emotions Archives - Amazing Health Advances

How To Move on Without an Apology

The AHA! Team — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 08:59:31 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In this podcast (episode #470) and blog, I talk about how to move on without an apology. Unfortunately, there will be times in life when someone hurts you and refuses to apologize, regardless of what you say or do. Here are just a few tips to help you when this happens: -Recognize and honor what happened to you. Remind yourself that it is not just “in your head”. You don’t need someone to admit they hurt you to validate what happened to you. -Allow yourself to feel the pain and emotions. Acknowledge how the person made you feel. Their lack of apology doesn’t mean it was okay, and you can be sad or upset about it. -Put boundaries up, especially if someone keeps hurting you or taking advantage of you. You may even have to pause or end the relationship—don’t feel guilty about this. Part of keeping someone accountable may include taking away their access to you. But make sure these boundaries are healthy and not just a distraction from your pain. For more on healthy versus toxic boundaries, listen to my recent podcast. Work on forgiving the person who hurt you even if they don’t apologize -Work on forgiving the person who hurt you even if they don’t apologize to disentangle yourself from the pain. For more on this, listen to my recent podcast on forgiveness. -Explore the “why” behind your feelings, and a great way to do this is using the using the Neurocycle mind management method, which I discuss in detail in my latest book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess and my app Neurocycle. The Neurocycle is a way to harness your thinking power that I have developed and researched over the past three decades. It has 5 steps: Gather awareness of how you feel mentally and physically when you think about what happened. Reflect on how you feel. Why do you think you feel this way? Write down your reflections to help organize your thinking. Recheck: think about what your thoughts and feelings are trying to tell you. What does it say about how you view the person/situation? What is your antidote—how will you take action to protect your mental health and take control of your story? Look for clues in your writing, then start to reconceptualize the way you are thinking about what happened and the person who hurt you. Do your active reach. This is a thought or action you need to practice daily to help you reconceptualize what you worked on in the previous steps. What are you going to do to protect your own wellbeing and boundaries? What action steps are you going to take? Remember that you can’t fix or change the person who is impacting you in a negative way—don’t try to force someone to apologize. Focus on your own response and healing. Remember that moving forward and healing doesn’t depend on someone’s apology. Don’t give that person this power over you. Remind yourself that you get to write your own story. You cannot control the circumstances of life, but you can control your reaction to what happens to you. You have power over your own story, and you do not have to stay connected to the person who harmed you. For more on moving on without an apology, listen to my podcast (episode #470). Podcast Highlights 0:50 What happens when someone hurts you & doesn’t apologize 2:08 Tips to manage your mental health when someone doesn’t apologize 5:47, 15:57 How to use mind management to heal when someone hurts you This podcast and blog are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. We always encourage each person to make the decision that seems best for their situation with the guidance of a medical professional. To read the original article click here.

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The Psychology Behind Nail Biting

AHA Publisher — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 07:00:56 +0000

Dr. Nicola Williams, Ph.D. via News-Medical – Nail biting is a common behavior often viewed as nothing more than an annoying habit. The behavior is all too often ignored. However, nail biting can be serious and it is a misunderstood and misdiagnosed disorder. This article probes nail-biting as a medical condition, seeks to understand who is most likely to be afflicted by the distressing condition, and looks at its association with mental health conditions. Is Nail Biting Actually a Medical Condition? Nail biting is known medically as onychophagia. It is a type of self-grooming behavior involving biting and chewing the nails, including the toenails. It is a destructive habit, especially when it is repeated and exhibited in response to stressful circumstances. Nail biting can lead to serious problems such as infection and mental health conditions. And yet onychophagia currently resides as a non-official diagnostic entity. In recent years the problem has been receiving an increasing amount of scientific attention. And several articles have appeared in popular media attesting to the potential gravity of the condition if it is left untreated. Nail biting sits among other conditions such as trichotillomania (skin picking) under the umbrella of pathological grooming. Research has been carried out to try to understand whether these conditions all stem from similar underlying tendencies. A related psychiatric disorder is known as onychotillomania and is associated with chronic picking and manicuring the nails. Nail Biting and Young People Nail biting is prevalent in children and adolescents. It occurs in 20-33% of children and nearly half of teenagers ––a whopping 45% (Siddiqui et al., 2020). Although the problem is much reduced approaching adulthood, in some it does unfortunately persist. In the US, research has shown that up to one in three people meet the clinical diagnostic criteria for the presence of at least one pathological grooming behavior. This statistic is rather surprising given the figures are greater than those for depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse (Maraz, et al. 2017; Bijil et al., 1998; Offord, et al., 1996). What are the reasons behind nail biting? Research has revealed the following common reasons for the behavior (Siddiqui et al., 2020): Nervousness: Due to stress and anxiety. In this instance, nail biting is temporarily appealing due to the calming effect it has on the nervous system Emotions: Our emotional make-up is integral to why we turn to nail biting. Shyness and low self-esteem can have an effect in addition to the pain caused by highly traumatic life events such as death or divorce Perfectionism: As discussed above those with this trait exhibit a low tolerance for boredom and frustration that is alleviated by nail-biting Boredom: due to inactivity/for want of finding something better to do Imitation: Children copying adult behavior Psychosomatic: This is usually seen in aggressive families And this list brings us to the psychology of nail-biting, a behavior frequently associated with mental health conditions and, less obviously, with a particular type of personality. The Psychology of Nail Biting Mental health conditions associated with nail biting can involve severe emotional distress, depression, and anxiety. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM–5), NB is classified as an “Other specified obsessive-compulsive and related disorder” with the specification of “body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRBs),” whereas the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems ICD-10 classifies the practice as “other specified behavioral and emotional disorders with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence” (Siddiqui et al., 2020). Common psychiatric conditions linked to nail biting in children are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. In addition, some other co-morbid disorders include major depressive disorder, tic disorder, forms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, enuresis (involuntary urination), mental retardation, pervasive developmental disorder and sometimes also generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. There is a classification system linked with nail biting as follows (Siddiqui et al., 2020): Nail biters who do it without realizing Nail biting to control anxiety Nail biting for the purposes of attention seeking Self-injurious nail biting to control aggression Nail biting as part of the obsessive-compulsive disorder spectrum Nail biting according to the DSM-5: other specified obsessive-compulsive and related disorder Nail biting according to the ICD-10: other specified behavioral and emotional disorders with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence Nail biting that is classified as Pathological and Non-pathological It is thought that nail biting may also be linked with having a perfectionist personality type. Perfectionism is associated with a low boredom threshold and a much-reduced tolerance for frustration. So, what can be done for those suffering from this all-too-common disorder? To begin with, raising awareness about the condition and its impact seems to be a good place to start. In terms of dealing with the condition, certainly in children, admonishment is completely ineffective. However, positive reinforcement and behavioral modification techniques have so far shown much promise. References Bijl, R. et al. 1998. Prevalence of psychiatric disorder in the general population: results of The Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS). Soc Psychiatry Psychiatric Epidem. Doi: 10.1007/s001270050098 Maraz, A. et al. 2017. Pathological grooming: Evidence for a single factor behind trichotillomania, skin picking and nail biting. PLoS One. Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183806 Offord, D. et al. 1996. One-year prevalence of psychiatric disorder in Ontarians 15 to 64 years of age. Can J Psychiatry. Doi: 10.1177/070674379604100904 Siddiqui, J. 2020. Onychophagia (Nail Biting): an overview. Indian Journal of Mental Health. 7: 97. To read the original article click here.

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How Sleep Helps to Process Emotion

AHA Publisher — Mon, 16 May 2022 07:00:30 +0000

University of Bern via Newswise – Researchers at the Department of Neurology of the University of Bern and University Hospital Bern identified how the brain triages emotions during dream sleep to consolidate the storage of positive emotions while dampening the consolidation of negative ones. The work expands the importance of sleep in mental health and opens new ways of therapeutic strategies. Rapid eye movement (REM or paradoxical) sleep is a unique and mysterious sleep state during which most of the dreams occur together with intense emotional contents. How and why these emotions are reactivated is unclear. The prefrontal cortex integrates many of these emotions during wakefulness but appears paradoxically quiescent during REM sleep. «Our goal was to understand the underlying mechanism and the functions of such a surprising phenomenon», says Prof. Antoine Adamantidis from the Department of Biomedical Research (DBMR) at the University of Bern and the Department of Neurology at the Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern. Processing emotions, particularly distinguishing between danger and safety, is critical for the survival of animals. In humans, excessively negative emotions, such as fear reactions and states of anxiety, lead to pathological states like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). In Europe, roughly 15% of the population is affected by persistent anxiety and severe mental illness. The research group headed by Antoine Adamantidis is now providing insights into how the brain helps to reinforce positive emotions and weaken strongly negative or traumatic emotions during REM sleep. This study was published in the journal Science. A Dual Mechanism The researchers first conditioned mice to recognize auditory stimuli associated with safety and others associated with danger (aversive stimuli). The activity of neurons in the brain of mice was then recorded during sleep-wake cycles. In this way, the researchers were able to map different areas of a cell and determine how emotional memories are transformed during REM sleep. Neurons are composed of a cell body (soma) that integrates information coming from the dendrites (inputs) and send signals to other neurons via their axons (outputs). The results obtained showed that cell somas are kept silent while their dendrites are activated. «This means a decoupling of the two cellular compartments, in other words soma wide asleep and dendrites wide awake», explains Adamantidis. This decoupling is important because the strong activity of the dendrites allows the encoding of both danger and safety emotions, while the inhibitions of the soma completely block the output of the circuit during REM sleep. In other words, the brain favours the discrimination of safety versus danger in the dendrites, but block the over-reaction to emotion, in particular danger. A Survival Advantage According to the researchers, the coexistence of both mechanisms is beneficial to the stability and survival of the organisms: «This bi-directional mechanism is essential to optimize the discrimination between dangerous and safe signals», says Mattia Aime from the DBMR, first author of the study. If this discrimination is missing in humans and excessive fear reactions are generated, this can lead to anxiety disorders. The findings are particularly relevant to pathological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorders, in which trauma is over-consolidated in the prefrontal cortex, day after day during sleep. Breakthrough for Sleep Medicine These findings pave the way to a better understanding of the processing of emotions during sleep in humans and open new perspectives for therapeutic targets to treat maladaptive processing of traumatic memories, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) and their early sleep-dependent consolidation. Additional acute or chronic mental health issues that may implicate this somatodendritic decoupling during sleep include acute and chronic stress, anxiety, depression, panic, or even anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure. Sleep research and sleep medicine have long been a research focus of the University of Bern and the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital. «We hope that our findings will not only be of interest to the patients, but also to the broad public», says Adamantidis. To read the original aritcle click here.

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The Brain Science Behind Why the Negative Affects Us So Much & How to Get Out of a Toxic Thinking Spiral

AHA Publisher — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 08:00:36 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – As I discuss in this podcast (episode #239) and blog, the brain has a natural optimism bias—we are what I call “wired for love”. This means that when we are connected to others in deep and meaningful ways, and when we are satisfied with where we are in life and where we are going (even if we have ups and downs, which are normal!), we can function at a healthy level. The brain likes it when we are in a good place! If this is so, why does the negative seem so…overwhelming? Why do bad things and bad people tend to stick to our mind like super glue? Why is it so easy to fall into negative thinking spirals? The negative affects us more because it is so unusual. Think about the many noises you hear at night: cars driving by your home, the chittering of crickets, the hum of the washing machine or refrigerator—these sounds are “normal” and don’t disturb your sleep because you are used to them. But, if you hear a door quickly open or a window break, you are suddenly on high alert. Something is out of place/out of balance, and your attention will stay fixed on that noise until you figure out what is going on and if you are safe. The negative is like this out-of-place noise: it doesn’t make sense and your brain is not happy about this imbalance, so it tries to figure out how to fix this situation. It is easy to fix all your attention on this abnormality until it does make sense, but this can have some serious mental and physical repercussions if we are not careful, because, over time, toxic rumination disrupts the energy flow in the brain. Whatever we think about the most grows! As I mentioned above, when we think too negatively or just focus on the bad (a pessimistic state of mind), the energy flow in the brain becomes distorted and incoherent, which can result in inflammation in the brain and body, jumps in cortisol levels, digestive issues, heart problems, mood swings and so on. In fact, this state of mind, which is what is known as a “red brain” on qEEG scans, can even activate weaknesses in our genetic code! And, over time, it can become a pessimistic thinking habit—the more we think this way, the more the world seems like a terrible place. Thankfully, we can combat and heal the effects of focusing too much on the negative by self-regulating our mind, which is how we think, feel and choose—I discuss this in detail in my new book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess. When we learn how to control our mind, we can rebalance the chemicals and energy in the brain and combat the negative health effects of toxic rumination. This doesn’t mean that we should fear negativity. It is normal to have negative thoughts and experience uncomfortable emotions. If we think we are happy all the time, then we are lying to ourselves—we are suppressing the negative, which will only make things worse. Rather, we need to change the way we perceive the negative. We need to see negative thoughts and feelings as signals that something is going on in our lives that needs to be addressed; there is an “out-of-place noise” in our mental house that we need to get to the root of. This means asking questions like “why I am so pessimistic?”, “what are my triggers?”, “how does the negative affect me?” and “what is the thinking pattern behind my thoughts and feelings, and how can I change or rewire this?”. The brain changes all the time because it is neuroplastic. The great news is that you can direct this change with your mind (your thinking, feeling, and choosing). You are always thinking, which is why self-regulation is such a great habit—it gives you the tools to control your mind! Based on decades of research and practice, I developed a self-regulation method that harnesses the neuroplastic nature of the brain through specific techniques to combat the negative influence of toxic rumination, which we examined in our most recent clinical trials and I discuss in Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess. Although there is a lot going on behind the scenes when you self-regulate your thinking and manage your mind, the process itself is not only simple but also accessible, no matter where you are, who you are with or what you are doing: 1. When you find yourself getting trapped in a toxic thinking spiral, take a 10 second pause, for as many times as you need. I recommend deep breathing during this pause, which helps bring brain energy back into balance. Breathe in for 3 counts (say, mentally or out loud, “think, feel”), then breathe out for 7 counts (say mentally or out loud, “choooooooose”). This is like a reset button in the brain, and will increase your decision-making ability and clarity of mind. Indeed, doing this 6 to 9 times can really reorganize chemical chaos that results from negative thinking in the brain by transferring this energy from the toxic thinking pattern to cleaning up your mental mess! 2. Do a NeuroCycle, which is the self-regulation technique I developed centered on my research and practice with the Switch On Your Brain 5-Step Learning Process©. Here are the steps: Gathering awareness of your physical and emotional warning signals. We can only change what we are aware of! Reflecting on why you are feeling these things in your body and mind. Writing down your reflections to organize your thinking. Rechecking what you have written and how your thoughts and feelings have changed. Active Reach: taking action to reconceptualize your thinking and find sustainable healing. If you do this daily for 63 days, you can actually rewire a negative thinking habit or a pessimistic mindset, as I discuss in detail my new book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess. Each of these steps essentially reset the brain, taking you deeper into your own mind and transferring energy from toxic to healthy. Doing this not only makes your mind and brain more resilient to the pull of negative rumination; it teaches you to use your mind to change your brain! It shows you how to make negativity and life challenges work for you and not against you—YOU TAKE CONTROL, which will have positive carryover effects in other areas of your life. When you learn how to self-regulate your thinking, you change the energy flow in the brain, which has a host of positive effects on your wellbeing. You still have negative thoughts, of course, but they don’t control your thinking, you control them! To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Leaf click here.

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How to Begin Finding the Root Issue of Your Anxiety & Depression + Everything You Need to Know About Tapering Off Medication

AHA Publisher — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 07:00:30 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – Human mental health is infinitely complex. We all battle in different ways, we all struggle, and we all need to learn how to cope, process, feel and experience life’s ups and downs. The fundamental way we do this is by listening to the signals our brain and body send us, like anxiety and depression, and by getting to the root of what these mental and physical symptoms are telling us about the imbalance in our life. In this podcast (episode #208) and blog, I speak with holistic board-certified psychiatrist, acupuncturist and yoga teacher Dr. Ellen Vora about how it is possible to learn to understand and manage our mental health by embracing these signals and listening to what they have to say, how facing the root of our fears and anxiety helps us find true healing, what a functional medicine approach to mental health looks like, why the current system of mental healthcare needs to change, the relationship between psychotropic medication, withdrawal and mental health, and more! As Ellen points out, progress in mental healthcare is always about the why: understanding the root cause(s) of why things are out of balance and why we experience what we experience. If you are a mental healthcare professional, you have to show up as a beginner with each new patient or client. Never walk into a room thinking you know what is going on or how to fix the issue. Be an infinite learner—even if you are just someone listening to a loved one describe their struggles. Show up with generous deep listening and become comfortable with the fact that you may not know what the problem is and that you have a lot to learn. Mental health is about people’s unique narratives, not just their biology, and this cannot be learned in classroom textbooks. Indeed, mental health is all about taking a good look at our internal lives. As a culture, we have become emotion-phobic. We try to suppress our feelings or apologize when we express what we are dealing with and cry, but we really need to let our emotions flow, not hide them. No emotion has ever successfully been pushed away. Resistance is a dance against our feelings. Issues like depression and anxiety are often symptoms of unprocessed thoughts and issues, which change the way we feel, mentally and physically. As the saying goes, what we resist, persists! Only when we surrender and feel what we are feeling can we resolve it. Our feelings are trying to tell us something we need to hear—we need to let down our guard and listen. Anxiety, depression and other types of mental distress are not diseases. They are symptoms telling us something is out of balance, and we need to explore this “why” and find the root cause(s). Unfortunately, our current system of mental healthcare tends to focus on reducing or suppressing these feelings and their biological repercussions, to the detriment of getting to the root of the issues. If you are very symptomatic, psychiatric medication may narrow the range of affect, which some people may find helpful for a certain period of time. However, these medications are not a cure; they are a bridge that may help you get to a place where you can heal. (For more on this read my blog on chemical imbalances in the brain, read the book Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker, and check out the Mad In America website). However, for many people, psychotropic drugs do not meet their mental health needs and have many unwanted side-effects. These people often find it incredibly difficult to stop taking them, and need help during the withdrawal process, which can be challenging. Withdrawal from psychiatric medication is what Ellen calls a “silent epidemic”. There is no one system in place to help people withdraw from these medications, and professionals are often not taught how to support their patients or the best way to help them withdraw. In fact, not a lot is known or published about the best way to taper off psychotropic medications, while many professionals tend to deny the validity of people’s struggles when they are in withdrawal, often confusing this process with “relapse”, which further distorts the situation and can make the person’s mental distress more chronic and acute. But going through a withdrawal does not mean you are broken or helpless. These drugs change your brain, but the good news is that you can change it back! If you decide to withdraw from a psychotropic drug, you want to do it gradually with the help of a medical professional, so your brain and body can learn to compensate and adapt over time. You also want to support this process by changing your lifestyle and including helpful practices like a good diet, regular exercise, mindfulness and meditation, yoga, breath work, acupuncture, appropriate supplementation and so on. Why? Withdrawal needs to be paired with targeted action to calm down the nervous system and keep it at a comfortable baseline so that the withdrawal process will be more bearable and less symptomatic. Also, keep in mind that the actual pace will be unique to the individual and will take time. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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Early-Intervention Helps Parents to Manage Toddlers with Challenging Behaviors

AHA Publisher — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 07:00:27 +0000

UNSW Sydney via News-Medical Net – “One of the best things a parent can do is to help their child understand and manage their emotions. We can’t expect young toddlers to do it themselves.” A play-based therapy aimed at helping parents manage children’s behavior has seen long-lasting results in a live trial. Parents of young toddlers with challenging behaviors have found support through a new early-intervention program aimed at children aged 12-24 months, a study has shown. The unique program focuses on not only addressing the child’s behavioral problems, but also enriching the relationship between the parent and the child. It was developed by researchers at UNSW Sydney and the early parenting organization, Karitane. “Having young toddlers can be hard, but it’s especially hard when your child is having multiple tantrums per day and showing aggression. It can make it difficult to enjoy parenting. Our findings are encouraging for so many parents because this program is a new way of learning how to manage these behaviors, improve the quality of your relationship with your toddler, and also to put them on a positive pathway.” Dr Jane Kohlhoff, lead author of the study and senior lecturer in UNSW Medicine’s School of Psychiatry The eight-week program takes place during weekly parent-child play sessions. The parent and child play together while a therapist – who sits behind a one-way mirror in another room – coaches the parent in how to best respond to challenging behaviors via a Bluetooth earpiece. “The therapist first helps the parent identify the source of the child’s challenging behavior and then guides them in how to respond. This instant feedback is supportive and powerful,” says Dr Kohlhoff. “As parents become better equipped to identify why the child is being disruptive, they can help the child manage and regulate their emotions. With this support, the child will gradually become better at doing this on their own.” While this style of parent coaching (called ‘Parent-Child Interaction Therapy’) has been used before, it’s the first time the method has been adapted to young toddlers as an early intervention technique. A check up with the families four months after the program, the trial’s set follow-up period, show that the benefits were long lasting. The results were published over the weekend in Infant Mental Health Journal. “Not only were there dramatic improvements in children’s behavior, but also in parenting sensitivity and the quality of the relationship between the parent and the child,” says Dr Kohlhoff. “Parents also reported feeling less stressed after the program.” These program outcomes were measured using a series of parent-report surveys and therapist observations of parent and child behavior. The long-term findings support the immediate benefits of the program, which were tested in a randomized controlled trial and published in Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology earlier this year. While the cohort of this pilot study was small (25 parents completed the program and 18 completed the follow-up), the findings are an important first step in testing the effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for toddlers. Finding the Cause of the Behavior Adrienne* decided to join the program after noticing her daughter’s tantrums were a bit different to other kids her age. “Sophie* was constantly screaming, crying and throwing tantrums,” says Adrienne. Her daughter was 15 months old when they joined the program. “At that young age, she didn’t have the words to say what she wanted, so she used her voice to get attention.” During the intervention, parents are coached to identify the cause of the child’s disruptive behavior and respond accordingly. If the behavior stems from difficulty regulating emotions, the parent is coached to see the behavior as a sign that the child is having difficulty managing a ‘big emotion’. “One of the biggest benefits about the program is that it teaches parents to reconceptualise their child’s challenging behaviors. Often, the behavior isn’t a deliberate disobedience, but a result of the child’s struggle with new, big emotions, like frustration, fear and anxiety.” Dr Jane Kohlhoff When the child is struggling with a big emotion, the parent is coached to use practical techniques to help the child become calm again. “If a child starts to play roughly with their toys, it may be because they are having difficulty knowing how they work,” says Dr Kohlhoff. “For example, take a child in a play kitchen trying to get a large toy saucepan to fit into a small oven. For a young child, this can be frustrating and the feelings may escalate quickly. It may lead them to become rough and aggressive, or to have a tantrum. “In this instance, the parent would be coached to notice this change in emotion early, and then to move closer to the child and validate their emotions by saying, ‘I know you are feeling frustrated right now’. The parent could also reassure the child by saying ‘Mummy is here to help you’, while soothing them with a calm voice, showing physical comfort, and suggesting another place to put the saucepan.” Adrienne found this style of on-the-spot guidance invaluable. “It really helped getting instant advice through the headset,” says Adrienne. “My husband and I feel more at ease with knowing how to help her during meltdowns. “Our relationship with our daughter improved. We learnt important play skills, like the way we sit on mats with her and how we use our language. “I’m more mindful of what I say – for example, I’ve learnt to be specific in my praises rather than saying something general, like ‘Good girl,’ when she’s behaving well.” The Importance of Early Intervention While it’s normal for children to express aggression and irritability, persistent challenging behaviors could be a sign that a child is on a pathway towards increased psychological problems as they grow older. “Emotion regulation problems underly many adult psychological disorders. By addressing these behaviors early, it can help give children the best chance in their future mental health. A positive parent-child relationship in the early years is a key indicator for a child’s lifelong psychological health. Letting the child lead the play, using lots of specific praises, and just having fun together are really important for the child.” Dr Jane Kohlhoff Facilitating Long-Lasting Change “Children at this young age are still trying to work out what emotions are, and how to navigate them,” says Dr Kohlhoff. “One of the best things a parent can do is to help their child understand and manage their emotions. We can’t expect young toddlers to do it themselves.” This research was conducted in southwestern Sydney at parenting organisation Karitane, who contributed funding to the program. The program is now part of the suite of clinical treatments offered at the Karitane Toddler Clinic, and Dr Kohlhoff says it is the kind of program that could be taught to other clinicians and rolled out to other clinics further down the track. To build on this research, Dr Kohlhoff is conducting a larger randomized control trial to evaluate how the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for toddlers program compares to other parenting programs. *Names of the program participants have been changed. To read the original article click here.

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Study Shows Some Infants Can Identify Differences in Musical Tones at Six Months

AHA Publisher — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 07:00:34 +0000

York University via EurekAlert – There’s a common belief that musicians are born with a natural ability to play music, while most of us have to work twice as hard to hear the difference between musical notes. Now, new research from neuroscientists at York University suggests the capacity to hear the highs and lows, also known as the major and minor notes in music, may come before you take a single lesson; you may actually be born with it. The study, published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, examined the capacity of six-month-old infants to discriminate between a major and a minor musical tone sequence with a unique method that uses eye movements and a visual stimulus. Previous research with adults has shown that approximately 30 percent of adults can discriminate this difference but 70 percent cannot, irrespective of musical training. Researchers found that six-month-old infants show exactly the same breakdown as adults: approximately 30 percent of them could discriminate the difference and 70 percent could not. “At six months, it’s highly unlikely that any of these infants have had any formal training in music,” says Scott Adler, associate professor, Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Health and member of Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) Program at the Centre for Vision Research. “Yes, parents play music for children. All children in western civilization hear music, but they don’t get that specific training in music. This breakdown, therefore, is due to some inborn mechanism.” Adler’s team at York collaborated on the study with Professor Charles Chubb, of the University of California at Irvine, whose earlier research with adults and adolescents found there are two populations of individuals: some who can discriminate between the major and minor tones and most who cannot discriminate. In adults, the capacity to discriminate between major and minor was shown not to be due to their level of musical training or their level of music exposure. The new study extends the existence of those different populations down to infants, suggesting that the source of this difference might be genetic – a capacity that we are born with. This capacity would have implications for developing appreciation of the emotional content of music, because it’s the major and minor notes that give music their emotion. In the study, researchers conducted trials with 30 six-month-old infants in which they heard a tone-scramble, a series of notes whose quality (major vs. minor) signalled the location (right vs. left) where a subsequent picture (target) would appear. The babies were tasked with determining which side to look when they heard a major or a minor sound. Once they heard a series of notes, a picture would either appear on the right or the left depending on whether it was a major or minor tone scramble. In a second experiment, tone-scrambles did not reliably predict the location of subsequent pictures. “What we measured over time was how the infants learned the association between which tone they heard and where the picture is going to show up. If they can tell the difference in the tone, over time, when they hear the major notes for example, they’ll make an eye movement to the location for the picture even before the picture appears because they can predict this. This is what we are measuring,” says Adler. The researchers found that for 33 percent or one-third of infants, these anticipatory eye movements predicted the picture location with near perfect accuracy; for the other 67 percent, they were unrelated to the picture location. These results may also have implications for language development, which relies on some of the same mechanisms and auditory content as music, says Adler. “There is a connection between music, music processing and mathematical abilities, as well as language, so whether these things connect up to those abilities is an unknown. However, when people talk to babies they change the intonation of their voice and the pitch of their voice so they’re changing from major to minor. That is actually an important component for babies to learn language. If you don’t have the capacity it might affect that ability in learning language.” To read the original article click here.

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Emotional Eating: Why Are You Doing It & How Do You Stop?

AHA Publisher — Fri, 01 May 2020 07:00:22 +0000

Christine Ruggeri, CHHC via Dr. Axe – Do you use food to address your emotional needs, rather than fueling your body? If so, you are one of many people engaging in emotional eating. It’s common for people to turn to food for comfort, especially in stressful, difficult times. When you’re in middle of an uncomfortable, emotionally draining time in your life, practicing mindful eating can feel like just another task on your plate. But as you probably know, emotional eating doesn’t make you feel any better afterward. In fact, it leaves you feeling guilty, sad and out of control. That’s exactly why it’s so important to learn how to practice intuitive eating and focus on using food to fill your stomach, not your emotional voids. What Is Emotional Eating? Emotional eating is when you eat in response to negative emotions or stress. This can be done consciously or unconsciously, sometimes occurring when a person is undergoing a stressful, uncomfortable situation, or even when he or she is bored. For most emotional eaters, food is used to soothe feelings of sadness, loneliness, anger and fear. Research shows that emotional eaters attempt to self-medicate and self-regulate their moods with food, usually in the act of overeating. Life events that are perceived as negative can trigger emotional eating and even weight gain. But emotional eating can also be used fulfill a feeling of deprivation, which may occur when on a diet or restricting calorie consumption. An emotional and physical emptiness is being “filled” with food when you eat. For emotional eaters, the food provides a temporary wholeness, but it doesn’t last long. Emotional Eating Cycle Emotional eating is an unhealthy cycle that’s repeated over and over again, sometimes allowing the problem to get out of control. For people dealing with daily emotional eating, it’s a type of binge eating disorder. The emotional eating cycle is continuous. It begins with trigger that leads to discomfort and promotes eating, even if you aren’t actually hungry. The stages of emotional eating are: Stress or trigger occurs Turn to food for comfort Temporarily feel relief Develop feelings of guilt and sadness Repeat Why do we use food for comfort and engage in this harmful cycle? For many people, the fullness they feel from food takes the place of fulfillment they lack in other areas of life. There can be a feeling of emptiness that’s stemmed from relationships issues, issues related to self-esteem and worthiness, and feelings of isolation and loneliness. Emotional Hunger vs. Physical Hunger If you’re an emotional eater, you may be getting cues for emotional hunger confused with physical hunger. It helps to understand the difference between the two types of hunger, so here’s a simple breakdown: Physical Hunger Develops over time Comes with physical signs, including empty stomach, lack of energy, stomach growling, moodiness You want to eat a balanced meal and you’re open to eating different foods While eating, you use your senses to enjoy the food After eating, you feel full and satisfied You don’t experience feelings of guilt after eating Emotional Hunger Develops randomly and quickly Doesn’t come with physical signs of hunger but is triggered by emotional discomfort Comes with specific food cravings (like for sugary or salty foods) You stress about your food choices and tend to label foods as “good or bad” You ignore portion sizes and overeat without even noticing Usually doesn’t come with a filling sensation after eating You feel like you’re eating in a trance Leads to feelings of guilt, regret and sadness How to Stop Emotional/Stress Eating Good news — there are ways to combat emotional eating. Research published in the Journal of Eating Disorders indicatesthat promoting exercise, mindful eating, emotion regulation and positive body image could have positive effects on emotional eaters. 1. Identify Your Triggers Perhaps the most important step is overcoming emotional or binge eating is identifying your triggers. What situations, conversations, experiences or feelings occur when the cycle begins? To pinpoint your triggers, try keeping a journal that describes what occurred before you began eating, even when you weren’t physically hungry. Then look for patterns and work to redirect your behavior or reaction to the trigger. Instead of reaching for comforting foods, have a list of healthy alternatives that will help you to work through the discomfort. 2. Avoid Severe Calorie Restriction Are you constantly on a diet and restricting calorie intake? If you overthink your meals and snacks and continue a dieting mindset, you may be more likely to “eat your emotions.” This is because you are eating to comfort the feelings of deprivation and you are unsatisfied with your body and diet. To stop overeating in moments of discomfort, try to eat more mindfully instead of dieting. Pay close attention to your physical hunger cues and prepare filling, healthy meals for yourself. A healthy diet can be very fulfilling, especially when you add in healthy fats and high-fiber foods. 3. Pay Attention to Your Body Humans need to eat to fuel their bodies. You should expect to be hungry several times a day. Some basic hunger cues are a feeling of lightness in your stomach, growling stomach, headaches and weakness. Ideally, you wouldn’t wait until you’re feeling fatigued to have a meal or snack, but you’d get a sense of when you’ll need more food to maintain energy. If it’s difficult for you to tell the difference between emotional and physical hunger, try creating an eating routine. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time every day. You can also add in one or two snacks, if needed. Your body will adjust to these meal times, and if you feel tempted to eat outside of these times, you’ll have to think twice about whether or not you’re really hungry. 4. Enjoy Meal Times and Engage Your Senses When you’re eating, try to remain fully engaged. Use all of your senses to enjoy the meal, including the taste, smell, colors and texture. While eating, slow down and make it last. Don’t rush meals, and try not to multitask while you’re eating. It also helps to sip water in between bites and tune in to your body as you eat, paying attention to the full feeling you get after finishing your portion. 5. Find Another Emotional Outlet It’s safe to say that many of us need to get more comfortable feeling uncomfortable. It’s normal to have moments of stress, anxiety, embarrassment, fatigue and boredom. Instead of managing discomfort with food and the act of eating, find another emotional outlet that will help soothe and validate your feelings. Some healthy ways to ease stress, anxiety and discomfort include: meditation and prayer walking outdoors yoga or stretching bike riding jogging calling a friend journaling or creative writing taking a warm bath drawing or coloring 6. Practice Self-Care and Acceptance Be kind to yourself, and avoid negative self-talk. Being judgmental and critical of yourself will only lead to feelings of worthlessness and anger, furthering the emotional eating cycle. To stop stress eating, you’ll have to change the way you treat yourself and perceive your own value. Conclusion Do you experience food cravings after a stressful or uncomfortable situation? If so, you’re not alone. Many people experience emotional eating, and for some, it becomes a form of disordered eating that leads to feelings of guilt and worthlessness. Emotional eaters are triggered by stressful situations, restriction, discomfort or boredom. This sets a viscous cycle in motion, leading to binge eating and then guilt. Emotional eating is harmful because it alters the way you feel about yourself. To stop emotional or binge eating disorder, pinpoint your triggers, find healthier emotional outlets, begin an eating routine and be kind to yourself. Reach out for support from loved ones or professionals to help you navigate your feelings. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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