Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Your Mental Health Solution?

A lot of the time, some of the issues people have with anxiety and depression stem from our minds taking us to dark places when confronted with certain issues. According to Joyce Marter, a therapist in St. Louis Mo, “I see a number of young adults struggling to face disappointment. In general, our society does a poor job of preparing young people for the inevitable disappointments in life – even more so for those born with “bright futures.” Expectations for these individuals have always been high, whether self-imposed or inflicted by peer pressure or parents.” A lot of the time, while we can’t always change some of these events that happen to us, we can work to reframe them in a healthier way. Cognitive behavioral therapy is built on this idea, and its success is part of the reason why it is picking up steam in the psychology world.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, also known as CBT, is a type of psychotherapy that is based on working with a psychologist for a set number of sessions. During these sessions, the psychologist works with the patient in order to help them determine moments when they go into negative thinking or inaccurate thinking that could help them approaching challenging situations in a new manner. In some cases, CBT is used as a versatile tool to accompany other forms of mental treatment. Here are some key examples where it can be flexed in.

•    Managing major symptoms of mental illness.
•    Avoiding a relapse of mental illness symptoms.
•    Serving as a replacement for medication for treating a mental illness.
•    Coping with stressful life situations.
•    Finding ways to manage difficult emotions.
•    Helping find better ways to communicate and handle relationship issues.
•    Dealing with loss and grief.
•    Working through trauma stemming from abuse or violence.

In addition, some people use CBT outside of the mental health realm. It’s not unheard of for people to recommend CBT for those who are dealing with chronic physical health symptoms, in order to keep mental health problems from developing as well.

So, this is the various uses of CBT, but how exactly does it work out in practice? For example, let’s say that a person struggles with anxiety and constantly feels that every time they are in a social situation, that they are somehow going to end up bungling it or embarrassing themselves. What CBT can do is give them a set of tools and questions to go over with in their head when these situations pop up. For example, where are your feelings that you would somehow embarrass yourself coming from? What’s the likelihood of these things actually happening? Your therapist will help you put together these different ideas so you are able to slowly decipher the roots of your negative feelings and be able to essentially “think them” away.

Some of the major advantages of using CBT are that it is relatively easy to incorporate into situations where traditional medication isn’t necessarily working out. In addition, compared to other therapies, you can see results relatively quickly. It’s also versatile by nature of being talk therapy. People have applied CBT principles to a variety of settings, even using apps and books to easily distribute actionable advice.

As far as disadvantages go, CBT has minimal risks, but in some cases, it may not be the best fit for more extreme circumstances. For example, the moments where your therapist teaches you about your CBT procedures requires a set of extremely structured meetings. People with extreme mental health issues or learning difficulties may not be able to use this as they are not able to deal with the necessary structure. In addition, CBT won’t necessarily address outright family or other outside issues that may impact your mental health, mainly focusing on your own reactions to those. Other than that, to borrow a cliché, CBT is often what you make of it as far as results are concerned.

Ultimately, while cognitive behavioral therapy is growing in popularity among a lot of people seeking mental health support, no one strategy is going to be completely effective every single time. The best mindset to have is to try to have tempered expectations at first, so you don’t end up dumping it immediately if you don’t see massive results right after you get started. However, if you’re not happy after prolonged use of the concept, it may not be a bad idea to talk to your therapist to see what other options are on the table. Just be ready to explain in detail what your problems are so they can give the best answers possible.

This is a guest blog entry.

Should You Get a Personal Injury Lawyer After an Accident?

It’s quite difficult to determine whether you need a lawyer after an injury or not. One of the reasons is the misleading misconceptions about lawsuits involving personal injury. However, there are various scenarios where it might be best to get a local personal injury lawyer.

Immediately after an accident, it’s crucial for you to contact your lawyer, especially if you find yourself in any of the following situations:

The Accident Involved Serious Injuries and Requires Hospital Admission
 
With a serious injury, you may have to commit to extended medical care or even life-long care. The costs involved in this type of care is high.

To add salt to injury, your insurance company may decline or avoid paying for medical care since it’s expensive. Hiring a lawyer to represent you will increase the probability of you getting your compensation as well as other medical costs in the future.

The Injuries Might Have a Long-Term Effect on Your Health
 
Long-term effects due to an injury include changes to your lifestyle such as the inability to go back to your day job and special changes to your car and house not to mention the loss of your primary income for the remainder of your life.

These scenarios must be incorporated by the insurance company when determining a settlement offer.

You Have Missed a Number of Days of School, Work and Other Activities

If you miss school, lose your income due to the inability to go to work or are unable to engage in other activities you’d otherwise do often are some of the side-effects you may encounter after an accident.

The law allows you to seek compensation for any financial losses you might have incurred due to the accident.

You’re Facing Pain and Suffering, Emotional Trauma or Companionship Loss

Most of the injuries lead to emotional trauma, especially in children or in accidents that led to life-changing injuries.

A number of states allow victims of various injuries to seek compensation for emotional trauma. In other states, you can get the services of a lawyer to help you determine whether you can seek compensation for pain and suffering.

Your Insurance Company Isn’t Complying with their Own Terms

A number of insurance companies have been known to use underhanded tactics when issuing medical treatments, offering compensation and paying for damages.

They tend to “forget” select terms within their own policies with the aim of shortchanging the victim. Some companies outright decline to cater for the medical expenses simply because they want to save money.

You can get help from a lawyer to push the insurance company into state law and policy compliance.

Loss of a Family Member
 
Under the law, you seek compensation for wrongful death if an accident claimed the life of your family member. However, you might want to speak to your lawyer to know whether you qualify for this type of compensation.

Dependent children, spouse or direct family members can qualify for wrongful death. Nevertheless, there are other situations where the parents of the children who perished in an accident died as a result of an injury can claim wrongful death.

Confusion in the Medical Records, Police Report or Accident Report
 
If there’s any conflicting information in the insurance reports, medical reports or police reports, then you might lose out on a significant portion of your compensation.

If you learn of any conflicting information in any of the reports, it’ll be in your best interest to speak to a lawyer to guide you through the process.

In an accident, the first course of action is to take care of the injuries by seeking medical attention as soon as possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s a slight fall or a car accident, your life and health come first. After your situation is stable, you can talk to your lawyer.

Some of the insurance companies will try and evade paying for your medical costs or compensation for that matter. With a lawyer on your side, you can avoid these bottlenecks.

This is a guest blog entry.

Exercises for a Healthy Spine

It doesn’t matter if you currently have back pain or not. You should be looking at undertaking some basic exercises to keep your spine healthy for years to come. There are approximately 3.7 million Australians with spinal issues; you don’t want to be one of them.

Your spine is an essential part of your body; it supports your neck, head, shoulders and the rest of your upper body. As well as supporting your body it enables you to bend and twist easily. Doing this and offering protection for your spinal cord is a complex job; that’s why you need to take care of your spine and visit a spine surgeon if you experience any issues.

This is too important to take chances with. To help protect your spine and keep it healthy you should try doing some of these exercises:

Back Flexing

Lie on your back, bend your knees above your body and bring them into your chest. They should touch your chest as you lift your head forward. You’ll feel a gentle stretch in your lower back and neck.

Chesty Knees

Again you’ll need to lie on your back. However, this time you want your legs to be stretched out with your heels on the floor. Then lift one leg and bend it at the knee. Bring it towards you until the knee touches your chest. You can use both hands to get it there.

Let your knee return to normal and then repeat with the other leg.

Chin & Chest

Stand up and slowly lower your head forward; your chin is supposed to reach your chest if possible.

You’ll feel the stretch at the back of your neck. In fact it’s great for alleviating the pain that you get in the neck after sitting all day staring at the computer.

Ear & Shoulder 

This is a great one to do while you’re at work and taking a minute break from staring at the screen.

Slowly move your head to one side; the aim is to touch your shoulder to your ear or to get as close as possible. You stop the movement as soon as you feel the stretch in your neck.

Hips

Stand up again and place your feet shoulder width apart. Now step back with your right foot only. It only needs to be a small step.

Next you can bend your left knee, moving your weight onto your right hip as you do so. You’ll then need to keep your right leg straight as you slide your hand down your right leg. You’ll feel the stretch in the outer hip.

The Press Up

This is actually a cross between the press up and the plank.

Lie on your front and place your hands flat on the floor below your shoulders. Then slowly push yourself upwards; bending at the waist. You’re aiming to get your arms straight although don’t be surprised if you can’t do this on the first attempt.

You’ll feel it pulling at the bottom of your back, don’t overdo it.

With a little exercise you can prevent or even get rid of back pain; try these today!

This is a guest blog entry.

3 Reasons to Regularly Visit a Holistic Wellness Center

With regards to your well-being, you need to do whatever you can to improve it and keep it that way for a long time. Being proactive is basic in accomplishing ideal well-being and health. Neglecting to have good habits and checking in with health or holistic professional institutions could put you in danger for both minor and real health challenges that could have been stayed away from. By going to a holistic wellness center, you will have amazing results on your health and mental state in the long term. Here are 3 reasons why you should visit Holistic Wellness Centers on a regular basis.

Source: www.pixabay.com

1. Regulars visits to Holistic Wellness Centers improve your general health.

By visiting Holistic Wellness Centers, you improve your present well-being, and can likewise distinguish any potential issues in the future, before they turned out to be more serious not far off. In the event that your blood pressure is winding up strangely high, for example, your wellness professionals can separate the absolute best approaches to bring it down, for example, exercising and eating less sugary types of foods. This will help keep your well-being in good shape and may even counteract future issues, for example, strokes and heart-attacks.

Source: www.pixabay.com

2. Fixing health issues internally, doesn’t fix symptoms.

One of the advantages of going to holistic centers regularly is its commitment to finding the wellspring of an issue by surveying a patient's physical condition, as well as his or her psychological and enthusiastic state. This is different from automatically prescribing a medication that doesn’t really settle the issue and continues to result in regular symptoms.  In case you start to experience headaches, for instance, you may basically depend on over-the-counter medications as a cure. Be that as it may, when you visit a holistic wellness center, you may find out that your headaches are really being caused by a back issue you need to manage. So as opposed to taking meds, you get chiropractic care and needle therapy to enable yourself to get back on your feet again.

Source: www.pixabay.com

3. Holistic Wellness Centers offer so much more. 

On top of everything, these centers have so many other things to offer. So, you’ll find something else that is beneficial. If you have any issues with your skin, for example, there will be an aesthetician there to help you with that. Confidence is a huge part of good well-being. If you have any issues regarding your body or your looks, holistic centers can take care of that as well.

Source: www.pixabay.com

Looking for a Hope Therapy and Wellness Center? Look no more and click on the link!

Holistic Wellness Centers are something you should visit regularly. Just remember, when you say that you don’t have the time, you work a lot and you deserve it. Everybody should have some time to pamper themselves, inside and out. So, take the time to care of yourself before anyone or anything else. 

This is a guest blog entry.

Microdosing Using Cannabis for Sleep

Microdosing with cannabis is becoming an increasingly popular way for people to finally get the sleep that they’re craving!

Across North America, more and more people are turning to cannabis to solve a myriad of health concerns. As the legalization of cannabis for both medicinal and recreational use increases across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, more and more health professionals are looking at cannabis as a safer alternative to pharmaceutical sleeping tablets and pain medication.

Microdosing takes what you think about using cannabis and reverses it. Instead of utilizing large amounts of cannabis high in THC and CBD, microdosing involves using the least amount of cannabis possible. It may seem odd at first, but microdosing is rapidly gaining popularity among medical marijuana users.

Microdosing with Cannabis To Help Improve Sleep

Most strains of marijuana contain both CBD and THC cannabinoids. They are the two most predominant cannabinoids found in cannabis. THC is responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis, while CBD is more therapeutic.If you suffer from sleep problems, then you’re going to want to try and focus on using strains which are high in THC and low in CBD.

Indica strains of cannabis are the preferred strain for people looking to sleep more as Sativa strains often come with a boost in energy levels not ideal for sleep. While cannabis has been used for thousands of years as a medicinal substance, being classified as a narcotic in the early 20th century has slowed down a lot of research into cannabis. Researchers around the world are scrambling to discover more about cannabis and unlock all its secrets.

ScienceDirect.com published a study in 2006 called “Cannabidiol, a constituent of Cannabis Sativa modulates sleep in rats” which studied the effects of both CBD and THC and their correlation to sleep. Cannabis science is a very fluid area of science at the moment, with hundreds of studies currently underway into the effects of cannabis and cannabinoids on the human body.

One of the most interesting discoveries is that strains of cannabis which are high in cannabinol (CBN) can produce better sleep results. CBN is found in higher amounts of cannabis which is older or aged. According to Steep Hill labs and other groups, CBN has five times the level of sedation compared to either THC or CBD. Unfortunately, cannabis dispensaries often have very high turnovers of their products. This means that cannabis isn’t sitting around on their shelves aging which results in lower levels of CBN.

Cannabis and Microdosing

Microdosing with cannabis is a growing trend which involves using as little cannabis as possible to get the medicinal benefit you’re looking for. It isn’t the easiest method to get used to, but so far, the results look promising. Many people utilize cannabis-infused edibles for microdosing with cannabis as it can be easier to measure dosages. It’s important that you start off with very small dosages and then increase again until you begin to feel the cannabis effects. The goal of cannabis microdosing is to achieve the desired results without using excessive amounts of cannabis which can sometimes be counter-productive.

This is a guest blog entry.

Common Concerns for Elderly People Staying at Home

If being able to stay at home is important to you as you grow older, then there will no doubt be quite a few concerns that you have about safety, getting around, and other daily life activities. However, as long as you plan in advance, there is no reason why you should not be able to grow old at home. Here, we are taking you through some of our resolutions to common concerns many people have about growing old at home.

Getting Around
One of the main concerns that many people have about whether the home they are currently in will be suitable for them in their old age is simply getting around it. If you are already having trouble walking, you can always invest in either a walker or an electric chair or scooter. There are also services out there that will help you get around outside of your home town, for example, if you need someone to go with you to the doctor or to go shopping with you. You may also want to look into what public transportation is near your home if you no longer drive a car or won’t be able to in the future.

Activities and Social Life
For many older people, they can quickly become lonely at home, especially when living alone. It is a good idea to check out any local community centres to see what range of activities they have to offer as this is a great way to meet new people and hopefully develop some new friendships too. If it is too hard for you to leave your home, then you can always look into volunteer organizations who are able to stop by or call a few times a week to keep you company or discuss any problems that you may be facing.

Safety
When living at home as an elderly person, one of the biggest concerns that many people have is the safety aspect. Not every neighbourhood will be the best and so some elderly people may be scared of crime, physical abuse or even losing money because of a scam. Another common concern for those who live alone is becoming sick and not having anyone around to help. An emergency alert system can help with this and all you need to do is push a special button that you wear and an emergency medical personnel will be called.

Housing
When it comes to your actual home, there are a few changes that you can make which will make things easier and safer to live in. This can include putting a ramp at the front door and installing a stairlift if you struggle to get up the stairs, fitting non-skid flooring, and adding more comfortable door handles to turn. The bathroom is always the biggest challenge to adapt and make suitable for an elderly person and you will need to change things such as adding grab bars in your bath or shower. To make life easier for you, there’s a recent article by Mobility Plus that details the many different options available to you with your bathroom.

Daytime Help
If you live with someone else but they are not always around to take care of you, for example if they are out working, then you may need some help from others. There are services that will send someone to your home during the day to help you with any daily tasks that you may need to do.

This is a guest blog entry.