#Links Between Stress Shift Work And Serotonin Levels

[quickfitness]

Links Between Stress Shift Work And Serotonin Levels

The 21st Century is best characterized by the advent of ultra-modern technology, global commercial and business, and the unstoppable desire to get and stay ahead. Because of these factors, business corporations compete in a world where the economy is active 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This phenomenon created a demand for employees that would work even during the night upto the wee hours of the morning. This work schedule reversed employee lifestyle, making the day their time to for sleeping. Shifts may disrupt the normal body functions, hamper sleep cycles, and reduce the body’s serotonin levels. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is found in the central nervous system and impacts multiple functions like mood, sleep, sexuality, and appetite. This neurotransmitter may also promote cell regeneration.

Studies show that non-day shift workers tend to have lower levels of “feel-good” hormones called serotonin. Researchers at the University of Buenos Aires led by Dr. Carlos J, Pirola studied 683 men and compared 437 day workers to 246 shift workers. The results, the shift workers’ serotonin levels, measured through blood tests were significantly lower than those on regular day schedules. In addition to reduced serotonin levels, shift workers were also found to have higher cholesterol, hip-to-waist ratios, increased blood pressure, and higher triglyceride levels.

Because serotonin levels administer sleep patterns and other body functions, the University of Buenos Aires study suggested that shift work may also lead to a so-called Shift Work Sleep Disorder. People with this disorder tend to remain awake when they should be sleeping. These individuals can be very tired during waking hours. This disorder takes place because of a work schedule that takes place during the normal sleep period. Because of this, people who have difficulty getting sleep because their bodies are still programmed to be awake. The time of being asleep and being awake is different from what the body’s internal clock expects.

Other studies also found out that non-standard and night shift work may affect the cardiovascular and metabolic systems. These studies suggest that there is a possibility that shift work is directly responsible for high blood pressure and increased body fat, according the researchers of the Buenos Aires study. In addition to the disruption of sleep patterns, reduced levels of serotonin are also linked to other conditions like stress, anxiety, and depression.

Lifestyle changes can lead to improved serotonin levels. To make serotonin levels consistent, sleep patterns should be consistent and food regimens should include necessary vitamins and minerals to control the serotonin levels. Certain drugs and substances like caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and antidepressants should be avoided because they may deplete serotonin production.

Individuals who want to improve their serotonin levels can use medication to aid them in their goal. The amino acid 5-HTP can be taken as a supplement and improve the body’s ability to manufacture serotonin. Another amino acid called L-tryptophan is used by the body to produce serotonin. However, before taking these supplements, patients are advised to seek the approval of doctors and other health professionals. Individuals who choose to work in the night should maintain adequate rest to lessen ill-effects that may develop. Healthy lifestyles and nutritious food regimens may improve serotonin levels and improve one’s quality of life.

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[lovehealgrow]

How Lack of Sleep May Be Fueling Your Anxiety

Plenty of people toss and turn at night, fighting for sleep that doesn’t come. For most people, there are times when your mind races like a freight train through the night, refusing to let you slip into the restorative embrace of sleep. Instead, you find yourself trapped in a cycle of worries and what-ifs.

But these sleepless nights don’t just impact your nighttime activities; there’s a direct correlation between the lack of sleep and the intensity of anxiety the next day. Many folks find that their thoughts seem to spiral more easily into catastrophic scenarios, their ability to cope dwindles, and even the smallest hurdlesfeel insurmountable.

If this sounds like you, keep reading, because today we’re going to talk about the connection between lack of sleep and anxiety.

The Link Between Sleep and Anxiety

The intricate link between sleep and anxiety is deeply rooted in the complex interplay of biological, psychological, and neurochemical processes within the human body. Sleep is a really complicated process, even though it seems simple. It’s more than just closing your eyes and resting; during sleep, your brain repairs itself, processes memories, and much more. Understanding the science behind this connection can help explain why disruptions in sleep patterns can exacerbate feelings of anxiety and vice versa. Let’s take a look at all the key pieces in this complicated puzzle.

One of the mechanisms that can help explain the relationship between sleep and anxiety is the way your neurotransmitters and hormones interact and regulate sleep. Serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation, plays a critical role in modulating sleep-wake cycles as well as emotional states. Disruptions in serotonin signaling have been implicated in both anxiety disorders and sleep disturbances, highlighting the interconnected nature of these phenomena.

Thestress hormone cortisol plays a key role in the body’s response to stress and is intricately linked to both sleep and anxiety. Elevated cortisol levels, which often accompany chronic stress and anxiety, can disrupt the normal sleep-wake cycle, leading to difficulties falling asleep or staying asleep. In turn, sleep deprivation can further elevate cortisol levels, creating a vicious cycle that perpetuates both anxiety and sleep disturbances.

Another major role is played by the amygdala, a region of the brain involved in processing emotions, particularly fear and anxiety. Sleep deprivation has been shown to enhance amygdala reactivity, making individuals more prone to exaggerated emotional responses and heightened anxiety levels. This means that you’ll often be much more sensitive to emotional stimuli, like your anxiety triggers!

Sleep also plays a crucial role in cognitive function, and disruptions in sleep patterns can impair various cognitive processes, including attention, memory, and decision-making. This cognitive impairment can exacerbate feelings of anxiety, making it more difficult to cope with stressors and manage anxious thoughts and feelings effectively.

Disruptions in the body’s circadian rhythm, which regulates the timing of sleep and wakefulness, can contribute to both sleep disturbances and anxiety. Shift work, irregular sleep schedules, and exposure to artificial light at night can disrupt the circadian rhythm, leading to sleep problems and increased susceptibility to anxiety disorders.

So all in all, sleep and anxiety go hand in hand. Anxiety can make it hard to sleep, but without sufficient sleep, you will feel more anxious. It’s a vicious cycle… but it’s one that doesn’t have to keep you stuck!

How To Get Better Sleep

So now that you know about the relationship between sleep and anxiety, what can you do to get better sleep? Improving sleep when experiencing heightened anxiety can be challenging, but there are several strategies that can help alleviate anxiety and promote better sleep quality. Here are some practical tips to consider:

Establish a Relaxing Bedtime Routine

Engage in calming activities before bedtime to signal to your body that it’s time to wind down. This could include reading a book, practicing mindfulness or relaxation techniques, taking a warm bath, or listening to soothing music. Consistency is key in training your body to associate these activities with sleep.

Create a Comfortable Sleep Environment

Optimize your bedroom environment to promote restful sleep. Keep the room dark, quiet, and cool, as these conditions are conducive to sleep. Invest in comfortable bedding, pillows, and a mattress that supports your preferred sleep position.

Limit Stimulants and Screen Time

Avoid consuming caffeine and other stimulants close to bedtime, as they can interfere with your ability to fall asleep. Similarly, avoid using screens– such as smartphones, tablets, computers, and TVs– in the hour leading up to bedtime. The blue light emitted by these devices can disrupt melatonin production and inhibit sleep. This can be hard, especially if you’re a bedtime reader, but try switching to a paperback and a soft lamp. You might find you really enjoy it.

Practice Stress-Reduction Techniques

Incorporate stress-reduction techniques into your daily routine to alleviate anxiety and prepare for sleep. This could include mindfulness meditation, deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, or visualization techniques. Find what works best for you and make it a consistent part of your bedtime routine.

Limit Worrying Thoughts

Sometimes we can’t help worrying– and honestly, that’s ok! What’s not ok for us is when our worrying starts overtaking our daily lives and making us miserable. If racing thoughts and worries keep you awake at night, consider setting aside dedicated “worry time” earlier in the day to address these concerns. Write down your worries and potential solutions, allowing yourself to mentally let go of them before bedtime. This kind of worry journaling well before bed can also help quiet the mind and reduce anxiety-related thoughts.

Get Some Movement In

Engage in regular physical activity, as exercise can help reduce anxiety and promote better sleep quality. However, avoid vigorous exercise close to bedtime, as it may increase alertness and make it harder to fall asleep. Aim to complete your workout at least a few hours before bedtime to allow your body to wind down. And this doesn’t have to be strenuous– a quick walk around the block can be enough to help your body wind down.

Seek Professional Help

If anxiety significantly impacts your ability to sleep despite self-care efforts, consider seeking support from a mental health professional. Therapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or mindfulness-based therapy, can provide effective strategies for managing anxiety and improving sleep quality. In some cases, medication may also be prescribed to help alleviate anxiety symptoms and promote better sleep.

Remember that improving sleep with anxiety may require patience and experimentation to find the strategies that work best for you. It’s essential to prioritize self-care and seek support when needed to address both anxiety and sleep disturbances effectively. If you want some professional support around getting your sleep back on track, reach out to the therapy teamhere at Love Heal Grow. Our team has a lot of experience with anxiety, and we’re here to help you!

[alusa12]

Unwinding the Knots: Massage Therapy for Stress Reduction

Introduction:

In the fast-paced rhythm of modern life, stress has become an ever-present companion for many. From demanding work deadlines to personal obligations, the constant pressure can take a toll on both our physical and mental well-being. Fortunately, amidst the chaos, there exists a soothing remedy: massage therapy. Beyond its reputation for relaxation, massage has emerged as a powerful tool for stress reduction. In this article, we'll explore the profound effects of massage on stress levels and how incorporating regular sessions into your routine can lead to a more balanced and harmonious life.

Understanding the Impact of Stress:

Before delving into the therapeutic benefits of massage, it's essential to grasp the detrimental effects of stress on the body and mind. Stress triggers the body's "fight or flight" response, releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that prepare us to face perceived threats. While this response is vital for survival in short bursts, chronic stress can wreak havoc on our health, leading to a host of physical and mental ailments, including anxiety, depression, digestive issues, and cardiovascular problems.고양출장안마

How Massage Therapy Works:

Massage therapy offers a holistic approach to stress reduction, targeting both the physical and psychological aspects of tension. Through a combination of gentle pressure, kneading, and stretching techniques, massage therapists work to release tight muscles, improve circulation, and promote relaxation throughout the body. Additionally, the nurturing touch of a skilled therapist creates a safe and supportive environment for clients to let go of emotional stress and mental chatter, allowing them to enter a state of deep relaxation and calm.고양출장마사지

Activating the Relaxation Response:

One of the primary mechanisms through which massage reduces stress is by activating the body's relaxation response. Unlike the "fight or flight" response triggered by stress, the relaxation response induces a state of rest and restoration, promoting healing and rejuvenation. Massage therapy helps stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which counteracts the effects of stress by slowing heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and promoting feelings of calm and well-being. By encouraging the body to shift out of "survival mode" and into a state of relaxation, massage offers a natural and effective way to combat stress.

Reducing Cortisol Levels:

Cortisol, often referred to as the "stress hormone," plays a central role in the body's stress response. Elevated cortisol levels have been linked to a myriad of health problems, including weight gain, immune suppression, and cognitive impairment. Fortunately, massage therapy has been shown to reduce cortisol levels in the body, leading to a decrease in stress and its harmful effects. Studies have demonstrated that even a single session of massage can significantly lower cortisol levels while simultaneously increasing levels of serotonin and dopamine, neurotransmitters that promote feelings of happiness and relaxation.

Promoting Emotional Well-Being:

In addition to its physiological effects, massage therapy offers profound benefits for emotional well-being. Stress is often accompanied by feelings of anxiety, overwhelm, and emotional exhaustion, which can take a toll on mental health over time. Massage provides a nurturing space for clients to release pent-up emotions, process difficult experiences, and cultivate a sense of inner peace and balance. By fostering a deep connection between body and mind, massage therapy helps individuals feel more grounded, centered, and resilient in the face of life's challenges.

Improving Sleep Quality:

Quality sleep is essential for managing stress and maintaining overall well-being. Yet, many people struggle with insomnia and other sleep disorders due to the effects of chronic stress. Massage therapy can help improve sleep quality by promoting relaxation and reducing anxiety levels. By triggering the release of serotonin and melatonin, massage helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle and promote deeper, more restorative sleep. Many clients report falling asleep faster, staying asleep longer, and waking up feeling more refreshed after regular massage sessions.

Enhancing Body Awareness:

Another often overlooked benefit of massage therapy is its ability to enhance body awareness. In today's fast-paced world, it's easy to become disconnected from our bodies and the physical sensations they experience. Massage encourages mindfulness and presence by bringing attention to different areas of the body, fostering a deeper sense of connection and self-awareness. This heightened body awareness allows individuals to recognize and release tension, stress, and emotional blockages, leading to greater overall well-being and resilience in the face of stress.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, massage therapy offers a multifaceted approach to stress reduction that addresses both the physical and emotional components of tension. By activating the relaxation response, reducing cortisol levels, promoting emotional well-being, improving sleep quality, and enhancing body awareness, massage provides a holistic solution for managing stress and cultivating a greater sense of balance and harmony in life. Whether you're seeking relief from everyday stressors or struggling with chronic stress and anxiety, regular massage sessions offer a safe and effective path towards greater well-being and peace of mind. Take the first step towards a calmer, more relaxed life by scheduling your next massage session today. Your body and mind will thank you for it.

[aprayerforclarity]

1/25

Card: Three of Wands

I know I've had these realizations many times before, but it's kinda hilarious (if not torturous) that I have to keep reminding myself that almost all of life is driven between pain and pleasure. Maybe this is just the 7w6 me talking here, but you really can just boil so many human behaviors down to people rationalizing NOT doing something that is painful and then rationalizing moving towards something that is pleasurable. I feel like I've been painfully aware of this in all my behaviors lately.

Of course this causes me to ask what exactly is pain or pleasure. The most immediate answer is that they're chemicals that come from the brain. It is my current worldly understanding is that we're controlled by our brains. Our minds are our brains. All our senses of self and abstract thoughts are created by neurochemistry.

I recently just watched a few hours of my favorite neurobiologist (bordering on philosopher), Robert Sapolsky, and his whole theory about human behavior really resonated with me. Just as many, many writers and thinkers have dwelled on before, (mine most literary reference being the foreword of Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions) is that all we really know in objective, material reality is that humans are machines. Sapolsky's very compelling narrative is that humans have no free will, and that you can ultimately boil ALL of human behavior down to chemicals firing off in their own brains.

Now this may seem like too reductive of a statement. However, the nuance lies in how up until this very point of consciousness, the very decisions and thoughts going through your head, are all inextricably linked to all of your past experiences as a human, starting off with your immediate past actions. As many of us can probably relate to, after a big lunch it is hard to really focus and get back to concentrating on something for work. This is because after a big meal, your body is busy delegating resources to your digestive system. Perhaps there's a spike in your blood-sugar levels, triggering the release of insulin and causing brain fog. So when you get back from a high-carb lunch and have to begin systematically programming a React component hierarchy for the frontend of your website, it can be really hard to do that, due to the chemicals shifting around in your brain and body.

But that chain reaction keeps going back. Let's say earlier in the week, your significant other broke up with you. Obviously that is a very traumatic experience (depending on the situation) and it's left you feeling very bad. Because of a deeper, more primitive human need for connection or love, that severance of a relationship that provided you with those feelings (oxytocin, serotonin, etc.) you may find it hard to focus on the things you have in front of you as well.

The idea is that you can keep taking things further and further back, experiences in your life that you've processed through your consciousness and thus your body reacting by producing chemicals linger in the body, and not only effect your body, but the neural pathways in your brain. This chain keeps going further and further back, where each experience or thought you've experienced in your life shapes your neural pathways by either reinforcing them, creating new pathways or by shutting particular ones down.

These chains of events even go all the way back to before we are even born. When we are in our mother's wombs we receive chemicals as the building blocks of our psychical bodies from our mothers. Through the chains of events in our mother's lives, Our mothers bodies react to the events of their own lives and pass along the resulting chemicals down to us. If a mother experiences chronic stress due to not being able to afford her living expenses, those cortisol chemicals and others are passed onto their babies embryos and begin fundamentally shaping how they began to grow.

This all begins to immediately answer the physical reasons how we are as people and how we interact with the world around us. It is all immediately boiled down to particles in our bodies and minds. But is there something more mystical driving everything at a deeper level? I really don't know.

[toysoldiers-rwby]

[CS] 10. Learning Pains

Cutting Strings

Characters: Penny Polendina, Aurora Glade, Winter Schnee, May Marigold Word Count: 5.5k

Everything crumbles under a weak foundation.

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Faunus Oddities: 1  

Penny looked down at Aro, watching her carefully. She breathed in, and in, and in. So deep Penny thought she was part Aquarian mammal. On the exhale she pressed her hand firmly, but gently to avoid waking her up, on Aro’s exposed cleavage, as close to the center of her lungs as possible-  

“Wha…”  

Penny locked her joints. She could feel several hydrolic system stiffen, making her jerk anyway. Thankfully Aro was exhausted from yesterday’s combat class. Her scared ears twitch and she cuddled her pillow, hair splayed out without any horns to cradle it in.  

Winter and May looked mildly amused but mostly confused. Winter cleared her voice, speaking in a normal volume this time. “What, pray tell, are you doing Ms. Polendina?” Winter asked, her voice faux professional. Her cool mask soften by slight tilt of her lips and raised brow. Though she did still held her hands behind her back.  

“I’m trying to figure out if Aro purrs,” Penny answered.  

“Can’t feel it even though you laying on her?” Winter asked, her voice perfectly leveled. May grabbed her shoulder biting a finger to refrain from laughing. She did snort when Penny stuck her tongue out at her.  

“My sense of touch is… not sensitive.” Penny answered carefully. It was a wonder her father got it working at all. Penny settled back on Aro again, careful not to knock her leg off of the couch. Penny had missed her chance to gather data and had to wait. Again Aro took a deep breath that went on far too long. Long enough for May to comfortably lean against the back of the couch and for Winter to hover next to her.  

On the exhale Penny placed her hand back on Aro’s cleavage. Luckily organic beings had remarkably even breathing when they sleep, so it was easy for Penny to keep an even pressure-  

"I definitely heard something," May mubmled, understandably skeptical. “But she’s a goat Faunus.”  

“Feel it!” Penny grabbed her hand and dragged it to Aro’s chest. She tried to pull it out but Penny adjusted her grip and strength.  

“This is so inappropriate!” May hissed, blood quickly rising to her cheeks. “You fell asleep on her again! It’s alright if you- well not touch but- but!” Penny pouted and let go. May barely stopped herself from flying backwards.  

“You said it was bad to touch strangers without asking.”  

“This is, it’s different- Winter!?” May’s voice took on an odd strangled and restricted tone as she failed to stop from yelling. Winter had placed a hand on Aro’s chest and another delicately around her neck. Penny was a little worried about how much blood seemed to be in May’s face but she was also enthralled at the pressure Winter needed to maintain around Aro’s neck. “What are you doing?!”  

“Trying to listen and feel, Marigold.” Winter answered. She leaned in and closed her eyes, ear directed at Aro. Finally on the next exhale there was that soft sound again. Winter nearly jumped. Instead she pressed just a little more on the hand on Aro’s chest until the noise drifted off. “Aurora purrs.”  

“I told you!”  

"She does not! She’s a goat." May yelled back.  

“I didn’t peg you as a racist.”  

Winter jerked back while Penny and May screamed. Thankfully the deaf women didn’t wake up startled. Instead she roused gently from all the movement. Penny made an odd noise. Perhaps a yelp as she was suddenly shifted and held. Aro had clasp a hand on her should to leverage herself into a sitting position while her other one was on Penny’s waist to make sure she didn’t fall off. The metal women went from nestled atop Aro to in her lap.  

Penny stilled trying to calm her processors. Her father was able to upgrade a few drivers to better accommodate all the physical sensations but the artificial skin wasn’t meant to be artificial, but rather synthetic, in combination with organic analysis and inputs. Too much all at once caused her Aura to glitch her systems, a flood warmth and power to hardware that didn’t need it. Such as the one that simulated dopamine and serotonin.  

From the kitchen Xanthic and Ciel grinned and sneered. Xanthic looked at May and Winter, signing something. Penny’s sign language has gotten better but she didn’t feel accomplished when the only sign she recognized was ‘forget’.  

“Did ya’ll forget my house is bugged?” May whispered to Winter. The Specialist groaned into a hand. Aro snapped her fingers, getting their attention and signing at them with a frown. May cleared her throat and translated. “What… are you all doing?”  

“These idiots,” May pointed at Winter and Penny. “Was trying to find out… if you purred.” May said.  

Aro nodded. Though in understanding or confirmation was unsure. She paused to wake up a little more. She stretched her back and arms high above her head. Penny watch, her shoulders and arms flexed. She could see the muscles in her neck and shoulder jerk. From Penny’s place on her lap she could feel several joints pop back in place.  

Lazily reaching for May’s hand she pressed it firm on her bralette covered chest, fingers splayed wide. May let out a strangled noise body tense and blood rushing to her head. Her posture relaxed a little when a deep and loud rumble vibrated from Aro’s entire torso.  

Penny tensed. Nearly feeling her Aura surged to several systems. Particularly her visual analysis, which was for some reason searching out May’s reaction, and her incomplete sensation of touch.  

May took her hand back, signing back to Aurora. “Okay, okay. The goat can purr.” Aro gave a tired and crooked grin, ears wiggling slowly and lethargically. Penny allowed her leader to slide her onto the couch.  

“Shall I get ready now or make breakfast first?” Xanthic translated this time.  

“Get ready now.” May said, her signs stressing ‘now’. Aurora laughed, grabbing the baggy shirt from the armrest and walking up the stairs. Penny noted how May’s eyes traveled Aurora’s form, lingering where the shirt barely covered her bare thighs and boy shorts. Winter’s gaze was similar to Penny’s brushing across her neck and chest.  

Once out of sight, May practically collapsed over the couch. She had a hand over her chest. Her heart must be beating hard, trying to spread her blood across her body instead of just pooling at her cheeks, ears and neck.  

“I’m dead. This had to be a dream.”  

“I don’t think the dead can dream,” Penny said a little slowly. Her commentary was usually interpreted as ‘snark’ rather than facts. But Winter and Ciel laughed so Penny didn’t mind too much.  

“Considering how tame that was it’d consider it a nightmare.” Xanthic called from the kitchen. “You’ve been crushing on her for what? Five years and not even fucking in your dreams?”  

“I don’t know it definitely had that softcore porn vibe until you interrupted,” Ciel said, her dry tone-  

“Wait, what?!” Penny asked. She felt her circuits nearly frying. Her general knowledge included basic sex education. Basic. Between human men and women. For analytical reasons she was able to recognize signs arousal and simulation but her processors struggled to directly link her own actions to intercourse.  

It was easier when she remembered how flush May was. With new context her processes suddenly rewrote May’s lingering gaze as ‘hungry’ and Winter’s hands on Aurora changed to possessive. Then dominating.  

“Oh.” Penn took a deep breath, trying to cool down her power unit. Her temperature was slowly increasing to dangerous limits. Luckily Winter handed her a glass of water and she gulped it down. Penny will have to do more research… Perhaps she’ll request Aro to make her one of those backdoor Scrolls.  

Morning classes was a little difficult to focus on. As students of the Accelerated Program their schedule was altered to focus on their strengths and smooth out any weaknesses. Team APCX was smart, as a team their academic scores passed most fourth years so they focused heavily on combat training, Grimm studies, and military vehicles and other equipment.  

Physical Conditioning was in their morning routine. While the other students try their best to regulate their behavior around Aurora and Xanthic, they prefer to completely avoid them locker rooms. They were too intimidated by the pair, even if their civilian lifestyle meant their bodies weren’t as tone.  

Those brave enough to share the same row of lockers as Team APCX were also controlled enough not to stare. Unlike Penny who took far too long to change. Her eyes constantly wandered to Aurora.  

“Soo,” This time Aro held Penny’s stare. She crossed her arms under her sports bra, “Any other Faunus related curiosities I can satisfy?”  

“I think I’m legally obligated to stop you two from fucking,” Xanthic said in her usual dead drawl, “It’d be unfair to May.”  

“Blatantly ignore the actual law in front of your Officer teammate,” Ciel scowled. She then looked at Penny and Aro. No matter how hard Penny tried to focus her gaze on the floor her peripherals kept her alert to any movement. “Serious request, no more softcore porn.”  

“You two should fuck if that’s where your mind goes. They were being completely appropriate,” Aro laughed. Her voice was loud and ringing in the locker rooms. Penny was vaguely aware of clothes shuffling and metal clacking against metal as lockers closed. “Hold on, I got another Faunus secret to show off.” Aro pushed off her locker and walked towards the more populated area in nothing but her sports bra and boyshorts.  

Ciel and Xanthic sneered as there were some shocked noises. A gasp of surprised and louder slamming lockers. A few of the shyer students hurried out of the locker rooms.  

“Hey Neon.”  

“Good morning Aro! How badly did you piss off General Ironwood to get Conditioning in the morning.”  

“As bad as you, it seems.” Aro laughed. “Can I brow your nunchakus?”  

“Of course- Oh! Are you gonna show them your freckles!!”  

“… It was a surprise.”  

Neon Katt came around the corner, dragging Aro behind her. Unlike Team APCX she was partially change for a military work out.  

“Fun fact! A lot of nocturnal Faunus,” Neon stressed, eyes on Aro who only rolled her glowing ones in return. “And some other types have a secondary coloring only visible under UV and neon lights!” She cracked her nunchakus, a bright purple light imitating out, then held them to Aro’s skin. Under the violent glow bright blue and pinks dotted her cheeks and down her neck. Further down there were intricate… patterns across her chest…  

Penny had to focus really hard on the scientific mysterious to keep her hands from wandering. It was easier to put them in nonsexual context when Neon shined the glowing nunchakus on her torso. Her pattering was large sports that grew into large planes. It wasn’t as intricate or bright.  

“Wow, that sure is interesting to my cybernetic eyes,” Xanthic drawled. Neon and Penny giggled as the hacker finished dressing for class. "I’ll wait outside and stall if you idiot take too long with the anatomy lesson."  

“You seriously need to get laid,” Neon taunted. She slipped her shirt completely on and following her out. “I’m sure Ivori would-”  

“I’m like 20… Wait I think 21. Find someone older.”  

Their chatter slowly faded among the crowd. Ciel held her Scroll to her locker, and was satisfied when it clicked closed. She left and Penny focused on changing, trying to keep her eyes forward even as her partner waited patiently.  

“No more Faunus questions…” Aurora’s teasing tone drifted off. She closed her eyes briefly, ears shifting around out of habit as she focused her senses through her aids. Penny paused, waiting for her to continue and was a little startled when her hand was suddenly on her abdomen. Her processors struggled with the input. The area wasn’t as vulnerable as organic ones but it wasn’t a common area to be touched. Perhaps May had a point about inappropriate touching and asking permission.  

Aro to lean in and splay her hand wide across her artificial skin. The pressure she applied gradually increasing, glowing eyes watching her hands. Her artificial skin didn’t give as much as organic ones…  

“Penny, there is no one in the else in the room.” Aurora whispered. The tone was tense. Her power unit slowly leveled its output, the simulators mimicking serotonin gradually stopping. For a moment. Aro’s hand brushed a completely flat surface.  

Organics had belly buttons.  

“How much of you is metal? Is… is this why I never see you eat anything solid?”  

“That’s…” Penny struggled to answer. Aro lifted her hand off her and took a step back. Her head and brows tilted with worry. There were so many protocols it choked her from saying what she wanted. “That’s classified.” Penny said. Pain flickered across Aro’s features before Focus could hid it. Penny never saw her ears pointed so low and she never wanted to see it that way again. Aro sared at her for a few moments before nodded and leaving the room quietly.  

Penny took a breath and rested her head against the cool metal locker. She stopped all thought that wished for the impossible, such as the simulations that weighed Winter and Aro’s reactions. Penny knew May would be furious. The Happy Huntresses would steal Elm’s rocket launcher and shoot it at General Ironwood.  

Penny slapped her cheeks and focused.  

Her next test was the Vytal Festival a few months away. Perhaps if she does well Ironwood would feel safe and confident enough tell Winter…  

Neon and Aro was already on the track, stretching. This time Harriet was able to join them, adjusting settings to randomly create hard-light obstacles or even rotate the individual tracks backwards or forwards.  

Ciel and Xanthic were doing more general body conditioning with Flint and Ivori. As Accelerated students they were privileged to the more advance training equipment but also had higher expectations. She could see Xanthic eye the panel their instructor was using to set up the usual suicides run and weights. Ciel elbowed her partner, a warning glare to not hack the technology.  

A loud explosion signaled the start of the speedster’s race, plus Aro. For once the mechanic was leading right from the start. Harriet seemed to struggle to catch up, her semblance needing a warm up to reach top speeds.  

For those with well-conditioned bodies and above average strength, Atlas Academy decided to focus on strength and Aura. Penny and Kobalt went through their usual warm ups at their own pace. Penny did it to blend in at first, but found that it helped her Aura and power unit prioritize and optimized her systems.  

Her conditioning consisted of maintaining high Aura concentrations to bolster their physical bodies and further increase their offensive and defensive capabilities. Kobalt was skeptical of Penny at first. But after the first day of taking metal fist to her sides with little damage to her Aura levels he looked at her as a challenger. The rest of team FNKI and APCX were worried. That expression slowly stopped after the first few days but sometimes Ivori or Ciel would stare a little long. Aro adjusted much slower.  

“Aah, fuck!” Her face slammed right into a hard-light barrier and she stumbled back. Neon laughed, passing her and taking second. The mechanic didn’t get up right away, instead looking at Penny with guilty eyes.  

Penny looked away first and focused on her Aura before each impact from the robot’s fist. She tried to ignore the several blast that rang out from the track. After defensive conditioning, Penny’s next exercise was continuous Aura control. She’ll push a heavy block of metal, only unlocking the gears that bolt it down when her Aura level was at the threshold. Below and it would lock. If it was below for too long the block would slowly reset and push Penny back to the starting point.  

By the time their hour and half Conditioning class was done both Teams were exhausted.  

“I hate it when Harriet joins,” Neon mumbled as they walked into the lockers. “All we do is run!”  

“My legs are on fire…” Aro mumbled. This time Aro wandered directly into the showers, not bothering with her clothes or even closing the stall as she stood under the cool stream. It hissed angrily at her augments, cloud of steam quickly filling the showers.  

Penny stared at her for a moment. Normally she would gather her clothes and slipped into another stall, opening her own vents and letting the cold water chill her systems. But Aurora really pushed her prosthetic this time. She was able to overtake Harriet twice. She even in regular sparing it would overheat. While not on literal fire, the temperature could be dangerous.  

“Would you like some assistance in removing your prosthetics?” She asked.  

“No softcore porn!” Xanthic said. Some students chuckled softly, too exhausted to be shy. Neon let out a whistle.  

Aro didn’t reply or respond.  

Penny looked closer. She didn’t see the blue glow of her eyes through the steam. She tried to calm the protocols that instantly went to the worse scenario. Her tired Aura seemed to awaken again, energy suddenly flooding her system. It ramped up, as Penny took a step for closer observation. She barely saw any glow from all of Aurora’s cybernetics and augments. She definitely could hear it humming loudly over the shower- Aro’s body suddenly buckled. Penny watched as all power in her legs flickering off.  

“Aurora!” Penny lunged forward, catching her. Her footing slid across wet tiles and she slammed with unfamiliar weight pressed on her. Penny took a sharp breath. The metal prosthetic really was at a dangerous temperature, even for her. She quickly adjusted to make sure her artificial skin didn’t melt. “Aurora!” Penny laid a hand across her forehead and pulled her hand back. The horns around her head was the same dangerous temperature, even when it was directly under the cold spray.  

“Move!” Xanthic shoved Neon and a few random students aside. In the hacker’s hands was Aro’s Scroll and red flashing warnings. “Agh! That idiot overheated- Neon! Get some medics!”  

“R-Right away!” Neon was out of the room, a rainbow trail lingering behind her.  

“Don’t!” Penny quickly stopped Xanthic from reaching out with her bare hands. “It’s too hot.” The hacker’s solution was to slip off her shirt, taking the extra time to thoroughly soak it in the water before wrapping it around the cybernetic legs.  

Penny felt around Aro’s skull for that hidden button for her aids. She ignored several warnings about temperature or how all her senses felt numb. She struggled to trace the cybernetics to a familiar spot she’d seen Aro press down on before. She didn’t flinch at the hot steam blowing in her face when she finally found the manual release.  

Everything was oddly numb but focused. Her own senses narrowed down to the single stall and Aro’s breathing. Every so often Xanthic’s voice would pierce the fog but Penny moved without conscious thought. Her hands felt around Aro’s thighs without order. Pressing on the manual release when she barely felt the seam.  

She murmured an apology, automatic and flat as Xanthic scrambled away from the steam. Penny released the other prosthetic and the hacker kicked the metal into another stall and turned the cold water on it. Penny was about to carry Aurora out but Xanthic stopped her.  

“Penny!” It took a few yells of her name for her to focus. Xanthic’s expression was nearly grounding. It was too conflicted, too concern to calm Penny down but it was enough to get her to listen. “Her… both of our augments are deeper than they look.” The hacker confessed.  

Penny braced the women against her own chest. It slowly turned into a hug. She faught the instinct to hold her tighter. She could barely differentiate Aro’s breathing from the spray of water. She knew a tight grip would only do more harm so Penny focused on what she could feel. Aro’s steady heartbeat against her own Aura wild chest.  

That grounded Penny. Xanthic pressed a well-hidden button at the base of Aro’s neck. After holding it down for three seconds, several slits along her skull but mostly her neck opened and vented out more steam.  

Aurora let out a low groan that rolled and vibrated through her chest. Physically Penny relaxed. She adjusted her hold on Aro to angle her better under the cold water. Internally she felt ready to combust herself. Fear driving her systems so hard they temporarily malfunctioned and now her processors were trying to fix corrupted or missing data. Penny dropped her head onto Aro’s shoulder. Her skin was much cooler now but still a dangerous 106 degrees.  

The last conscious thing Penny remembers is watching the medics lay a soaking wet yet still feverish Aurora Glade onto a stretcher and pushing her away. Harriet gave Penny a look that barely held any guilt. “Team APCX will be notified when she wakes up.”  

Her high cognitive functions didn’t return until lunch. She remembered a few hours after Aro feinted, Xanthic was called to assist in something regarding Aro’s technology. As Xanthic’s primary supervisor Ciel was forced to follow. Penny took notes throughout her classes with no real attention to what the instructors were saying. True to routine her body automatically wandered to the mess hall but Penny stopped. Without her teammates she had no reason to enter and pretend to be organic.  

“Salutation Penn!” May’s voice called out. Penny turned around to see the Huntress approaching her. She found herself burying her face into her shoulder, the pressure somewhat relieving the Aura building behind her eyes.  

“Hey, hey,” May gently whispered to her. Her hands rubbed up and down Penny’s back attempting to calm her down. “Aurora will be okay. She survived the journey from Menagerie to Atlas and several White Fang assassination attempts. She won’t die from her own augments.”  

Penny buried her face deeper into May’s shoulder and nodded. She knew it was an unreasonable feeling but her protocols, processors, no line of code knew how to rationalize the fear and worry. Instead the same thoughts looped as if it would answer herself. What if her overheating cybernetics caused permanent neural damage? What could she have done to prevent possible said damage? How much metal Aro had hidden under the surface? Then Xanthic’s suspicions of experimentation-  

Her thoughts clouded her analysis and kept spiraling until May pulled her into an unfamiliar area of the Academy. The dorms. APCX was one of the few teams that didn’t live together or on campus. Xanthic’s home was slowly becoming their usual base of operations but everyone also had their own places to retreat too.  

In the elevator May pushed the button for one of the highest floors. When it stopped she popped the ceiling open. “By the Brothers,” She chuckled, “Winter was right, they still haven’t fixed this yet.”  

“Where are we going?” Penny asked.  

“It’s a surprise!” May said as if it was a suitable answer. She easily jumped through the hatch and offered Penny a hand. The metal women tried smiled and a pretended to accept her help. The elevator shaft looked a little unkempt, with a large panel missing in between floors. Before them was an open crawl space dust and cobwebs caused May to hesitate long enough for lock on the elevator cable to open and it slowly lowered.  

“Ah, fuck!” May jumped into it and Penny followed after. Luckily the pair didn’t trip on each other. They barely had enough room to walk normally and getting tangled or pressed against each other would be uncomfortable for May. The Huntress pulled out her Scroll, illuminating the crawl space for herself.  

“Ugh. I remember this place being a lot bigger.” May muttered. Due to the thin space she occasionally bumped into her. Penny grabbed her hand and held onto it. It was a numb feeling and she wasn’t sure why she did it until May squeezed back and flashed her a small smile. Whatever locked Penny’s systems at minimum finally lifted enough to at least try and recuperate May’s efforts.  

“Can I get hints to where we are going?”  

“Depending on what you ask.” May answered.  

“Is it a restricted area?”  

May laughed, “Of course! Those make the best hideouts.”  

“Is it… surveillance?”  

May’s grin turned a little wicked for a moment, “Nope.”  

“Does Xanthic know about it?”  

May winked, “I’m the better spymaster.”  

Before Penny could ask any more question they reached the end of the crawl space. May carefully pushed the wall, trying to slide it up out of it slits. It took four tries but it eventually popped out and she slide it aside. She had forgotten it was in the middle of the day. Her internal clock had told her lunch would be finishing soon and she should be making her way to Military Machinery Operations class. She deleted the internal reminder and adjusted the aperture in her eyes to filter less light in.  

May stepped out onto a hidden platform, shadowed by another overhanging piece. The view was unobstructed by other buildings. While it wasn’t at the very edge of Atlas, it was tall enough to get a view of Mantle below and the white snow of Solitas that stretched around for miles.  

“Welcome to the… uh…” May’s boisterous voice quickly lost steam. Her cheeks flaring pink again.  

“I believe Robyn called it the Dove’s Nest-”  

“Winter!” Penny gasped and ran out. She stopped short of throwing herself onto the Specialist. Winter gave her a tired smile and relaxed into the misting white fur of her summon. This time an Alpha Manticore. It lounged on its side, completely at peace with being used as bedding for two. “Aro…” Her Faunus was curled at Winter’s side, eyes closed and those soft sleeping purrs rumbling from her.  

“Woah, slow, Penn.” May said quickly grabbing her shoulder. Penny didn’t even notice she was running again. She slipped her hand back into Penny’s and they walked closer. Aro was in a hospital gown, back completely bare but lower body covered in her boyshorts. Penny didn’t get a good look at her earlier, with all the steam and water obscuring her vision. Right now Aurora looked a little flush, skin a little damn… like she was recovering.  

“Is she doing better?” Penny asked.  

“Ideally,” Winter said with a frustrated sigh. “The hospital was making her… restless. So I took her here.” May let go of Penny’s hand and laid across the Manticore’s back and wings to reach Aro. She pressed a hand to seemly clammy skin. Winter glanced back at Penny who didn’t take another step. She smiled gently, completely free of the image she needed to maintain on military grounds. It reached her eyes. It didn’t have a literal glow like Aro’s but it did seem to light up, “My summons are completely under my control. Perfectly harmless unless I wish otherwise.”  

Penny couldn’t help the skeptical twitch of her nose. The Specialist always sent constant waves of white Beowolves at her during training. Winter laughed at it, soft and light. The sound and sight of May with Aro melted Penny’s guard enough to approach the usually dangerous beast. Her self-improvement codes told her skin contacted optimized her ability to performed under emotional stress. She mildly wondered if the Manticore would fulfill that odd requirement.  

Penny slowly reached out. At first the Alpha Manticore didn’t feel like anything. Just a cool pressure against her hand. Then slowly her processors adjusted, focusing on the tingling cool against her skin. Still very faint. “It’s… soft and cold. Oh!”  

The Manticore took a deep breath, pushing firmly against Penny’s hand and letting out a growling exhale. Aro jumped a little startled. She immediately calmed seeing May’s face and barely looked around to see Penny or Winter. A happy but high pitched purr came from Aro as she learned back into May’s hand.  

“Morning, doll.”  

May didn’t answer but smiled, a light blush dusting her cheeks. With her eyes close and no aids communication was limited to sign and writing. May grabbed Aro’s other hand, fingers tracing words onto her palm.  

“I feel… hot. Dizzy. Headache.” Aro’s words slowly started to slur. May jumped over the Manticore, settling next to Aro. The mechanic immediately curled up to her chest. “I’m okay. Tell Penny I’m okay.”  

“She knows,” May murmured, writing the words onto her skin.  

Penny walked around, taking Aro’s previous spot next to Winter. Once against the cool furs Penny nearly drifted into sleep mode. Her Aura was pushed during training and her simulations and processers kept burning an excessive amount of energy as well as-  

“Penny,” Winter gently called out. Her hand slipped into hers and gave a tight squeeze. The pressure paused the spiraling line of through. “Are… are you alright? Xanthic and Ciel informed me that we you a little… despondent. After the accident.”  

Penny looked at May and Aurora. Her eyes kept wandering end of her form and the abrupt end at the nubs instead of the usual prosthetics. She frowned and looked back up at Winter, “I was so scared…” She did everything right and it might have not been enough. It wasn’t a problem she could fix. “I couldn’t-”  

“You did well and prevented any permanent damage.” Winter quickly interrupted. “Xanthic and Dr. Pietro are drafting upgrades. The problem was a faulty part from my father’s company.” She practically hissed out. The Manticore let out another growling exhale along with several other frustrated twitches. Particularly its tail, which hit May and Aro. The two grumbled, voice a little scratchy with sleep.  

Penny giggled watching the pair try to adjust into the Manticore again. This time Aro was more awake and restless. She’d whine and wiggle, elbowing May several times. With a tired groan May propped herself up and pet Aro’s hair slowly lulling the deaf women back to sleep. Winter and Penny giggled. The Manticore responded with slight jerks.  

“If you wake her up again I swear…” May scowled at her. Aro grumbled and complained, a bunch of slurred noises and not any real words. She did manage to nuzzle May’s hand, pulling it off her hair and pressing a kiss her wrist. All fight immediately left May. It looked as if her flight instincts kick instead. Though she didn’t move with Aro curling against her.  

“Sleep, doll.” Aro murmured, pulling May back down.  

Penny settled back into the soft furs of the summon. Slowly sleep mode turned power consuming functions. Combat analysis and Floating Array was set to standby. Those thoughts that kept her alert, ready to respond slowly faded. She watched the sky, content to listen to Winter’s giggle and May’s soft groans.  

“You should have kissed her back.”  

“Shut up. It’s not that easy.”  

“Oh?” Penny glanced at May who seemed to fidget under both their gazes. Kissing seemed like one of the easiest actions a Huntress could do. “It takes at least 2 muscles to kiss someone. 23 or 34 for more rigorous types.” May let out a panic noise, a little strangled as she was forced to restrain herself or wake Aro.  

“I-I’m not. There’s a time and place and heavily drugged and sedated isn’t it!”  

“Five more years won’t be the right time either.” Winter said. She settled on her side, half propped up to talk with May. Idly her thumb continued to brush the back of Penny’s hand though her grip slipped into a comfortable position and strength. “If you’re that much of a prude ask her out first.”  

“Oh that’s rich coming from a Schnee.”  

“I’m deaf but I can feel you idiots talking.” Aro loudly grumbled. “Go the fuck to sleep.” May grumbled and complained, up until Aro suddenly propped herself up. She pushed May’s back firmly against the Manticore and hovered over her for a few seconds. “Fucking. Sleep, Marigold.” Then she practically collapsed onto her chest. May dropped an arm across her eyes, face a vibrant red. Winter hid another giggle behind her hand and completely relaxed against her summon.  

Penny closed her eyes. Her low Aura levels and safe environment triggered Sleep mode, primary systems entering a low performance state and easing cognitive thought to the bottom of the power list. Power to her sensors was cut, limiting Penny to just her sense of touch and hearing. She couldn’t feel the soft Manticore fur or the cold it gave off, instead she barely registered Winter’s hand in hers. The soft purrs from Aro was temporarily hidden by May’s deep breaths, a little shaky from how hard her heart was beating. Sometimes she heard Winter and May but couldn’t truly process what they were saying.  

Oblivious relations: 4. Useless Lesbian: May Marigold. Penny Polendina.  

Error: System corrupted. Invalid analysis detected.

[blackkatmagic]

do you have any advice for dealing with extreme depression without any support?

My main advice would be to get support. It doesn’t have to be friends or family, if they’re contributing. If you’re in the USA, I highly recommend using the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357). They’re not a counseling service, but they’re a free, confidential, always-available way to find any services near you that do offer counseling, and they have options for people who don’t have health insurance. 

Now. There’s a lot of stuff, on Tumblr especially, that mocks the advice I’m about to give you. Which is fine, it’s hard to manage. But you’re here. You’re asking for tips. That means you can see that there is a way to manage depression, so. These are things that have helped me, and advice I give to my patients in real life.

Try to find people. Even just having an internet friend who you can talk to is exceedingly helpful when you’re depressed. Try to stay connected as much as possible, even when it’s difficult. If you can, see people you know in real life. Human interaction with people you genuinely like is helpful, even when it feels like a chore. 

Do things you used to enjoy. It can be small, like rereading a favorite book, or something like putting on a song you used to love and dancing to it. Write. Draw. Cook. It’s a chore to make yourselves do these things, but once you start, once you tell yourself that you have to and you’re going to and then you do it, it can help a lot. 

Make a schedule. If getting out of bed feels impossible, create a reason to. It will take willpower, yes, but you have it. You really do. Even if it’s just getting out of bed to eat breakfast, then wash the dish you ate on, that’s a schedule. Use sticky notes, a planner, or your phone’s calendar to schedule your dayTry to aim for 8 hours of sleep, too, because more or less can worsen how you feel. 

Exercise. There is a scientific link between exercise and mood, and starting a rhythmic exercise like walking, weight training, swimming, martial arts, dancing, running, etc. can be almost as effective as medication. It decreases your fatigue, rather than increasing it. And, additionally, getting sunlight while you’re out exercising can help boos serotonin levels and improve your mood. If you’re exercising inside, try to stay near windows, and if possible get as much sunlight in your house as possible. 

Change your diet. Take B vitamins and folic acid, and try to eat as little sugar and refined carbs as possible. Don’t skip meals. Try toeat more citrus fruit, leafy greens, beans, chicken, and eggs. 

Try to make time every day for some sort of relaxation-meditative routine. My personal go-to when I’m extremely stressed or spiraling is coherent breathing. Coherent breathing is basically breathing at a rate of five breaths per minute, which is the middle of the resonant breathing rate range. You can hit that number if you count to five inhaling and count to five exhaling. The five-minute rate maximizes the heart rate variability, a measurement of how well the parasympathetic nervous system is working. Changing the rate and pattern of breath alters the HRV, which causes shifts in the nervous system and can drastically improve stress responses. 

Most of all, be gentle with yourself. You’re trying. It’s so very tempting to be hard on yourself, but even if things don’t feel like they’re working, even if you’re struggling, remember that depression is an illness. You wouldn’t expect someone with cancer to recover overnight. Don’t expect it of yourself, either. You’re on your way up an incredibly steep mountain, and you will get to the top, but everyone does it as their own pace. Try one step at a time, find what works for you, and know that even wanting to try is already the first step. 

[dandymeowth]

On the outskirts of the city, power lines sag and buzz, overloaded with electrons as the demand for air conditioning soars and the entire grid is pushed to the limit. In an Arizona heat wave, electricity is not a convenience, it is a tool for survival.

As the mercury rises, people die. The homeless cook to death on hot sidewalks. Older folks, their bodies unable to cope with the metabolic stress of extreme heat, suffer heart attacks and strokes. Hikers collapse from dehydration. As the climate warms, heat waves are growing longer, hotter, and more frequent. Since the 1960s, the average number of annual heat waves in 50 major American cities has tripled. They are also becoming more deadly. Last year, there were 181 heat-related deaths in Arizona’s Maricopa County, nearly three times the number from four years earlier. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2004 and 2017, about a quarter of all weather-related deaths were caused by excessive heat, far more than other natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

...........

“What will the Hurricane Katrina of extreme heat look like?” he wonders aloud as we sit in a cafe near the ASU campus. Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005, resulting in nearly 2,000 deaths and more than $100 billion in economic damage, demonstrated just how unprepared a city can be for extreme climate events.

“Hurricane Katrina caused a cascading failure of urban infrastructure in New Orleans that no one really predicted,” Chester explains. “Levees broke. People were stranded. Rescue operations failed. Extreme heat could lead to a similar cascading failure in Phoenix, exposing vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the region’s infrastructure that are difficult to foresee.”

In Chester’s view, a Phoenix heat catastrophe begins with a blackout.

..........

When the city goes dark, the order and convenience of modern life begin to fray. Without air conditioning, temperatures in homes and office buildings soar. (Ironically, new, energy-efficient buildings are tightly sealed, making them dangerous heat traps.) Traffic signals go out. Highways gridlock with people fleeing the city. Without power, gas pumps don’t work, leaving vehicles stranded with empty tanks. Water pipes crack from the heat, and water pumps fail, leaving people scrounging for fresh water. Hospitals overflow with people suffering from heat exhaustion and heatstroke. If there are wildfires, the air will become hazy and difficult to breathe. If a blackout during extreme heat continues for long, rioting, looting, and arson could begin.

And people will start dying. How many? “Katrina-like numbers,” Chester predicts. Which is to say, thousands. Chester describes all this coolly, as if a Phoenix heat apocalypse is a matter of fact, not hypothesis.

“How likely is this to happen?” I ask.

“It’s more a question of when,” Chester says, “not if.”

Extreme heat is the most direct, tangible, and deadly consequence of our hellbent consumption of fossil fuels. Rising carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere trap heat, which is fundamentally changing our climate system. “Think of the Earth’s temperature as a bell curve,” says Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann. “Climate change is shifting the bell curve toward the hotter end of the temperature scale, making extreme-heat events more likely.” As the temperature rises, ice sheets are melting, seas are rising, hurricanes are getting more intense, rainfall patterns are changing (witness the recent flooding in the Midwest). Drought and flooding inflict tremendous economic damage and create political chaos, but extreme heat is much more likely to kill you directly. The World Health Organization predicts heat stress linked to the climate crisis will cause 38,000 extra deaths a year worldwide between 2030 and 2050. A recent study published in Nature Climate Change found that by 2100, if emissions continue to grow, 74 percent of the world’s population will be exposed to heat waves hot enough to kill. “The more warming you have, the more heat waves you have,” says Michael Wehner, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “The more heat waves you have, the more people die. It’s a pretty simple equation.”

.........

Extreme heat is already transforming our world in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Disney executives recently voiced concern that rising temperatures will significantly reduce the number of visits to their parks. In Germany, officials were forced to put a speed limit on the autobahn because of fears the road would buckle from heat. The U.S. military has already incurred as much as $1 billion in costs during the past decade — from lost work, retraining, and medical care — due to the health impacts of heat. The warming of the planet “will affect the Department of Defense’s ability to defend the nation and poses immediate risks to U.S. national security,” a recent DOD report said. Forests and soils are drying out, contributing to explosive and unprecedented wildfires. Habitation zones for plants and animals are changing, forcing them to adapt to a warmer world or die. A U.N. report found that 1 million species are at risk of extinction in the coming decades. Another study by researchers at MIT suggests that rising temperatures and humidity may make much of South Asia, including parts of India and Pakistan, too hot for human existence by the end of the century. As scientist Peter Gleick, co-founder of the Pacific Institute in California, told me, “There is a shocking, unreported, fundamental change coming to the habitability of many parts of the planet, including the USA.”

.................

But the greatest risk to human health may be in areas that are already hot, where temperature increases will strain habitability. In the U.S., the fastest-warming cities are in the Southwest. Las Vegas, El Paso, Tucson, and Phoenix have warmed the most, each by at least 4.3°F since 1970. Globally, many of the hottest cities are in India. In May, a deadly heat wave sent temperatures above 120°F in the north. The desert city of Churu recorded a high of 123°F, nearly breaking India’s record of 123.8°F, set in 2016. There were warnings not to go outside after 11 a.m. Authorities poured water on roads to keep them from melting. A 33-year-old man was reportedly beaten to death in a fight over water. The preliminary death toll in India for this summer’s heat wave is already more than 200, and that number is likely to grow.

How hot will it get? That depends largely on how far and how fast carbon-dioxide levels rise, which depends on how much fossil fuel the world continues to burn. The Paris Climate Agreement (which President Trump pulled the U.S. out of) aims to limit the warming to 3.6°F (2°C). Given the current trajectory of carbon pollution, hitting that target is all but impossible. Unless nations of the world take dramatic action soon, we are headed for a warming of at least 5.4°F (3°C) by the end of the century, making the Earth roughly as warm as it was 3 million years ago during the Pliocene era, long before Homo sapiens came along. “Human beings have literally never lived on a planet as hot as it is today,” says Wehner. A 5.4°F-warmer world would be radically different from the one we know now, with cities swamped by rising seas and epic droughts turning rainforests into deserts. The increased heat alone would kill significant numbers of people. A recent report from the University of Bristol estimated that with 5.4°F of warming, about 5,800 people could die each year in New York due to the heat, 2,500 could die in Los Angeles, and 2,300 in Miami. “The relationship between heat and mortality is clear,” Eunice Lo, a climate scientist at the University of Bristol and the lead author of the report, tells me. “The warmer the world becomes, the more people die.”

...........

The psychological impacts of extreme heat are obvious to anyone who’s ever felt cranky on a hot day. But the impacts go beyond crankiness. When temperatures rise, suicide rates can go up at a pace similar to the impact of economic recessions. Some aspects of higher cognition are impaired. School test scores decline, with one study showing decreases across five measures of cognitive function, including reaction times and working memory.

The link between heat and violence is particularly intriguing. “There is growing evidence of a psychological mechanism that is impacted by heat, although we can’t yet say exactly what that is,” says Solomon Hsiang, a professor of public policy at Berkeley. Some scientists speculate that higher temperatures impact neurotransmitters in the brain, resulting in lower levels of serotonin, which has been shown to lead to aggressive behavior. So rising heat may literally alter the chemistry in our brains. One study showed that police officers were more likely to fire on intruders during training exercises when it was hot. Andrew Shaver, a professor of political science at the University of California, Merced, analyzed data about conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and found that attacks by insurgents involving RPGs and assault rifles increased with higher temperatures, while planned attacks did not. “During conflicts, higher temperatures seem to provoke more impulsive aggression,” Shaver says. One speculative paper projects that by 2099, due to rising heat, the U.S. could see an additional 22,000 murders, 180,000 rapes, 3.5 million assaults, and 3.76 million robberies, burglaries, and acts of larceny.

...............

A recent poll found that two-thirds of Arizonans accept that climate change is happening, but most elected officials in the state, including Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, are hardly climate activists. Arizona is one of the sunniest states in the nation, and yet only 6.5 percent of the state’s electricity comes from solar power. A statewide ballot initiative in 2018 to require 50 percent renewable power by 2030 was soundly defeated, in part because the parent company of Arizona Public Service, the big public utility in the state, spent more than $37 million on false and misleading arguments about how transitioning to renewable power would raise power bills and destroy the Arizona economy.

“We have a large number of elected officials who don’t believe in climate change, period,” says Stacey Champion, a longtime Phoenix energy and climate activist. “How do you get effective, data-driven policy if you have people pushing hard against it because they are batshit crazy, or they are afraid it will spook companies like Nike who want to come here?”

....................

Air conditioning is one of those paradoxical modern technologies that creates just as many problems as it solves. For one thing, it requires a lot of energy, most of which comes from fossil fuels. AC and fans already account for 10 percent of the world’s energy consumption. Globally, the number of air-conditioning units is expected to quadruple by 2050. Even accounting for modest growth in renewable power, the carbon emissions from all this new AC would result in a more than 0.9°F increase in global temperature by the year 2100.

Cheap air conditioning is like crack cocaine for modern civilization, keeping us addicted and putting off serious thinking about more creative (and less fossil-fuel-intensive) solutions. Air conditioning also creates a kind of extreme heat apartheid. If you’re rich, you have a big house with enough air conditioning to chill a martini. And if you are poor, like Leonor Juarez, a 46-year-old single mother whom I met on a recent July afternoon when the temperature was hovering around 115°F, you live in South Phoenix, where sidewalks are dirt and trees are few, and you hope you can squeeze enough money out of your paycheck to run the AC for a few hours on hot summer nights.

On hot days, Juarez’s small apartment feels like a cave. She has heavy purple curtains on the windows to block the sun. “I could not live here without air conditioning,” she tells me. Because she has poor credit, she doesn’t qualify for the usual monthly billing from Salt River Project, her utility. Instead, to pay for electricity and keep her AC running, SRP has given her a card reader that plugs into an outlet that she has to feed like a jukebox to keep the power on. Juarez turns on her AC only a few hours a day — still, her electric bill can run $500 a month during the summer, which is more than she pays for rent. To Juarez, who takes a bus five miles to a laundromat in the middle of the night because washing machines are discounted to 50 cents a load after 1 a.m., $500 is a tremendous amount of money.

She shows me the meter on the card reader: She has $49 worth of credit on it, enough for a few more days of power. And when that runs out? “I am in trouble,” she says bluntly. Juarez, who works as an in-home caretaker for the elderly, says she knows of several people who lived alone and died when they failed to pay their electric bills and tried to live without AC.

[relbyshock]

Amy Winehouse, Princess Diana, Britney Spears, Marilyn Monroe, Aileen Wuornos, Angelina Jolie, Adolf Hitler, Darrell Hammond, Pete Davidson, Winona Ryder, Vincent Van Gogh, Tommy Tiernan….

What do they all have in common? Apart from being famous figures, they all suffer(ed) or were rumored to have suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder.

Hey, me too.

I’m over the moon to have something in common with Princess Di (apart from our shared plight with bulimia), but I have to say, I’d rather not have anything in common with Aileen or Adolf…..

Borderline Personality Disorder is a confusing term to say the least. On the borderline of what and what? Well, in the ‘30s, it meant you fell somewhere between psychosis (untreatable) and neurosis (treatable).

Great, that’s reassuring.

Come the ‘70s, BPD sufferers were described as being very emotional, needy, difficult, at risk for suicide, and to have an “overall unstable level of functioning”.

Check. *sings “Welcome to My Life” by Simple Plan*

We also have rapidly fluctuating mood swings, unstable self-image, and a fear of abandonment. This disorder wasn’t even recognized by the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) until 1980.

Today, we know far more about BPD – “neurosis” is no longer used in the diagnosis, and BPD is no longer considered a psychotic disorder.

 So what are we then?

Crazy?

Hormonal?

According to my family, yes. But in reality, the problem lies within our brains. Let me nerd out here for a minute:

The Amygdala (Ah-mig-dah-lah) is composed of two almond-shaped parts of the brain, deep in the medial temporal lobe, that regulate fear and aggression. People with BPD have amygdala’s that are noticeably smaller than that of a healthy person. The smaller the amygdala, the more overactive it is.

Like short guys with bad attitudes, or what I like to refer to as “little man syndrome”.

And then we have the Hippocampus – no, not pachyderm college. The hippocampus is responsible for spatial orientation (not falling over), long and short-term memory, and emotional regulation. Put simply, the hippocampus chooses the correct response to environmental events: Fight or flight.

You may be wondering if I was dropped on my head as a child. The answer is yes – frequently – but the chances of minor brain trauma causing BPD are slim.

The causes of Borderline Personality Disorder are unclear. It seems to involve genetic, brain, environmental and social factors. There are rumours that people with BPD have issues with serotonin production, which has been linked to depression, aggression and having a hard time controlling “destructive urges”.

As for environmental factors, those who have been a victim of emotional/physical/sexual abuse, as well as being exposed to chronic fear or distress as a child have a high likelihood of developing BPD. This is because our relationship with our parents and family has a HUGE influence on how we see the world, and how we feel about other people.

Gals are also diagnosed 3 times as often as guys. You’ve gotta wonder if that’s due to the fact that men tend to be more weary of the doctor, therefore avoiding a diagnosis altogether. This is pure speculation.

Shall we take a dive into the “Signs and Symptoms” as listed by Wikipedia?

-Markedly disturbed sense of identity

-Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment and extreme reactions

-Splitting (black and white thinking)

-Impulsivity

-Intense and uncontrollable emotional reactions that often seem disproportionate to the event or situation

-Unstable and chaotic interpersonal relationships

-Self-damaging behavior (ie, substance abuse)

-Distorted self-image

-Dissociation

-Frequently accompanied by depression, anxiety, anger, substance abuse or rage

We are also aware of the intensity of our negative emotional reactions, and since we can’t regulate them, we shut them down completely. What my doctor and I refer to as feeling “flat”.

BPD sufferers are also extremely sensitive to real or perceived rejection. Let’s explain with a meme, shall we:

*looking at an unanswered text from 12 minutes ago*

You: They must be in the shower or just busy, they’ll respond when they have a chance.

Me: Ok well they were active on Instagram 6 minutes ago and they just posted a snap story….they’re ignoring me, why do they hate me? What did I do? Are they mad at me? Should I send another text to get their attention or is that too needy?

If you’re annoyed just reading that, TRY LIVING IN MY BRAIN.

I annoy myself.

I feel grief, overwhelming shame and humiliation where others would feel mildly embarrassed. A minor inconvenience such as cancelled plans takes me from excited to absolutely miserable.

In the past, an unflattering photo on Facebook has caused me to reevaluate my self-worth, and even my life.

The Sickboy podcast explained it beautifully: Borderline Personality Disorder is like having a third degree burn on your emotions. I feel that. Everything hurts me just a little bit more than the average bear (or human).

Why am I telling you this? Because boys and girls, today is Bell Let’s Talk Day here in Canada. I’ll include the link at the bottom. Basically, in 2010, Bell began a new conversation about Canada’s mental health. They’ve enlisted such figures as Howie Mandel, Michael Landsberg, and Clara Hughes to share their stories of struggle and strength in the face of mental health.

I thought today was as good as any other to address the stigma surrounding mental health, but more specifically, the stigma around BPD.

I can’t pretend to know all the answers – I’m not and won’t pretend to be a psychiatrist. But this is what the world looks like through my lens.

If someone honks at me while I’m driving to work, I’m upset ALL DAY. I never want to drive again, I want to pull over and cry, or turn around and go home.

If I get a moderately rude email, my brain fills with cutting, angry, and just plain mean remarks to respond with. “I’m sorry your father never hugged you as a child” is not a suitable response to a professional email, but that’s where my brain goes.

When I make plans with friends weeks in advance and they bail 10 minutes before, I am a heap of inconsolable sobs for the rest of the evening, and even into the next day. This plays into the fear of “real or imagined abandonment”. My BPD brain does not care that something came up or you’re feeling under the weather. BPD tells me that you hate me and you never want to see me again and you were just pretending to like me this whole time and you’ve finally made your escape. My logical brain tries to tell me that it’s ok, and we’ll plan something for another time, but usually, my BPD brain wins the fight.

When I get nervous and start to ramble trying to tell a story and my mom cuts me off with “Anyways.” I want to crawl in a hole and die, but I also sort of want to throw a plate at her face. My mother is a saint, so why do I feel this way about her sometimes?

Let’s get back to the causes of Borderline Personality Disorder. Dad, Mom, maybe stop reading here…or don’t…but here’s your warning. You aren’t going to like this next part.

I was severely neglected as a child. Not physically – I had food to eat, clothes to wear, a roof over my head – but emotionally and mentally. The minor relationship I did have with my father was marked by him coming home from a long shift (as a firefighter) and starting a fight with me about my weight, my shoes at the front door, my marks in school, and more often than not, “why are you always crying?!”. My mom also worked full time at a stressful sales job. So by the time she got home, she didn’t want to have to deal with anyone else’s issues.

So when I would have issues with anything from being bullied at school to just having a ‘bad mental health day’, I had nowhere to turn.

See, my brother and I were latch-key kids. We got home from school at least an hour before my parents got home from work. He and I never got along, so some sort of fight would ensue, and by the time our parents got home, he had made me cry. I was deemed dramatic and sent away to my bedroom, while the 3 of them would eat dinner together (usually something I refused to eat – like meat – which would be another reason to fight).

I’ve voiced this to my mom before, and she remembers my childhood very differently than I do.

As long as I have been alive, I have come second to my brother.

No, honey, we can’t go to (insert activity I wanted to do) because Maxx has hockey/a book report due/needs a ride to the bike track, etc.

Every dinner or event we went to was with HIS friends and THEIR parents, who ended up becoming my parents’ best friends (still to this day). I was always the only girl; so naturally, I stayed with the adults, because the boys wouldn’t have me.

But the adults didn’t want me there either. I felt like a constant annoyance.

Thinking back on it, I realize that I may not have been as unwanted as I perceived myself to be. Remember, BPD brains are sensitive to even slight facial expressions and tones of voice. But, when I voiced this to my parents, that I felt unwanted, and why couldn’t we do things with my friends and their parents, etc. I was told that I was being ridiculous.

Enter: Invalidation

Invalidation is the number one cause of BPD, according to my psychiatrist. Growing up in an environment where nothing you do is good enough will cause you to internalize everything.

I have no memories or examples of healthy emotional behaviour or relationships. In our house, we got the point across by screaming at or just plain ignoring each other. So when I get hurt, or I feel let down, I have absolutely no idea how to deal with my feelings. Further reinforcing my belief that the world is full of bad people who are out to ruin your day and be unkind, because that’s all I’ve ever known.

Research shows that if you already experience these difficulties as a child, experiencing trauma as an adult could make things worse.

Dad - now is really the time to stop reading.

(Sometimes I feel like I live inside the DSM definition of BPD)

At the age of 21 – fresh out of college and trying to start my career in the fashion world – I was sexually assaulted. Cue the downward spiral.

I didn’t report. I didn’t seek help. I confided in a close friend, and was called a liar. But that’s a story for another time.

So I buried that part of me so deep, that sometimes I could convince myself that it never happened. Sometimes.

I reached the end of my rope in 2016. I knew that if I didn’t seek help, I would not survive. I finally went to my doctor and spent hours with her, just sobbing and telling her everything.

She hooked me up with a psychiatrist, and put me in Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, and started me on an SSRI (anti-depressant) immediately.

As of today, it has been 1172 days since the assault. I only told my mother this past summer.

Since reaching out for help, I have begun to repair the relationship with my parents. My mom and I are closer than ever, and my dad and I are working on it.

As I write this, I feel the judgements pouring in. But I have decided that this year, I don’t care. I am not ashamed of my story. I will no longer hide the things I have been through in order to make others more comfortable. I will not keep my pain to myself because it’s easier for others if I stay silent. If bearing my soul can help even one person seek the help they need, then I have succeeded, and all this pain has been worth it.

The long and short of it is SPEAK UP! There is nothing embarrassing about mental illness. If you aren’t feeling right, there are people who care and are here to help you, including me. The first step is to tell someone.

The best advice I can give is to find your people. People who trust you, who lift you up, who validate your feelings, who listen and take you seriously when you say you’re having a bad day. I have spent the past year painstakingly building my support system, because the truth of the matter is, I can’t do this alone. And that’s ok.

Today and every single day, be kind to each other – it’s the only thing that matters.

https://letstalk.bell.ca/en/bell-lets-talk-day

[drlaurynlax]

How To Treat ADHD Naturally: 5 Most Important Steps

Is there a way to treat ADHD naturally? What one should do?More than 1 in 10 children, ages 4-17 have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) (1), defined as  “limited attention and hyperactivity.”

Common characteristics of ADHD include:

Difficulty sustaining attention or focusing

Difficulty following through with tasks

Hyperactivity

Difficulty organizing self and tasks

Impulsive behavior

To officially be diagnosed with ADHD, symptoms must persist for at least 6 months, and behaviors and symptoms must be abnormal for children of the same age and negatively affect his or her school, home life or relationships in more than one setting (i.e. at home and at school).

  Unfortunately, for many of these kids who are diagnosed, ADHD will continue into their adulthood, and conventional medicine believes that the disease is “manageable, but not curable.” In order to help kids “manage” their ADHD, treatment typically consists of medications and behavioral interventions, such as occupational therapy, behavioral therapy and sensory or movement “breaks.”

After those options are exhausted however, there is little, if anything else doctors say they can do.

The missing link most docs and conventional medicine is not talking about?

A little superpower known as the “brain gut connection.”

According to the latest in research about the brain-gut connection, ADHD is not only manageable,  but it is reversible and remissible.

In this article we’ll cover the basics  about the brain-gut connection, plus learn 5 essential steps to treat ADHD naturally (that your doctor probably won’t tell you about).

THE BRAIN GUT CONNECTION

The “brain-gut” connection is essentially what it sounds like: Your gut and brain are directly linked.

Your vagus nerve (the nerve responsible for directing how you think and your brain function) is connected from your frontal brain lobe to the top stomach. In addition, about 95% of your serotonin (“feel good” brain chemical) is produced in your gastrointestinal tract.

Couple this with the fact that your gastrointestinal tract is lined with more than a 100 million nerve cells, and it makes sense: the inner workings of your digestive system don’t just help you digest food, but also guide your emotions.

In short: When your gut is unhappy or stressed…your brain is unhappy or stressed.

Enter: The “brain-gut connection.”

Inflammation in your gut sends signals to your brain, causing a similar response (inflammation, stress and in many children’s cases, anxiety, sensory processing disorders, and ADHD).

The bottom line: If you have an unhealthy gut, your brain function gets thrown off. And, if you have an unhealthy brain (i.e. stressed), your gut function can also get thrown off.

THE MISSING LINKS IN ADHD TREATMENT: GUT HEALTH & STRESS

Unfortunately, for years, we’ve come to see the body and mind as two separate entities.

The mind is often treated separately from the body, other than using medications to suppress “neuro-chemical imbalances.” Patients with ADHD or other mood disorders and mental illnesses are then typically referred out to see a psychotherapist or occupational therapist to address “behavior” and emotional issues, in hopes of remediating the symptoms, with sub-par results or a lifetime spent in therapy, using coping strategies and taking medications.

From a functional medicine perspective, we want to address ADHD and other mental health conditions in the same way that we address any other health condition (i.e. autoimmune disease, diabetes, GERD, hypertension, etc.). We want to look at what the underlying causes are for these conditions. This is essential to treat ADHD naturally.

While mental illness, like ADHD, is a complex combination of various genetic and epigenetic factors, (including nutritional, physical, biochemical, environmental, social, emotional, and spiritual influences), many traditional methods of diagnosis and treatment fail to address two of the biggest drivers of disease: gut health and chronic inflammation (i.e. stress).

Our stress levels and gut health are the gateways to health.

In fact, the American Psychological Association estimates that 99% of ALL disease is attributed to stress alone (2). Stress is defined as any “outside force that exceeds the body’s ability to recover or maintain homeostasis.”

Just like the “stress” of a poor quality diet, lack of sleep and sedentary lifestyle leads to conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, and just like poor gut health, such as “intestinal permeability” (leaky gut) is connected to conditions like autoimmune disease, skin breakouts and anxiety,  stress levels and gut health play a key role in ADHD.

STRESS 101

Contrary to popular belief, “stress” goes far beyond mental stress. Physiological stress equally imbalances the optimal function of the body—brain balance included.  Common sources of physical stress and inflammation for many ADHD sufferers include:

Inadequate sleep or poor quality sleep. More than half of kids do NOT get 8-9 hours of quality sleep. (3)

Sedentary lifestyles. Kids are moving less than ever before with 1 in 5 getting the recommended minimum of 60-minutes of physical activity 5 days per week. (4)

Overexposure to screens and blue lights. The average kid spends 6-9 hours/day in front of a screen. (5)

Lack of spontaneous play and time in nature. Only 10% of kids spend time outside every day (6) and a 2018 Gallup study found that children nationwide spend less time on creative play than ever before, spending 18.6 hours each week to screen-based play per week, versus 14.6 hours on indoor screen-free play (7).

Antibiotic drug exposure. 1 in 4 kids get antibiotics every year that are unnecessary and 5 in 6 kids take an antibiotic every year (8).

Poor quality nutrition and processed foods. Nearly 50% of kids’ diets, ages 2-18 consist of empty calories from added sugars and and processed foods including: soda, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, grain desserts, pizza, and conventional milk (9).

Poor gut health. Including about 2 in 5 kids with constipation (10), 1 in 4 with GERD or “reflux” (11) and millions of kids with allergies and asthma—the #1 “chronic disease” of kids nationwide (12) (linked to poor gut health) (13, 14).

GUT HEALTH 101

Much of the chronic diseases we face today can also be traced back to our gut health, including ADHD. If we could address the problems in our gut, we can find the right ways to treat ADHD naturally.

The human gut contains more than 100 trillion gut bacteria—up to 10 times more bacteria than human cells in our blood stream and body.

The healthier and more diverse your gut bacteria, the healthier your body is overall. However, the less healthy or less diverse your gut bacteria, the less healthy or “out of balance” you are.

Our gut bacteria influence the health of our:

Blood sugar and insulin levels

Hormone health

Thyroid

Detoxification

Mood

Immune system (allergies, skin health)

Digestion

Mental health

  How do gut bacteria get unhealthy in the first place? Go back to the topic of stress!  It’s a vicious cycle, but common sources of “unhealthy gut bacteria” include:

Poor sleep

Poor quality foods (packaged, processed, conventional meat, dairy, sweeteners, etc.)

Environmental toxins (additives, plastics, medicines, toxic cleaning and hygiene products)

C-section births and processed formula feedings as a baby

Infection & Illness

Sedentary lifestyles

Antibiotics

Underlying gut pathologies, often caused by stressors (parasites

  The good news?  If we address the gut health, then we could treat ADHD naturally—if not reversed.

Research backs this up.

SURVEY SAYS: ADHD & GUT RESEARCH

A 2017 peer-reviewed study found significant connections between increased gut inflammation and test subjects with ADHD, regardless of age and previous diagnosis (15). The volunteers with ADHD had more Bifidobacterium genus, often associated with SIBO or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (16).

In another review in the European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Journal, researchers state that while studies on ADHD and the gut microbiota in patients is budding, there is clear evidence about the link between obesity and ADHD and between obesity and alteration of the gut microbiota.

There is a way to treat ADHD naturally.

Obesity induces a low-grade inflammatory state which has been associated with behavioral and cognitive alterations, being gut micro-biota most likely an important mediator between inflammation and altered behaviors.

Overall, data from gluten-free mice studies, antibiotic treatment studies, and probiotic interventions suggest that alterations in gut microbiota that reduce the inflammatory state also reduce stress-related behaviors, supporting the role of the gut microbiota as a mediator between inflammation and behavioral alterations.

And, another clinical trial (18) is currently underway, as researchers have concluded from previous research that ADHD is in are linked to shifts in gut microbiota composition.

5 ESSENTIAL STEPS TO TREAT ADHD NATURALLY

The main strategy to heal and treat ADHD naturally involve balancing out stress levels, and NOT irritating the gut barrier and gut immune system. Here are 5 essential steps to start.

STEP 1: EAT REAL FOOD (ESPECIALLY FATS & PROTEINS)

When we eat, we not only feed ourselves, but we also feed our gut bugs. This is a crucial step to treat ADHD naturally. It’s not rocket science: Real, whole, nutrient-dense foods make an unhealthy gut a healthier gut. While most kids’ favorite foods include chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, French fries, Honey Nut Cheerios, possibly fruit and anything with ketchup, they are humans too.

And humans were wired to eat real foods. Real foods include: sustainable, organic meats and fish, colorful fruits and veggies and essential healthy fats (coconut oil, ghee, grass-fed butter, pastured egg yolks, avocado, raw nuts and seeds.

STEP 2: CUT OUT THE CULPRITS

This goes beyond just going a gluten-free (since many gluten free products contain just as many additives as the gluten version)s. Experiment with cutting out grains, conventional dairy, sugar and additives (dyes, sweeteners, chemicals) for 30 days and watch your kids’ brains come to life. Do it together with a non-diet mentality as a challenge for the family for stronger bodies and better brains. A great way to help treat ADHD naturally.

STEP 3: LOVE YOUR GUT BUGS

Give your kids a daily soil-based probiotic and prebiotic fiber to treat ADHD naturally. These include  partially hydrolyzed guar gum, to help the healthy probiotics stick in their gut. Soil based probiotics are typically better tolerated by most people, and contain probiotic like cultures that were once found in the rich soils of our ancestors. Start with 1/2 capsule of a probiotic, 2 times per day, and 1 teaspoon of a prebiotic. Other “gut loving” additions include:

Colostrum (similar to the gut-healing natural colostrum found in the “perfect food:” a mother’s milk)

Digestive Enzymes (support natural enzymes that help break down food)

Betaine HCL (hydrochloric acid) found in capsules (naturally boosts stomach acid to enhance digestion)

Optional: Digestive “bitters” to support detoxification mixed into homemade dark chocolate syrup (5 drops of bitters + 1 tablespoon cacao powder + 1 tablespoon raw honey (use maple syrup for kids under 1 year of age) +fresh juice from half a small lemon)

STEP 4: DESTRESS

For kids, this includes encouraging them to get 60-minutes (at least) of active play and exercise each day, as well as outdoor time and sunshine, about 9 hours of sleep each night and creative, imaginative playaway from screens.

Magnesium Citrate at night is also a natural calming mineral, mixed into bedtime tea or water.

STEP 5: TEST, DON’T GUESS

Work with a functional medicine practitioner or healthcare practitioner knowledgeable in gut health analysis and treatment of any underlying conditions that may play a role in your child’s brain-gut-connection. Lab tests may include: Stool testing, Organic Acids Urine Testing, Comprehensive Bloodwork Analysis, Food Sensitivity Testing, and Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth Breath Testing. This can help to treat ADHD naturally.

Not all tests are essential, but can give you and your child a clearer picture into their unique presentation if an underlying gut pathology is behind their condition. (Note: Many traditional GI doctors do not perform these tests on kids, beyond food allergy, not sensitivity, testing and potential scope and CT scan imaging).

The bottom line:

In the end, address the roots of cognitive imbalance first (gut and stress), not the symptoms. This is very important step to treat ADHD naturally.

Resources:

2018. ADHD. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/data.html.

2018. How Stress Affects Your Health. https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-facts.pdf; American Institute of Stress. https://www.stress.org/americas-1-health-problem/ (Cited: Perkins (1994) showed that 60% to 90% of doctor visits were stress-related)

Sleep Foundation. 2010. Sleep in America. http://sleepfoundation.org/sites/default/files/2014-NSF-Sleep-in-America-poll-summary-of-findings—FINAL-Updated-3-26-14-.pdf

2018. Physical Activity Facts. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm

Kaiser Family Foundation. Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8-18-year-olds. 2010 https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/8010.pdf

The Nature Conservancy. Connecting America’s Youth to Nature. 2011. https://www.nature.org/newsfeatures/kids-in-nature/youth-and-nature-poll-results.pdf

Doug & Melissa. 2018. Time to Play Study. http://ww2.melissaanddoug.com/MelissaAndDoug_Gallup_TimetoPlay_Study.pdf

2017. Antibiotic Use in the United States, 2017: Progress and Opportunities. https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/stewardship-report/outpatient.html

Facts & Statistics: Physical Activity. 2018. https://www.hhs.gov/fitness/resource-center/facts-and-statistics/index.html (Cited Source: Reedy J, Krebs-Smith SM. Dietary sources of energy, solid fats, and added sugars among children and adolescents in the United States. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 110, Issue 10, Pages 1477-1484, October 2010. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20869486.)

Blackmer AB, Farrington EA. Constipation in the pediatric patient: an overview and pharmacologic considerations. Journal of Pediatric Health Care. 2010;24(6):385–399.

Nelson SP, Chen EH, Syniar GM, Christoffel KK. Pediatric Practice Research Group. Prevalence of symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux during childhood. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescents Medicine. 2000;154:150–154

Asthma & Allergy Foundation. 2018. Allergy Facts and Figures. http://www.aafa.org/page/allergy-facts.aspx

Volz, F. Wölbing, F. Regler, S. Kaesler, T. Biedermann. 232 NOD2 signaling critically influences sensitization to orally ingested allergens and severity of anaphylaxis. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2016; 136 (9): S201 DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2016.06.252

Neonatal gut microbiota associates with childhood multisensitized atopy and T cell differentiation. Fujimura KE, Sitarik AR, Havstad S, Lin DL, Levan S, Fadrosh D, Panzer AR, LaMere B, Rackaityte E, Lukacs NW, Wegienka G, Boushey HA, Ownby DR, Zoratti EM, Levin AM, Johnson CC, Lynch SV. Nat Med. 2016 Sep 12. doi: 10.1038/nm.4176. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 27618652.

Aarts, E., Ederveen, T. H. A., Naaijen, J., Zwiers, M. P., Boekhorst, J., Timmerman, H. M., … Arias Vasquez, A. (2017). Gut microbiome in ADHD and its relation to neural reward anticipation. PLoS ONE, 12(9), e0183509. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0183509

Quigley & Quera. 2006. Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth: Roles of Antibiotics, Prebiotics, and Probiotics. http://www.deerlandenzymes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Small-Intestinal-Bacterial-Overgrowth-Roles-of-Antibiotics-Prebiotics-and-Probiotics.pdf

Carmen Cenit, María & Campillo Nuevo, Isabel & codoñer-franch, Pilar & G. Dinan, Timothy & Sanz, Yolanda. (2017). Gut microbiota and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: new perspectives for a challenging condition. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 26. 10.1007/s00787-017-0969-z. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pilar_Codoner-franch/publication/314967081_Gut_microbiota_and_attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder_new_perspectives_for_a_challenging_condition/links/5a2f81e50f7e9bfe81705387/Gut-microbiota-and-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-new-perspectives-for-a-challenging-condition.pdf?origin=publication_detail

Xijing Hospital. 2018. Gut Microbiome and Serum Metabolome Alterations in ADHD Patients (ADHD). https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03447223

The post How To Treat ADHD Naturally: 5 Most Important Steps appeared first on Meet Dr. Lauryn.

Source/Repost=> https://drlauryn.com/family-kid-health/treat-adhd-naturally-5-essential-steps/ ** Dr. Lauryn Lax __Nutrition. Therapy. Functional Medicine ** https://drlauryn.com/

[healthasuperasset]

Links Between Stress Shift Work And Serotonin Levels

Links Between Stress Shift Work And Serotonin Levels

The 21st Century is best characterized by the advent of ultra-modern technology, global commercial and business, and the unstoppable desire to get and stay ahead. Because of these factors, business corporations compete in a world where the economy is active 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This phenomenon created a demand for employees […]Links Between Stress Shift Work And Serotonin Levels

[eatingcooking]

Links Between Stress Shift Work And Serotonin Levels

The 21st Century is best portrayed by the appearance of super present day innovation, worldwide business and business, and the relentless craving to advance and remain beyond. As a result of these elements, business partnerships contend in reality as we know it where the economy is dynamic 24 hours per day, seven days per week. This wonder spurred an interest for representatives that would work in any event, during the night upto the early morning. This plan for getting work done turned around worker way of life, making the day their opportunity to for resting. Movements might upset the ordinary body capacities, hamper rest cycles, and lessen the body's serotonin levels. Serotonin is a synapse that is found in the focal sensory system and effects different capacities like mind-set, rest, sexuality, and hunger. This synapse may likewise advance cell recovery.

Biotox Gold 2.0 - 2021 Relaunch

Studies show that non-day shift laborers will in general have lower levels of "feel-better" chemicals called serotonin. Analysts at the University of Buenos Aires drove by Dr. Carlos J, Pirola concentrated on 683 men and contrasted multi day laborers with 246 shift laborers. The outcomes, the shift laborers' serotonin levels, estimated through blood tests were essentially lower than those on customary day plans. Notwithstanding decreased serotonin levels, shift laborers were likewise found to have more elevated cholesterol, hip-to-midsection proportions, expanded circulatory strain, and higher fatty substance levels.

Since serotonin levels manage rest designs and other body works, the University of Buenos Aires concentrate on proposed that shift work may likewise prompt a purported Shift Work Sleep Disorder. Individuals with this problem will in general stay alert when they ought to be dozing. These people can be extremely drained during waking hours. This problem happens in light of a plan for getting work done that happens during the typical rest time frame. Along these lines, individuals who experience issues getting rest on the grounds that their bodies are as yet customized to be alert. The hour of being snoozing and being conscious is not quite the same as what the body's inward clock anticipates.

Different investigations additionally discovered that non-standard and night shift work might influence the cardiovascular and metabolic frameworks. These examinations recommend that there is plausible that shift work is straightforwardly liable for hypertension and expanded muscle to fat ratio, concurring the specialists of the Buenos Aires study. Notwithstanding the disturbance of rest designs, decreased degrees of serotonin are likewise connected to different conditions like pressure, uneasiness, and despondency.

Way of life changes can prompt further developed serotonin levels. To make serotonin levels reliable, rest examples ought to be steady and food regimens ought to incorporate essential nutrients and minerals to control the serotonin levels. Certain medications and substances like caffeine, nicotine, liquor, and antidepressants ought to be stayed away from in light of the fact that they might exhaust serotonin creation.

People who need to further develop their serotonin levels can utilize drug to help them in their objective. The amino corrosive 5-HTP can be taken as an enhancement and work on the body's capacity to produce serotonin. One more amino corrosive called L-tryptophan is utilized by the body to create serotonin. Notwithstanding, prior to taking these enhancements, patients are educated to look for the endorsement concerning specialists and other wellbeing experts. People who decide to work in the night ought to keep up with sufficient rest to decrease sick impacts that might create. Solid ways of life and nutritious food regimens might further develop serotonin levels and work on one's personal satisfaction.

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https://www.digistore24.com/redir/351615/asad29/

[alusa12]

Unwinding the Knots: Massage Therapy for Stress Reduction

Introduction:

In the fast-paced rhythm of modern life, stress has become an ever-present companion for many. From demanding work deadlines to personal obligations, the constant pressure can take a toll on both our physical and mental well-being. Fortunately, amidst the chaos, there exists a soothing remedy: massage therapy. Beyond its reputation for relaxation, massage has emerged as a powerful tool for stress reduction. In this article, we'll explore the profound effects of massage on stress levels and how incorporating regular sessions into your routine can lead to a more balanced and harmonious life.

Understanding the Impact of Stress:

Before delving into the therapeutic benefits of massage, it's essential to grasp the detrimental effects of stress on the body and mind. Stress triggers the body's "fight or flight" response, releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that prepare us to face perceived threats. While this response is vital for survival in short bursts, chronic stress can wreak havoc on our health, leading to a host of physical and mental ailments, including anxiety, depression, digestive issues, and cardiovascular problems.제주출장안마

How Massage Therapy Works:

Massage therapy offers a holistic approach to stress reduction, targeting both the physical and psychological aspects of tension. Through a combination of gentle pressure, kneading, and stretching techniques, massage therapists work to release tight muscles, improve circulation, and promote relaxation throughout the body. Additionally, the nurturing touch of a skilled therapist creates a safe and supportive environment for clients to let go of emotional stress and mental chatter, allowing them to enter a state of deep relaxation and calm.제주출장마사지

Activating the Relaxation Response:

One of the primary mechanisms through which massage reduces stress is by activating the body's relaxation response. Unlike the "fight or flight" response triggered by stress, the relaxation response induces a state of rest and restoration, promoting healing and rejuvenation. Massage therapy helps stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which counteracts the effects of stress by slowing heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and promoting feelings of calm and well-being. By encouraging the body to shift out of "survival mode" and into a state of relaxation, massage offers a natural and effective way to combat stress.

Reducing Cortisol Levels:

Cortisol, often referred to as the "stress hormone," plays a central role in the body's stress response. Elevated cortisol levels have been linked to a myriad of health problems, including weight gain, immune suppression, and cognitive impairment. Fortunately, massage therapy has been shown to reduce cortisol levels in the body, leading to a decrease in stress and its harmful effects. Studies have demonstrated that even a single session of massage can significantly lower cortisol levels while simultaneously increasing levels of serotonin and dopamine, neurotransmitters that promote feelings of happiness and relaxation.

Promoting Emotional Well-Being:

In addition to its physiological effects, massage therapy offers profound benefits for emotional well-being. Stress is often accompanied by feelings of anxiety, overwhelm, and emotional exhaustion, which can take a toll on mental health over time. Massage provides a nurturing space for clients to release pent-up emotions, process difficult experiences, and cultivate a sense of inner peace and balance. By fostering a deep connection between body and mind, massage therapy helps individuals feel more grounded, centered, and resilient in the face of life's challenges.

Improving Sleep Quality:

Quality sleep is essential for managing stress and maintaining overall well-being. Yet, many people struggle with insomnia and other sleep disorders due to the effects of chronic stress. Massage therapy can help improve sleep quality by promoting relaxation and reducing anxiety levels. By triggering the release of serotonin and melatonin, massage helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle and promote deeper, more restorative sleep. Many clients report falling asleep faster, staying asleep longer, and waking up feeling more refreshed after regular massage sessions.

Enhancing Body Awareness:

Another often overlooked benefit of massage therapy is its ability to enhance body awareness. In today's fast-paced world, it's easy to become disconnected from our bodies and the physical sensations they experience. Massage encourages mindfulness and presence by bringing attention to different areas of the body, fostering a deeper sense of connection and self-awareness. This heightened body awareness allows individuals to recognize and release tension, stress, and emotional blockages, leading to greater overall well-being and resilience in the face of stress.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, massage therapy offers a multifaceted approach to stress reduction that addresses both the physical and emotional components of tension. By activating the relaxation response, reducing cortisol levels, promoting emotional well-being, improving sleep quality, and enhancing body awareness, massage provides a holistic solution for managing stress and cultivating a greater sense of balance and harmony in life. Whether you're seeking relief from everyday stressors or struggling with chronic stress and anxiety, regular massage sessions offer a safe and effective path towards greater well-being and peace of mind. Take the first step towards a calmer, more relaxed life by scheduling your next massage session today. Your body and mind will thank you for it.

[sportsfitnessandhealth]

Top 12 Natural Ways to Boost Your Melatonin Production

When it comes to healthy living, a good night’s sleep is key. Sure you feel good after a restful night’s sleep, but its importance goes beyond boosting your mood. Getting enough sleep has direct and positive effects on your weight, heart, mind, and overall well-being.

Although we all understand the benefits of sleep, the CDC estimates that 1 in every 3 Americans do not get enough sleep. Many factors can be attributed to this epidemic, but one in particular stands out.

Many people have low melatonin levels. Nor do they have the know-how to naturally boost melatonin production on their own.

During a 24-hour period, each of us produces melatonin, which controls when we go to sleep and when we wake up. This cycle is called the circadian rhythm and it is very sensitive to outside factors. There’s a reason why it’s nearly impossible to get out of bed on a rainy day. Or why many people experience seasonal depression during winter months. Those who work in front of a computer all day have a hard time falling asleep, as well as those suffering from anxiety.

How to Increase Your Melatonin, Naturally

When melatonin levels are high, you start to feel sleepy. But when levels are low, it can be almost impossible to fall asleep. Thankfully, there are ways to boost your melatonin levels and regain control of your sleep cycle. Let’s take a look at our list of the top 12 natural ways to boost your melatonin levels.

1. Increase Natural Sunlight Exposure

Most of us wake up in the morning while it’s still dark. We commute to work, park in the parking garage, and sit in an office all day. By the time we make it home, it’s already dark again. By limiting your exposure to natural sunlight, you are confusing your body’s natural clock. Your body thinks it’s supposed to be awake throughout the night and therefore does not know when to produce melatonin.

Try taking time out of your day for a ten-minute walk outside. Aim for the morning hours, but if you are pressed for time, get outside during your lunch break. This will let your body know that it is daytime and will help in resetting your circadian rhythm.

2. Go to Bed at A Reasonable Time

Make sure you’re going to bed early enough to get at least 8 hours of sleep. When you stay up late, your body doesn’t produce enough melatonin at the right time. This makes you sleepy in the morning and awake in the evening. This feeling can be very similar to jetlag and can take sometimes days to overcome. Just this slight change in routine can naturally raise your melatonin levels.

3. No Artificial Lights at Night

Computer screens, cell phones, light bulbs, and televisions give off what is called blue light. Blue light blocks the production of melatonin. Watching TV or checking your emails in the morning help wake you up, but doing this at night will prevent you from falling asleep.

Try reducing your exposure to artificial lights 2-3 hours before you go to sleep. This will ensure a high melatonin production by the time you go to bed.

4. Eat More Melatonin-Rich Foods

Eating foods with high amounts of tryptophan will naturally increase melatonin production. Tryptophan is an amino acid that your body does not produce naturally, but it is needed in the production of melatonin. Tryptophan can be found in most foods that contain protein, including almonds, oats, turkey, chicken, and cottage cheese.

5. Invest in a Weighted Blanket

Another great way to naturally boost your melatonin levels is with a weighted blanket. For years, occupational therapists have been using weighted blankets as a therapeutic tool. Weighted blankets put pressure on the body’s sensory receptors, soothing the nervous system and regulating hormone production.

Researchers found that after using a weighted blanket, serotonin levels increased by 28%, and dopamine by 31%. Not only do these “happy hormones” have a positive effect on your mood, but serotonin is directly linked to melatonin production. When serotonin levels are high, melatonin production increases.

6. Keep Your Bedroom Dark

Those who work night shifts can appreciate the connection between sunlight and sleep. Trying to go to sleep in the early hours of the morning is a daunting task. Only when their bedroom is dark enough to naturally increase melatonin production, can they fall asleep.

Keep all blinds closed and do not use night lights. When there is too much light in the room, your body thinks it’s daytime and will not produce melatonin.

7. Deal with Stress

Melatonin isn’t the only hormone that fluctuates with our sleep and wake schedules. Cortisol, the body’s natural stress hormone, also plays a role in our internal clock. However, cortisol levels fluctuate on an opposite cycle. Production naturally increases during the day and decreases at before bed.

However, if you are stressed, cortisol levels remain high and melatonin production cannot start until those levels begin to decrease again. These two hormones become misaligned and your sleep schedule gets thrown off.

Try incorporating meditation, yoga, exercise, or journaling into your daily routine. This will help keep your stress levels under control, which will decrease cortisol levels.

8. Cut Down On Caffeine Intake

Although we all love a warm cup of coffee in the morning, drinking coffee late in the day actually block melatonin production. Caffeine triggers the body’s “fight or flight” response and increases the stress hormone, cortisol. Drinking too much caffeine can make you irritable, nervous, and unable to fall asleep. These symptoms mimic anxiety symptoms, even in a healthy person.

If you still want to sip on something warm in the evening, try making the switch to caffeine-free drinks. Chamomile, chai tea, and even lemon water contain natural antioxidants that won’t give you the jitters.

9. Eat More Magnesium

Magnesium also naturally boosts your melatonin levels. You can find magnesium in spinach, pumpkin seeds, yogurt, black beans, avocados, and dark chocolate.

10. Take a Hot Bath or Shower

Another great way to naturally boost your melatonin levels is to take a hot bath or shower. If you have access to a steam or sauna room, even better! Heat naturally reduces tension in your muscles and boosts neuron activity in your brain. Sweating during a workout, or even laying out in the sun will reduce cortisol levels, allowing your melatonin production to increase.

11. Reduce Wi-Fi Exposure at Night

Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) can be dangerous when exposed for long periods of time. As of today, there is not much research on the effects of Wi-Fi and cell phone radiation. But we do know that exposure to EMFs reduces melatonin production.

Avoid sleeping with your phone next to your head, and if possible, turn off your Wi-Fi at night. This will give your body the chance to produce enough melatonin before you go to sleep.

12. Quit Smoking

Smoking cigarettes at night actually reduces the amount of melatonin in your body. If you smoke, try to limit your cigarettes to the morning, or better yet, kick the habit completely. If you need help quitting, consult your doctor.

Increase Your Melatonin Levels with a Weighted Blanket

During a 24-hour period, each of us produces hormones that control when we go to sleep and when we wake up. This cycle is called the circadian rhythm and it is controlled by a hormone called melatonin. Produced in the pineal gland in the brain, this hormone is responsible for your body’s internal clock. When melatonin levels are high, you start to feel sleepy. But when levels are low, it can be almost impossible to fall asleep.

A great way to adjust your sleep schedule is to naturally increase your melatonin levels.

Why Can’t I Fall Asleep?

The circadian rhythm it is very sensitive to outside factors. There’s a reason why it’s nearly impossible to get out of bed on a rainy day. Or why many people experience seasonal depression during winter months. And those who work in front of a computer all day have a hard time falling asleep.

We know that two major factors naturally affect melatonin production: sunlight and stress. In the evening when the sun starts to set, melatonin production naturally rises. It continues to rise throughout the night, and slowly drops when the sun comes up again.

Those who work night shifts can appreciate the connection between sunlight and sleep. Trying to go to sleep in the early hours of the morning is a daunting task. Only when their bedroom is dark enough to naturally increase melatonin production, can they fall asleep.

Melatonin isn’t the only hormone that fluctuates with our sleep and wake schedules. Cortisol, the body’s natural stress hormone, also plays a role in our internal clock. However, cortisol levels fluctuate on an opposite cycle. Production increases during the day and decreases at before bed.

However, if you have anxiety symptoms, cortisol levels remain high. This means that melatonin production cannot start until those levels begin to decrease again. These two hormones become misaligned and your sleep schedule gets thrown off.

What Helps in Increasing Melatonin?

If left untreated, a thrown off sleep schedule can greatly affect your quality of life. You’ll find it hard to concentrate. Your production levels at work and school will greatly decrease. A lack of sleep fuels depression and anxiety, making your current situation even worse. Insomnia also has a direct link to weight gain and other serious health issues.

Many people with low melatonin levels take melatonin supplements. Although effective, you should take these supplements in small doses for only a short period of time. They also have side effects such as daytime sleepiness, dizziness, and short-lived depression.

Luckily there are natural ways to increase your melatonin production.

For years, occupational therapists have been using weighted blankets as a therapeutic tool. Weighted blankets put pressure on the body’s sensory receptors. This added weight soothes the nervous system and regulates hormone production.

Weighted Blankets & Melatonin

But how does Deep Pressure Therapy increase your melatonin production? Researchers found that Deep Pressure Therapy increases serotonin levels by 28%, and dopamine by 31%. These “happy hormones” have a positive effect on your mood and are directly linked to melatonin production.

The brain uses serotonin to make melatonin. This means that when serotonin levels are high, melatonin levels are elevated as well. Researchers also found that deep pressure significantly decreases cortisol levels. After applying deep pressure, cortisol levels dropped by 31%.

The effects of this natural realignment are huge. Not only will this positively affect your quality of sleep, but your quality of life as well. Investing in a weighted blanket is a great way to naturally increase your melatonin levels.

Conclusion

By making these small adjustments and investing in a weighted blanket, you can naturally boost your melatonin production and get a better night's sleep. You can regain control of your sleep schedule, without the side effects of other sleeping aids.You deserve to wake up feeling refreshed in the morning.

If you have any questions or other ideas on how to naturally increase melatonin production, please comment below!

Source: https://quilityblankets.com/blogs/news/top-12-natural-ways-to-boost-br-your-melatonin-production

[antillonbukhari90]

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