Rumination How obsessive thinking impacts depression and anxiety

Rumination How obsessive thinking impacts depression and anxietyRumination How obsessive thinking impacts depression and anxietySome people knowrumination- the repetition of the same thought in your head over and over - asobsessive thinking, and for those who experience it, ruminating can be a frustrating state.Thinking over and over about a missed opportunity, an ex, or when you misspoke - its schwimmbad enough to live through a negative experience once without beating yourself up in an unvirtuous mental loop. While it can often be beneficial to allow yourself the time and space to think about things that are important, too much of a good thing might actually be a bad thing. And when it comes to dealing with issues like depression or anxiety, allowing too much time to ruminate could keep you stuckverzierung in a mental rut.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreRumination is associ ated with depression, writes clinical psychologist Dr. Suma Chand for theAnxiety and Depression Association of America. Research shows that people who ruminate are more likely to develop depression compared to those who dont. Maybe up to four times more likely, she says.This goes the other way as well ACanadian studyconducted among college students found that those who experienced higher levels of anxiety or depression already tended to engage in more ruminative behaviors. Anotherstudy in Chinafound similar results among the elderly population. Rumination, it turns out, becomes a vicious double-edged sword.What Does Rumination Look Like?Everyone at one time or another may feel like theyre obsessing over some idea or thought. The difference between a healthy amount of thinking about a topic, versus harmful rumination, is the end result. For example, if you find yourself thinking about a particular problem in order to come up with the best solution, youre probably not ruminating. But if the thing on your mind has no solution, or may not be in your control, then you might want to ask yourself if youre ruminating.Depending on whether youre experiencing depression, anxiety, or another mental health issue, rumination can take varying forms. One of my clients describes her anxious worrying as catastrophic thoughts. She often begins with a fairly benign thought, such as This traffic is going to make me late to work. This becomes Im a horrible employee who cant even show up on time, which turns into Im definitely going to get fired from my job. For the rest of the week shes sweating over a small, common mistake that wasnt her fault.One of the things I find hard to articulate to people is that if I keep bringing something up or making jokes about it, thats an indication Im ruminating about it, writes Alexis Schuster forThe Mighty. Im guilty of the same tell in my own ruminations. I find all sorts of creative ways to discuss the thing I cant stop thinking about, from jok ing about it to asking rhetorical questions to asking others if theyve ever had similar thoughts.ThenI start obsessing over whether Im annoying everyone with my ruminations.It can feel lonely to be stuck in your head with your thoughts sometimes letting them out is the only way to feel like youre releasing the tension thats building, to feel like youre not the only one bearing the heavy load. However, once you let out some of the steam, its likely going to build up again. Thats when its time for a better solution.How to Keep Rumination at BayRumination can be a problem because it rarely offers new insights or solutions on how to handle a situation, Jodee Virgo writes forThe Everygirl. Instead it emotionally hijacks us and intensifies our negative feelings, essentially, making us prisoners to our own thoughts, she continues.Even if you tend to get stuck in a cycle of rumination, youre not doomed to ruminate forever There are luckily a number of ways to prevent or stop rumination. Fir st, simple things like mindfulness, or paying attention to the here-and-now, keeps your mind present and free of repetitive preoccupations. To start being more mindful,Talkspace therapist Dr. Ben Epsteinrecommends regular yoga or meditation, which can be practiced from the comfort of your home.Second, you may want to examine your thought patterns - are these thoughts based in reality, or are theycognitive distortions? Are you ruminating on something thats out of your control? If so, think about whether dwelling on it is helping the matter or whether its just keeping you worked up. Even if your rumination is based in reality, think about the worst that could happen. Could you handle that scenario? I bet you could.You can alsoschedule your anxiety- give yourself a few minutes to worry and ruminate. When times up, itstime to move on.Finally, if rumination is impacting your ability to function, or harming your quality of life,talking to a therapistcan give you an objective point of vi ew and guideyou towards a calmer, less worried mind. Dont you think you owe it to yourself?This article originally appeared on Talkspace.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Kelly Lin Designing Human Powered Device for Mali Farmers ME Today May 2012

Kelly Lin Designing Human Powered Device for Mali Farmers ME Today May 2012 Kelly Lin Designing Human Powered Device for Mali Farmers ME Today May 2012 Kelly Lin Designing Human Powered Device for Mali Farmers (courtesy of E4C) Kelly Lin, right, stands with the USCSB sorghum press teamhirse is a hardy, drought-resistant cereal crop that, when pressed and boiled, makes sweet syrup that is nutritious and sought-after in countries such as Mali. Pressing sorghum, though, is difficult. To help, Kelly Lin and a team of fellow students at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), are developing a press. The prototype of their human-powered device crushes the crop between rollers cranked with a long 4in by 4in board. Lin posted the device as an E4C workspace and invites interaction.Lin is an active member of UCSBs Engineers Without Borders-USA chapter and hes also teaching himself Japanese, partly because they have cool robots, he says. For his work to solve problems on farms in Ma li, and for his love of Japanese robotics, Engineers for Change featured Kelly Lin as their Member of the Month (March 2012).E4C Can you tell us more about the press?KL The mission of the EWB-UCSB Sorghum Press Team is to improve the nutrition and incomes of farmers in Dissan, Mali and similar communities with a human-powered, low-cost and locally-manufactured design. The press needs to be human powered since it is the fruchtwein reliable source of energy in the Dissan community. It needs to be inexpensive, reliable, and manufacturable in Mali so that it can be economically sustainable and doesnt rely on financial aid from outside organizations.E4C How does it work?KL There is a lever arm which the bentzer pushes in a circle. The lever arm drives gears that which drives two rollers. Another user feeds the sorghum stock in between the rollers. Then the roller squeezes the juice out of the sorghum and the juice drops down into a bucket. Checkout out the UCSB Sorghum Press on YouTubeE4 C What have been the results of prototype tests so far?KL We have spent six months designing and building a prototype with three gears made in Mali. We were able to achieve a through-put rate of 10 inches of sugarcane stock per second. We used sugar cane for the test because sweet sorghum is not in season and sugar cane is stronger than sorghum.E4C What do you have left to do?KL In terms of the scope of my project, we need to improve the design by making the rollers adjustable, optimize the rollers to be the right size, lower the cost by simplifying the design, do fatigue test, and make manufacturing and operation illustrations. After we are done, people will have free access to our design as well as all of our prototyping, testing, modeling, and analysis information.E4C So, how did you hear about E4C?KL I heard about E4C through a TED talk on ted.com.Thank you for all your recognition. However, the sorghum press project is a team project and would not have come this far without my excellent teammates Hunter, Erika, Adam, and Marcela, who have worked just as hard if not harder than I have. I would also like to thank the following people Prof. Laguette for running the UCSB ME senior projects Advisor Mr. Bothman for starting this project and for advising us on technical issues and Prof. Lacy for advising us on everything relating to Mali and for taking our gear design to Mali and having it made by the local machinist.E4C is a dynamic and growing community of engineers, technologists, social scientists, NGOs, local governments and community advocates whose mission is to improve quality of life in communities around the world by facilitating the development of affordable, locally appropriate and sustainable solutions to the most pressing humanitarian challenges.

Inspirational Quotes About Work-Life Balance

Inspirational Quotes About Work-Life BalanceInspirational Quotes About Work-Life BalanceBalancing work and life is never easy, especially these days when workers are constantly in contact with each other via mobile devices and laptop computers that can make it so easy to bring work home at the end of the day. It can be even more complicated when you telecommute and are trying to juggle working from home with your life at home. But, its important to take care of yourself (and your family) emotionally and physically. So, in the spirit of self-care, perhaps these inspirational quotes can help you focus on whats most important for you and remind you to maintain a work-life balance. Quotes to Help You Find Your Work-Life Balance Women, in particular, need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if were scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we dont have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our o wn to do list. - Michelle Obama The biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did notlage live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three on them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4, and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in a hurry to get on to the next things dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.- Anna Quindlen Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life. - Dolly Parton Regret for the things we did can betempered by time it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. - Sydney Harris It is better to rise from life as from a banquet - neither thirsty nor drunken. - Aristotle I have the feeling that in a balanced life one should die penniless. The trick is dismantling. - Art Garfunkel Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important. - Stephen R. Covey Most people chase success at work, thinking that will make them happy. The truth is that happiness at work will make you successful. - Alexander Kjerulf For fast-acting relief, try slowing down. - Lily Tomlin Burnout is about resentment. Preventing it is about knowing yourself well enough to know what it is youre giving up that makes you resentful. - Marissa Mayer You cant have everything you want, but you can have the things that really matter to you.And thinking that way empowers you to work really hard for a really long period of time. - Marissa Mayer Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away. - Barbara de Angelis Striving for excellence motivates you striving for perfection is dem oralizing. - Harriet Braiker A time for everything A time to relax and a time to be busy, a time to frolic and a time to labor, a time to receive and a time to give, a time to begin and a time to finish. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie The Gift of Balance in Your Life- May you find the balance of life, time for work but also time for play. Too much of one thing ends up creating stress that no one needs in their life. - Catherine Pulsifer I have so much admiration for women who are mothers, who balance family and work. - Beyonce Dont confuse having a career with having a life. - Hillary Clinton It is not work that kills men it is worry. Worry is rust upon the blade. - Henry Ward Beecher Find your balance and stand with it. Find your song and sing it out. Find your cadence and let it appear like a dance. Find the questions that only you know how to ask and the answers that you are content to not know. - Mary Anne Radmacher Better learn balance. Balance is key. - Mr. Miyagi You will n ever find time for anything. If you want time you must make it. - Charles Buxton Balance activity with serenity, wealth and simplicity, persistence with innovation, community with solitude, familiarity with adventure, constancy with change, leading with following. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie No matter how busy you are, or how busy you think you are, the work will always be there tomorrow, but your friends might not be. - Anonymous Work, love, and play are the great balance wheels of mans being. - Orison Swett Marden Its a paradox. How does one balance living in the now with preparing responsibly for the future? The key to this dilemma lies in the distinction between worrying about the future and preparing for the future. The two concepts are not at all the same. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie You will never feel truly satisfied by work until you are satisfied by life.- Heather Schuck Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices. - Betsy Jacobson We have overstretched our personal boundaries and forgotten that true happiness comes from living an authentic life fueled with a sense of purpose and balance.? - Dr. Kathleen Hall Ive learned that you cant have everything and do everything at the same time. - Oprah Winfrey Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm,and harmony. - Thomas Merton Do you need a little more inspiration? Review these motivational quotes, quotes about hard work, and quotes about dream jobs.