Stress Relief, Health and Wellness Blog

7 ways to get the best sleep ever (Health.com) — You’ve done all the obvious stuff — cut out late-night caffeine, made sure your bedroom is dark and cozy, avoided scary movies or struggling with your to-do list right before bed. So why are you still tossing and turning? “Certain habits you’re unaware of could [...]

Back pain? Alternative therapies may help The lower back is a complex spot, with many potential sources of pain. Although surgery would seem to be a quick fix, in reality about 85 percent of people don’t need — and won’t benefit from — back surgery, says Dr. Anders Cohen, M.D., chief of neurosurgery at the [...]

What Causes Emotional Eating? Emotional eating has many causes. The following are some of the main reasons – besides hunger – that stressed people eat: Cortisol Cravings: Stress can bring on increased levels of cortisol, known as “the stress hormone.” Cortisol has a beneficial function in the body, but excessive levels of cortisol brought on [...]

Spray may treat premature ejaculation in Men It’s fitting that “PSD502″ sounds like a code name, since it relates to a distressing problem most men would prefer not to talk about: premature ejaculation. Researchers recently presented findings on PSD502, a topical spray medication, at the American Urological Association Annual Meeting. The spray, made by pharmaceutical [...]

How can I break my sugar addiction? There is no doubt that this kind of eating arises from an emotional component. In addition to stimulating brain reward centers, sweet food markedly affects stress hormones in ways likely to provide a sense of temporary reprieve from anxiety. Of course, in addition to all the health problems [...]

Post-traumatic stress may harm kids’ brains Psychological trauma may leave a visible trace in a child’s brain, scientists say. A new study published in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology found that children with symptoms of post-traumatic stress had poor function of the hippocampus, a part of the brain that stores and retrieves memories. This is [...]

Helpful ways to boost your memory Can’t find your keys … again? Whether your momentary memory loss is linked to doing too many things at once or just a bad case of menopausal brain fog, you don’t have to put up with it. In fact, experts say you can instantly boost your chances of remembering [...]

Darker outlook for night owls, study finds A new study, published in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, bears out Africa’s experience: People who tend to stay up late, the so-called “night owls,” have a darker outlook than those who bounce out of bed at the crack of dawn, the “morning larks.”         This [...]