Category Archives: Self-care

The 20-5-3 Rule

This Prevention article outlines Dr. Rachel Hopman’s, a neuroscientist at Northeastern University, new 20-5-3 rule for spending time outside. Generally, it is 20 minutes outside for three days a week. 5 hours each month you should spend in nature. 3 days you should spend off the grid each year. The article discusses the mental health …

The Pandemic Wall

Recently, it feels like a lot of us have been hitting a wall. It’s normal to be feeling burnt out with everything that’s happened since the pandemic first started. There is a scientific explanation for this: as the article explains, when we experience a stressful event, our system activates its fight-or-flight response. Typically, the brain …

Another Disease Called Loneliness

In a Scientific American article, researchers discuss the effects that social isolation has had on the population. Statistics suggest that even prior to the pandemic, poor social health was an issue for many people, with 79 percent of Gen Zers, 71 percent of millennials and 50 percent of baby boomers reporting a feeling of loneliness. …

Insomnia: Restoring Restful Sleep

For many people, sleep is an elusive thing. This Harvard Medical School paper goes through the science of normal sleep and then dives into the body’s internal clock and insomnia. About 10% of American adults experience chronic insomnia and experience not only restless nights but also dangerous daytime symptoms: drowsiness, impaired concentration, and depression. The …

New Year Blues

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and the “New Year’s Blues” continue to affect many people this time of year, with an estimated average of 10 million people reporting symptoms. When seasonal depression coincides with the holiday period, it’s often exacerbated by feelings of tension, uncertainty, social conflict, changed sleep patterns, and increased alcohol consumption. This year …

How Microbes Can Help You Sleep

Recent studies from the University of Tsukuba in Japan have shown that intestinal health has a very close connection with healthy brain function. Gut bacteria may influence your sleep patterns by helping to create important chemical messengers such as serotonin and dopamine. The study’s lead author, Professor Masashi Yanagisawa, stated that “microbe depletion eliminates serotonin …

Emotional Safety Nets for Men?

Though mental illness has never discriminated, men typically find it more difficult to talk about their problems than women do, often influenced by societal pressures to remain silent. Men suffer from anxiety and depression far more than we realize, but often mask it behind greater anger, substance abuse, and risky behaviors. This often leads to …

What is Light Therapy?

Seasonal depression is sometimes used as a punchline during the winter, but for many, the waning daylight has a very real effect on one’s mental health. You may experience mood swings, shifts in eating habits, and decreasing energy levels, and for some, the symptoms are so severe that winter disrupts their entire lives. Recently, research …