The media has stormed the public with information regarding texting and using cell phones while driving. Thousands have been either killed or injured in such practices. Talk show hosts, such as Opra, can't express the dangers enough. Once one decreases one’s focus while driving, the outcome can become devastating.
There is something else, something very common, that can be just as deadly while driving, and it can be found right in the medicine cabinet.
Now that we're in the cold and flu season, it is best to be up to date on what could happen when treating such conditions, and others. Any medication, over the counter or prescribed, can put you and others at risk. Several thousands of people suffer from pain, depression, and or allergies, and most are taking some form of medication for relief.
The shocking news it that any medication that has effect on making one drowsy, or causing a lack of coherence, can be used against a driver as a DUI. Even if one isn't involved in an accident and is just pulled over, an officer can suspect you are impaired, and the costly battle begins.
It can cost up to $10,000 and more to get an attorney to represent you in such cases. Depending on the situation, it has often taken more than a year to get them resolved. Before the court finds one guilty of the DUI charge, one’s license can be taken away, the vehicle impounded, time served in jail. If it is a felony, one is left with a permanent record. If you are involved in an accident, it doesn't matter what little bit of levels are in your system. YOU ARE GUILTY!
This is not to be taken lightly. It can be an expense of one's job, or even losing needed government benefits. In the professional perspective, it can make it impossible for one to obtain a license in one's field. In other words, it can destroy a career.
Use precautions while taking any medication, either over the counter, or prescribed. Research the side effects, and listen to your body as to how you are reacting to such medication.
Be aware that the law does not treat this lightly. They will prosecute you for a DUI. Better safe than sorry.
Free Video Reveals #1 Secret On Absolutely Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
Monday, October 18, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Medical Treatment Depends on Attitude
A patient’s attitude is so important to surgeons that many of them will delay a major operation until they become convinced that the patient is reasonably optimistic about the outcome. At the same time, it is important to note that the patients can jeopardize their own health care by becoming too optimistic about their health status, which can lead to neglecting that care.
It seems that perhaps the trait of optimism, regarding health issues, should be divided into two types, each having differing health implications. The more positive type relates to an individual’s sense of efficacy, of the ability to overcome any obstacle, any challenge that may arise. While this may seem a good start, the more extreme variety may lead to a form of denial, the inability to acknowledge symptoms or threats to well-being.
The defensive type not only lacks benefit, but can actually enhance a health risk. This type would include optimistic bias, or the inability to apply a health risk to one’s self.
A deficit in optimism (the positive type), coming from the sense of helplessness in its most severe forms, can lead to tragic consequences, such as the phenomena of "unexplained" deaths of people who believed themselves in hopeless circumstances.
In some cases, for example, persons died after ingesting toxic substances, of which the amounts were often too small even to make them sick. In addition, numerous studies have shown a marked correspondence between increased health problems and the amount of stress from multiple life changes (for example, unemployment, relocation, bereavement, divorce, death in the family) in a recently preceding period.
Such health effects, however, are much more prominent among persons already having low self-esteem. A surprising revelation was that even dramatic events on the good side can have undesirable effects on people who did not expect them. This tends to lead one to the belief that it is the amount of adjustment following change, or the interpretation of a stressor, that can overtax an individual’s defensive resources.
The point is that the individual does not always have a realistic grasp on the actual physical condition. Therefore, although people generally consider four components in deciding whether to seek medical help and follow advice (identity, time line, consequences, and cause of the disease), their perceptions can actually be skewed by existing psychological factors and, principally, their belief systems.
Because I believe that the interpretation of stressors–those factors causing stress–is the most influential factor on health, the patient must master these techniques before going on to others. The others, then will be addressed accordingly, such as deciding on a purpose in life, educating oneself in the disease that afflicts, diet, etc.
(Notes taken from “Belief and Reality: The Major Lifestyle Issues” (2002) by Lora Morrow)
Free Video Reveals #1 Secret On Absolutely Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
It seems that perhaps the trait of optimism, regarding health issues, should be divided into two types, each having differing health implications. The more positive type relates to an individual’s sense of efficacy, of the ability to overcome any obstacle, any challenge that may arise. While this may seem a good start, the more extreme variety may lead to a form of denial, the inability to acknowledge symptoms or threats to well-being.
The defensive type not only lacks benefit, but can actually enhance a health risk. This type would include optimistic bias, or the inability to apply a health risk to one’s self.
A deficit in optimism (the positive type), coming from the sense of helplessness in its most severe forms, can lead to tragic consequences, such as the phenomena of "unexplained" deaths of people who believed themselves in hopeless circumstances.
In some cases, for example, persons died after ingesting toxic substances, of which the amounts were often too small even to make them sick. In addition, numerous studies have shown a marked correspondence between increased health problems and the amount of stress from multiple life changes (for example, unemployment, relocation, bereavement, divorce, death in the family) in a recently preceding period.
Such health effects, however, are much more prominent among persons already having low self-esteem. A surprising revelation was that even dramatic events on the good side can have undesirable effects on people who did not expect them. This tends to lead one to the belief that it is the amount of adjustment following change, or the interpretation of a stressor, that can overtax an individual’s defensive resources.
The point is that the individual does not always have a realistic grasp on the actual physical condition. Therefore, although people generally consider four components in deciding whether to seek medical help and follow advice (identity, time line, consequences, and cause of the disease), their perceptions can actually be skewed by existing psychological factors and, principally, their belief systems.
Because I believe that the interpretation of stressors–those factors causing stress–is the most influential factor on health, the patient must master these techniques before going on to others. The others, then will be addressed accordingly, such as deciding on a purpose in life, educating oneself in the disease that afflicts, diet, etc.
(Notes taken from “Belief and Reality: The Major Lifestyle Issues” (2002) by Lora Morrow)
Free Video Reveals #1 Secret On Absolutely Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Ravages of Shame
What provokes shame is the feeling of being seen as a person other than who we are, the feeling of being misunderstood. It is a sense of deficit in the self. Feelings of shame and humiliation are affective states that require considerable evaluative and self-evaluative components.
All these processes concern man’s social nature. We can distinguish between an “aggressive sociality,” in which an individual, in striving to achieve his aims, is not concerned about damaging other people; and an “adoptive sociality,” in which the individual may favor others or seek the approval and collaboration of others in achieving an objective.
Humans project various images of themselves, depending on the type of image that is sought, what is most useful in particular circumstances, and for whom the image is intended. An image of appeasement and nonaggression toward a possible partner in the act of courtship may be combined with an aggressive or combative image when in the face of a rival or when it is important to mark one’s territory.
Shame is about the self, which is the self only by virtue of confirmation, recognition, affirmation, and perhaps understanding from others. The self-conscious awareness that self image is dependant on other people’s opinions and the possibility of failure or rejection gives rise to shame.
Shame (and guilt, which may or may not be synonomous) is a state of anxiety. There is a fundamental difference between standard emotion and the state of anxiety. While emotions generically comprise a necessary part of our intellectual makeup, anxiety will invariably and inevitably sabotage the intellect. The intellectual structures we create for ourselves are never completely secure. Anxiety is one basic cause of its impending or actual collapse.
I realize this piece may be somewhat hard to follow, and for that I apologize. The bottom line is that shame, or any type of stress and anxiety, can damage or even destroy careers, families, and even lives, and, just as the above is rather complicated, so can be dealing with stress and anxiety. This is why trying to tackle it by oneself is not often successful.
Get your free CD on Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
All these processes concern man’s social nature. We can distinguish between an “aggressive sociality,” in which an individual, in striving to achieve his aims, is not concerned about damaging other people; and an “adoptive sociality,” in which the individual may favor others or seek the approval and collaboration of others in achieving an objective.
Humans project various images of themselves, depending on the type of image that is sought, what is most useful in particular circumstances, and for whom the image is intended. An image of appeasement and nonaggression toward a possible partner in the act of courtship may be combined with an aggressive or combative image when in the face of a rival or when it is important to mark one’s territory.
Shame is about the self, which is the self only by virtue of confirmation, recognition, affirmation, and perhaps understanding from others. The self-conscious awareness that self image is dependant on other people’s opinions and the possibility of failure or rejection gives rise to shame.
Shame (and guilt, which may or may not be synonomous) is a state of anxiety. There is a fundamental difference between standard emotion and the state of anxiety. While emotions generically comprise a necessary part of our intellectual makeup, anxiety will invariably and inevitably sabotage the intellect. The intellectual structures we create for ourselves are never completely secure. Anxiety is one basic cause of its impending or actual collapse.
I realize this piece may be somewhat hard to follow, and for that I apologize. The bottom line is that shame, or any type of stress and anxiety, can damage or even destroy careers, families, and even lives, and, just as the above is rather complicated, so can be dealing with stress and anxiety. This is why trying to tackle it by oneself is not often successful.
Get your free CD on Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
Monday, September 20, 2010
Taking On the Fruits of the Spirit
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:22). These are the characteristics of a healthy personality.
If anyone knew how to itemize principles, it was Carl Rogers. An example of such is what Rogers referred to as "statements of significant learnings," and the following is just one example of those: "In my relationships with persons I have found that it does not help, in the long run, to act as though I were something I am not."1
Rogers went on to discuss the need to trust the self. This is important in interpreting an event presenting itself. The person, not the facts, holds the key to an individual’s future. Facts and events do not dictate conclusions. Rather, they carry meanings for people to discover.
Behaviors are conducted according to how a person anticipates events. Perhaps this is a basis to the many problems facing society today: It is simply a macrocosm, a sociological example, of the individual personality. The human is results-oriented: In other words, expediency rules the day. The human is anarchistic by nature and bent toward chaos.
Individual differences of interpretation is a major reason for this. A person’s beliefs, and assumptions have a major impact on the perception, recall, and interpretation of events.
The result, then, composes differences of interpretation. A number of individuals, for instance, may be observing a fact, or phenomenon, and the resulting number of interpretations of that phenomenon may well equal the number of observing individuals. With that as a launchpad, as it were, humans make decisions based on their own predictions, which are funneled through their own interpretations, which are based substantially on past experiences, both in education and conditioning.
A healthy personality is composed of many aspects and facets. The primary one may be the ability to conform its unique perspectives, borne of the realization that they are indeed unique. If we, then can come to the conclusion that we are as different to others as they are to us, then we will have a better chance of taking on the characteristics listed in the first sentence of this discussion.
Get your free CD on Conquering Stress Today!
http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
If anyone knew how to itemize principles, it was Carl Rogers. An example of such is what Rogers referred to as "statements of significant learnings," and the following is just one example of those: "In my relationships with persons I have found that it does not help, in the long run, to act as though I were something I am not."1
Rogers went on to discuss the need to trust the self. This is important in interpreting an event presenting itself. The person, not the facts, holds the key to an individual’s future. Facts and events do not dictate conclusions. Rather, they carry meanings for people to discover.
Behaviors are conducted according to how a person anticipates events. Perhaps this is a basis to the many problems facing society today: It is simply a macrocosm, a sociological example, of the individual personality. The human is results-oriented: In other words, expediency rules the day. The human is anarchistic by nature and bent toward chaos.
Individual differences of interpretation is a major reason for this. A person’s beliefs, and assumptions have a major impact on the perception, recall, and interpretation of events.
The result, then, composes differences of interpretation. A number of individuals, for instance, may be observing a fact, or phenomenon, and the resulting number of interpretations of that phenomenon may well equal the number of observing individuals. With that as a launchpad, as it were, humans make decisions based on their own predictions, which are funneled through their own interpretations, which are based substantially on past experiences, both in education and conditioning.
A healthy personality is composed of many aspects and facets. The primary one may be the ability to conform its unique perspectives, borne of the realization that they are indeed unique. If we, then can come to the conclusion that we are as different to others as they are to us, then we will have a better chance of taking on the characteristics listed in the first sentence of this discussion.
Get your free CD on Conquering Stress Today!
http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Conditioning Your Buying Habits
Many times, I have wondered what on earth the elements of a given commercial or advertisement has to do with the product itself. An example is that of the attractive, skimpily clad female singing star, whose performance over television had so raptly captured the attention of a male viewer that he didn’t notice that the restaurant in which he was working was on fire. What did this have to do with the taste or enjoyment of the product, in this case, a certain cola?
This,is an example of the effects of the association of even an unrelated pleasure to a product. The advertising agency was using the comedy form of entertainment in an effort to make the commercial entertaining as the program itself. The viewer, then, hopefully would automatically reach for that brand of cola during the next trip to the store.
Meanwhile, another brand probably sitting right beside it, plays upon natural human greed by advertising right on the container that the buyer may become a millionaire just by purchasing that can (and multiply those chances by buying a six or twelve pack).
Neither of these ploys, of course, has anything to do with the quality or quantity of the respective products themselves. But the technique of associating an otherwise unassociated pleasure with the satisfaction of the perceived need to fulfill that pleasure may in fact be more effective. In this case, the advertiser is exploiting the male’s (usually) innate attraction to females to create a humorous, therefore pleasurable, and memorable experience.
This effect is known in the world of psychology as “classical conditioning.” A very well simplified and clear explanation of classical conditioning is that it occurs when a stimulus designed to get a certain response is paired with another stimulus that, of itself, initially would not have such an effect. So over time, this second stimulus will cause a similar response because it is associated with the first one.
An example of this is an ad that ran some time ago promoting a laundry starch. The most prominent feature of the commercial was a waterfall. What did that have to do with starch? An explanation may be found a study where 79% of a group of students chose a pen of the same color of that to which they had been exposed while listening to music they enjoyed. Yet 70% of another group, who had listened to music strange to them, picked one of a different color. This is a classic example of associating a specific object with a pleasurable experience, which in turn creates a “false pleasure” to get a response, in this case buying their product.
So the next time you reach past one brand to buy the next, or ignore the generic version, which, deep down, you know may be just as good, this may help you understand just why you did that.
Get your free CD on Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
This,is an example of the effects of the association of even an unrelated pleasure to a product. The advertising agency was using the comedy form of entertainment in an effort to make the commercial entertaining as the program itself. The viewer, then, hopefully would automatically reach for that brand of cola during the next trip to the store.
Meanwhile, another brand probably sitting right beside it, plays upon natural human greed by advertising right on the container that the buyer may become a millionaire just by purchasing that can (and multiply those chances by buying a six or twelve pack).
Neither of these ploys, of course, has anything to do with the quality or quantity of the respective products themselves. But the technique of associating an otherwise unassociated pleasure with the satisfaction of the perceived need to fulfill that pleasure may in fact be more effective. In this case, the advertiser is exploiting the male’s (usually) innate attraction to females to create a humorous, therefore pleasurable, and memorable experience.
This effect is known in the world of psychology as “classical conditioning.” A very well simplified and clear explanation of classical conditioning is that it occurs when a stimulus designed to get a certain response is paired with another stimulus that, of itself, initially would not have such an effect. So over time, this second stimulus will cause a similar response because it is associated with the first one.
An example of this is an ad that ran some time ago promoting a laundry starch. The most prominent feature of the commercial was a waterfall. What did that have to do with starch? An explanation may be found a study where 79% of a group of students chose a pen of the same color of that to which they had been exposed while listening to music they enjoyed. Yet 70% of another group, who had listened to music strange to them, picked one of a different color. This is a classic example of associating a specific object with a pleasurable experience, which in turn creates a “false pleasure” to get a response, in this case buying their product.
So the next time you reach past one brand to buy the next, or ignore the generic version, which, deep down, you know may be just as good, this may help you understand just why you did that.
Get your free CD on Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The Mind and Chronic Pain
Pain comes in three stages: (1) acute, or adaptive and lasting less than six months; (2) chronic, enduring beyond the time of healing, constant and self-perpetuating, and often occurring in the absence of detectable tissue damage; and (3) prechronic, which essentially includes characteristics somewhere between the former two.
The most significant factor to chronic pain is its invisibility. That is, acute pain can usually be traced to an obvious injury--a cut, an infection. The removal of the cause will produce relief from that pain. Chronic pain is typically not so easily remedied, which is why it is so difficult to understand.
While explaining acute pain can be as simple as pointing to an underlying physical problem, chronic pain does not necessarily serve as such a useful warning of a physical problem. Rather, it often becomes a problem in itself. Indeed, chronic pain takes on many of the characteristics of its own root cause, leading to further problems, resulting in a vicious cycle. Psychological trauma and the actual physical processes--sometimes seemingly unrelated--seem to fuel each other.
Pain, for instance, can alter our moods and perceptions of stress, causing us, mostly unknowingly, to crave certain foods that naturally release serotonin, to elevate our moods, and endorphins, which are natural opiates that relieve pain. Candy and pastries fall into this category, for example, which can lead to obesity.
Psychologically, pain is generally described as a perceived response derived from our emotions and thoughts. The view in Eastern part of the world is generally more graphic. While Western science tends assume that the causes of pain exist on the physical level, Eastern thought regards that level as secondary.
Pain, from the general Eastern view, is an illusion, grounded in a conviction that we are helpless. Pain is simply viewed as information about what must be changed. This philosophy may be an explanation for the reputation of Eastern peoples for their often superior tolerance to pain. Tolerance to pain depends on memories, experiences, family history, personal biology, and culture.
From a my own perspective, chronic pain is a prolonged absence of well being. The most obvious, of course, is physical pain. Yet there is also emotional pain, which can be just as torturous, just as debilitating.
The typical Western method of treating either pain, of course, is through medication. While this has produced temporary relief, it by no means has approached a “cure,” either on a physical or emotional level.
Moreover, this form of treatment has had its own consequences: How many addicts, for instance, has it produced? And side effects can be serious–even fatal. This is what is so attractive about the Eastern philosophies: They imply that there are possibilities of procedures to help to eliminate chronic pain from the psychological side.
The power of the mind over pain can be absolutely astounding. This has already been demonstrated through my own counseling.
Get your free CD on Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
The most significant factor to chronic pain is its invisibility. That is, acute pain can usually be traced to an obvious injury--a cut, an infection. The removal of the cause will produce relief from that pain. Chronic pain is typically not so easily remedied, which is why it is so difficult to understand.
While explaining acute pain can be as simple as pointing to an underlying physical problem, chronic pain does not necessarily serve as such a useful warning of a physical problem. Rather, it often becomes a problem in itself. Indeed, chronic pain takes on many of the characteristics of its own root cause, leading to further problems, resulting in a vicious cycle. Psychological trauma and the actual physical processes--sometimes seemingly unrelated--seem to fuel each other.
Pain, for instance, can alter our moods and perceptions of stress, causing us, mostly unknowingly, to crave certain foods that naturally release serotonin, to elevate our moods, and endorphins, which are natural opiates that relieve pain. Candy and pastries fall into this category, for example, which can lead to obesity.
Psychologically, pain is generally described as a perceived response derived from our emotions and thoughts. The view in Eastern part of the world is generally more graphic. While Western science tends assume that the causes of pain exist on the physical level, Eastern thought regards that level as secondary.
Pain, from the general Eastern view, is an illusion, grounded in a conviction that we are helpless. Pain is simply viewed as information about what must be changed. This philosophy may be an explanation for the reputation of Eastern peoples for their often superior tolerance to pain. Tolerance to pain depends on memories, experiences, family history, personal biology, and culture.
From a my own perspective, chronic pain is a prolonged absence of well being. The most obvious, of course, is physical pain. Yet there is also emotional pain, which can be just as torturous, just as debilitating.
The typical Western method of treating either pain, of course, is through medication. While this has produced temporary relief, it by no means has approached a “cure,” either on a physical or emotional level.
Moreover, this form of treatment has had its own consequences: How many addicts, for instance, has it produced? And side effects can be serious–even fatal. This is what is so attractive about the Eastern philosophies: They imply that there are possibilities of procedures to help to eliminate chronic pain from the psychological side.
The power of the mind over pain can be absolutely astounding. This has already been demonstrated through my own counseling.
Get your free CD on Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
Monday, September 6, 2010
Working With Illness: Do You Mind?
Patients may not find adequate answers in the doctor’s office for their emotional reactions. Physicians are admittedly often largely unprepared to deal with them. It becomes obvious, then, that psychological services are needed to supplement traditional health care both to help patients to create more positive images of their situations and themselves and even to improve their adherence to their medical regimens.
As patients, it is necessary to become aware of our automatic thoughts. We need to learn to define what we have lost and to deal with emotional realities. This will help us to release our emotions and go forward with our lives
Beyond this “discovery” process, we must release the identity we have assumed that is associated with our illness. We must learn to overcome anxiety, both from the illness and life itself.
Emotional control and pain management are very effectively implemented through well-applied meditational techniques, such as breathing exercises. Goal setting and management are achieved through affirmations and visualization. We must learn also to monitor our thinking, eliminating negative and anxiety-producing thoughts and replacing them with positive ones. This will help us to dispense with our negative automatic thoughts and replace them with more rational, realistic thinking.
Loved ones must not be neglected; they must go through generally similar processes for the patient’s sake and their own. They must be taught that they cannot control nor bear responsibility for anyone’s behavior but their own. They must become educated as possible in the patient’s illness; the more they know, the more they can be of aid to the patient. They must support the patient’s endeavors toward independence, rather than to follow natural tendencies to maintain the patient’s dependence on them. They must be careful not to project emotions of guilt, grief, or frustration onto the patient. The patient has enough sense of loss to overcome without such negative involvement.
The conclusion is simple: The mind can hasten or inhibit the control over and recovery from virtually every disease and physical condition. Yet this may be the most neglected aspect of treatment and recovery. If we want the best results–or if we want them for a loved one–we must address the mind as diligently as we do the body.
Get your free CD on Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
As patients, it is necessary to become aware of our automatic thoughts. We need to learn to define what we have lost and to deal with emotional realities. This will help us to release our emotions and go forward with our lives
Beyond this “discovery” process, we must release the identity we have assumed that is associated with our illness. We must learn to overcome anxiety, both from the illness and life itself.
Emotional control and pain management are very effectively implemented through well-applied meditational techniques, such as breathing exercises. Goal setting and management are achieved through affirmations and visualization. We must learn also to monitor our thinking, eliminating negative and anxiety-producing thoughts and replacing them with positive ones. This will help us to dispense with our negative automatic thoughts and replace them with more rational, realistic thinking.
Loved ones must not be neglected; they must go through generally similar processes for the patient’s sake and their own. They must be taught that they cannot control nor bear responsibility for anyone’s behavior but their own. They must become educated as possible in the patient’s illness; the more they know, the more they can be of aid to the patient. They must support the patient’s endeavors toward independence, rather than to follow natural tendencies to maintain the patient’s dependence on them. They must be careful not to project emotions of guilt, grief, or frustration onto the patient. The patient has enough sense of loss to overcome without such negative involvement.
The conclusion is simple: The mind can hasten or inhibit the control over and recovery from virtually every disease and physical condition. Yet this may be the most neglected aspect of treatment and recovery. If we want the best results–or if we want them for a loved one–we must address the mind as diligently as we do the body.
Get your free CD on Conquering Stress Today! http://www.ConquerStressToday.info
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