Seven Simple Steps to Help Yourself Out of Your Depression

Depression isn’t just a case of emotional wellness, it’s a major health concern that can impact all areas of your wellbeing. However, even taking just a few simple steps can help you to lift yourself out of the darkness.

 

1. Don’t blame yourself: Although this may be easier said than down, relieving yourself of blame is the most important thing you can do to beat depression. In order to set yourself on the road to recovery, you first need to clear it of the stumbling blocks of stigma, guilt and feelings of inadequacy. You need patience and a practical, proactive approach to manage the symptoms of depression.

 

2. Try to look on the bright side: According to life coach and Health magazine columnist M. J. Ryan, the author of AdaptAbility: How to Survive Change You Didn’t Ask For, ‘How you frame something can change everything.’ Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of a situation, try to consider the sunny side. If it’s pouring rain, for example, at least it will do your garden a lot of good. The thoughts may seem simple and small, but these bright ideas will lead to a more optimistic and inventive you who can take on just about anything.

 

3. Get a good night’s sleep: There’s no way you can understate the importance of a good night’s sleep. While everyone has different sleep needs, and more research needs to be done on the link between sleep and depression, experts advise people with depression to get enough sleep and maintain a regular sleep-wake schedule.

 

4. Let the sun shine on your life: Michael Terman, PhD, the director of the Centre for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms at Columbia University Medical Centre, explains, ‘Brightening your bedroom when you wake up helps you feel happier all day.’ If you have a timer for your lights and lamps, get them to switch on 15 minutes before your alarm sounds to get a “dawn simulation” effect. You can also leave curtains and blinds open for the same effect, although this might make sleeping at night more tricky. Terman adds that just being outside in the sunshine can also boost your mood and, as morning sunlight is the most beneficial, a pre-work walk will work wonders.

 

5. Get better bulbs: A lack of sunlight is the main cause of seasonal affective disorder (the appropriately acronymed SAD) which contributes to a depressed mood. In this country, getting lots of sunshine isn’t often an option, but you can try and incorporate a little artificial sunlight into your life. In high-traffic areas, such as the kitchen and living room, try using compact fluorescent bulbs. These bulbs mimic sunlight better than incandescent bulbs.

 

6. Get yourself a furry little friend: Researchers at the University of Missouri–Columbia recently found that petting a dog for just 15 minutes releases the feel-good hormones serotonin, prolactin, and oxytocin, and lowers the stress hormone cortisol. However, if you fall on the feline side of the dogs vs. cat debate, you can still benefit too, as other studies have shown that playing with your kitty provides a similar mood and health boost.

 

7. Fake it until you make it: Making yourself smile, even when you don’t feel like it, can actually help you to smile for real. In a study from Clark University, participants were told to smile or frown, depending on the group they were in. After this, both groups were shown cartoons, and the group of participants who smiled beforehand thought the shows were funnier than the frowners did. Lead researcher James Laird, PhD surmises that the simple act of smiling seems to activate happiness centres in the brain.

Categories: depression, nbsp, simple, simple steps, sleep, Smiling, sunlight

How is Vitamin D Useful for Good Bone Health?

We all know of the importance of calcium where healthy bones are concerned, but most people don’t realise that vitamin D is also vital for healthy teeth and bones. Most foods don’t contain a lot of this nutrient, unless you can source it in fortified bread and cereals, so it can be easy to become deficient in it without realising. Natural sunlight is our best source, but with the fear over sun damage in the past thirty years, this too has become a worry and many people now avoid exposure to sunlight.

A mild lack of vitamin D in the body can cause tiredness and a general feeling of aches in the body, but more severe problems result in rickets or osteomalacia in adults. The treatment for this is vitamin D supplements which are taken routinely to top up the body’s reserves. Your GP may advise these supplements if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding; if you’re over 65 years old; for children up to five years, and those who aren’t exposed to much sunlight. They may also recommend them for people with specific gut, liver or kidney diseases, and for certain people with darker skin. Vitamin D is often overlooked but it is a vital nutrient for good health. There are some foods which contain it, including oily fish such as sardines, trout and salmon, as well as fortified breads and cereals.

Ultraviolet B rays (UVB) in sunlight convert cholesterol in the skin into vitamin D – for people with fair skin, this amounts to around 20 to 30 minutes of sunlight on the face and forearms, around two to three times a week to make enough vitamin D. For people with darker skin, though, the time needed in the sun to make enough vitamin D is much more and this becomes dangerous, as sun damage can lead to other concerns. It’s important to remember that this isn’t the same as sun bathing though – the skin just needs to be exposed to the sun, not tanned or burned by it. Remember that the sun needs to fall directly onto the skin itself, not through a window.

For six months of the year, through October to April, most of western Europe and 90 percent of the UK, lies too far north to get enough UVB rays to make the sufficient amount of vitamin D for good health. The main purpose of vitamin D is to help calcium and phosphorus in the diet to be absorbed by the stomach. These are crucial for our bones and teeth to stay healthy and strong. It’s also been proven that vitamin D can help to prevent other diseases and ailments, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. A deficiency in vitamin D can occur in three ways – either the body has a greater need for the nutrient, it’s unable to make the vitamin on its own, or there isn’t enough vitamin D in the diet.

 

Vitamin D deficiency affects around one in six people in the winter and spring in the UK, and a study showed that more than half of UK adults don’t get enough of this nutrient. However, most of these people don’t realise they are deficient, or simply have mild symptoms such as feeling tired more than normal. A simple blood test can diagnose this issue, and if a child is thought to be deficient they may be tested with an x-ray. Your GP can advise you of ways to improve your vitamin D count if you think you may be at risk.

Categories: body, bone health, darker skin, people, people don, skin, sunlight, Symptoms, vitamin, Vitamin D

Let’s Get Physical: How to Improve Your Mental Health

If you want to take care of your mental and emotional health, you must first begin with your physical wellbeing. Though it may sound a little new age-y to say, your body and your mind are connected, and there’s a direct correlation between improving your physical health, and consequent greater mental and emotional wellbeing. You may exercise to strengthen your lung and heart wellness, for example, but the endorphins that exercise releases give you greater energy and a better mood. As you get older, mental health is just as important as strengthening bones, increasing circulation and lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, so you’re never too old to start. So, what can you do to take care of your overall wellbeing?

 

1. Get plenty of rest. Never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep, be it for your physical health or your emotional wellness. In order to function to your absolute best, you need to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night.

 

2. Eat right. This doesn’t mean just grabbing an apple now and again, you need to learn about good nutrition before you can practice it. Nutrition isn’t a complicated subject to learn about, but the hard part is actually implementing what you know into your daily life. However, the more you know about what you eat and how it affects your energy and mood, the more likely you are to start eating in a way that makes you feel better all over.

 

3. Exercise. As we’ve already mentioned, exercise is a powerful antidote to stress, anxiety, and depression. However, if you’re starting from scratch, you shouldn’t suddenly run a marathon or bench press your gran. Add activity to your day in small ways, such as walking to work or taking the stairs. Then, gradually build up to 30 minutes or more of exercise per day to get the most mental health benefits. Remember, you should always consult your doctor before starting any exercise regime.

 

4. Get some sunshine. There’s a reason why you love the summer; sunlight lifts your mood and boosts your vitamin D production. Whether you get out in the garden, do some outdoor exercise, or socialise in the sun, try to get at least 10 to 15 minutes of sunlight per day.

Categories: diet, exercise, sunlight

Can Sun Lamps Protect Babies From Osteoporosis?

It’s common knowledge that getting enough exposure to sunlight is very important to the health of our bones. That’s thanks to the fact that sunlight allows our bodies to synthesise vitamin D, which is a nutrient that has been linked to thicker and stronger bones. But now an interesting study has revealed something new about sunlight – it’s important for the health of unborn children too.

A number of medical experts have advised that women who give birth during the winter should use a sun lamp during the last three months of their pregnancy in order to protect their child from the risk of osteoporosis in later life. This suggestion comes after research found that children who are born to mothers whose final three months of pregnancy included at least one summer month were 40 percent less likely to suffer the debilitating bone-wasting condition in their adulthood.

It’s thought that the mother’s exposure to sunlight in this crucial period of the baby’s development ensures that the child gets enough vitamin D to ensure strong bones in the future. Doctors even suggest that women whose last trimester of pregnancy does not fall between May and September should consider taking a holiday in the Mediterranean to guarantee themselves plenty of sunshine.

However, despite the obvious popularity of this suggestion, flying is not recommended in the last trimester of pregnancy, so women could instead use a sunlamp to synthesise the experience of being in the sun. The doctors were quick to point out that this did not mean that they were recommending the use of sunbeds, which actually emit much higher levels of ultraviolet light.

For the research, the team looked at 17,000 patients, mainly female, and 95 percent of whom were white. They found that patients who were under 50 were 40 percent less likely to have developed osteoporosis if their mother’s last trimester of pregnancy included at least one summer month.

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Can Sun Lamps Protect Babies From Osteoporosis?

Categories: osteoporosis, sunlight, Vitamin D