Mental Health Posts

The other day a friend said, "I wish I had $100 to spend at yard sales." The economic situation is challenging everyone to tighten our belts. However, it seems as though about 5 to 6 percent of the US population are turning to impulsive spending. There are healthier ways to cope.Some would advocate looking at the budget and being rational. Yet even in tight financial times we need to celebrate and...

Take Time to DanceIt is easy to get caught up in the cares and pressures of this world and let them destroy our mental health. Perhaps we can all learn a lesson from the letter (now in poem form) this 83-year-old woman wrote to her friend.  Dear Bertha,             I'm reading more and dusting less.I'm sitting in the yard and admirin...

Recently I heard an attorney turned spiritual leader say that sexual abuse is far more common than we realize. He said that nearly everyone who comes to his clinic for spiritual healing has experienced some form of sexual abuse.Assuming what that man said is true, we really need to have a plan to educate our children. The article, "Sexual Abuse Education for Your Family," has information for paren...

Humans can go without food or water longer than they can without sleep. Sleep deprivation is bad for health. Everyone may have a bad night's sleep now and then. But what if the "bad nights" become more frequent than the "good nights?"What is "insomnia?" Do you know that over 7 million people suffer from insomnia? How do you know if you have it? What causes it? What cures it? "Reversing Insomnia" a...

Reality is all our bodies are getting older--each moment we live. Young ones are aware of this. They proudly declare, "I'm five (or fifteen) and a half!"  But there comes a day when many people "fudge" their age, like the old preacher who was "39 and some months." Some researchers think what people consider "old" when they are young determines the way they age. Then we have 50-something celeb...

There are different kinds of dreams. Scientists say that everyone dreams during sleep, regardless what they remember. People are also known to run away from reality with daydreaming. And there are the dreams we create and hold in our hearts. Let's think about how those heart dreams affect mental health.Regardless what the dream is, people begin by embracing it and working hard to bring it to reali...

Everyone gets a little depressed now and then. This article is not about severe depression. One road to depression is to repeatedly do the same thing the same way with the same negative result(s). An example might be baking cookies. You don't like following recipes, so you create your own, but the cookies don't taste very good. Next time you repeat the scene. And the next and the next. If you play...

What creates stress in your life? It is possible you have more stressors than you did a year ago. Your stressor may be my relaxation, but we all have stress. The issue is how we handle stress."Stress and Anxiety"  talks about some health issues than can arise out of poorly managed stress.  And the author has suggestions for managing stress. I like the suggestions, because they are inexpe...

Have you noticed that mental health workers no longer use the term "victims" for  people who, in the past, suffered abuse? They now call them "survivors," and some call them "overcomers." Why the change?"Victim" means a person who is "acted upon" or "subjected to mistreatment." Perpetrators of child abuse are notorious for threatening to kill mom if the victim reports the abuse. Since he is h...

"I don't want to get older!" Sounds like Peter Pan, doesn't it? Reality is we all get older every day, every second. And change is part of life.We all know people who do not adapt well to change. It appears that people tend to stick with what is familiar after the age of 30. Thus it is important to begin preparing for older years in our 20s. We can prepare mentally and physically, if not emotional...