Researchers in Australia sent questionnaires to  60,556 workers that asked about anxiety, depression and other mental disorders. These results were matched with job performance. The researchers were looking for a relationship between the two.

Guess what they found? If you said “those who had symptoms of mental illness didn’t do as well at work as those who didn’t,” go to the head of the class. The more productive workers were those who scored best on the questionnaires, having fewer or no symptoms of depression, anxiety or other mental illness. Put into numbers, this came out to a 20% difference. If a worker had a mental illness and received treatment, there was a 17% increase in productivity.

The conclusion? The authors said that if employers help employees work on mental health issues, they’ll have more productive employees.

Really.

~~~

Image: PhotoXpress.com

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Brain Blogger reports on how Depression and Diabetes Linked in Pregnancy.

Woman Tribune discusses Cheerios partnership with WomenHeart. Find out how you can help Cheerios donate to heart disease research, and get a free cholestrol screening at Cheerios Circle of Helping Hearts. Plus enter to win a freshwater pearl bracelet.

Tushar Mathur from Talking About Green gives us Ways To Go Green In The Kitchen.

Joel Gray from Health Tips 101 tells you to Open Your Mouth and Check for Cancer.

Cynthia Kerry from Best Fat Loss Reviews reports on Different ways you can get rid of belly fat.

Ruth from Camping Tips discusses How to Buy Hiking Boots.

J.D. Bell from It Takes Work presents Dr. Seuss Explains The Bailout | it-takes-work.com.

ChristianPF from Natural Health Ezine asks Does Oscillococcinum really work?.

Arnel from Your Skin Care Blog looks at The Importance of Getting Acne treatment.

Y Niz from Sinus Pressure Relief offers some Home Remedies For Sinus Infection.

Victor from How to get rid of anxiety and panic writes about Facing Reality in How to Get Rid of Panic and Anxiety. Self Help Guide.

Alvin Hopkinson from High Blood Pressure Treatment and Medication Reviews looks at How Fats in our Diet Cause High Blood Pressure.

GreatManagement from Free Organic News discusses Organic Skin Care – The Nice And Simple Way.

And that’s it for this edition of the Healthbolt Carnival.

Don’t forget to submit your health and wellness blog article to the next edition of healthbolt carnival using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: a healthbolt carnival, blog carnival.

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Do you read while you exercise ?

Cause if you do, what you read while you’re walking the treadmill or riding the bike can have an impact on how you feel at the end of the exercise session.

According to new research, reading fitness magazines is not the best choice. Better to stick to National Geographic or House and Garden. Images of superfit people with sculpted arms and six-pack abs will only leave you feeling depressed, anxious, and in a lower mood after exercise that you were before starting.

Course, if you’re uncoordinated like me, this isn’t even an issue cause reading while exercising will only end up in disaster. The post-exercise mood won’t be the issue. Sprains and broken bones would be the more likely outcome…

(source)

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Image details: Portrait of an aging man looking proudly at a pumpkin served by picapp.com

If you want a little more out of “pumpkin” than to use it as a sappy nickname, start by eating the seeds.

Why? Because pumpkins pack even more amounts of tryptophan than a whole turkey dinner. And we all know the magic of tryptophan from Turkey Day 101, right? Feelings of relaxation and peacefulness. Ahhhh…

Well, tryptophan works by morphing into seratonin, (which is known for fighting depression, reducing anxiety, and minimizing anger), making tryptophan pretty much the Wonder Amino Acid. In fact, in a recent study, folks who were asked to give a speech after eating a pumpkin seed bar had much lower heart rates and anxiety an hour later than those who didn’t have the seeds.

So now you have a reason to love the pumpkin.

You don’t have to wait for Halloween to stock up either. Most grocery and health food stores sell both the seeds (which make for a great, crunchy snack), and the afore-mentioned pumpkin seed bars as well.

Bon Apetit, Pumpkin.

Pssst! If pumpkin’s not your thing, check tryptophan’s Wiki page for more food sources

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It hit a few film festivals, pretty much bypassed the mainstream theaters, and is now being released on DVD, but if you get a chance, check out Matthew Perry’s latest movie, Numb.

It’s a semi-autobiographical  dark comedy about mental health and romance by writer-director Harris Goldberg, a Hollywood screenwriter suffering from acute Depersonalisation Disorder (DPD).

DPD is a psychological condition that causes sufferers to feel detached from reality which turns them into an outside observer of their own mental processes and body functions. In other words, they feel numb.

Here’s a reading list for anyone who wants to know more about depersonalisaiton disorder (DPD).

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Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though its breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
Youll see the sun come shining through for you

Smile by Nat King Cole

A beautiful song but prehaps not the best thing for your health according to German professor Professor Dieter Zapf. He conducted a two year study with 4,000 volunteers who were subjected to daily abuse in a fake call centre. Half of them were allowed to answer back and the other half had to ‘grin and bear it.’

Turns out that those who could answer back experienced a short sharp surge in their heart rate while those who had to ‘grin and bear it’ experienced prolonged high heart rates and other stress like symptoms. Prof Zapf says that “Every time a person is forced to repress his true feelings there are negative consequences. We are all able to rein in our emotions, but it becomes difficult to do this over a protracted period.”

Professor Zapf is not, by the way, the first person to look at the health risks of ‘professional smilers’, those people (flight attendents, shop workers) who are required to constantly smile, regardless of the situation. 

Makoto Natsume, a leading psychiatrist at Osaka University, has also been studying the effects of the perpetual smile that thousands of Japanese women are required to practice as part of their job description. He found that “Real emotions are being dangerously suppressed by the “smile masks” that women wear all day at work and the psychological effects he sees among patients are devastating. Depression, mental illness and other disorders are spreading fast, he cautions, and smile-mask syndrome could soon become a serious national health issue.”

So what are these smiley faced people meant to do ?

Professor Zapf suggests that they need to take regular smile breaks during which time they can be as glum as they like.

Personally, as someone who often has to put on a professional smiley face, I’d suggest that laughter would be a better answer….

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In case you missed it, the other day, we at Healthbolt heard from Tris Hussey, a b5 pal and long-time depression sufferer. Tris’s interview was surely enlightening and hopefully encouraging, but in addition to his story, there are many, many other ways to explore depression and mental health in general.

Thus, in honor of Mental Health Awareness month, the entire b5media Health & Wellness channel rallied together to bring you the best explorations of mental health we could. The awesome Alicia at Mental Health Notes was our gracious host for this month’s theme day, and compiled all of our post links together in a one-stop-shop sort of manner for you.

Take a look through the links to learn what our amazing and insightful bloggers have to say and leave your own comments and ideas as well. Thanks so much for joining us in this special recognition. We hope you find the information very beneficial.

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Tomorrow is theme day once again here at the b5media Health & Wellness channel and this month is all about depression. Not a sunny topic, I know, but one that is vitally important and has most likely touched each and every one of us in some way or another.

Thus, I am so honored to have been able to interview Tristram Hussey, our very own blogger training extraordinaire. Tris has been suffering with depression for many years and has some incredibly valuable insight to share regarding diagnosis, treatment, triggers and more. Tris’s hope is that if this interview helps even one person see a doctor for treatment, we have accomplished something great. Indeed, Tris.

And now, the interview:

1. Depression is often considered a quiet disease or one that many folks live with for quite some time without treatment. Have you found that to be the case with you, and if so, how did you finally decide to seek treatment?

Personally I lived with depression from when I was in my teens until my mid-30s, yes a very, very long time. I figured I could handle it. I knew that I suffered from more than just the blues, but I also didn’t want to take medication. I was afraid that the medications would mess around with the one thing I treasured–my mind. What I didn’t know was that the medications just help my brain work better.

Why did I finally get help? Frankly I hit rock bottom. My marriage was falling apart and my professional life was not going well. Finally I went to my doctor. The best decision of my life, it probably saved my life.

2. Why do you believe people wait so long to seek treatment?

There are lots of reasons, especially for men, the biggest I think is the stigma of being “mentally ill”. Men also don’t want to feel like being less of a man or that they “can’t handle it” themselves.

Even though many, many men and women suffer from and are treated for depression, the stigma is still there. This is one reason that I talk openly about it. I suffer from depression, I take medication, and I’m okay.

2. Do you believe depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain or by circumstances? Or both?

For me, the cause is chemical, but the triggers are circumstances. You can have “situational depression” and still need help to get out of it. So, it is both. And, for me, the chemical reasons make it easier to grapple with.

3. Once you’ve received treatment for depression, are you “cured” or is recovery an ongoing process?

I don’t know about being cured. Maybe for people who have something related to a specific event, but for me, it’s going to be the rest of my life. Will I be able to reduce my medication in the future? Maybe. That is something that I work with my doctor on. Working with your doctor is critical to success.

4. What are some triggers you’ve experienced?

Read Tris’s answer to this question and the remainder of the interview after the fold…

For me it’s stress and the downturns of life. That’s when I know I’ve done the right thing by treating this. Something that would have knocked me flat for days, we all get the blues sometimes, might only last a day or so.

Life isn’t perfect, and medication can’t or doesn’t fix everything, but it helps keep things in check.

5. What are some treatments you’ve tried, both naturally and medically-based? What seemed to work best for you and which would you consider a last resort?

I’ve tried various SSRIs and SSNRIs along with counseling. I like the newer drugs, but, all medications have side effects. My worst one is night sweats, which in the great scheme of things isn’t too bad.

I haven’t tried natural remedies and don’t know if I’d suggest them.

6. Do you have any statistics or depression-related facts you care to share?

I wish I knew about prevalence, but I do know that 30% of people with depression commit suicide. That is a sobering stat, and one that haunts me. Haunts me every day. This is one reason that I keep tabs on how I’m feeling, ask for help, and adjust my meds with my doctor if needed.

7. How has depression affected your relationships and/or work?

Before I got help, I just wasn’t a fun person to be around when the dark times hit. I would get down, and just not able to function well. One thing about depression is that social anxiety often goes hand in hand with it. The newer drugs help with that too.

Before, I had trouble concentrating, getting things done, and just making those connections needed for work. Now, well on my down days, people understand. I work with very understanding people. Sometimes I just have to take a break (mental health day is apt). However, on “normal” days, I have focus, energy, drive, and passion. The meds have really helped me.

8. If you could give any one person who may be “feeling blue” advice, what would it be?

See. Your. Doctor. Ask. For. Help. You’re not alone. You can get help. And it can get better. Talk to a friend, talk to your doctor.

It will take tremendous courage to do it, but your family and friends, the people who love you, will be there for you.

***

Special thanks once again to Tris for taking the time to share such a personal side of himself with us. Readers, if you have any comments or questions, please, please don’t hesitate to leave them below. We encourage conversation here at Healthbolt and would love to hear from you.

You can catch more from Tris at Manscaping 101.com, MapleLeaf 2.0, and A View from the Isle.

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Image details: Eggs served by picapp.com

In a lot of homes, eggs are those things you buy because you feel like you’re supposed to, but then after weeks of neglect, find themselves in the bottom of your trash barrel. You may have meant well, but meaning well doesn’t cook those puppies into omelets, now does it?

Well today, we’re here to encourage you to buy that carton of eggs, crack those babies open and scramble, fry, poach or boil away. And why? Eggs are packed with a B vitamin called folic acid. Many people recognize folic acid as the pre-conception wonder supplement which helps prevent neural tube abnormalities in a developing fetus. But folic acid is also a mood-elevating nutrient. In fact, adding folic acid to your diet can diminish bad moods, depression, anger, anxiety and fatigue. All in a day’s work for an egg.

Not a big fan of the oval wonders? You can get the same benefits from folic acid-friendly foods such as peas, lentils, papaya, chickpeas, and dark leafy greens. Enjoy!

10 More Health Benefits of Eggs
Delicious Egg Recipes

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