Mood Disorders

Depression in the workplace

Imagine being depressed and not being able to tell people how you really feel.  Now imagine how it is to go to work everyday and dealing with depression.  Depression is defined as a mood disorder that affects a person's daily life for a prolonged period of time.  Depression in the workplace is more common than actually reported.  the main reason employees refuse to notify their employer about their issue with depression is because of the stigma surrounding depression.  Some employees may feel they will be jeopardizing their positions within a company or other employees may view them and treat them differently.  According to  the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers with 15 or more employees are prevented from discriminating against people who may suffer from serious health problems.  Another concern for employers is whether health insurance will cover treatment for depression.  Due to the National Health Care Legislation passed in 2009, insurance companies will not be able to deny coverage for depression beginning in 2014. 

sources:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001941/

Stress and Emotions

Stress and Emotional Eating

Although there may be many factors linked to Emotional Eating, research has linked stress as a factor that increases emotional eating.  What is emotional eating?  According to about.com, "emotional eating is characterized by repeatedly eating in response to feelings rather than in response to hunger to gain physical nourishment".  So how exactly is stress linked to this type of binge eating?
Let's focus on the physiological response stress has on the human body; stress increases the levels of cortisol which is commonly referred as the "stress hormone".  This hormone leads to an increase of craving for salty and sweet foods.  This type of foods will cause weight gain.  Aside from the cravings, stress usually creates a need for social support for most people.  Usually when searching for that support, most people seem to "express their feelings" over a nice meal with a friend.  This social eating may also contribute to weight gain because the food choices are usually not healthy choices.   Another form of emotional eating is caused by nervousness or feeling of anxiousness.  A lot of people bite their nails or grind their teeth during times of stress, and some go straight to eating.   Emotional eating may also be a result for reducing uncomfortable emotions.  When a problem arises, some people may eat instead of trying to communicate effectivley  It serves as a form of coping with an issue without actually addressing the issues.  Although eating during stressful times may have negative impacts, some food choices may actually relieve stress.  Below is a video that introduces four foods that may actually decrease stress levels.

Sleep

Sleepwalking: Why does it happen??

Research has not been able to identify the cause of sleepwalking, medically known as somnambulism.  According to the National Sleep Foundation, fifteen percent of the general population engage in sleepwalking.  Although it is more common in children, sleepwalking is still a condition found in adults and elderly. There is no specific treatment for sleepwalking.
 
Sleepwalking is described as walking, eating, dressing and reportedly even driving without any recollection of the events after waking up. During a sleepwalking episode, a person may have their eyes wide open, have a blank facial expression or  may speak incoherently  It can be quite dangerous because a person who is engaging in sleepwalking may hurt themselves by falling, hitting, or walking into others.  There have been cases of people walking out of their homes in the middle of the night and wandering off. The video below describes this condition in children and some of the triggers for sleepwalking.

According to the video, research suggests that fatigue and sleep deprivation  may be some of the triggers of sleepwalking in children. 

Have you ever woken up and someone tells you that you were walking while being asleep?  If you have feel free to share your experience..