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welcome! to anxieties 101!
after looking things over here at anxieties 101,
try out "the layer down under," (part of the emotional feelings network of sites) & read a special "i
just gotta say it" column concerning porn addiction by clicking here! Be sure to scroll down towards the bottom of the right hand column to find it!
 
Making the site work best for you!
You'll
notice that there are many underlined link words in each article below. The reason for this is that you've reached not only, "anxieties
101," but the emotional feelings network of sites.
The reason for this opportunity
is very simple & yet you may be unnerved by all those underlined words! I've been in recovery from post traumatic stress disorder, depression & many other dysfunctional ventures & thru it all I've discovered that emotion & feeling
work may be the missing link that many people miss when trying to find solutions to their problems.
Developing a sense of curiosity about why you feel the way you do, is essential in finding the solution you so desperately are searching for.
If you can't find what
you came here looking for, visit the homepage for the emotional feelings network of sites by clicking here & read the options on the homepage for the networks index of sites. Try to be specific when looking for an emotion or feeling & click on the site you need!
Best of luck & if you're
still stuck, send me an e-mail anytime, by clicking here & I'll be glad to send you an immediate personal response!
Sincerely,
Kathleen
Posted:
01/02/2003 16:28 pm
Last Updated: 01/02/2003 04:28 pm
How to lose weight? It's the question on many minds
this time of year & the answer may be as easy as getting into bed. 2 in 5 Americans all
made the same New Year's resolution:
to lose weight.
Most of those same people will begin
the new year by dieting & exercising but doctors now say getting a good night's sleep may be the ticket to losing extra weight.
Sleep loss increases your appetite & affects the body's metabolism. Dr. Michael Thorpy, a neurologist, says, "Most people don't realize that good sleep habits
are important for a successful weight reduction program.
If people have trouble falling asleep or remaining asleep then they should
see their physician because there are safe & effective treatments available for sleep problems."
Dr. Thorpy
has some tips for sleeping off extra weight.
- Don't
go to bed hungry.
- Do avoid eating a big meal right before bedtime
- Exercise regularly but make sure to do it at least 3 hours before going to sleep
- Make sure you get up at the same time each day to get used to a healthy sleep pattern.
Too Little Sleep May Pack on Pounds
Study links insufficient
slumber to obesity
By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay
Reporter
MONDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDayNews)
It sounds like the best diet plan of all time - sleep more, weigh less.
It
could be a reality, say researchers who have produced more evidence linking less sleep
to obesity.
The
findings, which appear in the Jan. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, don't say which came first
- sleepy people or fat people.
But
study co-author Dr. Robert Vorona, an assistant professor of sleep medicine at Eastern
Virginia Medical School, suspects that lack of sleep sets off hormonal changes that affect appetite.
"It's very possible that, over the long haul, restrictions in sleep could dispose
you to obesity," Vorona said.
He
acknowledged that his theory is a bit odd, especially considering that people use more energy when they're awake. "It's counterintuitive
that restricting sleep should lead to obesity, that sleeping more should make you more apt to lose weight," he said. "That doesn't sound
like it makes sense."
Other
researchers are on the same track, however. "There's a mounting body of evidence that suggests the systems that regulate sleep & appetite are linked," said Dr. Joseph Bass, a professor
of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who studies sleep.
Vorona
& his colleagues first became interested in the link between sleep & obesity after reading that insufficient sleep disrupts the body's endocrine system, which regulates hormone levels. Vorona said they decided to launch a study to see if weight was affected, too.
The
researchers surveyed 1,001 people from southeastern Virginia about their sleep habits.
They also checked where the subjects landed on the body-mass index scale, which uses a mathematical formula to indicate whether
a person is of normal weight, overweight, obese or severely obese. The typical subject was 48 years old & obese.
The
researchers found that people of normal weight got more sleep than their overweight
& obese counterparts, by an average of 16 minutes per night, or 1.9 hours a week.
The
research reflected previous studies in Japan that linked lack of sleep to obesity in children, Vorona said.
Oddly,
this latest study found that severely obese people actually got more sleep than other people. According to Vorona, this may be because
their bodies are more likely to produce sleep-inducing chemicals.
The
next step, Vorona said, is to launch more definitive studies that will closely track how much people sleep each day - instead of relying on their own memories & examine changes in sleep & obesity levels over time. He hopes to "get funding to see if extending sleep really does help people lose weight effectively."
It's
possible that further research into the link between insufficient sleep & obesity
may explain why shift workers - who often don't get enough sleep - are more likely to develop
diabetes, said Bass, who wrote a commentary that accompanied Vorona's study.
"Sleep
is a fascinating, enigmatic process," Bass said. "We kind of hand-wave at it as physicians & maybe we shouldn't."
More information
Get the myths and facts about sleep from the National Sleep Foundation (www.sleepfoundation.org target=new).
10/23/03
Sleep Problems in Children Appear as ADHD
(Ivanhoe Newswire) Children
who struggle with sleep disorders often appear sleepy & inattentive during the daytime. A new study shows symptoms in 5-year-olds are suggestive of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Doctors say there is an increasing understanding of obstructive sleep disordered breathing. It's estimated to affect 2 - 3% of children.
Researchers from the Boston
University School of Medicine led the study of 3,019 5-year-old children. Parents completed a survey about their child's sleep
patterns, snoring & the presence of daytime sleepiness & behavior problems.
Hyperactivity was reported
19% of the time, while inattention came in second at 18% & aggressiveness followed at 12%. Daytime sleepiness was reported only 10% of the time.
The researchers write, "Compared
with children without snoring or other symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing, children with sleep-disordered breathing symptoms were significantly more likely to have parent-reported daytime sleepiness."
The prevalence of daytime sleepiness was similar for boys & girls.
Overall,
the presence of sleep-disordered breathing symptoms was associated with a 2 fold increase in behaviors suggestive of
ADHD.
The study investigators
believe when a child exhibits signs of sleepiness, hyperactivity & inattention, they should be looked at for sleep problems. This is especially important to handle prior to the child beginning school. They write,
"Identification of the problem at 5 years of age
may be particularly valuable, as it would allow therapeutic intervention."
This
article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to:
http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Pediatrics, 2003;112:870-877
visit our new site!
night eating is open for information & support for those experiencing compulsive or binge eating habits at
night only or those who wake up realizing that they had been eating but don't remember it - nocturnal sleep-related
eating disorder....
Some Facts
About 70 million Americans suffer from a sleep problem; among them, nearly 60 % have a chronic disorder.
Sleep deprivation is a growing concern in the world today. The net results of not getting enough sleep are:
-
Impaired judgment
-
Diminished creativity & productivity
-
Inability to concentrate
-
Reduced language & communication skills
-
Slowed reaction times
-
Decreased abilities to learn & remember
The NCSDR [U.S. National Center for Sleep Disorders],
estimates, "$150 billion a year in higher stress & reduced workplace productivity" can be attributed to sleep loss alone.
Shift workers must fight a constant battle against their body's natural rhythms. Lack of sleep is
the cause of many traffic accidents. Both Canada & the US reports show that accidental deaths are significantly more frequent
during the switch to daylight savings time in spring than before or after the shift.
Why We Need Sleep
Sleep is necessary for both the body & the mind to operate properly. Researchers can't say
without a doubt what goes on in the brain during sleep, but they believe that this is the time that your brain sorts thru information, stores information, replaces essential
chemicals & solves problems.
10 Tips to Get Better Sleep: Set yourself up to get a good night's sleep
The 5 Stages of Sleep - The Hypnagogic State
1st stage - drifting
off to sleep brain communicates messages -
During this stage,
the brain occasionally produces "awake" waves, or alpha waves, which have a frequency of 8 - 13 cycles per second. (Waves are the measurement of electrical impulses of neurons in the brain)
Most of stage 1 brain
waves are theta waves, at 4-7 cycles per second. These brain waves are slower, but they have high amplitude. For most
healthy sleepers, this stage of sleep doesn't last long, only a few minutes.
2nd stage - you're in a light sleep. You may wake up still from a noise or
a touch. Stage 2 of sleep has two unique patterns of brain waves. Sleep spindles, in which
the peaks of the waves get higher & higher in succession are followed by K-complexes in which the peaks descend.
During sleep spindles, the wave frequency is 12-14 cycles per second. Surprisingly, about 70% of sleepers awakened
during stage 2 sleep will claim to have already been awake.
Third stage - you're
in a deep sleep. The brain tells the blood pressure to go down, you're not very sensitive to the air temperature around you.
Stages 3 & 4, often both considered "deep
sleep," are characterized by delta brain waves, commonly called slow waves because of they have a very low frequency
(.5-4 cycles per second). 20-50% of stage 3 sleep usually consists of delta waves. More
than half of stage 4 sleep consists of delta waves. During this stage the rest of the brain waves are slow theta waves.
4th stage
- This stage is the deepest sleep of all. It's difficult to be awakened at this stage of
sleep. It's in this stage of sleep that people sleep talk & sleep walk. The following is what the body experiences during non-REM sleep:
- Heart rate decreases & stabilizes
- Breathing pace slows & steadies
- Muscles relax
- Blood vessels dilate (open
wider)
- Blood flow to muscles increases
- Blood pressure decreases
- Metabolic rate decreases about 20% from that
during wakefulness
5th stage - REM Sleep - Rapid Eye Movement
although your muscles are totally relaxed, your eyes move back & forth quickly & the heartbeat increases. This is
the stage when you dream.
As the night goes on you repeat stages 2, 3, 4 & REM
every 90 minutes thats about 4-5 times a night. REM sleep is also sometimes called paradoxical sleep because the brain waves are closer to those of being awake than to those of
any other type of sleep.
Body
Temperature
An average, healthy person's body temperature starts to decrease at about 11 PM. It then reaches
its lowest at about 4 AM. It continues to rise during the morning & after a slight mid-afternoon dip, the temperature
will rise to it's highest during the early evening. The range in body temperature throughout the day is typically about 1.1
degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit).
During the night,
humans have less concentration. (a personal note stuck in here... this is why I believe that the night eating syndrome is set into action with binge eating at night, your concentration is so compromised by being so sleep deprived.)
Our ability to
estimate time becomes worse. Accuracy in simple arithmetic deteriorates. Our arithmetic becomes worse. It even becomes
harder for us to do simple, repetitive tasks. The lowest point of these disabilities occurs around 3:00 AM.
All of these functions
are synchronized in Circadian Rhythms to our biological clock.
"Circadian rhythm" is an expression often used in the sleep research field. The word circadian
comes from the Latin Circa Diem, meaning "about a day." The circadian rhythm is a 24-hour biological cycle. All animals & most plants possess this & many other biological clocks.
At the base
of a human brain is the hypothalamus - a pinhead-sized structure. The suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus serves as a biological clock that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Information about light
travels from the retina to the hypothalamus thru the nerves.
The hypothalamus continually measures the light exposure, & accordingly adjusts the timing of the sleep-wake
cycle. For this reason, daylight savings time & solar eclipses present challenges to our biological clocks.
To prove that our circadian rhythm isn't just a reaction to external stimuli like daylight, alarm clocks or watches, but much more an internal biological action,
two German scientists conducted an experiment in which they locked up volunteers in a bunker where no sunlight could enter.
The volunteers were kept
there for 1 month without having any idea of the time it really was outside & were encouraged to go to bed whenever they
wanted. The results of the experiment after 1 month showed that the natural repetitive cycle for these volunteers came to
"settle" at above 24 hours, at about 25 hours (of which one third was spent asleep)!
How to Sleep When You Feel Upset
Read below about establishing a bedtime routine... this
is considered "healthy sleep hygiene."
Other
Important Factors for Healthy Sleep Habits
Use your bed only to sleep
& for sex. The bed has become our society's 2nd couch! We sleep, read, listen to music, watch TV, cry, daydream,
rest & sometimes even eat in it.
By doing so, we make
our mind forget what a bed is actually for. If we get in the habit to use the bed exclusively for
sleep, our mind will automatically say, "Hey, it's time to sleep"
the moment we lay ourselves into bed.
Keep televisions
out of the bedroom so you're not tempted to turn it on, thus again - being distracted from why you're in your bed - to sleep!
Exercise in the morning & in the early afternoon -
Apart from contributing to our health, exercise during
daytime also improves the quality & quantity of our stage-4 sleep. A greater amount
of stage-4 makes us feel fresh & relaxed the next morning.
So get your sport
shoes, because you now have another reason to exercise! Try going out for a mid-morning walk & take in some sunshine. Sunshine also enhances our
sleep. It also spurs the production of serotonin! Try to get some fresh air everyday... you'll feel better while you're awake & asleep!
Don't exercise in the evening - Although exercise is good for your health, it isn't a good idea doing strenuous physical exercise near bedtime. This programs your metabolism to still be in 4th gear for "daytime activity", while you would want
to be in a "Parking" gear for preparing for sleep.
You can feel free to take a "leisurely" walk after dinner, but strenuous exercise should be done at least 3-4 hours before bedtime, earlier if you're experiencing sleep
problems.
No alcohol prior to bedtime. Alcohol is known as a calming drug w/many using it as a "sleep promoter." It may help you fall asleep more easily, but more than just
about 1 gram of alcohol per kilogram of body weight, will negatively interfere w/your sleep rhythm.
This happens because
the Important Stage-4 sleep is decreased. The REM-Phases become shorter; our sleep seems more unstable & superficial.
Getting up the next
day is usually accompanied by the feeling of not having rested enough, better known as a "hangover". The alcohol can dramatically drop your blood sugar, causing you to wake up only a few hours after you have fallen
asleep.
No Stimulants after the early afternoon hours
Stop all caffeine consumption after
the early afternoon hours. Drink more water. If you must have coffee, try decaf, but only a few cups. Try drinking hot
tea that has no caffeine. There are many types available that can enhance your day & night time hours. Check on the
Lifestyle Diet Page for more information about this.
Always Avoid Nicotine. Nicotine
is a stimulant. Quitting smoking is a generally known step in changing your lifestyle for the better. Nicotine could affect
your sleeping habits also, so there is one more reason to "quit smoking."
Eat a light snack about an hour & a half before bedtime, but keep it light! Food
w/tryptophan, an amino acid, is thought to produce sleepiness. Some foods with tryptophan include milk, bananas, fish, &
turkey. The reason foods w/tryptophan are thought to enhance sleep is that tryptophan is essential in triggering the
production of serotonin in our bodies. Adequate amounts of Serotonin in our system is certainly a definitive factor
in calmness & sleep readiness.
Avoid spicy foods for the dinner meal. Eating spicy foods can cause indigestion, heartburn & acid reflux. Sometimes these
ailments can interrupt sleep.
Eat your biggest meal at lunch time. This
allows for plenty of time for your food to digest. Eating a lighter dinner is much better for you. You have a chance to burn
off that heavier meal earlier in the day than you do in the evening.
Stop looking at that clock after you go to bed! It's a well known bad habit: for some reason you have problems falling asleep & instead of
doing something good, you do the worst thing possible!
Looking at the clock on your bedside table only
makes you realize that another 30 minutes have passed & you're still not asleep! The worries created by knowing what time
it is will just contribute to your sleeplessness.
So next time when the clock is stealing your sleep,
simply turn it around so that you can't see the time.
Do not take naps in or after the late afternoon hours.
When tiredness sets in between noon and 4
p.m., an occasional nap may seem like the right quick fix solution. Naps do not substitute a good night's sleep. Keeping that
fact in mind, naps should not become a habit or be longer than an hour to avoid slipping into a REM sleep. Instead of beating
your tiredness by napping, try to find out if anything is interfering w/the quality of your night sleep or if you are lacking
quantity of sleep because of your napping. Experts generally advice to avoid naps when possible but, if necessary, to do a
30-40 minute, so-called, "power nap."
I can personally vouch for this tip. My sleep
habits are a mess right now. I go to bed very late at night, about 2-3 a.m. I wake up around 6 a.m. By the time I get home
from work or by 4 p.m. I am exhausted & can't keep my eyes open. I almost always take a nap. The nap unfortunately can
sometimes last for 5-6 hours. Sometimes, I am in such a deep sleep that I just can't wake up, even when I try. If I do wake
up too soon during a nap, my eyes will keep closing until I go back to sleep.
Then, when it's time to go to bed, I am not tired. It's a vicious cycle
that I am in & definitely not an easy one to break. I am trying to take my own advice on this habit though!
Keep the bedroom dark, quiet, & cool.
The only way for our body to adapt to the
ambient temperature while we enter deeper sleep stages is to perspire or activate our metabolism.
We should
be sure that our room is neither too warm nor too cold when we go to bed. Not doing so might strain our body, instead of giving
it a possibility to rest. Although our hearing senses are less sensitive during deep sleep phases, noise could disturb our
sleep while we are trying to fall asleep or even might interrupt it during one of the few Stage-1-REM Phases we have every
night. In this stage remember, our senses are more sensitive to external stimuli so we can be awakened easily by noise.
Don't lie awake worrying for too long. If you can't fall asleep for quite a while (over
30 minutes), don't let it eat itself into your mind. Instead, get up & do some simple activity, like reading
(but nothing too emotional or stimulating!) or listening to the radio. After awhile go back
to bed to try to sleep again.
When you feel awake & are thinking about problems:
A. Never think about problems in bed (or bedroom), instead go to B.
B. If you start thinking about problems, give yourself a choice.
1. Stop thinking about problem (set another time to think about it - - think about something else more positive & involving & relaxing - - for example, count sheep).
2.
Exercise &/or stretch / yoga
3.
Consciously decide to think about the problem (& exercise periodically).
4. If
can’t sleep - - do work (e.g., mop kitchen floor).
If you get a fear of not going to sleep, remember, “I’m not going to die from not sleeping”.
Attitude = “I’ll just see how long I can go without sleeping”.
Trust in your body to take care of its own sleep needs.
Keep pad &
pencil handy so you can write down anything you’re afraid you won’t remember &/or make a date to think about the problem later.
Avoid all medications for sleeping.
more exercise
reinforcing material!
In
a 1997 Study, the Journal of American Medical Association placed sedentary men & women w/sleep problems on a program
of moderate exercise. After 16 weeks the exercisers were getting to sleep twice as fast & sleeping more than 40 minutes longer each night.
Be
sure to incorporate a regular exercise routine to your Lifestyle Change Plan. Exercise also causes the body to produce "endorphines" which are chemicals of "well being" & happiness that take an edge off anxiety & depression.
Eating foods that are filled w/tryptophan, an amino acid which encourages the production of serotonin in our bodies, in the evening may help calm you for sleep. Serotonin has a relaxing & calming effect on us.
are
all packed w/serotonin.
Carbohydrate rich foods can enhance sleep because they trigger the brain to release the neurotransmitter known as serotonin, which produces a feeling of relaxation. Tryptophan, an amino acid, as stated before promotes the secretion of serotonin. Vitamin B3, which is niacin, when processed in the body is important in the production of tryptophan.
Sleep Problems During Pregnancy
During pregnancy,
it's not uncommon to contend w/sleep disturbances. These are usually due to anxiety & stress, hormonal fluctuations & physical discomfort. As your pregnancy progresses, you may find it more difficult to find a comfortable position, or
you may have to get up several times during the night to empty your increasingly cramped bladder.
But take heart!
Read our tips to get a better & more comfortable night's sleep. Critical rest time that your body & mind
need during this time is very important to consider.
1. Drink up! Drink
plenty of fluids during the day, but cut down before bedtime to minimize frequent nighttime urination.
2. Keep moving.
Exer
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