HEALTH – Page 9

A Boom In Potent Forms Of Cannabis That Present New Hazards For Adolescents

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE, VIDEO REELS

A Boom In Potent Forms Of Cannabis That Present New Hazards For Adolescents

Cannabis legalization has led to a boom in potent forms of the drug that present new hazards for adolescents. Eventually, most adults reach a point where we realize we are out of touch with those much younger than us. Perhaps it is a pop culture reference that sparks the realization. For me, this moment happened when I was in my late 20s and working with adolescents in school settings to help them quit smoking. When other drugs would occasionally come up, I didn’t understand some of the slang terms they used for these drugs. Many people may have that feeling now when the topic of cannabis comes up – especially in its different and newer forms. As a professor of psychology, I focus my research on substance use in adolescents and young adults. A major change during my time in research...

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Battling Workplace Boredom

How to battle boredom at work. Though neuroscience suggests that boredom can be good for us, we all try to avoid it. Even the most exciting jobs in the world — astronaut, nuclear engineer, helicopter pilot, virus hunter — can be filled with drudgery at times. Nobody is immune from paperwork and meetings. The problem with boredom at work is that its negative effects can linger. You might be able to power through a mind-numbing task, like putting stamps on 500 envelopes, but in doing so you harm your ability to accomplish subsequent tasks. Suppressing boredom doesn’t prevent its effects; it simply places them on hold until later. Like whack-a-mole, downplaying boredom on one task results in attention and productivity deficits that will bubble up again. In new peer-reviewed research, ...

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Social Media’s Addiction

Why students harmed by addictive social media need more than cellphone bans and surveillance. Recently, five school boards in Ontario filed a lawsuit against the major social media platforms: Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. Their lawsuit says that these platforms are designed to be addictive and have caused all kinds of problems for the education system. The lawsuit says social media causes children to suffer from mental health issues, and it increases distraction, social withdrawal, and cyberbullying. And it causes damage and disruption to the classroom, putting all kinds of new burdens on teachers who are already dealing with shrinking budgets and increased class sizes. The $4.5 billion lawsuit follows over 200 lawsuits by school boards in the United States in the...

An Aging Population And Deadly Heat Waves

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE

An Aging Population And Deadly Heat Waves

Heat waves can be deadly for older adults: An aging global population and rising temperatures mean millions are at risk. A deadly heat wave gripped large regions of Asia for weeks in April and May 2024. As temperatures climbed past 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) in India on May 7, campaigning politicians, local news announcers and voters waiting in long lines passed out from the oppressive heat. From as far north as Japan to as far south as the Philippines, the relentless heat wreaked havoc on everyday life. Students and teachers in Cambodia were sent home from school, as their hand-held fans provided little protection against the stifling heat and humidity in their poorly ventilated classrooms. Farmers in Thailand saw their crops wither and mourned the loss of livestock that ...

Too Much Psychological Arousal Can Be A Problem Particularly For Men

13Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

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 ...

11Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

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

11Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

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

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

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...

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

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...

8Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SLEEP

The Downside To ‘Springing Forward’

Could the days of ‘springing forward’ be numbered? A neurologist and sleep expert explains the downside to that borrowed hour of daylight. As people in the U.S. prepare to set their clocks ahead one hour on Sunday, March 10, 2024, I find myself bracing for the annual ritual of media stories about the disruptions to daily routines caused by switching from standard time to daylight saving time. About one-third of Americans say they don’t look forward to these twice-yearly time changes. And nearly two-thirds would like to eliminate them completely, compared with 17% who aren’t sure and 21% who would like to keep moving their clocks back and forth. But the effects go beyond simple inconvenience. Researchers are discovering that “springing ahead” each March is connected with serious negative...