Health and Fitness: Mental Health Article Category

Of every 100 people in the country, approximately three of them will have bipolar disorder. What is the cause of this disorder and can it be prevented?

Scientists have concluded that, without a doubt, there is a major genetic component that determines the odds of someone developing bipolar disorder. In studies involving twins, if one twin has it, the other has over 50% chance of having it as well. If a parent has it, there is a fifteen percent chance that the child will have it.

Prior to the Human Genome Project (HGP) being completed, the link between bipolar disorder and genetics was derived from observation of patients and their family. However, since then, the HGP has identified over twenty thousand genes in the human DNA. And researchers have identified at least four specific genes that contribute to bipolar illness.

Since, these genes can occur in various combinations, we are in the early stages of determining exactly how each gene contributes to the disease. But, the process of, at least, identifying them has given researchers an important jump start on figuring out their contribution.

But, aside from heredity, researchers are also learning that external factors can play a big part in how of if the person exhibits bipolar symptoms. For example, the dopamine centers in our brain determine our susceptibility to mania. This is important because dopamine is the major brain chemical associated with bipolar disease.

Well, one of the four genes related to the disease is the GRK-3 gene. As it turns out, the GRK-3 gene is extremely susceptible and sensitive to dopamine in the bloodstream. Therefore, when the person eats or drinks something that can stimulate the release of dopamine in the brain, the dopamine will likely cause that person to exhibit manic symptoms of the illness. What types of foods and substances can have this effect? Things such as amphetamines, cocaine, meth, and other psycho stimulants.

At this stage in our collective knowledge, researchers have not come up with a cure for bipolar disorder. There is also no drug that will prevent someone from developing the illness. However, it is worth mentioning that just because you have one or more of the genes for bipolar disorder, does not mean that you will develop the disease. In most cases, there has to be some sort of external factor that actually turns the gene on. In addition, exciting research in gene therapy has many scientists convinced that designer drugs targeted towards these genes will eventually be able to prevent the disease from developing in those who are at risk.

Health and Fitness: Mental Health Article Category

The feeling of being tired is one of the most frustrating feelings that every person must overcome. All people from all ages experience tiredness. Some even experience it in an excessive state which is also known as fatigue or prolonged tiredness.

There are things that you can avoid to relieve fatigue and stop being tired all the time. Some of them are listed below.

i) Never have too little sleep. Unless you are Napoleon, you should never have too little sleep because this can make you feel extremely tired. The more sleep deprived you are, the more frequent you'll have fatigue attacks in the form of feeling weak and sleepy. Remember that even robots and programmed devices need sleep too. They too have to rest and recharge. It is the same with the human body.

ii) Never have too much sleep. If sleeping for relatively short time per night is not good, sleeping too much is also not good. Most people tend to oversleep on weekends because they believe that they can catch up with their lost sleep this way. This is a misconception. When you sleep too much, you are not giving your body energy. What you are doing is disrupting your natural sleep cycle and making yourself sleepier. Have you ever wondered why you still feel sleepy even after you have slept for more than 12 hours? This is because whenever you oversleep, your body restarts a sleep cycle and that cannot be interrupted.

iii) Never have too much sugar. When we talk about sugar, it does not mean table sugar. Sugar is present in almost all the food that you eat. Fruits have sugar. Vegetables have sugar. Bread has sugar. Rice has sugar. Even the salty potato chips that you eat have sugar in them! You must always consider your sugar intake because having too much sugar in the body is not good. For one, it can result to diabetes. Moreover, it can make you feel extremely tired because of sugar crash. Imagine yourself being too happy and excited because you found out that you are going to an all-expense-paid trip to your favourite destination. However, something comes up and you are unable to join. How upset would you be? This is the same with the sugar level in the body. Whenever you eat too many sweets, you sugar level rises but in a short while, it drops dramatically because of the release of insulin. As a result, you go from having too high energy to an energy crash. That is something that you certainly do not want to experience.

Therefore, the next time you feel a craving for sugar, skip your chocolate and candy bars. Go for food that has sugar but at the same time healthy for the body just like fruits. Glucose in fruits is natural and simple so the body can break them down easily.

Health and Fitness: Mental Health Article Category

During the midst of an anxiety attack, it can feel like things are going extremely fast and out of control in the blink of an eye. This is why the definition involves a sudden surge of intense physiological sensations and symptoms. If you're like most people who experience this, things feel helpless and hopeless rather frequently. I'm reminded of all the individuals I've helped that have said, "Kelly, it (anxiety attack) happened so quickly. I didn't know what to do."

What I want to teach you are three effective strategies that can give you relief when having an anxiety attack. It's worth mentioning that these strategies are meant for temporary relief and should not replace the available methods used to get at the root cause of your anxiety attacks.

The first strategy is to remember the medical truths, or realities, behind anxiety attacks. Most all of the physiological symptoms and sensations can be rationally explained by the human fight or flight response. This is the natural reaction your body goes through when a threat or danger is perceived. Fight or flight is healthy when the perceived threat is rational. However, generally there is no real threat precipitating an anxiety attack. For instance, your heart beats fast merely to generate more blood flow to major muscle groups. Also, your muscles tense in order to prepare for fight or flight.

A second strategy involves distraction. Distraction refers to mindfully refocusing your attention on something else rather than the uncomfortable sensations. To become skilled at this may take practice. Begin by becoming mindful of daily experiences such as sights, smells, tastes, and sensations. Notice what it feels like to walk down the street. Then switch your attention to the sights around you. Afterwards, take in the surrounding smells. Finally, be mindful of the way the wind or air feels on your skin. Practice this several times a day and you will find it an effective strategy to relieve an anxiety attack.

The third strategy is deep breathing. If you're like most individuals who suffer from anxiety attacks, you breathe mainly from your chest as opposed to the diaphragm (a stomach muscle). Breathing through the chest only increases anxiety, while inhaling and expanding the diaphragm decrease calm down. The diaphragm, when expanded and released, sends a message to your brain to relax. To do this, simply inhale and exhale for three seconds each. Say to yourself, "Relax", on the exhale. The inhale should expand your stomach while the exhale deflates it. Practice this for 3-5 minutes several times per day. It's worth mentioning again that this strategy can be effective for temporary relief but should not replace identifying root causes of your anxiety attacks (e.g. irrational fears, unhealthy thinking).

I wish you success in implementing these three strategies. Don't forget to check out my eBook, Free of Panic: 30 Strategies to Cure Panic Attacks.

How to Stop Being Manipulated by Your Anti-Conscience

The unconscious mind that produces our dreams works like a psychiatrist because we are crazy from birth. Therefore, the truth is that nobody can be considered responsible for their actions. Most people cannot control their mind and their behavior because they are influenced by their anti-conscience.

This discovery must put an end to prisons and courts based on laws that don't take into consideration the true human nature. Instead of condemning those who are controlled by their wild side, we have to help them fight absurdity.

Carl Jung had discovered that our human conscience is one-sided and under-developed. However, he couldn't understand the real importance of his own discovery because he didn't know how absurd the human being in fact is, since he couldn't see the anti-conscience.

The anti-conscience is a satanic conscience that generates mental illnesses within our human conscience. Since our conscience is idiotic because it is based on only one psychological function instead of judging our reality based on the four psychological functions we have at our disposal (thoughts, feelings, sensations, and intuition) our conscience frequently becomes a victim of our anti-conscience.

Therefore, you are not responsible for your actions as you may believe, and other people are not responsible for their actions the same way. You are too absurd in order to be able to completely control your behavior based on your tiny and one-sided human conscience.

You need the guidance of the divine unconscious mind in your dreams. You should learn the dream language in order to understand God's words in dreams. The dream language is based on images instead of words. It is also based on the unconscious logic.

You will learn how to control your behavior and how to be responsible for your actions after acquiring complete consciousness. You will also develop your sensitivity and learn the real meaning of goodness.

Goodness is sound mental health and wisdom. However, since you have inherited an evil anti-conscience and your conscience is deficient, you are far from real goodness. Your goodness as a human being is false because it is based on selfish criteria, but you cannot understand your own hypocrisy. You are influenced by your anti-conscience, and your human conscience is one-sided.

The divine unconscious mind helps you transform your personality and purify your spirit. The purification of your spirit is based on eliminating the responsibility for your actions while you were controlled by your anti-conscience.

You are the human being concentrated into your tiny human conscience. You are not a wild demon. You have inherited a wild conscience that gives you a second personality, but this second, primitive personality doesn't represent yourself. You love happiness. You love goodness and wisdom.

You have to differentiate yourself from your anti-conscience and fight against its absurdity, so that you may acquire sound mental health. In other words, you have to become a true human being who acts based on goodness and wisdom instead of being controlled by absurdity and evilness.

This is how you will be responsible for your actions and control your behavior. If you are controlled by your anti-conscience you are not yourself. Dream therapy is the only treatment that helps you definitively stop being manipulated by your anti-conscience and completely control your behavior.

General Anxiety Disorder: Why It Occurs and What Is the Treatment?

While the name sounds easy to understand and may even be somewhat familiar to most people, General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is often a difficult and complicated problem that can be caused by many different things. People who suffer GAD experience debilitating concern even with the most simple of things. It can prevent an individual from carrying on with their daily tasks to the point that their worry can begin to manifest physically such as shortness of breath, signs of fear, uneasiness, exhaustion, tremors, headaches and even vomiting. One of the reasons why it is a serious disorder is because of the fact that GAD can be triggered by the most simple and even mundane things. Simple decision making can trigger anxiety and panic attacks or the thought of negative outcomes can bring about extreme worrying.

A clear cause of GAD is still not yet known, but signs point to genetic makeup, meaning it is likely hereditary. However, stress and stressful situations can worsen because of added thoughts and decisions. A person who suffers from GAD will find it hard to find a job that can accommodate their condition. Most people would find it hard to work with someone who, may breakdown at every occurrence or situation he/she is faced. Unfortunately, there is little anyone can do to change their perception of anxiety and just how intense and frightful they can be if you have GAD.

If you have had or been experiencing signs of GAD for more than six months now, it is best to start seeking remedies and treatments for your condition because you do not want this condition to take over your life. However, many techniques and self-help books out there do not really eliminate GAD. All they do is help you manage the disorder. Some would recommend distracting yourself, relax and think of things that make you happy. Unfortunately, this doesn't really get rid of GAD. All it does is make the feeling go away for some time. Sooner or later, your panic attacks return and you feel that same awful feeling again of fear and helplessness.

One of the best and most successful solutions to solving GAD is through the 21-7 technique. This method is part of the Panic Away program which has shown tremendous results when it comes to stopping panic attacks and general anxiety in a matter of minutes. What makes it effective is the fact that it helps you understand your anxiety, and at the same time help you overcome it. Moreover, this program does not involve any medicine or regular visits to a therapist. It's all natural and its goal is to help you break away from the fear of having anxiety and stop the cycle of fear, panic and worrying.

General Anxiety Disorder is not a hopeless case. You should not feel like your life is over and you'll never get rid of your fears and worries. The panic away program is a fantastic solution that can eliminate your anxiety almost immediately.

The Truth About Codependency

What Is Codependency?

Codependency is just an unhealthy relational style.

It's a condition that is developed, usually as a cause of upsetting childhood ordeals.

It's not a mental disease or "something that you're created with."

And it can be altered.

Where It Comes From

If you grew up in a place where your psychological and mental or physical needs were not attained, you possibly came up with the rationale, "If I'm adequate, then someone will at some point care about me."

Among the most appropriate ways to "be adequate" was to begin caring for other people, most importantly the older people in your life that had significant emotional needs.

Sometimes those adults were addicts. Maybe, these people were emotionally, physically, or even sexually abusive.

While that relational style made sense earlier, that same relational style is starting to back fire at this time.

Instead of gaining the love you hope and require, it's beginning to become uncontrollable.

That's purely because your meaning of looking after others includes controlling their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. It will require you to drop your own needs and is causing you to become resentful and dejected most of the time.

You've never developed how to be liable for yourself, and, more importantly, never learned how to enable some people be responsible for their own decisions and feelings.

The minute you know how to do that, you will refrain from being codependent and embark on living inter-dependently with people.

Additional Descriptions of Codependency

Codependency is the altered belief system wherein you TRULY feel that you are definitely not as good as all others.

Others have worth, but you don't.

Due to the fact of that contorted belief system, you're always placing other people's wishes before your own and tend to ignore or discount your own personal feelings.

Your sense of self-esteem has become exclusively dependent upon your capability to satisfy everyone around you. If you're in a position to look after everyone's needs regardless the cost to you, then you can consider yourself a good person.

Some people call codependency a "relationship addiction."

It is the irresistible impulse to always be thinking about someone else, even though you don't want to.

It's definitely not selflessness. Selflessness is a choice. Selflessness comes out of an overflow of your love and worth for yourself.

With codependency, you're held hostage by your own sense of guilt and shame if you don't give support to other people.

You have faith that you might be better able to look after someone than they are themselves.

Codependency is actually based in pride and self-delusion. It is the deformed belief that your method is always the best and that some people can't be left to make their own personal decisions. After all, that could very well put too much of a burden on them.

Hyperbaric Chamber Is Portable Now

We have been using oxygen to get rid of diseases since the yester years. With passing years, our ways of utilizing oxygen to fight diseases has evolved. Hyperbaric chamber is the shiny apple of our advancement in medicine technology. Hyperbaric chamber is designed in the way to acquire benefit from the medical fact that oxygen intake of our body increases with the rising atmospheric pressure. From its birth, this machine has shown great promises in curing severe neurological diseases and other physical damage.

Hyperbaric therapy has fast forwarded advancement of medical technology to a million light years by showing capability in treating a multitude of diseases. Its efficiency to heal wounds and tissue damage in muscle has grabbed attention of athletes and sportsmen. Athletes push the limit of their body through exercise, and they often end up in muscle injury. Therefore, hyperbaric therapy seems to be the best option for them to keep their body in shape.

However, hyperbaric machines of earlier years used to be big and difficult to operate. Therefore, the doctors came upon the idea of shrinking it to the minimum, and invented portable hyperbaric machines. Now, let us talk about how it works. This machine works in three steps.

• After getting inside of the hyperbaric chamber, the air pressure increases and patients start to breathe pure oxygen.

• Hyperbaric therapy cures all health complications by pumping high dose of oxygen into our blood stream.

• This process helps our blood cells to induce with antioxidants, which reach the damaged tissues to heal.

This rapid healing process does not affect our health in any way. Pollution and global warming has reduced the oxygen level from our atmosphere and rendered us vulnerable to several diseases. However, hyperbaric therapy shows a way to restore the oxygen level back into our body. This therapy takes a little time but builds up our immunity power to help us fight disease and infections. Another advantage in using these machines is that, they come very cheap. No, we are not talking about fake or damaged ones! You can get a quality hyperbaric chamber in an affordable price on the net, and to be assured of its genuineness, you can ask for those with the FDA approved mark on it.

If we look back, we will see that these miracle machines are only used in medical treatment centers. Nevertheless, with the arrival of portable hyperbaric chamber, more and more people are showing their interest in using it.