Social Media Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Discover 10 Ways to Deal With Doom Fatigue

AHA Publisher — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 08:00:48 +0000

Stephanie Woods via NaturalHealth365 – It’s everywhere you look these days, doom and gloom, and the world is falling apart. It’s on the television, social media, newspapers, magazines, and on the lips of just about everyone you meet, from your best friend to the gentlemen in the checkout line at the grocery store. They’re all talking about how the economy is tanking, out-of-control immigration, scary pandemics, rising homelessness, increasing government overreach, and people hating each other for the political party they support, the religion they choose, and the car they drive. Sometimes it seems like all this drama sucks the air right out of the room, and if you’re like many people, you probably wish you could just turn it off and breathe for a while. But you can’t. It is relentless and pervasive, and you feel so overwhelmed and anxious. You need a break. What you need a break from is “doom fatigue.” “Doom Fatigue” Leads to Sleep Issues, Anxiety, and More A person with doom fatigue feels overwhelmed because they are bombarded with one negative or stressful event after another within a short window. Because it is constantly put before them in one form or another, they may perceive that the issue is bigger or worse than it really is. The main reason is that they are constantly receiving input about it, hearing reports and discussions about it from a number of sources. This can result in obsessive thoughts that can lead to depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and increased stress that can affect blood pressure, heart conditions, and other stress-related health issues. The human body was not meant to be in a permanent fight, flight, or freeze status; that is too taxing on the organs. To escape or avoid all of that, some people will shut it all down completely, refusing to look at any news outlets or listen to any reports. Unfortunately, this complete avoidance can also be detrimental because they could miss vital information that they need to know. It is a delicate balance, but there are ways to manage it all without suffering from information overload and succumbing to doom fatigue. Discover 10 Simple Strategies for Managing Doom Fatigue There are ways you can manage doom fatigue and stop feeling like you have a little black cloud hovering over you. Some of these tips may be hard at first, but it’s important to stick to them. You will be healthier and happier as a result. Narrow your pool of sources. Bombardment starts because the information is coming from everywhere. Control the bombardment and choose only a few sources that you trust and only get your information from there. Find other ways to occupy your mind. Read a book, do crafts, play a video game, paint, work in the yard – do something that will occupy your mind so you aren’t contemplating the issues that overwhelm you. Get your head out of the game. Shut it down and walk away for a while. Stop engaging with the topic, watching every YouTube video, and reading every social media post about it. Give your mind and your body a break. Walk away from it for a while. Schedule your news check-ins. Resolve to only reading the news or viewing news videos at certain times of the day. Avoid when you first wake up and right before you go to bed. Instead, opt for mid-morning and early evening or some schedule like that. Get social in person. Get off social media. Get off your devices. Go out and talk to real live human beings. Hang out with friends, join a club, or take a class. Just do something to get you in the presence of other human beings in real time. Stay away from the comments! When you are reading articles or watching videos online, do yourself a huge favor and stay away from the comments. That is where facts really get tangled, and emotions run high. It isn’t worth it, and most of the time, there is no profit in it at all. Assess your assumptions. Take some time to reflect on your assumptions and beliefs. Challenge them and examine them to see if they hold water or if they have just become a habit. Then, it may be time to let them go. Put down the device. Do yourself and your family a favor and put down your device. Don’t use it while eating, right before bed, or as soon as you wake up. Give your brain a break. There are more than enough hours in a day to be able to spend time on your device, but it should not be all day. Put it down and engage with the real people in your life. Focus on the things you can control. If you can’t control it, then worrying is wasted energy. Instead of looking at where you are powerless, look at the areas that you can control and focus on them. Take care of yourself. Eat right, exercise, get plenty of sleep, stay hydrated, and practice stress management strategies. Taking care of yourself will make it easier for you to manage your doom fatigue until it isn’t even an issue any longer. Sources for this article include: ActivistPost.com HBR.org To read the original article click here.

The post Discover 10 Ways to Deal With Doom Fatigue appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Social Media Break Improves Mental Health – New Study

AHA Publisher — Wed, 11 May 2022 07:00:19 +0000

University of Bath via Newswise – Asking people to stop using social media for just one week could lead to significant improvements in their wellbeing, depression and anxiety and could, in the future, be recommended as a way to help people manage their mental health say the authors of a new study. The study, carried out by a team of researchers at the University of Bath (UK), studied the mental health effects of a week-long social media break. For some participants in the study, this meant freeing-up around nine hours of their week which would otherwise have been spent scrolling Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. Their results – published today (Friday 6 May 2022) in the US journal ‘Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking’ – suggest that just one week off social media improved individuals’ overall level of well-being, as well as reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety. For the study, the researchers randomly allocated 154 individuals aged 18 to 72 who used social media every day into either an intervention group, where they were asked to stop using all social media for one-week or a control group, where they could continue scrolling as normal. At the beginning of the study, baseline scores for anxiety, depression and wellbeing were taken. Participants reported spending an average of 8 hours per week on social media at the start of the study. One week later, the participants who were asked to take the one-week break had significant improvements in wellbeing, depression, and anxiety than those who continued to use social media, suggesting a short-term benefit. Participants asked to take a one-week break reported using social media for an average of 21 minutes compared to an average of seven hours for those in the control group. Screen usage stats were provided to check that individuals had adhered to the break. Lead researcher from Bath’s Department for Health, Dr Jeff Lambert explains: “Scrolling social media is so ubiquitous that many of us do it almost without thinking from the moment we wake up to when we close our eyes at night. “We know that social media usage is huge and that there are increasing concerns about its mental health effects, so with this study, we wanted to see whether simply asking people to take a week’s break could yield mental health benefits. “Many of our participants reported positive effects from being off social media with improved mood and less anxiety overall. This suggests that even just a small break can have an impact. “Of course, social media is a part of life and for many people, it’s an indispensable part of who they are and how they interact with others. But if you are spending hours each week scrolling and you feel it is negatively impacting you, it could be worth cutting down on your usage to see if it helps.” The team now want to build on the study to see whether taking a short break can help different populations (e.g., younger people or people with physical and mental health conditions). The team also want to follow people up for longer than one week, to see if the benefits last over time. If so, in the future, they speculate that this could form part of the suite of clinical options used to help manage mental health. Over the past 15 years, social media has revolutionised how we communicate, underscored by the huge growth the main platforms have observed. In the UK the number of adults using social media increased from 45% in 2011 to 71% in 2021. Among 16 to 44-year-olds, as many as 97% of us use social media and scrolling is the most frequent online activity we perform. Feeling ‘low’ and losing pleasure are core characteristics of depression, whereas anxiety is characterised by excessive and out of control worry. Wellbeing refers to an individual’s level of positive affect, life satisfaction and sense of purpose. According to the Mind, one in six of us experience a common mental health problem like anxiety and depression in any given week. To read the original article click here.

The post Social Media Break Improves Mental Health – New Study appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Neuroscience Secrets of Feeling Good: How You Can Be 30 Percent Happier in 30 Days

AHA Publisher — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 08:00:41 +0000

Lori Johnson via CBN News – Over two hundred years ago, President Abraham Lincoln famously said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Is that even possible today in the midst of a global pandemic? [P]sychiatrist Daniel Amen, M.D. believes each of us can raise the degree of happiness we experience even in the midst of challenging circumstances like the ones we are facing today. The COVID-19 pandemic sent mental health crises through the roof. Over the last two years, adult depression tripled while depression and anxiety disorders among children more than doubled. “Americans are the unhappiest they have been since the Great Depression,” Dr. Amen told CBN News. However, he says it doesn’t have to be that way. “With the right strategies you can learn to be happier in a short period of time,” he said. After studying more than 200,000 brain scans, Dr. Amen discovered neuroscience techniques that can lead to increased happiness. He then tested them on his patients and found an average 32 percent improvement after one month. “I was pretty excited about it,” he said. “What most people don’t know is happiness is a moral obligation. God put us on the earth to be happier. If you ask someone who was raised by an unhappy parent or married to an unhappy spouse whether or not happiness was a moral obligation I can assure you they would say, ‘yes.'” What’s Your Brain Type? In his book, You, Happier: The 7 Neuroscience Secrets of Feeling Good Based On Your Brain Type, Dr. Amen prescribes different happiness strategies based on a person’s personality type. He says there are 16 different types, which are combinations of five main ones. “There are balanced people, almost anything will make them happy, spontaneous people who need novelty, persistent people who need routine and hate surprises. There are sensitive people, they got hurt the worst in the pandemic because they need other people and they need connection. And then there are cautious people who need to feel safe,” he said. Dr. Amen says while he recommends a targeted approach to happiness based on a person’s brain type, there are certain things everyone can do to raise their happiness level, regardless of their personality. The first step involves boosting your overall brain health. Strengthen Your Brain Believe it or not, our diet plays a major role in how well our brain functions. The types of foods and drinks we consume directly contribute to the way we think and feel through a complex system of neurotransmitters, hormones, and more. Dr. Amen says good brain health begins with minimizing the consumption of junk foods like sugary, processed foods and drinks that are loaded with chemical additives and lack fiber and other nutrients. Dr. Amen points out the very foods that comfort us while we are eating them, actually make our mood worse in the long run. “We reach for things that help us feel better now, but not later,” he said. Dr. Amen says much like junk food, some people tend to reach for alcohol to feel better at the moment, but in the long run, boozy beverages are best avoided. “I’m just not a fan,” he said. “People who drink every day have smaller brains.” Dr. Amen says supplements can also help improve brain health. While making recommendations based on personality type, he adds just about everyone can benefit from heavy-hitters like a multivitamin, probiotic, vitamin D, and fish oil as well as lesser-known supplements that really pack a punch. “My favorite for happiness is saffron,” he said. “It’s been shown in 24 randomized controlled trials to be equally as effective as antidepressants.” Control Your Thoughts In addition to improving brain health, another key to boosting happiness levels is learning to control our thoughts. Dr. Amen suggests several techniques to identify thinking patterns that lead to unhappiness and how to reverse them. “Whenever you feel sad, mad, nervous, or out of control,” he explained, “write down what you’re thinking and then challenge it. You don’t have to believe everything you think.” Dr. Amen recommends the Biblical practice of replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. “Philippians 4:8: Think on whatever is true, right, lovely, worthy of praise. Let your mind dwell on these things, focusing on what you’re grateful for, starting every day with, ‘Today is going to be a great day,’ pushing your brain to what’s right, not just what’s wrong,” he said. “Notice what you like about other people more than what you don’t.” Go on a Media Diet Dr. Amen recommends limiting time online, pointing to research showing social media increases suicide risk in teenage girls, which he believes could be just the tip of the iceberg. “I think it’s very important for parents to supervise the feeds that go into their children’s brains,” he said. “And we should supervise them for ourselves.” Just like with social media, Dr. Amen says many people would likely be happier if they cut back on their consumption of negative news stories. So while genetics and circumstances can play a role in our overall happiness, it appears our choices and habits play even bigger ones. To read the original article click here.

The post Neuroscience Secrets of Feeling Good: How You Can Be 30 Percent Happier in 30 Days appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Social Media Platforms Amplify People’s Expressions of Moral Outrage Over Time

AHA Publisher — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 07:00:10 +0000

Yale University via News Medical – Social media platforms like Twitter amplify expressions of moral outrage over time because users who learn such language gets rewarded with an increased number of “likes” and “shares,” a new Yale University study shows. And these rewards had the greatest influence on users connected with politically moderate networks. “Social media’s incentives are changing the tone of our political conversations online,” said Yale’s William Brady, a postdoctoral researcher in the Yale Department of Psychology and first author of the study. He led the research with Molly Crockett, an associate professor of psychology at Yale. The Yale team measured the expression of moral outrage on Twitter during real-life controversial events and studied the behaviors of subjects in controlled experiments designed to test whether social media’s algorithms, which reward users for posting popular content, encourage outrage expressions. “This is the first evidence that some people learn to express more outrage over time because they are rewarded by the basic design of social media,” Brady said. The study was published on Aug. 13 in the journal Science Advances. Moral outrage can be a strong force for societal good, motivating punishment for moral transgressions, promoting social cooperation, and spurring social change. It also has a dark side, contributing to the harassment of minority groups, the spread of disinformation, and political polarization, researchers said. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter argue that they merely provide a neutral platform for conversations that would otherwise happen elsewhere. But many have speculated that social media amplifies outrage. Hard evidence for this claim was missing, however, because measuring complex social expressions like moral outrage with precision poses a technical challenge, the researchers said. To compile that evidence, Brady and Crockett assembled a team that built machine learning software capable of tracking moral outrage in Twitter posts. In observational studies of 12.7 million tweets from 7,331 Twitter users, they used the software to test whether users expressed more outrage over time, and if so, why. The team found that the incentives of social media platforms like Twitter really do change how people post. Users who received more “likes” and “retweets” when they expressed outrage in a tweet were more likely to express outrage in later posts. To back up these findings, the researchers conducted controlled behavioral experiments to demonstrate that being rewarded for expressing outrage caused users to increase their expression of outrage over time. The results also suggest a troubling link to current debates on social media’s role in political polarization. Brady and his colleagues found that members of politically extreme networks expressed more outrage than members of politically moderate networks. However, members of politically moderate networks were actually more influenced by social rewards. “Our studies find that people with politically moderate friends and followers are more sensitive to social feedback that reinforces their outrage expressions,” Crockett said. “This suggests a mechanism for how moderate groups can become politically radicalized over time -; the rewards of social media create positive feedback loops that exacerbate outrage.” The study did not aim to say whether amplifying moral outrage is good or bad for society, Crockett stressed. But the findings do have implications for leaders who use the platforms and policymakers who are considering whether to regulate them. “Amplification of moral outrage is a clear consequence of social media’s business model, which optimizes for user engagement. Given that moral outrage plays a crucial role in social and political change, we should be aware that tech companies, through the design of their platforms, have the ability to influence the success or failure of collective movements.” Molly Crockett, Associate Professor, Psychology, Yale University She added, “Our data show that social media platforms do not merely reflect what is happening in society. Platforms create incentives that change how users react to political events over time.” To read the original article click here.

The post Social Media Platforms Amplify People’s Expressions of Moral Outrage Over Time appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Beware of THESE 6 Adverse Health Effects Linked to Social Media Use

AHA Publisher — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 08:00:11 +0000

Sara Middleton via NaturalHealth365 – Rates of depression among American adults tripled during COVID-19, according to a recent survey published in JAMA Network Open. Given the absolute calamity of the past year, this news isn’t likely to surprise many people. But what might be surprising to hear is that the very social media platforms people use to stay informed (and stay in touch with their loved ones) could actually be worsening the mental health crisis. Excessive Social Media Consumption Has Severe Consequences, Especially for Young Adults, New Study Reveals A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine concluded that too much social media is a net negative for a person’s mental and emotional well-being … and it doesn’t take long to have a deleterious effect, either. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Arkansas, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. The researchers asked 990 participants ages 18 to 30 how much time they spend on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, and Snapchat. At the same time, the participants filled out a questionnaire to help researchers detect depression. At a follow-up six months later, the participants filled out the questionnaire again and re-reported on their social media consumption. Analysis of the data revealed that young adults who were on social media for more than 300 minutes (5 hours) per day, even if they were not depressed at the start of the study, were 2.8 times as likely to be depressed six months later, compared to people who used social media for less than 2 hours per day. This research is corroborated by a similar study from China published in April of last year in PLOS One, which found that higher exposure to social media was associated with an increased risk of anxiety and mental health disorders. The bottom line: There are plenty of things going on right now in the world that may lead you to feel depressed. If you’ve been struggling with your mental health, don’t add to your pain by spending too much time on social media. Here Are Five Other Negative Effects of Too Much Scrolling (Plus Tips on How to Curb Your Social Media Habit) Tripling your risk of depression is bad enough, but additional research indicates that excessive social media use has also been linked to other negative health outcomes, including: Poor sleep Anxiety Loneliness Poor body image Decreased communication with family members If you have one or more social media accounts, now might be a good time to ask yourself if any of these issues sound familiar to you. If so, it’s never been a better time to cut back. How much is enough? This can be different from person to person, but one recent study from the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology found that 30 minutes per day or less can start to lead to better health outcomes. To get your habits moving in the right direction, here are three things you can do: Delete your social media apps off your phone or at least remove them from your home screen Go “phone-free” in the bedroom and at the dinner table Turn off push notifications And for a bonus tip: it’s not just how much time you spend on social media, but how you use it — so consider unfollowing anyone who has content that is stressful or triggering for you to read. Ready to talk to someone? Call SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), a free, confidential, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. Or, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Sources for this article include: ScienceDaily.com JAMANetwork.com UMN.edu Childmind.org Childmind.org RSPH.org.uk NIH.gov Guilfordjournals.com PLOS.org To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

The post Beware of THESE 6 Adverse Health Effects Linked to Social Media Use appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Are You Addicted to Doomscrolling? (Plus How to Stop)

AHA Publisher — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 08:00:55 +0000

Christine Ruggeri, CHHC via Dr. Axe – Do you have a habit of scrolling endlessly through social media, looking for answers or clarity? If this perpetual rabbit hole of scrolling — refreshing and scrolling again — is leaving you feeling agitated, hopeless and drained, you’re officially doomscrolling. Doomscrolling can have a major impact on your mental and physical health. If you’re caught in the routine of scrolling several times throughout the day, searching aimlessly for more and more negative content, it’s time to cut back on your time online and find new, more positive outlets. It’s for your own health, after all. What Is Doomscrolling? Doomscrolling is when you continue to scroll through bad news or even seek it out, even when it leaves you feeling sad or agitated. It’s been described as an “endless procession of negative online news.” For many people, the pandemic has intensified these habits. Findings from this past April that were reported by Pew Research Center indicate that 53 percent of American adults say the internet has been essential for them during the pandemic. In addition, 34 percent of U.S. adults describe the internet as “important, but not essential.” It appears that we may be using the internet now more than ever. Over the last eight months, many adults began working from home, from their computers, making internet use even more prevalent. People also are suffering from feelings of isolation and loneliness, so they use the internet to connect with others. But why are people doomscrolling if it leaves them feeling sad or even panicked? For some, it’s like an addiction that’s fed by the false notion that staying informed will provide a sense of security — when, in reality, it causes just the opposite. Doomscrolling not only negatively impacts your mood, but it can also disrupt sleep, focus and concentration. Because it alters your mental health, it can also negatively affect your physical health and cause issues such as: headaches sugar cravings overeating low energy brain fog digestive issues If you’re constantly doomscrolling, you may be dealing with chronic stress, which can have a serious impact on your overall health. How to Stop 1. Set Aside Time to Scroll If you like to scroll through your Facebook feed or Twitter for the latest news, you’re not alone. Many adults use social media as their news source. To avoid doomscrolling and its effects on your mental and physical health, however, set aside a specific amount of time for scrolling through the news. Maybe that’s 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening. Make it work for your schedule, and set a timer on your phone if you have to. You can also track your screen time to keep yourself accountable. Why is it so important to reduce your social media and scrolling time? One study published in the American Journal of Health Behavior indicates that people categorized as “Wired” or “Connected” in defining their social media use have an increased association with the the risk for depression and anxiety. 2. Declutter Your Phone and Laptop If you’re prone to doomscrolling, it may be time to minimize the apps on your phone, laptop and desktop so you’re less likely to use them in between tasks or when “wasting time.” If you’re triggered by one app in particular, then delete it from your phone so that it’s not always at your fingertips. Why consider deleting a social media app? A study published in Cureusfound that prolonged use of social media platforms, such as Facebook, may be related to negative signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. 3. Stop All Notifications From News Sources Are you getting a push notification every time a news story breaks? If so, stop! Push notifications are meant to enhance and increase smartphone engagement. They can be distracting and leave you scrolling, again, even when you were in middle of a task. Stop all push notifications, which entice you to spend more time scrolling. 4. Don’t Click on Triggering Articles You can usually tell from the headline whether or not the article will trigger you. More bad news? More divisive? Then skip it. These articles can leave you feeling isolated, sad, angry and hopeless. Instead, stick to positive, informative and uplifting content. 5. Avoid Debate Commenting Let’s face it — your social media debate commenting rarely changes a person’s mind or gives you a sense of security or community. In fact, it likely makes you feel more isolated and agitated. One study conducted in the U.K. suggests that posting about feelings and venting on social media predicted low mood and self-estreem and high paranoia. If you’re doomscrolling and come across a post that makes you want to comment, perhaps discuss the issue with your spouse or loved one instead. You’re likely to get better clarity and positive reinforcement that way. 6. Don’t Read News Articles on Social Media Does all of your news come from social media? If you are constantly refreshing your social media timelines for the newest stories, it’s a much better idea to visit a specific news website instead. Or, better yet, rely on a printed newspaper that you can read leisurely in the morning and put away for the remainder of the day. You may actually retain the information when reading news in a different format, like print. One study published in Human Factors found that a scrolling format reduced understanding of complex topics from web pages, especially for readers who were lower in working memory capacity. 7. Find Your People We need to maintain a sense of community for our mental and physical health. Communicating with groups of like-minded people is good for the soul. Organizing charity events or working together to conduct acts of kindness make it even better. Research shows that community-belonging is an important component of health prevention and can even promote healthier behaviors, like exercise and improved diet. 8. Find Other Outlets If you’re doomscrolling out of boredom, work on finding other outlets that actually improve your overall health and well-being. Add uplifting activities into your daily routine, like going for a walk outdoors, yoga at home, meditation, reading a fictional story, talking on the phone or Zooming with friends, and cooking for loved ones. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

The post Are You Addicted to Doomscrolling? (Plus How to Stop) appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Protecting your Mental Health During a Pandemic

AHA Publisher — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 08:00:14 +0000

Chloe Bennett, B.Sc. via News-Medical Net – During times of global pandemic, understandably anxiety and distress may be increased due to both primary factors such as fear of the virus itself or due to secondary factors such as those associated with having to isolate from others. However, there are multiple ways to both protect and improve mental health during such times. Maintain Your Routine Daily routines can play an important role in protecting mental health. Either maintaining existing routines or creating a new one is recommended and should feature: going to sleep and waking up at similar times each day, exercising regularly, putting aside specific times to work and relax, eating healthy, regular meals, and maintaining personal hygiene. Adhering to such factors can increase purpose and motivation and improve overall mood and wellbeing. Reach Out As a growing number of people worldwide are being urged to remain at home and limit their physical contact with others, feelings of isolation may be on the rise. To prevent this isolation from adversely affecting your mental health, it is crucial to reach out to others. Use technology to your advantage and try to communicate with your family members and friends who you are unable to see face to face through video calls or group chat. Feeling more connected and having the opportunity to discuss any potential worries and positive experiences with others is essential during times of crisis. For those with limited social networks, there are a variety of helplines or online groups that you can connect with to gain similar support. It is also essential to be self-aware and avoid burnout caused by over-committing to the number of virtual social interactions. Do Something for You One way to improve your mental health is to keep busy. If you are self-isolating, learning a new skill can be a great way to improve your mental wellbeing by increasing your sense of purpose and boosting self-esteem. Whether it is baking, cooking, signing up for an online course, or learning a new language, using your time to take up something of interest to you can keep the mind active and focused, while filling up your day. Ask for Help If you have an existing mental health condition that has been exacerbated by COVD-19, or, perhaps, you are developing new anxiety or depressive symptoms, it is important to ask for professional help. A lot of medical providers such a doctor’s surgeries are operating in revised ways during the pandemic, such as through video or telephone consultations. Therefore, those requiring emotional support can still get the help they need. Stay Active Taking part in regular exercise has been found to improve not only physical health but also mental health too. Research has shown regular physical activity to reduce anxiety and depression across all age groups and can be beneficial in reducing age-related cognitive decline. Whether you are limited to indoor activities only or have a garden or outdoor area that you can use, there are multiple ways to remain active and safe during the pandemic. Workouts and exercises such as yoga, stretching, or high-intensity interval training can be found online that require minimal equipment or time. These can be completed both indoors and outdoors. Alternatively, walking, jogging or biking can be a great way to boost endorphins and improve mood. Limit Social Media Use Due to an increased amount of time spent at home, individuals may be spending an increased amount of time on social media sites, including those releasing the news. While the use of such sites may be beneficial in remaining connected with others and informed, it may also worsen mental health. Overexposure to information relating to the pandemics can result in increased anxiety and distress. For example, a cross-sectional study conducted amongst Chinese citizens during the COVID-19 outbreak revealed that more than 80% of participants were frequently exposed to social media. Furthermore, anxiety amongst the sample was positively correlated with frequent social media use. Based on this evidence, to avoid detriments to mental health, it is recommended to reduce your intake of pandemic-related information by only seeking it out a maximum of once or twice a day from trusted sources. Practice Mindfulness Mindfulness is the practice of observing what it is occurring both inside and outside of ourselves, moment by moment. It has been found that using mindfulness practices to increase our attention to our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and the external environment in the present moment can improve mental wellbeing. A variety of techniques can be employed, and multiple mobile applications can be downloaded that takes the participant through guided exercises. Such techniques can be used during periods of crisis. However, they can be more beneficial if used routinely, for example, when waking up or before going to sleep. The technique has also been credited for its ability to help identify early signs of anxiety and stress, enabling individuals to cope with them better. A study investigating the impact of daily mindfulness practice during the COVID-19 pandemic amongst the residents of Wuhan, China, found that those who practiced it developed reduced levels of anxiety and less impacted sleep compared to those in the control conditions. Based on this, mindfulness may be useful in assisting people in coping with anxiety-evoking pandemics. References and Further Reading NHS (2019). 5 steps to mental wellbeing. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/improve-mental-wellbeing/ Fiorillo, A., & Gorwood, P. (2020). The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and implications for clinical practice. European Psychiatry, 63(1). Doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.35 World Health Organization. Looking after our mental health. who.int/news-room/campaigns/connecting-the-world-to-combat Coronavirus/healthyathome/healthyathome—mental-health?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIruvE8ILA6QIVDO7tCh1rhQvdEAAYASAAEgI-efD_BwE Gao, J., Zheng, P., Jia, Y., Chen, H., Mao, Y., Chen, S., … & Dai, J. (2020). Mental health problems and social media exposure during COVID-19 outbreak. Plos one, 15(4), e0231924. Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231924 NHS (2018). Mindfulness. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mindfulness/ Zheng, M., Yao, J., & Narayanan, J. (2020). Mindfulness Buffers the Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak Information on Sleep Duration. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/wuh94 To read the original article click here.

The post Protecting your Mental Health During a Pandemic appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

How Challenging Conversations and an Open Mindset Boost Mental & Brain Health + Tips on How to Have Difficult Conversations Correctly and Effectively

AHA Publisher — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 07:00:16 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – I am currently reading an amazing book by Ijeoma Oluo, “So You Want to Talk About Race,” and read a passage that really struck me: “Take care in your conversations, remember that you are dealing with the real hurt of human beings. But be brave in that care, be honest in that care. These conversations will never become easy, but they will become easier. They will never be painless, but they can lessen pain. They will never be risk-free, but they will always be worth it.” This got me thinking: what does having these kinds of conversations look like? How do we get comfortable with the uncomfortable? How do we become brave enough to look in the closet of our personal and public history? How do we face, process and deal with any painful skeletons we may find there? This is something we all need to do—myself included. So, don’t see this blog or podcast as me instructing you. See this as the beginning of many fruitful, painful, uncomfortable, freeing, and powerful discussions we need to start having to live better, healthier, and happier lives. This kind of work is what I call “mind-in-action” work. It is integral to the life well lived. As we face, process and reconceptualize the thoughts, mindsets and worldviews we have in our heads, which have affected and still affect our communication and behavior, we “renew our minds”. This builds up our cognitive resilience and our intellect, and boosts our mental health. Yes, this kind work is both powerful AND painful, but be assured that you are not alone. We are all in this together! 1. Recognize that each person comes to the table with their own lived experiences (their own mental luggage), which affects how they receive your words and messaging. Try to see how someone’s lived experiences, emotions, and trauma are just as valid as yours before you just lash out. 2. Go into the discussion with a learning mindset. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything someone says (or even believe everything they say), but it does mean that, by listening with sincerity and integrity, you are both respecting and sharing in their humanity. 3. Before going into a difficult conversation or responding to a challenging idea, pay attention to what your brain and body is telling you. Do you notice any physical or emotional warning signals, such as anger, an adrenalin rush, and so on? Pause and take a few deep breathes (I recommend doing this for 60-90 seconds). Never start a conversation on a highly emotional or agitated note. If you need some time to calm down, that is fine. Say something like “I am not in the right headspace now to give this conversation the attention and emotional strength it deserves. Let’s talk later.” Also, try avoiding tough conversations when you are hungry or tired, as this affects the brain and body, and you will be less likely to make good decisions! 4. Watch how you frame your words. Be careful you don’t put the other person on the defensive from the start, as this will be counterproductive. Be clear, direct and respectful. Don’t assume you know what someone is thinking or trying to say. Avoid trigger words or statements like “you always….”, “just calm down”, “you just think…..” or “you never…”. Rather, say something like “this is my opinion, so let me know if I am misreading you” or “I do not think I understand what you are trying to say, can you clarify…..”. You can also ask questions like “can you explain what you mean….” or “why is this important to you?” I found this helpful: AVOID: “You always…” “Calm down!” “You never…” “You should…” “You must…” & Name calling SAY: How you feel, not what you think Sorry and take responsibility for what you feel you may have done wrong, but don’t say sorry excessively “I feel like you are not quite understanding me, can we talk about this for a minute?” “What I heard you say is ____; is that accurate?” “From your perspective, this is about ____?” “I am struggling to understand…..” 5. Remember that being open-minded and engaging in challenging and difficult conversations is one of the best things you can do for your brain! It strengthens brain muscle, increases stress resilience and cognitive flexibility, and, if done correctly, will build healthy, happy thought structures in your brain! Your brain is always changing (this is called neuroplasticity). How you respond to someone directs this change, determining what is built in your head as a thought structure, which, in turn, affects your mental and physical health, as well as your future behavior. This can be either negative, neutral or positive—the choice is yours. 6. Check your mindset before going into an argument. Are you doing this because you want to win—do you perceive this discussion as a power struggle? Do you see these conversations as zero-sum games, where there is only one winner and one loser? Are you trying to be better or are you just trying to be “right”? Don’t go into a conversation trying to fix someone, correct them or save them. That is not your job. 7. Watch your body language! Stay calm, don’t throw hands up or raise your eyebrows, and try control your facial expressions. Remember, 50% of communication is nonverbal; what you are really thinking will come out through body language. 8. Don’t bring up any past mistakes, arguments or experiences. Talk about what is happening now. Bringing up past hurts and mistakes will only make things worse, putting the other person on the defensive. Encourage the other person to express themselves and be honest with you. 9. Always ask yourself “is what I’m about to say coming from a place of love, or with the goal to win?” Do you want to speak to this person or hurt this person? 10. Watch your tone—keep it even and try to avoid raising it. 11. Before engaging in a conversation on a difficult topic, be sure to educate yourself on all sides by reading books and articles, listening to podcasts or watching talks or documentaries. This does not mean just collecting information that supports your viewpoint! Read and engage with materials that have a different point of view. There is always more you can learn! Educating yourself doesn’t mean you are agreeing to all the ideas. It does, however, allow you to be better informed and more understanding, and will stimulate the brain to think deeply, which is very healthy! 12. Avoid social media fights. Social media is good for a lot of things, but trying to have real, deep and respectful conversations on platforms like Instagram and Facebook is often impossible, and can become very toxic very fast. Avoid being nasty, name-calling and traumatizing people with your comments. And don’t use major platforms to push forward your own point of view. This will only make you look bad, or get you banned for being uncivil. Yes, you are free to speak your mind, but other people are just as free to not listen—especially if it is their platform and you are being discourteous. If you have something to say to someone who has a major platform send them a private email with your points. Be clear, direct, respectful and courteous. 13. Don’t interrupt. This is incredibly annoying even in a happy conversation! Let the other person speak and listen to what they have to say with respect. 14. Take care of your mental and physical wellbeing. Make sure you have a support system in place you can turn to, i.e. a group of people you trust or calming rituals like yoga and deep breathing, which will help you process and deal with challenging conversations. If you are worried a conversation will get very toxic, avoid being alone with that person, and make sure they can’t corner you. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Leaf click here.

The post How Challenging Conversations and an Open Mindset Boost Mental & Brain Health + Tips on How to Have Difficult Conversations Correctly and Effectively appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

How to Become “Indistractable”: Learn How to Harness Technology and Other Distractions to Improve Mental and Brain Health

AHA Publisher — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 08:00:28 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – Let’s face it: distractions are a part of life; whether you are interrupted by your children or a news flash or social media. But what happens when distractions take over your life, affecting your ability to function and complete even the most basic of tasks? What happens when you just can’t stop getting distracted? As I discuss in this week’s blog and podcast with Nir Eyal, bestselling author and speaker, research shows the ability to stay focused is a competitive advantage, in work and in life. However, in an age of ever-increasing demands on our attention, the ability to concentrate is constantly under threat. How do we get the best from technology without letting it get the best of us? In Nir’s latest book, Indistractable, he notes how technology is designed to “hack” our attention, like any other consumer product. However, we need to stop using the way technology is designed as an excuse. Yes, some people are genuinely addicted to technology, but not everyone who uses technology is an addict. Yet it is often more convenient for us to call our love of technology an addiction, which looks to a “dealer” or someone we can blame, rather than seeing it for what it really is: a distraction, which requires us to take a certain degree of personal responsibility for how we engage with modern technology and the world around us. The best way to understand what a distraction is is to understand its opposite: traction. Traction means to pull you towards an action with intent, that is to go where you want to go in order to achieve something you would like to achieve. A distraction, on the other hand, is the opposite: it takes you away from where you want to go or what you want to achieve—it takes you away from your intent or target. Of course, we need to be aware of how the overuse of technology can distract us and have negative mental side-effects, such as a lack of sleep and lack of face-to-face social connection, which are so necessary for our mental health. However, we also need to acknowledge that we can break bad thinking habits, even if we live in a world full of distractions. We need to learn how to use technology with intent, rather than allowing it to use us and take control of our lives. Humans have always been prone to distractions—2500 years ago the Greek philosopher Plato was complaining about our ability to get distracted, so we cannot just blame modern technology! We must learn how to get the best out of technology, rather than letting it get the best out of us. This is especially the case if we care going through a difficult time or facing a challenging situation. The truth is, we are not designed to be happy all the time, as much as the self-help industry would like us to believe. Often, facing the source of our discomfort helps us move forward in life, which is why we need to use our negative feelings to find traction in our lives and improve our situation, rather than getting distracted by our desire to suppress our unease or pain. We need to listen to our internal triggers, rather than suppressing them by getting distracted by social media, checking the news, watching the latest Netflix drama and so on. We have to learn how to deal with the hard stuff in life, because it doesn’t just go away if we suppress it! If we aren’t aware of how we use distractions to ignore our discomfort, however, we can end up forming a negative habit, which is a lot harder to get rid of! The key is to stop our distractions before they become bad behaviors! But how do we take steps to make sure we don’t go about our days distracted? Is it possible to use modern technology in a healthy way, without becoming fully dependent on it? How can we avoid using things as distractions, and start gaining traction in our lives? 1. Deal with the internal: When it comes to getting distracted, we should not just disconnect and swear off all technology. Indeed, abstinence can often backfire: if I told you right now to not think about a white bear, what is the first image that comes to mind? If we foreswear all technology, we may end up with worse media habits than before—when we eventually give in the brain registers the release of tension as pleasure, which can reinforce bad habits! Indeed, for many people, technology is part and parcel of their everyday lives: they need it to communicate with friends, family and colleagues, and cannot just give it up. Rather, when we feel discomfort we should use it as a learning experience to gain traction in life: we need to “master our internal triggers”, as Nir puts it. This is one of the main reasons why I designed my new app SWITCH, which is a tool for helping people deal with their issues and overcome distractive thought patterns and behaviors through the mental process of reconceptualization, that is facing and dealing with what is causing them pain and unease, before it takes over their lives. 2. Schedule it in: Anything can be a distraction, just as anything can give your traction. This is why it is so important to ask ourselves why we do what we do, and how we are using something in our life. Social media, for example, can be used to connect us to our loved ones and engage in their lives, no matter how far away they are, or it can be used as a distraction to mask boredom or to procrastinate. The same can be said for watching TV: we can incorporate it into our schedule as a way of resting our mind and relaxing, or we can let it take over our schedule as a distraction. By doing this, we can turn a distraction into a traction by scheduling it in to our day with intent, rather than letting it determine our day haphazardly and prevent us from doing what we need to do. Remember, the time you plan to “waste” is not wasted time! Indeed, if you don’t plan for things, then everything can become a distraction, so schedule it in, even if it is just spending time on Instagram. For more on social media and mental health, see my podcast (episodes #6, #7 and #50). 3. Hack back: Recognize that companies want to hack your attention, and learn how to “hack” back. For example, instead of allowing emails to steal all your attention, calculate how much time you spend on emails (depending on how many you get a day) and limit this. Recognize that the more emails you send the more emails you will receive, because you have opened numerous chains of communication, and all of these will demand your focus. To “hack” back your attention, ask yourself: “when does this email need a reply?” and label it. Can it wait or is it urgent? Then, schedule in time to respond to the urgent emails only (which are usually around 20% of the emails you receive daily), and, after you have done this, schedule time in your week when you can flush through the rest of your emails. In many cases, you will find that about 50% of these emails will not need a reply; either people will have figured out their own issues or something else will have come up that is more urgent. By giving people time to wait, you will end up not wasting so much of your own time! 4. Use pacts: A pact means making a promise to ourselves or someone else to do what we say we are going to do. These pacts can take many forms, including an effort pact, which involves some kind of friction regarding doing what we say we are going to do (such as a specific set of consequences), a price pact, which involves some monetary disincentive concerning what we said we are going to do (or not going to do), or an identity pact, where we use some kind of personal identity marker to help keep us on track. An identity pact, for instance, can be something like calling yourself a vegetarian: it is an identity marker that proscribes and inhibits certain behaviors. This is a way systematizing what we say and do, rather than just relying on pure willpower or determination to do something (or to stop doing something). These principals also apply to raising children. We should not make our children afraid of technology, especially since they will likely have to use modern technology for school or in a job. However, children can easily become distracted by technology, which can impact their growth and performance. This is why we need to look at the bigger picture: what drives children to technology? What are they looking for online? First, they are often looking for competency: there is so much pressure on children to perform and live up to certain test standards offline, which may compel them to look towards technology to help them feel like they are worth something—that they are good at something. If they are good at a video game or gaming app, for instance, this can give them a sense of competency and aptitude that they don’t get in their offline life. Second, many children turn to technology to give them a sense of autonomy: children today have ten times as many regulations placed on them compared to the average adult, and twice as many rules and restrictions as an incarcerated felon! In many cases, children go online to escape these restrictions and hyper-schedules; all day long they have been told what to do and they just want some freedom. Lastly, many children today lack relatedness: they don’t feel understood or accepted for who they are, they don’t have time to just be a kid, and turn to modern technology to help them feel some degree of kinship, like they have a place in the world. When it comes to helping our children deal with distractions, we need to look beyond what they are doing and ask them how they are doing: communication, compassion and understanding are key to helping them turn their technology distractions into traction, which will help them succeed at school, work and in life without forcing them to give up modern technology and live “off the grid”. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Leaf click here.

The post How to Become “Indistractable”: Learn How to Harness Technology and Other Distractions to Improve Mental and Brain Health appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.