After 15 years of deliberation, the American Psychiatric Association has moved gambling to the addiction chapter of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Pathological gambling was originally labeled an impulse disorder along with kleptomania and pyromania, which is motivated by anxiety rather than a craving or intense pleasure. The decision to move gambling
Xenomelia, or “foregin limb syndrome” is the oppressive feeling that one or more limbs of one's body do not belong to one's self and results in the desire to amputate one’s own limb(s). This condition was originally considered a psychiatric or psychological disorder but a recent rise in interest of bodily self-consciousness has shifted focus
TIPS to staying focused Your environment has a great impact on how well you stay focused. Studying or working from home provides you with too many distractions whether it’s your cat that keeps sitting on your keyboard or the TV and phone that offers an appeal. The best way to minimize interruptions is by choosing
Heeeere's Johnny! Remember Jack Nicholson in Stephen King's movie "The Shining"? Hollywood has dramatized cabin fever but the condition is very real. However, it's not a disease as its name suggests. Cabin fever is an extreme irritability and restlessness from living in isolation or a confined indoor area for a prolonged time. It affects everyone
How we perceive color affects our moods and emotions. What the human eye sees as different color hues are actually light waves portrayed in different frequencies. These frequencies can affect a person's mood and emotions. The affects can vary from culture to culture but the physical process is the same. Thoughts and emotions are coordinated by a
While art has been used as a method of healing and communication for thousands of years, it isn’t until the mid-20th century that doctors began to recognize it as a useful tool for psychotherapy. Individuals who suffer from a mental illness often express themselves through art. Vincent Van Gogh for example suffered from bipolar disorder,
Reading is good for your brain, I don't have to tell you that. But is there an advantage to reading information instead of viewing or listening to it? It takes more brainpower to process information through reading than through audio and visual elements. As you soak up information when you read, parts of the
Evolution has equipped our brains with the ability to tell time from milliseconds, to days, to years. Keeping track of time is crucial for understanding what is going on around us. For example, we time how long it takes for a voice to reach our ears to tell where it is coming from. Psychologists use
Fish is brain food. Several kinds of fish have a fatty acid known as omega-3 which is vital for the development of the outer membrane of brain cells. Omega-3s are believed to contribute to greater alertness and lower the risk of dementia. Also, studies show that women who eat fatty fish during their third trimester
Growing evidence shows that diet and bacteria from the digestive tract can influence our thoughts, behavior, and mood. Researchers have found evidence of “leaky gut” among people with depression. Typically, the digestive system is enclosed by an impermeable wall of cells but is compromised by certain medical conditions and behaviors such as regular use of