Everybody knows that exercise will help you physically, making you strong, fitter and giving you more stamina. It will also help raise your metabolic rate, which will help you loose weight and keep weight lost. But not many people know the mental effects of exercise.

Exercise gives a natural ‘high’, this is because it makes the brain release different chemicals, serotonin, dopamine, nor epinephrine and endorphins all of these are known to have strong effects on your mood, they can help to reduce feelings of anxiety, stress and they can also help stop you feeling depressed. One of the main benefits of using exercise to help lift depression is that you can start to feel the effects instantly, where as drugs can take several weeks to have an effect. Also if you are more active you will be able to sleep better, since a lot of sleep problems are linked with depression which will certainly help straight away.

If you do a lot of exercise you will not only look fitter and healthier you will feel healthier and fitter. Exercise will help you gain a more positive image of yourself; in turn this will boost your self-confidence and your self-esteem. This also means that you will be able to socialize with more ease. Regular exercise will also help reduce your stress and tension levels. It will also help you clear your mind, which in turn will help you relax and unwind in the evenings rather that dwelling on those problems you might have. Another helpful factor of exercise is that it will boost your energy levels, a lot of people who are depressed often lack energy. When you forced yourself to go and do some exercise a few times you will soon see the difference in how energetic you feel.

Researchers at Duke University, Carolina, USA, studied people who were suffering from depression for four months. The found out that 60% of the participants who exercised for 30 minutes, three times a week, overcame their state of depression without using any antidepressant drugs. It was the same percentage rate as those who only used medication to help treat their depression. Another survey carried out by the charity Mind in 2001 found out that 83% of people who have mental health problems looked to exercise to help them lift their mood or to help them reduce their stress and tension levels. Two thirds said that exercise helped them to reduce stress and anxiety. 6 out of 10 of the respondents said that physical exercise helped them to improve how motivated they were. 50% also said it boosted their self-esteem and 24% said it help improve their social skills and they were able to interact with more ease.

Before you start on any exercise program, it is always highly prudent to check with your physician that there are no underlying illnesses.

Eating disorder is conventionally seen as a lifestyle disease, with worrying consequences. Females seem to appear more vulnerable to eating disorders than males. Self-starvation is one of the salient features of eating disorder, denies the body of nutrients it needs to function optimally, as it is forced to conserve energy. So how does one detect a sufferer’s eating disorder?

Even though eating disorders are difficult to detect, actually, there are many signs to be aware of, especially if it concerns our loved ones and close friends that something seems not right in that person as we already know them well.

Here are some of the give-aways to look out for:
1. Obsession with information regarding or related to food.
2. Changes in eating habits, such as being particular about the type or amount of foods or the cooking methods.
3. Changes in mood, interaction or communication
4. Signs of hiding or throwing foods away.
5. Feelings of anger, anxiety, depressed, guilty feelings and moody after each meal.
6. Being anti-social, avoiding gatherings and parties where food is involved.
7. Weakened physical conditions such as feeling sick, lethargic, losing weight, dropping hair and dry skin.
8. Frequent visits to the toilet after meals or using laxatives when there is no such need.
9. Sudden changes in sleeping patterns
10. Having distorted and low self-esteem.

Early detection by psychological intervention and nutritional counselling will greatly reduced the sufferer from further deterioration. In a severe case, medical treatment is required to stabilise the sufferer.

Importantly, we must bear this in mind, we must never use force but be there for them to show our concern and love, give support, encouragement and best of all - a listening ear whilst the sufferer to find a mode of recovery that is suitable for themselves.

This is so common for many of us to eat our way through the holiday season, even as we plan to make “losing weight” one of our primary New Year’s resolutions. But of course this overindulgence only makes it harder on us when the New Year rolls around. Instead of having six kilos to lose, we have added another nine or ten.

Because of the traditions and festivities, EATING is always part and parcel with almost every celebration regardless of culture. We eat because the food is yummy and plentiful and because we believe that since it’s the holidays, calories don’t count this time of year. So, is there really a foolproof way to stop this terrible cycle?

With all of those cookies, candies, fudge, buffet-style dinners, delicious breakfasts, and never-ending snacks, we would be foolish to simply wing it. If you go in unprepared, you stand a much greater chance of failing before you even begin! Thankfully, we can create an easy and effective way to keep the pounds off, while still managing to enjoy the holiday season and a sampling of the foods that come along with it.

Here’s The Three-Pronged Attack

First, the exercise which can be as simple as taking a walk each day, or even every other day. Set up your iPod with your favorite songs (holiday-themed or not) and get out into the great wide open. If the great wide open isn’t your bag, head to the gym or buy a treadmill to do your walking indoors. Studies have shown that walking for at least thirty minutes in your target heart rate is amazingly effective in the battle of the bulge. When you combine the walking with some resistance training, you’ve set up what amounts to a defensive army against the attacking calories.

Second, organise your family activities. Whether it takes the form of outdoor sports, indoor movie watching, or game play, anything you can do to take the focus off of food is a good thing. Does this mean cancelling your special holiday dinner? Of course not! We’re simply talking about shifting the focus from food to the reason for the holidays in the first place: the camaraderie and love between friends and family. Food is just there as a garnishment. As long as it stays that way and doesn’t become the main reason for the gathering, the holidays (and your waistline) will be a lot better off.

Third and lastly, if you have a tendency to get depressed during the holidays, find some things to take your mind off food and put yourself in better spirits. This could be seeking out friends or even strangers in order to partake in holiday events. Or it could be as simple as going outside and breathing in some cool, fresh air and letting the glow of the sun shine on your face. Just try to avoid hitting the cookie jar too often as that only brings a temporary relief. Remember that far from soothing your mind, food is only going to aggravate your health and mar your happiness.

Now, you’ve got yourself a winning plan for staying slim and trim through the holidays. Whenever it seems like it’s getting too hard, just think about the smile you’ll have on your face when everyone else is complaining that their pre-holiday dresses and pants don’t fit anymore. In the meantime, yours don’t either, but for the opposite reason. Come on, if that’s not a holiday miracle, what is?

Well, here’s wishing all my friends

‘A Happy Healthy & Prosperous New Year 2008′!

I have just read today’s newspapers and found it very amusing to read the headline blast ‘S’poreans fear mental patients, study finds’. It triggered my memory of those days so long ago. I remembered very well when my family were staying quite near a mental home which was separated by some dense trees. The maids that my family had at that time, would frightened us with stories of ‘mad’ people coming after us whenever we get too naughty. Most of the time we didn’t hear anything from the home but once in a while we would hear screams from there. I remembered my siblings and I would get very scared whenever we passed by the mental home. Of course, by now we know better but I have still come across people who are still ignorant and therefore I fully agree that mental health professionals should work with the media to educate the public.

So here’s The Myths and Facts about mental illness by Chang Ai-Lien

>>Myth: Getting over disorders such as depression and anxiety is a matter of willpower
>>Fact: Pyschiatric disorders are legimate medical illnesses, just like heart disease or cancer. Most experts agree such disorders have physical causes, and the symptoms are caused by chemical changes in the brain.

>>Myth: Mentally ill people are dangerous
>>Fact: Most mental patients are not violent. In fact, those undergoing treatment are no more likely yo be violent than anyone else. However, other conditions such as alcoholism, drug abuse and having been a victim of child abuse increase the risk of violence.

>>Myth: Mental illness should be hidden as it cannot be treated
>>Fact: Even serious mental illness such as schizophrenia can be treated with professional help and medicine. As with many illnesses, the earlier it is spotted and treated, the better the chances of recovery.

>>Myth: Children do not get mental illness
>>Fact: Mental problems affect one in eight children aged six to twelve here. They affect one in four adults. And among those aged sixty and above, 5.6% are hit by dementia.

>>Myth: Medications to treat mental illnesses are addictive
>>Fact: While some sleeping pills can be addictive, anti-depressants and anti-psychotics to treat say, schizophrenia or manic depression, are not, and they help restore normal functioning.

>>Myth: Only mentally ill people see psychiatrists
>>Fact: Sometimes, people just need professional help to solve their problems

Like what Professor Chong Siow Ann had said, public education is needed to help remove the stigma and stereotyping of mental health related issues and we have to address these concerns as soon as possible.