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Symptoms of Memory Loss: Forgetfulness

October 11th, 2012 No comments

Have you experienced drifting off in the middle of your statement because you suddenly forgot what you were about to say? How about missing a very special occasion because you failed to remember what date it is? Have you constantly been failing in your exams because you tend to not recall the things you reviewed the night before? This can often be considered a natural occurrence but did you know that among the symptoms of memory loss, forgetfulness is among those that manifest first?

Not all people are very concerned about memory loss. Forgetfulness is usually considered as a petty thing because many people believe that it is fine to not remember things once in a while. It is true that forgetting things is not really that alarming but if you tend to get into trouble because it happens to you a lot, you better take notice because it could be that there is something more serious going on.

memory lossThere are several reasons that can bring about forgetfulness including old age, brain-related illnesses, head injuries, drug abuse, too much consumption of alcohol, depression or stress, being administered with general anesthesia, brain tumors and hysteria or seizures. In these instances, there are some factors that hinder the brain from functioning properly, leading to poor memory retrieval and retention. However, there are cases that you just begin to not remember things because a lot of your brain cells have already died bringing along with them those precious memories. It is true that brain cells or nerves would eventually die but you can do something to prolong their life and make you remain as sharp as during your prime years.

Keeping your brain active – If you always keep your brain engaged in stimulating activities, it will become more alert, which would lead to better absorption and retention of new information. When you regularly train it to recover old memories, it will become more focused, which would trigger it to have better recall of old events you did not know were still in your memory bank.

Keeping your body active – When you work out, you are increasing the circulation of blood in your body and as a result, more oxygen is carried on to the brain, which is essential for it to function excellently.

Eating the right food – There are nutrients present in certain foods that can stimulate the brain. Foods like nuts, oats and most fruits and vegetables are very good sources of such nutrients that can enhance your mental ability.

You have a fight against memory loss; forgetfulness can be avoided if you will just make an effort to do something about it such as heeding the above tips.

Dyslexia – Improving Reading And Writing Through Brain Training

January 19th, 2012 No comments

Dyslexia is a learning disability. It impairs a person’s ability to read and comprehend what they have just read. It can also cause problems with learning and using proper phonetics and other critical comprehension skills.

There are three types of dyslexia: auditory, visual and intentional. The most common type of dyslexia manifests itself as reading disabilities although it is actually a receptive language based learning disability, which means you actually have difficulty with putting the words in order and processing them.

dyslexia boy

Dyslexia is not an intellectual disability. You can start looking for the signs of dyslexia very early on for a child.

In pre-school aged children dyslexia symptoms are usually delays in speech, slow learning of new words and backwards letter writing. Early elementary children will exhibit signs such as difficulty learning the alphabet, trouble with rhyming words and difficulty with similar sounds. Older elementary students exhibit poor spelling, slow or inaccurate reading, or difficulty keeping up with concepts in school.

One common misconception is that people with dyslexia see words or letters backwards or in the wrong order. In fact they see similar but unrelated words on the page such as fell/fall or say/saw.

There are a lot of things you can do to help a child better cope with dyslexia and get where he or she needs to be with reading and comprehension. Things that are shown to focus your mind and sharpen your brain can also help you hone the skills you need to overcompensate for dyslexia.

dyslexiaIn addition to activities to keep your mind sharper people with dyslexia can also benefit from better phonics instruction. Phonics activities can change the brain activity in adults with dyslexia and make for significant improvements in reading.

Dyslexia in certain studies has been linked to under activity in areas of the brain that process language and put words in a meaningful order. That means if you can re-train that part of the brain you can seriously decrease the amount of dyslexia symptoms you exhibit.

Improving your brain activity is very much achievable. The brain is like a sponge and the more you put into it the more you get out of it. Doing exercises that improve your cognitive memory and the sharpness and focus of your brain can go a long way in helping with dyslexia. By braining your train, studies have showed that you can actually improve your reading skills.

Health in Mind, Body, and Economy

November 30th, 2011 No comments
In this disastrous and worsening economy, it’s time we become true fiscal conservatives and begin spending more on mental health care. Yes. Spend. More. Conservative. Don’t leave yet, there’s a reason! Right now everything is on the chopping block. We do need to take a realistic and honest look at our finances and cut out spending that doesn’t give us a return for our money. But mental health care (when done right) is a worthwhile investment that can actually improve the lives of our citizens and our economy. And after a really cool decision by Standard & Poor’s to downgrade our credit rating, maybe we should start investing in something that won’t put the pedal on the accelerator to more wasteful spending.

Every year, untreated mental illness costs us hundreds of billions of dollars. This is merely from numbers accessible to estimators. Most of this money comes from the side effects of mental illness, such as physical manifestations, family and community problems, unnecessary unemployment, incarceration, or criminal activity, drug use, lower productivity in the workplace… The list goes on and on. Mental illnesses can even lead to a significantly higher rate of car accidents and other problems. In actuality, the numbers are probably much greater.

Despite the economic costs, mental health programs are generally one of the first spending areas to be cut. There is no single agency that administers mental healthcare, so programs are being attacked from the federal, state, and even local levels of government. School districts face entering the school year without a trained mental health professional on staff to care for at-risk children. Our veterans, who are known to have a higher risk for mental illness, are living on street corners and sidewalks because the country they risked their lives for refuses to make a full-faith effort to give them the care they need. And those who can least afford counseling and drug treatments (and who most need them) are hit when they are down by the Great Recession and government cuts to mental health funding.

We do not have a definitive strategy to improve the mental health of our citizens. Numbers of people reporting mental illnesses are increasing, and the National Institute of Mental Health shows that almost 50% of the U.S. adult population reports a mental disorder sometime during their life. And despite legislation to reduce discrimination in the workplace against those with mental illnesses, the stigma remains. We are no longer allowed to discriminate legally, so we just do it in practice. Furthermore, we can’t limit discrimination on persons who cannot contribute to their workplace because of a debilitating mental illness.

This takes a serious toll on our economy and our overall expectation for quality of life. Mental illness can consume a person’s life and energy. Likewise, it consumes our society when we allow it to contribute to social problems like prison overcrowding, skyrocketing healthcare costs, and a risk to public safety. It is a private problem for some, but a public problem for all of us. If we really want to control our debt, we need to consider the broad consequences of our actions and investments. And if we truly care about having an efficient government “of the people,” then it’s time we begin taking the challenge of mental illness seriously.

The answer is a mixture of public and private solutions. We need to ensure access to mental health professionals. We can’t have deserts where people cannot receive the treatment they need. We need to rein in prices that make health care unaffordable for people who, because of their illness, can already not afford treatment. We need to work to reduce the stigma of mental illness and offer care, not discrimination, to people who are contemplating suicide or self-injury or who need the help of a counselor. We need to take the first step to invest in research on mental health problems, with private investors following close behind. And we need to realize that mental health is a broad problem, not the responsibility of the hurting. Think about the improved efficiency in the workplace, the new tax base, and savings in other problem areas.

But most of all, we need to take a stand and work to protect the right to the pursuit of happiness of all our American citizens. What will you do?

Silent ADHD Subtype – What You Should Know

October 19th, 2011 No comments

ADHD inattentive is one of the three sub-types of ADHD. Its manifestations are forgetfulness, procrastination, inattention, low concentration, lethargy and sluggishness. Children who are afflicted with this mental disorder are generally misunderstood by teachers and parents as irresponsible, immature, careless and lazy. This ADHD subtype is more common among girls than boys and usually goes undiagnosed because those who have it are not disruptive in school or at home. As a result, children who have the disorder and remain undiagnosed have higher chances of dropping out of school or failing in their academic endeavors.

Later in life those who have ADHD inattentive will most likely have problems in maintaining personally satisfactory relationships and keeping a good job. Growing-up burdened with negative labeling is likely to have a negative impact on children’s self-esteem and could well result in the development of other mental- health disorders such as (but not limited to) promiscuity, anxiety and depression. The good news is people who have this ADHD subtype have lower risks of becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol and having issues with the law compared to the other two ADHD subtypes where high risk and thrill seeking behaviors are very dominant.

ADHD inattentive is genetic and 70 percent of those who have the disease also have blood relatives who have the same condition. This condition is due to the chemical imbalance in the neural networks; hence, it affects the general cognitive abilities and the brain’s executive functions. This condition is diagnosed through a standard questionnaire containing symptoms questions for parents and teachers to answer.

The first line of intervention is the use of ADHD prescription drugs. However, the drug will only address the symptoms, but can never actually cure the disease. The effects of the drugs are temporary, and there is also a growing concern about the side-effects brought about by the long-term use of drugs. The disability usually coexists with other conditions such as depression, oppositional and defiant behavior, anxiety and depression and conduct disorder. Those who have coexisting mental issues are highly at risk of psychotic and suicidal episodes if they take ADHD drugs and as a result require constant monitoring. Some parents resort to alternative interventions such as meditation; homeopathic medicine and ADHD diet because they are known to alleviate the symptoms of the disease without any side effects.

Behavioral modification techniques can also help manage ADHD inattentive. Giving the child a daily schedule to follow, being consistent about rules, helping a child staying organized and rewarding good behavior and giving short, simple and easy to under instructions will help a lot. It is also very important that parents should establish good rapport with the teacher to be able to closely monitor the ADHD inattentive child’s progress in school and make follow-ups at home.

Symptoms of Depersonalization Disorder

October 9th, 2011 No comments

Dissociative disorders are that category of disorders which are not much prevalent in the population. These disorders break the association of the personality. For example, sense of one’s own self is an association within the personality. When this association breaks, Depersonalization takes place. During this disorder, an individual loses his sense of reality. An individual may feel that, he is not himself, and that he is detached from his own body and mind. All the processes of the body and mind are not taking place within him rather one feels that he is the character of any movie or he is living in any dream.

Feelings of Derealization also take place during the course of the depersonalization. During the stage of Derealization, weird changes appear in the perception of the surroundings. People feel changes in the size of the objects and sounds also change their quality. Some changes also appear in the sense of the time. Individual becomes unable to estimate time normally. Now, you can understand that the person, who is unable to see things in their normal sizes, and sounds appear differently than normal, such a person becomes fearful of the whole situation. It becomes difficult for him to adjust with these ill perceptions, and he develops anxiety, depression, stress and dizziness. The common understanding of the sufferer is that he is going to be mad.
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Although the situation is problematic for an individual, but the individual does not lose his contact with reality. He is capable of distinguishing between reality and unreality. A person may feel that all the people in his surroundings are animated creatures or characters of a cartoon movie along with his own self. People suffering from the situation do not experience memory lose that is, their memories remain intact. They have full awareness of who they are. Symptoms of the disorder appear suddenly but disappear gradually. Extreme stress can induce feelings or brief period of depersonalization in an individual.

Till now, I have talked about the symptoms which appear during the single episode of the disorder. There are many people who experience these symptoms for once in their lives. It means that they have experienced single episode of the disorder, but they have not developed full disorder. We diagnose a disorder when a person experiences such episodes of detachment again and again. Recurrent experiences of detached feelings can produce distress in the person, and it can disturb his normal functioning. The reason behind this is that, during the disorder, an individual thinks that he is going to be crazy. This feeling prevents him from concentrating at anything which can affect his occupational life eventually.

One should be careful while diagnosing any disorder because different disorders often share some characteristics. For example, these feelings of detachment and unreality can also occur after drug use. So this disorder will be diagnosed only when the person is not under influence of drugs. There may be different causes of the disorder. Recovery of the individual depends on the cause of the disorder. If there is any neurological cause, it may take more time in treatment. If the individual is suffering depersonalization because of any stress situation or childhood trauma, then recovery may be relatively easy through psychotherapies. Usually, some people consider that majority of the population can suffer from mild symptoms of any of dissociative disorder, but it is not the case.

A Far Infrared Sauna Can Decrease Stress Levels From Your Life

October 2nd, 2011 No comments

infrared sauna
Many people have enjoyed the amazing recreational benefits of saunas but we cannot forget the amazing health benefits as well when using a Far Infrared sauna. The extra warm deep heat can sooth tired achy muscles and help you feel rejuvenated after a long day at work. Doctor’s are still researching to find out the exact benefits of this relaxing activity.
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In this day and age, it is not uncommon for people to have an overload of toxins in their body. Everything from pollution to pesticides can be introduced into our body and tax our immune system. Even some of the things we eat or use for lotions can clog our bodies up with toxins. There are ways to use this special type of sauna to detox your body and get rid of heavy metals that may have entered into your blood stream.

People that have spent time in a sauna have been able to help their body get rid of harmful chemicals. Using this type of sauna can be very effective at removing toxins and harsh chemicals from your body. It can also help to boost your immune system. That’s why a great time to make time for sauna sessions is during the winter months when the viruses are high in volume and our immune system seems to take some breaks.
health benefits of sauna

Research has shown that time spent in this type of sauna may improve cardiovascular health. It is said to heat up the body forcing the body to try to cool itself. The process can speed up your metabolism and force your heart to work harder, increasing and promoting heart health. If you do have heart issues, it is best to talk with your doctor before making a Far Infrared Sauna a regular routine.

People also use time in the sauna as a way to reduce stress. It can be a great stress reliever to spend time relaxing in your own personal sauna. It can also help people control pain when suffering with arthritis and other medical conditions.

There are many health benefits to a Far Infrared sauna. You can use this method to help you with many health conditions and reduce your stress levels. You can ask your doctor if this type of sauna use would be right for you. You could be on your way to a healthier you by tomorrow. Be sure to check out your local salons and recreation centres to see who has a Far Infrared sauna in your area.

How Concentration Naturally Can Lead to Better Recall

September 18th, 2011 No comments

Introduction: Take a Moment

Most of us are not strangers to forgetting that we heated up something in the microwave, only to forget it and let it get cold. A great deal of the minor memory problems that we experience on a regular basis can be solved by altering our lifestyle in simple ways, and taking a moment out to focus on concentrating better.

For your brain to transfer something from your short-term memory into your long-term memory, you must concentrate on it for a full eight seconds. This will surely improve your memory capacity.

In a fast paced, modern society, it is no surprise that we are not spending the time that is necessary to transfer information into our long-term memory. Often times, the reason we do not remember things is because we just aren’t taking the time to concentrate on putting it away.
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It’s happened to everyone, we put our glasses down on the table absentmindedly, and later end up wasting a great deal of time looking for the lost glasses. The reason that we forget where the glasses are in the first place is a lack of attention to detail.

Notice What You’re Doing

Rather than thinking about all the things that are going on where you are not, try to take stock in what is going on around you. Even when what you are doing is seemingly insignificant, focus on it, and repeat out loud what you are doing. For example, when you are putting your coffee cup in the cupboard on the right, say to yourself “while I put away my coffee cup, I am putting it away in the cupboard on the right.”

Be in the Now, and Ignore Disturbances

There is always a litany of things begging to distract us, there is a radio on in the background, or maybe a television announcing the latest sports scores. Do your best to ignore it, and focus on what you are doing.

Remaining in the now will help you remember the details about what you are doing, and is also helpful when you are meeting new people. By focusing on the person shaking your hand, and telling you their name, you will likely have a better memory of him or her, as well as make a better impression.

Read and Write

Practice your concentration skills by reading interesting articles from your local newspaper, or magazines that you like. After reading, quiz yourself on how well you remember the details from the articles.

One of the most effective ways of remembering something is actually to teach it. After you have read the article, tell someone about it. Enlighten them with details from the piece you just read. By consciously making an effort to remember the details, you will be better at doing so.

Put Your TV to Work

If you are going to watch television anyway, make it a productive time. Take note of what all the characters are wearing, and at the show’s conclusion, test yourself on how many of the outfits you are able to remember.

Do this repeatedly, and you’ll be shocked at the positive results, and how well you begin to remember.

Remembering Right

On many occasions, people scrawl out notes with just a word, or number. The idea is that this is all the information we will later need. This is not necessarily so. Without taking a moment out to either focus on why this information is pertinent to us, or without also writing what good that word or number is, the information ca be rendered useless.

Conclusion

There are many memory techniques that ask that you think of entertaining and effective visualizations for your memory intake. However, all of the skills are contingent on remembering to stay in the now, and give attention to better concentration.

When to Have Your Child Evaluated for ADHD

September 8th, 2011 No comments

Deciding to give your child ADHD tests is a big decision for a parent to make. After all, it’s normal for children to be hyperactive and dreamy, especially when placed in boring situations. So when should you have your child professionally evaluated for ADHD?

Many parents have noticed for years that their child is different from other children; after all, excessive energy, inattention, and poor control over emotions are symptoms that are difficult to ignore. They do their best to manage their children’s disruptive behavior, but their efforts seem to make no difference. When these two factors meet and parents notice that they keep on struggling to help their child, they start to wonder if maybe something is medically wrong.

In some cases, a child’s problematic behavior is pointed out by teachers, babysitters, or day care staff; parents receive complaints that their child behaves disruptively and is difficult to handle. Often, reports of ADHD-like behavior become more frequent during the child’s first year or two at school. In the more structured setting of an elementary school, a child who cannot stay in his seat or be quiet in class will easily be noticed by a teacher. The parent is then advised to have the child evaluated for ADHD, but it’s not uncommon for some to dismiss these complaints and remain unconcerned about their child’s behavior.
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At some point, a parent will admit to themselves that their child does have a problem. They’ll turn to the internet and go to the library for information on how to manage the condition. Based on what they find, they might avoiding artificial additives, sugar, or enforcing more structure at home. While it’s good to inform yourself about the condition, don’t try to treat ADHD without professional advice. If treated incorrectly, ADHD can interfere with your child’s development and place him or her at risk for dangerous behavior. Don’t ignore the symptoms and hope that your child will grow out of it, either. Consider seeking the help of a professional if you notice the following behaviors:

  • For six months or more, your child is unusually inattentive, impulsive, or far more active than children of his or her age
  • For six months or more, teachers and other parents point out that your child is more inattentive, impulsive, or active than children of his or her age
  • You spend more time managing your child’s behavior or keeping your child safe than other parents with children of the same age
  • Other kids avoid playing with your child because of aggressive, emotional, or hyperactive behavior. Your child does not get invited to birthday parties or play dates.
  • You feel exhausted when you spend time with your child and you worry that you might end up physically harming your child as a form of discipline.

Stress Fractures – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

July 15th, 2011 No comments

A stress fracture is sometimes also known as a hairline fracture or a fatigue fracture. They are basically an incomplete fracture, or a crack in the bone, caused by repetitive forces, rather than one sudden incident. Stress fractures are particularly common in runners due to the repetitive impacts and the forces this passes through the bones.

causes of stress fractures

The most common areas for this to happen include:

  • Metatarsals (long bones in the foot)
  • Tibia (shin bone)
  • Femur (thigh bone)
  • Calcaneus (heel bone)
  • Talus (ankle bone)

 

The Metatarsals and Tibia are by far the most common stress fracture locations in runners.

Symptoms include a generalised area of pain which develops gradually, is worse with repeated weight-bearing and often eases with rest. There may be mild swelling in the area and it may be possible to feel a tender area directly over the bone.

As already mentioned, stress fractures are common in runners, but there are certain factors which may increase the risk of developing a stress fracture. Increasing mileage too quickly is the most common culprit. Not sticking to the 10% increase per week rule means that the body does not have time to adapt and build the strength required to sustain this level of intensity. Consistently running on hard surfaces, especially concrete pavements is another factor which is easily corrected by adding in grass, track and sand training sessions. Wearing extra cushioned running shoes, or adding in a shock absorbing insole may also be beneficial.

Stress fracture treatment mostly involves rest. For weight-bearing bones this will usually mean avoiding full weight-bearing with the help of crutches or a walking boot. This type of fracture is not usually put in a plaster cast.

stress fracture

The healing time for a weight-bearing stress fracture is between 4 and 8 weeks. During this time the activity which caused the injury should be avoided completely, although after 2 weeks of complete rest, other non-weight bearing exercises such as swimming or cycling may be undertaken, provided they are pain-free.

After the bone is healed, a return to sport can be initiated, although should be very cautious and gradual to prevent a re-injury. Exercises to strengthen the surrounding area may be used, as should stretching exercises to make sure a full range of motion at the joints above and below.

Before returning to sport, it is important that all contributing factors are corrected to reduce the risk of a re-injury. If unsure, get a professional to look at your training programme and your running shoes.

Alleviate Your Anxiety and Panic Attacks With Easy Training Regimens

May 23rd, 2011 No comments

People with anxiety disorders are given help every day with treatment. Therapy generally consists of medication or psychotherapy. But you may quite possibly determine how to do things yourself to ease your anxiety and panic attacks without medication.

WHAT IS PANIC?

An out-and-out panic attack is burdensome to describe to someone who has never gone through one. As adrenaline rushes through your body, it launches a flight-or-fight response, producing a heap of physical effects: sweating, palpitations and dizziness just to mention a few.

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A downright sense of demise engrosses you, making concentration and logical thought pretty near impossible. Anyone who has witnessed panic attacks will inform you that going through one makes them visualize that they are about to die.

WHAT INVOKES PANIC?

Panic is normally motivated by a way of thinking. It can be a hunch that the plane you’re on isn’t safe or maybe about an unimportant pang in your chest.

That hunch needs you to imagine that you are trapped in a life-threatening dilemma from which there is no hope of escape.

Whether it is physically or emotionally life threatening, these manifestations always lead you to assume that something is physically wrong with you . Also that it may be severe enough to kill you.

The truth is, whereas the physical symptoms seem to be real, it’s purely cut and dried fear.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO DEFEAT PANIC?

Medication could potentially be a pretty sound anxiety treatment, but it is not a cure. There are more medications provided today than ever before to assist you with anxiety disorders.

All of these medications possess some side effects, but they typically get to be bearable or taper off after some time. If these side effects should grow to be problematic, your doctor might very well tell you to refrain from taking the medication and try another one.

Behavioral therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy could likewise be an effective fashion to lighten your anxiety and panic attacks.

Behavioral therapy is channeled to modifying particular actions and applies miscellaneous techniques to curtail or halt undesirable behavior.

One such plan tutors patients in breathing from the diaphragm. A breathing conditioning that consists of slow, deep breaths to alleviate anxiety.

It is all important to learn breathing techniques because people who are anxious generally hyperventilate. Rapid and shallow breathing could lead to a rapid heartbeat or other symptoms.

Like behavioral therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy tutors you in handling the difficulty along with bodily sensations that lead to anxiety and panic attacks differently.

Exposure therapy is a plan that slowly exposes patients to what riles them and assists them with managing their apprehensions.

anxiety attacks symptoms

You will also determine how to understand how your contemplation process could contribute to your symptoms as well as how to transform your deliberation process so that those symptoms are less plausible.

There are additionally some techniques that you could quite possibly do on your own.

One is to acknowledge panic, don’t ban it. What I mean is, if I were to suggest to you not to imagine the Easter bunny, what’s going to go on ? You’re going to think of the Easter bunny. And the more you try not to envision the Easter bunny, the more you will.

Still, if you try not to think about your panic attack, the more you become mesmerized, making it even worse.

What you want to do is remove yourself from the event. Envision your panic similar to a stoved thumb. You know it’s there but you prefer to ignore it.

You can feel the panic continuing through you very forcefully right now. Fancy it as getting caught in the rain. All you want to do is wait for it to conclude.

Please do not take these anxiety treatments to be a substitute for seeking a diagnosis by a qualified professional.