Women Personality and Mental Health

One of the most famous suicide myths is that someone who has committed suicide was surely psychotic or had delusional beliefs about reality. The truth is, most of suicidal people suffer from the recognized mental illness of depression; but many depressed people adequately manage their daily affairs. A person who looks normal could suddenly and ‘inexplicably’ commit suicide, even if everyone around him or her said that “he looked just fine.”

Actually, suicidal people almost leave subtle signs days, weeks, or even months before the actual suicide occurs. If we can read these signs, it will be easier to give those people the help and support that they actually need.

These are some common warning signs of suicide:

1. Increased level of depression
In the young depression may be masked by hyperactivity or acting out behavior. In the elderly it may be incorrectly attributed to the Read more!

Herbert Freudenberger, author of “Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement,” first coined the term ‘burnout’ in 1974. He described the word as “the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one’s devotion to a cause or relationship fails to produce the desired results.” While burnout is not a recognized psychological disorder, it shares similar features with conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, or mood disorders.

If you are in the middle of such stressful professional routine, and have experienced (or are experiencing) symptoms below, you might suffer from burnout. Read more!

It is normal to be nervous and anxious when you have to deliver a long speech, perform on the stage for the first time, or being trusted by your boss to lead an important meeting with big subjects. However, the story will be different if you feel nervous, anxious and even afraid just to meet regular people at the mall, or being in any social situations in normal, daily basis. Be aware, because they might be signs of social anxiety disorder.

Basically, social anxiety disorder (SAD) is related with various conditions in which a person has persistent fear of social or performance situations, especially when there are possibilities to be Read more!

Commonly, we would like to express our gratitude after receiving someone’s kindness, and writing thank you notes is a good way to express that. However, for something as short as thank you notes, the writing process can be stressful, especially when it concerns formality.

In the end, it causes so much anxiety and the notes are never sent.
Usually, a heartfelt thank you note can be naturally written when your gratitude is sincere. However, for the sake of formality, here are some do’s and don’ts in writing thank you notes.

1. Thank you notes should be sent immediately. You can use Read more!

When someone in your groups tends to grab all the attention, often poses arrogantly in a conversation or gathering, and protests loudly if he or she is ignored, we call him or her a narcissistic person. Actually, the term “narcissistic” can go more than that. In psychology, there is a term called narcissistic personality disorder. Unlike your attention-grabbing fellow, this disorder is marked with excessive self-centeredness, lack of empathy, and an exaggerated sense of self-importance. Furthermore, these symptoms bring significant negative impacts to the person’s social and career relationships.

Narcissistic personality disorder is estimated to affect 1-percent of the Read more!

Going to a therapist or psychologist to solve a mental problem is not a culture in many families. Often, when someone is suffering from depression or anxiety problem, he or she will use certain drugs.

Sometimes, the family itself asks to prescriptive drugs to treat the problem. Even managed care companies sometimes encourage family doctors to prescribe medications rather than refer to a mental health professional for psychotherapy.

There are times when this may be appropriate, but there are other times when psychotherapy is clearly indicated. The fact is, not all mental problems can be treated solely with drugs, especially if the Read more!

Food and mood are somehow connected, so don’t make mistakes with certain diets which lead to low mood and low blood sugar. Lack of certain nutrients like amino acids, minerals, fatty acids, protein, and carbohydrates, can lead to deficiency of certain chemicals in the body, such as dopamine, endorphin, glutamine, and serotonin, which would later lead to anxiety and depression.

So here are some diet tips to avoid depression:

1. Eat small meals and healthy snacks throughout the day, and never skip meals especially breakfast. This will keep your blood sugar Read more!

Mental health issues can be experienced by women from any society; either they are rich or poor, or living within cities or villages. Most mental problems are caused by pressures which relate to gender discrimination, hunger, malnutrition, sexual abuse, domestic violence, humiliation, entrapment, and even loneliness. Here are 5 most common mental health issues in women:

1. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

This disorder affects thousands of women across the world, especially those who live closer to the two hemispheres. The seasonal depression sets in during winter and fall, and also caused by the daylight changes. Women will first experience mood swings from time to time, get lack of energy, fatigue and need to sleep longer. Those who suffer from SAD will rapidly gain weight because their appetite will increase and they will also crave for more carbs and sugar. Read more!

Mood swing is one of the common symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS), and is often regarded casually. But how does the mood swing affect your daily life or activities? If the mood swing has significant effect in your life, like disturbing your performance at work or your relationship with friends and significant other, you might have experienced premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). And if that continues even after your period is over, that can be a sign of depression or bipolar disorder.

PMDD have similar symptoms with PMS, but often more severe. Some experts even link PMDD with suicide incident that is higher among women. Although the actual causes of PMS and PMDD are not discovered yet, many women have found various ways to reduce the effects like doing sport, changing diet, and having sufficient rest. Read more!

Many researches have proven that physical exercise could increase your mental health as well as your physical, and giving you better sense of well-being. Sandy Boivin, a Canadian woman who was hospitalized herself due to depression 10 years ago, dedicates herself to prevent other women experience the same thing.

Since last Saturday, she has started “Moving Through Depression” in Winsor, Ontario; an exercise class specifically designed to help women get free from depression. The class is currently attended by a group of women aged between 30 to 55 years old, all of them either have the history of depression, or in the middle of treatment due to depression.

Boivin also related her experience 10 years back, after the depression symptoms had hit her. She said she felt out of Read more!