Mental Health

Understanding the Brain’s Role in Addiction

I THINK THEREFORE I USE – Jan. 18, 2024 - The researchers focused on the brain’s reward system, a critical factor in the development of addiction. They discovered that prolonged cocaine use can lead to changes in t... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionJan 23 2024Mental HealthRecoveryRehab

Cultivating Inner Strength When Times Get Tough

by Dr. Louise Stanger BOUNCING BACK – Jan. 12, 2024 - Life inevitably brings periods of difficulty, stress, and hardship. From personal tragedies to collective crises, adversity can shake us to the core. Yet the... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionInterviewJan 16 2024Mental Health

Four Things To Do Everyday To Be Happier

A GOOD START – Jan. 6, 2024 - There is Another Way to Happiness: The Four Step CAST Process that Will Transform Your Life. 1. Consciousness 2. Awareness 3. Surrender 4. Trust ... all explained in full. The boo... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionJan 16 2024Mental Health

Infant’s Capability for Consciousness

THEY KNOW! – Jan. 2, 2024 - When does consciousness begin? There is evidence that some form of conscious experience is present by birth, and perhaps even in late pregnancy, an international team of researchers... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaJan 9 2024life expectancyMental Health

9 Easy Ways to Be Healthier in 2024

AND NO BOOZE – Jan. 2, 2024 - Sometimes trying to be healthy feels like just another item on your endless, exhausting to-do list. Here on NPR’s health team, we don’t want to add to anyone’s stress. The good news is t... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaJan 9 2024life expectancyMental HealthRecovery

Calm Your Anxiety With Food

AND THE SERENITY PRAYER – Dec. 16, 2023 - Many people think, If it’s anxiety, I’ve got to take medication. And while I really believe in therapy, and certainly for a certain number of my patients, medications can be ... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediainterventionJan 2 2024Mental Health

Daydreaming Could Serve a Vital Purpose We Never Knew About

WIDE-AWAKE DREAMS – Dec. 19, 2023 - Over time, brain activity upon seeing an image started to resemble brain activity when daydreaming about that image. This is a sign that daydreaming was strengthening som... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaJan 2 2024Mental Health

Going Home for the Holidays?

MINE FIELD? – Dec. 14, 2023 - Reuniting with family often reactivates deeply ingrained roles, dynamics, criticisms, and nagging conversations,” says intervention specialist Dr. Louise Stanger. “If going home stirs mo... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionJan 2 2024Mental HealthTrauma

The Neuroscience of Fear

MUST READ - Don’t Be Afraid... – Dec. 19, 2023 - Heart in your throat. Butterflies in your stomach. Bad gut feeling. These are all phrases many people use to describe fear and anxiety. You have likely felt anx... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaJan 2 2024Mental Health

Why so Many Americans are Dying Early?

AUDIO – DIET COKE? – Dec. 12, 2023 - Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf recently took to X to mourn the “catastrophic” decline in U.S. life expectancy. Annual deaths for all causes should... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 19 2023interventionlife expectancyMental Health

Niko Moon Opens Up About His Sobriety Muse

THE GUIDING STAR – Dec. 15, 2023 - Niko Moon carried the bundle of firewood across the backyard where his wife and child huddled, their backs turned against the crisp November day. It has been a challenging ye... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyDec 19 2023depressioninterventionInterviewMental HealthRecoveryRehab

‘Delusions’ and ‘Paranoia’: What Are They, Really?

LEARN MORE – Dec. 15, 2023 - So many words get thrown around these days—words which define extreme states, or try to, in a way that diminishes the human beings who live through them. Such words don’t factor in... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 19 2023Mental Health

How to Prevent Anger’s Damage to Your Brain

EAT CHOCOLATE? – Dec. 14, 2023 - When I was in college and proudly showed my mother my new Volkswagen, she tearfully said, “How could you? The Germans murdered 33 of our relatives.” I wanted to say, “Mom, the peop... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionDec 19 2023interventionMental Health

Only 25% of Americans Are Getting Enough Exercise

MOVE IT – Dec. 9, 2023 - Exercise is the best medicine. It can aid in preventing and reducing obesity, boost overall mood, increase happy hormones, decrease cardiovascular disease and improve the overall quali... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 19 2023life expectancyMental Health

Buffalo Bills’s Jordan Poyer On His Alcoholism, Anxiety and Depression…

MANY PATHS TO HEALING – Dec. 14, 2023 - He still felt like there was something missing because I have this beautiful house, a beautiful family, everything anyone could ask for,’ Poyer revealed about his struggles. ‘I... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyDec 19 2023depressionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionInterviewMental HealthRecoveryRehab

14 Mississippians Died Awaiting Mental Health Treatment

TAX DOLLARS AT WORK – Dec. 7, 2023 - It’s not easy to know what goes on inside Mississippi jails — unlike in many states, they’re not subject to mandatory health and safety standards — but lawsuits and Mississ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 12 2023interventionlife expectancyMental Health

Workaholism Is An Addiction

AND THAT AIN’T GOOD – Dec. 2023 - The collected data show that the most workaholic workers have on average a worse mood than the others.” For most people, it quickly gives way to a compulsion to continue the activity... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 12 2023interventionlife expectancyMental Health

Former Miss America Runner-Up Shares Drug Struggles After Jail

PRAYERS – Dec. 4, 2023 - Cullen Johnson Hill, who was first runner-up in the Miss America 1995 pageant, gave an unfiltered look at “what addiction looks like” to inspire others to quit drinking. “I’ve just ... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyDec 12 2023Drug Abuse and AddictioninterventionMental HealthRecoveryRehab

How to Snap out of a Bad Mood

MIND OVER WHAT’S THE MATTER – Dec. 2, 2023 - The impressive findings from this innovative study have real practical value in anyone’s life, even if you do not have diagnosed depression. If all it takes is 10 m... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 12 2023interventionMental Health

Mental Health Benefits of Staying Active and Pickleball for Reducing Anxiety

PLAYING FOR LIFE – Nov. 27, 2023 - As we grow older, I have learned we are no longer that well-oiled machine. We creak and groan a bit and it is not uncommon for activity levels to change. More of our time may... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionDec 5 2023life expectancyMental Health

We Must Redefine Our Understanding of Addiction

REALLY, A MENTAL ILLNESS? – Dec. 1, 2023 - Substance use stimulates profound changes within the brain—it alters the operation of neurotransmitters by interfering with the way neurons send, receive, and process... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 5 2023Drug Abuse and AddictionMental HealthRecoveryRehab

Grief: The Interruption of Everything!

PERFECT DEFINITION – Nov. 23, 2023 - Overdoses, addiction, and recovery are all things that happen throughout the year, but during the holidays many are faced with a make-or-break decision. Many times, it reve... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 5 2023Mental Health

Why the DSM Is Mostly False

MORE THAN MEDS – Nov. 28, 2023 - In psychoanalysis, little importance was given to diagnosis, unlike the medical tradition. Diagnoses were ‘labels,’ mere shorthand categories for communication. They weren’t ‘real’ an... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 5 2023interventionMental HealthRecovery

Meditation Improves Seniors’ Psychological Well-being

FOCUSED ON FREEDOM – Dec. 1, 2023 - The longest randomized meditation training trial ever conducted did find meditation significantly boosted a global score of well-being dimensions of awareness, connection an... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 5 2023life expectancyMental Health

I Was Diagnosed as a Love Addict

OF LIFE? – Nov. 29, 2023 - When I was in my mid-twenties, I sat myself in the consulting room of a steely therapist, who told me that I was doing everything wrong when it came to love. For me, she said, love was all ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionDec 5 2023interventionMental HealthRecoverySexual Addiction

Powerful Effects of Love

A LIFE OF LOVE – Feb. 11, 2020 - We’ve all heard some version of the phrase “Love heals all wounds”. And while this line might sound a little corny, there’s actually more truth to that statement than you might think... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionlife expectancyMental HealthNov 28 2023

Preventing Suicide: The Power of Resilience and Positive Emotions

HOLDING HANDS OF COMPASSION – Nov. 17, 2023 - To understand how positive emotions build resilience, it helps to know a little bit about the biology of emotions. When we experience an emotion, whether positive ... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediadepressioninterventionMental HealthNov 21 2023suicide

Cyber-attack has grim side-effect as expert issues ‘health warning’

THIEVES DON’T USE THE DOOR – Nov. 18, 2023 - This can look like losing the ability to function and cope with everyday activities, the Georgia Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division noted. Other sym... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediainternetinterventionMental HealthNov 21 2023

Surprising Trick for ‘snapping out of’ Panic or Anxiety Attack Instantly

GET THEE BEHIND ME – Nov. 9, 2023 - ‘The more harsh the taste - sour, spicy, anything in between - the more likely your brain is going to step outside of that anxious thought and more into what you’re tasting,’ Ms Pa... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediainterventionMental HealthNov 21 2023

Dealing with Addiction Before Ruining Festive Holidays

DON’T BE THE TURKEY – Nov. 15, 2023 - It can also be hell for the loved ones of those struggling with addiction as they are often not equipped to deal with their needs. To help people better understand addiction, bra... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionMental HealthNov 21 2023RecoveryRecovery Advocate

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