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Scientific Reports recently reported on the effect that sugar has on depression. 8,000 adults were followed for two decades plus, 22 years total, following men specifically. Researchers found that high quantities of sugar in the diet, a whopping 67 grams of sugar a day, created a 23% higher likelihood for being depressed with clinical depression after the onset of the study. Participants would fill out a survey every few years about the state of their diets, dietary choices and their health. Additionally, the men in the study answered questions about their mental health, like the development of any depression or anxiety. Interestingly, despite the increase of mental health diagnoses, there were no clinical diagnoses pre existing at the time the study began. It took five years for researchers to see a change in trend. Men who ate the high quantities of sugar, like 67 grams of sugar per day, were more often diagnosed with mental health disorders. Interestingly, when there were dietary changes, there was still a high prevalence of mental health disorder. This study might have answered an old ‘chicken or the egg’ inquiry in regard to sugar and mental health. Depression or anxiety does not cause a greater likelihood to consume sugar, but a high sugar diet might be creating depression and anxiety, which is then unchanged. Sugar is a stimulant substance which spikes the brain’s production of dopamine, much like drugs and alcohol does. Hyper and euphoric, the experience of consuming high amounts of sugar is a pleasurable one, until the sugar wears off. Sugar does create a spike in the experience of pleasure, but it creates a crash which takes all of the pleasure away. After producing such a strong amount of dopamine, the brain starts craving sugar immediately, to recreate that highly stimulated and euphoric experience. Spike and crash cycles eventually exhaust the brain, making it difficult to produce dopamine without sugar. This is how the cycle of substance use disorders start as well. The brain becomes dependent on a substance and cannot tolerate the crashes. It is possible that the constant presence of sugar creates an imbalance in the brain which contributes to the development of depression.

There’s no shortage of body shaming media available to consume and make yourself feel badly with. However, the world of the internet and the brave vulnerability of men and women have created a new movement in media that is “body positive” instead of body shaming. If the media you are looking at makes you feel like you are not enough, like you are meant to look like someone else, like the way you look is wrong in anyway, you are consuming the wrong kind of media. Images of bodies and the words used to describe those bodies should be empowering. Media about the human body should be all inclusive, positive, encouraging, and self-esteem boosting.

Post traumatic stress disorder and symptoms of trauma aren’t always obvious. If you’re misinformed about PTSD, you could be saying harmful things to someone who is struggling and needs your support.

What causes an addict or alcoholic in recovery to pause at the sight of temptation? It is something that people who have never lived with drug and alcohol addiction on a chemically dependent level can't understand. Addicts and alcoholics go through a lot of trauma in their addictions, due the addiction itself and trauma they face before. Addiction itself is a traumatic experience. Often, addiction is a manifestation of trauma- a self-inflicted, repetitive pain coupled with intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. Coping with trauma often leads to substance abuse to numb the pain, quiet the thoughts, and bring some relief. After everything that addicts and alcoholics go through, it is baffling to others that they would consider picking up a drink or drug again The way addiction rewires the brain creates a lack of regard for consequence. Yet, in the face of consequence like trauma and temptation, the brain enters a paralysis. In the face of a threat- like encountering a traumatic situation such as sexual assault, or temptation like encountering an opportunity to use drugs and alcohol, there is a freeze. Despite months of treatment and therapy, building confidence and self-esteem, learning tools and techniques, there is a freeze. Some professionals refer to it as “victim paralysis”. During physical trauma, there is an inability to fight back. During temptation of substances, there is an inability to leave or say no. Acta Obstetricia Gynecologica Scandinavica published a study on a phenomenon they call “tonic immobility” which is the temporary paralysis experienced. Interestingly, the study found that the individuals most likely to experience the tonic immobility were also more likely to have experiences of mental illness symptoms afterward. PTSD and depression were likely to happen. Shame, guilt, and a toxic pressure to have acted differently, contributes to the development of symptoms of PTSD and depression which can, in turn, inspire more substance abuse, and further tonic immobility. Coping with the experience of not being able to make a rational decision, fight back, stand up to what isn’t right, or act on better knowledge is devastating. After recovery, especially, it can feel like all of the effort and work was worth nothing. That isn’t true. The research proves that tonic immobility is a real life psychological phenomena that is normal.

How many times do we tell ourselves we can’t do something, then prove ourselves right? We set up defeatist limits for ourselves all of the time. In a moment of clarity, perhaps what some might call hope, faith, or courage, we tell ourselves we can do something and- we do it. What changed? Our mental state did. There is no greater example of this than with people who come to recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. The prospect of having to go through withdrawals, detox from drugs and alcohol, then learn to live without them is dim when we are addicted. We tell ourselves a number of lies in order to avoid it. We couldn’t possibly survive. We can’t stay sober. We won’t be able to finish our treatment programs. We’ll just relapse and fail, disappointing ourselves and others. Then, in a moment of bravery and what many people call divine intervention, we tell ourselves we have to try, that we might be able to make it, and then we do. In one moment, we quit drugs and alcohol. Every moment from there on out, we keep changing our mindset to tell ourselves that we can do it, we can stay sober, and we can change our lives. Once we are in recovery, we learn how to keep an attitude of gratitude, maintain positivity, and use a number of little sayings to keep our outlook toward the future healthy. One day at a time, keep it simple, this too shall pass, don’t take yourself too seriously. All of these are reminders to keep our chins up and take life as it comes, recognizing that with each passing moment it is getting easier and easier to stay sober. Outlook is everything when we are in recovery. As soon as we slip into that familiar desperation, we are risking our sobriety.  The Sydney Morning Herald reported on a recent research experiment in which researchers found that optimism had an effect on physical strength. Six separate experiments examined more than 1300 people and how their outlook on the future affected them. Researchers compared the participants outlook on their future to their physical capabilities. Optimism, the researchers found, “was a ‘cornerstone’ of recovery”. Additionally, there is no one way to approach optimism. Across all the experiments conducted, researchers found that more clearly and concretely participants envisioned their future, the more successful their physical health. “...Our recommendation is that you do need to think about and plan for your future and the way you think about and imagine that future is important in terms of generating the optimism that is going to be successful in terms of pushing you through to a successful recovery,” the researchers explained.

You’re hungry, so you eat. You eat until you are full and then you stop. Sometimes, you might eat a little more than you really should. Feeling full, you might lament about the mistake you made eating so much food, wonder what you were thinking (or what you weren’t thinking) and vow not to do that again. It’s possible that you compensate. Maybe you take a pill, you change your diet the next day, or you spend extra time at the gym. This is all relatively normal. Now, take it to the extreme. You’re hungry and you start to feel paralyzed by anxiety that grows every time you get hungry. You get anxious when you’re hungry because you know there is a very real possibility that once you start eating you won’t be able to stop. You eat. Then you eat some more. You don’t stop eating until you feel so full you’re actually in pain. You don’t feel a little bit bad you ate so much. Intrusive and obsessive thoughts about what you’ve done, how horrible you are for doing it, and how you should punish yourself for it start to cloud your mind along with the euphoria of feeling so full. However, the euphoria is short lived because you are quickly consumed with overwhelming guilt which drives you to compulsive behavior. Instead of compensating in healthy ways like eating a bit healthier or going to the gym you purge. You purge because you have bulimia nervosa and this is it’s vicious cycle. Purging in bulimia nervosa can take many forms. Some people compulsively exercise, some people abuse laxatives, others induce vomiting. Researchers have tried for years to understand what compels someone with bulimia to participate in the behaviors they do. Recently, two studies in Journal of Abnormal Psychology gave some insight. A brain which has developed bulimia responds differently to triggers of stress with alterations in appetite and a disconnect in satiation. Meaning, people with bulimia have a hard time controlling their hunger and knowing when they’re full. Using MRI, one study found that the brains of people with bulimia have more reward circuitry when it comes to taste. Similar to the way an alcoholics is prone to a binge on alcohol after tasting their first drink, someone with bulimia is prone to a binge on food after their brain responds to the taste of it. As a result, people with bulimia eat beyond their capacity. Then compensate through controlling mechanisms because they feel they have been taken so out of control of their bodies.

The 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous were written in 1935 far ahead of our Western obsession with Eastern practices. The eleventh step of the twelve steps states “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” The “12&12” literature describes meditation as a “step out into the sun” where “debate has no place”. “It helps to envision our spiritual objective before we try to move toward it,” the book explains, “And let’s always remember that meditation is in reality intensely practical.”

“That’s not good,” remarks main character Ellen in the highly controversial Netflix film To The Bone, as she steps off the scale in a morning weighing session at her residential treatment program. Ellen is portrayed by Lily Collins, an actress who has been open about her own struggles with eating disorders. The “not good” she is referring to is her very low weight, which is made obvious by her skin and bone structure. Ellen’s diagnosis is anorexia nervosa. Among all mental health disorders, anorexia nervosa has the highest rate of mortality. Heavy restriction and starvation deprives the body of the nutrients it needs, causing the body to take extreme measures for survival. Eating away at fat until the body eats away at muscle and bone, it will do whatever it has to do to gain its energy back and survive. The main character develops “furring”, a condition of anorexia in which the body starts growing extra hair in order to keep itself warm. Ellen is troublingly skinny. Her anorexia nervosa has gotten extreme and at one point in the movie she is on the brink of having a feeding tube. She also passes out and turns down food when it is offered to her after. Unfortunately, to movie viewers, Ellen is the stereotype of anorexia. She is caucasian, pretty, a female, and comes from a middle to upper class family. In her treatment, there are representations of other bodies and genders with different types of eating disorders. However, as many different articles criticizing the film points out, Ellen’s character represents a small percentage of the way people with eating disorders look. They aren’t always that severe but because that level of severity is what the media chooses to portray, that’s what millions of people believe they have to look like in order to be considered “sick”. One of the most dangerous statements people unknowingly make to someone who opens up about having an eating disorder is, “You don’t look like you have an eating disorder.” If you ask  said person just what an eating disorder is supposed to look like, you would probably get a description of someone like Ellen- emaciated and “to the bone”. Not all eating disorders cause severe weight loss. Bulimia nervosa doesn’t typically contribute to weight loss. Binge eating disorder causes weight gain. Orthorexia is focused on maintaining a “healthy” body. Mild to moderate cases of anorexia might not include severe weight loss either. Part of the problem with this stigma is that the non-severe eating disorders can be hard to find treatment for, despite the chronic stress one experiences mentally as well as physically.

Why bother remembering something when the world wide web of instant information is at our fingertips? We don’t need to pay attention to minute details that don’t matter to us individually because out in the communications collective of the online people have made that information available. Anytime we need to learn something, remember something, or look something up, we no longer have to access the filing cabinets of our stored memory, but the memory files of pages on the internet. It’s called the Google Effect, the cognitive digital amnesia taking place in our minds as we become more dependent on technology to supply our knowledge and brainpower for us. Some people claim that our dependence on technology gives us the ability to be more efficient and productive. In the material world of work, productivity and efficiency are key to being able to operate at an optimized level of our humanity. Others, however, argue that our cognitive reliance on technology is hurting our human abilities by making our brains lazier and less capable. Mindful writes on the subject, explaining that the more reliant we become on technology for our cognitive functions the weaker they become- specifically the memory. Our memory is affected because we aren’t using it as often. “That’s because memories’ physical embodiment in the brain is essentially a long daisy chain of neurons,” the article explains. “The very act of retrieving a memory therefore makes it easier to recall next time around. If we succumb to LMGTFY (let me Google that for you) bait, which has become ridiculously easy with smartphones, that doesn’t happen.” As a result, we lose our sense of creativity, we find it difficult to participate in activities which might be boring or lack in stimulation, and our distractibility worsens. Overall, our mental health declines because we aren’t using our brain in the right way. For people recovering from mental illness, the smartphone is a challenging task. On the one hand, a smartphone can provide access to many apps which provide support, guidance, and connection for recovery. On the other hand, smart phones give us access to the wrong people, social media where we can waste ample amounts of time, and a new form of distraction, dopamine production, and an unproductive coping mechanism to deter us from authentically processing our emotions.

No two diagnoses of mental illness are exactly alike because no two people experiencing mental illness are exactly alike. Everyone has a different history, different genealogy, different life experiences, different brain chemistry, which contribute to their mental illness. Anxiety isn’t the same in everyone who has anxiety. While each person will have their own experience of anxiety, they will also have many similarities with others. Likewise, people with anxiety can learn similar techniques to manage their anxiety, though the specifics will be different for each person. All of the unique differences in one case of anxiety to the next is what makes it essential for each individual to learn as much as they can about their personal experience of anxiety. First, it is important to learn about anxiety as a mental illness- the way it functions in the brain, the way it affects the body, and the reason anxiety exists. Next, it is important to learn about your personal experience with anxiety. If you are seeking treatment for your anxiety disorder, you will do an extensive amount of introspection and reflection while working with your personal therapist and using therapeutic techniques for healing, like cognitive behavioral therapy. You’ll be able to identify what triggers your anxiety the most, recognize how your anxiety feels in your body, what anxiety sounds like in your head, and most importantly, you’ll discover what helps you effectively reduce your anxiety. Mindfulness based stress reduction techniques are proven to help with reducing the symptoms of anxiety. MBSR is a practice of its own. Mindfulness has also spread to other areas of therapy, like a newly created mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy. The practice of mindfulness is neither new nor novel. Mindfulness has been practiced for a very long time by ancient cultures and religions. However, the core of mindfulness practice is non theistic, meaning mindfulness itself is a practice without a higher power. The power of mindfulness lies in the power of noticing. Most people are unaware of how little they notice during the day. Mindfulness is rooted in developing awareness in order to pay attention and notice more about the world. Becoming present with immediate surroundings and realistic thoughts helps disengage the intrusive, future thinking thoughts of anxiety, thereby reducing the stress.

To be mindful is to be “conscious or aware of something”. How often are you totally conscious- aware of and responding to your environment- of what you’re eating? Do you really taste your food when you eat it? Take time to appreciate it? Know how much you’re eating? Really discern whether you are full or not, eating for hunger or not? Too often we tell ourselves we’ll only have one slice of pizza and eat half the pie. We go beyond our self-set limits because we go unconscious when we eat. We stop being aware of what we are eating, how we are eating it, and the effect it has on our body. We eat only to feed ourselves, sometimes we eat to feed our emotions. Essentially, we become mindless about our eating. For all forms of mental health recovery, eating, diet, and nutrition are essential parts of a recovery program. Mindfulness is a practice that can be applied to all areas of recovery because mindfulness is applied to all areas of life. As a form of but separate from meditation, mindfulness helps focus the mind. Practicing mindfulness is as easy as paying more attention, becoming more aware, noticing more, and bringing an element of non-judgment. When you’re reaching for that next mindless snack, you’ll suddenly find yourself thinking- why am I eating? Should I be eating? Do I want to be eating this if I am hungry? According to the Center for Mindful Eating, mindful eating is defined as being aware of how healing and nurturing food can be. Using food preparation as an opportunity to connect with your food and respecting your “inner wisdom” about food are mindfulness practices as well. When you choose mindfully, you are “choosing to eat food that is both pleasing to you and nourishing to your body by using all your senses to explore, savor and taste.” You recognize your autonomy in responding to food authentically. Mindfulness allows you to eat what you like and what you don’t like without judging yourself. Lastly, mindful eating helps you to become aware of your physical hunger to know when you’re truly hungry and when you’re not as well as when you’re still hungry as opposed to when you’re eating for other reasons. Mindfulness is studied for its beneficial effects in reducing stress and symptoms of mental health stressors like anxiety and depression. Research has found that mindfulness reduces stress and improves mental clarity, improving habits and behaviors. When you bring mindfulness into your eating, you make eating a conscious, connected experience which provides benefits to your mind as well as your body.

Trauma has many different meanings when it comes to emotions. One of the broader ways we are understanding more and more of people’s experiences is through their emotional upbringing. There is a movement in treatment and therapy to view most adverse childhood experiences as forms of trauma. Trauma is “a deeply distressing or disturbing experience”. Though trauma used to be associated only with physical violence, today we understand trauma to have a wide spectrum of circumstances and causes, many of which are emotionally related. Abandonment, neglect, emotional unavailability, emotional abuse- all of these emotional experiences create lessons and rules in the brain about emotions. Leaving permanent imprints on the brain causes difficulty in emotional development and growth for people who experience emotional trauma. Unfortunately, emotional challenges in childhood are normal. When most other needs are met like being provided for in house and home, food, school, etc, emotional abuse is not considered problematic. For a developing child who needs a supply of unconditional love, support, healthy boundaries and communication, emotional trauma is problematic. It is problematic for children to grow up without the love and support they need to know who they are, how they should relate to people, and what they deserve in life. As children grow into adolescents, teens, and adults, they develop more emotionally and their emotional trauma, in whatever form, manifests in different ways. For example, people might feel emotionally empty or void, like they’re missing something in their lives because of the love they didn’t receive from their childhood. People who had to completely fend for themselves in their childhood will be fiercely independent in their adult lives, and develop an avoidant personality to keep them from depending on anyone. It is common for there to be a strong inability to recognize one’s own strengths, have compassion for the self, and be able to forgive the self. Parents who don’t fully love their children emotionally teach that child there is something wrong with them, that there is something which inherently makes them unlovable. Sadly, many adults try to cope with this emotional void in their life through unhealthy ways. Without the awareness that they are missing out emotionally and that what happened in their childhood in terms of emotions isn’t actually normal, the struggle to create what they think is normalcy, looking for love in the wrong places. Drugs, alcohol, abusive relationships, and circumstances which mimic their childhoods become their normal, causing a lifetime of distress.