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Memory & Mental Aerobics: Fitness From The Neck Up

7/12/2013

Let's face it--aging is unavoidable. However, the negative stereotypes and expectations that growing older means becoming forgetful, and leading an inactive, dull life are just plain absurd! In fact, many people find their older adulthood is among the most satisfying times of their lives. They key to staying active and mentally engaged is quite simple and based largely on the "use it or lose it" principle. While there are environmental and genetic components to memory problems, you have an active role in staying healthy. As the saying goes--prevention is the best medicine.

This post will share information from two great resources on brain health and disease
prevention:
The Memory Bible: An Innovative Strategy for Keeping Your Brain Young by Gary Small
Brainfit: 10 Minutes a Day for a Sharper Mind and Memory by Corinne Gediman

Brain Cells: The Forest in Your Mind

The brain has billions of nerve cells that stretch out like the branches on a tree, growing smaller as they extend outward. These branches send messages to each other.

As our brains age, the synapses, or connections between these branches, begin to function less effectively.

Messages firing from one part of the brain to the other may break down. One area of your brain may tell you to walk into the kitchen and open the refrigerator, but then you just stand there. Unfortunately, the part of the brain that should have told you to reach in and get some water because you’re thirsty didn’t get the message.

Without use, the branches can shrink; but when we exercise them in new and creative ways, connections remain active as they pass new information along.

Remarkably, new dendrites can be created after old ones die.

BUT HOW??
Evidence shows we can “work out” our dendrites and extend their branches in many ways.

Even routine activities can create a trip to the gym for brain cells: tie your shoe backwards, brush your teeth with your nondominant hand, any conscious effort to tease your brain can potentially create new brain cell connections.

"Use It Or Lose It!" – Disease Prevention
Research shows that keeping your brain active over time can lower your risk for dementia. Scientists at Case Western University found a person's risk for Alzheimer's Disease was 3 times lower in when they had been intellectually active during their 40s and 50s compared to those who had not. Couch potatoes didn’t reap benefits of prevention. Passive pursuits like going to the movies and watching TV didn’t help lower risk.

Brain fitness can tone up our memory performance, protect us from future decline, and may even lead to new growth of brain cells.

Brain Fitness & Mental Aerobics
Any mental activity that stimulates your mind can help protect your brain.

Be creative and have fun!!
        Crossword Puzzles                     Sudoku
        Riddles                                        Play charades
        Jeopardy                                     Take a Class or Learn a New Language
        Jigsaw puzzles                            Play Cards or Board Games
        Arts & Crafts: Painting, Knitting, Woodworking, Drawing, Photography

MENTAL AEROBICS SHOULD BE FUN!!!!

Most of us put our minds to coping with real problems in our daily lives—jobs, health, family, etc—yet many of us find time to enjoy solving puzzles and playing games. It is this fun factor that makes it easier to maintain mental aerobics over the long-haul.

Some final tips:
       >>Choose a variety (cross-train!)---Minimize boredom and maximize results!
       >>Build stamina over time; gradually introduce novel situations and new activities.
       >>Stimulate your mind but don't overdo it.
       >>If it's much too difficult, you may get frustrated and give up.
       >>If it's much too easy, you may feel bored or distracted.

So go have some fun! It's good for you AND your brain!

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A Peek Inside Couples Counseling

4/12/2013

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Partners often share that long-term stress and conflict dampens their connection and can
make it tough to remember what brought them together. Counseling is a place where couples can safely explore feelings, process reactions, and have a mediated forum to identify patterns and learn productive, healthy ways of relating. We often find that little tweaks and adjustments to a couple’s habits have a profound effect on improving their relationship satisfaction.

Some people think the idea of couples counseling sounds about as enjoyable as getting a root canal at the dentist. However, many find that the process of working with their partners and a trained therapist can be meaningful, rewarding, and even…fun! Yes! There’s been so much great research about couples’ interactions and helpful tools that couples counseling is more exciting than ever!

For example, Dr. John Gottman is a psychologist whose research helps couples create healthy, happy relationships that last. After years of research on marital behavior and communication dynamics, Dr. Gottman says that he can reliably predict if a couple will divorce with 91% accuracy by watching and listening to them for just five minutes. Wow.

Dr. Gottman has a great book called, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work (1999). He says, “What can make a marriage work is surprisingly simple. Happily married couples aren’t smarter, richer, or more psychologically astute than others. But in their day-to-day lives, they have hit upon a dynamic that keeps their negative thoughts and feelings about the other (which all couples have) from overwhelming their positive ones.”

He lays out some ways of relating that can be so negative that if allowed to continue over time may be "lethal" to a relationship. These types of negative communications become important in counseling sessions to help couples recognize and squash:

1) Complaint vs. Criticism
      Complaint: points out specific actions of partner's failure to do something
      "I'm angry you didn't sweep the kitchen floor last night. We agreed to take turns."

      Criticism: more global negative comment about your partner's character or personality
      "Why are you so forgetful? I hate sweeping when it's your turn. You just don't care."
          (Turn any complaint into criticism by adding "What's wrong with you!?")

      Problem: Can be very common, but paves the way for harsher, more destructive
      communication.

2) Contempt
      Sarcasm, cynicism, name calling, eye-rolling, mockery

       Problem: Dangerous because it often conveys disgust and may lead to more
       conflict rather than resolution.

3) Defensiveness
      Although this reaction is often understandable when one or both partners are hurt by some
      of the harmful ways of interacting above, being defensive rarely has the desired effect; for
      example, your partner does not back down or apologize.

       This can in fact escalate conflict and is really a way of blaming your partner.
            "The problem isn't me, it's you!"

      Problem: Discussions that begin harshly, where criticism and contempt lead to
      defensiveness, which then leads to more contempt and more defensiveness, eventually one
      partner may tune out completely.

4) Stonewalling
      Coming home from work and beginning conflict at home, one partner may turn away and
      become unresponsive, leave the room. The less responsive one is, the more the other may
      yell. By turning away, this interaction is as though one is sitting like a passive stone wall. The
      partner acts like he or she couldn't care less about what you're saying, even if he or she
      hears it.

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Body Responses: Stress vs. Relaxation

3/15/2013

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Stress is an unavoidable part of everyday life, resulting from any change or situation you must cope with, both positive and negative. In fact, the body may react to the physical threat of danger in the same way it responds to the exhilaration of upcoming wedding or dream vacation. Sound strange? Well, not all stress is bad, but problems can arise when the amount of stress you experience over time exceeds your resources to cope. What’s important is to learning to recognize the signs of stress to respond in a healthy way so it doesn’t interfere with your life.

Your body notices stress long before your mind does. Think about the last time you felt stressed out. Did you notice any of these common feelings?

Fatigue
Muscle Tension
Racing Heart
Shakiness

Sweating
Nail biting
Dry Mouth
Sleep problems

Heartburn
Jitters
Irritability
Overeating or Loss of appetite

Physiological changes during stress are truly remarkable. In fact, scientists call these reactions the “fight or flight response;” a series of biochemical changes in the body that prepare an individual to deal with threats or danger. Any problem we face, imagined or real, can cause the mind to signal an alarm that stimulates the sympathetic nervous system to make changes in the body. Imagine a zebra standing in the sun, who suddenly notices a lion approaching. The zebra needs to react immediately to survive. His body must be in optimal shape for the burst of energy required to flee to safety. It is adaptive for the stress response to kick into gear so the zebra can survive.

Just like the zebra, our bodies react in the same way to threats and stressors: muscles tense, pupils become larger, hearing becomes more acute, blood surges to the brain and trunk and away from extremities. The body quickly gears up to peak efficiency to cope with the current threat and then, when the perceived crisis is over, the body returns to its normal state of functioning. Unfortunately, many of us live with so many repeated stressors that the body doesn’t always automatically calm down on its own. This is when chronic stress and burn out become a problem; the body wasn’t designed to linger too long in“fight or flight” mode.

Fortunately, the same signal that turns on fight or flight can also turn it off. Instead of maintaining the stress response, the relaxation response is naturally restorative. Metabolism, heart rate, breathing rate, muscle tension, and blood pressure all return to their normal levels. Consider the fact that it is physically impossible to breath quickly and slowly at the same time. Stress and relaxation are simply not compatible. One response cannot exist simultaneously with the other. Training the mind and body to enter a state of relaxation, to invite the relaxation response, leads to a reduction in physiological symptoms and is the key to managing and reducing negative outcomes of stress.

Learning relaxation techniques like deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, autogenics, meditation, imagery, and so on, provides the body with the steps to achieve the relaxation response. As with most skills, the more practice and experience you have, the easier it will become for you to tap into physiological and emotional. Stay tuned for upcoming posts with more information and examples of each of these techniques!

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Tossing & Turning? 10 Tips for a Good Night’s Rest

2/28/2013

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www.prweb.com

What happens when it’s time for bed but your mind is racing, going over everything that happened today and everything that needs to happen tomorrow? Or maybe you simply stare at the ceiling, calm but still awake. You’re not alone. Millions of people aren’t getting enough sleep, yet it is essential to maintain physical and emotional health.

As a psychologist, I often work with people who have struggled a long time and think good sleep is an unattainable goal. However, with a few simple adjustments in their routine and attitude about bedtime, many people notice drastic improvements! Read on for 10 simple tricks to help you get the sleep you need.

1) If you can’t sleep, get out of bed
If after 15-20 minutes you’re not asleep, get up and do something boring (not in bed; avoid bright lights, avoid noises—these wake you up). Return to bed only when you’re sleepy. Keep doing this until you fall asleep. You want to break the cycle of lying in bed, worrying, and trying to fall asleep.

2) Use the bed only for sleeping or sex
No watching TV, work, or reading. Make sure the bedroom is dark, quiet, and at a comfortable temperature (cooler is better). You’re training yourself that bed is only for sleep or sex.

3) Get up at the same time every day
Get up at the same time, even if you’re tired, even on weekends. An irregular schedule contributes to insomnia. You want to train your body to have a normal, healthy, sleep pattern.

4) Use sunlight to set your biological clock
As soon as you get up in the morning, go outside and have your face in sunlight for 15 minutes. Better yet, start an activity like a brisk walk or jog. Fido would love to join you!

5) Unwind for an hour before going to bed
You can’t be going 100 miles an hour and then suddenly fall asleep. Develop a nightly unwinding ritual (warm bath 90 minutes before bed, light snack, caffeine-free tea, or a few minutes of reading in your favorite chair).

6) Keep a notebook by your bed
This is one of my favorite tips. Maybe you have a hard time quieting your mind and find yourself stressing over events from the day, things you need to do tomorrow, upcoming appointments, etc. Take a minute to write those loose ends and “to-do’s” on paper. Then, give yourself permission to put those thoughts aside and relax. The list will be there when you wake up.

7) Relax in bed
Use techniques like muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and imagery while waiting to fall asleep. With a little practice, you may find it’s just the thing to help you drift off to sleep.

8) Don’t watch the clock
Clock-watching feeds the worrying cycle that keeps you awake. Don’t allow yourself to stare at the clock or periodically check the time and stress over still being awake. The less pressure you put on yourself to fall asleep quickly, the better.

9) Nix the chemicals
While sleep aides might be helpful short-term, many experts suggest eliminating alcohol, sleeping pills, and illegal drugs. Avoid or eliminate cigarettes and caffeine (especially within six hours of bedtime).

10) No naps
Really. Try not to sleep during the day, even if you’re really tired. This will help you be tired at night and regulate your schedule. If you HAVE TO nap, make it less than 1 hour, and as early in the day as possible.

Talk with your therapist and your medical provider if sleep continues to elude you. Check out the National Sleep Foundation (www.sleepfoundation.org) and American Academy of Sleep Medicine (www.sleepeducation.com) for more information and tons of additional resources.

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On the Mind...

Welcome to my blog offering information and thoughts on a variety of psychology topics and common concerns.

Author

Megan M. Paris, PhD

I'm a licensed psychologist in Houston helping adults
work through life's challenges. I provide an objective and nonjudgmental space to explore your situation and improve your overall
well-being.

Click here to learn more about my practice.

Memory & Mental Aerobics: Fitness From The Neck Up

Brain Cells: The Forest in Your Mind

MENTAL AEROBICS SHOULD BE FUN!!!!

A Peek Inside Couples Counseling

Body Responses: Stress vs. Relaxation

Tossing & Turning? 10 Tips for a Good Night’s Rest

On the Mind...

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