Health For All: December 2011

How to Recover From Emotional Trauma

Yearly, a quarter of the population undergo emotional trauma due to crisis or personal tragedy. A loved one could get sick or pass away, you may be sued or lose your job. There could be heavy financial concerns or be constrained to relocate. Your marriage could break up. You could be one of millions of people who experience grave clinical depression; or you may have gone through some emotional hurt in childhood that greatly affects you. More than half of children come from divorced marriages or dysfunctional families and a lot of others would have lived seeing their parents' divorce before turning twenty-one.

How can you protect yourself during these emotionally traumatic times? Here are some strategies for dealing with stress and emotionaltrauma. All the same, what if it's just unbearable? Do you have a particular problem that is difficult to discuss with your friends and family?

Each individual can benefit from being emotionally fit, and every person goes through experiences that affect his or her emotional welfare. Do not hesitate to ask for professional help to provide you emotional trauma therapy. A counselor, therapist, psychologist, church minister, or psychiatrist can impart guidance and insight. The negative stigma associated with seeking professional help could hurt everyone. Thankfully, the past two decades saw a noticeable shift in the manner we regard mental health. Seeking professional help has become an accepted trend.

Mental health is a complicated issue because denial could so oftentimes serve a potent role, keeping the individual from getting the assistance he or she needs and deserves. That's why individuals who live with an alcoholic will likely notice the problem than the alcohol-dependent person by himself or herself. A couple of mental and emotional conditions have a physiological factor likewise as a psychological one. For example, the variants among clinical depression cases are determined according to the chemical changes that happen in the brain's hormones. Medications can help treat these conditions. Common medicinal drugs involve the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSUls), like Prozac, citalopram, paroxetine , and sertraline, and another group of antidepressants, the most typically prescribed being bupropion. One drug may induce side effects in a patient while some other drug of a similar kind won't. Frequently, emotional events could activate the biological response, and, while a pill can alter the biochemistry of the brain, it could not fully alter the emotional tensions that may have initially activated the depression.

Psychotherapy could also aid in treating emotional trauma. Two forms of counseling are interpersonal and cognitive/behavioral therapies. The goal of interpersonal therapy is to help you understand the symptoms of emotional trauma. Cognitive/behavioral therapy identifies behaviors that perpetuate the depression and seeks to program behaviors to prevent further depression. Generally, talk therapy and drug therapy when combined, work best.

Hair Care During Winter

Many things can happen to your hair during winter -- and most of these are not good. Here are ways to care for your hair in winter time to prevent if from further damage.

- During winter, hair has a tendency to dry out. Switch to a shampoo formula made for dry hair instead of the standard shampoo. Dilute the shampoo with water before using it on your hair.

- Flyaway hair is common due to winter’s dryness, which makes it conducive to static energy. Regularly use a conditioner to keep hair more manageable.

- Here's a homemade remedy for static hair. Combine 1/2 cup of any cream conditioner, two teaspoonfuls sesame oil, and one egg yolk and mix in a blender for a minute. Apply and massage the mixture onto your hair. Cover your head with plastic wrap leave on for half an hour. Shampoo and rinse your hair well.

- Before using the hair brush, dip it into water mixed with conditioner to coat the bristles.

- When your scalp begins to flake due to dryness. Switch to a milder, castile-type shampoo for a couple of washes and check if it improves.

- Be careful when applying heat to your hair. Use warm-to-cool setting on your blow dryer especially on damp hair. This prevents hair from over-drying. Never use hot rollers or curling irons on damp hair— unless you want your hair cooked!

- Once a month, treat your hair to a hot oil treatment to give it that extra deep conditioning. This will tone down brittle ends and hair will grow softer.

- To avoid hair static use wooden or metal combs and brushes. Avoid using those plastic or natural-fiber types, which creates more static. You could also "de-static" a brush by slipping a nylon stocking on the bristles.

Winter Skin Care Regimen

During winter, special attention is given to the skin to keep it healthy. Follow these winter skin care tips:

- Before sleeping, clean your face using mild soap or facial and water and follow through using an alcohol-free toner. Upon waking up in the morning, splash your face with lukewarm water. If your skin is oily, you may also opt to use a mild toner in the morning.

- When skin becomes dry and flaky, try using plain milk as a cleansing lotion. Use a cotton ball to apply it on your face then rinse with a splash of tepid water and thoroughly rinse the face using cold water.

- Shift to an oil-based moisturizer, unlike the one you use in the hot months. Massage it thoroughly, but gently, onto your face.

- Continue using sunscreens! Even if it’s not summer, you still need protection from the sun’s UV rays. You may combine a sunscreen with your moisturizer before applying it, or use a one with a built-in sunscreen.

- Do not wash your face for at least thirty minutes prior to heading outdoors. The water paired with the cold winds has a drying result on the skin.

- Warming yourself immediately by the fire after coming in from the cold outdoors and may sound fantastic, but be warned for it could result in broken capillaries appearing on your face. The cold outdoors induces blood vessels to shrink, and when a sudden change to a hot temperature happens, they enlarge and may burst. To avoid this, go at once to the sink. Splash cool water on your face; slowly increase the water temperature to lukewarm, not hot. Then you may enjoy the fireside!

- Don't abuse caffeine for it can dehydrate the skin. Take herbal tea or even plain hot water having a slice of lemon as a substitute— very energizing!

- Prevent the all-over itch caused by winter-dry skin by using mild detergent soaps and bleaches on any garment that will touch your skin. The chemical residue from strong detergents and bleaches can strip the skin of its natural oils, leaving it looking aged.

- Humidity is vital for the skin and hair during wintertime. To raise the humidity level in your dwelling, acquire a humidifier or put a pan of water on the radiator. Fill your sleeping room with plants that demand lots of water. Ferns, bamboo, and plants with large leaves such as begonias, emit moisture that is good for the skin.

- To prevent lips from chapping, use lip balm or a tinted lip balm instead of lipstick.

Skin Moisturizing Baths for Winter

Winter season has environmental elements that are harsh to the skin. Here are a few useful skin care tips that can be incorporated at bath time to keep the skin moisturized in winter.

Moisturizing Bath

- Bathe and shower with lukewarm water. Hot water removes the natural oils of the skin.

- Drier skin tends to be more. Put away your scratchy loofahs and stiff-bristled brushes and use a soft cloth or a very soft-bristled brush for bathing.

- Treat your skin to a moisturizer as often as possible. Do not hold off till your skin feels dried and itchy before moisturizing it. Prevention is indeed the best remedy, so always moisturize your skin after every bath or shower. Apply cream or lotion to the skin when it is still slightly damp to trap moisture in.

- Take a bath or shower at night instead of in the morning. This way, your body could replenish its protective natural oils during the night.

Spa Bath

Using ingredients found in the kitchen, you can turn your bath into a special spa session.

- Mixing a cup of vinegar to your bath water helps get rid of dry-skin itchiness.

- To soothe aching muscles mix a handful of Epsom salts to your bath.

- You may use spices and herbs in your bath for relaxation. Tie basil, cinnamon, and cloves inside a cheesecloth and position it under running water. Other relaxing herbs you may use include lavender, elder flower, comfrey, rose.

- Milk bath formula: Make 3 quarts of hot milk by using dry-milk powder mixed with 1 cup chamomile tea and 1 cup honey. Add to the bath and stir well.

Enjoy your homemade moisturizing bath spa.