In the mental health field, music has been used as an effective mode of therapy since the 1800’s (American Music Therapy Association, 2015) and is still widely used today for many mental health issues and disorders. In particular, it has been found to be highly effective for those with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
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Everyone gets depressed from time to time, and often it passes and our mood brightens again. But when struggling with clinical depression, your mood can be depressed for weeks, months, or even years, resulting in real loss of functioning and quality of life. Almost 1 in 10 Americans is affected by depression every year, and 17% of us will experience a major depressive episode at least one time in our life. Additionally, depression is a major cause of disability, with an annual cost of about $40 billion in lost productivity and treatment costs (Craft & Perna, 2004).
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It may be that the effects of food allergies are greater on parents than on the children who suffer from them. Parents feel they must be on guard every minute to protect their children from possibly fatal reactions to foods, substances human beings need to survive. This constant vigilance wears down the strongest parent. This can lead to significant stress. Stressed parents may respond in ways that cause stress on their children.
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Most of us would agree that we could be a little healthier; eat more fruits and vegetables, exercise more, get more sleep etc. But are we harming ourselves without realizing it through our high (and often hidden) sugar consumption?
FB- Are you harming yourself without realizing it through your sugar consumption? Find out what a healthy intake looks like and how to identify hidden sugars in your diet.
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Taking the time to learn how to be more mindful is well worth the effort. Researchers are more interested than ever in how mindfulness and meditation affects our health and well-being. According to 2011 research published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, there are several ways that mindfulness training can be good for our mental and physical health
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Can we really become addicted to something we need to survive? First, we must understand what addiction is, and what it isn’t, to determine if eating behaviors and food can become addictions, with the symptoms and consequences associated with other types of addictions, like drug or alcohol addiction. Only then can we understand why many professionals believe that we can, indeed, become addicted to food.
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Sleep shouldn’t be a luxury that we only grant ourselves on Saturday mornings. It’s a necessity if we want to have a healthy mind and body. Sleep gives us a chance to recharge, heal, and process our experiences. Lack of enough good quality sleep not only makes us grumpy, but it can also negatively impact our memory, our mood, and our overall health and well-being.
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Not only are body functions affected by aging. Cognitive and emotional functions also fall prey to the aging process. The later years often bring on mental health problems for the first time in older people. According to Rollins (2008), Baby Boomers will largely ignore the past stigma associated with seeking help for emotional problems and will seek the therapy services they need to deal with the emotional aspects of aging.
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There are some eastern philosophies and treatments that aren’t as well known here in the west, but which may offer alternatives and help for those struggling with conditions like anxiety and depression. Two such approaches are Morita Therapy and Naikan Therapy, which both have their origins in Japan. With a little investigation, we can see that Japanese therapies like Morita and Naikan have different philosophies about why people suffer and develop symptoms of mental illness and how they can recover and feel better.
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Conventional medicine, including surgery and the use of synthetic drugs, has been around for only a relatively short period of time. Conventional medical interventions are often what we receive when we go to the doctor or the hospital, and there are certainly times when the advances in modern conventional medicine are something to appreciate. For instance, when we are seriously injured, we’re very relieved to arrive at a modern emergency room equipped with the latest technology.
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