Thursday, April 2

MENTAL HEALTH

Too Much Psychological Arousal Can Be A Problem Particularly For Men
MENTAL HEALTH

Too Much Psychological Arousal Can Be A Problem Particularly For Men

Getting too excited can stop men from orgasming – but there’s a solution. The way sex is portrayed in pop culture films and music could easily give you the idea that it, at least physically, should happen easily – particularly for men. Sex may seem like a straightforward activity but it actually involves a high degree of coordination between the brain and body parts. Recent data suggests that erectile dysfunction affects around one in five UK men, with the figure rising to 50% for the 40-70 age group. With this data in mind, we set out to explore how we could mathematically model the essence of sexual response in men and improve the experience. We found that too much psychological arousal before or during sexual stimulation can make it difficult to climax. Until recently, little was known ...
Stress, How Much Is Too Much?
MENTAL HEALTH, VIDEO REELS

Stress, How Much Is Too Much?

How much stress is too much? A psychiatrist explains the links between toxic stress and poor health − and how to get help. COVID-19 taught most people that the line between tolerable and toxic stress – defined as persistent demands that lead to disease – varies widely. But some people will age faster and die younger from toxic stressors than others. So how much stress is too much, and what can you do about it? I’m a psychiatrist specializing in psychosomatic medicine, which is the study and treatment of people who have physical and mental illnesses. My research is focused on people who have psychological conditions and medical illnesses as well as those whose stress exacerbates their health issues. I’ve spent my career studying mind-body questions and training physicians to treat...
I Used Energy Therapy Techniques To Help Me With Space Clearing
MENTAL HEALTH

I Used Energy Therapy Techniques To Help Me With Space Clearing

Energy Therapy and how to use it. Fluff & Tuck (cleansing the Auric field) Draw the hands down from head to toe, 4 - 6 inches from the body Your hands are like rakes, feeling for any disruptions in the field, hot, cold, sticky, or tingly. Feel for changes in density. Make six or eight passes as you complete a circuit around the parameter of the body. Flick your hands toward the earth and request that she take the energy and transform it into what ever is needed. Grounding the Root Chakra Place both hands beneath the root chakra Feel for the density of the root chakra Draw the energy down toward the earth, like a cord Opening the Crown Chakra Stand to the side or behind the person you are working on. Place your hands in a triangle above the Crown Chakra. Wait ...
For Many Doctors, Aromatherapy Still Doesn’t Pass The Smell Test — But Millions Of Americans Believe It Works
MENTAL HEALTH

For Many Doctors, Aromatherapy Still Doesn’t Pass The Smell Test — But Millions Of Americans Believe It Works

Millions of Americans believe aromatherapy works – but for many doctors, it still doesn’t pass the smell test. The history of using essential oils and their aromas to improve health and well-being dates back thousands of years. Like today, patients would inhale or topically apply these oils, which were typically extracted from plants – from leaves to flowers to roots to bark. But not until the 1930s was this form of therapy considered to have true potential in mainstream health care. That was when Rene Maurice Gattefossé, a French chemist who coined the word aromatherapy, wrote extensively about the properties of essential oils. Today, depending on whom you talk to, aromatherapy comprises anything from pleasant odors associated with personal hygiene and cleaning products to a serious t...
Do You Have Fear Of Saying ‘No’
MENTAL HEALTH

Do You Have Fear Of Saying ‘No’

Are our fears of saying ‘no’ overblown? Everyone has been there. You get invited to something that you absolutely do not want to attend – a holiday party, a family cookout, an expensive trip. But doubts and anxieties creep into your head as you weigh whether to decline. You might wonder if you’ll upset the person who invited you. Maybe it’ll harm the friendship, or they won’t extend an invite to the next get-together. Should you just grit your teeth and go? Or are you worrying more than you should about saying “no”? An imaginary faux pas We explored these questions in a recently published study. In a pilot study that we ran ahead of the main studies, we found that 77% of our 51 respondents had accepted an invitation to an event that they didn’t want to attend, fearing blowback if...
Addicted To Social Media — Cut The Craving
MENTAL HEALTH, VIDEO REELS

Addicted To Social Media — Cut The Craving

‘It is hijacking my brain’ – a team of experts found ways to help young people addicted to social media to cut the craving. Many people have compared the addictive nature of social media to cigarettes. Checking your likes, they say, is the new smoke break. Others say the unease over social media is just the next round of moral panic about new technologies. We are a pair of researchers who investigate how social media affects the mental health of young people. More than 75% of teens check their phone hourly, and half say they feel like they’re addicted to their devices. Here are some of the things they’ve told us: “TikTok has me in a chokehold.” “I would 1,000% say I am addicted.” “I feel completely aware that it is hijacking my brain, but I can’t put it down. This leaves me feeling as...
The Holidays Can Be A Time To Reflect And Find Meaning In Loss For Those Suffering With Prolonged Grief
MENTAL HEALTH, VIDEO REELS

The Holidays Can Be A Time To Reflect And Find Meaning In Loss For Those Suffering With Prolonged Grief

For many who are suffering with prolonged grief, the holidays can be a time to reflect and find meaning in loss. The holiday season is meant to be filled with joy, connection and celebration of rituals. Many people, however, are starkly reminded of their grief this time of year and of whom – or what – they have lost. The added stress of the holiday season doesn’t help. Studies show that the holidays negatively affect many people’s mental health. While COVID-19-related stressors may have lessened, the grief from change and loss that so many endured during the pandemic persists. This can cause difficult emotions to resurface when they are least expected. I am a licensed therapist and trauma-sensitive yoga instructor. For the last 12 years, I’ve helped clients and families manage grief, depr...
Relationship Stress Is Contagious – During The Holidays And Beyond Here’s What You Can Do To Support Your Partner And Boost Your Own Health
MENTAL HEALTH

Relationship Stress Is Contagious – During The Holidays And Beyond Here’s What You Can Do To Support Your Partner And Boost Your Own Health

With the flurry of shopping, spending money and traveling to see family, stress can feel inevitable during the holidays. You might already know stress can affect your own health, but what you may not realize is that your stress – and how you manage it – is catching. Your stress can spread around, particularly to your loved ones. As a social-health psychologist, I have developed a model on how partners and their stress influence each other’s psychological and biological health. Through that and my other research, I’ve learned that the quality of intimate relationships is crucial to people’s health. Here’s just a sample: Relationship stress can alter the immune, endocrine and cardiovascular systems. A study of newlyweds found levels of stress hormones were higher when couples were hostile d...
How To Get Through The Holiday Craze!
MENTAL HEALTH

How To Get Through The Holiday Craze!

I'm the first to admit I have some strong opinions, some of which have been wildly popular, and others absolutely not. That could be because we have been indoctrinated into a modicum of agreement on what's polite, etiquette or even appropriate when it comes to giving unsolicited advice. Or (my suspicion is) we are simply afraid of the truth. However you look at it, the consequences for such straight talk can be stringent; tribal ostracization, social paralysis or, worse, no one likes you and you die alone. Yet somehow the threat of becoming such a pariah doesn't stop me from trying to penetrate the unconsciousness that most of us suffer from. I think I may quite seriously be genetically incapable of keeping my mouth shut under certain circumstances; either that or I have an emotional stig...
Students In This Course Take A Close Look At Addiction
MENTAL HEALTH

Students In This Course Take A Close Look At Addiction

To better understand addiction, students in this course take a close look at liquor in literature. Title of course: Alcohol in American Literature What prompted the idea for the course? I got the idea for the course when I was writing a chapter on the temperance movement in American literature for my doctoral dissertation. I ended up reading a lot of fiction and poetry about alcohol and the anti-alcohol movement. I thought it would be fun to teach a class that surveyed American literature through a booze-themed lens. Since alcohol affects and disables people regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or class, it is easy to find literature about the impact of alcohol from many points of view. What does the course explore? I pair my course with a medical doctor who teaches...