Loneliness and Being Alone

 

 

Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling of isolation, disconnectedness or abandonment. It may sound quite scary to hear that the feelings of loneliness have been linked to depression, loss of sleep, an increased risk of stroke and high blood pressure.

 

It can also be said to be a feeling of disconnectedness or isolation that makes it almost difficult for one to communicate or associate with others.

 

 

It is important to note here that Solitude sometimes leads to feelings of loneliness, this is not always the case. This complex emotional response affects people in differs ways. Hence, it varies from person to person. Some individuals prefer being by themselves and do not feel lonely in any way, even after an extended period of solitude.

 

 

Loneliness is a complex emotional response which affects people in differs ways. People experience loneliness when they can’t communicate or connect with other people. This indicates that they do not necessarily have to be alone to feel lonely, especially they are surrounded by people who don’t feel comfortable communicating with.

 

 

Loneliness can set in in the following conditions:

 

* Feeling of isolation that comes with an unmet expectation or unreturned feeling

* Crying, but no one is watching or caring.

* When a huge sense of emotional abandonment is felt.

* When one struggle to get attraction but to no avail.

* When you begin to blame yourself for an action already carried out.

 

 

The Effects of Solitude

 

Being alone affects each of us differently. While many people tend to view being alone or social isolation as a negative scenario, it can also have a positive side. Being alone gives us time to think, which can help to improve our concentration and other cognitive functions. It also gives us time to reflect on our experiences and process what is going on in our lives.

 

Getting some time to yourself also helps in avoiding overstimulation or stress brought on by too much of social interaction.

 

Being alone is not always a good thing. However, Studies have shown that complete social isolation can have a negative impact on our Wellbeing, even if we do not feel lonely. If we go for a long time without talking to anyone, it can alter our listening and communication skills or ability. It is important to interact with someone often, whether it’s a friend, relative or even someone more distant like a stranger.

 

 

Being lonely and being alone are closely related, they are two entirely different things. Sometimes, being alone can be a good thing, especially if you need to unwind or ponder on issues.

 

But, being lonely is almost never a positive thing. If you feel you are lonely, take every step within your limit and make a connection with someone. You will be glad you did.

 

 

Mental Effects of Loneliness

 

The feelings of loneliness tend to fade once an individual start to once again interacts with others, periods of chronic loneliness are typically more long-lasting and have a serious negative impact on overall mental health. What follows is a few of the mind-related effects that can crop up due to chronic loneliness.

These effects include:

 

• Stress- The prolonged periods of loneliness have been shown to increase the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Having high levels of cortisol in your blood for long periods of time can lead to heightened levels of anxiety and depression. On a worse scenario, this anxiety can cause one to shy away from hanging out with people or socializing. This keeps you from getting rid of the loneliness.

 

• Poor Sleep Quality- It will be hard to fall asleep when you’re feeling lonely. Dwelling on feelings of isolation makes it difficult to clear, relax and get a peaceful night’s sleep. Also, the high cortisol levels associated with chronic loneliness also make it hard for us to fall asleep and stay asleep.

 

• Substance Abuse- Instances of alcoholism or substance abuse are common in people who suffer from chronic loneliness. Some people tend to turn to these substances when they feel like they don’t have anyone to talk to. They keep drinking alcohol until they become drunk, just because they want to forget that you feel lonely. This act does not actually address the factors that make them feel lonely.

 

• Negative Self-Image- Feeling lonely can have a major impact on the way that you view yourself. It brings about inferiority complex, which may create the mind of feeling like you are doing something wrong or a feeling that the loneliness is your fault somehow. Not only can these self-defeating thoughts further your anxiety and depression, they may also keep you from having positive interactions in the future.

 

• Feeling Withdrawn – Loneliness often makes one feel withdrawn and not to want to make a connection or contact with other people.

 

 

 

 

Physical Effects of Loneliness

 

Loneliness can have extreme physical effects on the body over time as well.

 

• Higher Blood Pressure- Also known as Hypertension, is a condition that increases your risk of heart attack and stroke. Studies have shown that people who experienced modest levels of loneliness are more likely to develop high blood pressure later in their life.

It is known that Blood pressure is as much as 30% higher in people who experience loneliness than people who do not

 

 

• Loss of Sleep – A Research believed there is a connection between loneliness and insomnia. It also revealed that lonely people slept about 30 minutes less than other people. Depression plays a major role as to why people suffering from loneliness experience a loss of sleep and is often associated with insomnia.

 

• Dietary Issues- People who experience loneliness are more likely to suffer from a poor diet, due to a lack of appetite. Sufferers of loneliness are less motivated to cook meals for themselves or eat in their homes. Hence, turn to ready-made meals that very often lack key nutrients. It is known that poor dietary meals lead to weight gain, thereby increases health risks.

 

 

 

One key effect of loneliness tends to affect our health from inside our body. This is the continues production of cortisol due to chronic loneliness. This activity may have a bad effect on the immune system, thereby making it difficult to fight off infection and illness. It also raises prolactin levels, which increases your sensitivity to pain, making muscle aches and headaches seem worse than they ought to be. Excessive levels of cortisol hyper-sensitizes your brain to pain, so headaches may happen very suddenly due to even slight nerve activity.

 

Being lonely is just as bad for you physically as it is mental. Think about all the conditions mentioned here, the next time loneliness strikes. Remember, by doing all that you can to interact with people, you’ll be helping your physical being as well.

 

 

Many people usually underestimate the negative impact that loneliness can have on a person’s mental and emotional Wellbeing. If you think that you are feeling lonely, don’t be afraid to reach out for help. It may be difficult to overcome loneliness by yourself. But with the help of your family members, friends, and associates, one will be taking steps toward feeling less isolated and giving life a meaning.

Top Lifestyle Diseases

                                       

Heart Disease

Heart disease is one deadly killer leading cause of death of men and women in our present day. Although some cases of heart disease have a family history behind it, there is much that we can do to prevent heart disease in the future.

 

A basic understanding of heart disease is a good place to start.

 

This occurs when the small blood vessels of the heart become clogged with bad cholesterol and toxins, thereby narrowing of these blood vessels. The clogging particles build up and cause what is known as hardening of the arteries.

 

Once fatty materials start to deposit into the arteries, it becomes tough for blood and oxygen to reach the heart through those pathways. Hence, the heart can no longer receive vital blood and oxygen. Heart attack occurs.

 

While some factors such as family history play a role in heart disease, there are also ways to prevent or eradicate the chances of this deadly illness. This can be done by learning as much about the preventative measures; it is a wise and healthy choice.

Symptoms

 

Some symptoms that you should be aware of when it comes to the health of your heart may be noticeable, while other symptoms are subtle. In whichever case, when such symptom is experienced, a visit with your doctor is imperative.

 

* Shortness of breath could develop from anything from heart disease to asthma. If you are short of breath, do not hesitate to visit your doctor. Do not take it for granted. Visit your doctor.

 

* Dizziness or fainting are symptoms that something is wrong in your body system. If you experience both dizziness and shortness of breath, ensure you visit your doctor.

 

* Pressure – Pressure associated with heart disease is a huge sign that something is wrong. The pressure in your chest or in your arm, neck, and shoulders could be indicative of heart disease.

 

* Fatigue – Sometimes we view fatigue as something that will go away on its own. However, if you have fatigue, it could be your body warning you that something is going wrong somewhere down the road. You may be able to ward it off if you act early enough.

 

Other causes of Heart Disease include high blood pressure, heart disorders, obesity, a lack of exercise, and smoking.

 

 

 Diabetes – A large number of new cases of diabetes are diagnosed every year

Types of diabetes:

Type I

This can also be called juvenile onset diabetes, it occurs in people under the age of 25. Here, the pancreas becomes an auto-immune problem (the body attacks its own pancreatic cells) whereby the pancrea is disabled and can no longer produce insulin. Type I often run in families and will affect the person for the rest of his or her life. Insulin will be required and perhaps other medications throughout the diabetic’s life.

 

Type II

This type of diabetes usually occurs later in life. Its symptoms are similar to Type I, as excessive thirst, unexplained weight loss, frequent urination, fatigue, tingling in the extremities, etc are experienced. – but Type II can often be managed with diet and exercise, especially if detected early. Some sources note that it never really “goes away,” but its severity varies.

Type II diabetics usually have a functioning pancreas; it just doesn’t produce enough insulin, or the insulin it does produce is not processed or recognized by the body any longer ( known as insulin resistance).

Causes:

Diabetes can be triggered by unhealthy, sugar-rich diets and a sedentary lifestyle. This makes the pancreas to become exhausted trying to keep the blood sugar down in response to the constant influx of sugar from the diet.

 

Other possibilities for triggers include high blood pressure and stress. Although this may not have been proven, individuals with high blood pressure are statistically more likely to develop diabetes than those with normal blood pressure.

Stress is often thought by medical professionals that prolonged, unrelieved stress increases the risk of diabetes. Sometimes the stress is caused by trauma or emotional disturbance, somehow making the individual susceptible to developing diabetes.

 

 

 Obesity

According to Wikipedia, ‘Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have a negative effect on health’

Since obesity is primarily a result of poor diet and/or lack of exercise and is a risk factor for many serious medical complications and even premature death, it is one of the most significant lifestyle diseases of the modern world.

Are you over-weight? The Body Mass Index (BMI) is one important index to determine obesity. The BMI is a person’s weight in kilograms (kg) divided by his or her height in meters squared.

Causes of obesity:

Most likely reasons that lead to obesity include; overeating, lack of exercise, genetic predisposition, psychological problems and extremely slow metabolism.

Effect of obesity

Obesity can result in reduced life expectancy, heart disease due to high cholesterol level. It increases stress on the body joints.

To keep obesity at bay, you must endeavor to shade off excessive weight through dieting and exercise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Cancer

Cancer is said to be a wild growth of abnormal cells in the body. Cancer occurs when the body’s normal control mechanism fails to function.   Body cells do not last forever. When these cells become old, they do not die; instead grow out of control, forming new, abnormal cells (this is not a normal situation). These abnormal extra cells may form a bulk of tissues called a tumor. However, it must also be noted they are different types of cancers, but not all of them forms a tumor. (a good example is leukemia. it does not form tumors).

There are over 150 different types of cancer, while many factors are beyond your control, you can reduce your risk through a variety of lifestyle choices.

 

 

 

How to Help Prevent Cancer

In most cases, cancer is an abnormal development of cell due to a certain lifestyle of choice. This includes lifestyles like smoking, excessive exposure of oneself to sunlight, exposure to certain toxins among others.

However, there are certain proactive steps you can take to help prevent cancer. Stay healthy.

 

How You Can Prevent Cancer from Happening to You

If there is no trace of cancer in your family history, then you probably will not wish to raise cancer tendencies. Prevent cancer by taking the following proactive steps;

 

1. Reduce your sugar intake. It has been proven beyond all reasonable doubt that cancer develops and flourishes very well in a glucose-rich environment. A lifestyle with more sugar and less oxygen can increase the chances/risk of getting cancer.

 

2. Endeavour to maintain a proper body potential Hydrogen (pH). A reasonable high pH level is Alkaline and rich in oxygen. Cancer does not flourish in an alkaline environment. To keep your pH above 7.0, drink a lot of water, reduce the amount of meat in your meal, reduce your consumption of sweets, and eat a lot of raw vegetables.

 

3. Regular exercise to keep your body active to eliminate any form of abnormal cell development even at an early stage.

 

4. Get enough and the right amount of sleep. Your body needs that time or rest to rejuvenate cells.
5. Vitamin and mineral supplements will help maintain and check healthy body chemistry.
6. Don’t use tobacco products. This goes for smoking or chewing. Tobacco products are linked to many different types of Cancer including lung, bladder, cervix, kidney, oral cavity, and pancreas.

If you avoid tobacco products at all costs, then you might have reduced the risks of developing cancer.

7. Use a sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor to protect yourself from excessive sunshine. Avoid excessive midday sun. It destroys the skin’s melanin. In addition, avoid skin bleaching.
8. Ensure you are up to date on your immunizations. This protects you from certain types of viruses which are capable of limiting your chances of getting cancers. Hepatitis B and the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) are two key vaccines to take note in this case. HPV is associated with cervical cancer.
9. Avoid risky lifestyles such as unsafe sex and sharing needles/sharp objects which can lead to infections. HIV or AIDS increases the chances of getting cancer of the liver, anus etc. This is a sexually transmitted disease. Sharing needles increases your chances of Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C.
10. Ensure you keep a date with your doctor regularly to screen for cancers. This will help diagnose any problem and prevent it from metamorphosing into cancer.

 

Nothing, in life, is guaranteed. However, you will be healthy if you adhere to these tips.

 

 

 Hypertension

This is a long-term condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries remains high. The blood pressure is a quantity of the force with which your blood is pumped around your body. It can also be said to be the pressure that your pumped blood places on the walls of your arteries that carry blood away from your heart.

High blood pressure is often a result of a fatty diet, and a failure to exercise regularly. Stress can also be contributing factor.

It must be mentioned that for many people, high blood pressure has no symptoms whatsoever. Even in a situation where someone is suffering a symptom that could suggest a blood pressure problem, this sign may be so mild that it may look like there is nothing wrong.

 

 

Factors that cause High Blood Pressure

• Being seriously overweight or obese.
• Sleep apnea – This is a brief period when you stop breathing while asleep. This, in turn, causes a pause in breathing. When you make effort to breathe, the air that squeezes past the blockage can cause loud noise termed as snoring. Overweight people are particularly susceptible to this kind of situation.
• Lack of exercise causes your heart works harder to pump blood around the body
• The family history of high blood pressure is quite likely to create a similar problem.
• Tobacco usage – Certain chemicals in cigarettes and tobacco can cause damage to blood vessel walls, thereby increasing the work that your heart has to do to pump blood around your body.
• Stress can be a big contributory factor to high blood pressure.
• Excessive Sodium (salt) intake can result in increased fluid retention, which in turn leads to increased blood pressure.
• Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of heart problems, particularly if this excessive consumption is continued over a long period of time.

 

Effects of High Blood Pressure

Brain problems: Uncontrolled blood pressure can result in damaged or narrow blood vessels in the brain,

By restricting blood flow to a certain part of the brain can cause the cells of that particular area of your brain to cease functioning either temporarily or permanently. Hence, that part of your brain dies and that carries a significant risk such as death.

 

Kidney problems

The main function of the kidneys is to filter your blood to remove unwanted waste products which are then discharged from the body. If there is a kidney problem, the ability to function is somehow reduced. Hence, a kidney damage can take place.

 

 

Limbs and eyes

It can damage any area of your body where there are blood vessels. Hence, it is possible that high blood pressure can have an adverse effect on both your eyesight and movement of parts of the body.

 

 

 

 

 Cirrhosis of the Liver This is the damaging of the liver due to

This is the damaging of the liver due to the effect of alcoholism. It is accompanied by an inflamed liver, weakened consciousness, a loss of appetite, as well as jaundice. It is irreversible and results in premature death.

Wise Ways to a Healthier Heart

 

 

Due to the growing number of fatalities attributed heart diseases, there is need to get you informed concerning things you can do to arrest an unhealthy state of the heart.

Several changes have altered the original state of lots of hearts. Hence, it is your responsibility to identify those factors that can put the heart in good lasting, working condition.

 

 

Wellbeing Digest hereby presents vital information ranging from nutrition to good lifestyle. This will support the health of your heart.

1. Focus on your abdomen: Research into the Journal of the American College of Cardiology has connected excess belly fat to an unhealthy blood lipid level and higher blood pressure. It is time to slim down the extra fat that you have developed around your abdomen. Exercising and eating low-calorie foods can make a great difference.
2. Stop smoking: Smoking is one of the chief risk factors for heart disease. If you use other tobacco products or smoke, the American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Blood Institute all encourage you to stop. It can make a big difference to your heart as well as your overall health.
3. Engage your hands: Put your hands to work to reduce stress, and unwind your mind. Engaging in activities such as crocheting, knitting, and sewing can help you relieve stress and do your heart some good. Other relaxing hobbies, such as completing jigsaw puzzles, cooking, or woodworking is other relaxing hobbies that take the edge off your stress.
4. Let the music move you: Whatever dance step you prefer, dancing makes your heart better. Like other forms of exercise, it increases your heart beat rate and gets your legs into motion. This can also burn up a good amount of calories per hour.
5. Switch to fish: Eat a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids can also get rid of heart disease. Many types of fish, such as herring, sardines, salmon, and tuna are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

If you’re worried about mercury in fish, you may be excited to learn that the heart benefits of fish tend to outweigh its risks. Alternatively, you may go supplement (remember to consult your doctor). However, it is good to note that the only time supplements become essential are when your diet is lacking or when certain health disorders cause you to develop the Omega-3 Fatty acids deficiency.

6. Laugh aloud: Laughter is a medicine that improves Wellbeing. Laugh aloud in your daily life. Whether you like cracking jokes with your friends, watching funny movies, or cracking jokes with your loved ones, laughter can decrease the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, decreasing inflammation in your coronary arteries and can increase your levels of HDL (high-density lipoproteins, also known as “good cholesterol.”
7. Stretch your muscles: Yoga can help you improve your flexibility, strength, and balance. It can help you relieve stress and relax. Moreover, yoga can improve your heart health. According to scientific research published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, yoga has the potential to reduce your risk of heart disease.
8. What about a little alcohol? —moderate consumption of an alcoholic beverage can help you increase your high-density lipoprotein levels.

According to the Mayo Clinic, you can drink red wine in particular as it may offer benefits that may help your heart. It doesn’t mean you should have alcohol at every meal. It just means that you can help prevent artery damage and blood clot formation.

9. Skip the salt—If the entire US population reduced its mean salt intake to just a half teaspoon per day, it would significantly decrease the number of people who develop heart artery disease each year. Researchers suggest that salt is one of the leading causes of increased health care costs in the US. Processed foods tend to be particularly high in salt. Therefore, you need to think twice before eating a lot of fast food.
10. Exercise regularly: It doesn’t matter how much you weigh, sitting for long periods of time could decrease your lifespan. People who live desk jockey lifestyles or are couch potatoes suffer from unhealthy effects on blood sugar and blood fats. If you work at a desk, take regular breaks and move around a bit. Take a walk on your lunch breaks and eat your lunch while walking.

By continuously raising and lowering your heart rate through simple exercise/workout, you can have a better vascular function. This does not only burn calories but increases the body’s detoxification process.

11. Keep track of your numbers: Keeping track of your blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol, and blood sugar can help you maintain a healthy heart. Learn the optimal levels for your age group and sex. Take steps to maintain those levels, your doctor can tell you how. Remember to schedule regular checkups with your physician to stay on top of the numbers, and get regular checkups.
12. Eat chocolate: Eat dark chocolate. It is not only tasty but it contains heart-healthy flavonoids. These molecules help decrease your risk of heart disease.

According to researchers at the Journal Nutrients. Eating low amounts of dark chocolate, not milk chocolate can be good for you. The next time you want to eat some sweets, eat a small amount of dark chocolate. You don’t have to feel guilty about that.

13. Do more housework: Mopping up the floor or vacuuming may not be as intense as a fitness or workout class. The nut can help improve your heart health. They can burn calories while giving your heart a workout. Put on your favorite music and carry out a domestic activity.
14. Eat some nuts: If you eat walnuts, almonds, and other tree nuts, you will get a lot of fiber, protein, and fats. Including them in your diet can help decrease your risk of heart disease. Remember that the serving size is small, suggests the American Heart Association. While nuts are full of heart-healthy stuff, they also have a lot of calories in them.
15. Feel like a child: Fitness doesn’t have to be a boring thing. Let your inner child take the lead by enjoying an evening of laser tag, bowling, or roller-skating. You can have fun while burning calories.
16. Reduce unhealthy fat intake: Slicing your saturated fat to less than 7% of your daily calories can decrease your risk of heart disease. Learn to read the nutrition label before buying or consuming foods. If you don’t read nutrition labels, consider starting today. Take stock of what you are eating and stay away from foods that are high in fat, particularly saturated fat.
17. Take the scenic route home: Forget the shortest, but traffic congested route home and take the scenic route so you can enjoy your ride. Eliminating stress while driving can help you reduce your blood pressure and stress levels. That is something your heart will appreciate.
18. Make some time for breakfast: The first meal of the day is most important. Eating a nutritious high fiber and high protein breakfast helps you to maintain a healthy weight and optimal levels of energy throughout the day. To build a heart-healthy meal, reach for fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy, such as cheese, yogurt, or low-fat milk, lean protein sources, such as a small serving of nuts or peanut butter, and fiber found in whole grains, such as oatmeal, whole grain cereals, or whole-wheat toast.
19. Use the stairs: Exercise is crucial for good heart health, so why not sneak it in every chance you get. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. What about parking far away from the real destination and walking further? Walk over to a colleague’s desk to talk, instead of just emailing them. Take your kids out and run around. Play a sport every weekend instead of just sitting on the couch and watching TV or playing video games. Every little bit of these outdoor activity adds up to better heart health.

How Identity Theft trouble can alter your Wellbeing

 

In a simple term, Identity theft is the deliberate use of someone else’s identity such as social security number and other personal and financial data to gain a financial advantage and other benefits.

These days, people are enticed by Banks to get their own credit card. The reasons for doing so are because a cashless economy is being encouraged and offer extreme shopping incentive. Hence, many people tend to be motivated to get a credit card. But do not realize that the way they use their credit cards can greatly affect their Wellbeing. Fraudulent activities by criminals are becoming popular as they target victims that carelessly use their credit cards whenever they go shopping.

 

People should take note that one of the most prevalent credit card rip-offs in the society today is the identity theft, as no day goes by without such report.

 

It is important to know how to avoid getting into trouble by;

 

1. Protect your vital personal/financial data: Never entertain phone calls that require you to give any personal data or information, even if the caller says he is from the bank that issued your credit card.

 

2. Avoid freebies and offers that involve credit cards: In case you are offered with some promotions requiring you to give some personal information. Freebies will entice you to try it. In the end, it may be too late to realize that you have just been a victim of an identity theft.

 

3. Do not carry your Credit/Debit card around: The problem with most people is that they tend to carry their cards wherever they are. You will never know what will happen while you are in a public place, where identity theft could just be lurking around, waiting for its next victim. To play safe, endeavour to stop this bad habit.

 

Your credit/debit card

Let’s imagine that you decide to fire your boss after you made good savings from your salary. You decide to invest in a business from all you have saved over the years.  Then, just one evening, you notice several bank transaction alerts to your mobile phone. Your account via your credit/debit card is ruined, and your future dream may never be a reality.  An identity thief did all these.

 

The above scenario may be imaginary, but similar situations have happened and may continue to happen to people especially if they give themselves over to ignorance.  Remember the Book of Life says ‘’people perish because they lack knowledge’’ When this kind of scenario happens to you, your entire WellBeing will be altered. Don’t wait to become a victim of victims of identity theft.

 

Here are a few ways to protect yourself from business and personal identity theft

 

1. Only use your card at ATM you know and trust. Make sure there is nothing unusual, as fraudsters may plant hidden a camera to harvest PINs of a victim.
2. Do not give out your card number online unless the site is secure (look for a closed lock at the address bar of your browser)
3. Avoid reaching into your wallet or purse in front of the machine. Someone could snatch it while you are distracted
4. When waiting in line at an ATM, stand a reasonable distance away from the person using the machine. Respect other people’s privacy.
5. Remember your Personal Identification Number (PIN). Don’t write it on your card or keep it in your wallet. Without the PIN, a stolen card cannot be used to get cash at an ATM or be used to make purchases at electronic POS terminals through ATM networks.
6. Do not give out your Credit/Debit Card number out over the phone unless you initiated the call. It is not in the policy of financial institution personnel to ask for your Credit/Debit Card number. They have it.
7. Report to the Bank, the loss, theft, or fraudulent activity immediately
8. Check your monthly e-statement for any transactions you didn’t carry out. If detected, immediately report to your Bank.
9. Avoid counting cash while at the ATM queue. You may be tempting a criminal.
10. Avoid carrying multiple ATM cards, as this will reduce the possibility of a loss.
11. Instead of using your regular Credit/Debit card online, get a pre-paid card and load e-cash only when you need to carry out a transaction online.
12. Never give your PIN to anyone. If you trust that person, it can be leaked to a third party with a criminal mind.
13. Ensure you do not use simple PIN to your Credit/Debit card. Also, ensure you change the default PIN on collection.
14. Ensure you destroy your ATM transaction. Don’t just throw them away, as it may be used it for different criminal activities which can land you in trouble.
15. Never respond to any request from anyone requesting you send your PIN or CVV. If you reveal all these, fraudsters may operate your account from anywhere.

 

 

Don’t be a victim online

What will you do if you receive an email from your bank telling or warning that your update your bank account data or your account will be suspended? And in the email, there is a link to which you should click and get your account updated. Without giving a second thought, most people will click on the link in the email which may take them to a fake bank web site. Even to the extent of giving the password and name assigned to their Bank card. In less than no time, you will only realize you just handed over your hard-earned money to some unknown criminals.

 

Many people have become a victim just from cases even like the one above. Phishing websites in our present day have become a way of stealing people’s identity electronically. If this has become a trend that can negatively alter one’s Wellbeing, then how can you protect yourself from being a victim?

 

Note that online criminals do everything possible to make phishing web sites look exactly like real bank website, making it difficult for you to recognize a fraud. Nevertheless, there are a couple of sign to alert you to possible danger.

 

 

Firstly, carefully look at the email whether the email is addressed to your name. Authentic emails from your bank will use your identity in the salutation. Otherwise, suspect danger.

 

Secondly, consider what the email is saying. Phishing schemes often use scare tactics at the beginning, such as telling you that your account is being suspended, to make you act quickly and without thinking twice. Relax, if your bank will be sending you a suspension notification email, they will contact you by phone, asking you to come in person to the Bank.

 

Thirdly, never attempt to click such link in an email as it will redirect you to the attackers’ web site. Never click such link, instead, type the Bank website into the system yourself (this method is to verify the status of the website). Call your bank immediately.

 

In conclusion, credit/debit card users should be responsible enough not to allow these fraudulent activities to happen. Bear in mind that the reason why these kinds of frauds exist is that information owners are not so conscious of what could go wrong when their vital data is not protected.

 

 

 

Prevent Food Poisoning today

Food poisoning can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Hence, it should be a high priority to avoid it. Take some time to learn about how to prevent of food poisoning or lessen the chances that you or your loved ones will be included in the statistic of food poisoning.

For the fact that the topic is very wide, endeavour to make the teaching simple, concentrating on the most important points such as fundamental rules guiding a healthy food and let them see reasons why food go bad and harm human life.

You are what you eat, so take care and add value to whatever goes into you by observing the following points:

1. Be Vigilant about Washing Your Hands and All Surfaces

Cleanliness in food preparation is an absolute must. When working with food, you should wash your hands thoroughly before and after food preparation. Wash them properly, for at least 20 seconds with very warm water and soap.

Wash all surfaces thoroughly before use, to prevent contamination by anything that may have touched them since their last use. If you are unsure whether they are fully clean, it is better to spend a few extra minutes washing them again than to take any chances.

2. Know Who Is Preparing and Cooking Your Food

It is easy to control what goes on in your own kitchen. It is entirely another story when it comes to eating out, or eating at friends’ houses. Keep an eye on their food preparation habits, and don’t be afraid to turn down any foods that were not handled properly, even if you risk offending someone.
This is very important as there have been cases of Restaurants with hygienically poor cooking environment, who are only interested in the profit to be made and not the quality.

3. Cook Food Thoroughly

Always cook food properly. It must be cooked to a certain temperature, and for a certain amount of time. Follow the rules and don’t experiment when it comes to food safety.
Most poisoning from meat is because of poor cooking. Some bacteria exists in the intestines of animals used for meat. These meats become contaminated at abattoir during slaughter when the waste matter in the intestine is mixed with the meat; which in most cases looks and smells normal, so it is not readily detectable.
To prevent this food poisoning in meat, cook them until no pink is showing. Make sure all the meat juices are clear, not pink or red, and that the inside of the meat is hot.

4. Don’t Leave Food Sitting Out

When you have finished eating, put the leftovers away immediately. When you remove something from the fridge or freezer to use it, put it back as soon as you are finished. Don’t allow food to sit around, being exposed to temperatures that make it easy for bacteria to access and grow on.

5. Avoid Cross-Contamination

When you are storing foods, keep raw meats away from fresh produce. In the freezer, don’t set bags of frozen food close to ice cube trays, because this may contaminate the ice cubes when they touch each other. Don’t use utensils for one food and then another. Each food has its own rules about how long it needs to be cooked, so keep dishes and utensils separate and free of cross-contamination.

With regards to kitchen hygiene, use your clean kitchen towels to dry your hands. If you are using a sponge to clean the counters or sink, use a fresh one after working with raw meat.
Wash your cutting board with a diluted bleach solution before using again. And any utensils or dishes having contact with raw meat need to be washed and rinsed with soap and water before usage.

6. Don’t Take Chances

Some of us are terrified of being wasteful. Being overly cautious of this, however, can lead to poor choices when it comes to food safety.

If you can’t remember how long your food have been left over, it might be more than two days old, throw them away. If a food smells slightly sour, throw it away. If a food has an expiry date that has already passed, throw it away.

Never take chances on your health, or that of your family. It is better to lose a few dollars by throwing food away than to end up in hospital in severe pain.

Finally, note that by making sure your family understands food safety, you will improve their lives and even those they associate with.

Disadvantages of engaging a Househelp

 

It is no more unusual for a family in urban areas to get the services of a Househelp. The demands of office work, domestic duties such as cleaning and laundry, taking care of kids and the need to have some personal time have caused many people to employ a Househelps.

Although, some parents who have good Househelp have enjoyed some privileges such as; Not getting to stay at home all long, One-on-one care of their kids, Flexibility of schedule which give them extra time.

Caution must be applied where necessary, as one should be aware that keeping Househelps also have some disadvantages as given below. These disadvantages quite overweigh the advantages.

 

*** Absence of satisfactory parental care:  Parents who engage Househelps are usually busy with official and other personal chores. The love and compassion of a Househelps can never replace that of the kid’s parents.  The House help may not bother about the feelings, not feeding them at the right time, maltreating them or even failing to attend to the kid, especially when no one is around. Some even transfer other aggression to the kids.

 

*** Female House helps can lead to break down in marriage. Some women may hand over almost all the domestic duties and care to the house help. They go to the extent of allowing the Househelp to cook their husband’s food and serving them in the bed room. As a woman allow all these, she unknowingly throw away that passionate care she had for her husband. The husband who may be morally weak soon throw in the towel and begin to have extra marital affair. The story may take another shape if the woman find out that her husband is having a local affair, making the house help loss her job. Disagreement may ensue once; the house help leaves. Hence, separation and divorce becomes an alternative Once the woman find out, the house help may loss of her jobs. Then separation sets in. On a worst scenario, divorce becomes the answer. Do remember that the children are always at the receiving end.

 

*** In our African setting, where men marry for company and procreation, most domestic works are expected to be carried out by the wife. If some inexcusable reasons the wife gets a house help, and the Househelp does all the domestic works that are expected to be done by a wife, people begin to wander what is the importance of the wife? They may further term her as lazy.

 

*** Lack of privacy: An ideal family require time for them to share their meals and plans. The Househelp who may be viewed as a total outsider or a third party, therefore they feel unconfutable sharing their dreams and plans.

 

 

*** Over dependence: Most times, the woman’s cleaning related jobs may revolve around the house help, because the house help knows much about the house. The woman end up feeling like she doesn’t know much about her own house anymore.

 

*** In response to children welfare, the kids may experience what is known as ‘’Maid Over Mommy’’; a situation where some mothers complain that their children are more attached to the maid than they are to them. This situation occurs because the Househelp spends more time with the kids while the woman is out for her usual career hours.

 

*** Kidnapping in our present day has become a trend. Some people with evil intent may arranged for a house help to gather information of an employer and go missing carrying along with a child of the employer. This may be to enable the get a ransom for any reason. On a worst scenario, the kidnapped child may never be found. Hence, the Wellbeing of the family is altered.

But if you are aware of these factors and need to take extra caution, it may take a very long time before you can finally get the worry off your mind about leaving the Househelp all alone at house

 

 

*** In the aspect of Supervision, if you are unlucky to have gotten a lazy or unskilled house help, you may need to exercise extra time and effort in supervising the Househelp, as the household duties will not be attended to due attitude problem. This can become a big stress added to the one already on ground.

 

 

Precaution in getting House helps

– Househelps should be pre-investigated or crosschecked by an approved agency. This is to ascertain the Househelp personality and Crime record.

 

– Ensure the Househelp know his/her limit in the house, make sure she performs his/her duties only as at when due.

 

– Do not maltreat house helps, remember when you are not at home, the grievance could be transferred to your children or other members of your family.

 

– Invest in Househelp (like sending to school etc.). However, don’t invest in them unnecessarily. Watch your Househelp closely and see if he/she is worth investing in.

 

– Mothers should have time for their children. Instead of having a Househelp take care of them all though, create quality time for your children. Mothers should ensure they do not expose their children to Househelp beyond the necessary limit.  Some Househelps may teach the children bad morals if caution is not applied to Househelp-child exposure rate. Some even sedate the children to have enough time for themselves when the employer is away from home. A Househelp can’t take care of a child like a mother.

 

– In everything you do concerning House helps, put God first.

 

Children Bedwetting, any hope?

Bedwetting occurs at night, often with children who have little or no trouble controlling their bladder during the day. The older children are less likely to wet the bed.

 

Bedwetting creates anxiety for the entire family.  This makes parents to be frustrated and tired by the extra laundry, drying mattresses, and time set aside in reassurances that follow each incident of bedwetting.

 

One may ask, what are the basic causes of bedwetting? Few causes of bedwetting include ailments such as;

• urinary tract infections,
• allergies,
• diabetes,
• cell anemia,
• sleep disorders
• Having taken excess prior to going to bed.

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Although, researchers have found that psychological reasons such as stress, upset, and trauma often contribute to bedwetting.

 

Teenagers who wet the bed often suffer from low self-esteem, withdrawal, stress, fear, and other problems.  These children may suffer from insomnia because they fear or are ashamed of what happens while they are asleep.

 

Many parents wonder whether they should search for help for bedwetting.  After all, despite the problems of bedwetting, many doctors still recommend patience and time as the best way to resolve the problem, as many children overcome it with little or no extra help.

 

 

Many years ago, it was thought that bedwetting children were simply poorly taught, were developmentally delayed (or otherwise “abnormal”) or just needed more discipline.

 

Endeavor to involve your child when seeking the solution. When you approach a child with a way to resolve bedwetting, you can often ensure a better reception by approaching the subject in a sensitive and informative way. Help the child to clean up, tidy up the pillows or fold the sheets. Ensure you involve such child in the clean up exercise. In doing this, you are indirectly making them to know bedwetting is not an ideal situation. In addition, this can make the child feel less babyish and hopeless.

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Do not make cleaning up exercise look like a punishment. It is important not to discipline your child for wetting the bed.  This method not only does not work, but the stress of the discipline may make the problem worse.  No child wants to wet the bed after, knowing full well that someone can stay “dry” for the night.

The child who has a hard time not wetting the bed needs sympathy and help, not discipline. If you adopt punishment methods, you will get the following results;

 

• The child become ashamed, Hence, low esteem

 

• Become upset with their regular life, thereby turning them towards depression.

 

• Sudden and big changes in appetite (eats a lot less or far more)

 

• Fearful or withdrawn with others

 

• Does not show interest in regular activities

 

• Does not spend time with others

 

• Cries and gets angry or is very quiet

 

• Mood swings

 

• Have problem of sleeplessness

 

• Loss of control of bladder during the day

 

• Reduced performance in school.

 

If you notice these problems, seek more aggressive treatment for the bedwetting and visit a counselor or doctor to help your child deal with the secondary problems caused by bedwetting.

 

You have to be very sure it is not a medication that is causing the problem. If your child is taking any medications that cause extreme drowsiness or an urgent need to urinate, the medications may be causing bed wetting.  Medications that make your child very tired may simply not allow such child to wake up and to go to the bathroom.

 

 

Techniques employed in stopping bedwetting

 

Earlier bedtime

Children, who are tired, usually have a hard time waking up to empty their full bladder.  If your child gets the sleep he or she needs, they will not be so overtired not to be able to wake up.

 

Assure your child that the problem is not forever

 

If your child seems to be doing better, remind him or her again that most people overcome bedwetting with time and you will notice that their situation seems to be improving itself.

 

 

 

Night lifting

Night lifting is a technique that requires the parent to wake up the child in the night.  Most children lose control of their bladder at night especially if the child follows the same routine of sleeping all through and wet the bed each day.  If you can identify when each accident occurs, say every 30 minutes, 1 hour? You can set your alarm before this time, so as to wake your child up, and lead them to the bathroom.

 

You can also try waking your child up twice a night.  In most cases, this helps the child wake up dry in the morning. Then use this opportunity to encourages the child to keep trying to wake up before they are woken up.  However, children may resist waking up in the night, especially if they are tired.

 

 

Urination control exercise

Some doctors are of the opinion that helping the child control urination, also helps them control the muscle that holds back or releases urine.  This exercise is often used in conjunction with the bladder control exercise and is completely safe.

 

How can this be done?

1. When your child urinates, have your child stop urinating “mid-stream”

 

2. Have your child start-stop three times.

 

3. Repeat the process during each bathroom visit.

 

The idea is that the child will control the bladder more effectively during the day, causing the control to be present at night as well.

 

In general, these exercises work best with children over the age of six years and those who are willing to work hard to control their bladder.

 

 

 

Avoid excess liquid before going to bed

It is important to keep your child hydrated.  Drinking enough water helps the body function properly and helps keep the kidneys healthy.  However, encourage your child to drink most of the water earlier in the day so that less water is drunk in an hour or two before bedtime. This can help ensure that the body does not produce much urine that will agitate wetting the bed at night.

 

It is important to note that some fluids cause more wetting of bed problems than the others.  While your child is trying to overcome bedwetting, it is often best to stick to water.  Drinks like dark teas, and coffee all contain caffeine that irritates the bladder. Hence, may increase the urgency to urinate more habitually.  For teenagers, alcohol may also affect bedwetting, as the need to urinate is increased.

 

Take for instance, apple juice also seems to cause increased urine in some children, due to the two substances, patulin and gallic acid, that it contains.  Encourage your child to eat apples during the day, but do not serve apple juice prior to bed time.

 

 

Wake up alarm

A wake up alarm emits noise as at time set.  It will wake your child up, so as to visit the bathroom even if your child is a very heavy sleeper. The alarm can wake up the rest of the household, so that you can wake your child up.  The essence of this device is to wake up the child several times. With this device, some improvement will be noticed.

 

 

 

Be cautious of medicating your child

Do not use drugs do not cure this problem in the first instance because some other options may be available. Parents should think carefully and consider all the risks and options before choosing medication as these drugs also carry some side effects.  Medication may be useful for children who suffer excessively from the bedwetting. But ensure you consult a doctor before embarking on such action.

You should also remember that children who take medication for bedwetting are much likely to revert to bedwetting once the medication has discontinued.

 

 

 

Get mattress liners or protectors

These products are placed under the bed sheets to keep the child’s mattress free from urine and its stains, thereby avoiding the smell of urine that make your child uncomfortable.

 

You spent money buying the mattress so you ensure its protected, as cleanup may be stressful and time consuming. Simultaneously, ensures that smell of urine doesn’t linger in the mattress and make your child uncomfortable.

 

Without liners or protector, each time the child wets the bed, the mattress will undergo drying in the sun during the day. The situation may become worse during the rainy season when you experience limited sunshine. Liners make life easier for everyone in your family

Ensure that the liner cover the mattress firmly as to prevent leaks  which happens if your child is a restless sleeper (the type that tosses and turns a lot during sleep).

 

 

You must be patient

Yes, this is a difficult advice to follow. You must be patient with a child that wet the bed as the result cannot be achieved in just one day. In view of the fact that bedwetting often corrects itself in part or in full with time, a combination of any other option and patience is often necessary in order to achieve success.

 

There are no “instant” resolutions for bedwetting, and trying many remedies in rapid succession is not likely to work.  In fact, instead of solving the problem, it will frustrate you.

 

 

 

Love your child

Teenagers who wet the bed often experience great disturbance of emotions.  Hence, they need your love more than ever. Being affectionate and loving will help reassure the child.  This can help give your child the strength to get over the bedwetting problems as soon as possible.

 

If you have been short-tempered to your child in the recent past, make him or her know you love him or her. And when the child absorb this message, he or she will do everything possible to please you buy making sure any option applied to stopping bedwetting works.

Your Immune System: a bio-powered Fighting Machine

 

 Our bodies are built with the immune system to fight off infection and disease.

It is stronger than any antioxidant or antibiotic out there. Hence, we must do every to protect our immune system with good nutritional foods, clean environment, and better lifestyles.

Don’t think you are safe just because you wash your hands a few times a day. Bacterial and viral agents can enter the body many different means.

 

Let’s have a look at some examples that illustrate steps of what happens when disease-causing bacteria enter your body.

 

1.    Bacteria or viral organisms enter your body through touch, sneezes, physical contact or through other mechanisms. Keep in mind if someone coughs, their phlegm may spread over 350 feet, meaning whatever illness they have will shower the people around them unless they cover their mouths. That is why it is so important to close your mouth and cover your mouth if you have to cough or sneeze.

 

2.    Your body’s immune system receives a signal from your brain that shouts out ‘Time to make white blood cells!” White blood cells are the form of cells in your body that react to infection. Their job is to help create cells that fight diseases whether they are viral or bacterial in nature.

 

 

3.    If your immune system is as strong as it can be, your body will send enough antibodies to fight any attack, no matter how severe. This doesn’t mean you won’t get sick, it means your body will do everything it can to keep you healthy. If you fall sick, your chances of recovery from illness are high if the immune system has been maintained from the past.

 

4.    It may take you a few days to get well, but most people easily recover from minor infections or viruses. It may take some days for an average cold or bacterial infection. Immuno-compromised patients may take their body much longer to overcome something even as simple as the common cold.

 

Most people do not have a fine-tuned immune system. If you had it, you probably wouldn’t need to read this piece. Information like this helps you “fine tune” your immune system so you have the best chances of reducing the length and preventing an ill health simultaneously. Now that you understand how the immune system works, it is necessary you are aware of some major factors that influence your immune system or make it function less optimally than it ought to.

 

 

Factors That Influence Your Immune System

Your immune system may be compromised in several ways, which are also reasons your body may not jump to attack an infection or disease the way it ought to.

 

That you engage in one or two of these habits today without issues, doesn’t mean your immune system is happy. The speed at which people fall ill differs from person to person, depending on the level of their immune system. Here are some common factors that negatively influence the immune system.

 

    Excessive fast food and saturated fat in your diet: Fat can clog your arteries, thereby narrowing the path of blood flow. Take note that the heart will continue to pump blood at its normal rate for you to be alive. As these happen, the heart now requires a higher pressure to continue its normal process. Hence the victim experiences what is known as high blood pressure. This lifestyle over time will result in drastic weight gain due to increase in total body fat accumulating in the body. Thereby bringing about life-threatening diseases such as stroke, etc.

 

    Irregular exercise: When you don’t exercise your body, or you overdo it, you may become ill rather than prevent illness. Sometimes more is better; however, more is not better if you exercise to the point where you over train your muscles and body. You need to give your body a break, especially between strength training sessions, so you are able to fight against the disease. Here, Moderation should be the watchword.

 

    Stress: This sends levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) through the roof, which can result in general dissatisfaction or illness. Stress is a killer, which can lead to heart attacks, anger, depression, high blood pressure, and aggression, and many other disorders. The less stressed you are exposed to, the better your body will be at fighting off diseases.

 

    Insomnia: Sleeplessness or insufficient sleep changes the hormonal levels in your body. This situation inspires you to eat more and increases your weakness to common colds or infections. You may gain weight, which also puts you at risk for diseases such as II diabetes. At this point, it must be noted that if you sleep too much, you may have a health problem. (Consult with your doctor). Most people do well when they sleep 6-8 hours each day.

 

    Poor diet: This factor should have come first, but I decide to use it, to sum up, the points so you will have enough time to ponder on it. A balanced diet is not that too expensive, compare to all the junk foods around. Also, you need to eat too much (This actually slows down your metabolism, meaning you will gain weight even if you eat fewer portions than you have in the past), or totally deprive yourself of food to fight disease (your body goes into starvation mode). Use a practical approach, one that encourages moderation in our eating habit.

 

 

Just as you put the engine oil in your car to prevent heating and wearing away of the metal, so you have to care for your body to be able to fight off illness.

One thing you must invest in, however, is your health. When your health is good, you feel good. When you feel good, you can do almost anything your desires.

 

Friendship: a key to Divorce Prevention

 

Lots of marriages these days are faced with the critical challenges such as spouses holding an adulterous affair, battling and quarrelling nearly every day, inability to reconcile emotional and mental differences, third party interference in the marriage, a yearn for the return of good old days relationship or even a crave to stop an impending divorce.

I refer to all these as critical challenges because they are capable of jeopardizing our wellbeing if not checked.

If you find yourself in the above states of affairs identified, this piece will be beneficial and valuable to you, regardless how stubborn the opposition, how far your spouse might be from you, how hopeless your state of affairs seem.

 

Friendship has been noticed to be a tried, true and proven technique that can positively influence your marriage, once employed.

In marriage, friendship is forever. Even if we move out of town or adopt residence abroad, we preserve our friendships. We surely don’t divorce our friends just because of a misinterpretation, so if we addressed our spouse as a dear friend, we likely won’t ever require a divorce lawyer and carry out the separation exercise of divorce.

 

Have this in mind

Since love is less lasting and friendship more long-lasting, effort must be made to make our spouse not only a lover or partner, but a friend. Friendship is an observable manifestation of emotional maturity. Marriage is a duty larger than life and may be a source of challenges or sound joy. Only if we turn those challenges and joy into building blocks for a lasting friendship may we say that we have taken the firm path to a union made in heaven.

 

If there is true friendship between husband and wife, the marriage will not end up on the rocks. Rather, it becomes a rock-hard marriage where no person or condition may put it asunder.

Friendship in a union means that the union will be significant with memories of laughter and humour, for we picked those friends who made us laugh the most. Friendship likewise means open and honest communication; a no holds barred type of coupling where our comfort level with our spouse goes beyond a hundred percent, guaranteed that what we state and how we say it won’t be labelled or taken in a damaging light.

 

The friendship between couples returns wholesome feelings of goodwill and faithfulness. Our spouse – our friend – has our concerns at heart, won’t cheat on us and will be our most steadfast supporter. Friendship likewise makes spouse stronger; this durability of friendship is strengthened by the pleasure of shared history of nostalgia and designs for the future.

Romance is a great thing, and we may utilize heaps of it when our relationships get rough. But some people think that romance may be a roadblock to friendship. How come? Romance blots out the darker side of our being – our concerns, fear, anxieties, and insecurities. Yet, it’s those fears, anxieties, and insecurities that by nature draw us to our friend.

 

Familiarity due to romance does not spawn contempt. It spawns content. A sense of contentment corresponds with satisfaction, warmth, and firm assurance. Partaking in a life together in love and friendship makes for a book that’s deeper and denser in shared histories, in content.

If you were to ask a content bachelor and a jubilantly married man to each author their stories, you will get a favourable narration from both.

The single individual’s position would, however, be I, me and myself – and perhaps a string of blind dates and Saturday nights alone. But the husband will discuss “us”, of mutual interests – a story decidedly made richer as there are two stories, not one.

 

Much as it sounds awfully unfashionable, (some people say the modern day marriage is like a contract, which can be terminated as at when due) marriage is a commitment, and people have to make every attempt not to degrade that commitment in any way.

Remaining in married is a lifelong, missionary-like enterprise. It calls for guts. It calls for nerves of steel to make a union work. A sense of humour and a humbler degree of egotism may sustain us in the field of marriage.

The obstructions will be many, and there will be spots where we’ll question our saneness, uncertain if we truly have to hang on.

It will be a massive effort to stay attracted to the same qualities that pulled you to your spouse on the first day you got together. Your spouse is yet the same individual you fell in love with, he or she hasn’t altered his or her soul or being.

 

Finally, there is just one way to divorce, but a thousand ways to save your union, which route will you choose? Are you going to quit or accept one more hurdle?

 

 

 

 

 

Stress and Vital Human Organs

Life is full of struggles and questions. Just as the planets travel oscillate around the sun in obedience to nature, so man, on each, make effort to make ends meet. Human beings strive not only to make the present day comfortable but strive to correct the past and even prepare for the future. In the face of these multiple struggles, circumstances have their own rules to play. And when they do not dance to the time table of man, Stress set in, and gradually impact on our vital Organs.

 

If Stress becomes part of everyone’s daily lives. Should one then give in to it? Stress can affect your body in ways that can have a long-lasting impact on your precious health. Here are some ways stress can affect your health through the vital body organs:

 

• The Effect of Stress on the Brain – Stress can cause you to lose your concentration and memory abilities. When you are under stress, the brain associated with memory, do not work well. Hence, you cannot turn short-term memory into long-term memory. All effort to concentrate on things you hear, see, read or even perceive will fail.

 

• Effect of Stress on the Cardiovascular System – Stress causes the secretion of Adrenalin, which automatically raises your blood pressure and heart rate. This chemical process put more stress on your heart, thereby putting you at higher risk of suffering from hypertension-related diseases like heart failure and stroke. These do not just happen overnight but result from long-term or chronic stress. The possibility of this life-threatening illness is high if you do not eat well (poor dieting) or even have a strong family history of heart disease. This is one good reason everyone needs to visit the doctor, not only when you are ill. You may get a life-saving advice.

 

• Effect of Stress on the Gastrointestinal Tract – Stress triggers the body’s fight or flight in response to the release of Adrenalin from your adrenal glands. This has multiple effects on the body. This event forces blood away from the gastrointestinal tract and toward the muscles of the body as a way of preparing to “flee or fight” from a real or imagined opponent (fear). This can lead to a decreased blood flow to the gastrointestinal tract, which translates into indigestion and poor uptake of nutrients

 

• Effect of Stress on the Immune System – Excess Stress also causes the release of cortisol (steroid hormone which regulates the immune response metabolism) from the adrenal cortex. Cortisol has many effects on the body but one of the main ones is that it suppresses the immune system. High levels of cortisol mean that you are at greater risk of getting colds and the flu and have a harder time healing from open cuts or wounds. Cortisol can suppress several aspects of the immune system. Hence, you fall ill more often when under stress than you would be if you were not under Stress.

 

Things You Can Do To Reduce Stress

Due to the fact that stress can wreak havoc on your body, you need to do what you can to lessen the Stress in your life so you can remain healthy. Sometimes, it may be a matter of modifying your lifestyle so as to reduce to the minimum level the major sources of Stress such as;

• getting out of a Stressful relationship,
• befriending people that make you happy
• add meaning to your personality
• avoiding actions that can cause you expensive mistakes, thereby causing regret
• getting your finances in order
• changing your job situation so you don’t go to work each day with stressful feelings.
• living in a healthy environment devoid of sights & sound that put Stress of you

 

However, if you can’t change your circumstances, you may want to practice stress-relieving techniques such as meditation and exercise among others.

These techniques can be effortlessly learned through attending health classes or watching films/videos that will teach you ways to reduce the total sum of Stress in your life.

 

Finally, I discover one other great way to reduce stress is to take a vacation away from that regular place that generates your Stress and spend enough time in nature that naturally calms the mind, body, and spirit.

 

 

 

 

Stop your Anger

Anger is a strong emotion that is caused by loss of self-control. Although anger is normal due to today’s fast-paced life, anger can lead to other emotions such as bitterness, vengeance or hate and might cause health problems such as high blood pressure, heart attack or depression. Some might counter anger through food or alcohol. Whenever you feel any negative feeling rising within yourself, use these simple techniques:

 

1. Take a walk and do some light exercise. -Stretch out; take a deep breath to let your brain get enough oxygen to analyze the matter. Ensure you repeat this to clear your mind before taking any action.
2. However, it might be necessary to get away from aggravator until your anger subsides and then only you try to handle your situation.
3. Anger can be caused by frustrations. To express your frustrations, being angry will only worsen the situations. Be calm, clear your mind and express your frustration as assertive as possible without being confrontational and controlling.
4. Do some exercise; it is a good way to release your steam if you feel that you have a lot of pent up anger inside yourself. Physical activity is able to stimulate your brain and body to release endorphins and make you feel happier and relax.
5. Hold fast to your values. Think of your personality and what you strive to be. Do you want to be someone who uses anger to get what you want? There is goodness inside everyone and it is just waiting to be unleashed. Make good use it!
6. Think before you speak. This is to avoid making the situation worst and allowed a few moments to collect your thoughts before bringing up any points.
7. Search for solutions instead of blaming others. Sometimes littlest things could make you angry but it is possible to resolve it instead of focusing on it.
8. Forgive the person in the wrong. Do not allow anger to control you until you hold a grudge against that person. Being able to forgive someone will bring out positive feelings within you and make you feel better.
9. Laughter is the best medicine. Try to ease the tension through laughter. It can help both sides to view things in a better light.
10. Try to relax. Practice relaxation techniques such as meditation or yoga to help calm your mind and diffuse your anger
11. Understand your opponent. Try to look from your opponent’s point of view. Anger can blind you from absurd and funny reasons of why you are angry with someone.
12. Say your prayers and be grateful. Instead of being angry, try to look for things that make you feel lucky for being alive. It might be your good health, your work or just seeing a sun shining brightly above you.
13. Write down the reasons for your anger. Once you write it down in details, review it once more. You might find that the reasons seem very important at first but once on paper, you will feel that the reasons are insignificant. Throw or burn the paper to shift all your anger.

 

Do’s and Don’ts: The Best Way to Manage Anger

Anger is experienced by everybody. However, different people handle anger differently. Anger can be an indicator that there is something wrong and things needed to be changed. It can be a good self-motivator if managed in healthy ways. However, anger can also cause health and relationship problems. Several people do not know how to deal with anger as it is a powerful and potentially destructive feeling.

With proper examination and management technique, anger can be used to influence your health, relationships and overall happiness in a positive way.

It is very importance to understand the root cause of your anger. It could be due to stress, insomnia, food deprivation and others that make people generally irritable. However, try to identify the specific reason for your anger. This can be done by keeping an anger journal to record what reason for your anger for a few weeks. Then it is possible to discuss the issue with a good friend or see a Counselor to uncover any source of anger if the matters could not be solved by you. Once you are more aware of the cause of your anger, steps can be taken to deal with it.

 

After understanding your anger, it is important to express your anger in a constructive way. Research has shown that writing about your anger and expressing it in a constructive way helps in reducing the negative mood and pain associated. By writing it down the feelings that have been bothering you and working through them on paper, you are actively doing something with your anger instead of letting the anger aggravate inside you and making you feel terrible.

 

It is not good to preoccupy your mind with anger as it is one of the biggest don’t in dealing with anger. Research has shown that people who tend to preoccupy your mind with anger tend to experience high blood pressure resulting in greater risk of organ damage and associated health challenges.

 

It is also important to remember that over-discussing anger could backfire. By discussing anger with a trusted friend can help to plan an effective strategy in countering it. However, by repeatedly talking about the topics that angered you with your friends can make both felt worst and increased stress hormones in the blood. People tend to complain especially women who tend to occupy their minds with complaining which turn into a decline of negative emotions. So it is better to change the topic before it gets that far.

However, if you wanted to talk more about what makes you angry, it is better to seek professional help as a therapist has more helpful ideas on dealing with anger.

 

Why should you Control your Anger

These are reasons to keep you from blowing your head up.

• Anger can cause irrational actions which will be reflected badly on your personality
• Most times, unwise words are spoken during in anger. Control your emotions and think before speaking in a hurry. These words, once spoken are not retractable.
• Anger will only hurt the person who is angry. The person on the wrong side, most time escape unharmed.
• Anger will lead to shame.
• The end result caused by anger can be more destructive than the reasons of anger.
• Being angry is just falling into a trap that someone sets up so that they can conquer you.
• If you are angry at someone’s fault, turn to yourself and study your own faults as well. It might not be the other person’s fault.
• Getting angry over a minor setback might cause your dignity

Laughter: How does it affect the Overall Health?

Laughter is a response to humor. When you hear the sound of laughter, you can’t help but smile and laugh yourself. Hence, it can be infectious. When laughter is shared among others, it causes a binding between people and increases both intimacy and happiness, making people comfortable with one another and feel open and free.

 

The physical process of Laughter:

During laughter, the respiratory system is intermittently disturbed by the epiglottis, closing the larynx halfway so that air intake becomes irregular, making us gasp (struggle for breath). The mouth also begins opening and closing, struggling for oxygen intake in unity with the respiratory system.

In a situation where the laughter intensifies, the tear ducts are activated and the eyes become moist with tears.

 

Biological Process of laughter:

Have you heard that laughter is helpful to those coping with major illness and the stress of life’s problems? Yes, that is a fact. It can basically bring a balance to all the components of the immune system, which helps us fight off diseases.

Laughter reduces the levels of certain stress hormones by providing a safety valve that shuts off the flow of stress hormones that takes action when our bodies experience anger, stress or uncomfortable situations. These stress hormones are destructive, in that they suppress the immune system and increase the number of blood platelets which can cause obstructions in arteries, thereby raising the blood pressure. When we are in the laughing process, the natural killer cells that destroy tumors and viruses increase.

Laughter triggers healthy bodily changes, which in turn creates healthy changes in the mind. Laughter can increase your energy level, lessen pain, strengthen the immune system, and protect people from stress.

 

Laughter is Strong Medicine

Laughter can be a strong antidote to conflict, pain, and stress. , it can be said to be one of the best medicine because it is free, fun, and easy.

There is nothing else that works more dependable or quicker to bring your body and mind into balance than laughter. The use of humor can lighten emotional and psychological burdens, connect you to others, inspire your hope, keep you at alert and focused.

With this ability to renew your health and heal you, laughter can be a great resource for whatever problems you may have. It can also strengthen your relationships and can improve wellbeing.

 

How Is Laughter Good For Your Health?

Laughter can have many health benefits which include the following:

• Laughter can increase your immune system. It can decrease the level of stress hormones within the body and increase the number of immune cells and antibodies you have, which will help you become more resistant to diseases.
• Laughter is relaxing. A wonderful laugh can relieve you of stress and physical tension by relaxing your muscles.
• Laughter releases endorphins. Endorphins are the body’s feel-good hormones. When your endogenous endorphins are released, you feel a sense of well-being and a reduction in the sensation of body pain.
• Laughter can help the heart. Laughter can increase the ability of the blood vessels to nourish all parts of the body. It can increase your blood flow, which in turn can help prevent heart attacks and other types of heart diseases.

 

Laughter Can Help Your Emotional Health

Laughter simply makes a person feel good. This good feeling persists even when you are done laughing. Laughter helps you maintain an optimistic, positive stance so you can get through situations of disappointments, loss and other complicated situations.

Laughter is more than just a protection against pain and sadness. It gives you the strength and courage to find other sources of hope and meaning. Even when you find yourself in the most difficult of times, laughter or even a smile can take you far when it comes to feeling better. Laughter really is a bit transmittable. When you hear someone else laugh, it primes your brain and sets you up to join that person in laughing too.

 

Laughter and Mental Health

Laughter is associated with better mental health. Some things laughter can do to improve your mental health include the following:

• Laughter allows you to relax. A good laugh can lessen stress and increase your energy levels so that you can remain focused and get more things accomplished.
• Laughter shifts your perspective. It allows you to see things in a less threatening and more realistic light. Being humorous helps create a psychological distance between you and stressful events so that you don’t feel so overwhelmed.
• Laughter lessens fear and worry. When this happens, joy is added to our life.

 

Laughter has Social Benefits              

Laughter creates team spirit and oneness – This, in turn, strengthens relationships, as it becomes stronger and triggers positive emotions and an emotional connection with those you are laughing with.

A positive bond develops – Laughter can act as a powerful buffer against disappointment, disagreements, and stress when you laugh with others, this is a more powerful thing than when you laugh alone.

 

How to Create More Opportunities to Laugh

Here are some things you can do or try to increase your chances of laughing:

• Attend a comedy shows like “AY Show”, “Night of a Thousand Laugh” etc
• Watch funny videos on television and on YouTube
• Read the comics in the magazine/newspaper
• Be with people who are naturally humorous and stay away from angry people
• Share a funny story or joke with another
• Read funny stories
• Play games with your friends
• Play with your pet
• Play with children
• Do something you think is silly
• Engage in activities you consider fun

Laughter can do a lot to help you feel better on a physical, emotional, and cognate level. Don’t be afraid to share a good laugh with others for all-around better health.

Let the Laughter Flow

Power of choice:Key to healing yourself from within

The ability or power of choice can be used to improve the Quality Of Life and Wellness

Everyone has got the ability to choose. The ability to decide what to eat each day, what clothes to wear, what restaurants to go to; we have got the ability to choose what we want and do not want in life.

Obviously, there are some things we can’t choose, such as the color our skin, the size of our feet, what day of the week we were born, but we do have the ability to choose something that is really important.

How We Feel

The practice of developing wellness in our lives shows that we have the ability to choose how we feel. We can willfully influence our emotion. We can use mental training strategies such as meditation to promote feelings within our minds.

We have the ability to choose how to react to certain circumstances or to a certain person. That ability to control our emotions so that we don’t fall into negative, degenerative, or destructive thought processes is inbuilt in us. Hence, we can even use the power of choice to heal ourselves of negative situations.

Healing From Within

The power of choice is very similar to the power of intention. When we hold an intention in our minds, we tend to start attracting the result of that intention into our lives. Once we make a choice, the result of that choice into is being attracted to our lives. Therefore, if we learn to be very conscious of our choices we make, and also where our choices can lead us to, we can then learn to remove destructive and negative influences from our lives.

When these negativity and destructive influences are removed from our lives, we feel a universal sense of wellness within our daily way of life. Furthermore, when we can learn to promote this feeling on a regular basis, the natural result we get is healing in the spirit.

What does healing mean?

A person who is incredibly sick and unhealthy physically has the ability to create a feeling from the within that they will become healthy soon. They clear every negative notion of remaining in the sick bed from their spirit. The spirit controls the physical. In a short time, their physical bodies begin to respond the treatment being administered.

Having a complete awareness of what we are, knowing that in reality, everything is okay, and understanding our position and function in life, that is what real healing is about. On the other hand, there is suffering.

Being lost in life, being confused about what is real and what is not, being angry and traumatized by past experiences, holding onto judgments and opinions about people, things or places which lead to a feeling of separateness, these things are all in the realm of suffering.

True healing and true spiritual wellness can only occur when the source of our suffering has been extinguished by no more visualizing them through the spiritual eyes.

Spiritual healing result in Healthy body & mind

We have the ability to choose whether or not we suffer. By choosing not to suffer we are encouraging healing within our spirit. When healing is encouraged within our spirit, this has the natural effect of developing inner peace within our heart.

To truly heal, to remove all of the anguish, all of the confusion, all of the aggression, all of the conflict, all we have do is make a choice, a choice not to suffer, not to feed our problems, but instead, to take up the source of their inspiration.

The Choice depends on you

If we can choose not to promote suffering in our lives, naturally this has the effect of promoting a greater quality of life and greater health. But even if our physical health is bad, as will be the case with most of us as we age and grow older, we can still have a mindset that doesn’t experience this as suffering, but simply sees that it is a part of the natural way of things.

For those of us who have health problems in our younger years, by making the choice to stop doing anything negative or destructive, we can encourage greater physical health as well and mental and spiritual health. In order to do this, all we have to do is make a choice.

What will you choose?

Overcome that Fear & Worry

The graveyard have been said to be one place with quantum of frustrated talent. This is because a lot of people have died without fulfilling the dreams to their destinies.

Apart from having the resources and time for a project, Fear and Worry is known to be one twin factors that is responsible for people’s failure to achieving their dreams.

Briefly, permit WellBeingDigest to bring you a story and see if you can fetch out a lesson from it;

A young man called Tony was struggling to get out of poverty in one rural community with few basic infrastructures, where he graduated from college. He read many stories about the city life, such as fraudulent people dupe innocent ones, accident rate, failed project and dreams, prostitution among others. He could not imagine himself being a victim of the mentioned social vices. Although, he read of other positive things such as good roads, electricity, success stories but his heart was clouded by the negative sides of the city. After graduating from college, his uncle offered to assist him with some funds, travel to get a job and start a new life in the city. Even though he wished to be in the city, he decided to remain back in the village doing menial jobs. Years after, one Christmas, Gbenga, one of his ex-college friends working as a Manager of a firm in the city visited him. He had plenty of success stories for Tony. Tony was no longer happy as he had permit some built-in excuses (negative belief) to hold him back in life.

From the short story above, Tony capitalized heavily on the negative stories of the city, which in turn became an excuse for fear and worry. He failed to attempt something new. He stopped before ever starting because he was afraid of what would happen to him or even what others may think.

 

FEAR AND WORRY DEFINED

Fear can be simply put as a feeling triggered by anticipated or impending future danger such as threat, disaster or evil.

While

Worry is a mental agitation of unpleasant things or a potential problem that might happen in a way that makes one unhappy or uncomfortable or emotionally stable.

 

From the above definitions, one can say the two words are not the same. Fear in some cases can save a life, take for instance Tony was aware of the high crime rate in the city. This was capable of keeping him safe from being a victim as he would be proactive and careful. His fear created by the knowledge of high crime rate has reserved the signal or picture in his brain. But things become bad when he preoccupied his mind with the potential dangers perceived. Hence, his imagination begins to focus too much on the crime perceived images.

Capitalizing too much on the negative past diminishes our ability to interpret the present situation around us. Hence, we become more likely to miss knowledge that will notify us of near impending dangers.

This is why I strongly agree with someone who defined F.E.A.R. as False Evidence Appearing Real. This is true due to the fact that one chose to believe in unreal or happenings of the past, which may not be applicable to our present day.

On the other hand, Worry is the mental fabrication of fear. Man has a great choice whether to worry or not. Hence, worry is nothing more than a continuous fear caused by indecision.

 

WORRY ANALYSED

In certain situations, worry can either lead people to make healthy decisions or may even help keep them alive. For example, worrying about impending economic crises can make one invest wrongly and worrying about finances can help prevent someone from reckless spending respectively.

Also, worrying about basic safety can make someone become informed about self-defense tactics, thereby secure or lock doors and windows. But when worry persists, and we do nothing about it but occupying much of one’s thoughts and preventing relaxation or enjoyment of life, it can have a significant negative effect on the Mental Health.

Some people may worry to the extent that they become unable to focus on daily tasks, and others may develop insomnia, unhealthy eating habit or on a worst side, might experience heart attack.

Worry can affect the physical health negatively when the imagination produces a terrifying scenario. In such a situation, the body responds by releasing a number of chemicals, such as adrenaline and cortisol, in the same way that it would if the imagined scenario were actually taking place. These chemicals help people react to danger on a short-term basis, but they also raise the blood pressure, cause blood to clot faster and lead to muscle tension.

On a long term, these effects can reduce immunity and cause illness. Carrying stress in the body may also lead to aches and pains and the development of high blood pressure or other heart related trouble.

In many cases, worry might also reflect one’s reluctance to take action, whereby the individual begin to worry, thereby expressing anger, depression or fear. They start imagining things that might go wrong and becoming preoccupied with potential outcomes. This may facilitate an avoidance of the actual situation. Hence, persistent worry can become a mechanism to avoid problems that one feels unable to solve.

 

FEAR ANALYSEDS

The amygdalae (a section of the brain that is responsible for detecting fear and preparing for emergency events) trigger a chain of biological events and engulf the mind in the fear, even before the conscious mind can assess the situation. This instinctive biological signal is triggered by the brain, which tries to overcome issues by foolishly preparing the body to defend itself, freeze or even flee from the scene of event.

 

EFFECTS OF FEAR

Fear can cause threatening health consequences such as follows;

• Fear takes control of breathing, digestion, blood circulation.
• The signals from the amygdalae dilate pupils and increase brain wave frequency.
• They make hairs stand on end.
• They reduce saliva, thereby drying the mouth.
• Fear cause sweating and a decrease in skin resistance to weather forces.
• Fear decrease peripheral blood flow and cause hands to become cold.
• The signals speed breathing and dilate bronchial tubes to allow more air to the lungs.
• The fear signal tighten stomach muscles,
• It slow down digestion and close down the excretory system.
• It increases the acids in the stomach, thereby causing diarrhea.
• The signals travel to the adrenal gland, which produces cortisol, causing an increase in glucose production to provide additional fuel for the muscles and brain to deal with the potential stress.
• The action above releases sugar into the blood and increases the tendency for blood clotting.
• They dilate blood vessels to skeletal muscles to allow greater blood flow.
• They slow down the working of the immune system.

 

SIMPLE FORMULA FOR OVERCOMING FEAR

For everyone who want to be free from Worry & Fear, these simple formula can be used to overcome and make them pretty close to being Fearless.

Formula One – Clearly identify the cause of Fear or Worry. Half of the worries and fears will be solved once identified clearly by writing it on paper. What once seemed mighty in your mind will look small and insignificant on paper.

Formula Two – Ask yourself this vital question; What is the worst possible thing that can happen if that, which I fear or worry becomes true?

Make a list a list of possible solution(s) and write them down on paper underneath your clearly defined Fear/worry. At this point, it will be noticed that you about 90% of the fear or worry will never happen? This list will enable you discover how much time you spend on worrying about stuff that never will happen.

Formula Three – Decide in your mind that you will acknowledge the worst possible thing that can happen. Keep telling yourself, I can handle it, over and over again. Since 90% of those things will never take place, then the other 10% will not kill you; Say to yourself  “I will survive”.

Formula Four – Begin to put together an action plans that will ensure the worst never happens. By making positive action/changes and implementing your action plan, your focus will start shifting from your fears to the positive outcomes.

Try this formula today and see. I know it will work for you. It has worked for me.

 

SUMMARY

Fear and Worry over the years has been linked to health issues, including arthritis, migraines, allergies, stomach ulcers and thyroid disease.

Over a lifetime, Worry and Fear builds an additional sensitivity to pain experiences which may have been caused by physical injury, painful confrontations, loss of loved ones, loss of social status, or rejection.

People suffer fears of failing, of being ridiculed, of the loss of loved ones. If a person suffered trauma, such people should endeavor to stay away from loneliness.

Eating well and maintaining physical wellness can often help one in keeping a new positive outlook.