Bipolar4LifeSupport

Even though expressing your anger can be good for you, flying into a rage at every suspected slight isn’t the answer. For instance, blowing off steam by hurling hardware at your hubby or breaking plates over the boss’s head aren’t great solutions. But it is possible — even desirable — to use anger in a positive rather than negative way.

Forget the pop notion of channeling anger into more productive pursuits. “Relationship enhancement is the most productive outlet possible for anger,” says Deborah Cox, PhD, a psychologist at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield — and this can happen when you let the other person see you’re upset. So what concrete tips might help when you’re mad as hell and not going to take it any more? Read on.

Seek out a safe place to seethe. Before confronting the object of your wrath, talk with a trusted friend, co-worker, or counselor who can help get to the root of what’s pressing your buttons. Mulling it over with someone safe may help you figure out less hostile, more instructive ways to express your feelings with a loved one, colleague, or boss.

Approach the person who sent your blood boiling in the first place. As a general guideline, the more significant the relationship, the more important it is to articulate feelings in a constructive way, says Dana Crowley Jack, EdD, a psychologist at Fairhaven College at Western Washington University in Bellingham. She suggests trying something like, “This is bothering me. Something has to change. How can we deal with it?”

Identify the reason behind the rage. There’s always something underlying an angry reaction. The trick here is to find the trigger. If it’s not obvious, keeping a log of anger experiences may help you uncover patterns. For some people, professional help may be needed to delve through deep-rooted feelings of shame and anger that started in childhood.

Find a physical release. Though jogging and other physical activities can be helpful, Cox advocates an anger workout: hitting a mattress with a tennis racket or slapping the sofa with a bat when you really start to see red. The key, says Cox, is to talk as you thwack the furniture. Engaging large muscle groups along with your voice should help you work through some of your fury. Kickboxing or Tae-Bo may give the same results. You’ll feel less likely to lose it if you have a physical release first, explains Cox. “When a client tells me: ‘If I really let it out, we’d all burst into flames,’ then I might suggest an anger workout,” she says.

Take several deep breaths. If you find yourself blinded by heat-of-the-moment anger, try to buy some time to cool off a bit, especially if you think you’re at risk of harming someone physically or emotionally. You may even need to walk away from the situation for a while. Remember, though, that in the long run, fleeing the scene won’t help you express yourself. So ask for a few moments to collect your thoughts and then say what needs to be said.

Look for like-minded souls. All fired up about a societal injustice? Sick of suffering? Then hook up with people who share your passion or problem through a support group or organization. Consider working with an organization for change, like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). “Joining other people who care about what you do can transform anger into a positive expression,” says Jack.

http://www.bipolar4lifesupport.co
Web MD

Everyone has memory blips from time to time — the word that’s on the very tip of your tongue, or the house keys that aren’t where you swear you left them. As you get older, these kinds of slip-ups may become even more common and frequent.

Yet you don’t have to resign yourself to memory loss. Try 9 simple steps that can help keep your brain sharp as you age.

1. Step It Up

A 30-minute daily walk is one of the best things you can do for your body, including your brain.

“Physical exercise has the best evidence for preserving memory and mental function with aging,” says R. Scott Turner, MD, PhD, director of the Memory Disorders Program at Georgetown University Medical Center.

Exercise can help prevent conditions that can lead to memory loss, such as:

High blood pressure
Diabetes
High cholesterol
Obesity
Stroke
Some studies suggest that physical activity also triggers the release of a protein called BDNF, which promotes healthy nerve cells in the brain. That could give your memory a boost.

2. Go Mediterranean

A healthy diet is always good for your brain, but one eating style in particular may be best for preserving memory. “There’s good evidence for the Mediterranean-style diet,” says Argye Hillis, MD, professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Keeping to a Mediterranean diet doesn’t mean pasta and pizza, she says, “but lots of fruits and vegetables, fish rather than red meat, and olive oil.”

One study found people who closely followed this diet were nearly 20% less likely to develop thinking and memory problems than people who didn’t stick to a Mediterranean eating plan.

3. Engage Your Brain

“Just like physical exercise, mental exercise is good for you,” says Mustafa Husain, MD, director of the geriatric psychiatry division at Duke University School of Medicine.

Play cards, join a book club, watch a football game with friends and discuss the score, or play a brain-training app. Any mentally challenging activity will keep your mind sharp.

4. Stay Social

Card games and book clubs also keep you socially active — another plus for your brain.

“The more social connections someone has, the better they are at preserving mental function and memory,” Turner says.

Social interaction also enhances memory through its effects on mood. “We see a lot more depression in people who are socially isolated,” Husain says. “Depression itself can cause dementia.”

5. Sleep Right

Try to get a good night’s sleep. “Attention and concentration go down when sleep is restless, and mental function is not as sharp as it is in those who have normal, restful sleep,” Husain says.

Try these tips to get better sleep:

Avoid big meals before bed.
Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning.
Don’t drink caffeine or alcohol close to your bedtime.
Avoid smoking or other forms of nicotine.
6. Stop Stress

“Being under stress is very bad for your brain,” Turner says. High levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, make it harder to pull out information from your brain’s memory.

To relieve stress, try different ways to relax, like meditation, yoga, or massage.

7. Stub Out Cigarettes

If you smoke, quit. Smoking speeds up memory loss as you age.

Smoking’s effect on memory is probably due to small strokes it can cause in the brain, Turner says. Try nicotine replacement, medicine, or counseling to help you kick the habit for good.

8. Get Checked

Sometimes, medical conditions like thyroid disease, diabetes, depression, or a vitamin deficiency can trigger memory loss.

Certain medicines, such as sleep and anxiety drugs, can also affect your ability to remember. See your doctor to get checked and treated for these problems, and to go over all your medicines.

9. Use Memory Tricks

When you have trouble with everyday memory, it helps to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Every time you learn a new name or word, say it out loud to seal it into your brain. Mentally connect each new name with an image. If you meet a girl named April, picture a tree in bloom to represent the month of April.

To help with recall, post sticky notes around the home and office, or set reminders on your phone so you’ll know when it’s time to take your medicine or head to an important meeting.

http://www.bipolar4lifesupport.co

WEB MD

Despite its huge impact on health and society, depression is still stigmatized and neglected worldwide, and it should receive more attention, argues an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

“On a global scale, [the burden of depression] is greater than that of diabetes or tuberculosis,” writes Dr. Kirsten Patrick, Deputy Editor, CMAJ. “TB and malaria, with lesser global burden, get official WHO [World Health Organization] global public health ‘days.’ Not depression. In high-income countries, only ischemic heart disease and stroke cause more disability than unipolar depression.”

Despite high-profile cases like the recent death of Robin Williams, depression does not seem to be a priority, although it affects people of all socioeconomic levels in rich and poor countries.

“We are not alone in asking why mental illness is such a low priority worldwide, in spite of coordinated efforts to destigmatize mental illness in recent years,” writes Dr. Patrick.

Depression, a disease that primarily affects people in their working years, can affect ability to function, can result in missed work days and is linked to increased risk of long-term physical conditions. The substantial negative social and health impact should not be ignored.

Dr. Patrick urges that we need greater awareness overall of the devastating impact of depression on society and should make concerted investments to make it easier for people to be treated for depression. We also need to dedicate resources to finding better treatments because many currently available treatments are ineffective.

“In Canada, we need to stop treating depression as a Cinderella disease. We need to fund research that can make a difference to people with depression. The federal government must make a commitment to improving mental-health infrastructure nationwide. Health practitioners ought to be able to connect patients identified as depressed with adequate support and appropriate treatment without delay.”

“Although substantial resources are needed, the high cost of depression to individuals, families and society justifies the expense. But such resources will only receive priority if we all decide to pay more positive attention to depression,” Dr. Patrick concludes.

In a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry, scientists claim to have identified and measured the responses to rewards during nicotine withdrawal across humans and rats.

woman snapping a cigarette
Cigarette smoking is a leading cause of preventable death worldwide.

About 20% of the US population smoke cigarettes, although more than half of this group try to quit each year. However, less than 10% of smokers attempting to quit are able to remain smoke-free, with most relapses occurring within 48 hours of cessation.

Cigarette smoking is a leading cause of preventable death worldwide.

Researchers want to understand more about the process of withdrawal and why people have difficulty quitting smoking. A greater understanding of the mechanisms at work should lead to more effective treatments to help smokers quit for good.

The researchers behind the new study say that “response to reward” is the brain’s ability to derive pleasure “from natural things such as food, money and sex.” Depression is associated with a reduced ability to respond to reward.

The scientists, from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, University of California San Diego, Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, used what they call a “translational behavioral approach” to take different behavioral measurements from the rats and humans.

Analyzing the behaviors, the researchers found that nicotine withdrawal had a similar effect on reducing reward responsiveness in both human smokers and nicotine-treated rats. This reduced responsiveness was particularly strong in smokers with a history of depression.

The researchers explain that their study breaks new ground as it is the first study of its kind to replicate experimental results across species. They say this cross-species analysis allows for greater generalizability and provides a more reliable way to identify neurobiological mechanisms.

Research could lead to therapies targeting reward dysfunction

Lead author Michele Pergadia, PhD, associate professor of clinical biomedical science in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University, says:

“The fact that the effect was similar across species using this translational task not only provides us with a ready framework to proceed with additional research to better understand the mechanisms underlying withdrawal of nicotine, and potentially new treatment development, but it also makes us feel more confident that we are actually studying the same behavior in humans and rats as the studies move forward.”

Pergadia says that future studies will look more closely at how depression vulnerability relates to reward sensitivity, as well as mapping the full course of withdrawal-related reward deficits in an effort to develop new smoking cessation aids.

“Many smokers are struggling to quit, and there is a real need to develop new strategies to aid them in this process. Therapies targeting this reward dysfunction during withdrawal may prove to be useful,” she adds.

In 2013, JAMA Psychiatry also published a study investigating whether prenatal exposure to maternal cigarette smoking had an effect on response to reward.

The researchers compared a group of 177 adolescents who had been exposed to maternal cigarette smoking prenatally with 177 peers matched by sex and maternal educational level who had not been exposed.

Analyzing activity in the ventral striatum area of the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers in that study reported a weaker response during reward anticipation in the prenatally exposed teens compared with the non-exposed teens.

However, the study reports no differences between the responsively of the ventral striatum in the exposed and non-exposed teens upon receipt of the reward. The authors wrote:

“The weaker responsivity of the ventral striatum to regard anticipation in prenatally exposed adolescents may represent a risk factor for substance use and development of addiction later in life. This result highlights the need for education and preventive measures to reduce smoking during pregnancy.”

Written by David McNamee

Around one-third of couples who embark upon fertility treatment are not successful in their endeavor, leaving them to adjust to an unfulfilled child-wish. Now, a new study published in the journal Human Reproduction suggests women who have difficulty accepting that they will not conceive a child after fertility treatment have worse long-term mental health than those who are able to let go of their desire to reproduce.

Woman with counselor
“It is quite striking to see that women who do have children but still wish for more children report poorer mental health than those who have no children but have come to accept it,” says Dr. Sofia Gameiro.

Researchers from the study, led by Dr. Sofia Gameiro of the School of Psychology at Cardiff University in the UK, say theirs is the first to use a large group of women to assess the different factors that could affect mental health a decade after unsuccessful fertility treatment.

“It was already known that people who have infertility treatment and remain childless have worse mental health than those who do manage to conceive with treatment,” says Dr. Gameiro. But she adds that previous research did not consider other factors for why this is.

As such, for their study, the researchers included other circumstances, such as whether or not they have children, whether they still want children, their diagnosis and medical treatment.

To conduct their research, the team – which included colleagues from the Netherlands – analyzed questionnaire answers from over 7,000 women who initiated fertility treatment at hospitals in the Netherlands between 1995-2000.

Because the questionnaires were sent to the women between January 2011-2012, their last fertility treatment would have been between 11-17 years prior to answering the questionnaire.

The questionnaire inquired about age, marital status, education, menopausal status, whether the infertility was due to them, their partners or both, and what fertility treatment they had received. They also completed a mental health questionnaire that asked how they felt during the past 4 weeks.

Women who still wanted children years later had worse mental health

In addition to the questionnaires, the researchers asked the women whether they had children, and if so, whether they were biological or adopted, as well as whether they still wished for children.

Though the majority of women had accepted the failure of their fertility treatment, the researchers found that 6% of them still wanted children at the time of the questionnaire, and this coincided with worse mental health.

In fact, Dr. Gameiro notes that the women who still wanted to have children were up to 2.8 times more likely to have mental health problems than those women who had accepted their circumstances.

She further explains:

“The strength of this association varied according to whether women had children or not. For women with no children, those with a child-wish were 2.8 times more likely to have worse mental health than women without a child-wish.

For women with children, those who sustained a child-wish were 1.5 times more likely to have worse mental health than those without a child-wish. This link between a sustained wish for children and worse mental health was irrespective of the women’s fertility diagnosis and treatment history.”

The findings also revealed that when infertility was due to male factors or had an unknown cause, women tended to have better mental health. Additionally, women who started fertility treatment at older ages had better mental health than those who started younger.

“It is quite striking to see that women who do have children but still wish for more children report poorer mental health than those who have no children but have come to accept it,” adds Dr. Gameiro.

Study has certain limitations

Though their sample size was large and nationally representative, the researchers note a limitation to their study: women without psychological data were less likely to have biological children, and nearly 16% of women who did not respond deemed the questionnaire too confronting or replied that it elicited too many emotional memories.


As such, the researchers say this could have resulted in an underestimation of the proportion of women with a continued child-wish.

The team also says their findings only show that there is a connection between an unfulfilled child-wish and worse mental health, not that the unfulfilled wish is the cause of the mental health problems.

Still, the researchers say their findings show the importance of psychological care for infertility patients and that more attention should be paid to the adjustment over longer periods of time.

Dr. Gameiro concludes:

“We live in societies that embrace determination and persistence. However, there is a moment when letting go of unachievable goals (be it parenthood or other important life goals) is a necessary and adaptive process for wellbeing. We need to consider if societies nowadays actually allow people to let go of their goals and provide them with the necessary mechanisms to realistically assess when is the right moment to let go.”