If you have ever experienced “butterflies in your stomach” or felt like your guts were “tied up in knots” while under stress, you have experienced the gut-brain connection. [1] According to the Cleveland Clinic, stress can cause diarrhea, it can also cause other symptoms of GI distress like bloating, belly … Read More
When people are suffering from a mental illness such as depression or anxiety, they often ask themselves, “Am I having a mental breakdown?” Intense, negative feelings and any number of mental breakdown symptoms can make you feel like you’re losing control. The truth is that, for better or worse, most … Read More
Stress happens—whether we like it or not. While some strain is essential to our survival (it promotes the release of hormones needed to fight or run from our stressors), too much can cause a slew of nasty illnesses. Being under chronic stress boosts our risk of physical and psychological conditions, … Read More
“Stress” is a term used to describe how your body reacts to changing, often unpredictable, conditions. Stress-provoking situations may involve anything from caring for an aging parent to dealing with a chronic illness, or from being stuck in heavy traffic to facing a snarling dog. Chronic, prolonged stress can be … Read More
It’s a tradition when it comes to any New Year’s Resolution: Ideas center on self-improvement—and often in the area of health. And why not? For some, buying a new car or traveling to an exotic locale might come first. But without our health, those fancy material possessions and adventurous trips … Read More
The answer to the question "What is stress?" comes in a clear definition from the National Institute of Mental Health: “Stress is how the brain and body respond to any demand. Every type of demand or stressor—such as exercise, work, school, major life changes, or traumatic events—can be stressful.” Also … Read More
Many of us have heard stories of the 1950s housewife who had a nervous breakdown and had to spend time in a medical facility. But "nervous breakdown" is not a medical diagnosis. That’s right: There is no official or medical definition for the phrase "nervous breakdown." So what was that … Read More
We’ve all heard and used the phrase “nervous breakdown,” but it’s not an actual medical term, so there is no clinical definition. So what is a nervous breakdown? Generally, the phrase refers to some type of mental health crisis that renders a person incapable of normal, effective functioning. The person … Read More
It is well documented in scientific literature that aging is associated with certain cognitive changes. As we get older, we experience some gradual decline in conceptual reasoning, memory, and processing speed, but these changes don’t keep us from going about our normal activities. Dementia, on the other hand, can significantly … Read More
