Fact: Cap’n Crunch’s full name is Horatio Magellan Crunch
He’s also been called out for only having the bars of a Navy commander, but the so-called cap’n held his ground on Twitter, arguing that captaining the S. S. Guppy with his crew “makes an official Cap’n in any book!” For more fun facts, find out other characters you didn’t know had full names.
Fact: The CIA headquarters has its own Starbucks, but baristas don’t write names on the cups
Fact: Europeans were scared of eating tomatoes when they were introduced
Scholars think Hernán Cortés brought the seeds in 1519 with the intent of the fruits being used ornamentally in gardens. By the 1700s, aristocrats started eating tomatoes, but they were convinced the fruits were poison because people would die after eating them. In reality, the acidity from the tomatoes brought out lead in their pewter plates, so they’d died of lead poisoning. These facts about our world are so surprising, they’re hard to believe.
Fact: The inventor of the microwave appliance only received $2 for his discovery
Percy Spencer was working as a researcher for American Appliance Company (now Raytheon) when he noticed a radar set using electromagnetic waves melted the candy bar in his pocket. He had the idea to make a metal box using microwaves to heat food, but the company was the one to file the patent. He received a $2 bonus but never any royalties. Here are 16 more random facts about money.
Fact: The Eiffel Tower can grow more than six inches during the summer
A cattle rancher in New Jersey is credited for inventing glitter, and it was by accident. Henry Ruschmann from Bernardsville, New Jersey was a machinist who crushed plastic while trying to find a way to dispose of it and thus made glitter in 1934.
Fact: Creature is a vegetarian
Victor Frankenstein’s Creature is actually vegetarian. Frankenstein and Creature are fictional characters created by Mary Shelley in her novel, Frankenstein. In the novel, Creature says, “My food is not that of man; I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment.”
So glad you are enjoying these post, I love hearing your hilarious comments.
Jessica Owen from Cherish Editions kindly gifted me a copy of Rachel Townsend’s memoir Finding Frank for an honest review.
Rachel covers several difficult subjects, such as domestic violence, depression, child abuse, alcoholism, and drug addiction. She is raw and honest with the accounts of her life and I can relate on several fronts. I was rooting for her the whole way.
Finding Frank reels you in fast, so find a comfy spot because once you start reading, you will keep turning the pages to see how her life takes the next turn.
About the author
Rachel is a counselor and holistic therapist, now based in Cornwall in the UK, having a globetrotter for much of her life. As a counselor, motivated by her life experiences, she specializes in helping with trauma and recovery, and relationship problems. Outside of her profession, her personal experiences shape her prose.
About Finding Frank
How do you find love when all you’ve known as a child is violence and abuse?
How do you find your way back from the clutches of drug addiction and stop yourself from sinking deeper and deeper into a dark and debilitating depression? How do you carry on when you finally open your heart and then lose the one you love in the most tragic of circumstances?
Rachel’s story is a tale of triumph over adversity. Set in a tropical island paradise in the West Indies, Rachel’s journey takes her away to boarding school in England and on to the Middle East for the school holidays, where she first sets eyes on Frank.
Remarkably, Rachel not only finds a way to make peace with the terrible traumas of her past, but she manages to turn her life around completely and along the way, she finds love… a love she once believed was lost to her forever.
My Thought
“Finding Frank is a riveting memoir from Rachel Townsend who has overcome insurmountable odds to rise above trauma and blossom into a whole, loving person and respected author. She’s an inspiration for us all. Rachel comes from a background of violence and child abuse, she was abandoned by her mother as a child and uprooted from her island home to find herself in a boarding school in the Middle East. Rachel was guided by the love of her father and made new friends which helped her gain self-confidence. As a young woman, Rachel finds herself spiraling into a dark depression without the tools to cope, the darkness seems to have no end in sight. Rachel wanted love in her life but felt that true love would not come around a second time. Finding Frank is not your typical love story and that’s one of the reasons I love it. Life isn’t like the movies, it’s hard and painful at times. Rachel shows us no matter how hard and painful, you can overcome the past and build a solid future of your dreams. Finding Frank is a must-read, you may find yourself sharing with friends and family too.”
Cherish Editions
Cherish Editions is the self-publishing division of Trigger Publishing, the UK’s leading independent mental health and wellbeing publisher.
We are experienced in creating and selling positive, responsible, important and inspirational books, which work to de-stigmatise the issues around mental health, as well as helping people who read them to maintain and improve their mental health and wellbeing. By choosing to publish through Cherish Editions, you will get the expertise of the dedicated Trigger Team at every step of the process.
We are proud of what we do, and passionate about the books that we publish. We want to do the very best for you and your book, holding your hand every step of the way.
Carrying trauma from your childhood is so draining and it has far-reaching effects on your physical and mental health. Many people experience flashbacks and PTSD symptoms after surviving sexual abuse as a child, but often, the impact is less direct. Even those that do not think about the abuse itself that much and assume that they are not affected by the trauma that much may experience a range of mental and physical health issues. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse do not always connect the dots and they don’t realize that the issues they experience are related to their trauma.
Understanding what potential issues can be caused in adulthood can help survivors recognize when their trauma is affecting them. These are some of the most common physical and mental health issues caused by childhood sexual abuse.
Depression
Depression is one of the most common mental health issues we face right now and there are a lot of reasons why people develop it in the first place. However, studies show that there is a strong correlation between people that experienced abuse as a child and people that suffer from serious depressive disorders. As an adult, attending depression counseling can help manage the symptoms and you may even be able to start unpacking some of that trauma.
However, research suggests that early intervention to support children is the key to avoiding this issue in later life.
Substance Abuse And Eating Disorders
Dangerous behaviors like substance abuse and eating disorders are also more prevalent in survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The symptoms of trauma are often difficult to manage, especially if the survivor does not have the support that they need. Many sexual abuse survivors also suffer from other mental health issues and it’s common for them to self medicate with alcohol or drugs. Eating disorders are often a way of gaining control over one aspect of their life because a person feels so out of control in other areas.
Sexual Confusion
Sexual confusion is incredibly common in male survivors of childhood sexual assault. Boys that are abused by older men when they are too young to understand sexuality will be confused about whether they are homosexual or not. This confusion remains as they grow older and it can make it incredibly difficult for them to form meaningful relationships.
Obesity
We think of obesity as a fairly straightforward problem; if you eat too much, you gain weight. But it’s far more complicated than that and childhood sexual abuse often has a role to play. During a weight loss study, it was discovered that many of the participants that struggled to stop overeating had been abused as children. Further research in the area has shown that there is a direct correlation between obesity and childhood sexual abuse.
If we are ever to deal with the issue of childhood sexual abuse and help survivors regain power over their lives, it is important that we understand just how much impact it has in adulthood. These are some of the most common ways that sexual abuse manifests in adulthood, but there are countless other health issues that it can cause.
I’m so glad you’ve joined me this week for another edition of Weekend Music Share.
Have a great weekend!
Melinda
Welcome back to Weekend Music Share; the place where everyone can share their favorite music.
Feel free to use the ‘Weekend Music Share‘ banner in your post, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #WeekendMusicShare on social media so other participants can find your post.
We like to believe that we live in a generally safe world where our quality of life isn’t continually on the line. If we didn’t, we’d struggle to leave the house in the morning.
But the truth is that we don’t live on a perfectly safe planet. In fact, there are dangers everywhere.
Every minute of the day, for instance, somebody is injured in a crash, and many of the victims have life-changing disabilities that stay with them for the rest of their lives.
You can’t really understand disability until you’ve experienced it. Suddenly, you find out that you can’t do all the things you used to be able to do, and it creates a whirlwind of emotions. Life just isn’t the same afterward, either mentally or physically.
For many people, the first response is anger. If their disability was their fault, they feel a kind of rage against themselves. Why did they put themselves in danger?
If their disability was somebody else’s fault, they feel a sense of violation against the person who did it to them, even if it was unintentional. There are often long court battles as people attempt to get compensation from another party.
The anger, however, eventually becomes a cost if it lingers. The longer it goes on, the more it taxes the individuals. Eventually, it can harm their health further, leading to forms of depression and chronic disease.
Losing your abilities is a little bit like losing somebody you love. If you can no longer walk, for instance, you go through a process of grieving over that loss. Instinctively, you know that the ability isn’t going to come back. And so you have to psychologically and emotionally deal with that fact before you can move on.
That kind of mentality is quite destructive, but also commonplace in people who’ve been injured or develop a chronic condition. The trick, of course, is to recognize that life does go on and that there are plenty of things you can do to enjoy your existence.
In some situations, disability can also breed loneliness. Some people find that they are more isolated from their friends and family because of the fact that they can no longer get around as well as they used to.
Loneliness can also occur at an emotional level. When you have a disability, you feel somewhat alienated from the people around you. Unlike you, they don’t know what it is like to be housebound or bedbound. And so they can’t really understand what life is like for a person in your situation.
The solution here is to join a group of people who do understand what you’re going through so that you can voice your feelings and make them known.
Home hunting can be a stressful thing, right? It can take ages, and you might never find the house you really want, and you might have family on the way that makes it even harder to go from property to property, or maybe the house hunting is just getting in the way of the honeymoon period. No matter what the reason is, you’re dreading the thought of trying to find a new place to live.
And that’s where we can help. We’ve got some ideas for stress-busting the process below, so be sure to keep them in mind if you’re about to hit the market and secure a property that could become yours forever home.
Whoever you’re buying with, and whatever reasons you’re buying for, you all need to be on the same page. Most new home buyers are couples, either newlywed or with a young, growing family, and while both groups have a lot in common, you and your partner need to be in the agreement above all else.
We don’t want any arguments here, or to delay the house-hunting process by any number of weeks, which will really help with keeping the stress off of your shoulders. So, you need to both be looking for the same thing – sit down together, and don’t stop workshopping until you have the same list on your minds. Only then should you get in touch with an estate agent.
Work with an Agent
You’re also going to want to work with an agent, to allow them to do all of the hard work for you, such as scouting out properties and negotiating the price with the seller. Because when you’ve got someone knowledgeable and professional on your side, such as PropertiesMiami, you have a much better chance of scoring a smooth and budget buying process.
Plus, an estate agent will help you to decide what it is you’re looking for, or need if you’re struggling to come up with these features yourself. They can help you to come to an agreement, or even reach a compromise together.
Have Compromises Ready
Finally, there’s a good chance you’re not going to score the home of your dreams here (but it’s not impossible!), and you’ll need to have some compromises ready in advance. What are you willing to negotiate with your partner on? What features aren’t quite a must-have, and you’re willing to live without and/or renovate in at a later date?
You can swap out many things to bring your dream home to life, like the light fixtures, flooring, and even windows. Keep an open mind and imagine what it will look like with a change in mirrors, installing a bay window, or maybe adding a chandelier. The cost to get a window replacement company or electrician in to bring your idea to life might be cheaper than hunting down the home that already has the fixture installed. Is the kitchen boring you to sleep? Take off the cupboard doors and add your touch to them with a lick of paint and new knobs. If your taste is a bit more expensive than your current budget, don’t write off the house just yet. Instead, start saving for the changes you love.
For example, maybe you want a breakfast nook, but none of the houses you like have one? Decide if this really matters or not, and then buy the house that could become a proper family home, and still has room for that breakfast nook when you’ve got the cash later on…
Stress is at an all-time high when house hunting and moving, so try to eliminate it from the start. You’ve got some great tools on your side to do so!
I’m so glad you stopped by today, I love seeing your smiling face and hearing your comments.
The Peony is my favorite flower and this year my husband bought one for the backyard. I’ve been so surprised by how quickly it’s growing and the flowers are huge. This one unfortunately doesn’t have the fragrant smell like my grannies did.
In an age where everyone is constantly connected, and false pretenses are the norm, it can be hard to stay positive about life and yourself. Many teens have attested how social media has made them feel more insecure about how they look. This may be because filters and editing tools can make a person look entirely different from actual reality, creating false and unrealistic standards today’s generation of girls feel they need to live up to.
Plastic surgeons have even come up with a new term called “Snapchat Dysmorphia,” which is a condition doctors have found mostly in adolescent women who try to get plastic surgery in order to look more like what they look like on Snapchat or Instagram with all the added filters. Looking after yourself has never been more vital, especially when living in a world that is constantly trying to convince you of what is acceptable and considered beautiful. That said, here are some tips on what you can do to look after your mental health in a digital age.
It may sound like a childish approach at first, but limiting the amount of time you spend on your phone, and especially online, can do wonders for your mental well-being. The more time to spend online, the less time you spend in the real world, being productive and practicing other healthy habits. Social media is helpful in a long list of ways. Whether it is to gain exposure for your business, staying in touch with friends and family, or learning more about what’s going on in the world around you, anything you do excessively will ultimately lead to an imbalance of some sort in your life. Moderation is key, which is why setting boundaries to the amount of time you spend on social media can open up loads of time for other important things like work, family time, getting in some exercise, or even just relaxing. You’ve probably found yourself hopping on Instagram for a quick catch-up, only to find yourself an hour later, still scrolling, each post just as interesting as the one before it. This is why it’s essential to set a limit because, whether you notice it or not, it happens more than you think.
Protect Yourself
One of the less glamorous things about social media is the fact that we can’t always control what pops up. Suggested posts are brought to your feed, and before you know it, you stumble upon something that may offend or really bother you. This isn’t necessarily social media’s fault; even though they try to keep a tight rein on what’s posted on their platform, there are billions of people posting each and every minute, making it almost impossible for them to regulate content thoroughly. They have, however, given you a small amount of authority and have taken your power of free will online by giving you an unfollow, block, and report button. These buttons aren’t just there to look pretty; they cause real action once implemented and can lead to the platform taking a closer look at the relevant content and disposing of the post (or the entire account if necessary) in order to make your experience better. Have a look at https://backlightblog.com/how-to-block-unblock-on-instagram to learn more about how to use some of these helpful tools.
Tech Cleanse
Many celebrities have taken some time off from their social media accounts with millions of followers for a bit of a break-away. These public figures have realized how stressful and pressurizing the online world can be and have learned that taking some personal time can only benefit one’s mental health. Allowing yourself a tech cleanse from time to time will lift your spirits and make you feel like an entirely new person – this means taking a period of time and detaching yourself from the online world. No, you don’t have to lock away your phone in a drawer and throw away the key, just take a breather from the hustle and bustle of social media and do some self-reflecting, pamper yourself a bit, maybe even take up a new hobby or learn a new skill. The online world isn’t going anywhere soon and will definitely still be there by the time you get back!
Your number one priority should always be you at the end of the day, whether it be physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. Take some time, give yourself some space, and do whatever you need to do to ensure you stay happy and healthy, inside and out.
I asked Aila Health to provide an introduction about their service offerings for my autoimmune disease and other chronic illness readers. I found their concept interesting and wanted to share it with you. The idea of tapping into a community of like-minded people is interesting and finding a place that offers one on one coaching from people who understand chronic illnesses is rare.
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Aila Health | Newsletter Content
Welcome to Aila Health!
Precision health for chronic illness
Who We Are
Article by Rory Stanton, CEO
Hi guys! Rory here. I’m the founder ofAila Health, a company I’m building to bring compassionate, accessible care to people living with autoimmune diseases and other chronic illnesses. I wanted to let you know why I created Aila Health and tell you about the app we just released for chronic illness warriors. After watching my cousin spend years visiting dozens of specialists to help diagnose and manage her chronic illness, I thought there had to be a better way.
The Problem
I talked with hundreds of patients and specialists to try to figure out how to solve this problem. I learned that your care is siloed and your doctors can’t always see a full picture of your health. They see a couple of your symptoms at random intervals but don’t always see all of the other symptoms or factors that cause flare ups.
Not Invisible
The Aila Health app allows you to sync all of your health data in one place and identify what is triggering your flare ups. Because your health information is centralized in one place, you can better share your trends with your doctors. Your doctors can then see “invisible” symptoms like chronic pain, fatigue, insomnia with the data, even if your lab tests keep coming back “normal.”
The Community
Once you download the app, you can also connect with other chronic illness warriors in the Aila community to share insights and get support. We’d love to invite members of the Looking for the Light community to the Aila Health app.
Download the app for free to consolidate your health information and track your flare ups in one place
Personalized Coaching
If you want additional help with personalized nutrition, mindfulness and stress management training and 1:1 holistic health coaching, you can subscribe to the health coaching program. We’re offering Looking for the Light members 25 % OFF your first month.
Just enter code Light25 at checkout.
As part of building community, we’re hosting a 3-month webinar series, kicking off Thursday, May 13th. First up in the series, we’ll hear real stories from real people about living with autoimmune disease. These powerful, amazing, and inspiring individuals will share about their health journeys. Register to attend here and we’ll keep you posted on additional webinars too! https://ailahealth.com/webinar
Aila Health solutions are available to the chronic illness community with a tap of the finger. It’s one place for your one on one coaching needs, an information database, and a support system with other chronic illness warriors.
This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from people in the TED community; browse through all the posts here.
The problem of misinformation isn’t going away.
Internet platforms like Facebook and Twitter have taken some steps to curb its spread and say they are working on doing more. But no method yet introduced has been completely successful at removing all misleading content from social media. The best defense, then, is self-defense.
Misleading or outright false information — broadly called “misinformation” — can come from websites pretending to be news outlets, political propaganda or “pseudo-profound” reports that seem meaningful but are not. Disinformation is a type of misinformation that is deliberately generated to maliciously mislead people. Disinformation is intentionally shared, knowing it is false, but misinformation can be shared by people who don’t know it’s not true, especially because people often share links online without thinking.
Emerging psychology research has revealed some tactics that can help protect our society from misinformation. Here are seven strategies you can use to avoid being misled, and to prevent yourself – and others – from spreading inaccuracies.
The lesson is to be particularly critical of information from groups or people with whom you agree or find yourself aligned – whether politically, religiously, or by ethnicity or nationality. Remind yourself to look for other points of view, and other sources with information on the same topic.
You can play an online game called “Fakey” to see how susceptible you are to different ways news is presented online.
When consuming news, make sure you know how trustworthy the source is or whether it’s not trustworthy at all. Double-check stories from other sources with low biases and high fact ratings to find out who — and what — you can actually trust, rather than just what your gut tells you.
Also, be aware that some disinformation agents make fake sites that look like real news sources – so make sure you’re conscious of which site you are actually visiting. Engaging in this level of thinking about your own thinkinghas been shown to improve your ability to tell fact from fiction.
Thinking “is what I am sharing true?” can help you stop the spread of misinformation and will encourage you to look beyond the headline and potentially fact-check before sharing.
Even if you don’t think specifically about accuracy, just taking a pause before sharing can give you a chance for your mind to catch up with your emotions. Ask yourself whether you really want to share it, and if so, why. Think about what the potential consequences of sharing it might be.
Research shows that most misinformation is shared quickly and without much thought. The impulse to share without thinking can even be more powerful than partisan sharing tendencies. Take your time. There is no hurry. You are not a breaking-news organization upon whom thousands depend for immediate information.
5. Be aware of your emotions
People often share things because of their gut reactions, rather than the conclusions of critical thinking. In a recent study, researchers found that people who viewed their social media feed while in an emotional mindset were significantly more likely to share misinformation than those who went in with a more rational state of mind.
Anger and anxiety, in particular, make people more vulnerable to falling for misinformation.
6. If you see something, say something
Stand up to misinformation publicly. It may feel uncomfortable to challenge your friends online, especially if you fear conflict. The person to whom you respond with a link to a Snopes post or other fact-checking site may not appreciate being called out.
An additional benefit is that public debunking notifies other viewers that they may want to look more closely before choosing to share it themselves. So even if you don’t discourage the original poster, you are discouraging others.
7. If you see someone else stand up, stand with them
If you see someone else has posted that a story is false, don’t say “well, they beat me to it so I don’t need to.” When more people chime in on a post as being false, it signals that sharing misinformation is frowned upon by the group more generally.
Stand with those who stand up. If you don’t and something gets shared over and over, that reinforces people’s beliefs that it is OK to share misinformation — because everyone else is doing it, and only a few, if any, are objecting.
Allowing misinformation to spread also makes it more likely that even more people will start to believe it — because people come to believe things they hear repeatedly, even if they know at first they’re not true.
There is no perfect solution. Some misinformation is harder to counter than others, and some countering tactics are more effective at different times or for different people. But you can go a long way toward protecting yourself and those in your social networks from confusion, deception and falsehood.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
H. Colleen Sinclair PhD is an Associate Professor of Social Psychology at Mississippi State University. Her research focuses on interpersonal relationships, social influence and misinformation.
Living with Fibromyalgia is a delicate dance, which is why May’s Fibromyalgia Awareness Month is so important. The bloggers at the Fibro Blogger Directory got together to provide the ultimate post for Fibromyalgia recommendations. Each blogger has a link with the rest of the blog post, so definitely head over to other blogs to read […]
According to a 2019 survey from the Centers for Disease Control, approximately one in five youths reported they’d seriously considered attempting suicide within the last year, while one in six had actually made a suicide plan, and one in 11 had made an attempt. Since the pandemic began, things have only gotten worse. In 2020 Mental Health America reported an uptick in severe major depression and suicidal ideation among youth. It noted in September 2020 that more than half of 11- to 17-year-olds reported they had experienced frequent thoughts of suicide or self-harm in the last two weeks. Other statistics are equally alarming.
Simply put, this pandemic has pushed stress levels of many youth to the breaking point. There are many contributing factors, such as isolation from peers, concern about loved ones getting sick, family financial issues such as job losses, and stress from navigating distance learning.
Then there are the situations in which child abuse and exploitation occur. During the early months of the pandemic, for example, child abuse complaints dropped, sometimes by as much as 50 percent. That’s not because abuse and exploitation issues were down. Just the opposite–the abuse was unreported because it wasn’t being seen by those who would typically catch it.
Teachers and school staff are often a first line of defense to report abuse and identify and support students who are dealing with stress and anxiety, because they are with the student all week and often see the telltale signs of a problem. For instance, is the student suddenly withdrawn from friends? Have they stopped eating at lunch? Are they suddenly lacking proper hygiene? But during the pandemic, in many cases teachers aren’t seeing the students as often, if at all, in person. This makes it more difficult for them to detect potential problems, but it doesn’t make it impossible.
Increasingly withdrawn behavior. Has a student who typically participates a lot in class suddenly stopped? If so, this could be a sign that there is something more going on.
Increased attention-seeking behavior. A student who typically is very respectful of the rules of an online environment is increasingly engaging in behavior that requires the teacher’s attention. It might be as simple as clicking their mute button on and off during a lesson or dressing inappropriately when on camera.
Significant changes in attendance, or suddenly wanting to keep their video off when they previously had it on.
To support students, teachers can schedule one-on-one virtual check-ins to see how students are doing. They can also provide their contact information and make sure students know they can reach out if they need to talk. Some schools use technology that allows staff to monitor students’ online activity and teachers to report concerns. A free tool called back:drop lets teachers track and record wellbeing information and concerns. Teachers can take advantage of tools like this if they’re available to keep tabs on potential issues and intervene if needed. Mental Health America also has a toolkit with tips to support students’ mental health.
The long-term impact of the pandemic in terms of students’ mental health is yet to be seen. In the short term however, teachers and school staff can help students weather the storm by keeping an eye on how students are behaving online, and by taking advantage of the resources mentioned above. These tools and practices can help teachers continue to be that first line of defense.
Justin Reilly is a former teacher and education leader with 20 years of experience leading EdTech businesses to success. With an early career teaching mathematics and information and communications technologies in UK secondary schools, Reilly understands firsthand the challenges associated with digital learning. He currently serves as CEO of Impero Software, a leader in student safety software. He has also served as the CEO of Mwabu Group, one of Africa’s leading EdTech businesses, serving schools and ministries of education in some of the most remote and unstable regions and as vice president of technology delivery and strategic partnerships at Pearson Education and CEO of Fronter AS, a provider of learning management systems. He works at Impero’s UK office in Nottingham.
The study examined nearly 400,000 female veterans, of which nearly one-third suffered from PTSD. The results of that study reflected that female veterans suffering from PTSD were 44% more likely to have the debilitating heart disease than their fellow veterans who did not have PTSD.
A similar study done in 2017 found that male veterans suffering from PTSD were 18% more likely to suffer from heart disease than their fellow veterans who did not have PTSD.
PTSD can affect women and men in different ways. Women with PTSD are more likely to feel depressed and anxious, while men with PTSD are more likely to have problems with alcohol or drugs. However, while both women and men who experience PTSD may develop physical health problems, the severity and preponderance of those symptoms also differ between the sexes.
According to the American Heart Association, ischemic heart disease refers to problems caused by narrowing of the arteries. That results in less blood and oxygen reaching the heart muscle and ultimately can lead to a heart attack.
As with men, the most common symptom of a heart attack in women is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.
Ischemic heart disease is also known as coronary artery disease or coronary heart disease.
Often, ischemic heart disease has no symptoms and can lead to a heart attack with no prior warning.
Despite advances in prevention and treatment, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. In the U.S., one in four deaths is caused by heart disease.
The study further found that female veterans who suffered from PTSD at relatively young ages, especially those under 40 years old, were at greater risk for heart disease.
The authors of the study recommend that physicians closely monitor patients with PTSD for coronary and related diseases as a result of their findings.
An inability to stop what you are doing or are about to do can cause considerable distress. Until recently, uncontrolled eating or binge eating, an eating disorder, has been linked to reduced self-regulation under stress, or deficits in brain regions responsible for inhibitory control. But this popular theory of impulsivity-induced binge eating has no direct evidence.
A new study led by scientists at the University of Cambridge examined how experimentally induced stress affects self-regulation in normal individuals and women with anorexia and bulimia. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) neuroimaging of participants under stressful and neutral conditions showed that stress-induced lack of self-control is too simplistic and inadequate in explaining the cause of binge eating.
Earlier neuroimaging studies in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) reported reduced activity in frontostriatal regions that are important in self-control, resulting in the popular theory that posits binge eating results from a failure of self-regulation under stress. However, there has been no direct evidence that stress impairs self-regulation in binge-eating disorders.
The researchers determined the effect of acute stress on self-control in 85 women, including 33 women with BN, 22 women with anorexia nervosa and bingeing or purging (AN-BP), and 30 normal women.
The authors performed a validated method of measuring proactive (anticipation of stopping) and reactive (outright stopping) inhibition called the stop-signal anticipation task, on all participants coupled with repeated FMRI scans for two consecutive days. The stop-signal anticipation task entailed pushing a button to stop a moving bar when it reached a specific point on the screen. On some trials, the bar stopped early, and the participants had to stop themselves from pushing the button.
The results showed women with BN showed reduced proactive inhibition while prefrontal responses were increased in women with both AN-BP and BN, whereas reactive inhibition remained intact in both diagnostic groups. Both AN-BP and BN groups showed distinct, stress-induced changes in inferior and superior frontal activity during both proactive and reactive inhibition tasks, but task performance was unaffected by stress.
These findings provide novel evidence of reduced proactive inhibition in BN, yet these inhibitory control deficits did not generalize to women with AN-BP. The results show that stress alters brain activity associated with inhibitory control in both groups of women with eating disorders but had no effect on their ability to stop their actions. These results demonstrate that self-inhibition is intact in the face of stress and the underlying neural mechanism behind binge eating is more complex than previously thought.
“Our findings identify intriguing alterations of stress responses and inhibitory function associated with binge eating, but they counsel against stress-induced failures of inhibitory control as a comprehensive explanation for loss-of-control eating,” the authors noted.
Chronic depression is a mental illness that millions of people experience to some degree each year. All types of things can trigger depression in anyone, such as trauma, grief, getting laid off, and money worries. The chances are high that you know someone with depression.
Did you know some depression triggers aren’t as common as the examples listed above? In fact, some causes of depression are pretty surprising. The following are six triggers that you probably wouldn’t have realized cause depression in most people:
Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD for short, is a mood disorder that can cause some people to experience symptoms of depression but only at certain times of the year. Most people with SAD experience symptoms during the winter months.
However, SAD can also strike in the summer. In those cases, the reason is that the body finds it difficult to adjust to new seasons.
2. Quitting Smoking
If a person used to be a heavy smoker and decided to quit the habit, they will likely experience symptoms of depression. Smoking can obviously be addictive, and when a person gives up such a long-term habit, they start to get withdrawal symptoms.
Nicotine, one of the common elements in cigarettes, creates high levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. When a person gives up smoking, they have significantly lower levels, resulting in feelings of depression.
3. Chronic Pain
Have you ever noticed that people with chronic (i.e., continuous) physical pain often seem unhappy? They might take medication to ease the pain, yet they still appear sad. That’s because chronic pain can also cause depression symptoms.
It makes sense to couple medication with other forms of pain relief like therapy sessions with a chiropractor in such circumstances. Doing so can help some people have less severe symptoms of depression.
4. Poor Quality of Sleep
It’s no secret that people who regularly have a poor quality of sleep end up feeling irritable and generally not very pleasant to be around. However, some of those individuals could have a high risk of developing chronic depression.
If you experience a poor quality of sleep, you should take immediate steps to diagnose and resolve the reasons why that’s the case. For example, the issue might be down to an unsuitable bed or pillow, or your sleeping partner’s snoring could disturb your sleep.
5. Internet Addiction
Most people spend at least one or two hours each day surfing the Web and catching up on their social media feeds. If you spend significantly more time online each and every day, your Internet addiction could result in you developing depression.
6. Your Environment
It’s a well-known fact that people who live in abusive home environments are highly likely to develop depression. But, what you might not know is that something as simple as the area where you live can trigger depression symptoms.
That’s because people who live in densely populated areas typically have higher levels of stress, and that can trigger feelings of depression in those individuals.
The basics of human nutrition are much the same for everyone. The practicalities of achieving good nutrition can, however, vary widely according to your age and lifestyle. With that in mind, here are some tips to help you understand nutrition for older adults.
Food is basically fuel for your body. From babyhood through puberty, your body needs food for mental and physical development. As an adult in your prime, you need food to fuel your lifestyle. This is likely to be at least moderately active.
As a senior, however, your activity levels are going to be lower than they were. Even if you keep yourself super-fit for your age, you’re still not going to be able to take the sort of vigorous exercise you could when you were younger. Your appetite will probably drop to reflect this.
The key point to take away is that the less food you eat, the more important it is that what you do eat delivers maximum nourishment. Of course, you can still have the occasional treat. For the most part, however, you really need to focus on nutrient-rich food.
Your food needs to have more of an impact
Your ability to perceive color, texture, and scent can decrease as you age. Medications can also interfere with it. This can negatively impact your ability to taste food. In the past, dental issues could make it more difficult to chew or swallow. Modern dental care means that this is much less of an issue. It can, however, still be a consideration.
This means that meals for seniors generally need to be full of contrast, strong textures, and lively scents. Older people often enjoy food with plenty of herbs and spices. This may come as a surprise if you hated them when you were younger.
Making all this happen while maintaining nutritional value can be very challenging. It’s likely to be particularly difficult if you live alone. This can lead to older people skipping meals, which can bring all kinds of problems. Batch cooking is one potential solution to this issue. It may, however, be more convenient to use DeliverLean CARE.
You need to be careful with salt and sugar
Adding salt and sugar can be a quick way to pep up a meal. Unfortunately, neither is a particularly healthy approach even when you’re a younger adult. The impact on seniors can be even worse. Salt can impair your kidney function. Sugar is empty calories and can lead to dental issues.
You must get plenty of fiber
Fiber plays a huge role in keeping your digestive system healthy. It’s important for everyone and particularly important for seniors. In simple terms, if your digestive system gets out of sorts, it will almost certainly impact your whole body. This can create a downward spiral and that can be especially dangerous for older adults.
Calcium and protein help keep you strong
Calcium is the building material for bones, teeth, and nails. Protein is the building material for muscle. You need to make sure to get plenty of both to maintain your strength and vigor in your later years.
These days, more and more people want to live their lives in a way that’s green and sustainable. With everything that’s going on in the world, green living is the aim for many, but it can also be a major source of stress. Rather than feeling pressure and getting overwhelmed by the need to make changes, it’s better to take things slowly and move in a more sustainable way. That way, you’ll start living green without overwhelming yourself too much. Find out more about that below.
Adding a more minimalist mindset to your home life is something that’s really important. When you have a more minimalist how and approach to designing your home, you’ll find that you’ll spend less and waste fewer resources. That’s exactly the way it should be when you’re trying to live in a greener way and be more sustainable in general.
Consider Carpooling or Active Transport Options
The way in which you get around will have a big impact on just how sustainable you are and the impact you have on the planet. Carpooling is a really good way to cut down on your carbon emissions. Trying to reduce your driving, in general, should be one of your top aims. So do what you can to reduce the car journeys you make and consider more active travel if you can.
Slowly and Gradually Reduce Your Meat Consumption
This can be a controversial one for some people, but there’s no doubting the impact the meat industry has on the planet. So if you’re not quite ready to go vegetarian but you do want to do your bit for the planet, you should definitely think about slowly and gradually reducing your meat consumption, even if it’s only by a relatively small amount.
There are lots of sensible people out there who know what they’re talking about when it comes to green living and sustainable lifestyles. It’s up to you to find those people and educate yourself continually. People like Stephen Troese Jr can teach you a lot, and the better informed you are, the better the decisions you’ll make with regards to your lifestyle and living green.
Change Your Approach to Fashion
Finally, you should think about how you buy clothes and whether your current approach to fashion is one that’s going to be sustainable for the planet. Buying more used clothes and not supporting the fast fashion industry and mentality are both things you can do for the planet. They’ll have a big impact because the modern fashion industry isn’t particularly green.
Leading a green lifestyle is really important these days. But it can also put a lot of pressure on your shoulders and cause you to feel a little stressed about the whole thing. That’s not how it should be, so use the tips above and take it slowly and gradually without overwhelming yourself at all.
Anyone who experiences chronic pain will tell you that pain management is in their thoughts daily. There are so many ways to manage chronic pain, and it usually takes a person a long time to find the perfect balance for their pain levels.
While it is easy to judge others and insist that your way is the best way, at the end of the day, a person’s experience of pain is unique, and can’t be controlled or judged by others. The debate between using natural remedies or prescription medications is ongoing, and in this blog, we will take a look at the benefits of each choice.
Let’s get started in answering the question: are natural remedies or medicine better for chronic pain treatment?
The term “natural remedies” constitutes many different types of pain management. These include:
Physical movement, such as stretching, yoga, walking, weight lifting, pilates, swimming, and any other movement treatments.
Natural herbs and medicines, such as CBD, herbal teas, specific diets such as veganism and homeopathy.
Non-medicinal physical treatment, such as acupuncture, physiotherapy, massage, cupping, talking therapy, CBT, hypnosis, and spiritual practices.
While some people scoff at the use of natural remedies for chronic pain, others swear by its powers.
If you want to avoid harsh medicines that can’t be used long-term, it might be helpful to try out different holistic practices such as the ones listed above. It can’t hurt to measure their effects, and you never know what could work for you! Many of these methods have been used for thousands of years, and have been instrumental in the development of modern medicines and practices.
CBD and hemp oil tinctures, for example, are relatively new products that are totally legal in most countries. These can be administered in cream, oil, or tablet form, and have been said to alleviate chronic pain for many users.
Medicine For Chronic Pain
Of course, medicinal pain management is very common for those who experience chronic pain. If you experience severe pain on a daily basis, there may be no other option for the management of your pain, other than to take prescription medication.
If you see a doctor regularly to discuss your pain management, they may suggest different pain medications for you to try. Pain management is a unique experience, and it can be quite frustrating when you are trying to find the right medicine for you.
Most prescribed medications are safe for use, but unfortunately, some pain medications can be addictive. That is why it is helpful to try other methods, such as natural remedies, that can supplement your pain management.
Conclusion: which is better for chronic pain, natural remedies, or medicine?
At the end of the day, most people with chronic pain would suggest that a mixture of natural remedies, such as movement, natural medicines and treatments, and prescribed medicine, will help with chronic pain.
While some people who experience chronic pain say that only one or the other works for them, the majority of people would argue that both can be helpful in their own way.
Energy efficiency is a bit of a buzzword of late, right? But what does it really mean for us and for our homes? When you are more energy-efficient you can save yourself a lot of money, which makes sense for anyone. So if you are wondering what you can do to be more energy-efficient, then here are some things to think about and what an energy-efficient home actually means.
Heat rises, as the science goes, so if you have heat in your home, where do you think it is going to leave from? It is going to leave from the walls and the ceiling, which is why having loft insulation can really make a difference to how energy-efficient the home is. If your home loses heat quickly, then you will keep spending more and more money on your heating bill to keep the home at a temperature that you like. So check your wall and loft insulation and see if there needs to be an update.
Consider solar panels
Natural and renewable sources of energy are the way forward, but can they be used in the home? The answer is quite simply, yes! One of the most commonly used is solar panels on the roof of people’s homes. This often means a massive cut in electricity bills, even being able to sell some of the power back to the grid. If you’re not too sure about the upfront costs of getting solar panels, then looking at a site like ChooseSolar could be a good idea. The idea there is that homes are connected to solar farms in the local community and can use the power of those solar panels, rather than needing their own.
Windows
Much like loft spaces and walls, heating can also be lost through your windows. If there are even the smallest of gaps, they can let in a lot of air and if it is cold, can mean that you have to keep your heating on for longer, as it will not keep the warm air in the home. If you have single-glazed windows, which can be present in a lot of older homes, then they need to be replaced. This can have quite large upfront costs, but you will quickly see the benefit when it comes to the energy efficiency of the home, not to mention the noise reduction that you will experience when inside the home too.
Switch your energy provider
If you want to pay less on your energy bills, then think about how long you have been with your current energy provider. Are you on an acceptable tariff with them and do they offer the use of renewable energy? When you move to a different provider that does offer such terms, then you can save money and know that you are using better sources of energy that are natural and renewable.
It would be great to hear what you think. How do you make sure that your home is energy-efficient?
What The April Writing Prompts are About & How to Participate
The linkups are a monthly get-together for anyone with a chronic illness, mental disorder, or disability. It’s an opportunity to share, to listen, and to learn from one another through shared writing prompts. I also think it’s a great way to provide insight into life with chronic illness from many different points of view.
All you have to do is write using at least three of the writing prompts listed below, and publish it on your blog, or to a free writing platform like Medium. Then click on the blue ‘Add Link’ button to add your blog post to this page. Voilà, you’re now part of the linkup party!
April Writing Prompts!
Springing
Luxuriating
Sustaining
Daunting
Grounding
We are springing into Spring and Summer around our house. The lilies have popped up and survived the winter storm. I’ve planted basil, cilantro, marigolds in orange and yellow, a red dahlia, two Gerber daisies, one orange, and one in pink. I also have one pick geranium and six tomato plants. Last year we had so many birds dive-bombing the tomatoes we put up shiny green flower spinners this year. They are so fun to watch. Keeps you from getting bored looking in the back of the yard. I planted fewer flowers this year knowing that there’s a chance it would be too much to keep up with during the hot summer days. I’ll write about it in the next paragraph but so glad I planted less because I’ve now scheduled knee replacement surgery for June. Looks like I’ll be having lots of help watering this summer.
I’m enjoying my time before the medical appointments start running back to back. My knee replacement surgery is scheduled for June, it’s been a long time coming. I have yet to start my Plasma Infusion treatments. I’m so frustrated with insurance for taking so long to approve the treatments. I was told last week that insurance turns most around in two days and I’ve been waiting over a week and still no answers. Today they were so busy I couldn’t even get an insurance person in the Infusion office on the phone. I’ve been preparing for my treatments. You spend three to four hours in a lounge chair much like you do while having Chemotherapy but I’ll be having Blood Plasma dripped into the veins. I have a warm blanket, a small travel pillow, downloaded several books to review on the iPad, a new book to start if I need to turn pages, a new mask that has a slot for filters, and of course lots of hand sanitizers. I’ve also bought a new sweater since I think it’s going to be very cold in the room. I had Antibiotic Infusion treatments when I was so sick with Lyme and imagine it will be like that only I had most of my treatments at home. The side effects last three to four days and are all over the place, I have more reading to do on that subject.
I don’t write about my husband very often but he does sustain me, for 20 years now he has sustained me. He never makes me feel pressured or guilty for what I do or don’t accomplish during the day. If I sleep in or need a nap it’s never a problem or the evil eye. We cook together so the burden doesn’t fall all on me and on weekends he usually does all the cooking. He does all his own laundry and has for years, I don’t even remember when that started. One thing that is important to us is to work hard to watch at least one television show together and have time to talk before I go to bed. As I’ve mentioned in several of my Fibromyalgia posts, I go to bed long before he does. It’s my unwind and rest time. I know that whatever comes my way, he’s going to be there, working hard to make everything ok and take the burden off of me.
Are you enjoying the monthly prompt post? Are you learning anything or able to pass anything on to someone who might need the information?
As our parents or other relatives start to get older, they might find it more difficult to look after themselves without help. When this happens, there are a few different options. Some families decide to move their elderly relatives into a retirement community or into their own homes, while others try to find ways for their parents to stay as independent as possible and keep living alone.
If your relatives are taking any medication, it’s important that they are able to manage this themselves if they live alone. Are they remembering to take the correct amount at the correct time? If you aren’t sure, there are some signs that you can look for. When you visit them, look in their cabinets for medicines that have gone out of date, or are being kept with no clear organization. Have they become ill after missed or too many doses?
Meal Preparation
Are your parents still able to cook safely and managing to make balanced meals? Are they able to use their kitchen appliances without help? Look out for them deciding to skip meals, or for kitchen accidents like forgetting to turn the oven off, or forgetting that food has been put in the microwave.
Safety And Mobility
Look out for signs that your parents are finding it hard getting around their home. Have they had falls? Do they have a way to get help if there is an emergency? You can fit their home with devices like emergency alarms, grab bars, and other things to make navigating and getting help much easier. Read this guide to make your home handicap accessible.
Personal Hygiene
It’s important for your elderly relatives to still able to bathe themselves, get dressed, and properly wash their clothes and linens. If you start to notice that they look more unkempt than they used to, or they wear diary clothing or have noticeable body odor then this suggests that they aren’t able to care for themselves anymore.
Transportation
If your older parents are still driving their car, make sure they are definitely safe enough to get behind the wheel. If they aren’t driving, what kind of access do they have to other forms of transport to get to doctors’ appointments or the grocery store? This could be using public transport, getting taxis, or arranging lifts with friends or family.
Socialization
For older people who live alone, isolation can be a big worry. Does your parent spend a lot of time by themselves? Do they have many friends nearby? Do they still go out to socialize, or do they get visitors to their homes? Watch out for signs of loneliness.Independent senior living can offer older relatives to stay near any friends they may have, as well as make new ones.
Home Management
Are they still able to manage their home? When you visit, take a look around to make sure things are being kept clean. Pay special attention to bathrooms and kitchens. Look out for disarray, stains, or spoiled food in the fridge. Check for post-stacking up or late bill notices coming through to make sure they’re coming on top of house admin.
Speaking on Dr. Elliot Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy, Hilary spoke about her experience of breastfeeding all three of her children, remarking that she sometimes has difficulty producing milk. “All of the babies latch really great; I’m just not a huge milk producer, so it’s emotional for me,” she said, before adding that so far she’s been “exclusively been breastfeeding” Mae.
The mother-of-three also discussed the tricky conundrum of how her anxiety can affect the amount of milk she produces too, which in turn leads to more anxiety. “Right now, I don’t know that I’m not producing as much as I need, but I think, since I haven’t in the past, I have tons of anxiety that I’m not, and that she’s not getting enough,” she explained. “And then I’m in my head, and then I don’t feel like enough, and then the spiral continues from there.”
She also shared that she’s making an effort to “sit back and chill and trust that [her] body is doing the right thing and [Mae is] gaining weight” in an effort to overcome those worries though.
It wasn’t just breastfeeding that Hilary discussed during the interview either; she also shared that she had both Luca and Banks present during the birth of Mae. “It was kind of important for me [for Luca to be there] because I’m really big on being open and honest with him about how strong women are and what childbirth looks like,” she explained, adding that Banks came into the room “right after the fact”.
We love that Hilary is so honest about her parenting journey! Anything that normalises breastfeeding or birth is totally a-okay with us.
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There are many ways that sleep problems can set you on a path toward a rocky relationship.
Making sound decisions, being in a good mood most of the time, reining in some of your bad moods or irritability, problem solving, communicating effectively, tolerating frustration, practicing empathy — these are all important skills for cultivating and maintaining a healthy relationship. And these are also all the things that go south when you’re low on sleep.
When these are in short supply, whom do you take it out on? Usually your partner. Chronic sleep loss or otherwise disturbed sleep can trigger a host of emotions that can send you on a spiral of relationship-damaging behaviors.
Sleep plays a powerful role in how we experience and regulate our emotions. When we miss out on sleep, we become more irritable, we have more negative moods, our frustration tolerance is lowered, and we become more emotionally labile, meaning that we are more prone to mood swings, because our capacity to regulate our emotions is impaired.
Studies have shown that when sleep was restricted to five hours per night for a week, participants showed a progressive increase in negative emotions (e.g., anger, sadness, frustration, irritability), with each successive night of sleep restriction. Research has further shown that sleep loss led not only to increases in negative emotion but also decreases in positive emotion.
To the partner of the person deprived of sleep, this activation of negative emotions in concert with the blunting of positive emotions can feel like a double whammy of contempt and criticism. The partner feels lonely, vulnerable, and attacked, which, of course, can then lead to defensiveness or counterattack. Not a great recipe for relationship bliss.
On nights when couples slept worse, they reported more conflict the next day.
Social psychologists Drs. Amie Gordon and Serena Chen have studied couples’ nightly sleep patterns and their daily relationship behaviors. They found that on nights when couples slept worse, they reported more conflict the next day. But it’s not just that sleep loss increases the likelihood of conflict. It’s that once a couple is in conflict, sleep loss triggers the very relationship behaviors and communication styles that we know are most toxic to relationships. As Dr. Gordon explains it, “When one or both partners are not well-rested, minor squabbles can turn into major rifts.”
Researchers at the Ohio State University brought 43 couples into the lab and asked them to engage in a typical relationship conflict. (It turns out that couples are very good at diving right into conflict when instructed to do so, even under the conspicuous conditions of a scientific laboratory, replete with a video camera to record the event.) Couples also reported on their nightly sleep patterns.
After each conflict, the researchers painstakingly coded the conversation using a well-developed relationship coding system that identifies positive versus negative communication styles, including the degree of hostility or constructive responses.
While all couples engaged in conflict, the researchers saw a clear distinction in how they engaged: Couples who reported sleeping less than seven hours per night were more likely to engage in hostile conflict. It’s the difference between saying to your partner “It really makes me mad that you didn’t unload the dishwasher” vs. “Shocker — yet again, you couldn’t do the one thing I asked you to do.”
Couples who reported sleeping less than seven hours per night were more likely to engage in hostile conflict.
A sure-fire way to ratchet up the intensity of a relationship tiff is when one or both partners feel their words and, more importantly, their feelings are not being heard. In many ways, empathy is the glue that binds a relationship together. Being able to gauge your partner’s emotional temperature during a hot-topic discussion is a critically important skill for relationship well-being. Unfortunately, empathic accuracy also takes a hit when relationship partners are sleep-deprived.
Drs. Gordon and Chen found not only that couples were more likely to engage in conflict after sleeping poorly but also that poorly slept people had lower empathic accuracy. Their research showed that the negative effects of one partner’s sleep loss on empathic accuracy spread to the other partner. On nights when one partner slept worse, the other partner also showed reductions in empathic accuracy. This likely reflects a relationship dynamic in which one partner feels dismissed or that their feelings aren’t being heard, leading to increased defensiveness and emotional walls being built up on both sides.
Other research shows that even the words we use to communicate and the sounds of our voices are colored by our sleep or lack thereof. Psychologist Eleanor McGlinchey used computerized text analysis, including analysis of acoustic properties of speech, as well as observer ratings of the emotional expression of speech, before and after sleep deprivation in the laboratory. She wanted to determine the extent to which sleep deprivation affected word choice, including positive and negative emotion words, like “happy” or “excited” or “sad” or “anxious,” as well as the tone, including positive and negative emotion expression.
She found that under sleep-deprived conditions, participants showed a decrease in the use of positive emotion words. Observers rated their speech as being lower in positive emotional expression (less happy or calm) and higher in negative emotional expression (more sad, anxious, or fatigued). Using sophisticated computerized text analysis of the acoustic properties of speech, she also found that sleep-deprived participants’ speech was, as McGlinchey put it, “softer, sharper, and lower energy … and the lower acoustic energy can make it sound like the person is disengaged.”
Sleep-induced loneliness is contagious. Within couples, this can lead to greater emotional distancing and a lack of connection with your partner.
Beyond the sleep-induced relationship blowups and communication shifts, lack of sleep can lead to broader social consequences, including the more existential state of loneliness. Science is showing us that lack of sleep hurts our social brains and can make us feel alone in the world.
In a series of elegant studies published in 2018, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found that poor sleep predicted greater feelings of loneliness, as well as greater social withdrawal and anxiety, the next day. At the brain level, the researchers demonstrated that sleep-deprived people showed deactivation in the parts of the brain that are responsible for helping understand other people’s actions and behaviors, and amplification in the parts of the brain that signal threat or fear responses in social contexts.
In other words, sleep-deprived subjects’ brains were less active in the parts of the brain that make you more social and more active in the parts of the brain that make you want to stand in the corner away from people. Researchers also looked at how other people reacted to the sleep-deprived subjects. They found that the observers perceived the sleep-deprived people to be lonelier and less attractive than well-slept people. But the real kicker is that after observing the people who were sleep-deprived, the observers themselves reported feeling lonelier and more socially withdrawn, despite being well-rested. Sleep-induced loneliness, therefore, is contagious. Within couples, this can lead to greater emotional distancing and a lack of connection with your partner.
As you read this, you may be entering a state of increasing anxiety, verging on panic for some, as I describe the relationship harms that could be caused by sleep loss. And frankly, the last thing any of us needs is yet another reason to keep us up at night.
But rather than sweating the consequences of sleep loss, it’s time to start prioritizing sleep as a mutual goal within your relationship.
Wendy M. Troxel PhD Wendy Troxel PhD is a senior behavioral and social scientist at the RAND Corporation and an adjunct faculty member in psychiatry and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and certified behavioral sleep medicine specialist. Dr. Troxel is internationally recognized for her work on sleep in couples, how sleep affects health and the global economy, and how social environments and public policy impact sleep.
Today, we take for granted the fact that we can be on the same team as somebody who lives on the other side of the country — or the world — and that’s largely because of technology. As a result of technology, people are developing in-organization solutions that are amazing and complex and that are solving problems in business, medicine and communication, in every kind of field. Those complex solutions demand that people collaborate and work together as teams.
But even though teamwork is everywhere, we continue to train people — whether in education or in the workforce — for primarily individual and technical skills. As someone who’s worked with teams for the past 25 years in the corporate world and written two books about teamwork, I think that needs to change. And that’s why I’m going to share with you the three simple virtues that make for a good team player.
The first and by far the most important is humility.If you want to be an ideal team player and if you want to be successful in life, you really need to be humble. Most of us know what humility is — it means not being arrogant or self-centered but putting others ahead of ourselves. It’s such an attractive and powerful thing.
When somebody lacks confidence and makes themselves small, that’s not humility. To deny our talents is actually a violation of humility, just like it is to exaggerate them. The writer C.S. Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility isn’t thinking less of ourselves, it’s thinking about ourselves less.” (Editor’s note: That quote has long been misattributed to Lewis.)
The second is equally simple: You have to be hungry. This simply means having a strong work ethic. People who have an innate hunger about getting work done are typically much more successful on teams and in life. This quality is the one that you probably have to develop earliest in life; when I work with people later in life who never developed it, it can be harder for them to build it. Being hungry is not about workaholism, though. Workaholics are people who get their entire identity from their work. People who are hungry just want to go above and beyond what’s expected; they have a high standard for what they do, and they never do just the minimum.
The third attribute is what I call being smart. But it’s not about intellectual smarts; this is about emotional intelligence and having common sense around how we understand people and how we use our words and actions to bring out the best in others. This is so important in the world, and being smart is one of those things that people can work on and get better at.
You need to have all three qualities to be a great team player. So it’s really important that you learn how to identify in yourself and in others when one of them is lacking. I’ve come up with some labels that you can use to refer to people (including yourself) who are missing one of these traits.
A person may be humble and hungry but they lack smarts — I call them the accidental mess maker. As a manager, I have a lot of time for accidental mess makers. They’re good people, they have really good intentions, but they create problems that they’re not aware of. They’re like a puppy; they knock things over a lot but they mean well. The problem with this type is you have to clean up after them and over time, you can get tired of having to say things like, “He’s a really good guy; he didn’t mean it that way.”
Then there’s someone who’s humble and smart but they lack hunger — I call them the lovable slacker. The problem is while they’re lovable and really fun to be around, they do just the bare minimum. They don’t go above and beyond. You have to constantly remind them to do more, and you have to pick up their slack in an organization.
The most difficult type is the team member who is hungry and smart but they’re not humble — I call them the skillful politician. They know how to portray themselves as being humble, which is a very dangerous thing. They’re able to interview well, and they say the right things at meetings. The problem is, deep down inside them, work is about them, and not about others. By the time managers figure it out, there’s usually a trail of dead bodies hidden in closets around the organization.
So, what do you do with this information?
Don’t misuse these labels. Don’t say to your boss or colleague, “Hey, I think that you’re an accidental mess maker.”
Next, apply these categories to yourself and the people around you. Sit down with your work team, your family, or the soccer team you coach. Explain the qualities, and have everybody rank themselves in those three areas — which one they’re best at, second best and third. Even if they’re good at all of them, they’re still going to be better in some and weaker in another.
Then, go around the group and ask people to explain their third and why it’s theirs. Talk together about how they can strengthen this trait. Give each other advice; turn your colleagues, your team members and your family members into each other’s coaches.
For the person who needs help being humble, you might say something like, “Maybe you shouldn’t talk about yourself so much and instead, ask questions about others and take an interest in their lives.” For the person who needs to be hungry, suggest that when they’re about to sign out for the day, they should check in and see if there’s work that still needs to be done. And for the person who needs to be emotionally smarter, ask them to double-check at the end of meetings whether they’ve treated everyone with kindness and respect.
It’s time that we changed the way we think about success as a society and how we prepare people for success in life. By developing these three qualities in ourselves, we could start to change ourselves and improve our organizations, our schools, our families — and our world.
Patrick Lencioni is one of the founders of organizational health consultancy The Table Group and the author of 11 books, including The Ideal Team Player.
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Looking for the Light 