More Frequent, Not Long Vacations Best for Stress Reduction

Getting away from work or a routine at home is a tried and true remedy for stress relief and mental rejuvenation. However, taking the correct amount of time off can make a difference for returning with renewed vigor, or coming back from a vacation loaded with new stress. Moreover, the small or even unplanned activity may provide more stress relief than a long vacation. “Although…

How to Smile for Better Health – Part 2

Find out how to smile to look younger, live longer, look prettier, and stamp out stress. 7. Which would you prefer: a smile or chocolate? Smiles stimulate the brain’s rewards systems better than sweets. One British study found that one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 (yes, you read that right: two thousand) bars of chocolate, according to…

How to Smile for Better Health – Part 1

Find out how to smile to look younger, live longer, look prettier, and stamp out stress. 1. Your smile can predict the length of your life. Here’s a good reason to get happy: A 2010 study of photographs of 150 Major League Baseball players from the 1952 season correlated the strength of their smile with the length of their life. Those who were deemed to…

Daily Minor Stressors Impact Long-Term Mental Health

A new study finds that our emotional responses to everyday stressors impact our long term mental health. A Ten Year Study Dr. Susan Charles of the University of California, Irvine and her colleagues used data from two national surveys to examine the relationship between how people respond to daily emotional stressors and the state of their mental health ten years later. A major strength of…

10 Tools For Dealing With Holiday Depression

There has been a long standing myth that suicide rates increase over the holiday season. According to the Mayo Clinic, this is completely false. What is true is that the rates of depression and stress do increase. Here are ten solid tools to help you and deal if Santa also brings you some holiday blues. Keep your expectations balanced. You won’t get everything you want, things will go wrong, and…

To Clear Negative Thoughts, Physically Throw them Away

Bothered by negative thoughts? Clearing your mind of them could be as simple as writing them down and physically throwing them away, according to a new study, published in the journal Psychological Science. “At some level, it can sound silly. But we found that it really works — by physically throwing away or protecting your thoughts, you influence how you end up using those thoughts,” study researcher Richard Petty,…

7 Worst Habits of Workaholics

“Many people feel like they have to push themselves to unhealthy levels in order to succeed. But high-pressure jobs and long hours take a real toll on your immediate and future health,” says George Griffing, M.D., professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University. Here, according to Griffing are the seven worst habits to watch out for in these workaholic times. 1. Forgetting to relax: While some stress can be…

Can Parenting Style Impact Your Well-Being

A recent study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies suggests that it’s not whether we’re parents – but how we parent – that may be an important factor to consider. According to researchers at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, women who engage in “intensive parenting” are likely to experience negative mental health outcomes like stress and depression. The authors focused on women because they tend to be much more…

Tips To Sleeping Like A Baby

There is an advertising-fueled medicine myth in America that a little pill can cure you. Sleeping pills are one of the more widely used meds prescribed to approximately 60 million people in the United States. However, these began coming under scrutiny when a British Medical Journal Online article in May triggered sleepless nights after reporting the association with some common sleeping pills to a four-fold increased risk of death—even…

How To Feel Good When Things Go Bad

Life’s twists and turns can be scarier than any rollercoaster ride out there. Without warning, a perfectly fine—even good—life can take a turn for the worse. Whether you are faced with a lost job, failed health, or personal rejection, such a blow can knock you off your feet. And you might find it almost impossible to get up, never mind feel good about moving on.…