Month: June 2017

Change Your Thoughts

Can change in Thoughts Brings a change in Attitude?

Is Cognitive restructuring here as a miracle or it is a myth? Let us find what it is and get the solution.

Every thought we have brings a simultaneous neuro-chemical change in the brain out of which few are temporary while some are long lasting. When some people show or express gratitude, they experience an increase of neurotransmitters like dopamine which are often associated with Rewards or being rewarded.

Any thought or information which flows through the brain changes or sculpts the brain in permanent ways. The pattern in the brain is changed by the flowing thoughts across the brain structure and the change in neural activity actually changes your neural structure.

How Negativity in Thoughts Effects Brain functioning?

Negativity flows in the brain in the same fashion and it causes the brain cells to be hit by peptides from negative thoughts. These peptides will then dominate you thought process as well whenever there is any kind of though, whether positive or negative. It further reduces the positive peptides in the cell, inclining you more towards negativity.

There is though good news for all of us that the cells in the brain are replaces every 2 months and they can be reprogrammed to work with good positive cells rather than the same negative thoughts. You need to be more optimistic and start taking positive thinking practices for example – mindfulness and gratitude.

The Ten Commandments for Effective Personal Development

Here are the top picks of the Principles for effective Personal Development. Do not read them in order and follow them from top to bottom with same preference.

  1. You should be loving toward everyone you meet.
  2. Remember, you become what you think and believe. So think positive and be positive.
  3. Express gratitude by looking and doing ways which can strengthen those who have less than you have.
  4. You should always seek knowledge and truth.
  5. Remember honesty is the best policy for your brain training for being positive.
  6. Forgive all.
  7. Do not waste anything whatever you have whether time, money, energy, etc.
  8. Always to thankful to God for all that you have.
  9. Be optimistic.
  10. Believe and have faith in something which is greater than you.

Internet Use And Depression

Excessive Internet Use Causes Depression and Related complications

No one can deny that the Internet is most influential force on society in the entire human history. We never had such an unprecedented access to news, knowledge, and entertainment from cultures all around the world, before the advent of Internet. Although this treasure of information is huge and precious, this wealth has led to something called digital information overload. The human minds cannot handle such kind of constant influx of information without making changes.

Internet addiction is recognized as a psychological disorder which can make people spend too much time on a computer.  This affects their health, job, relationships or finances. Whether it is depression which causes people to turn to the Internet for social fulfilment, or whether excessive use of the Internet can make people depressed – this is subject to research and discussion.

A new research study by psychologists at Leeds University, England postulated that people who spend 10 hours or more a day online are more likely to show signs of depression.

Over-engaging in websites that replaces the normal social interaction like Facebook might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction. Moderate to severe depression is likely to happen among people who are addicted to the Internet.

Recognizing Depression due to surfing online

People who spend high amounts of time surfing online does not realize the impact of lack of social interactions. Slowly the depression symptoms start piling on them. Know these early signs of depression from the National Institute of Mental Health:

  1. Difficulty concentrating and making decisions
  2. Decreased energy and fatigue
  3. Feelings of guilt, worthlessness or helplessness
  4. Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
  5. Insomnia, early-morning wakefulness or excessive sleeping
  6. Irritability and restlessness
  7. Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once found pleasurable
  8. Overeating or appetite loss
  9. Persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps or digestive problems
  10. Persistent sad, anxious or “empty” feelings
  11. Thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts

Top 10 tips to Destress

The Best in Class tips to Cut Down Stress

It’s not stress that kills you it is our reaction to it which makes it so worse.

  1. Identify Your Stress Triggers

The very basic step as with other diseases in the case of stress is to recognize its presence. You have to find the triggers to your stressful reactions and that acts as the first step towards finding ways to recover. You cannot remove your stress since it is inseparable part of life, but you can still find ways to solve the underlying problems.

  1. Meditation and yoga

Meditation can be stated as the best tools which can help you counter stress. It works by releasing the stress right from its origin. Meditation can help you fight the Flight or Fight phenomenon and hence the stress generated due to this. The stress which is created while the Flight or Fight response is generated can be harmful; hence meditation can be really helpful.

  1. Sleep to Combat Stress

Restful sleep for enough hours is very important for keeping and staying healthy. If you are well slept during nights, you would be better equipped to handle any kind of work and hence stress. You need to check the quality and quantity of sleep you are getting every night. It has to be just right and the stress will become light.

  1. Imbibe Gratitude as a Practice

Gratitude is a powerful tool. If you consciously focus on gratitude, you will be experiencing greater emotional wellbeing and physical health. This can create wonders to improve your health and help cope with stress.

  1. Breathe Deeply

Make it a habit to take 5 mins break to perform the breathing exercise. It involves focusing on your breathing and hearing it in both inhale and exhale stages. Deep breathing also counters the effects of stress by slowing the heart rate and lowers blood pressure.

  1. Decompress using Hot bag and relax

Place a warm heat pad around your neck and shoulders for minutes and close your eyes. This will relax your face, neck, upper chest, and back muscles. After removing the warm pad, use a roller to massage away tensions.

  1. Laugh Out Loud

Laughing from the belly also known as belly laugh can lighten the mood mentally, since while laughing, there are many brain chemicals like endorphins which are increased, cortisol is lowered along with stress hormones.

  1. Relaxation to the core

Simply make yourself comfortable whether you are at your desk or any other place. Just think of any peaceful scene, vacation, beach or anything and visualize yourself achieving your future goal. Just think of what makes you happy, whether being stuck up in a elevator with a hot sexy model, or hitting a jackpot.

  1. Eat A Snack (Carefully)

Eating is not always bad for mind and health. In reality, the gut and the brain have a strong connection which is known as ‘gut-brain axis’. There are many research conducted showing the impact of gut and body’s stress response.

  1. Buy Yourself A Plant

In house plants not only cleanses the air within your home, but they can also help you calm down. There is a relaxation response which is released in the presence of a plant around us. So take the help of these green wonders to reduce stress and calm down.

Infertility treatments ‘not linked’ to developmental delays

A new study says that “There is no heightened danger of developmental delays … in children conceived through IVF or other infertility treatments. The study included more than 5,000 mothers, around 1,500 of which had received some form of infertility treatment, and assessed their child’s development at three years of age. They looked at whether there was a dissimilar effect, depending on whether it was a single or twin birth, and the type of infertility treatment given – either assisted reproductive techniques such as IVF, infertility drugs or artificial insemination.

The researchers examined the link between child development and infertility treatment, separately looking at the effect of single or twin birth, and the type of infertility treatment given. They adjusted their analyses for various confounding factors that could influence results, such as parental age, ethnicity and education, mother’s body mass index (BMI), baby’s weight and gestational age at birth.

What were the basic results?

The researchers included 1,422 mothers (of 1,830 children) exposed to infertility treatment, and a comparison group of 3,402 mothers (of 4,011 children) who hadn’t received treatment.

The vast majority of mothers (97%) completed one or more developmental screening instruments. There were some differences between parents who had received the different types of infertility technique – for example, those who had ART were older, had higher educational attainment and lower BMI than those who had just received infertility drugs.

Between 6 and 10% of children failed at least one of the ASQ developmental domains at each screen. Infertility treatment was not associated with risk of a child’s failure confidence interval.

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The research panel concluded that: “After considering [singletons and twins], children’s development through age three years was similar irrespective of infertility treatment or specific type. To our knowledge, these findings are among the first to focus on non-ART treatments in the United States.”

Conclusion

The study found no convincing evidence that infertility treatment had any impact on a child’s development, which will come as a relief to parents who have undertaken treatment. However, while this type of observational study is good for looking at links between an exposure and an outcome over a period of time, it is not able to prove direct cause and effect and say for certain whether there is any link between two factors.

The study has many strengths, including that it used a well-validated tool to assess child development and included a large sample size that should be representative of all births in the target region. Though, only a population from one US state was used, so these findings may not be applicable elsewhere, particularly as the frequency of use and type of infertility treatments given may vary geographically.