If you have taken it for a long time, it may develop a tolerance to it and can lead to drug dependence.
You will rarely wake up feeling refreshed. Some people say that they never really feel fully awake when taking sleeping pills. Some sleeping pills have dangerous side effects. For instance The TGA issued a warning for Stilnox:
The updated warning released by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) now mentions less common side-effects as “rage reactions, worsened insomnia, confusion, agitation, hallucinations and other forms of unwanted behaviour”.
It also warns of “sleep walking, driving motor vehicles, preparing and eating food, making phone calls or having sexual intercourse” while asleep and on the drug.
“People experiencing these effects have had no memory of the events,” the warning states.


Non-pharmacological treatment such as hypnotherapy or psychotherapy such as CBT were found to have sustained improvements in sleep quality.
You may contact a licensed clinical hypnotherapist or psychologist to deal with your problem.





Source:
http://hypnotherapy.braham.net/index.php/sleep/

yes I have been told by my partner that I had made sexual
actions to her in my sleep ie while I was clearly asleep she said

she tried to wake me up but I kept on allegedly advancing myself
towards her and she then related other things I did to her that
I cannot mention appropriately here in this forum

I would like to suggest you to seek help as soon as possible.

lol.. don't leave us hanging larr..

Why Are People With ADHD Always Late?


Chronic lateness can be one of the most annoying symptoms of ADHD, both for people with ADHD and those who have to put up with us!
But why is ADHD so often associated with being late?
ADHD and Chronic LatenessThere are several different reasons, most of which come back to one thing: when you have ADHD, you exercise less conscious control over your attention, so you’re always more focused on whatever is interesting and stimulating in the present moment.
In other words, if you have ADHD, things like planning ahead and delayed gratification are not your greatest strengths. Some of the ways this MO causes people with ADHD to be frequently late are:

Because you’re more absorbed by whatever catches your attention in the present moment, having ADHD means you’re not as good at putting yourself “outside” of time and figuring out how long things will take.

ADHD isn’t a simple “attention deficit” as much as an inability to regulate attention. When you have ADHD, it can be hard to pay attention to things, but it can also be hard to remember tostop paying attention to things once you’re engaged. This “hyperfocus” can lead you to stay focused on an activity even when you should be moving on.

Being caught up in your impulses in the here and now makes it easy to lose track of time.

When planning an activity, having ADHD makes you prone to thinking in general terms andskipping over the details. If you don’t consider the fine points of exactly what’s involved in doing something, there’s a good chance you’re going to underestimate how much time you need to do it.

People with ADHD are often procrastinators who don’t get started on things until there’s a sense of urgency. And if you start something late, there’s a good chance you’re going to finish it late, which throws off your schedule for everything you have to do next.

Having ADHD tends to make you impatient and very averse to boredom. As a result, you don’t like waiting and you aren’t a fan of getting places early, so you might try to arrive to events exactly on time, with the predictable consequence that you actually end up just being late.

Since you aren’t a natural at planning ahead, you’re not likely to think about things you have to do until they’re really pressing. When going somewhere, you might not start getting ready to leave until there’s a danger of being late.

So if you have ADHD, your focus on whatever captures your attention in the present, your knack for procrastination and your frequent failure to plan ahead conspire to make you late to things.
The good news is that once you’re aware of these tendencies, you can take steps to counteract them. Anything that “outsources” your ability to plan ahead is good – alarms, schedules, etc. These tools can act as reminders when it’s time to move on to the next thing.
If you find yourself asking yourself “why am I always late?” try using the above list of ways ADHD symptoms can prevent you from being on time as a starting point for figuring out how the disorder is causing you to get behind schedule. Even if you have a lifetime of chronic lateness behind you, you can get to the root causes of your tardiness and take steps towards becoming more punctual – better late than never!

By Neil Petersen
~ 2 min read
Source:
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/adhd-millenn...hd-always-late/

Can Neurofeedback/EEG biofeedback Help With Epilepsy ? - Complementary and Alternative Therapy for Epilepsy or Seizure in Malaysia (Non-Drug Approach)

Epilepsy was one of the very first therapeutic applications of Neurofeedback/EEG biofeedback in 1972 when Barry Sterman eliminated seizures in a 23 year-old female epileptic, who then came off medication and got a driving licence. In this paper Barry Sterman describes how he accidentally discovered how neurofeedback-trained cats were less susceptible to seizures when exposed to rocket fuel, and went on to replicate this remarkable discovery in monkeys then humans. He also summarises 18 separate peer-reviewed journal studies on Neurofeedback for epilepsy over a 25 year period, covering 174 patients and an average success rate of 66%: Barry, M.B. (2000). Basic concepts and clinical findings in the treatment of seizure disorders with EEG operant conditioning. Clinical Electroencephalography, 31(1).

What is Epilepsy ?
Along with Migraine, Epilepsy is best described as a neurological disturbance, manifesting in seizures. This can be a single seizure as well as seizures that occur repeatedly and unprovoked. Sometimes epileptic seizures are limited to childhood, in other cases Epilepsy can remain lifelong. The cause of Epilepsy can’t always be determined, but it is believed epileptic seizures result from brain damage and abnormal brain activity. There seems to be a relationship between factors such as brain trauma, cancer, strokes, and drug/alcohol abuse, and the presence of Epilepsy.

Symptoms of Epilepsy
The main symptoms of Epilepsy are (recurrent) seizures. These seizures vary in types and severity, depending on which brain area is affected. For some a seizure feels like being in a ‘trance’ for seconds or minutes, others experience a decreased level of consciousness or that their body shakes uncontrollable, also known as convulsions. Other common symptoms of seizures are biting the tip or sides of the tongue and experiencing an aura, which is seen as a ‘warning sign’ prior to a seizure. This aura can for example manifest in a curious smell or taste, feelings of déjà vu or like being in a dream and feelings of fear or anxiety. Despite the great variety in seizures, doctors developed a way to classify seizures; by how much of the brain is affected. The classifications* used are
partial seizures (simple and complex) – where only a small part of the brain is affected ; and
generalised seizures – where most or all of the brain is affected.

Treatment of Epilepsy
At the moment there aren’t any treatments that can ‘cure’ Epilepsy; seizures are mostly controlled with medication, called anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Unfortunately, finding the correct dose can take a long time and in 30% of the people with Epilepsy, medication isn’t sufficient to control seizures. Surgery in order to remove affected brain area(s) or installing an electrical device to control seizures are other options, but these options are limited to more difficult cases.

Neurofeedback and Epilepsy
With Neurofeedback, specific symptoms of Epilepsy can be targeted, however, every individual is different and to what extent the brain can recover or compensate abnormalities. Since abnormal brain activity, also know as instabilities, are seen as the main cause of Epilepsy, the most important goal during Neurofeedback training is stabilising the brain. In other words, ‘to train the brain to control it’s abnormal activity’. Neurofeedback is a treatment option applicable to all types of seizures and helpful in the case of brain damage and brain abnormalities. Improve well-being with NeurofeedbackOther training options can be physical calming, resulting in improved balance and coordination, or enhancing emotional control, which for example can reduce anxiety. As the research shows, Neurofeedback can be very effective in reducing or eliminating epileptic seizures. Some people might describe Neurofeedback as a ‘cure’ for epilepsy, however we don’t use this term as we don’t regard brain deregulation as a ‘disease’.



Source:
http://realhealthtreatments.info/important...educe-seizures/

This post has been edited by zeropoint9: Feb 20 2016, 10:25 PM

Parental anxiety and/or depression during pregnancy and before their child starts school is linked to a heightened risk of that child becoming a 'fussy' eater, finds research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The associations were evident for mums at both time periods, but just during the pre-school period for dads, the findings indicate.
Fussy eating behaviour, which is characterised by the consistent rejection of particular foods, is common in childhood, and a frequent source of concern for parents, say the researchers.
It has been associated with constipation, weight problems and behavioural issues in the child. And it's been linked to postnatal anxiety and depression in mums.
But it's not been clear if this anxiety/depression is caused by the child's eating patterns or is itself a risk factor, nor is it known what potential impact the dad's state of mind might have.
In a bid to try and answer these questions, the researchers quizzed participants in the Generation R study, which has been tracking the health and wellbeing of children from pregnancy onwards since 2002 in The Netherlands.
The current analysis was based on 4746 mother and child pairs and 4144 dads, whose children had all been born between 2002 and 2006.
Parents were asked to complete a validated questionnaire (BSI) during mid pregnancy, and then again three years later, to assess their own symptoms of anxiety and depression. And mothers completed another validated questionnaire (CEBQ) on childhood eating patterns, when their child reached the age of 4. Fathers also filled in a few questions about their child's eating patterns when s/he was 3 years old.
By the age of 3, around 30% of the children were classified as fussy eaters.
After taking account of influential factors, such as educational attainment and household income, maternal anxiety during pregnancy, and during the preschool period, were both independently associated with fussy eating behaviour by the time their child was 4 years old. This was irrespective of their own symptoms when the child was 3.
Each additional point the mums scored on the anxiety scale in pregnancy was associated with an extra point on the score denoting fussy eating in their child.
Among the dads, only anxiety during the preschool period was associated with fussy eating in their child.
Further analysis showed that not only were clinically high maternal anxiety scores associated with fussy eating, but also scores that were above average, compared with mums who scored average or below average.
As for depression, higher maternal scores during the antenatal period as well as three years after the birth were independently related to higher fussy eating scores among their 4 year olds. The results were similar for the dads.
This is an observational study so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, but the findings back up those of other research, say the study authors.
And the finding that the mum's antenatal symptoms predicted a 4 year old's fussy eating behaviour, irrespective of whether she had symptoms when the child was 3, "strongly suggests that the direction of the associations with mothers' antenatal symptoms is from mother to child," they write.
"Clinicians should be aware that not only severe anxiety and depression, but also milder forms of internalising problems can affect child eating behaviour," they add.


Source:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-02-pare...lers-fussy.html

First neural evidence for the unconscious thought process

Hemingway (1964/2010) describes a process that people who engage in creative pursuits from time to time recognize. While you are engaged in one thing—say a conversation with friends—consciously, something that you had been working on beforehand is still simmering unconsciously. At times the simmering is quite vigorous, and the repeating conscious intrusions can make it difficult to fully concentrate on your current activity—talking to your friends.

The idea of that incubation or unconscious thought can aid creativity or problem solving is old (Schopenhauer, 1851), and 10 years ago, we started to link the process of unconsious thought to decision making in a series of experiments (Dijksterhuis, 2004; Dijksterhuis and Nordgren, 2006;Dijksterhuis et al., 2006). The idea was based on two considerations. The first was that it is quite a small step from problem solving to decision making and the second was that the process of unconscious thought as described in the first paragraph can often be sensed, introspectively, when one is in the process of making an important decision such as buying a house or choosing between one’s job and a job offer for a new one.

In our initial experiments, we gave participants the task to choose between four alternatives (houses, cars, roommates, etc.) on the basis of a number of aspects (often 12 per alternative). Participants either decided immediately after reading the decision information, or after a period of conscious thought, or after a period of distraction during which unconscious thought was assumed to take place. In our early experiments, unconscious thinkers made better decisions than participants in the other two conditions. We initially called this the deliberation without attention effect; however, now we prefer the term unconscious thought effect (UTE).

These initial findings led a number of colleagues to also investigate the relation between unconscious thought and decision making and, looking back now at 10 years of unconscious thought research, the research seems to have revolved around two questions. The first is whether unconscious thought indeed leads to better decisions that conscious thought or no thought, the second is whether unconscious thought really exists in the first place (and if so, what exactly is it)? The contribution by Creswell et al. (2013) constitutes a major step towards answering the second question, so I focus briefly on the first before devoting the remainder of this introduction to the second and to the work by Creswellet al.

Does unconscious thought lead to better decisions? As such things tend to go, 10 years of research has led to a rather predictable answer: Probably, but only under some circumstances. The paradigm we developed turned out to be much more fragile than we had hoped, and although the UTE has been replicated independently in well over dozen laboratories, at least equally often people did not obtain any evidence for improved decision making after unconscious thought. Some individual papers, as well as a recent meta-analysis (Strick et al., 2011), identified a number of moderators. It seems that unconsious thought is beneficial when decisions are based on a lot rather than on little information, when the decision information is presented blocked by decision alternative rather than completely randomized, when the distraction task is not too cognitively taxing, and when the decision information contains visual stimuli in addition to verbal stimuli. It is encouranging for proponents of the work on unconscious thought that unconscious thoughts seem to be more fruitful when the experimental set-up becomes more ecologically valid.

That being said, some people have argued that unconscious thought does not really exist in the first place. People may make better decisions after being distracted, but that does not yet mean that any decision related mental activity took place while they were distracted. Some have proposed, for instance, that participants in unconscious thought conditions form an impression of the decision alternatives online—that is, while they read the decision information—and later simply retrieve this information. These participants may perform better than conscious thinkers, because under some circumstances, conscious thought can actually hamper decision making. Although it is indeed very likely that a reasonable proportion of participants in some unconscious thought experiments indeed merely retrieved online impression (which, by the way, can be prevented by presenting the stimulus materials rapidly), this cannot explain why unconscious thinkers also often outperform immediate decision makers (Strick et al., 2010), something that has been curiously overlooked when this alternative explanation was first published. However, there is also evidence that people who are not given the goal to make a decision before they are distracted make worse decisions than people who do have the goal (Bos et al., 2008), and this rules out this alternative explanation even more effectively. Unconscious thought is a goal-directed unconscious process, and merely distracting people does not do anything.

The experiment by Creswell et al.—in which they provide the first neural evidence for the UTE—also provides strong evidence for the unconscious thought process. They indeed found that unconscious thinkers made better decisions than conscious thinkers and than immediate decision makers. More importantly, they compared neural activity among people who were thinking unconsciously while they were engaged in a distraction task with the neural activity of people doing this same distraction task without engaging in unconscious thought. They found evidence forreactivation. The same regions that were active while people encoded the decision information—the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left intermediate visual cortex—were active during unconscious thought. Moreover, the degree of neural reactivation differed between participants and was predictive of the quality of the decision after unconscious thought.

This is a breakthrough in unconscious thought research, and, quite appropriately in a celebratory sort of way, published almost exactly 10 years after the first experiments with the unconscious thought paradigm. Again, Creswell et al. provide the first neural evidence, and thereby—in my view at least—unambiguous evidence for the unconscious thought process. Finally, they also provide insight into the characteristics of the unconscious thought process.

Althought some aspects of the unconscious thought process can be carefully deduced from moderators, direct process-oriented evidence is scarce. Unconscious thought leads the representations of the decision alternatives in memory to become better organized and more polarized (Dijksterhuis, 2004; Bos et al., 2011) and interestingly, a recent paper shows that unconscious thinkers rely more on gist memory than on verbatim memory (Abadie et al., in press) thereby also integrating fuzzy-trace theory (e.g. Reyna and Brainerd, 1995) and unconscious thought theory. The reactivation account by Creswell et al. is fully in line with these earier findings, as earlier work on reactivation has repeatedly found (for references see the article by Creswell et al.) that reactivation improves memory and learning processes.

The work by Creswell and colleagues constitues a vital step forwards. The combined evidence now suggests that unconscious thought is a goal-directed process of neural reactivation during which memory representations of—in this case decision alternatives—change.



© The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
Source: http://scan.oxfordjournals.org/content/8/8/845.full

Researchers have discovered that being aware of one’s present thoughts and feelings is a trait associated with healthy levels of blood glucose.

This dispositional or “everyday” mindfulness is often an inherent or natural trait, but also a behavior that can be learned and improved.

In the study, researchers measured health indicators including dispositional mindfulness and blood glucose among 399 people. They found that those with higher scores for mindfulness were significantly more likely than people with low scores to have healthy glucose levels.

The research suggests that improving one’s ability to live in the moment and to be mindful of thoughts and feelings can be an important factor for maintaining mental and physical health.

Brown University researchers say that although the association does not prove cause and effect, it does support the premise that increased mindfulness can improve cardiovascular health.

For investigators, the overarching hypotheses is that people practicing higher degrees of mindfulness may be better able to motivate themselves to perform regular exercise and have a healthy diet. Specifically, they may be able to resist cravings for high-fat, high-sugar treats, and to stick with health regimens recommended by their doctors.

To explore these beliefs, researchers sought to identify factors that might explain the connection they saw between higher mindfulness and healthier glucose levels.

Their analysis of the data showed that obesity risk (mindful people are less likely to be obese) and sense of control (mindful people are more likely to believe they can change many of the important things in their life) both contribute to the link.

“This study demonstrated a significant association of dispositional mindfulness with glucose regulation, and provided novel evidence that obesity and sense of control may serve as potential mediators of this association,” wrote the authors, led by Dr. Eric Loucks, assistant professor of epidemiology in the Brown University School of Public Health.

“As mindfulness is likely a modifiable trait, this study provides preliminary evidence for a fairly novel and modifiable potential determinant of diabetes risk.”

The study, published in the American Journal of Health Behavior, did not show a direct, statistically significant link between mindfulness and type II diabetes risk, which is the medical concern related to elevated blood glucose.

Participants with high levels of mindfulness were about 20 percent less likely to have type II diabetes, but the total number of people in the study with the condition may have been too small to allow for definitive findings, Loucks said.

To gather their data, Loucks and his team enrolled 399 volunteers who’ve been participating in the New England Family Study. The subjects participated in several psychological and physiological tests including glucose tests and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), a 15-item questionnaire to assess dispositional mindfulness on a one to seven scale.

The researchers also collected data on a host of other potentially relevant demographic and health traits including body-mass index, smoking, education, depression, blood pressure, perceived stress, and sense of control.

After adjusting their data to account for such confounding factors as age, sex, race or ethnicity, family history of diabetes, and childhood socioeconomic status, the researchers found that people with high MAAS scores of six or seven were 35 percent more likely to have healthy glucose levels under 100 milligrams per deciliter than people with low MAAS scores below four.

The analysis found that obesity made about a three percentage point difference of the total 35-percent point risk difference. Sense of control accounted for another eight percentage points of the effect. The rest may derive from factors the study didn’t measure, but at least now researchers have begun to elucidate the possible mechanisms that link mindfulness to glucose regulation.

“There’s been almost no epidemiological observational study investigations on the relationship of mindfulness with diabetes or any cardiovascular risk factor,” Loucks said.

“This is one of the first. We’re getting a signal. I’d love to see it replicated in larger sample sizes and prospective studies as well.”


Source:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2016/02/24/li...alth/99575.html

Is There A Connection Between Sleep And Depression?

Introduction
Is your sleep routine off? Are you sleeping less than normal? Are you depressed? Are you wondering if there is a connection between your irregular sleep pattern and your depressed mood? Well, keep reading this article because the answer is yes. There indeed is a relationship between sleep and depression. According to the National Sleep Foundation (2016), “The relationship between sleep and depressive illness is complex – depression may cause sleep problems and sleep problems may cause or contribute to depressive disorders. For some people, symptoms of depression occur before the onset of sleep problems. For others, sleep problems appear first. Sleep problems and depression may also share risk factors and biological features and the two conditions may respond to some of the same treatment strategies. Sleep problems are also associated with more severe depressive illness.” For the purposes of this article, we will focus on how irregular sleeping patterns result in the development of a depressive mood.
There Is a Relationship Between Insomnia And Depression
According to http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/need-s...it-for-you/mood, “Chronic insomnia may increase the risk of developing a mood disorder, such as depression.” Think about it. If you are tired and have not gotten a good night sleep, you are going to have a lack of energy in your daily routine. This, in return, is going to impact your mood. You are going to feel depressed. This is supported by evidence. According to http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/need-s...it-for-you/mood, “In one major study of 10,000 adults, people with insomnia were five times more likely to develop depression.” In addition, http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/need-s...it-for-you/mood indicates that “Difficulty sleeping is sometimes the first symptom of depression. Studies have found that 15 to 20 percent of people diagnosed with insomnia will develop major depression.”
What Can Be Done?
You may be wondering if you are depressed, how can you improve your sleep? Well the answer is quite simple. Set a regular sleep routine. Have a set time for going to sleep and a set time for waking up in the morning. On an even further note, do not even think about hitting the snooze button. Just don’t hit it. You will feel better when you don’t touch it. Trust me on this one.
Conclusion
Despite the relationship between sleep and and a depressed mood, you can still feel better about yourself and lead a healthy lifestyle. Just start by adjusting your sleep routine. You will see the difference in how you feel in no time.



Source:
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/coping-depre...and-depression/

No brain, no pain: Hypnosis can replace anesthesia in brain surgery – study



For many people, the idea of being awake while your skull is cut open sounds like something straight out of a horror movie. However, 37 people decided to forgo anesthetics for brain surgery and opted to receive hypnosis instead.
Hypnosis in surgery is not a new concept. In 1864 a Scottish surgeon named James Esdaile reported “80 percent surgical anesthesia using hypnosis as the sole anesthetic for amputations in India,” according to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In 1957, Dr. William Saul Kroger caught the New York Time’s attention when he used hypnosis on a breast cancer patient, the Miami Herald reported.

However, Dr. Ilyess Zemmoura of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Tours and his colleagues have been evaluating the effects of using anesthesia since 2011. Focusing primarily on brain cancer patients, he and his team have been conducting awake operations to remove brain cancer tumors.

Certain brain operations require patients to be awake for at least part of the process. These surgeries are very tricky, according to the International Business Times, and surgeons depend on certain responses and interactions to avoid damaging critical parts of the brain, such as the eloquent cortex.

Typically when a patient undergoes brain surgery, they will be put to sleep at the beginning of the operation prior to the skull being opened, woken up in the middle to ensure responses are normal, then put back to sleep again. This process is known as asleep-awake-asleep ‒ or AAA – which seems like an onomatopoeia when thinking about waking up in the middle of brain surgery.

Zemmoura and other researchers detailed the hypnosis process to a total of 48 patients, according to Ars Technica. Hypnosis sedation, much like AAA sedation, begins several weeks prior to the operation. The patient meets with a hypnotist to practice entering a trance. From 2011 to 2015, 37 of the 48 underwent brain surgery using hypnosis sedation. Six patients were unable to enter a trance at the time of the surgery and switched to AAA sedation.

While the drawbacks to hypnotherapy may seem obvious ‒ waking up out of the trance, pain, sneezing while a surgeon has their hands on your brain ‒ there are many benefits as well. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute estimated that the use of hypnosis could save both time and up to $338 per procedure.

Although some in the medical community remain skeptical – there was no control group in the study to compare results with – Zemmoura’s small patient group largely reported positive results. Follow-up questionnaires showed little to no negative psychological impact, Neuroscience News reported.



Source：
https://www.rt.com/usa/328137-brain-surgery...sis-anesthetic/

It is important to keep in mind that tinnitus is a symptom, not a disease.

As such, the optimal treatment strategy should be directed toward eliminating the disease, rather than simply alleviating the symptom. Also, because tinnitus may be symptomatic of a more serious disorder, it is important to try to find the medical cause before deciding on treatment.
Preventing and Minimizing Tinnitus
Here are a few things patients can do to help prevent and minimize tinnitus:
Reduce exposure to extremely loud noise
Avoid total silence
Decrease salt intake
Monitor one's blood pressure
Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine
Exercise
Reduce fatigue
Manage stress
Educate yourself
While there is no known cure for most forms of tinnitus, there are many management options available and most tinnitus sufferers can find varying degrees of relief from one or a combination of the following.
Medications
There is no single medication that works on all tinnitus patients.

Counseling or Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Regardless of the cause of tinnitus, if a person is not bothered by the tinnitus, it ceases to be a problem. Psychological intervention aimed at successfully reducing the stress, distress and distraction associated with the tinnitus can be very productive and often produces the most attainable goals.

Stress Management
The very high correlation between stress and tinnitus disturbance underscores the need to maintain one's composure and logic when trying to cope with tinnitus. Relaxation, guided imagery and self-hypnosis are examples of self-help methods used to help combat the stress, anxiety and sleep disturbances associated with tinnitus.

Other Treatment Options
Other options that may help patients with tinnitus include:
Support Groups — Local peer support groups offer emotional support to patients and a place to discuss and share treatment techniques.
Dental Treatment — Jaw joint disorders, called temporomandibular (TMD), may exacerbate tinnitus. Splints and exercises may relieve these problems.
Nutritional Counseling — All tinnitus patients should maintain a balanced diet.
Biofeedback — Biofeedback is a technique of making unconscious or involuntary bodily processes detectable by the senses in order to manipulate them by conscious mental control. Biofeedback with counseling can help relieve stress patterns that can worsen the perception of tinnitus.
Alternate Approaches — Although there is no scientific data showing consistent benefit from approaches such as hypnosis, acupuncture, naturopathy, chiropractic care and many herbal preparations, some patients do perceive a benefit.
Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.




Research study: How EEG biofeedback can help for Tinnitus

Biofeedback-based behavioral treatment for chronic tinnitus:
results of a randomized controlled trial. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19045972/

The effects of neurofeedback on oscillatory processes related to tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23700271

EEG biofeedback for subjective tinnitus patients. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21592701

EEG biofeedback for treating tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17956812/

Tuning the tinnitus percept by modification of synchronous brain activity. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17943012/


Chronic tinnitus: which kind of patients benefit
from an outpatient psychotherapy ? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19623511/


Research study: How hypnotherapy can help for Tinnitus

Role of hypnotherapy in the treatment of debilitating tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22533067

Effectiveness of Ericksonian hypnosis in tinnitus therapy: preliminary results. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22545384/

Effectiveness of combined counseling and low-level laser
stimulation in the treatment of disturbing chronic tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19205171

Ericksonian hypnosis in tinnitus therapy. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/18225612

Effects of relaxation therapy as group and individual
treatment of chronic tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/8657857

Hypnosis for Tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P...j00777-0039.pdf


Source:
http://www.newmindcentre.com/2014/08/tinni...-using-eeg.html

This post has been edited by zeropoint9: Mar 5 2016, 09:24 PM

How to Get the Most out of Your Daily Coffee (and Caffeine)

We prize coffee as much for its caffeine jolt as for its rich taste and enticing aroma. The right amount of caffeine at the right time can boost your alertness,memory, and attention. But overindulge, and you may pay the price with insomnia, headaches, and even caffeine jitters.
Experts say the upper limit for healthy caffeine consumption is 300 to 400 mg per day for a typical adult. That’s a max of three to four eight-ounce cups of coffee daily—or two to three cups, if you also consume caffeine from other sources, such as tea, chocolate and over-the-counter cold medicine. Some individuals—such as pregnant or breastfeeding women,(link is external) and those especially sensitive to caffeine—need to aim even lower.
The good news: You can get the mental perks of coffee without overdoing the caffeine. The key is making every cup count. And one of the best ways to do that is to carefully choose when to partake.

Late Morning: 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.
One rationale for a late-morning coffee, which neuroscientist Steven Miller advances, is based on circadian fluctuations(link is external) in cortisol. This hormone naturally makes you feel awake and alert. In general, cortisol production(link is external) peaks between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. After that, cortisol levels fall for a while, then rise again to a smaller peak around lunchtime. Physiologically speaking, there’s little you can gain by consuming caffeine when cortisol levels are high. Your brain is already at its peak natural alertness, so this is the time when it needs caffeine least. It makes more sense to take a coffee break when cortisol levels are lower, like during the late-morning dip.

At this time of day, the psychological benefits of a cup of coffee include:
Alertness
Caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline, which amps up alertness. A little adrenaline rush might be just what you need to make it to lunchtime. One caveat: Avoid overindulging. At high doses, caffeine may cause a faster heart rate and breathing rate; sweating, nervousness, shakiness, nausea, and diarrhea. And once your body develops a dependence on caffeine, withdrawal may lead to headache, fatigue, sleepiness, and bad mood.
Memory
There’s growing evidence that moderate amounts of caffeine may enhance certain aspects of memory. That could come in handy if you’ve spent your morning reading a report, sitting in a seminar, or otherwise learning something new. In one randomized, double-blind study(link is external) by Johns Hopkins researchers, participants tried to memorize a series of images. Immediately afterward, they received a pill containing either 200 mg of caffeine or a placebo.
The next day, the researchers tested participants' ability to recognize the images. In this test, some images were identical to ones from the day before, some were similar, and some were totally different. Those in the caffeine group did better than those in the control group at correctly identifying similar images as such, rather than mistakenly thinking they were the same. It seemed that caffeine had fine-tuned their memory.

Early Afternoon: 1:30 to 2:00 p.m.
After reaching a mini-peak between noon and 1:00 p.m., cortisol levels start dropping again, then rebound with another small spike between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. But you don’t want to consume caffeine too late in the day, because it may still be affecting you at bedtime. So if you choose to have a post-lunch coffee break, early afternoon is the best time to do it.
At this time of day, the psychological benefits of a mug of java include:
Wakefulness
Caffeine prevents a brain chemical called adenosine from binding to its receptors. When adenosine binds to these receptors, the result is a sleepy feeling. By blocking this action, caffeine helps fend off post-lunch drowsiness, a common occurrence that tends to be worst around 2:00 p.m(link is external). Caffeine starts working quickly and reaches its full effect within 30 to 60 minutes. So a zap of caffeine around 1:30 p.m. is well-timed to combat an afternoon energy slump. Of course, another time-honored way to recharge is by taking a short catnap. A little caffeine right before you doze off may help you wake up in 20 minutes or so, without oversleeping or ending up feeling groggy.
Attention
If your attention wanders in the afternoon, that could lead to regrettable mistakes and even serious accidents. Research(link is external) shows that a moderate amount of caffeine may increase accuracy on tasks that require paying attention. It may also speed up reaction times and lead to faster learning of new information. A caveat: Avoid coffee later in the afternoon and evening. It takes three-to-five hours for half the caffeine to exit your system, and eight-to-14 hours to eliminate all of it. If you’re still caffeinated at bedtime, you may have trouble falling asleep. And caffeine too close to bedtime may reduce deep sleep and total sleep time.

What About Early Morning?
Many people treasure spending quiet moments with a favorite coffee mug early in the morning. It’s a comforting routine. And it can easily become an exercise in mindfulness as you focus on the delicious sensations of flavor, aroma and warmth. (Of course, if you want to savor the ritual without the caffeine, you could always substitute caffeine-free herbal tea.)
An early-morning cup of coffee may wake up your brain in another way as well: Even if an 8:00 a.m. coffee isn’t actually giving you much added benefit because your cortisol is peaking, you might feel more alert simply because that’s what you expect. Research(link is external)shows that many people believe coffee gives them the sustained mental energy they require to power through a series of mentally challenging tasks. Those first few hours of the day can seem pretty daunting. If coffee gives you more confidence in your ability to handle them, that might be reason enough to pour a cup.


Source:
Source:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mindin...campaign=FBPost

Guys,
I just wrote an article for Natural Health Magazine (March 2016 Issue).
Natural Health Magazine (March 2016 issue) - "Snoring and Sleep Apnea, symptoms too loud to ignore" by Hiro Koo.

Grab your copy and know more about sleep apnea and tips to overcome it.

What Is A Mood Disorder?


According to http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/mood-disorders, “Mood disorders are a category of illnesses that describe a serious change in mood. Illness under mood disorders include: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder (mania – euphoric, hyperactive, over inflated ego, unrealistic optimism), persistent depressive disorder (long lasting low grade depression), cyclothymia (a mild form of bipolar disorder), and SAD (seasonal affective disorder).” Therefore, to be specific, mood disorders can include major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, persistent depressive disorder, as well as seasonal affective disorder.

How Common Are Mood Disorders?

You may be wondering how common mood disorders are. According to http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/mood-disorders, “About 20% of the U.S. population reports at least one depressive symptom in a given month, and 12% report two or more in a year. A survey conducted in 1992 found rates of major depression reaching 5% in the previous 30 days, 17% for a lifetime. Bipolar disorder is less common, occurring at a rate of 1% in the general population, but some believe the diagnosis is often overlooked because manic elation is too rarely reported as an illness.” Therefore, a diagnosis of depression is more common than a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Is Depression Associated With Alcohol And Substance Use?

According to http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/mood-disorders, “Alcoholism and other forms of drug dependence are also related to depression. Dual diagnosis – substance abuse and another psychiatric disorder, usually a mood disorder – is an increasingly serious psychiatric concern. Whether drug abuse causes depression, depression leads to drug abuse, or both have a common cause, a vicious spiral ensues when addicts use the drugs to relieve symptoms the drugs have caused. Cocaine and other stimulants act on neurotransmitters in the brain’s pleasure center, causing elation that is followed by depression as the effect subsides. Sometimes what appears to be major depression clears up after abstinence from alcohol or drugs. People with serious mood disorders also have twice the average rate of nicotine addiction, and many become depressed when they try to stop smoking.” Therefore, alcohol and substance use is associated with depression.

Conclusion

Based on this article, it can be proven that there are various types of mood disorders, including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, persistent depressive disorder, cyclothymia, as well as seasonal affective disorder. Based on this article, it can be proven that depression is the most common.


Source:
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/coping-depre...-mood-disorder/

zeropoint9, do you have knowledge or experience in the areas of meditation, such as the works of Sara Lazar @ Harvard, Richard Davidson @ UW–Madison, and Jon Kabat-Zinn @ UMass?

I am interested in enhancing mental performance to optimal levels, perhaps measured by the ability to withstand high stress loads, stave off mental decline associated with old age, and increasing measurable happiness/mood.

Also interested in breaching current limitations and venturing into experiencing the original sources of these research work, which happens to be Buddhism and Hinduism (e.g. Kundalini Yoga) literature and practices. There must be something more to it to be experienced that is not readily fathomable, akin to Einstein's cosmic religion.

5 Ways That Self-Esteem Boosting Strategies Can Backfire

When we face failure or disappointment, it’s easy to get down on ourselves—and to look for ways to feel better fast. Unfortunately, however, some of the strategies we adopt in the service of confidence-building can have unintended negative consequences. Here are 10 strategies that should be approached with caution.

1. Black-and-white thinking

One popular way to correct negative thinking is to swing the pendulum in the opposite direction, so that “I’m worthless” becomes “I’m wonderful.” But research suggests that exclusively positive self-statements tend to be ineffective for the very people who need them most. In two studies, low self-esteem participants who focused on how the statement “I’m a lovable person” was true for them felt worse about themselves than those who focused on how it was both true and untrue.

The researchers speculated that untempered positive self-statements might arouse contradictory thoughts in those who tend to hold negative self-views, whereas more balanced self-statements might be easier to accept. Balanced statements may also communicate that it’s okay to be imperfect—that one can be unlovable in some ways, but still lovable in others.

2. Inflated praise

Like overly positive self-statements, inflated praise can be misleading, and it may even impair performance. In one set of studies, participants who received inaccurate positive feedback on a test spent less time preparing for a subsequent test and performed worse on it, compared to those who received accurate feedback. Those who received inflated praise were also more likely to choose to take the test in a distracting environment.

Why would inflated praise have these effects? The researchers reasoned that over-praised participants, wanting to maintain the self-esteem boost, might have engaged in self-handicapping, which involves behaving in ways that are likely to impair performance so that the self-handicapping behaviors—rather than one’s ability—can be blamed if one doesn’t perform well. In other words, participants’ desire to continue feeling good about themselves based on their performance may have ultimately undermined their performance.

Another possibility is that the over-praised participants may have simply been overconfident in their abilities, assuming that extra effort was unnecessary because success was likely. Either way, the results suggest that inflated praise, though comforting, may not always be conducive to learning and self-improvement.

3. Downward social comparison

Comparing ourselves to others who seem worse off, called downward social comparison, can produce a temporary boost in self-esteem. But while it’s important to keep things in perspective and appreciate what we have, this “it could be worse” mentality can have a dark side when it relies too heavily on others’ misfortunes and shortcomings.

Rarely do we consider how our comparison targets might feel if they knew they were the source of our self-esteem boost, a tendency The Onion has satirized (“Man Unaware All His Friends Think Of Him When They Want To Put Things Into Perspective”). The fact that others typically don’t know they’re a comparison target doesn’t mean they’re unaffected by the comparison. No one wants to be pitied, but downward comparison can do just that, motivating us to focus on others’ negative events and overlook the positives. Research suggests that people feel most understood, validated, and cared for when others recognize and celebrate the good things in their lives. If a relationship is based too heavily on sympathy, it’s less likely to last.

4. Derogating others

We don’t just compare ourselves to worse off others when we need a boost—we also sometimes actively put others down. According to Abraham Tesser’s self-evaluation maintenance model, when a close other is successful in a domain that is important to us (for example, a co-worker gets a promotion we were hoping for), this can threaten our self-esteem, making us more likely to engage in one of the following protective strategies: 1) distancing ourselves from the successful person; 2) minimizing the importance of the domain; and 3) trying to outperform the other person, or even sabotaging their performance. While self-evaluation maintenance motives can sometimes fuel healthy competition, they can also erode relationships and inspire harmful behavior.

A desire to enhance self-esteem may also underlie some forms of prejudice and discrimination. Although self-esteem is presumably not the only motive for prejudice, multiple studies have shown that derogating stereotyped outgroup members can boost self-esteem, and this behavior is especially likely to occur when self-esteem is threatened.

5. Seeking social approval

Since self-esteem is closely tied to social acceptance, one way that people might try to enhance their self-esteem is by presenting themselves in a favorable light to others in an effort to gain social approval. Most of the time, a desire for approval is harmless, and as social creatures, it’s hard to avoid. But sometimes the need for approval is so strong that people are willing to sacrifice their own (and others’) health and well-being to get it.

In an influential review, Mark Leary and his colleagues summarized several ways that self-presentational behaviors driven by a desire for positive social evaluation can be dangerous: examples include abusing drugs or alcohol in an attempt to fit in, engaging in reckless behaviors to appear brave or adventurous, and having unprotected sex to appear spontaneous and carefree. While such behaviors may effectively boost or protect self-esteem in the moment, they carry serious risks.

Chronically seeking others’ approval can also increase the risk of mental illnesses such as depression and disordered eating. Because others’ approval can’t always be guaranteed—no one is immune from feeling rejected or excluded at times—attempting to boost self-esteem via others’ approval can be an emotional rollercoaster.

So what self-esteem boosting strategies are less likely to backfire? Instead of black-and-white thinking, self-compassion allows for shades of grey, helping us accept our imperfections while still striving to be our best. Instead of inflated praise, feedback that fosters a growth mindset is more likely to inspire. Instead of comparing ourselves to less fortunate others, helping them get back on their feet can give us a sense of self-efficacy. Instead of derogating successful others, reframing others’ success as a boon rather than a threat can help us bask in reflected glory. Instead of seeking social approval at any cost, we should remind ourselves that no matter what we do or don’t do, someone is likely to disapprove; being true to ourselves is more likely to lead to healthy self-esteem than pleasing others.

Source:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-lov...campaign=FBPost

7 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Day


When you're grinding it out at work—whether at home or in an office—it's easy to fall into the trap of measuring your productivity based on how many items you tick of your ever-mushrooming to-do list. But there are many potentially more useful (and more important) ways to judge. Ask yourself some of these questions at the end of the day, or when you're planning your schedule.

1. Did you do anything today that sets you up for a big payoff in the future?

Ask yourself if you did anything that you could see as an investment—in that you expect your effort to pay you back over and over again in the future?

Examples:

Developing or implementing strategies or approaches that will make you more productive on an ongoing basis going forward.
Learning a new tool that will make you exponentially more productive.

2. Did you build or strengthen any important relationships today?

This is self-explanatory, but if you don't naturally prioritize relationship building and the potential value of social engineering, it's important to make this principle explicit.

3. Opportunity cost.

Even if what you did was productive, was there anything you could've spent your time doing that would've been more productive? Ask yourself: "By doing what I did today, what did I choose not to do?"

4. Did you do anything today that reflects your most important core values?

For example, if kindness is one of your most important personal values, were you especially kind to anyone during your day? This could be as simple as having spent a few minutes empathizing with a colleague who was having a bad day. And this type of time use isn't "unproductive" if it leaves you feeling like you're being your true or best self.

5. Did you do anything today that will relieve an ongoing frustration or drain on your energy?

For example, if your computer had been running slow for the past week because it was low on space, you cleaned it out and installed systems that will keep it from slowing in the future.

6. Did you practice any habits that keep up your fitness or improve a key skill?

For me, for example, writing every day improves that skill and keeps up my writing "fitness." If I write something every day, then I avoid that sense of needing to "get back into it" if I've not done it for a while.

Wrapping Up

Feeling like you can never get through your to-do list is demoralizing. However, by asking yourself the above questions you can focus on what's most important and feel better about your productivity, even if you never get to the end of your list. You don't need to ask yourself all of these questions every day—doing so would probably be unproductive or inefficient—but try asking yourself each one at least occasionally. By varying the questions you ask yourself, you'll help avoid blind spots in how you judge your productivity.

Source:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-pra...campaign=FBPost

Would you have any advice on this, zeropoint9?

You have completely confused hypnosis with meditation.

He is a psychologist trained in hynotherapy and cognitive behavioural
therapy, not a meditation or yoga practitioner.