The ability to both focus for long periods of time and perform cognitive and memory-related tasks is important in everyday life and for many careers. Due to our busy lifestyles and high work demands, aspects like the standard North American diet, stress, physical inactivity, and endocrine imbalances can lower mental performance and cognition.
Earlier this year, the American Heart Association’s (AHA) checklist containing the key determinants of cardiovascular health was updated to contain a new pillar: sleep. Updated from Life’s Simple 7, released in 2010, the new and improved Life’s Essential 8
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also referred to as seasonal depression, is a mood disorder recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DMV).
Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. The condition is commonly treated with stimulant therapy (methylphenidates or amphetamines in various forms). Stimulants tend to increase dopamine activity in the brain, and it is speculated that this may help with ADHD symptoms.
The stresses of the last two years have created an epidemic of anxiety. In 2021, the rates of anxiety disorders across the population in the US were estimated at 19.1% in the past year and 31.1% in lifetime prevalence, which refers to the number of individuals ever having had the disease during their lifetime.
Naturopathic doctors talk a lot about our emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing since these—along with the physical—make up the four pillars of holistic health care.
Seeing others in distress can make us feel sad; however, telling someone to be happy when they are not does not seem to work very well. In fact, trying to be happy is often a recipe for unhappiness! Psychology researchers have even put it to the test: People who were instructed to feel as happy as they can when listening to pleasant music felt lower mood than those who were exposed to the same pleasant music with no instruction.
As the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to shut down the world, grocery stores, or at least what was left on the shelves at grocery stores, became an indicator of where people were at in their experience of the stressful event.
