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You are here: Home / Archives for mental health

mental health

Five Ways That You May Be Affecting Your Brain Health Without Realizing It

June 18, 2022 by Joi Leave a Comment

Get enough sleep for mental and physical health!

Get enough sleep for mental and physical health!

Most people like to think that they are conscientious when it comes to their health. They try to eat right, to sleep right, and to exercise when they can. However, it is a fact of life that when we are stressed and burned out, it can be all too easy to let some good habits slip. This is when we start reaching for shortcuts, to find the easiest route through the day and to do things that will save us time without really thinking about the impact that it may be having.

As we head into the summer, most of us will have a little more time to breathe than we may have had during the long and stressful winter. That means that it is the perfect time to take a look back at some of your bad habits and make plans for adjustments. Here are a few things that may have been affecting your brain health without you realizing it, and some suggestions for improvements.

Not Getting Enough Good Sleep

In an ideal world, we would all be sleeping better. The last couple of years have had a huge impact on the sleep patterns and the sleep quality of people all over the world. It is also true that once you start getting into bad habits with your sleep, it can be very difficult to recover that sleep debt. Not getting enough sleep has a wide range of impacts on your physical and mental health, and it is vitally important that you take this problem seriously. Different people have different needs, but it is generally advised that you try to get between seven and nine hours of sleep every night. Listen to your body if it feels like you are not getting enough. 

Drinking Too Much

Most people are aware of some of the major health hazards that are associated with drinking too much alcohol over a long period of time. They include liver damage, a higher risk of cancer, and it can also have a serious impact on your brain health. Of course, it is not always easy to cut down, especially if you have started relying on it to wind down at the end of the day. Try to have one day a week where you don’t drink any alcohol, and then keep cutting back gradually. This will help you feel happier and healthier before you know it.

Not Thinking About Your Diet

Much as with drinking, there are a number of different health issues that can occur if you do not watch what you are eating. An overreliance on sugary or fatty foods can cause serious cardiovascular issues and being significantly overweight will also put you at risk of problems such as cancer and other illnesses. However, a lot of people do not realize that there is a link between gut health and brain health. 

Diet has been shown to have an impact on mood disorders such as depression and anxiety and working to improve your gut health may have a bigger impact than you might expect. Take mushrooms, for example. We know that mushrooms are good for us, and that scientists are fascinated by their potential to do more. Indeed, there have been studies that have shown that certain types of mushrooms can help with brain and nerve issues. To learn more about food for brain health, visit Dr Ruscio’s website. He offers practical, science-based advice to help you enjoy better gut health.

Smoking Or Chewing Tobacco

The chances are that you may already be aware that smoking has an impact on almost every single element of your health, but it is so important that it bears repeating. Smoking cigarettes and chewing tobacco puts you at a huge risk of a wide range of cancers as well as other major illnesses. The chances of you seriously damaging your brain health are significantly higher if you smoke, so this is definitely the time to quit if you have not done so already.

Keeping Problems To Yourself

The phrase “brain health” covers a wide range of different issues, and one of the most important is mental health. There has been a lot written on the subject over the last couple of years, and everyone has learned a lot about how it affects us and how we can support people who are struggling. New initiatives are being launched to help those in mental health emergencies, such as the dial 988 code. However, there are a still a lot of people out there who will try to get on with things because they do not feel that there is anyone that they can talk to. If you feel like you are struggling with depression or anxiety, it is so important that you open up to someone. If you do not feel like you can talk to your friends or family, then look at options for therapy. There is always someone who is ready to listen.

Filed Under: Articles by Various Authors, Mental Fitness Tagged With: brain health, mental health

Best mental health apps – Alternative to Mind Therapy

December 15, 2021 by Joi Leave a Comment

Mind therapy can be really expensive, and not everyone can afford it to improve their mental health. If you are worried about your mental well-being, you don’t have to rely on therapists and doctors, especially if they are way beyond your budget. You can take help from the best mental health applications instead. Mental health applications are the online resources that can help you train your mind and provide various digital opportunities and activities that you can enjoy while relieving your mind of stress and anxiety.

There are hundreds of mental health applications indexed on the application stores, but not all can be discussed in one post. This is why we have handpicked the most effective options for you in this article.

Best Mental Health applications that you should try instead of mind therapy! The apps that we have listed in this section are free to download and are considered best for treating your mental health and anxiety at home. So let us go through the details of these apps without any delay.

  •  Antistress, Relaxing, Anxiety & Stress Relief Game One of the best ways to put your mind off stress and anxiety is by playing digital anti stress games. This relax game application is the home to more than thirty different mind relaxing games that can help you relieve your mind from all the negative energy and stress. This antistress game app is free to use, and you don’t have to worry about any registrations and signups. You have to pick the game which interests you and start playing it. You will feel instant relaxation while playing these games. You should try this free antistress game app.
  • Mind Shift – Anti-Anxiety This relax game has been designed by one of the most popular non-profit organizations in Canada. You should know that mind shift is a free application that you can use on any of your smartphones. This antistress mental health application uses CBT therapy to teach users relaxation skills. Getting hooked with this app is not only going to help you relax your mind, but it would also improve your thinking abilities. Your mental health would surely improve after you take a few sessions with this app. A mind shift is best for people of all ages.
  • PTSD Coach This is another famous antistress application that, as the name tells us, is best for dealing with post-traumatic stress. This application is widely used across the globe, and this is mainly because it works in different languages. Most army personnel and people who go through stressful events use this application. If you have gone through a disturbing event in your life and don’t know how to combat it, You could go through digital sessions to improve your stress and anxiety.
  • Belly Bio – deep breathing expert Breathing helps strengthen your mind and reduce all kinds of negative energy from your mind. Belly bio is an anti stress app that can help you practice and improve breathing. This application would monitor your breathing when you put your mobile phone on your belly. Of course, for that, you have to lie down. The app doesn’t only track your breathing pattern. Still, it also provides you with music and relaxing sounds that can reduce your anxiety and improve your mental health.
  • Quit That This is a very professional and reliable mental health application that you should have on your mobile. If you want to see a therapist because you want to quit some bad and unwanted habits, you should drop your plan and download this application. This application provides you with real-time progress tracking when you are working on quitting a bad habit. People who want to get rid of smoking or drinking should try this application. This is free to use and is known to be a good partner for your mental health.
  • Take a Break This is another online application that can help you improve your mental health. If you are going through stress and anxiety, you have to take a break with this app. This application is a free resource filled with more than a hundred meditation sessions and relaxing sound clips. You would find both seven-minute and thirteen-minute meditation sessions on this application to help you release stress from your mind and body. The antistress sounds and sessions offered by this app are quite effective, so you should try them. The best thing about this app is its simple interface which makes its use easier.

End Words

In this context, we have discussed some of the most mental health and antistress applications being used across the globe. Getting expensive therapy can be a stress on its own. If you don’t have the money to meet a doctor, you can easily take the digital route and treat yourself with the help of your smartphone. We suggest you try these applications and take regular sessions and play games for evident results and improvements!

Filed Under: How to Be Happy Tagged With: mental health, mental health apps

Checklist for Your Mental Health During Covid-19

November 21, 2020 by Joi Leave a Comment

Mental Fitness During Covid-19

Infographic Credit: BPI-Philam

Maintaining our mental fitness and emotional health should be as important to us during the pandemic as staying physically healthy. After all, what good is one without the other??

The infographic, here, and the content here can serve as an excellent reminder to do just that.  I hope you’ll take time out of your busy day to check both out and share them with others in your life.

Stay well, stay safe, and stay YOU! ~ Joi

Filed Under: Infographics, Mental Fitness Tagged With: covid-19, mental fitness, mental health

Brain Power: How to Improve Your Memory and Strengthen Your Mind

August 16, 2010 by Joi 6 Comments

Brain Power: Make Yourself Smarter!

Since one of my websites deals with Mental Fitness, I spend a great deal of time wrapping my brain around mental fitness, brain health, memory, brain games, Alzheimer’s prevention, and so forth.  Truth be told, even if it weren’t for this particular website, I’d still be found reading every book, magazine, and article I could get my hands on that dealt with the health of the brain.

Trust me, it’s an incredibly fascinating field.  One can’t underestimate it’s value, either.  Think about it, we spend a great deal of time and money in the pursuit of physical fitness – and rightfully so!  But, what good will any of that do us if we allow our brains to turn to mush?

I don’t want to give details – because it would be decidedly uncool to do so – but I recently had a conversation with someone who told me (with as much shock on their face as I had on mine) that their co-workers were unable to do simple arithmetic.  I’m talking about the sort of arithmetic that a fourth grader knocks out within 5 minutes.  The co-workers range in age from about 28 to 50.

Before I could pick up my jaw, I was told that they also struggled with simple spelling and vocabulary words.

I’m afraid that this isn’t a rare thing.  I’m part of a large, wonderful family – but, aside from them, I’m somewhat kind of sheltered from society.  I work from home, so I don’t have a lot of experience with face to face human interaction.  However, from what I’ve seen and heard, it seems that many people aren’t just letting their minds turn to mush, they’re facilitating the process.

What would it take to snap people out of the mental rut they’re allowing themselves to sink into?  I have no idea but, truth be told, it kind of scares me.  Make no mistake about it, you won’t agree with 100 percent of the things you read on Self Help Daily or Out of Bounds.   I wouldn’t want every visitor to agree with every word.  That would mean I wasn’t – in any way – encouraging you to think or encouraging you to challenge other ideas, beliefs, and concepts.

One of the things nearest and dearest to my heart is mental health and brain fitness.  I spend hours each day researching, reading, and writing within this area.  Maybe that’s why I often come across as almost desperate to get through to people.  If we don’t use our brains, challenge our minds, and pursue mental growth… you guessed it, mush.

We become adults who require a 4th grader to show us how to add fractions, tell us how to spell Antarctica, and clarify the capital of Texas when we aren’t sure if it’s Austin or Dallas.  Granted, as adults we sort of step away from these subjects.  Antarctica, Austin, and fractions may not necessarily come up in our everyday conversations and activities…

…. especially if these activities never vary and especially if the majority of these activities take place in front of sitcoms, reality television, or YouTube.  Oh-my-God, no she didn’t go there.

Mental Exercises and Brain Games

This would be me encouraging you… perhaps even pleading with you…. to broaden your mental horizons – each and every day. Put aside a little time each day to challenge yourself, mentally.  Below are a few mental exercises that you can do just about anywhere.  Occasionally leave the radio off in the car and give your mind something it really craves – challenging brain games and mental exercises.  They’re invigorating, they’re rewarding, and they’ll increase your mental power.

Experts tell us that we can increase our brain’s powers and strength by working it out.  Please make this part of your everyday activities and put it at the forefront of your goals.  In no time at all, fourth graders will be coming to you for all the answers.

  • Name all 50 states, alphabetically.
  • Name each state’s capital (and I promise Nashville IS the capital of Tennessee – no matter how badly you want it to be Knoxville!)
  • Name the 8 planets.  Remember, Pluto was stripped of its planet status.  Eh, don’t feel bad, Pluto, I’m not a planet either.
  • Name the 7 continents.
  • In the grocery store, calculate the cost of your purchase as you put things into the cart – see if you can come within $2.00.  It’s harder than you think – especially when you have a large purchase and ESPECIALLY when you’re as mathematically challenged as I am.
  • When you’re reading, write down and look up all unfamiliar words.
  • Whenever you hear a word you aren’t 100 percent how to spell, find out how and write the word down 10 times.  Test yourself the next day.
  • Read at least 1 classic this year.
  • Brain Games! Try the Lumosity Brain Training Program. Only $6.60 a month.
  • Read the newspaper more often.  When you read about a person or place that’s unfamiliar to you, do a little research and soak up the new information.  It’s sort of like turning each newspaper into a stimulating mental workout.
  • Work a crossword puzzle each day.
  • Think of favorite television shows from your youth – challenge yourself to remember each character’s name as well as the actors and actresses who played them.  Depending on the length of time (and the size of the cast!), it could take an hour or more for a name to come to you.  But here’s the thing, even if you have to work for the answer, you’re still getting a great mental workout.  A few days ago, I racked my brain for nearly an hour to remember the name of a guest star on The Golden Girls.  I refused to research his name! It came to me while making supper and I felt like I’d ran a mental marathon.
  • Pick up a few grade school workbooks if you need a great refresher’s course in math.  They’re beside the coloring books and you have my permission to grab one of those as well.  Express yourself.
  • Pick an animal, bird, or fish that you know absolutely nothing about and spend the next week reading about your new friend.  Spiders, sharks, polar bears, penguins, hummingbirds, possums, squirrels, bulldogs, iguanas… the list is endless and the opportunities are priceless.  Each week, take on a new animal.
  • Read National Geographic magazine regularly.  Collect old issues – ebay, yard sales, and Goodwill stores make it an unexpectedly fun scavenger hunt.  The pictures and the information can’t be beaten.
  • Each month, tackle a period of history or an ancient culture.  Few things are more fascinating to read about than Ancient China.  Again, National Geographic magazines are a wealth of  information.
  • Tune in to the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet.  These outstanding channels serve information on platters of entertainment and your brain will love every fascinating minute.
  • Read old books as well as new books.  Old books challenge your mind and stimulate your thinking in a way that new books don’t quite measure up to.  This is part of the reason why I have a Thursday Throwback feature on Self Help Daily.  I can take an author from the distant past and sort of hand the forum over to them for a day.  If you’ve never read older books, I encourage you to browse through the articles in the Thursday Throwback category.  I know you’ll love them – they’re pretty special.
  • This one will surely be unexpected, but sign up for Twitter!  Find a number of people to “follow” from a wide range of interests. Reading other’s opinions and updates will broaden your range.  And, quite frankly, it’s a challenge to express yourself in a limited number of words – at least it’s tough for me.  Shhhhh… You’ll find yourself reading more, interacting more, and thinking more.

Finally, read up on the different foods that are great for promoting brain health.  I have a great number of articles on Out of Bounds (which I recently treated to a new look) detailing which foods are best for your brain’s health.  I read earlier that a favorite snack of mine, sunflower seeds, are an excellent “brain food.”

From Real Age: “In a study, those who reported getting the highest amount of vitamin E — 19 milligrams a day — were about 25 percent less likely to be diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease over a 10-year period. People in the study got much of their vitamin E from processed or sat-fat foods, like butter, margarine, and mayo. Our suggestion? Get your E from healthy sources, such as nuts, seeds, veggies, plant oils, and nut butters. The bonus with nuts and seeds is that you also get a shot of hunger-quelling protein. Not to mention some heart-healthy fats.”

You can gain more brain power.  It’s a fact.  The flip side, however, reads like a horror story:  You can lose brain power.  Like a coin that’s in the air, waiting to land……. it’s your call.

Filed Under: Fitness, Health Tagged With: brain fitness, brain games, mental fitness, mental health

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