Month: January 2011
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Freshmen Stress
Record Level of Stress Found in College Freshmen (NYT): The emotional health of college freshmen — who feel buffeted by the recession and stressed by the pressures of high school — has declined to the lowest level since an annual survey of incoming students started collecting data 25 years ago.
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Mindfulness Practice
Can mindfulness transform feelings? — a how-to from Psych Central. First three steps: Sit quietly and bring your attention towards your feelings. Notice the emotion that you’re stuck in and name it. For example, you might say to yourself I’m feeling angry or enraged or afraid. Don’t try to push your emotion away. Welcome your emotion. …
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Study: Meditation Changes Brain
Brain Structure Changes After Meditation (PsychCentral) “Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” said Sara Lazar, Ph.D., the study’s senior author. “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may…
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Help with Panic Attacks
How to Halt and Minimize Panic Attacks (PsychCentral). Among the tips: Stimulate your mind. Engage in activities that stimulate your brain and keep you busy, such as getting outside, exercising or taking a shower. In fact, a recent study analyzing 40 randomized clinical trials of 3,000 people with various medical conditions found that people who exercised…
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Stress, Anxiety, and Your Brain
Stress, Anxiety Both Boon And Bane To Brain. Stress may help give an edge to our perception, but… “It makes us more sensitive to our external surroundings as a way of learning where or what a threat may be, but interferes with our ability to do more complex thinking.”
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College Depression, College Anxiety
Depression On The Rise In College Students (NPR). Anxiety too: Researchers say severe mental illness is more common among college students than it was a decade ago, with most young people seeking treatment for depression and anxiety. A study presented at the American Psychological Association found that the number of students on psychiatric medicines increased more…
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Nine Ways to Ward Off Your Worries
A post a Psych Central. Here’s a good one (number four): Flood a piece of paper with your worries. When your brain is bursting with worries, write them down. Release all those cooped-up worries from the corners of your mind, and let the paper deal with them. By writing down your worries, you feel as…
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Mindfulness Therapy
Mindfulness therapy is here to stay, reports the L.A. Times. Mindfulness therapy encourages patients to focus on their breathing and their body, to notice but not judge their thoughts and to generally live in the moment. It may sound a bit squishy and New Agey to some, but Hofmann and other experts say mindfulness has…