From time to time, most people find themselves muttering (or screaming) at 4:00 a.m., “why can’t I sleep?!” For some, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep can even become the norm. This is called insomnia — upsetting, disruptive, and a way of life for some. Insomnia can include trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, or not getting restful sleep at least three nights per week. (Trouble falling asleep is defined here as taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep. Trouble staying asleep is defined as being awake for more than 30 minutes during the night.)
[Read more…]How Long Should You Meditate?
How long should you meditate? Legend tells us the Buddha sat down to meditate for seven weeks before attaining enlightenment. What if we don’t have seven weeks, and have more modest goals?
The increased popularity and research evidence for mindfulness and meditation has led many people to integrate meditation into their lives. For some people meditation is a way to stay centered and feel sane; for others, it’s a way to manage anxiety. Still others find it’s a way to deal with stress, attention deficits, or other difficulties. Whatever the reason people practice meditation, many wonder, “How long should I meditate?”
There is not one simple answer, unfortunately, but there are several helpful clues around.
[Read more…]How to Stop Procrastinating in College: 7 Tested Strategies
Learn how to stop procrastinating in college from a behavioral psychologist. Break the cycle and reclaim your life!
At some point, just about all college students have told themselves, “I’ll get it done tomorrow.” Many have fallen prey to putting things off until another “more convenient” time. For example, perhaps you’ve put off working on a paper that you know you won’t have time to do next week. Or maybe there are some projects that you have all semester to do, but just haven’t gotten around to completing. It is not uncommon to procrastinate. (That’s the reason post offices often stay open late on April 15! Every year millions of us wait until the absolutely last minute to file their income taxes.)
[Read more…]Feeling Overwhelmed? How to Know When to Get Anxiety Help
Everyone experiences anxiety at some point during their lifetime. It’s natural to be concerned about a big test or interview or to feel anxious about your finances after losing a job. However, some people suffer from excessive worries or panic attacks that begin to affect their everyday functioning. When this happens, it can be hard to complete daily tasks. Constant worry may become physically exhausting. So how do you know when to get help for anxiety?
[Read more…]Be an Informed Consumer!
Much attention has been cast on the relationships between clinical medicine and the pharmaceutical industries. How much has the pharmaceutical industry been influencing the treatment of depression and anxiety? The rate of use of prescription medication in the United States is higher than in other industrialized nations. The use of prescription antidepressant medication has drastically increased in the past 20 years.
In fact, a 2007 study by the CDC found that in the United States, antidepressants were prescribed more often than medications for high blood pressure or high cholesterol! It is likely that the effects of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical marketing, such as television and radio commercials, have played an important role in the increased use of many patented antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications. These medications have been very profitable for pharmaceutical companies. In recent years, television commercials even advertise serious antipsychotic medication – even for use with depression – despite the fact that many in the field consider these drugs to be overused and to cause problematic side effects.
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