Do Words Have Consequences?

Do Words Have Consequences?

By Jim Windell

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Can Kids Benefit from Mindfulness Training?

Can Kids Benefit from Mindfulness Training?

By Jim Windell

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How Important is Self-Control?

How Important is Self-Control?

By Jim Windell

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Why Some People are Able to Stand Up to a Bully

Why Some People are Able to Stand Up to a Bully

 By Jim Windell

             Since the presidential election on November 3, 2020, we have seen the President of the United States use his office and his political and personal power to cajole, influence and bully political leaders, lawmakers and citizens to support his efforts to overturn the election he lost. Some of the people he put tremendous pressure on – such as both the governor and the secretary of state of Georgia – stood up to his intense bullying and threats. Others – such as many Republican congressman – caved to the pressure.

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A Potential Change in Your Diet You May Actually Like

A Potential Change in Your Diet You May Actually Like

By Jim Windell

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Who Gets PTSD and Who Doesn’t?

Who Gets PTSD and Who Doesn’t?

 By Jim Windell

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The Three Pillars of Mental Health

The Three Pillars of Mental Health

 By Jim Windell

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Researchers Find Brain Patterns that Could Improve Mental Health Disorder Diagnosis

Researchers Find Brain Patterns that Could Improve Mental Health Disorder Diagnosis

 By Jim Windell

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Structural Racism Costs Lives

Structural Racism Costs Lives

By Jim Windell

           Given the growing strength of the Black Lives Matter movement, there is also a growing recognition that racism is a durable feature of U.S. society – and that racism and that it has health consequences for people of color.

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This is Your Brain. This is Your Brain When you are Lonely.

This is Your Brain. This is Your Brain When you are Lonely.

By Jim Windell

           This holiday season is going to be different for many people. I know that in our family there won’t be the large Christmas Eve party that we’ve enjoyed for the past 25 years. There will be no family gathering on Christmas morning to open gifts. And there will be no New Year’s Eve parties.

            Of course, there will be Zoom interactions, text messages about our gifts and an exchange of photos on our phones. But for many people, for instance the people we usually visit during the holidays at care facilities and prisons, there will be a feeling of special isolation and – likely – the desolation of loneliness.

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Singing Eases Stress for Preterm Babies and Anxious Moms

Singing Eases Stress for Preterm Babies and Anxious Moms

By Jim Windell

            About one of every 10 infants born in the United States is premature – commonly referred to preemies. Babies who are born prior to the 37th month of pregnancy usually weigh much less than full-term babies and because they did not have enough time in the womb to develop they are often beset by various health problems – breathing difficulties, feeding problems, hearing and vision problems and other developmental delays.

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What’s so Bad about Teenage Depression?

What’s so Bad about Teenage Depression?

 By Jim Windell

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The Roots of Mother’s Empathy

The Roots of Mother’s Empathy

 By Jim Windell

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What to get That Older Child on Your Holiday Shopping List

What to get That Older Child on Your Holiday Shopping List

By Jim Windell

            We all have them on our shopping list. Those sons, daughters, nieces, nephews or grandchildren -- older kids who are no longer children and much too old for Legos, dolls or stuffed animals.  There lies the dilemma -- what to to get them.

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A Mother’s Stress during Pregnancy May Influence a Baby’s Brain Development

A Mother’s Stress during Pregnancy May Influence a Baby’s Brain Development

By Jim Windell

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Off-Label Drug May Reduce Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms

Off-Label Drug May Reduce Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms

 By Jim Windell

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Take Your Nature Vitamin Every Day During Pandemic

Take Your Nature Vitamin Every Day During Pandemic

By Jim Windell

            If you live in an area in which your house is surrounded by trees, shrubs and green grass, you are lucky. Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

            It has long been known through epidemiological studies that greater exposure to, or contact with, natural environments – such as parks, woodlands and beaches – is associated with better health and well-being. If your house (or office) looks out over a cement parking lot or the red brick of an apartment building, the health benefits are minimal. Contrast that with living (or working) in greener urban or suburban areas and your risks for cardiovascular disease, obesity,  diabetes, asthma hospitalization, mental distress, and, ultimately, mortality goes down.

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What are Empathy and Perspective-Taking Made of?

What are Empathy and Perspective-Taking Made of?

By Jim Windell

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Loss of Sleep Raises Risks for Anxiety and PTSD

Loss of Sleep Raises Risks for Anxiety and PTSD

By Jim Windell

            I know I’m not at my best on those days after I had less than my optimal number of hours of sleep. And I hate the groggy feeling I have after a sleepless night. As for learning anything new or attacking new challenges when I didn’t get enough sleep, forget it.
            We’ve known for some time that sleep is important for consolidating our memories. And we have also been aware that sleep deprivation interferes with learning and memory. However, a new study suggests that getting only half a night's sleep – as many medical workers and military personnel often do – gets in the way of the brain's ability to unlearn fear-related memories. That could very possibly put people at greater risk of conditions such as anxiety or posttraumatic stress disorder.

This new study appears in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. Entitled “Partial and Total Sleep Deprivation Interferes with Neural Correlates of Consolidation of Fear Extinction Memory,” the study provides us with new insights into how sleep deprivation affects brain function to disrupt fear extinction.

            The researchers, led by Anne Germain, PhD, at the University of Pittsburgh, and Edward Pace-Schott, PhD, at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, studied 150 healthy adults in the sleep laboratory. One third of subjects got normal sleep, one third were sleep restricted, so they slept only the first half of the night, and one third were sleep deprived, so they got no sleep at all. In the morning, all the subjects underwent fear conditioning.

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Subdural Bleeding in Infants is Proof of Abuse, Right?

Subdural Bleeding in Infants is Proof of Abuse, Right?

By Jim Windell

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