one by one
we put one foot after another
through a fog so thick
we hope we’ll see the end one day
and that it will match our imaginations,
now our private hope for the future.
put up a favorite shot.
désir for the punchline.
5.26.223
Tag: Ralph with Coffee
Shyness: What We Can Do About It
Socialization plays an important role in maintaining physical health as well as mental health. However, socialization can be challenging for some people who have particular difficulty with meeting new people. In this post, we will discuss what shyness is, what we can do to overcome shyness, and what are benefits to overcoming shyness.
What Is Shyness?
Shyness is defined as a predisposition to be concerned about others’ social evaluation. This predisposition leads to being sensitive to rejection, avoiding any potential for criticism, and keeping a low profile from initiating actions that may call attention to themselves.
Shyness differs from social anxiety disorder and social anxiety by the intensity of stress one gets in a social situation. Social anxiety disorder is a mental health condition involving persistent fear of rejection and criticism from others in its most intense form. Social anxiety has less to the extent intensity but more than regular shyness.
Where Does Shyness Come From?
While some shy individuals may attribute their shyness to their natural predisposition, it may stem from a social environment. For example, living in a strict environment for orderliness and enforcing vertical relationships may lead to shaming those who do not follow conventional mannerisms, make mistakes, or defy orders from superiors. Or, an individual simply may not have had the opportunity to learn social skills because of their busy academic or career life.
Whether shyness comes from an innate tendency or is learned from the environment is unclear. Jerome Kagan, a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, found that the tendency for shyness is an inherited biological trait that can be detected in infants at 4 months of age. Some argue both genetic inheritance and learning from the environment play partial roles.
Carl Jung, a founding figure of analytical psychology, is attributed to defining introversion and extroversion, characteristics incorporated in a widely popular metric called Myers-Briggs Type Indicator created by Isabel Briggs Myers. The description of introversion and extroversion has helped create a perception that both are healthy variations of personality styles.
What Can We Do About Shyness?
Even though being shy is nothing to be shy about, you may be interested in overcoming shyness. There are a few easy steps that you can take to face your shyness.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy. A study on group-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBGT) has shown short-to-medium-term efficacy for social anxiety disorder (SAD), anxiety, and depression. A study on internet-based CBT programs to address shyness program has shown to be cost-effective.
- Reduce alcohol intake. Some individuals may try to mask their shyness with the help of alcohol intoxication. However, a study has shown that individuals with alcohol use disorders (AUD) have a higher tendency to be shy during hangovers, which may lead to more alcohol use.
- Reduce adolescent caffeine consumption. A study has shown that caffeine consumption during adolescence increases the expression of mRNA in the amygdala, which may increase the likelihood of anxiety-related disorders through dysregulation of the neuroendocrine stress response system.
- Try a healthy diet. According to a systematic review study, there are benefits to taking probiotics for anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and memory disorders.
Summary
While it is okay to be shy, there are multiple ways that you can overcome your shyness. It takes an incremental effort to change, but little by bit, you can explore more social relationships and have higher self-confidence in interpersonal relationships by taking these measures.
This post was inspired by Health Life Guru and Health Tips Now. Please check them out!
Disclaimer: This web post is for information purposes. If you have medical needs, please contact your primary care physician.
Yes
when the sun shines,
when the air is clean,
when it is quiet,
I feel good.
when I do what I want
whenever and wherever I want
and it works
I feel good.
because this doesn’t happen often,
because this isn’t guaranteed,
even though I know feeling good
doesn’t good any good,
I feel good.
5.25.2023
Meditation: Can We Protect Our Mind?
Meditation has become a very popular way to de-stress in recent years. With readily available apps, you can start exploring meditation too. This post will outline the effects of meditation.
Meditation: the Popularization
Meditation has drawn popular interest from academics such as Herbert Benson and Jon Kabat-Zinn starting in the 1960s and 1970s. The Relaxation Response, a book written by Herbert Benson in 1975, helped popularize Transcendental Meditation, a technique developed by Maharishi Mahesh in the 1950s. Jon Kabat-Zinn created a standardized 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course in the 1970s at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.
Effects of Meditation
meditation’s effect on mood and sleep
One of the known benefits of meditation is its calming effects of reducing anxiety. A neuroimaging study in 2012 using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) by Gaëlle Desbordes, a neuroscientist at Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) showed changes in the amygdala, a brain region that regulates emotion, among those who practiced for 2 months of meditation. Another study in 2012 by Sara Lazar using fMRI at MGH showed thickening of the brain after an 8-week meditation course.
Another benefit of meditation is its protective effects on heart health. A study conducted by Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at MGH and affiliate medical centers indicates that people who meditated over an 8-week period had changes in genes that regulate inflammation, glucose metabolism, and blood pressure (however, there are weaknesses to how the study was conducted).
meditation’s cost-effectiveness
Meditation: Health Benefit
A treatment that incorporates meditation practice called Multicomponent Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) can help adults who have chronic insomnia. Both the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American College of Physicians recommended CBT-I. It involves 6-8 sessions during which cognitive, behavioral, and psychoeducational interventions are conducted to help adjust thoughts and behaviors about sleeping. Meditation is conducted to reduce stress, anxiety, and increased relaxation with focused attention.
Summary
Since its popularization in the 1960s and 1970s, meditation has been embraced by many for helping to reduce stress. While there are ongoing studies on its health effects, some studies appear to show benefits. We explored the effects of meditation in this post. Our future posts may explore more about other aspects of meditation. Thank you for reading our post!
This post was inspired by Health Life Guru and Health Tips Now. Please check
Disclaimer: This web post is for information purposes. If you have medical needs, please contact your primary care physician.
Small
it’s a small plastic bag of sour jellies
that brings me so much soft comfort
I can look over sharper pieces on the street.
It’s a fading smooth mango sunset
that brings sweetness to my eyes
I can look through the darkness.
once in a while,
I look at the small things
to walk this walk.
5.24.2023
How to Improve Cognitive Level
While many people resign to the fact that cognitive function level declines with age, there are small changes in daily life we can do to reduce its effect. These lifestyle changes will not only improve your cognitive function level but also reduce the likelihood of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This post will pinpoint small changes we can embrace to improve our cognitive level.
- Why Do We Forget As We Age?
- What Is The Difference Between Normal Aging And Neurodegenerative Disease?
- What Is My Chance Of Dementia?
- What Can I Do To Improve My Cognition?
- Summary
Why Do We Forget As We Age?
Anyone who has looked for where they had put their keys will be familiar with how easily we can forget things. Older people tend to experience this forgetfulness much more frequently. So why do we forget as we age?
We forget with the reduction of neurons, a major type of brain cells. Although we form millions of neurons in the early years of life, it is said that we start to lose them in our 30s and 40s. A reason why the number of neurons decreases as we age could be because of reduced blood flow to the brain. This may lead to changes in chemicals in the brain, such as reduced epinephrine or blood glucose. Shrinkage of the hippocampus, a brain region that plays an important role in learning and memory, may lead to forgetfulness.
What Is The Difference Between Normal Aging And Neurodegenerative Disease?
Once we start noticing forgetfulness, we may begin to have this worrying thought: “What if I have dementia?”
Memory loss of normal aging involves infrequent forgetfulness. Perhaps once in a while, you will forget about a meeting, a bill payment, or a person’s name. But severe memory loss that makes it difficult to do everyday things like driving, being confused with time, people, and places, or finding your way home, might be a good indication for you to start planning a visit to your doctor.
If you suspect yourself of having a neurodegenerative disease, talk to your doctor. If you are aged over 65 years old and had Medicare Part B for longer than 12 months, you may be eligible for an Annual Wellness Visit to develop a free personalized plan to help prevent dementia. Your doctor may be able to assess your cognitive level with questionnaires like Mini-Mental State Examination.
Such memory-related questionnaires can help differentiate between different stages of dementia. Mild Cognitive Impairment is the stage between the expected decline in memory due to normal aging and the more serious decline due onset of dementia.
What Is My Chance Of Dementia?
Measuring the prevalence of dementia is difficult to measure, especially since the early onset of cognitive impairment is difficult to differentiate from memory loss from normal aging.
With increasing age, the chance of having dementia increases. In 2019, approximately 2% of those aged 70-75 years old had dementia, while 27.7% of individuals aged more than 90 years old had dementia.
There are conditions and activities that may lead to a higher chance of memory loss and neurodegenerative diseases. Excessive drinking of alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and having depression may lead to memory loss. Having chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol level, and depression may lead to an increased likelihood of dementia. Even hearing impairment could increase the likelihood of cognitive impairment.
What Can I Do To Improve My Cognition?
- Getting enough daily sleep (7-8 hours) is recommended to improve your cognitive function level.
- A healthy diet, such as eating fruits that have a lot of antioxidants and omega-3-rich foods such as fatty fish and walnuts can improve brain health.
- Regular aerobic physical exercises, such as tai chi and walking, for 150 minutes each week is recommended.
- Social engaging activities, such as volunteering or hobbies, that make you happy interacting with others can have protective effects by improving memory and self-esteem.
- Journaling and creative writing have been shown to improve the quality of life and well-being of older adults.
- Relaxation techniques, such as meditation or yoga, can help you reduce stress levels, blood pressure levels, and muscle tension, which can help improve your memory function.
Summary
There’s no worry if you are experiencing memory loss. If it is infrequent, it may be a temporary event. However, if you would like to proactively increase your cognitive level and also prevent the later chances of having neurodegenerative disease, consider taking the lifestyle change actions recommended above. With small incremental efforts each day, you can find tremendous improvement in your quality of life.
This post was inspired by Health Life Guru and Health Tips Now. Please feel free to pay a visit to them!
Disclaimer: This web post is for information purposes. If you have medical needs, please contact your primary care physician
Fortitude
Yes, we can.
We can take whatever comes our way,
and make it into a song
that we will be proud of.
Yes, we can.
even as people and places peel away
like ocean waves, summer rain, and
petals of sunflowers,
we can dance to our anthem.
Yes, we can.
as the sun sets and darkness dawns,
we can hold onto our inner flames,
and march through this long tunnel,
to meet again at the oasis.
5.23.2023
Concussion: How To Recover
If you are a fan of playing sports, you may have come across a person, or you yourself may have been the person, who had a sports-related concussion. While concussion is widely prevalent among those who play contact sports, there is little information on what concussion is and how to treat it. This article will describe common causes and symptoms of concussion, steps one can take to treat the symptoms, and what are ways to prevent concussions in the future.
Continue reading “Concussion: How To Recover”Notice
it’s painful sometimes,
but it’s worth the notice;
our own shortcomings.
simple and honest is the fastest;
and I yearn to stare at the clock,
instead of regret, with hope.
5.22.2023
Sand
the more I try to grasp
the more it escapes.
leaving only a few grains.
faster I try to run
deeper my feet sink
slower I go.
the wind is blowing
listen to the sand.
5.21.2023
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