PTSD can develop after a recent or past trauma, such as warfare, acts of violence, a life-threatening illness, or abuse. Hyperarousal can persist long after the trauma has passed, leaving you hyper-responsive to anything that reminds you of the event (including sights, smells, sounds, or even specific words of passages of music). Causes PTSD does not occur in isolation but rather in response to a trauma, either sustained over a long period of time or as a single event....

Yet, there is additional good news for chocolate lovers everywhere, as dark chocolate has also been found to help relieve stress. One of the ways in which it works to lower our stress levels is by affecting our body’s release of cortisol. Dark Chocolate and Cortisol Levels Cortisol is the body’s primary stress hormone. Among its many functions, it prepares you to respond when faced with a stressful situation. Although this is good, if your cortisol levels stay high due to chronic stress, it can actually harm your health....

Avoiding your former drinking buddies or drug-using friends is a key step in maintaining your recovery, but it doesn’t stop there. Developing new positive friendships with people who can support your recovery efforts can be even more important. Avoiding Toxic Relationships If you are like many people with an substance use disorder, you probably progressed to the point that your primary relationship was with your drug of choice. As your addiction deepened, your behavioral repertoire began to narrow so that you spent more of your time and effort with drug- or alcohol-related activities....

Study Findings The research team, led by Shay-Ruby Wickham as part of her Master of Science, found the strongest predictor of mental health and well-being is sleep quality, not sleep quantity. “This is surprising because sleep recommendations predominantly focus on quantity rather than quality,” Wickham says. “While we did see that both too little sleep (less than eight hours) and too much sleep (more than 12 hours) were associated with higher depressive symptoms and lower well-being, sleep quality significantly outranked sleep quantity in predicting mental health and well-being....

Using data from a survey of survivors, it found that anxiety and depression worsened and the suicide rate climbed over the 20 months after the hurricane. What’s more, nearly 40% of the households who reported a need for mental health services were unable to get support, largely due to cost barriers. “Right now, the federal and state response in disaster response plans deploy mental health resources immediately after [a] disaster....

Though ADHD is chronic in nature, symptoms may present in differing ways as a person moves through life stages. These symptoms may even diminish as that person grows older—for example, ​hyperactivity and fidgetiness may decrease with age. As well, teens and adults whose ADHD has been addressed over the years will have a range of resources and strategies to turn to when ADHD symptoms become problematic. ADHD Persists Into Adulthood Research suggests that while symptoms may change as people grow older, people who have ADHD in childhood are often still affected by the condition in adulthood....

While the term masturbation is more widely used now than in the past, one study noted that “it is likely that individuals will differ substantially in terms of what behaviors they label as masturbation.” Therefore, it’s important to keep in mind that what constitutes as masturbation likely varies from person to person. Perceptions of Masturbation Despite how common masturbation is, it can still come with a great deal of stigma and shame....

Domestic violence can also include abuse by other members of the household, including parents, siblings, relatives, or roommates. Domestic violence counseling may be offered by agencies with expertise in these issues, also known as domestic violence service providers (DVSPs), or by independent counselors who are trained in this area, says Tami Sullivan, PhD, director of the Family Violence Research and Programs at Yale School of Medicine. Types of Domestic Violence Counseling These are some of the types of therapy that domestic violence counseling may involve, according to Dr....

This is important, as a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry suggests people who start their days earlier are less likely to develop depression. Previous research has shown a correlation between sleep and mental health. For example, night owls are more likely to suffer from depression, regardless of how long they sleep. But this study is one of the first to quantify the amount of sleep that can improve mental health....

Importantly, eating disorders in children and tweens look different than eating disorders in teens and adults. For this reason, eating disorders in younger people are often misdiagnosed. Parents need to understand what eating disorders can look like in children and teens. Differences in Children and Tweens Children and tweens are less likely to have disturbances in body image, often seen as the hallmark of an eating disorder. Thus, a parent whose child loses weight and shows less interest in eating, but doesn’t express fear of being fat, may be thrown off course....

Protecting your emotional resilience by practicing emotional regulation, boundary setting, and mindfulness will all help to avoid burnout and emotional exhaustion. These recommendations are especially important, as equity-seeking groups are often praised for their resilience by those who possess relatively more power given how much easier it is to do that than to tackle pervasive systemic oppression regarding race and gender. The Research This study aimed to bridge the gap between emotional resilience and emotional exhaustion, by observing responses from 314 marching band participants at a large university over the course of 12 weeks....

Engineering psychologists are interested in understanding the capabilities and limitations of human behavior and developing and adjusting systems to maximize these abilities and prevent errors. They often help design products, workspaces, and human-machine interactions to make them more user-friendly. Origins The field originated as an area within experimental psychology that grew increasingly important during World Wars I and II. Early military applications in this field focused on building weapons designed to minimize human errors and increase accuracy....

It is a manualized treatment delivered by trained professionals. It is primarily delivered in outpatient settings, although there are some residential and partial hospitalization (PHP) programs that incorporate FBT. It should therefore usually be considered as a first-line approach to treatment for children, adolescents, and some young adults with eating disorders. Alternative Approach FBT represents a radical departure from more traditional treatments. Older theories about anorexia and eating disorders, advanced by Hilde Bruch and others, ascribed their onset to family enmeshment or other dysfunction within the family....

If you’ve ever been in a situation where you’ve been physically present but mentally absent, the missing element is focus. This article explores the characteristics, benefits, and drawbacks of focus, and suggests some tips to help you improve your focus and concentration. Characteristics of Focus Focused attention can be described as being in a state of flow, where you’re fully engrossed in the task and don’t have to actively filter out intrusive stimuli, says Dr....

Friday Fix: Episode 229 Have you ever spent two hours dreading the fact you were going to see someone for an hour? If so, you gave that person two extra hours of your life. Have you ever blamed someone for ruining your day or putting you in a bad mood? If so, you gave that person power over your emotions. And if we’re not careful, we might waste a lot of time and energy thinking about or complaining about them....

Early Research On Love During the first half of the 20th century, many psychologists believed that showing affection towards children was merely a sentimental gesture that served no real purpose. According to many thinkers of the day, affection would only spread diseases and lead to adult psychological problems. “When you are tempted to pet your child, remember that mother love is a dangerous instrument,” the behaviorist John B. Watson once even went so far as to warn parents....

“People make estimates by starting from an initial value that is adjusted to yield the final answer,” explained Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman in a 1974 paper. “The initial value, or starting point, may be suggested by the formulation of the problem, or it may be the result of a partial computation. In either case, adjustments are typically insufficient. That is, different starting points yield different estimates, which are biased toward the initial values....

If you have repeatedly tried dieting and find that every time you start binge eating and feeling out of control again, you may want to try an alternative to dieting. Intuitive eating is an anti-diet eating philosophy based on the work of registered dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. Intuitive Eating respects that we were all born with the innate wisdom and cues in our bodies to eat intuitively. Your body is infinitely wise....

They’ll also continue to engage in sexual activities regardless of any negative consequences they might cause. Sex addiction is sometimes referred to as compulsive sexual behavior. It’s important not to mistake a high libido for sex addiction. In most cases, sex addiction will disrupt a person’s day-to-day life and potentially affect personal relationships. A person with this condition will expend an extreme amount of time and means fulfilling their sexual urges....