A Positive Attitude Towards Stress Can Change How It Affects You

A Positive Attitude Towards Stress Can Change How It Affects You.

HeartMath-UK-Kelly-McGonigalWe are all too aware these days of the negative affects of prolonged periods of stress on our bodies, but short lived bursts can help us to perform at our peak and help us rise to the challenge of difficult tasks. If you are in fear of feeling that increase of heart rate and that slightly flushed feeling as the blood pumps a bit faster through your body, increasing the oxygen supply, then stress may well result in poor performance, but if you view these changes as a welcome benefit, then you will reap the rewards that this heightened state of awareness can give you, as well as decreasing the negative impact.

At a recent TED seminar, Kelly McGonigal explains how to make stress your friend. If you can regard stress as a useful tool in your emotional and physical states rather than fear its existence you will find that its negative impact can be reduced. As with many negative states, it is all too often the fear of those feelings such as pain or adrenaline that keeps us feeling them. An adrenaline ‘junkie’ welcomes that intense rush and looks to feel it again and again but in wanting to have that intensity they find that it ebbs away all too quickly. It you don’t let go of the fear your body will think you are in constant danger and so prolong the feared state, relax into it and you will return to safety. In psychology you often get more of anything you attempt to avoid, so welcome in the stress as your friend and you will get less of it 🙂

Bunny

IBS Treatment

IBS Treatment.

For many people this painful and often embarrassing condition can have a very negative impact on the quality of life and enjoyment of social interaction. In worst case scenarios the sufferer can become housebound and unable to face the prospect of being in a place where they cant guarantee being close to the toilet.

Diagnosis is often reached after extensive tests have shown no other specific cause and the best treatments that can be offered are antispasmodics and fibre boosting tablets. It is unclear what causes IBS in the first place but research has shown links to illness and stress. What ever the cause is, it is becoming evident that people with IBS have an imbalance of gut bacteria and that treatment with traditionally fermented foods and probiotics may be the best way forward. Research has also studied feeding people with this imbalance tablets containing the faeces of people with a healthy bacterial balance with very promising results.

The good news is that progress is being made into understanding more about this ever increasing health issue and that soon we will have much better options available.

The stress link is apparent and often treating this area can reduce symptoms and the worry associated with the issue. When you are stressed the bowel does not function as efficiently as it does in rest, since the body believes that stressful conditions mean you are in imminent danger of attack and it focuses its energy in being ready to flee or fight. It is possible prolonged periods in this state may be the cause of the bacterial imbalance in the first place and once this occurs the symptoms increase.

A treatment plan that covers all areas of IBS should be the most effective and a course of therapy coupled with dietary changes and increases in healthy bacteria through naturally fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, yogurts containing L.acidophilus or quality health supplements that contain L.acidophilus is to be recommended.

CBT for insomnia. Clinical study supports therapy.

CBT  for Insomnia

According to  East End Psychological Services, P.C.:

“Insomnia refers to difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or constantly waking up early. People with insomnia feel dissatisfied with their sleep and usually experience fatigue, low energy, difficulty concentrating, mood disturbances, and decreased performance in work or at school.

The National Institutes of Health estimates that roughly 30 percent of the general population complains of sleep disruption, and approximately 10 percent have associated symptoms of daytime functional impairment. In January 2014, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported that insufficient sleep is a “public health epidemic.”

“Sleep is essential for our physical and emotional well-being,” says Dr. Joseph Volpe, Clinical Psychologist and Executive Director.  “Children require healthy sleep to function at school and in their daily lives with friends and family.  Adults need their sleep as they attend to responsibilities at home, work, and their relationships.”

The Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for insomnia (CBT) program is adapted from the work of Dr. Gregg Jacobs who developed his approach to insomnia at Harvard Medical School and the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Centre.

The program begins with an evaluation that includes clinical interview, sleep hygiene worksheets, medical history questionnaires, and brief psychological measures. The treatment uses stimulus control techniques, sleep restriction methods, cognitive restructuring, mindfulness meditation, relaxation using hypnotherapy and educational materials describing effective sleep habits.

CBT is one of the only empirically-validated treatment options for insomnia.  CBT improves sleep in a majority of treated patients and reduces the need for sleeping pills and over-the-counter remedies. Moreover, there are typically no adverse side effects associated with CBT as a non-medical intervention.”

SOURCE East End Psychological Services, P.C.