Blood pressure regulationGlucose metabolismImmune functionInflammatory responseInsulin release The adrenal glands release cortisol in response to stress or fear as part of the body’s fight or flight response. When confronted by some type of threat in your environment, your body goes through a series of near-instantaneous reactions that prepare you to either stay and deal with the problem or escape to safety. A brain structure known as the amygdala alerts the hypothalamus, which then signals a range of responses including the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol....

But just as the feelings of love can be clear to see, unrequited love can be an obvious and painful thing to experience. If you’ve noticed a change in how your girlfriend speaks, relates, or otherwise acts around you, it can be very confusing. In particular, it’s easy to get frustrated when you’re unsure of the reasons behind her changed behavior. Relationships can be complicated. In this guide, we’ll be looking at changes that can signal your girlfriend’s changing feelings towards you....

Because anger is such a powerful emotion, dealing with it can be both challenging and confusing. Here are some proven anger management strategies to help you stay calm. Determine the Cause of Your Anger The first step to dealing with anger is to know what set you off in the first place. You may be irritable because of life stress, a lack of sleep, or hormonal changes. Feelings of anger can also stem from an underlying mental disorder such as anxiety or depression....

Creating Art Can Minimize Anxiety and Lift Mood One study from researchers Chloe Bell and Steven Robbins randomly assigned 50 adults ages 30 and under to either create artwork or sort a series of art prints. Before either group was asked to do anything related to art, they were asked to engage in the mild stressor of creating a 10-item to-do list of their “most pressing concerns and worries,” which was designed to create a mildly negative mood and mild anxiety that the activities could then potentially minimize....

Understanding Dysphoria Dysphoria is a word that turns up often in the literature describing bipolar disorder. By definition, dysphoria is a profound state of unease or a general dissatisfaction with life. From a clinical standpoint, dysphoria suggests a serious depressive episode accompanied by a manic psychosis (the loss of external reality). As such, it is not considered a reasonable response to an event or stimulus but rather a feature of an ever-changing cycle in moods that can lead, often inexplicably, to profound episodes of emotional dysfunction....

Best Known For Elizabeth Loftus is a contemporary psychologist who is acclaimed for her research in memory. She is best known for these areas: Research on human memory Eyewitness memory Misinformation effect Explanations for forgetting Early Life Elizabeth Loftus was born on October 16, 1944, in Los Angeles, California, to parents Sidney and Rebecca Fishman. When Elizabeth was 14 years old, her mother passed away in a drowning accident. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and psychology....

Symptoms of discontinuation syndrome can happen when you significantly lower your dose or suddenly stop taking any type of antidepressant. But, they’re more likely to happen with certain antidepressants. Symptoms of Discontinuation Syndrome Missing a dose of Zoloft or another antidepressant may be enough to trigger symptoms of discontinuation syndrome in some people. For many people, discontinuation syndrome symptoms may be quite mild, but others may find them particularly difficult to cope with....

Causes of Flu-Like Symptoms Symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, chills, and muscle aches can indicate the flu. If it is flu season (October through March) you may indeed have influenza. However, flu-like symptoms occur with many infections. You can have similar symptoms due to colds (rhinoviruses), COVID-19 or other coronaviruses, human respiratory syncytial virus, adenoviruses, human parainfluenza virus, viral and bacterial pneumonia, Legionella, measles, acute HIV infection, herpes, hepatitis C, Lyme disease, and many others....

At this point in development, thinking becomes much more sophisticated and advanced. Kids can think about abstract and theoretical concepts and use logic to come up with creative solutions to problems. Skills such as logical thought, deductive reasoning, and systematic planning also emerge during this stage. Piaget’s Research Piaget tested formal operational thought in a few different ways. Two of the better-known tests explored physical conceptualization and the abstraction of thought....

Researchers from the University of Tsukuba in Japan found that this universal human activity may boost the “executive function” of the listener. Their study, which was recently published in Scientific Reports, revealed that music with a groove (also known as groove music) can significantly improve executive function and associated brain activity in those who are familiar with the music. Music and Cognition Previous research has studied exercise’s effect on cognition, finding that even mild exercise has benefits on the prefrontal cortex and executive function, and hippocampus and memory function....

Alcohol use disorder encompasses the behaviors of both alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence, defined as “a chronic relapsing brain disease characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite social, occupational, or health consequences.” A new study conducted by the University of Chicago Medicine showed that individuals with a higher sensitivity to the rewarding and euphoric effects of alcohol are more likely to develop alcohol use disorder through their 20s and 30s....

But the effort to recognize Hispanic Americans must also include increasing awareness of the mental health concerns of these individuals and their communities. There is so much to learn about their unique and vastly complex American experience, and their needs should not be overlooked. Luckily, culturally specific mental health resources are increasing, which may benefit some members of the diverse Hispanic community. While individuals can identify as both Hispanic and Latinx, it is worth noting that Hispanic refers to Spanish-speaking people from Spanish-speaking countries, while Latinx tends to mean individuals from Latin America, i....

Food is essential to survival, and unlike other addictive behaviors, it is normal to eat repeatedly every day and to look forward to eating for pleasure. But several characteristics separate normal or occasional binge eating from food addiction. Firstly, food addiction is maladaptive, so although people overeat to feel better, it often ends up making them feel worse and gives them more to feel bad about. Food addiction can threaten health, causing obesity, malnutrition, and other problems....

Are Headaches Caused by Stress? Many people may wonder if headaches are a direct result of stress. The answer is yes, no, and maybe. Stress can cause many headaches and they can exacerbate others. However, knowing the type of headache you are dealing with can help you to know if stress is a trigger, a contributor, or simply a by-product of the type of headache you are experiencing, so you know the best ways to focus on pain relief and prevention....

Increased alertness is one of the key attractions for many people, but elevated arousal levels are not always ideal, particularly if you have anxiety. If you are prone to anxiety or have an anxiety disorder, too much caffeine might exacerbate your symptoms, interfere with your sleep, and potentially induce feelings of panic in some people. This article discusses the impact caffeine can have on the body, including how it can affect anxiety....

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) describes people that live with this dysphoria as having a “marked incongruence between their experienced or expressed gender and the one they were assigned at birth." Previously known as “gender identity disorder,” it’s hard to say just how many people live with this condition. What is widely accepted, however, is that a growing number of people—children, adolescents, and adults alike, are finding that they are unable to live within, and perform the traditional roles expected of their assigned sex at birth....

Since being approved by the FDA in 1963, Valium has been prescribed for a range of medical conditions including muscle spasms, seizure disorders, restless leg syndrome, insomnia, and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Benzodiazepines such as Valium were originally developed to replace more dangerous and addictive barbiturates. However, these substances can still lead to physical dependence and addiction even when taken exactly as prescribed. Benzodiazepines like Valium are classified as Schedule IV controlled substances....