Category: Health/Psychology

If you think having loads of money, fetching looks, or the admiration of many will improve your life - think again. A new study by University of Rochester researchers demonstrates that progress on these fronts can actually make a person less happy.

“People understand that it’s important to pursue goals in their lives and they believe that attaining these goals will have positive consequences. This study shows that this is not true for all goals,” says author Edward Deci, professor of psychology and the Gowen Professor in the Social Sciences at the University.

Hale Dwoskin, featured teacher in "The Secret" and author of "The Sedona Method," reveals how to get over anger and resentment in this economy -- and why doing so is crucial for health and success.

The economy is a touchy subject these days, almost as touchy as the topic of personal finances. Add the two together, and that is a surefire recipe for resentment that has clouded many Americans' thoughts. In fact, late last year, in a survey by Decision Research, a think tank for risk assessment, 41 percent of 802 respondents said they were very angry about the current financial challenges, while 32 percent said they were moderately angry.

Dr. Mary Capelli-Schellpfeffer, medical director for Loyola University Health System's Occupational Health Services, offers tips on staying healthy and keeping the office positive and productive amidst stressful economic times.

The unemployment rate is currently at one of the highest levels it’s been in our nation’s history. Reports of a worsening economy pound the airwaves. Retirement savings disappear in the blink of an eye and everyone seems to be waiting for the other shoe to drop. Amidst the swarm of depressing news and stress it can be difficult to stay healthy, and even harder to keep the work environment positive and productive.

Exerting self-control is exhausting. What about thinking of other people exerting self-control? A new study in Psychological Science suggests that our own self-control can be worn out simply by mentally simulating another person acting with self-control.

Exerting self-control is exhausting. In fact, using self-control in one situation impairs our ability to use self-control in subsequent, even unrelated, situations. What about thinking of other people exerting self-control? Earlier research has shown that imagining actions can cause the same reactions as if we were actually performing them (e.g., simulating eating a disgusting food results in a revolting face, even if no food has been eaten) and psychologists Joshua M. Ackerman and John A. Bargh from Yale University, along with Noah J. Goldstein and Jenessa R. Shapiro from the University of California, Los Angeles explored what affect thinking about other people's self-control has on our own thoughts and behavior.

As of September 30, 2008 over 200,000 women were serving on active duty in the U.S. military. While women are technically barred from serving in combat they are serving in support positions in combat areas in greater numbers. This new role for women in the military brings with it new physical and mental health concerns, namely post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for those exposed to combat-related trauma.

According the National Institute of Mental Health, PTSD is a condition that develops after a distressing ordeal that involved physical harm or the threat of physical harm. This harm may have happened to the person who develops PTSD or to a friend or loved one, or may have simply been witnessed by the person who develops PTSD. People with PTSD may suffer flashbacks to the traumatic event, become aggressive or withdrawn, have nightmares, or become emotionally numb or even violent. Symptoms of PTSD usually appear about three months after the traumatic event.

You see, it's all about apples and oranges. Well, it's really about Martians and Venetians. Actually, it's about men and women...

Relationship expert and best-selling author Dr. John Gray traveled to Parker Seminars Las Vegas and exposed the fundamental differences between men and women and provided valuable advice on how to cultivate better relationships - both personal and professional - between genders. The first step towards reaching a state of harmony, according to Gray, is to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Schizophrenia may blur the boundary between internal and external realities by overactivating a brain system that is involved in self-reflection, and thus causing an exaggerated focus on self, a new MIT and Harvard brain imaging study has found.

The traditional view of schizophrenia is that the disturbed thoughts, perceptions and emotions that characterize the disease are caused by disconnections among the brain regions that control these different functions.

But a new MIT and Harvard brain imaging study which appeared in Monday's advance online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that schizophrenia also involves an excess of connectivity between the so-called default brain regions, which are involved in self-reflection and become active when we are thinking about nothing in particular, or thinking about ourselves.

Using the same methods he uses to help Gold Medal Olympians reach their goals, Pittsburgh hypnosis expert, Dan Vitchoff, helped 429-pound man lose weight and reclaim his life. There are hypnosis centers in most U.S. cities, but do some homework first. Not all hypnotists are created equal.

Last August, Kevin, who prefers to be identified by his first name only, came to a frightening realization, "I was someone who was going to die young without ever really having a chance to live." Kevin, who weighed 429 pounds at the time, had spent most of his adult life dieting and failing. His doctor was emphatic saying that Kevin had no other option; he must undergo gastric bypass surgery.

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Dan Vitchoff and Olympian Walton Glenn Eller.

Most of us understand that a negative self image only serves to work against us. Here are some suggestions to turn that negative image into a positive one.

You’re standing on a gold mine. You know that treasure is buried in there somewhere. So you start digging away… with a teaspoon. How long is that going to take you?

Instead of making resolutions which are often times quickly forgotten, New Years is a good time to take personal inventory of our lives, says a Temple University psychologist.

The end the year is a time when many of us will make resolutions to lose weight or quit smoking. But instead of making resolutions which are often times quickly forgotten, the new year is a good time to take personal inventory of our lives, says Temple University psychologist Frank Farley.