigate, Arsenault and her team looked at 1,116 twin pairs from a nationally representative sample of twins born in England and Wales between 1994 and1995. By looking at twins, Arsenault explained, they were able to account for the effect of family situation and environment, which could contribute to both bullying risk and the likelihood of having internalizing problems, because the twins share the same family background and the same environment.
Among the 114 twin pairs in which one child was bullied and the other wasn't, according to reports from mothers and teachers, the bullied twin showed significantly more symptoms of internalizing problems, such as worrying, being withdrawn, and feeling overly guilty.
Having such problems early in life increases a person's future risk of depression and anxiety disorders, Arsenault and her team point out. The findings show, she added, that efforts designed to fight bullying should not only address the bullies, but should also offer support to their victims.
"They need support," she said. "Their symptoms are to be taken seriously."
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, February 2008.

The Truth Behind Overcoming Sexual Performance Anxiety In Men

2011-06-07T12:02:00.000+03:00

By: karinmanning http://www.streetdirectory.com/

Anxiety is a normal part of life; therefore, it is likely that most people experience anxiety at some point in their lives. Anxiety keeps us alert and helps us cope in every stressful event or situation. But, there is a type of anxiety that is common to men when we talk about sexual issues- men's sexual anxiety. Men's sexual anxiety affects their performance in bed. This issue is hardly ever discussed openly for fear of losing their macho-image. Male sexual performance anxiety is described when a man has trouble getting an erection.

Men who have sexual performance anxiety usually worry about whether they do get a penile erection and when they are about to have sex, they lose their erection, or it can be that when they are actually in the course of having sexual intercourse, they lose the genital erection, or they don't get their 'thing'stubbornly up at all.

Sexual performance anxiety can happen to men in any of those situations. The real deal is usually that you are focusing relatively on the final goal, which is of course orgasm, or pleasing your partner with an orgasm, instead of focusing on all the rest of what goes on in the sexual encounter.

Concentrating more on the relationship and the intimate experiences that you are having as a contrary to the final goal, to make the story short focus on enjoying the whole process of sexual intercourse and not torment yourself by thinking the end result.

There are actually a large number of different treatments, as far as sexual performance is concerned. One of the treatments targets the erectile dysfunction (ED) known as the sensate focus technique. Through a series of four stages, the first thing that you should learn is to stop focusing on the outcome (orgasm) and worrying about whether or not you climax ahead or satisfy your partner to reach that instead concentrate on what the sensory stimulation is like, savor the actual moment of being stimulated, find out what are the ways in which you can reach the peak and pleasure each other.

This will take your anxiety off of what's going to happen at the end; and once you're through with that stage, move on to the second where you'll be caressing, touching, and communication with clothes off. The third stage is actually being inside your partner but no thrusting, and the last stage is now the thrusting. But, the focus is on the sensations (or called sensate focus).

Analytical Therapy, which is psychotherapy, psychoanalysis using hypnosis, can be very effective in dealing with more deep-seated problems that most men have. Though ED and other sex interferences can have biological causes, many of the problems are psychological. Hypnosis can reduce sexual performance anxiety to promote a more relaxed and confident sense of self, optimize self-esteem, happiness and boost self confidence.

Another remedy is prescription drug treatment therapy. There are two types of penis erection drugs that can boost your self-confidence. The medication that goes to the brain to get an erection, and the other works directly to the genital. Uprima medicine works by enhancing nerve signals that causes nerve signals to be sent from brain to the male genital organ, which results it to become erect. Other drugs like Viagra, Cialis, or levitra are some of the drugs to choose from for erectile dysfunction treatment.

Men sexual performance anxiety is one of the issues that are not very popularly discussed publicly. The reasons of men's sexual performance anxiety are either the result of how they feel or because of genital erectile dysfunction. Whatever the reasons maybe, sexual performance anxiety is curable.

15 Signs You May Have Adult ADHD

2011-06-06T18:13:00.001+03:00

Do you have ADHD?

By Karen Pallarito (http://www.health.com/)

About 4% of adults have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and many others have never been diagnosed. (About half of kids with ADHD still have it in adulthood.)

A diagnosis can be important. Adults with ADHD tend to have lower incomes as well as higher rates of accidents, unplanned pregnancies, and substance abuse than those without it, says Martin W. Wetzel, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha.

Here are 15 signs of adult ADHD.

1. You're restless

Children with ADHD can be overly energetic, but adults may just feel edgy or restless.

"Adults don’t show the more obvious signs such as running and jumping," says Colette de Marneffe, PhD, a clinical psychologist in Silver Spring, Md. "Hyperactivity presents more subtly in the form of restlessness."

However, you may recall a rambunctious childhood. Dr. Wetzel had a patient who recalled spending a lot of time in the school hallways because "he couldn't sit still." It's a "classic story," he says.

2. You have a child with ADHD

ADHD appears to have a genetic component. When one member of the family has it, there's a 25% to 35% chance that someone else in the family does, too, according to the Attention Deficit Disorder Association.

When a child is diagnosed with ADHD, some adults, who may have had the same symptoms when they were children, realize that they may have always had the condition without realizing it.

3. You have relationship trouble

A newly minted relationship is often exhilarating, but the novelty can wear off in time.

"Oftentimes adults with ADHD really have a hard time with that transition," notes de Marneffe. "When the relationship becomes more stable and predictable, conflicts tend to emerge."

Being easily distracted or inattentive—symptoms of ADHD—can also sabotage existing relationships with family, friends, and significant others who view their loved one's behavior as self-centered, Dr. Wetzel adds.

4. You smoke

About 40% of adults with ADHD smoke, versus only 26% of the general population.

"Nicotine is very effective for a lot of ADHD symptoms and it's not uncommon for me to see someone for the first time after they quit smoking," says Dr. Wetzel. That's because they often start to have more problems with focus and concentration, he explains.

Adults with ADHD are also more likely to use alcohol and other drugs, and at earlier ages, than people without ADHD.

5. You had academic problems as a child

If you suspect you have ADHD as an adult, an early history of ADHD symptoms—difficulty sitting still, paying attention to the teacher, and focusing on your work, for example—can confirm the diagnosis.

"What adult patients will tell you over and over and over again is that they had to work twice as hard as their peers to get half as much done in school," Dr. Wetzel says.

6. You're a champion procrastinator

Do you live deadline to deadline?

"I can't tell you how many times a patient has told me, ‘I'm the king of procrastination,' or ‘I'm the queen of procrastination,' because they feel like no one else can put things off like they can," says Dr. Wetzel.

It makes sense, he adds, because when people with ADHD are under the gun and anxious, that's when they can focus. Constant anxiety, however, can be very stressful.

7. You're a thrill seeker

People with ADHD are often drawn to activities that are stimulating. They may engage in risky behaviors, like fast driving, gambling, and even extramarital affairs.

The key is to channel that desire for excitement and novelty into activities that don't jeopardize your work and family life, says de Marneffe. Parasailing or other high-adventure activities may be good outlets.

8. You lose things all the time

Is losing your cell phone, wallet, or keys part of your daily routine? People with ADHD frequently misplace common items.

Dr. Wetzel describes ADHD as an "underpowered state of consciousness."

If you set down your keys and you're not really paying attention, your brain doesn't lay down a memory of the event. "It's kind of like it never happened," he says.

9. You have trouble on the job

Everyone encounters some task he doesn't particularly enjoy, but most people are able to find a way to complete the boring aspects of their job, says de Marneffe. People with ADHD, however, have a hard time doing that.

Jobs with a lot of repetition tend to be a poor fit, she observes. Choose work that engages you and fulfills your need for novelty and variability.

10. You have a quick temper

If you fly off the handle in a fit of anger or frustration one moment but are completely over it in the next, it might be a sign of ADHD.

Because this type of irritability can also be a symptom of bipolar disorder, some people with ADHD can be misdiagnosed, says Dr. Wetzel. (However, you can also have both.)

It's important to get a thorough evaluation and diagnosis.

11. You have problems completing tasks

Is your house cluttered with piles of laundry? Is your expense account still a work in progress? Failing to finish tasks can be a symptom of ADHD in adults.

Dr. Wetzel, author of the e-book The Adult ADHD Handbook For Patients, Family & Friends, finds the most successful ADHD patients tend to be entrepreneurs who recognize this shortcoming and surround themselves with people who will focus on the details, finish the paperwork, and handle the mundane portions of a task.

12. You're impulsive

If you blurt out whatever's on your mind without weighing the consequences, it might be a symptom of ADHD.

And acting on an impulse, rather than thinking things through, can cause trouble with family and colleagues.

Examples would include abruptly quitting a job, having unprotected sex, or impulse buying with little thought about the repercussions.

13. You can't relax

Your spouse wants to catch a movie, but unless it's the thriller you've been dying to see, you may get up several times or have random thoughts that distract you from the plot.

Being calm requires a quiet mind, and that's tough for people with ADHD because "so many other things can take over their consciousness," Dr. Wetzel says. "People with ADHD will tell you it's almost impossible for them to meditate."

14. You're easily distracted

You're on a conference call, but your mind keeps wandering. Next thing you know, you've lost chunks of conversation.

With ADHD, sustaining focus is a real problem and a core feature of the disorder. Unimportant things—from external noises and movement to daydreams—grab your attention.

Move to a work space with fewer distractions or use white noise to block out other sounds in the surrounding environment.

15. You're disorganized

Here's the tip off: Your desk is a mountain of paper and you just wasted a half hour searching for an important legal document. Or maybe you failed to make appointments for your children to see the pediatrician, and the school wants their immunization reports—pronto.

If you have ADHD, getting and staying organized is a challenge for you. Breaking organizational tasks into smaller steps may help, according to the National Resource Center on ADHD, in Landover, Md.

Knowledge About Mental Illness Increases Likelihood Of Seeking Help

2011-06-01T14:03:00.000+03:00

Increased knowledge about mental illness, attitudes of tolerance toward people with mental illness, and support for providing them with care in the community lead to an increased likelihood of individuals seeking help, according to research appearing in the June issue of the American Psychiatric Association's journal Psychiatric Services.

The question of what makes people willing to seek mental health care is an important area for research. Many people who need and could benefit from treatment do not seek it, which may result in unnecessary suffering for them and their families as well as high social and financial costs. Researchers looked at data from a United Kingdom Department of Health survey of 1,751 adults in England. Survey participants were asked a series of questions relating to knowledge and attitudes about mental health and contact with people with mental illness. The researchers were particularly interested in the group who responded that they would seek care if they had a mental health problem.

Participants who said that they would seek treatment if they needed it were also those who expressed stronger attitudes of tolerance toward people with mental illness and stronger support for providing care in the community (rather than in institutions). These participants, who tended to be older than those who were less willing to seek care, also had better knowledge about mental illness and available treatments. Women were more likely than men to be willing to seek help and to disclose a mental illness to friends and family.

In addition, past or present contact with individuals with mental illness was associated with greater knowledge and greater tolerance and support for community care but not with greater willingness to seek help or to disclose a mental illness to others. Attitudes of prejudice and exclusion were associated with poorer knowledge and less contact with individuals with mental illness.

"Knowledge of mental illness and treatments was the strongest predictor of both help-seeking and disclosure, a finding that underlines the role of mental health literacy in influencing reactions to developing a mental illness," the researchers concluded. The study authors, affiliated with King's College in London and led by Nicolas Rüsch, M.D., suggest that future efforts to increase care-seeking should include a focus on improving health literacy.

Source:
American Psychiatric Association

Men Feel Less Guilt, Study Suggests

2011-05-28T13:06:00.002+03:00

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2010) — Although changing social and cultural contexts mean guilt has less power today than it once did, a new study has shown that in the West this emotion is "significantly higher" among women. The main problem, according to the experts, is not that women feel a lot of guilt (which they do), but rather that many males feel "too little."

"Our initial hypothesis was that feelings of guilt are more intense among females, not only among adolescents but also among young and adult women, and they also show the highest scores for interpersonal sensitivity," says Itziar Etxebarria, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).

The research, published in theSpanish Journal of Psychology, was carried out using a sample from three age groups (156 teenagers, 96 young people and 108 adults) equally divided between males and females. The team of psychologists asked them what situations most often caused them to feel guilt. They also carried out interpersonal sensitivity tests -- the Davis Empathetic Concern Scale, and a questionnaire on Interpersonal Guilt, created purposely for this study.

When it came to comparing the measurements of intensity of habitual guilt of these groups, the researchers saw that this score was significantly higher for women, in all three age groups. "This difference is particularly stark in the 40-50-year-old age group," points out Etxebarria.

The data also suggest that female teenagers and young women have higher scores than males of the same age. "This is caused by certain educational practices, which demand more of females, and which are sometimes still in use despite belief to the contrary," claims the scientist.

The authors also found gender differences -- similar to those noted for habitual guilt -- in the two indices of interpersonal sensitivity, although in the 40-50 age bracket the men's levels came closer to women's.

The interpersonal sensitivity of men (especially those aged between 25-33) is "comparatively low." The experts say a lack of sensitivity could lead to absence or excessive weakness of certain kinds of guilt, such as empathetic guilt, which could be beneficial for interpersonal relationships and for the individual.

Types of guilt

The most common forms of guilt are related to situations where we cause harm to others. Stemming from this, it is normal that this arouses feelings of empathy for the people we may have harmed, which tend to turn into feelings of guilt when we recognise that we are responsible for their suffering.

A previous study, also headed by Itziar Etxebarria, analyses people's experiences of guilt, differentiating two components -- one of these being empathetic (sorrow for the person we have harmed in some way) and the other anxious-aggressive (unease and contained aggression).

The anxious-aggressive kind of guilt is more common in people who have been raised in a more blame-imposing environment, and who are governed by stricter rules about behaviour in general and aggression in particular. "It seems obvious that this component will be more intense among women, and especially in older women," says Etxebarria.

The greater presence of this component among women, above all those aged between 40 and 50, explains the marked differences in the intensity of habitual guilt in this age group, "just at the age when males move towards females in the two indices of interpersonal sensitivity analysed," she explains.

"Educational practices and a whole range of socialising agents must be used to reduce the trend towards anxious-aggressive guilt among women and to strengthen interpersonal sensitivity among men," concludes the researcher.

Internet sex causes depression

2011-05-26T14:45:00.000+03:00

By Nick Farrell

PEOPLE WHO visit online sex sites have "alarmingly high" rates of depression, anxiety and stress, according to boffins.

The research, conducted by the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, discovered that punters who seek out cyber sex waste hours a day on the 'hobby'.

This is because the people searching for online sexual thrills are overwhelmingly male and the quest for a female who will engage in the practice is a bit like searching for the holy grail.

Still, the Australian research also revealed that people involved in cyber sex were well-eductated, which is nice to know because it takes a university doctorate to write the phrase "wot r u wearing?" one handed.

Most spend more than 12 hours on the sites each week mostly chatting, participating in cyber sex with webcams, downloading video and images, or sending erotic emails.

More than 65 percent of the 1,325 American and Australian men surveyed said they had met someone off line that they had first encountered online.

Marcus Squirrell, a doctoral student at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, said what concerned the boffins was the high rate of poor mental health among the sample group. Sounds like Squirrell is obsessed with nuts to us.

More than 27 percent of them were moderate to severely depressed on the standard scales.

Another 30 percent had high levels of anxiety and 35 per cent were moderately to severely stressed.

Apparently the more they engaged in online sexual activity, the higher their level of depression and anxiety was. No statistic was gathered on failing eyesight, or mouse and keyboard replacement.