5 Tips for Promoting Women's Mental Health

Gabriela D. Acosta is the community manager for the University of Southern California online MSW programs, which offers a mental health social work concentration. She is also passionate about social justice, diversity workshops, and community development.

5 Tips for Promoting Women's Mental Health

Women face stressful situations every day, but how they handle them depends on the state of their mental health. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, emotionally healthy people have control of their thoughts, feelings and actions; they have positive self-esteem and good relationships, and can keep problems in perspective.

"Good mental health isn't just the absence of mental health problems. It's about having a sense of balance in your life time alone and time with friends and family, work and play, rest and exercise. It's about taking care of yourself body and mind," advises Susan Kornstein, MD, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publication "Women's Mental Health: What it Means to You."

To improve your own mental health, try following these five tips:

1. Learn to cope with stress.

Everyday stress can take its toll on women's bodies as well as on their coping skills. Stress can come from many sources, both positive and negative: losing a job, death of a loved one, getting married and being promoted. Your body produces stress hormones, which can lead to headaches, high blood pressure, sleep problems, sexual difficulties and other problems.

One way to cope with stress is to not take on too many commitments. An overloaded schedule can lead to anxiety and depression. Also, try learning relaxation techniques such as meditation, massage, muscle relaxation, yoga and Tai Chi. Additionally, recognize the impact of negative thinking, and try to turn negative thoughts ("I can't do this") into more positive ones ("This may be difficult, but I'll tackle it one step at a time").

2. Connect with others.

Make sure that most of the people in your life are positive and supportive; pessimists, critics and complainers can deplete you. Seek out friends and family members who affirm your worth and who support and listen to you. Look for friends at the gym, book club, women's organizations and spiritual community who may be able to help you. Positive relationships can increase your self-esteem, reduce your stress and help you cope with crises.

3. Eat the right foods.

What you eat may also affect your mood. Have you ever felt sleepy after eating greasy take-out burgers and fries? Do you feel refreshed after eating a green salad or sauteed vegetables? The right foods keep the central nervous system functioning. Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains and seafood (if not vegetarian), and minimize processed, refined foods to boost your mental health.

4. Keep moving.

Exercise can create beneficial brain chemicals call neurotransmitters and endorphins, and lessen immune system chemicals, which can cause depression. Exercise can also boost your confidence as you meet your goals and feel better about how you look. Working out can help you cope with depression and anxiety in a positive way. Exercise also doesn't have to be restricted to going to the gym or running; it can be as simple as yard work, walking around the neighborhood or doing housework.

5. Get enough sleep.

If you don't get enough sleep, your immune system may decrease and your judgment may err. If you're tired, you may get more irritated over little things and have a hard time coping with larger problems. Most people need seven or eight hours of sleep each night. If you have trouble sleeping, you should train your body to stick to a consistent schedule, limit your caffeine, nicotine and alcohol consumption, and try not to go to bed too hungry or too full. Exercising and avoiding daytime naps will also help put you on a more regular sleep cycle.

Sleep naked - Scientists have come to an Interesting Conclusion

That sleeping naked is very good for human health, not only physical but also psychological.

Sleep in the nude, allows the human body to prevent overheating of the body, as the overheating of the body could interfere with production of important hormones such as melatonin and growth hormone. In addition, the normal body temperature allows the body to restore the skin.

In addition, sleeping naked can control hunger, also lowers the blood levels of the hormone cortisol (stress hormone). This allows the person to wake up in the morning refreshed, with a good mood and keep this state throughout the day. A man who had trouble sleeping or body was overheated in the morning eat a lot more of its rules, rather than the one who is sleeping naked.

The scientists were able to prove that the most beneficial sleep is sleep duration of 7 hours, and the best position to sleep position is the embryo or supine.

In addition, they were able to reaffirm that daytime sleep is beneficial for the body. Because as a result of the sleep hormone of happiness. For example, people who managed to sleep for a week at least three hours, the risk of heart attack or stroke is reduced by 7 percent. The best time for such a dream is a period between 13 and 15 hour.

What Causes Autoimmune Disease?

It's amazing just how many different types of autoimmune diseases there are in the medical books. The conventional medical community claims they are unaware of the cause of the body suddenly turning on itself. Doctors who take a more natural approach believe otherwise.

Here are the type 5 causes of autoimmune disease.

1. Poor Diet

Poor diet is one of the leading causes of all disease, including autoimmune disease. The Standard American Diet is also responsible for the rising obesity rate, the epidemic of cancer, and the startling array of mental and emotional disorders millions of people suffer from.

Fast food, processed food, microwavable meals, soda, candy, etc. offer little-to-no nutritional value and are chock full of chemicals, preservatives, additives, and synthetic sweeteners your body doesn't recognize. As long as you continue to ingest these foods, your immune system works overtime to fight them off and protect you.

An overworked immune system eventually exhausts itself and begins to malfunction. This is when autoimmune disease such as crohn's disease, psoriasis, and diabetes begin to take shape in your body.

If you want to stave off autoimmune disease, a whole-food diet is best. Eat as many organic vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes, meat, fish, and dairy as possible. Become a label-reader and avoid eating foods if you can't pronounce their ingredients.

2. Sedentary Lifestyle

Lack of exercise is another common contributor to the development of many autoimmune disorders. A sedentary lifestyle causes poor circulation, contributes to inflammation, and weakens the immune system. Diabetes, arthritis, and thyroid disease are most commonly associated with lack of exercise.

You don't have to be a bodybuilder to get the exercise your body needs to stay healthy. Just 30 minutes three times per week of cardio and strength training is enough to start with.

3. Food/Environmental Allergies

We live in a toxic world. Think for a minute about all of the chemical products you're exposed to each day. Shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, make-up, laundry detergent, carpet cleaner, air fresheners, cleaning products, etc. all contain a host of allergens and neurotoxins that are virtually guaranteed to shorten your lifespan and contribute to autoimmune disease.

Food allergies are another serious problem. Aside from the fact that much of our food is now genetically modified, gluten intolerance affects nearly 1 in every 100 people. Gluten intolerance is characterized by the inability to digest the protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Continued ingestion of this protein causes chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea, brain fog, muscle aches, thyroid imbalance, and diabetes.

The easiest way to avoid autoimmune disorders caused by food and environmental allergies is to eliminate as many of the toxins from your life as possible. This means switching to organic cleaning products, make-up, and toiletries, and testing yourself for gluten intolerance. Eliminate all sources of gluten from your diet for a period of one month. Reintroduce these foods on the 31st day en masse to test for a reaction. If you're unable to digest this protein, you'll know.

4. Stress

Stress is a killer. It is the number one reason people visit the doctor for everything from a headache to a heart attack. Our bodies are designed to produce chemicals to protect us in life and death situations.

However, when stress is chronic and unrelieved, the glands responsible for producing these chemicals became overtaxed and begin to malfunction. Adrenal fatigue is a real and serious condition that affects millions of people and can lead to the development of autoimmune disease.

Even if you're the burn-the-candle-at-both ends type, you owe it to your health to find time to relax. Even just twenty minutes of sitting quietly in a darkened room and doing deep breathing exercises is enough to slow your heart rate, boost your immune system, and prevent the development of serious illness.

5. Lack of Sleep

Sleep is not a luxury, it's a necessity. Unfortunately, most people do not get the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep per night. A lot of us are up tossing and turning from emotional stress, poor diet, and lack of exercise. Chronic sleep deprivation causes a boost in the fight-or-flight hormone cortisol, which can lead to obesity, mood swings, neurological distress, and autoimmune disease.

If insomnia is a problem for you, try adding some chelated magnesium to your daily supplement regimen. Magnesium is responsible for over 300 enzymatic reactions in the body and millions of people are deficient in it. You can also improve your quality of sleep by darkening your room, using earplugs to block out noise, and kicking your pets out of bed.

You don't have to be among the millions of people struggling everyday with chronic pain, anxiety, and digestive problems. Just a few small steps in a more healthful direction can truly work miracles. Get started today.

Jaime A. Heidel is a professional freelance writer with a passion for natural health. Her website, I Told You I Was Sick.com, is dedicated to helping people suffering from mystery symptoms find natural ways to heal.

By Jaime A. Heidel

Good sleep will save from diabetes

U.S. researchers have found that a 7-hour night's sleep can prevent the development of diabetes in adolescents.

What is diabetes
Diabetes - a disease in which there is a persistent increase in the level of glucose in the blood. Distinguish type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. With type 1 diabetes is a destruction of the pancreatic cells, which produce insulin . Insulin is needed by the body to lower blood glucose. The remaining cells of the pancreas can not meet the body's need for insulin, so most of the glucose does not enter the cells, and stays in the blood.

With type 2 diabetes, pancreatic cells do not suffer, and the body is enough insulin. However, the cells lose their sensitivity to insulin - is developing the so-called insulin resistance . If we imagine that insulin - is a key that opens the cell for glucose, insulin resistance is at a key does not fit the lock and can not open the cage. As a result, glucose does not enter the cells, and stays in the blood.

The essence of the study
The study involved 245 healthy students. Average duration of a night's sleep during the week was 6.4 hours, and during the week of sleep was significantly less than the weekend.

The less sleep a student, the more pronounced was insulin resistance. As researchers found, the extra hour of sleep for teens who usually sleep at 6:00, will reduce insulin resistance by 9%. Since insulin resistance leads to diabetes, the more sleep to prevent the disease.

Health Benefits of Bitter Fenugreek Seeds

1. Bitter yellow brown seeds with bitter taste, Fenugreek help to lower LDL cholesterol levels.

2. They help to prevent colon cancer by binding themselves to toxins.

3. With fibre and enriched amino acids, they can regulate your Blood Sugar Levels, especially in Type II diabetes.

4. A source of potassium, calcium, iron, selenium, zinc and copper, and some essential vitamins too.

5. Fenugreek seeds enhance digestion, bowel movements and helps to increase lactation in nursing mothers!

6. For skin, soaked methi dana/fenugreek paste works wonders to treat pimples.

7. It enhances hair growth, treats dandruff and curbs hair fall.

8. It is highly cooling for the head and thus induces good sleep.

Can't Sleep? Afraid of the Dark

For some adults, insomnia may be caused by a fear of the dark, finds a new study by researchers at Ryerson University in Toronto.

In the study of 93 students, nearly half acknowledged being afraid of the dark, and they were more likely to poor sleepers than good ones. "We never thought we would see this," says Dr. Colleen Carney, assistant professor of psychology at Ryerson University. "We didn't think people would admit or acknowledge this fear. They would say it's for kids, or be too embarrassed."

The participants filled out questionnaires on their sleep behavior, whether or not they had been afraid of the dark as children and they were still afraid of the dark. They also completed an insomnia assessment; based on their responses, the researchers divided the participants into two groups: good and poor sleepers.

Following the questionnaires, the participants confirmed the participants' fear of the dark by putting them in either a dark or lit lab room and subjecting them to unexpected bursts of white noise. The researchers measured the students' blinking patterns, paying close attention to how they changed in response to the noises. "If you're already a little anxious, the noise will make you flinch. We looked at eye reactions because it is one of the most robust ways to measure this anxiety. If you blink immediately after the noise, that means it startles you," says Carney.

The researchers found that when the lights went out, the poor sleepers were more easily startled than the good sleepers. The poor sleepers became increasingly anxious during their time spent in the dark, while the good sleepers responded less and less to the noises and appeared to get used to them. There was no difference between the groups' reactions in the light."People who were poor sleepers experienced anticipatory anxiety in the dark, and based on the evidence, seem to be afraid of the dark," says Carney.

This got the researchers thinking. If some people with sleep disorders like insomnia have an active and untreated phobia of the dark, then treatment methods for some patients should be re-evaluated.

Insomniacs tend to have lots of fears that keep them up at night, and in some cases they may be traced back to a fear of the dark. "A phobia or fear of the dark is different from a fear of spiders. People don't necessarily know they have it," says Carney. "An individual may not be able to fall asleep once it's dark and their mind starts to wander. They think, 'What if someone breaks into my house?' Instead of realizing these associations may indicate a fear of the dark, they skip a step and assume they have a fear of burglars."

Thankfully, phobias are treatable. Most can be cured through cognitive behavioral therapy, like exposure therapy. Some people can even cure their phobias themselves without medical help.

The researchers note that there are several highly effective insomnia treatments, but that a further exploration of insomniacs' fear of the dark may help refine them. "This is not on our radar as insomnia treatment," says Dr. Carney. "We have very effective insomnia treatment. About 70% of patients are responsive. But, why are 30% still not responding? Why are some of these insomnia treatments not useful for some people?"

It could be that some insomnia treatments are counterproductive for people who actually dread the dark. For instance, some of the most effective treatments encourage restless sleepers to leave their dark bedroom and go into another lit room until they feel calm or sleepy. "A phobia is maintained through avoidance," says Dr. Carney. "By not facing the phobia, it's going to stick around."

The study sample was small and much more research is needed to confirm the finding, but the authors believe they have stumbled upon an unrecognized treatment need for those who toss and turn.

The study was presented Monday at SLEEP 2012, the 26th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), in Boston.

By ALEXANDRA SIFFERLIN