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The Importance of Sleep for Your Mental Health

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Tulip and Huck

by Brooke Faulkner

Sleep. It’s not just a morning love affair with your warm cozy bed, it’s essential to your survival. It is as important as eating, breathing, and keeping an adequate water intake. Slumber is a way to refresh your eyes and your body while the brain restores itself. It helps your mind clear out the unnecessary “clutter” that accumulates within it throughout the day. Sleep helps you in your waking life to make decisions, create and organize memories, make creative connections, and learn/remember how to perform specific physical tasks.

Despite the importance of sleep on our functioning, it is severely lacking. In the US, 70 million adults suffer from some type of sleep disorder. Insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and movement syndromes (commonly known as restless leg syndrome) are only a few of the most common 70 different types of known sleep disorders.

Over half of all insomnia cases in the United States directly correlate to psychological stress, anxiety, and depression. Chronic sleep problems affect 50 to 80 percent of patients seen in a psychiatric practice, compared to just 10 to 18 percent of the general U.S. population.

The point: those suffering with depression and anxiety are more prone to sleep disorders, and those with sleep disorders are more prone to suffer from anxiety and depression.

Cause or Effect?
For many years, sleep problems were thought to be a symptom of mental problems, but new studies suggest that the opposite may be true. New or worsening mental health conditions may actually stem directly from a lack of sleep.

A lack of sleep can cause a decrease in alertness and diligence along with a general decline in mood and energy. Sleep issues such as insomnia have more than just drowsy effects on your brain. They have negative effect on other parts of the body like the central nervous system, the immune system, the digestive system, and the respiratory tract.

Whether a lack of sleep is causing an increase in mental illness issues, or the mental illness issues are causing a lack of sleep, both exacerbate one another, and trying to pinpoint which came first will really only keep us going in circles. So instead of searching for the answer to which came first, let’s focus on what is easily within reach. Sleep; let’s get some.

Focus on these to improve sleep:

Sleep Hygiene: This involves creating a series of different habits that are necessary to have a restful slumbrous sleep.

  • Make sure you are spending an appropriate amount of time asleep.
  • Limit daytime naps to 30 minutes or less.
  • Avoid caffeine and other stimulants like nicotine before bedtime.

Live Stressless:

Feng Shui your bedroom:

Mental health issues can go far deeper than a sleep problem and often need specific treatments on their own to be resolved or relieved. But correcting one pillar of health, one habit that directly affects mental stability, can help make overall treatment more effective. At the end of the day, it may not be the end-all-be-all but treating a sleep problem can help to alleviate the mental health issues an individual is suffering from. By addressing what is within your control, and acknowledging the status of your own mental health, you can help yourself contribute to an effective treatment.


Learning How to Relax May Be the Best Gift You Can Give Yourself

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Quote About Relaxation

They say that the weather is something everyone talks about, yet nobody does anything about it. If you ask me, relaxation is right up there with the weather. Seems like everyone wants to relax more but few…very few actually.. take steps to make it happen.

I’m as guilty as anyone! In fact, my own frustrating behavior is the inspiration for this post. Earlier, I felt a little stressed out and a lot tired. I work from home which means a couple of things..

  1. I still know what stress is. Just because you work from the happy confines of your own home doesn’t mean you and stress are strangers. Somehow, when you work from home, people think you are immune to stress and can relax anytime you want. Those who aren’t employed are considered to be as stress-free as a house cat! When I was raising my three daughters and teaching them in our home school, I got the impression that everyone thought I had the life of a pampered cat – lying around all day, only moving when absolutely necessary. Ha!
  2.  I do have the luxury of pacing myself. This one is a huge luxury for those of us who spend our days at home. If we need to simply sit and read a book for 30 minutes, we almost always can do so.

Earlier, because of a few things online that were fighting me with all they had and because of having to take more allergy medicine than usual lately, I felt like I was about to come unwound. So I grabbed an Agatha Christie book and, wisely, decided to sit in my favorite chair and read a few chapters.

I wasn’t even through one before my restlessness got the better of me and I was back at the computer fighting everything that had it in for me today. This did not make me valiant. This did not make me a warrior princess. This did not make me a fighter.

It made me ridiculous.

A real fighter or warrior would have done exactly what they needed to do to refuel – in order to come back stronger and better than ever. They would have taken the time to restore their mind, body, and soul.When it comes to getting in my own way, I’m so good at it I could go pro. Maybe you can relate.

The thing that got me UP from the chair and squarely IN my own way was one single thought, “I have so many things to do!”

We are becoming more and more programmed to believe that we have to be productive every waking hour. This mindset isn’t doing our minds or bodies one ounce of good – in fact, the mindset is responsible for so many ills, I honestly couldn’t even begin to name them all.

Sometimes, the smartest thing to DO is to DO nothing. As Mark Black says, “Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.”

The next time you feel stressed, anxious, wired, or just plain gassed, find a comfortable chair and just RELAX. Put down your phone and put your thoughts at arm’s length. Give yourself at least 20 minutes to simply sit and relax. Read a great book, pet your cat, drink some tea… or, as I’m 5 minutes away from… do all three!

~ Joi (“Joy”)

Foods to Help Reduce Anxiety: So Many Problems Start in the Gut!

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A number of years ago, my oldest daughter and I both had to give up wheat and gluten entirely, for health reasons. In addition to cutting out certain foods, we also added a great number of healthy foods to our diets. Partly because we needed food to replace all the food we’d now be missing out on, but mostly because when you feel terrible, it serves as a wake up call. Life is a beautiful, beautiful thing and we want to feel our best while enjoying it. For our bodies to perform their best, we have to stop giving them junk and give them good food. Healthy food.

While I wasn’t terribly surprised when the digestive problems cleared up, I was surprised by a few other improvements (more energy, more “give-a-darn,” etc.) Many people, after adopting healthier eating (which, obviously, doesn’t always include having to give up wheat or gluten), rave and rave about the “unexpected” benefits. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read and heard testimonies such as, “Sure, the lost weight is nice, but the best thing is I FEEL better than I have in years. I have my life back!”

Come on, it doesn’t get any better than that.

More and more experts have figured out something that has gone unnoticed for years – there is a direct correlation between what we eat and not only how healthy we are but also HOW WE FEEL. Our emotions, anxieties, moods… they’re all as tied into what we eat as our waistlines.

The gorgeous infographic, below, from Snap Kitchen, tells how different (delicious!) foods can actually help with anxiety. Most people who live with anxiety look for healthy, easy, natural ways to deal and cope. It’s hard to get much healthier, easier, or natural than food. If you’re all too familiar with anxiety, try adding the following foods to your diet.

You may find more benefits than you ever hoped for!

Click for a larger version of the infographic…

Foods to Reduce Anxiety Infographic

Infographic Source: Snap Kitchen


Book Review: Defeating Dementia by Richard Furman MD

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Defeating Dementia

As of today (May 9, 2018), if you Google How to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease, you’ll be given About 25,400,000 results. That means there are A LOT of people talking about Alzheimer’s (and Dementia) prevention and even more people looking for the information.

From the Inside Cover of Defeating Dementia:

Dementia. It’s one of the most dreaded conditions we face as we age. Many people claim they would rather be diagnosed with cancer than dementia or Alzheimer’s. What many don’t realize is that dementia is not a forgone conclusion as we get older. Our own lifestyle choices and habits can have a significant impact–for good or ill–on our chances of developing the disease. And that means there’s hope.

Drawing from the latest medical research, Dr. Richard Furman helps readers understand dementia and Alzheimer’s and shows them how to make three powerful lifestyle changes that can help decrease the probability of developing this disease. He explains how eating the right foods, exercising, and sustaining an ideal weight can dramatically reduce the likelihood of developing dementia in the first place, and even how it can slow the progression of the disease in someone who has already received a diagnosis.

When you’re talking about one of the most unkind and relentless diseases of our time, “hope” is a beautiful word, indeed.

When reviewing a book on the self help blog (or any other blog, for that matter), I think it’s always important to give a little information about the author. After all, if we’re going to invest in reading what they say… we should know why we should! Richard Furman, MD, FACS spent more than 30 years as a vascular surgeon. He is the past president of the North Carolina Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Past president of the North Carolina Surgical Society, and two-term governor of the American College of Surgeons. He co-founded the World Medical Mission (the medical arm of the wonderful “Samaritan’s Purse“) and is a member of the board of Samaritan’s Purse. He is also the author of Prescription for Life and Your Cholesterol Matters.

About Samaritan’s Purse:  Samaritan’s Purse is a non-denominational evangelical Christian International Relief organization. The author’s proceeds from Defeating Dementia will be donated to Samaritan’s Purse for World Medical Mission to assist doctors serving at mission hospitals abroad.

Defeating Dementia gives a clear and concise overview of Dementia (including Alzheimer’s Disease) – broken down in terms we can all understand… and, as you’ll see when you read the book.. understanding the disease is pivotal in preventing the disease.  There are, in fact, quite a few things we can do to tilt the odds in our favor – That is where hope comes in.

There are four distinct parts of Defeating Dementia.

  1. Understanding Dementia, The Stages of Alzheimer’s, & The Brain, Imagery, and Testing
  2. The Aging Process and the Health of Your Arteries
  3. The Risk Factors for Developing Alzheimer’s Disease (such as high cholesterol, being overweight, having high blood pressure….)
  4. Lifestyle Choices for Defeating Dementia (covers diet, physical activity, and other areas you probably haven’t even considered)

Each of the four sections are packed with valuable information and advice which is, again, presented in a very clear and concise manner. The book is very enjoyable and “reads” very fast – in fact, you should make yourself slow down every now and again to make sure you don’t miss anything. Mental fitness is one of my biggest passions in life, so I actually took notes along the way.

From the Back Cover:

In the fight against dementia, the most powerful player is you.

“While many books have been written about individuals with Alzheimer’s, none has so seamlessly connected the disease biology, the patient experience, and the preventative science as Dr. Furman does so skillfully. Dr. Furman’s work will serve as the definitive guide on preventative measures to decrease one’s chances of developing Alzheimer’s dementia.”–Senator Bill Frist, nationally recognized heart and lung transplant surgeon, former US Senate majority leader, and chairman of the executive council of Cressey and Company, from the foreword

“I had always thought that there was little one could do to prevent or slow the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. However, in this amazing book, Defeating Dementia, Dr. Richard Furman explains in an easy to understand and detailed way that there are actually things you can be doing right now to decrease your odds of developing Alzheimer’s dementia. This book can change the way you live. It can give you a new hope and practical steps to deal with–and even help prevent–Alzheimer’s.”–Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and founder of Samaritan’s Purse, from the foreword

“Dr. Furman has created a unique book for the public–one that synthesizes decades of research on the prevention and early treatment of dementia into understandable chunks and practical advice. Pairing the science with personal story provides immediacy, underscoring that this advice is not just a good idea, it’s crucial and matters now.”–Dr. Richard Ackermann, director, Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship, Mercer University School of Medicine

Defeating Dementia is available on Amazon and I highly, highly recommend you click through and take a closer look.

There is NO Age Limit on Learning!

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by Brooke Faulkner

It is abundantly clear that striving to learn new things betters your life in numerous ways. Ideally, your whole life should be spent striving to learn something new every single day. Learning and wanting to enhance your intellect is a great thing for every human to aspire toward, but not everyone has the time to attend lectures on a college campus.

Technological developments have raised the bar in ways we can obtain information and learn just about anything we set our minds to. Nearly anyone can access the internet for its endless supply of information — some educational, some not. The trick is how you to make the technology work for you. Below are creative ways anyone, regardless of age, can keep a hold of their lifelong quest for knowledge.

Listen to an Audiobook on the Go

Audiobooks are a lifesaver for busy people who struggle to find the time to read. It’s not only great for travelers, but also for people who don’t want the responsibility of holding a book or don’t have the attention span required for reading. You can listen to an audiobook on the bus, in the bathtub, or while doing chores. It is a convenient method to soak up some information or finally get around to that classic novel that you’ve been putting off.

Cognitively, there is little difference between reading and listening to a book. The comprehension of information is the same, although there may be preferential reasons as to why you might like the physical presence of a book as opposed to an audiobook. Audiobooks are appropriate for all ages, so next time you’re taking the little one to the library, check out one for them as well as yourself.

Use an App to Learn a Language

Learning a second language presents the opportunity to become more in tune with the world around you and, in a lot of instances, is becoming a necessary skill to possess in our ever-integrating world. Learning a new language as a child will set you leagues ahead of other students and, as an adult, will give you a leg up in the workforce. Luckily, you can start learning a new language on your phone as soon as you download the app.

There are numerous apps to help you learn a language for free and help coach you through almost any language of your choosing. Quizzes, flashcards, and even talking amongst fluid speaking assistants will help you in practicing until you’ve mastered a new language — making it exponentially easier to master the next language.

Use the Internet for an Online College Course

The development of online college courses has eased stress and anxiety for every college student. Including the non-traditional student — who, after years or decades of a sabbatical, has finally decided they want to go back to school and finish up those last credits needed for a Master’s in Education. Or they may just have a curiosity or passion about a particular subject. Online classes have transformed the convenience and attainability of a college education. Online classes are also available for high schoolers looking to better prepare themselves for the college workload.

Through video conferencing, lots of document transferring, and emailing, you can uphold your responsibilities by fulfilling the syllabus requirements if you manage your time right and properly study for a collegiate course. Just make sure you meet the technical requirements of taking an online course, as they can require fast internet speeds and plenty of storage capacity.

Anyone can, and should, continue their life’s education whenever and however they can. The ways described above are just a few in which you can utilize technology to work to your advantage. No one should put off their desire to stimulate their mental curiosity because they don’t have time, or don’t live near a college campus. Options are available for you to maintain a lifetime of learning.