Sleep with the blinds closed! Exposure to even dim light at night is enough to cause physical changes in the brains of hamsters (and humans?) that may lead to depression. But light DOES kill superbugs, which must be why, when you’re in the hopsital, nurses come over and shine a flashlight in your eyes at night!
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Even though Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming? – It’s not normal to feel down during the holidays, but many people do. Often times, family gatherings, which should bring joy, cause stress and this year could be worse because of the country’s poor financial shape.
With the days shortening toward winter, many people will begin to experience the winter blahs. For some, the effect can be devastating. Researcher David Baron says, “As the days get shorter and shorter, Seasonal affective disorder presents at this time of year. Less daylight can be a big mood-changer for folks sensitive to the effects of less sunlight exposure, who suddenly might feel the winter blues coming on.” It even affects the stock market!
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David Foster Wallace, the talented young author who recently committed suicide, battled depression for 20 years. And people who take many days of sick leave for psychiatric reasons are twice as likely to die from cancer as healthier employees. Finally, since so many anti-depression medicines have turned out to be placebos, researchers have discovered that an old herbal remedy really DOES work: but only if you speak German!
In CNN.com, Elizabeth Landau quotes psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as saying, “The arts are more dangerous [than other professions] because they require sensitivity to a large extent. If you go too far you can pay a price?you can be too sensitive to live in this world.”
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Women who wear too much perfume may be depressed. Researcher Yehuda Shoenfeld says, “Our scientific findings suggest that women who are depressed are also losing their sense of smell, and may overcompensate by using more perfume.” And people who gossip about them? They’re taking part in a form of verbal mutual grooming that has been vital to the evolution of humanity.
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