Excerpt:

It’s probably not a surprise to read that money and the economy are top causes of stress for Americans, as shown in APA’s most recent Stress in America Survey. Whether it’s thinking about paying the mortgage, buying groceries, or saving money a lot of brain power is devoted to making financial decisions. These financial decisions, big or small, require willpower.

One way to understand willpower is that it is like a muscle that can become tired. As you exert your willpower, it begins to lose its strength. Recent research indicates that people whose willpower is run down are more likely to spend an increased amount of money and purchase additional items than those who haven’t recently exerted their willpower. Low willpower, research suggests, can lead to less control over spending.

People who are constantly faced with tough financial decisions, such as those who are less financially stable, more readily deplete their willpower.

via Willpower, Finances and Spending.

Excerpt:

PEOPLE’S intuition is often wrong when it comes to investing. We often buy when we should be selling, or focus on red herrings. So are there ways to overcome these tendencies?

After a flood of research in the growing field of behavioral economics, we know the answer is yes, although doing the right thing with money involves recognition and discipline.

Many tenets of prudent financial decision-making can be found in the work of Daniel Kahneman and his acolytes. Professor Kahneman’s best-selling book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011 opens up some new vistas on human behavior that can be applied to our worst investing mistakes.

Professor Kahneman, a psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in economic science in 2002, has turned classical economics on its head in many ways, noting that it is folly to engage in day trading or to think you have an advantage in picking securities. Investors don’t always act in their own best interests and are consistently led astray by emotional motives and cognitive errors, he said. Overconfidence is a bugaboo.

“People have little idea, by and large, of the investment world,” Professor Kahneman said. “They are convinced they have an advantage.”

One of the most common errors investors commit, he has found, is making bad decisions simply because of the overriding fear of loss, an important concept of the so-called prospect theory he pioneered with his fellow researcher, Amos Tversky, who died in 1996.

via Learning to Mistrust Your Financial Instincts – NYTimes.com.

So, be sure to put some dark fish on tonight’s menu!

And, if you would like to learn more about eating healthier, a consultation with a registered dietitian and nutritionist can be especially helpful

Reported online May 24, 2011 in Circulation: Heart Failure.

If you are feeling down or depressed, effective treatment for depression including counseling and psychopharmacological treatment is available.

Excerpts from Study:

A new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health CAMH (in Canada) has found that employees with depression who receive treatment while still working are significantly more likely to be highly productive than those who do not. This is the first study of its kind to look into a possible correlation between treatment and productivity.

People who experienced a depressive episode were significantly less likely to be highly productive, the study showed. “We expected this, as past research has found that depression has adverse effects on comprehension, social participation, and day-to-day-functioning,” said Dr. Carolyn Dewa, Head of CAMH’s Centre for Research on Employment and Workplace Health and lead author.

“What’s exciting is we found that treatment for depression improves work productivity. People who had experienced a moderate depressive episode and received treatment were 2.5 times more likely to be highly productive compared with those who had no treatment,” she says.  “Likewise, people who experienced severe depression were seven times more likely to be high-performing than those who had no treatment.”

via CAMH: Study finds that treatment of depression can increase work productivity.

Stress management counseling and biofeedback training can be effective interventions for managing stress in our daily lives.

Check out the excerpts below and click the link below to view the report.

Since 2007, the American Psychological Association has commissioned an annual nationwide survey as part of its Mind/Body Health campaign to examine the state of stress across the country and understand its impact.

The Stress in America™ survey measures attitudes and perceptions of stress among the general public and identifies leading sources of stress, common behaviors used to manage stress and the impact of stress on our lives.

The results of the survey draw attention to the serious physical and emotional implications of stress and the inextricable link between the mind and body.

via Stress in America Press Room.

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• american psychological association 2011stress report

For most people, psychotherapy and psychopharmacology will be the best option for depression treatment but for those with intractable depression, the future may include DBS as a treatment option.

Excerpt from report:

A new study provides additional data on the safety and long-term efficacy of subcallosal cingulate SCC deep brain simulation DBS in patients with treatment-resistant depression, including those with bipolar disorder.

Results show that after 2 years of long-term stimulation, there was a 92% response rate and 58% remission rate in 12 patients in the study. No patient who achieved remission had a spontaneous depressive relapse.

Published online January 2, Archives of General Psychiatry via More Good News on Deep Brain Stimulation in Depression.

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By setting unrealistic goals, we set ourselves up for failure and can even make ourselves feel worse than we did before we set the goals. So, before you create a list of New Year’s resolutions to ring in 2012, try to think of just one small change that you would like to make AND that you think you can maintain for the long haul.

For example, rather than putting yourself through another all-out diet that will likely be difficult to maintain, choose a small change in your diet that can lead to better health. Giving up sugary beverages like soda might be a good option that could be maintained over time (and that likely would result in a marked reduction in caloric and sugar intake).

And, of course, if you want to make greater changes in your life for 2012, working with a psychologist and behavioral specialist can be a great option. Change is hard, but you don’t have to do it alone.

Good luck!

“People who had diet soda every day experienced a 61% higher risk of vascular events than those who reported drinking no soda,” lead investigator Hannah Gardener, ScD, an epidemiologist from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida, told reporters attending a news conference here at the International Stroke Conference.

Other beverages may be healthier. For example, drinking iced tea with lemon without sweetener, water with lemon or seltzer with lime can be great alternatives to soda of any kind. Start the New Year with a healthier diet. Our nutritionist and registered dietitian, Laura Foresta, offers nutrition counseling and coaching services in our Downtown Boston and Newton Corner, MA locations. Call today to schedule a consult.

via Diet Soda May Heighten Risk for Vascular Events.

The researchers suspected that for those who did not benefit from medication, the unpleasant side effects of the medications, such as sleep disturbance, might explain why some participants felt worse after using the medication.

The research highlights the need for an individualized approach to treatment of depression and other behavioral health issues. One size does not fit all. For many, psychotherapy and counseling will be the best option.

If  you or a loved one suffer from symptoms of depression or another emotional issue, help is available. To learn more about treatment options, call us at 617-259-1895.

Excerpt:

Up to a fifth of patients being treated for depression with some medications may do worse than those given a placebo, according to a U.S. study.The findings, published in Archives of General Psychiatry, highlight the importance of quickly identifying how patients respond to certain drugs, said lead author Ralitza Gueorguieva, at the Yale University School of Health.

“Identifying variables that are associated with response is a very important question that we havent quite tackled,” she said.

via Some depressed people do worse on drugs: study | Reuters.

Clean eating means choosing fruits, vegetables, and meats that are raised, grown, and sold with minimal processing. Often theyre organic, and rarely if ever should they contain additives. But in some cases, the methods of todays food producers are neither clean nor sustainable. The result is damage to our health, the environment, or both. So we decided to take a fresh look at food through the eyes of the people who spend their lives uncovering whats safe–or not–to eat. We asked them a simple question: “What foods do you avoid?” Their answers don’t necessarily make up a “banned foods” list. But reaching for the suggested alternatives might bring you better health–and peace of mind.

Excerpts From List. To view more info about each one, visit the link below to read the full article.

1. The Endocrinologist Wont Eat:  Canned Tomatoes

2. The Farmer Won’t Eat:  Corn-Fed Beef

3. The Toxicologist Won’t Eat:  Microwave Popcorn

4. The Farm Director Won’t Eat:  Nonorganic Potatoes

5. The Fisheries Expert Won’t Eat:  Farmed Salmon

6. The Cancer Researcher Won’t Drink:  Milk Produced With Artificial Hormones

7. The Organic-Foods Expert Won’t Eat:  Conventional Apples

If you would like to learn more about eating healthy and improving your health, working with a nutritionist and registered dietitian can help. Laura Foresta, RD, LDN, is a nutritionist at CPA, who offers nutrition counseling and coaching services in Boston and Newton, MA. Call today to schedule a consultation or to learn more.

via 7 Foods You Should Never Eat | Fox News.

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