The holiday season is dubbed as the “most wonderful time of the year.” However, this isn’t true for many, especially for those who are struggling with loss. There are other reasons for the holiday blues: stress, fatigue, unrealistic expectations, financial struggles, and over-commercialization. In fact, therapists agree that depression and anxiety tend to heighten during the holiday season and thus the phrase “holiday depression" was coined. 

According to an article in Psychology Today, the demands and stress of the holidays and the expectations to be happy can make an individual feel even more depressed, especially if he/she is already struggling with a mood disorder. The holidays can also be a trigger for individuals who struggle with seasonal depression, a class of depression that is recognized by mental health experts and physicians. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a seasonal depression that peaks in the winter months due to shorter days and...

The holiday season often requires us to keep track of and pay attention to a greater number of responsibilities than usual which causes our brain and bodies to go into overdrive. Tis the season to be stressed indeed. But there are ways to be merry and to shine brightly just the same. Here are some tips from Dr. Daniel Amen that will help soothe the holiday jitters.

1. Think boundaries, not walls.

Effective boundary setting is a bid for connection and closeness, not a method of shutting people out. If you’re tempted to say yes to every request, you might build resentment or spread yourself too thin and cancel your commitment at the last minute. By being selective about what you feel you can handle, you are honoring your own time and needs as well as the person you’re setting a boundary with. Clear communication about your wants and needs sets the tone of mutual respect with yourself and others.

2. Meditate.

A 2017 study showed a significant improvement in mood after...

Have you been feeling moody, depressed or anxious lately? Has your focus been off? Perhaps it’s time to take a look at your diet. Dr. Daniel Amen shares with us six toxic foods that can cause our mental health to take a turn and what you can do to feel better.

1. Sugar and Refined Carbohydrates
Often when we feel bad, we crave sugary sweetness. We love the comfort sweet foods provide, but they don’t love us back. Sugar (and even natural honey and maple syrup), as well as refined carbohydrates (white bread, pastries, pasta, and crackers), cause blood sugar levels to spike and then drop, impacting your mood and sense of wellbeing. Diets high in sugar increase inflammation, cause fatigue and cravings, and lead to erratic brain cell firing that has been implicated in aggression, a 2021 study indicates. Another recent study showed increased markers of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (lower overall brain and hippocampal volume, poorer episodic memory, and cognitive...

Taking a break is necessary so that you don’t actually break down. It’s the same with exercise. Getting enough rest after exercise is essential to recovery as well as performance.  Fitness expert JJ Virgin gives us the reasons why rest and recovery is important to one’s health.

Signs You Need to Rest 
Pushing yourself to your limit can be great, but pushing yourself too far can backfire. How do you know the difference? Your body offers clues. Feeling tired is one of the most straightforward signals you need to rest. Think of constant fatigue as a warning light on a car dashboard indicating low fuel.  

Soreness is another sign. After a challenging workout, feeling a little sore is normal. However, if that feeling lingers for an extended period, it's a sign that your muscles need more time to recover. Soreness is a message from your muscles telling you they need rest to repair and strengthen.  

Feeling irritable or easily agitated are...

Practicing gratitude is certainly beneficial to our health. It improves our physical and mental health, our self esteem, and creates better relationships. On the flip side, focusing on gratitude can be harmful if not done the right way. Here’s an article from Psychology Today that shows some of the practices that can cause negative effects instead of positive as well as steps to make sure we don’t fall into making these mistakes. 

Invalidating Your Emotional Experiences
You shouldn’t feel this way. Remember, many people have it worse than you.

Does this sound familiar? If you’ve had this thought, heard it, or said it yourself, you may have experienced a negative impact of gratitude. When you compare yourself to the circumstances of others, you risk minimizing and/or invalidating your emotional experiences.

Connie L. Habash, LMFT, states that “gratitude shouldn’t be practiced in a way that compares ourselves to others. It’s not about who...

How do you practice self-care? What are some of the things you do to take care of yourself? Perhaps it’s a nice long bath at the end of the day, cooking healthy meals, or going for a walk. These are all good; but maybe that’s not what self care is all about. Real self care doesn’t mean we need to find ways to escape stress and do things that relax us. It also means doing the hard work of facing our problems, instead of avoiding them and finding ways to distract us. Here are some ideas from Psychology Today on what real self-care means.

“Self-care means doing what makes you anxious now, like setting boundaries with tough people, saying no when you don’t want to do something, getting through a tough workout, or telling someone something they don’t want to hear. It means compassionately accepting yourself for who you are instead of burning yourself out trying to be everything to everyone all the time. It’s living your life in a way that...

There’s a reason why we need to reduce clutter in our lives. According to Psychology Today, all this clutter, physical and mental, can interrupt your flow—both your ability to move and your ability to think. In a 2016 study at the University of New Mexico by Catherine Roster and colleagues they examined how clutter compromises an individual’s perception of home, and ultimately feelings of satisfaction with life. The underlying premise of the study was that because many people identify so closely with their home environments, the extent to which it’s cluttered can interfere with the pleasure they experience when being in that environment.

The authors of the New Mexico study concluded that “Clutter is often an insidious and seemingly harmless outgrowth of people’s natural desire to appropriate their personal spaces with possessions… when [clutter] becomes excessive, it can threaten to physically and psychologically entrap a person in...

Clutter is defined as a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass. Aside from the obvious physical effect, clutter can also negatively affect mental health. One study found that women who reported more clutter in their homes had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol throughout the day compared to women who had less clutter.

Clutter affects your focus, makes you procrastinate, and strains relationships. It can trigger unhealthy eating behaviors as shown by a study where people ate more cookies and snacks when the environment in which they’re offered a choice of foods is chaotic which leads to stress. Clutter can also lead to an overall decreased satisfaction in life.

Cleaning up clutter can be overwhelming which is why it’s also important to understand the emotions you experience when reducing clutter. Here are some tips from Verywell Mind on how to remove clutter from your life and improve your mental health:

Dedicate the Time
No doubt, decluttering your...

Many of us step into the roles as caregivers for our loved ones who may have a disability. Some of us may have older parents who are no longer able to care for themselves or a child with a developmental disability or a spouse who has become chronically ill. Being a caregiver can be rewarding and fulfilling. At the same time, it can be stressful and overwhelming and can lead to emotional and physical burnout. Dr. Amen tells us this can show up as fatigue, increased impatience, lowered resistance, moodiness, insomnia, sleeping too much, lack of interest in activities, feeling hopeless or worried about the future. He also shares with us ways to heal from caregiver burnout and stress.

“When burnout symptoms take over, it’s much harder to function in an already demanding role, in addition to other important responsibilities you have. Fortunately, there are some straightforward and accessible strategies you can use to recover your mental, emotional, and physical vitality so...

Does your life seem overwhelming at times? Personal responsibilities, taking care of family and managing a career, all at a non-stop pace that can get the best of even the strongest person. Fortunately, there is a way to prioritize yourself without diminishing the commitments you have to others. It all starts in your brain by working on your mental hygiene—a daily practice that is just as important as washing your hands.

We are huge fans of Dr. Daniel Amen and his wife Tana! The decade we spent working together on the Daniel Plan left an imprint that when it comes to our health, change is possible and with intentional effort, long-lasting results can be our reality.

We loved their focus on brain health and mental well-being, with the emphasis that we are not stuck with the brain we have. There is always room for improvement! As we jump into our week, we thought we’d take a deeper dive into Dr. Amen’s daily practices to protect and revitalize our...