Health Tips

Everybody feels depressed at times. You need to be concerned when these feelings are very strong, or last for most of the day nearly every day for two weeks or longer. They may be due to a medical illness called depression. Depression affects more than 19 million Americans each year.

Depression is a treatable illness involving an imbalance of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. The direct causes of the illness are unclear, however it is known that body chemistry can bring on a depressive disorder, due to experiencing a traumatic event, hormonal changes, altered health habits, the presence of another illness or substance abuse. Know the warning signs.

Warning Signs of Depression:
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Our bodies experience a series of hormonal and biochemical changes that put as in danger mode as we encounter stress. Your heart rate increases, adrenaline rushes through your blood stream, and your digestive and immune systems will temporarily shut down. If the stressor continue you experience extreme exhaustion.

It’s impossible to avoid stress altogether, but you can learn to cope with stress through a variety of ways. Some beneficial techniques to help you in coping with stress are deep breathing methods, meditation, yoga, and exercise. These activities provide calming and relaxing sensory input for stress relief and can be selected according to individual lifestyle and preference.

Coping with Stress – Deep Breathing Techniques
When you’re encountering a stressful situation, you can reduce your stress simply by deep breathing. Deep breathing involves not only the lungs but also the abdomen. Deep breathing technique requires you sit comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on your chest and the other hand on your stomach. Inhale deeply through your nose, the hand on your stomach should begin to rise. Your other hand should move very little.
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Remember what it was like to remember every name? As we age, it is common to experience a diminished memory recall and quickness in thinking. Names, events and specific numbers or facts are more difficult to remember. We pass this off as “getting older”.

Fortunately there are all-natural solutions that can significantly support clearer thinking and improved memory. In fact if supplementation begins early enough, these nutrients may even help prevent the memory loss we experience from aging.

Aging is the largest contributor to memory loss and decreased cognitive function, which includes memory language and creativity. One of the greatest fears of aging men and women today is that they will develop Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is the gradual deterioration of the brain to the point where the victim has no memories or ability to function normally.
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Had a bad day? Feel stressed and tense? OK, so go and walk it off! Yep, it’s that easy.

Start off slowly, walk the first ten minutes at a gentle pace. Hold your head up, breath deeply and let your arms swing, letting your feet dictate the rhythm and pace.

Now that you are warmed up, find somewhere quiet and do a ham string stretch and a calf stretch, holding the stretch for a count of ten.

Now set off again for another 10 minutes but walk more purposefully this time. Again, hold your head up and swing your arms, looking straight ahead. Enjoy the air, the sights and sounds around you and try to let your mind relax.
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Do your energy levels plummet like a car in a lift shaft once the hands of the clock pass twelve o’clock?

Afternoon tiredness is something that affects us all and prevents us from working at our best but it is easily beaten with these few simple tricks.

It is not physical tiredness but mental stress that wears us out, slowly grinding us down until our energy flags and our bodies start to droop. That is when tiredness begins to set in and mistakes are made but the solution is easy.

Stretch your muscles at your desk, wriggle your limbs to get the blood flowing again, get up and walk around or find an excuse to go out.
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Contemporary life style is too demanding, the pressure of excelling in your field of work and coming out with unparalleled results is the need of the day. Owing to this fact, occurrence of depression and anxiety disorder are not unheard of. Most of us face it without even realizing it. Depression and anxiety disorder are grave medical conditions, which can direct to suicidal thoughts and behavior. …

Contemporary life style is too demanding, the pressure of excelling in your field of work and coming out with unparalleled results is the need of the day. Owing to this fact, occurrence of depression and anxiety disorder are not unheard of. Most of us face it without even realizing it. Depression and anxiety disorder are grave medical conditions, which can direct to suicidal thoughts and behavior.
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TIP 1: Learn to question your “I should” thoughts & identify the stressor.

TIP 2: Practice relaxation techniques, for instance, deep breathing to avoid hyperventilation or visualization which can help with focusing on tension flowing out of your body. How you feel emotionally will chemically change how you feel physically – 80% is mind over matter!

TIP 3: Re-asses cognitive restructuring of events – remember most stress begins with your appraisal of a situation.
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Do you eat only when you are hungry? There are several reasons for deciding to eat. Unfortunately, not all of those reasons are for nutrition, balanced diet, or our health. If you’ve found that you like to eat for the wrong reasons, then it is time to fix the problem. One of the biggest reasons people choose to eat is due to emotion. If this is the problem, then there are several ways that you can stop your emotional overeating.

There are several characteristics that are identified with emotional eating. If you don’t recognize these, it can lead to continuing weight gain or the lack of a balanced and nutritious lifestyle. An emotional eater will often eat if they feel angry, depressed or stressed out. Boredom is also a cause for overeating. But these are only a few of the triggers of emotional overeating.
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At some time most of us have problems sleeping. If it goes on night after night it can interfere with work, leisure time and overall happiness. Here are a few tips if you are having serious problems sleeping

Improve your sleep patterns
# Keep a sleep diary This can give both you and your doctor, therapist, whatever, a clearer picture of your sleep patterns. Many people report sleep difficulties like, ‘I have not slept a wink all night’,or, ‘I’ve been awake since 3am’. Such feelings may not actually be confirmed when you start a sleep diary as your perception of time passing can be impaired at night.
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Do you feel sad or cry a lot? Are guilt, dejection, lethargy and mood swings all too commonplace in your life? Have you lost interest in activities, hobbies or life in general? Most importantly, do you often think about bungee jumping without a bungee cord? If so, then you’re not a happy camper. But you’re certainly not alone in the woods; you may be clinically depressed, which increases your chances of impotence dramatically.

Depression is the fourth leading public health problem in the world. Unfortunately, a comparatively small number of people is actually diagnosed and treated for this ailment. Given the stigma our societies place on mental illness, many are ashamed to admit they may be suffering from such a condition. Also, depression is very complex. Its symptoms, both physical and psychological, vary greatly among sufferers, making it tricky to diagnose accurately.

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