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	<title>Health &#38; FamilyCategory: Stress &#124; Health &#38; Family &#124; TIME.com</title>
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	<description>A healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit</description>
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		<title>Health &#38; FamilyCategory: Stress &#124; Health &#38; Family &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>How You Deal With Your Emotions Can Influence Your Anxiety</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/13/how-you-deal-with-your-emotions-can-influence-whether-you-have-anxiety/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/13/how-you-deal-with-your-emotions-can-influence-whether-you-have-anxiety/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2013 16:30:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anxiety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[emotions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=86501</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When faced with a challenge, whether you deny the problems it poses or dive in to solve them in a positive way may determine how much anxiety you feel overall. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 40 million Americans ages 18 and older are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder every year. To dig deeper into who may be at greatest risk, investigators from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign surveyed 179 healthy men and women and asked them how they dealt with their emotions and how their answers correlated with their level of anxiety in a variety of settings. Previous studies hinted that different strategies that people use to handle emotional situations could impact how much anxiety they felt in general; those who tended to focus on positive ways of resolving difficult circumstances, for example, experienced less nervousness, tension and negative emotions compared with those who avoided challenging situations and suppressed negative and uncomfortable feelings. The scientists in the current study, published in the journal Emotion, wanted to explore the relationship further to see whether the more positive emotional strategy could offer more resilience and protection against anxiety than the suppressive approach. The participants all answered questionnaires designed to measure how much they were focused on achieving goals, whether they tended to control their emotions by reappraising challenges in a more positive way or whether they tried to ignore and suppress difficult feelings. For example, they rated how closely their behavior aligned with the statements, &#8220;I control my emotions by changing the way I think about the situation I am in,” and &#8220;I keep my emotions to myself.&#8221; They also responded to questions about their anxiety level during different situations such as when giving a report to a group or going to a party. Comparing their responses, the researchers found that the participants who regularly reframed what was happening to them to view their situation in a better light reported less severe anxiety than the participants who suppressed their emotions in trying situations. (MORE: High Anxiety: How Worrying About Math Hurts Your<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=86501&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/168623997.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Relax: It&#8217;s Good for Your Genes</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/03/relax-its-good-for-your-genes/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/03/relax-its-good-for-your-genes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2013 09:45:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Body & Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genetics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genomics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meditation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relaxation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relaxation response]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=86009</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While it might seem that your body and brain aren&#8217;t doing much when you&#8217;re on break, relaxing triggers a flurry of genetic activity that is responsible for some important health benefits. When you really relax — using any type of meditative technique such as deep breathing, yoga or prayer — the genes in your body switch to a different mode. Genes that counteract the chemical effects of stress kick in, while those responsible for driving more anxious and alert states take a backseat. And a new study shows that long-term practice of relaxation techniques can significantly enhance these genetic benefits. Dr. Herbert Benson, director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, first defined the relaxation response in the early 1970s and led the latest genetic investigation published in the journal PLOS One. “We have within us an innate, inborn capacity that counters the harmful effects of stress,” says Benson. “And this study has shown its genomic basis: namely that specific hubs of genes are changed when people evoke this relaxation response.” (MORE: The Two Faces of Anxiety) “It’s fantastic,” says Dr. Mladen Golubic, medical director of the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, who was not associated with the study. While other studies have linked the relaxation response to lower stress levels and reduced blood pressure, the current trail details the physiological pathways responsible for producing these benefits. The findings confirm and expand on work Benson&#8217;s group published in 2008 in which they showed that people who meditated over a long period of time showed altered expression of the genes involved in the stress response. In the current study, Benson and his colleagues studied 52 people, half of whom had meditated for four to 20 years using relaxation techniques and half of whom were novices. Both groups had their blood taken and analyzed before and after a 20-minute relaxation session in which they used a CD for guidance. The new meditators agreed to participate in two relaxation sessions; in the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=86009&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/03/relax-its-good-for-your-genes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Body &amp; Mind</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/body-mind/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/109721662.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">109721662</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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		<title>Study: Women Abused As Kids More Likely To Have Children With Autism</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/21/study-women-abused-as-kids-are-more-likely-to-have-children-with-autism/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/21/study-women-abused-as-kids-are-more-likely-to-have-children-with-autism/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:45:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Child Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mental Illness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trauma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[autism rates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[autism spectrum disorders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[childhood abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pregnancy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trauma]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=82711</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The results are the first to suggest a trans-generational contributor to the developmental disorder. The study, published in the  journal JAMA Psychiatry, is the first to examine the potential legacy that a mother&#8217;s experience with childhood abuse could have on the health of her own children. The findings are especially sobering given the latest statistics released from the Centers for Disease Control, which found a significantly higher rate of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) — one in 50 compared to one in 88 from a report released in 2012 — among school-aged children than previously thought. The authors of the JAMA Psychiatry paper studied more than 50,000 women enrolled in the Nurse&#8217;s Health Study II, who were asked about any history of abuse before they were 12. The questions delved into both physical and emotional abuse, as the women evaluated whether they had been hit hard enough to leave bruises, as well as whether adults or caregivers had insulted, screamed or yelled at them. They also filled out questionnaires about whether their own children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. The scientists also had access to the nurses&#8217; health records, so they could adjust for other maternal health factors known to influence autism risk, including nine pregnancy-related conditions such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, alcohol consumption and smoking. (MORE: Autism: Why Some Children ‘Bloom’ and Overcome Their Disabilities) Women who reported physical, emotional, or sexual abuse when they were young were more likely to have a child with autism compared to women who were not abused. The more severely the women were abused, the higher their chances of having a child with autism; compared to women who weren&#8217;t abused, those who endured the most serious mistreatment were 60% as likely to have an autistic child. Because it&#8217;s possible that a mother&#8217;s exposure to abuse as a child could also lead her to engage in behaviors associated with harming the fetus — such as smoking, drinking during pregnancy, using drugs, being overweight, having preterm labor or giving birth to a premature or low<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=82711&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/21/study-women-abused-as-kids-are-more-likely-to-have-children-with-autism/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Autism</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/medicine/autism/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/131226727.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">131226727</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Needle This: Study Hints at How Acupuncture Works to Relieve Stress</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/15/needle-this-study-hints-at-how-acupuncture-works-to-relieve-stress/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/15/needle-this-study-hints-at-how-acupuncture-works-to-relieve-stress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:01:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alice Park</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alternative Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anxiety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chronic stress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=82365</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Needles may not seem like the best tool for treating stress, but acupuncture could be tapping into basic biological systems that keep stress under control. Reporting in the Journal of Endocrinology, researchers led by Ladan Eshkevari, assistant program director of the nurse anesthesia program at Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, mimicked chronic stress in a rat model and documented how stimulating certain body points with acupuncture can alter stress hormones. The body’s stress response is triggered by two main pathways, one of which involves the HPA axis, or hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, in which these areas of the brain are activated to release peptides and proteins such as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). They, in turn, launch the production of other hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine that rev up the anxiety meter. Once activated, the system causes the heart to beat faster and the senses to go on alert. It also diverts the body’s energy away from background operations such as digestion to prime and fuel the muscles into a state of readiness. MORE: The Two Faces of Anxiety All of this is normal and necessary for protecting mammals, including us, from potential threats. But when stress becomes chronic, beating us down hour after hour and day after day, it’s no longer helpful and can become harmful. “People under chronic stress don’t handle acute stress very well,” says Eshkevari. “In chronic stress, the cortisol levels are elevated and never come back down to baseline, so people end up with insomnia or depressed or anxious because of the constant ramping up of this system.” When Eshkevari, who is a nurse anesthetist, noticed that many of her patients who used acupuncture to treat pain reported sleeping better and feeling better able to cope with their pain, even if the needling did not relieve the pain itself, she wondered whether acupuncture might help to reduce stress. MORE: Work Stress Linked to More Heart Attacks There weren’t many studies documenting how acupuncture could affect physiologic stress pathways, however, so she designed one using rats<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=82365&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/15/needle-this-study-hints-at-how-acupuncture-works-to-relieve-stress/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/137539371.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">apark7</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>How Stress Gets Under the Skin:  Q&amp;A With Neuroscientist Bruce McEwen</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/how-stress-gets-under-the-skin-qa-with-neuroscientist-bruce-mcewen/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/how-stress-gets-under-the-skin-qa-with-neuroscientist-bruce-mcewen/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:52:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anxiety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cortisol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[neuroscience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stress and health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stress hormones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toxic stress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=80609</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A professor of neuroscience at Rockefeller University, Bruce McEwen investigates how stress affects the mind and brain. He has published over 700 research papers exploring the ways that stress hormones can both damage the brain and lead to beneficial growth. TIME spoke with him recently about stress and health. What are some common misconceptions about stress? I’ll start with several pet peeves: that all stress is bad for you and that cortisol [a stress hormone] is bad for you because it’s easy to measure as a marker of stress. These stress systems were put there to help the body adapt and survive. They have a good side and a bad side. That’s the essence of [what I have labeled] allostatic load:  these systems, which help us adapt and survive can also cause problems when they are overused. [That idea] gets away from the use of the word stress, but when we talk about stress, there’s good stress and toxic stress. What is good stress? Good stress is rising to a challenge, feeling exhilarated when your body and brain are working properly to help you do so. And toxic stress? It’s intolerable stress. When you lose your job and you’ve got friends and enough material and social support, you can weather it and come out strong. [But] toxic stress is where bad things happen, perhaps because you don’t have the inner or external resources [needed to cope] and perhaps because you have had early life adversity, which makes you more vulnerable to adverse outcomes. And toxic stress can lead to inflammation? [Yes]. Inflammation in the brain [can] impair factors that lead to growth and new connections.  You can see how a vicious cycle would develop. On the other hand, don&#8217;t many of the people who have difficult childhood experiences remain resilient and able to cope with stress? It’s very important to separate that out. You’ve got the family, the caregiver and child relationship, which, if it’s consistent over time and doesn’t involve lots of up-down swings toward the kid and there<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=80609&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/how-stress-gets-under-the-skin-qa-with-neuroscientist-bruce-mcewen/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/121167638.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Take Our Quiz to Test Your Stress Savvy</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/11/take-our-quiz-to-test-your-stress-savvy/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/11/take-our-quiz-to-test-your-stress-savvy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:00:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=79888</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=79888&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/w983777495.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>The Most Stressed-Out Generation? Young Adults</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/07/the-most-stressed-out-generation-young-adults/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/07/the-most-stressed-out-generation-young-adults/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:44:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Psychological Association]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anxiety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[millennials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stress in america survey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[worry]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=79782</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The latest survey shows stress is on the decline overall but still hover above healthy levels, especially for young adults. In the national Stress in America survey, an annual analysis by Harris Interactive for the American Psychological Association, 35% of adults polled since 2007 reported feeling more stress this year compared with last year, and 53% said they received little or no support from their health care providers in coping with that heightened stress. The survey involved more than 2,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older who answered an online survey in August 2012. The participants ranked their overall stress level on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being &#8221;little or no stress&#8221; and 10 being &#8220;a great deal of stress.&#8221; Overall, stress in the U.S. has been declining since 2010, when 24% of Americans reported experiencing extreme stress compared with 20% in 2012. And on average, the participants reported a stress level of 4.9, compared with the 5.2 they reported in 2011. (MORE: The Two Faces of Anxiety) But that trend masks some concerning hints that those declines aren&#8217;t deep enough. Most adults said they considered a stress level of 3.6 to be healthy, or manageable, and current levels remain stubbornly above this mark. The common source of stress involved money, with 69% of participants citing financial problems and conflicts as the primary cause of their anxiety, while 65% fingered work, 61% noted the economy and 56% pointed to relationship angst. The most concerning trend emerging from the data, however, is the fact that most Americans don&#8217;t feel they are managing their stress well and that the health care system isn&#8217;t there to help them cope. A little over half of the participants said they received little or no support for stress management from their health care providers, and while 32% felt it was important to discuss their stress concerns with providers, only 17% said they actually did. (MORE: How ‘Bring Your Dog to Work’ Days Could Lower Stress) &#8220;Unfortunately, our country&#8217;s health system often neglects psychological and behavioral factors that<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=79782&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/07/the-most-stressed-out-generation-young-adults/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><letterbox>1</letterbox><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/160077996.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Stress</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/dd9dc95ff828efb70c16a5a509a75150?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>How Disasters and Trauma Can Affect Children&#8217;s Empathy</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/22/how-disasters-and-trauma-can-affect-childrens-empathy/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/22/how-disasters-and-trauma-can-affect-childrens-empathy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Behavior]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Childhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trauma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[altruism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[child development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disasters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[earthquake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kindness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[selfishness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sichuan earthquake]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=78221</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do children become more kind and empathetic after a disaster— or does the experience make them more focus more on self-preservation? The first study to examine the question in an experimental way shows that children&#8217;s reactions may depend on their age. The ability to study the altruistic and empathetic tendencies of youth before and after a natural disaster emerged after an earthquake struck in May 2008 in Mianyang, China. Scientists from the U.S. and Canada were already collaborating with Chinese researchers in the town in Sichuan province on a study of altruistic behavior when the earthquake, which measured 8.0 on the Richter scale, killed some 87,000 people, including many children. MORE: How Disasters Bring Out Our Kindness The original study was designed to track sharing behavior among a group of 30 six-year-olds and 30 nine-year-olds from impoverished backgrounds in two rural schools. The students each met individually with a researcher who offered them 100 appealing stickers, from which they could choose 10 favorites to keep. They were then given the choice to donate some of the remainder to an anonymous classmate who did not participate in the study. The children placed their donation in a sealed envelope in a “mailbox” while the researcher was blindfolded so the children would think that their donation was anonymous. After the earthquake, the scientists had the unique opportunity to turn a tragedy into a research opportunity. One month after the disaster, they conducted the same test of sharing behavior with another 60 kids of the same age and background from the same schools. Three years later, another 60 students were tested and their choices were compared to those of the earlier groups. Before the quake, both six- and nine-year olds donated similar amounts on average: one to two stickers. But one month later — when 95% were homeless, nearly 2% had lost an immediate family member and 8% had injured relatives — the six-year olds were slightly more selfish, while the nine-year-olds were more generous. At that point, the younger kids gave away an<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=78221&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/22/how-disasters-and-trauma-can-affect-childrens-empathy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Empathy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/empathy-mental-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/148914578.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">148914578</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/0a5ac57e99124922fa628492ad3db6b2?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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		<title>Childhood Trauma Leaves Legacy of Brain Changes</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/16/childhood-trauma-leaves-legacy-of-brain-changes/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/16/childhood-trauma-leaves-legacy-of-brain-changes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:00:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Laura Blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Adolescence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Behavior]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Child Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Genetics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trauma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aggression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aggressive tendencies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amygdala]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[antidepressants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[behavioral problems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[child abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MAOA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[orbitofrontal cortex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[violence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=78042</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Painful experiences early in life can alter the brain in lasting ways. A difficult reality for psychiatrists and counselors of child abuse is that young victims are at high risk of becoming offenders themselves one day, although it&#8217;s unclear why. But now a team of behavioral geneticists in Switzerland report a possible reason: early psychological trauma may actually cause lasting changes in the brain that promote aggressive behavior in adulthood. Writing this week Translational Psychiatry, the researchers describe a series or experiments conducted in rats that led them to that conclusion. Animals placed in traumatic, fear-inducing situations around the time of puberty show high and sustained levels of aggression later in life. And while rats cannot substitute for humans, the scared rats also showed changes in hormone levels, brain activity, and genetic expression that appear very similar to traits observed among troubled and unusually violent people. MORE: Watching Mean People on TV Might Turn You Into One The main implication of the research, says study co-author Carmen Sandi, is that it links two previously observed phenomena: the higher rate of aggression among those experiencing early-life stress, and the blunted activation of a brain region known as the orbitofrontal cortex among people with pathological aggression. Social learning, it seems, may not be the only thing that makes abused kids more likely to grow up aggressive. &#8220;This is a key finding which highlights the importance of not only developing social programs and politics, but also of reinforcing research that could offer valid [medical] treatments for individuals that have been victimized early in life,&#8221; says Sandi, the director of the Brain Mind Institute at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, in an email discussing the study. &#8220;We need to understand the neurobiological mechanisms to offer better solutions to break &#8216;the cycle of violence.&#8217;&#8221; In the study, Sandi and colleagues tested the rats for changes in specific regions of the brain following long periods of fear, and then tested a potential treatment to determine if it was possible to undo those brain changes. They began<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=78042&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Trauma</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/trauma-mental-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/6484-000046.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">6484-000046</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a069e8b4ff0dc386def0882f71bbfee6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Laura Blue</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<title>Can Dad&#8217;s Distress During Mom&#8217;s Pregnancy Affect Newborns?</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/07/can-dads-distress-during-moms-pregnancy-affect-newborns/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/07/can-dads-distress-during-moms-pregnancy-affect-newborns/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:00:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Behavior]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pregnancy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=77191</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[He doesn&#8217;t carry the child, but a father&#8217;s prenatal anxiety may have an affect on children&#8217;s later behavior. For years, research centered around how a mother&#8217;s mental health could impact her child&#8217;s development, including later behavioral problems, but the latest research suggests that it&#8217;s not just mom&#8217;s mental state that may be important. Although studies on paternal influences are still scarce, a 2011 study, for example, found that a child&#8217;s chance of developing behavioral or emotional problems increases by 11% if his father has signs of depression. But those studies involved children growing up in households with one or more depressed parents. But the current analysis, published in the journal Pediatrics, looked at the role of men&#8217;s mental health during their partner&#8217;s pregnancy, and found a link between dad&#8217;s mental health and their child&#8217;s behavioral development. (MORE: Older Fathers Linked to Kids’ Autism and Schizophrenia Risk) The Norwegian researchers looked at data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study that follows 31,663 children and includes self-reported mental health information from fathers in week 17 or 18 of pregnancy. The scientists found that around four and half months into pregnancy, 3% of fathers reported high levels of psychological distress and this anxiety was strongly linked to their child&#8217;s behavioral problems at age 3. Kids whose fathers had higher levels of distress had more behavioral and emotional issues overall. &#8220;The findings from this study suggest that some risk for future child emotional and behavioral problems can be identified during pregnancy, and as such the results are of importance for health professionals and policy makers in their planning of health care in the prenatal period,&#8221; the study authors write. But how does a father&#8217;s stress influence a growing fetus? The authors offer a couple of speculative reasons. Depression in expectant fathers may impact the mental health of their pregnant partners and cause hormonal changes in mothers that could influence their pregnancy. They also acknowledge that a father&#8217;s mental health prior to the birth is likely to predict his mental health after his child is born, and, as previous studies have<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=77191&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/baby-mental-health.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/baby-mental-health.jpg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">Baby Room</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/dd9dc95ff828efb70c16a5a509a75150?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>Sibling Rivalry: Squabbling May Lead to Depressive Symptoms, Anxiety, Among Teens</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/21/sibling-rivalry-squabbling-may-lead-to-depressive-symptoms-anxiety-among-teens/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/21/sibling-rivalry-squabbling-may-lead-to-depressive-symptoms-anxiety-among-teens/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:30:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Laura Blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Adolescence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Child Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Childhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Teens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adolescents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anxiety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brothers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[depressive mood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[depressive symptoms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[equality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fairness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[household chores]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personal space]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self-esteem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sibling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sibling conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sibling rivalry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sisters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=76560</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Anyone with a brother or sister can attest to the inevitability of conflicts during childhood, but frequent clashes may take a toll. Squabbling over two topics in particular, researchers say, may put adolescents at risk for depressive symptoms and anxiety. Psychologists at the University of Missouri reached that conclusion after surveying 145 adolescent sibling pairs over the course of a year. The researchers quizzed the kids on their sibling relationships, and also asked them to answer questionnaires to measure their self-esteem and symptoms of depression and anxiety. They found that kids with high self-esteem at the beginning of the study typically had fewer conflicts with their siblings one year later. But those who reported sibling conflict at the beginning of the study were much more likely to develop new mood problems over the following year. &#8220;There are definitely aspects that are going both ways,&#8221; says researcher Nicole Campione-Barr, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at the University of Missouri, about the possibility that sibling conflict may contribute to future emotional changes, as well as the potential that existing emotional changes may also fuel more squabbles . &#8220;But we believe that there are particular types of conflict that are setting kids up for problems,&#8221; she says. MORE: The Power of Birth Order In particular, Campione-Barr and her colleagues have identified two common themes among the sibling arguments that they studied. Kids who clash with their brothers and sisters about &#8220;equality and fairness issues&#8221; (things like who&#8217;s hogging the bathroom and whose turn it is to do the dishes) appear to be at unusually high risk of depressed mood one year later. Conversely, arguing over &#8220;personal domain conflicts&#8221; (like borrowing items without asking, or hanging around when the other sibling&#8217;s friends are over) is associated with anxiety symptoms and lower self-esteem one year later. The findings are published this week in the journal Child Development. Campione-Barr says the results are somewhat surprising since in previous research, experts had looked at sibling trust and communication, but only found an association between the personal<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=76560&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Teens</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/family-parenting/teens-family-parenting/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/new-image.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Sisters arguing</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a069e8b4ff0dc386def0882f71bbfee6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Laura Blue</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<title>Unemployment is Hard on the Heart, and the Harm May Add Up</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/21/unemployment-is-hard-on-the-heart-and-the-harm-may-add-up/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/21/unemployment-is-hard-on-the-heart-and-the-harm-may-add-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Nov 2012 21:00:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Laura Blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Heart Disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obesity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heart attack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[job loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[retirement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unemployment]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=74299</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers report that repeated job losses may be as damaging to the heart health as smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes. Among Americans aged 50 to 75, the unemployed suffer heart attacks at a rate that is 35% higher than that among employed people with otherwise similar risk factors, and the rate seems to rise with every new period of unemployment. The team of researchers from Duke University analyzed data on more than 13,000 middle-aged and older adults who agreed to biennial interviews about their work and health status. The study is not the first to connect employment status and heart attack risk, but unlike most previous research on the topic, it follows participants over many years — in this case, 18 years. That gave the team a rare opportunity to clarify the effects of multiple periods of unemployment, to see if the effect of job loss of the heart is cumulative. MORE: Having a Bad Job Is Worse than No Job For Mental Health The answer, apparently, is yes. After the first job loss, the increased risk of heart attack during the study period among the unemployed was around 22% compared to those still working, but that risk increased to 63% after four or more bouts of joblessness. &#8220;The [magnitude] of the impact was striking to us,&#8221; says Dr. Eric Peterson, a cardiologist at Duke and the senior author on the study. &#8220;There is this compounded effect of multiple job losses on an individual’s health. I think that was interesting and unique to see.&#8221; Peterson and his co-authors used data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study that was conducted between 1990 and 2010, a period that spanned both economic boom years and recessions. In addition to questions about their occupational status and heart health, the study participants were asked about their age, sex, race or ethnicity, educational background, and a whole host of health behaviors, such as smoking and exercise patterns, and health conditions like hypertension or diabetes.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=74299&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/124034974unemployedhacrop.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/124034974unemployedhacrop.jpg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">Name tag reading Unemployed</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a069e8b4ff0dc386def0882f71bbfee6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Laura Blue</media:title>
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		<title>Strongest Study Yet Shows Meditation Can Lower Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/14/mind-over-matter-strongest-study-yet-shows-meditation-can-lower-risk-of-heart-attack-and-stroke/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/14/mind-over-matter-strongest-study-yet-shows-meditation-can-lower-risk-of-heart-attack-and-stroke/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Laura Blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Body & Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heart Disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prevention]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirituality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blood pressure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypertension]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[maharishi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meditation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stroke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transcendental meditation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=73671</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most doctors say meditation can&#8217;t hurt you, but now there&#8217;s reassuring evidence that it may help you as well when it comes to warding off disease. Previous studies have linked better health outcomes among heart patients who practiced meditation compared to those who did not, but none of those trials could definitively credit the brain-focusing program with the better health results. In the latest trial to address those limitations, however, meditation does appear to have an effect on reducing heart attack, stroke and even early death from heart disease, at least among African-Americans. MORE: Losing Focus? Studies Say Meditation May Help &#8220;The main finding [of our research] is that, added on top of usual medical care, intervention with a mind-body technique — transcendental meditation — can have a major effect on cardiovascular events,&#8221; says Robert Schneider, lead author on the study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes and a professor at the Maharishi University of Management, an institution in Iowa that was founded by the creator of transcendental meditation. He and his colleagues followed 201 African American men and women, who are at higher risk of heart disease than whites, but who also had addition reason to worry about heart attacks and strokes since they were also diagnosed with coronary heart disease. The participants were randomly assigned to participate in either a health education class about heart-friendly diet and exercise, or to attend a transcendental meditation program. Transcendental meditation involves shutting out the outside world and focusing thoughts inward, or resting while remaining alert. All of the participants continued to receive their normal medical care as well, including appropriate medication. MORE: Medical Meditation: Say Om Before Surgery After roughly five years of follow-up, the researchers found a 48% reduction in the overall risk of heart attack, stroke, and death from any cause among members of the meditation group compared to those from the health education group. The meditating group enjoyed an average drop of 4.9 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure compared to the control group and also reported less stress<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=73671&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/14/mind-over-matter-strongest-study-yet-shows-meditation-can-lower-risk-of-heart-attack-and-stroke/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Heart Disease</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/medicine/heart-disease/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/109721662meditationcrop.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Woman meditating</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a069e8b4ff0dc386def0882f71bbfee6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Laura Blue</media:title>
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		<title>Q&amp;A with Psychiatrists on How to Bounce Back After Severe Stress</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/12/qa-with-psychiatrists-on-how-to-bounce-back-after-severe-stress/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/12/qa-with-psychiatrists-on-how-to-bounce-back-after-severe-stress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hurricane Sandy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[post traumatic stress disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ptsd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recovery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[resilience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trauma]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=73615</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experts Dr. Steven Southwick and Dr. Dennis Charney investigate the power of resilience in their new book, Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life&#8217;s Greatest Challenges. Recovering from a natural disaster takes physical and psychological strength, and as those attempting to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy are learning, it doesn&#8217;t hurt to have help. To better understand which tools help us to bounce back from trauma and cope with stress, Southwick, a psychiatry professor at Yale University, and Charney, a psychiatry professor at Mount Sinai Hospital, studied Navy SEALs, rape survivors, prisoners of war and others who overcame highly stressful situations with only minimal mental hardship. It turns out that these survivors share critical skills that can support anyone, even those who haven’t been professionally trained or naturally endowed with resilience, to better combat trauma. Why did you decide to study resilience? Dennis Charney: We were studying the biology and the psychology of PTSD and depression,  so we were working with those patients.  About 15 or so years ago, we started to think, ‘There are some people who seem to be stress-resistant. Maybe we can learn from them what enables those people to get through tough times, so that might bear on understanding vulnerability.’ MORE: The Two Faces of Anxiety Who did you include in your research? DC: We ended up studying prisoners of war (POWs) from Vietnam. They were held for six to eight years in the Hanoi Hilton, as they nicknamed it.  That was an amazing experience to interview these men and we learned a lot from the POWs. The reason we chose [these men] is that they did well when they got out. We wanted to understand how they did well. Steven Southwick: We [also] decided to interview special forces instructors. Who better to teach us how to deal with fear and stress?  We kept seeing the same themes over and over. [We said], ‘Well this is great, but let’s see what science there is to back these recommendations and<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=73615&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/12/qa-with-psychiatrists-on-how-to-bounce-back-after-severe-stress/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/03468560.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">image: Kulib Abbas sits in a chair near the remains of his home as people in the area continue to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in the Oakwood Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, New York, Nov. 12, 2012.</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/0a5ac57e99124922fa628492ad3db6b2?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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		<title>Why Does Bad News Stress Women Out More than Men?</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/11/bad-news-more-stressful-for-women-than-men/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/11/bad-news-more-stressful-for-women-than-men/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bad news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mass media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[negative news]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=71271</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s hard to avoid the news, thanks to Twitter feeds, Facebook updates and the ubiquity of newsfeeds eager to flood your screen with both calamity and celebration. But how are all these current events affecting our psyche? To figure out whether our increasing exposure to 24-hour news coverage — especially negative news — has an impact on our stress levels, researchers from University of Montreal recruited 60 men and women to read news stories and submit to certain stressful situations. Turns out, women are more sensitive to negative news stories than men are, and they remember the details of such events better. (MORE: Background TV: Children Exposed to Four Hours a Day) For the study, the researchers divided the participants, aged 18 to 35, into four groups to read news stories. One group of men and one group of women read &#8220;neutral&#8221; news stories, about park openings or movie premieres, for example, while the other groups read negative news stories — about murders and accidents. To determine the participants&#8217; stress levels after reading these stories, the research team took saliva samples and analyzed each for the stress hormone cortisol. The higher the level of hormone, the more stressed the participants likely were. The study participants then completed stress-inducing tasks involving memory and intellect, and then provided a second round of saliva samples. The following day, the participants discussed the news stories they read the day before with researchers over the phone. The scientists found that although women&#8217;s stress levels didn&#8217;t rise after reading the negative news stories, the stories did make them more reactive to the stressful situations they endured afterward: women&#8217;s cortisol levels were higher after the memory and intellect tasks if they had first read negative news stories than if they read the neutral ones. Researchers didn&#8217;t see the same effect in men. What&#8217;s more, women who read stories about accidents and murders remembered more about them than did women who read &#8220;neutral&#8221; news. Again, the same phenomenon wasn&#8217;t seen among the male participants. &#8220;When our brain perceives a threatening<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=71271&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/98472575.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">27 year old Thai woman lies on her bed and  watches tv</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/dd9dc95ff828efb70c16a5a509a75150?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>Why Being a Leader Is Less Stressful than Following</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/26/why-being-a-leader-is-less-stressful-than-following/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/26/why-being-a-leader-is-less-stressful-than-following/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:34:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cortisol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[power]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[status]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stress hormones]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=70082</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While the image of the stressed-out executive or the politician under pressure has been firmly planted in the American mind, research increasingly suggests that it&#8217;s actually people lower down on the social scale — not those in leadership positions at the top — who suffer the worst health effects of stress. Now a new study of military officials and government staffers at a Harvard executive-training program confirms these findings, showing that as people climb the organizational rungs, their stress hormone levels and anxiety typically go down. “Being a leader, especially a high-ranking leader, is associated with lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol,” says study co-author Gary Sherman, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, noting that chronically high cortisol is a physiological indicator of stress. Indeed, while everyone needs some amount of cortisol to cope with short-term stress, having consistently high levels of the hormone has been linked to depression, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and other major causes of illness and death. The new study found that cortisol levels were 27% higher, on average, in non-leaders compared with leaders. (MORE: Study: 1 in 25 Business Leaders May Be Psychopaths) For the paper, two experiments were conducted. The first involved simply measuring cortisol and anxiety levels in 216 people, including government officials and military officers, and then comparing those levels to those in people recruited from the Boston area who did not hold managerial positions. The second study included 88 leaders and analyzed whether their sense of social control over their circumstances was linked to how stressed they felt. Previous research has found that even people in low-ranking positions don&#8217;t have overly high levels of stress as long as they have a perceived sense of control; but for those who don&#8217;t have a sense of power, even being at the top won&#8217;t protect them from hazardous stress. “When we compared leaders of different ranks and levels, we found that higher-ranking leaders reported a greater sense of control in their lives. This helped explain why they<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=70082&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/600_leadership_0926.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/600_leadership_0926.jpg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">Leadership</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/0a5ac57e99124922fa628492ad3db6b2?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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		<title>A New Neighborhood May Boost Health and Happiness, If Not Wealth</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/21/a-new-neighborhood-may-boost-health-and-happiness-if-not-wealth/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/21/a-new-neighborhood-may-boost-health-and-happiness-if-not-wealth/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Sep 2012 17:34:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Happiness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[economic inequality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[moving to opportunity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[neighborhoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poverty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[well-being]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=69743</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Moving poor families out of low-income neighborhoods doesn&#8217;t help increase their wealth, education or job status, but it does offer a different kind of long-term boost: better health and more happiness. In a recent study published in the journal Science, researchers analyzed data from Moving to Opportunity, a federal housing mobility experiment conducted in the 1990s. The project involved 4,600 low-income families living in poor neighborhoods in Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, Chicago and Boston; about 2,000 families received housing vouchers that allowed them to move to mixed-income neighborhoods, while the others stayed behind. The goal was to determine how much a person&#8217;s living environment impacts his or her success. (MORE: CDC: Higher Income and Education Levels Linked to Better Health) Not much, according to the new study. Moving to neighborhoods with a lower concentration of poverty (families who received vouchers moved to communities where about one-third of residents lived in poverty, while the control group remained in neighborhoods where half of families lived in poverty) did not help people get better jobs or raise their income nor did it result in better education for children. Those findings, while disappointing, weren&#8217;t altogether surprising, researchers told the New York Times, noting that many of the children who moved still stayed in the same school district; further, because employers were looking for educated workers, switching neighborhoods didn&#8217;t improve job prospects for the participants, most of whom did not have a college education. And yet the scientists found that families who moved reported significant boosts in their physical and psychological health. Compared with families who stayed behind, those who changed neighborhoods had lower rates of diabetes, obesity, anxiety and stress. They were also much happier and less depressed: in fact, their overall level of life satisfaction rose to that of someone whose annual income was $13,000 more a year — that&#8217;s saying something for a demographic earning about $20,000 annually. &#8220;Helping poor families is about a lot more than just increasing their income,&#8221; lead study author Jens Ludwig, a University of Chicago economist, told the Wall Street Journal. (MORE:<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=69743&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Happiness</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/happiness/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/83590513.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">83590513</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>Work Stress Linked to More Heart Attacks</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/14/work-stress-linked-to-more-heart-attacks/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/14/work-stress-linked-to-more-heart-attacks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Heart Disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heart attack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[work stress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=68985</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thank God it&#8217;s Friday. A recent review of 13 studies by a group of European researchers links high work stress with an increase in heart attack risk. The research team examined data from studies of nearly 200,000 people from seven European countries and found that workers with highly demanding jobs and little control over decision-making were 23% more likely to have a heart attack over the 7.5-year study, compared with their peers with less job stress. This association remained unchanged when the study authors factored in socioeconomic status, gender and age. &#8220;Our ﬁndings suggest that job strain is associated with a small, but consistent, increased risk of an incident event of cardiovascular heart disease,&#8221; the authors write. (MORE: Exercise Keeps Muscles Young, Even in Elderly Heart Patients) The study didn&#8217;t show that job stress caused heart attack, only that there was an association. But if the link were causal, by eliminating job strain, the authors say 3.4% of heart attacks could be prevented. That&#8217;s a pretty small figure, though, especially compared with other contributing factors to heart disease like smoking and lack of exercise, which account for 36% and 20% of heart attacks, respectively. &#160; However, in a corresponding comment, Bo Netterstrøm from Bispebjerg Hospital in Copehagen, Denmark, argues that “job strain is a measure of only part of a psychosocially damaging work environment,&#8221; and reducing workplace stress will likely have a greater impact than the study authors give credit. “Exposures such as job insecurity and factors related to social capital and emotions, are likely to be of major importance in the future. The present economic crisis will almost certainly increase this importance,” he writes. (MORE: Scientists Turn Human Skin Cells Into Healthy Heart Cells) The study focused on European workers, but there&#8217;s no doubt the U.S.&#8217;s 8.1% unemployment rate is causing some serious stress among Americans, too — whether or not they&#8217;ve got a job. Given that 1 in 3 Americans suffers from heart problems, managing work-related stress is key. Here are some recommendations from the American Heart Association: Practice positive self-talk: Instead of telling yourself, &#8220;everything is<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=68985&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/1038910821.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">103891082</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/dd9dc95ff828efb70c16a5a509a75150?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>Can We Become Addicted to Stress?</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/06/can-we-become-addicted-to-stress/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/06/can-we-become-addicted-to-stress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katherine Schreiber | Greatist.com</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=68084</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In 2011, Americans rated their personal stress levels an average of 5.2 out of 10. And 22% admitted to being under extreme stress on a regular basis. Gulp! Stress can be physical, like what we subject our muscles to at the gym. And then there’s the kind that’s in our heads — that OMG I’m so overwhelmed right now feeling. While psychological stress has some definite downsides (chronic freak-outs may increase our risk for cancer and other diseases), take a moment to exhale. In moderate amounts, stress can boost our focus, energy, and even our powers of intuition. Still, in some cases, stress does more than light a productivity-boosting fire under our butts. Both emotional and physical stress activate our central nervous system, causing a “natural high,” says Concordia University neuroscientist and addiction specialist Jim Pfaus. “By activating our arousal and attention systems,” Pfaus says, “stressors can also wake up the neural circuitry underlying wanting and craving — just like drugs do.” (PHOTOS: 5 Ways to Stop Stressing and Become Happier and More Confident) This may be why, experts believe, some of us come to like stress a little too much. Type A and Type D personalities — or people prone to competitiveness, anxiety, and depression — may be most likely to get a high from stressful situations, says stress management specialist Debbie Mandel. Stress &#8220;addicts,&#8221; Mandel says, “may also be using endless to-do lists to avoid less-easy-to-itemize problems — feelings of inadequacy, family conflicts, or other unresolved personal issues.” Some stress junkies have difficulty listening to others, concentrating, and even sleeping because they can’t put tomorrow’s agenda out of their minds, explains Mandel. Others tend to use exaggerated vocabulary — craaazy busy right now, workload’s insane!! And some begin to feel anxious at the mere thought of slowing down their schedule. But psychologist and addiction researcher Stanton Peele cautions against labeling anyone a stress addict. “Only when that pursuit of stress has a significant negative impact on your life could it qualify as addiction,” he said, adding that many people are<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=68084&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/06/can-we-become-addicted-to-stress/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Stress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/stress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/149627809.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Woman clutching her head in mental anguish</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Sora Song</media:title>
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		<title>How PTSD and Addiction Can Be Safely Treated Together</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/15/how-ptsd-and-addiction-can-be-safely-treated-together/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/15/how-ptsd-and-addiction-can-be-safely-treated-together/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:45:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Addiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recovery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trauma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[addict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cognitive therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[exposure therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[post traumatic stress disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ptsd]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=66331</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Contrary to researchers' fears that PTSD therapy may trigger relapse in patients with addiction, a new study finds that when done right, both conditions can be treated simultaneously<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=66331&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Addiction</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/addiction/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/89794691.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">89794691</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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