What does the data indicate?

Your emotional health and well-being require a whole-life approach. How is your sleep? Sleep is crucial for your emotional well-being, and some research suggests that healthy REM sleep may prune intense emotions from your memories. But if you awaken in emotional turmoil, it is possible that you're dealing with an interrupted sleep environment or a sleep difficulty such as insomnia, sleep apnea, or a sleep disorder (depression is also a possibility here). See Recommended Resources at the end of this article for good articles on sleep. Are you eating well? Your emotions respond to changes in your environment, and your environment includes your body. If your eating is unstable and your blood sugar swings throughout the day, your emotions will likely swing as well. For instance, your anxiety may arise if you skip meals because it's worried about your ability to think clearly and perform well. Anxiety may also arise if you overeat (or eat empty calories) because poor eating is taxing to your body and your energy levels, and that's not good for getting things done either. Get organized When it comes to caring for people with Parkinson's, the importance of planning and being organized cannot be overemphasized. Without the right legal and financial documentation, you and your loved one could face many problems in an emergency. Doctors may refuse to discuss important medical information with you, and your loved one may not get the end-of-life care they desire. Also, if your loved one becomes incapacitated, control over their bank accounts and property could be given to a complete stranger. You can help your loved one plan for their current and future medical and financial needs by working with them to prepare six essential legal documents: a HIPAA authorization, health care power of attorney (POA), living will/advance healthcare directive, financial POA, trust, and will. Detailed descriptions of these six documents are included at the end of this article. Be prepared for an emergency In the event of an emergency, there are a few things you can have ready ahead of time to save yourself from panic. Make a financial plan

With the human brain so sensitive to early social interactions, how could children raised with distracted caregivers not have some weakness in their brain and self-structures as a result? Parenting and actual relationships have taken a major hit with cell phones, computers, social media, and the internet. Restaurants are filled with silent families, each member looking at their cell phone rather than talking to each other. The heartbreaking scene of a mother focused on her cell phone, ignoring her crying baby in the stroller who's reaching out its arms for her is all too commonplace. Computer tablets have become virtual nannies and babysitters. Two-year-olds prefer interacting with an iPad to interacting with people, but encouraging this deprives the child of what it needs most. Surveys show a third of people who text prefer texting to talking with an actual person. Most people check their cell phones 150 times a day (once every six minutes). Teens spend 8-11 hours a day on a screen. Ninety percent of 18- to 29-year-olds sleep with their cell phones. But for the majority of women who blame menopause, hair loss results from a hormonal shift that is unlikely to correct itself without intervention. If you notice that your scalp is becoming increasingly visible, your doctor can take a blood test and a scalp analysis to determine why it's happening to you, which will then determine your best course of action. If the cause is not hormonal, some over-the-counter products, such as hair-thickening shampoos and volumizing sprays, might be worth a try. If it is hormonal, your doctor may prescribe Rogaine, which contains minoxidil, the only FDA-approved treatment for hair loss. A 2 percent solution is usually recommended for women (though my derm gives women the same 5 percent solution used for men). Minoxidil is far from perfect -- it has to be applied to the entire scalp twice a day, and any regrowth will stop when you stop applying it -- but it is worth trying. More likely than helping you grow more hair, it will prevent further loss, so the earlier you start, the better. Just FYI, when you are using minoxidil, watch that it doesn't transfer from your head to your face via your pillow! Dr Melanie Grossman, a Manhattan dermatologist, told me that facial hair can result from this transfer. And ask your dermatologist about the latest in hair transplants.

The individual feels separated or disconnected from their body or parts of their body. It can be accompanied by fuzzy memory or even amnesia. It can be as extreme as multiple personalities, or mild, such as switching roles without intention, for example, from kind caretaker to a blaming attacker. If the balance and internal coherence fails because of exposure to stress and trauma, a person can be stuck in one of these modes inappropriately or involuntarily. Body distortions or symptoms: This can be as simple and persistent as bodily pain, discomfort that has no known cause, or a constant focus on bodily sensations. Drug, alcohol, and addictive substance Use: This is a common response to stress. Individuals try to self-medicate to relieve symptoms others either do not understand or cannot ameliorate. Also, there is good evidence that those individuals who are more susceptible to drug use are also more prone to have traumatic syndromes. Another contributor to this cycle is early child or sexual abuse in families that also use drugs. There is an enormous amount of information these days on the science behind trauma, the effects it has on the brain, how and why you respond the way that you do, and how alternative modalities such as yoga and meditation are becoming more and more prevalent in the healing process of a person who is highly stressed and/or has suffered from trauma. Yes, said Robert, Information about how the business is doingprofits, scrap, budgets, market share, productivity, defects, and so on. Robert took a laminated card out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Marvin: I don't get it, said Marvin. Share information about company performance throughout the organization? That sounds like it could lead to chaos or anarchy. I can't imagine doing that in my company. And further, I think that many others would be very uncomfortable doing it. Then you can't create an empowered organization, replied Robert. He paused for emphasis, then said, I'm going to tell you something. I know you're a CEO, a president and all, and perhaps if I didn't have Sandy as an example I'd hesitate to say this because of respect for your position.

Stop talking. Start doing. While some people dream of success, others wake up early and work hard for it. Many times, we have a resistance against action and change when we need those two most. You need a bit of discipline, but the rewards of stopping to put things off are enormous. Putting things off makes them harder and scarier. There is nothing worse and more stressful than the lingering of unfinished tasks. It's like an additional weight on your shoulder that doesn't let you enjoy what you are doing. Stop putting things off. It only causes anxiety. Make another list of why people love to spend time with you. Post these loving lists where you can see them every day. Your Heart Thought for Day 5: I Love Being Me Can you imagine how wonderful it would be if you could live your life without ever being criticized by anyone? Wouldn't it be wonderful to feel totally at ease, totally comfortable? You would get up in the morning and know you were going to have a wonderful day, because everybody would love you and nobody would put you down. You would feel just great. You know what? You can give this to yourself. You can make the experience of living with yourself the most wonderful experience imaginable.

You will often think about the worst that can happen. The issue is that you are trapped in your mind and there is nothing outside your thoughts that you can constructively think about. Failure to live in the present denies you the opportunity to improve relationships with other people. In fact, you will live in fear that they will criticize you. Therefore, you will only want to exist in your cocoon. Again, this will lead to stress. Types of Overthinking There are different forms of overthinking that could affect the quality of the decisions we make. Common forms of overthinking are succinctly discussed in the following paragraphs. Abstract Thinking Someone has lost their job. Or one of their children goes abroad. Or their partner dies. What I just described are facts. The degree to which they are also horrible, or unbearable, is up to each individual's judgment. Some judge one way, others another way. You will remind yourself of this and train yourself to react to your own adversities with equanimity, keeping in mind that the universe works neither for you nor against you. It just goes on regardless of you. However, when you interact with others, do not belittle their distress or grief. And indeed, console them as it seems appropriate and efficacious to them.