Overview of inositol supplements as a natural remedy for depression and whether inositol works in treating depression.

What is Inositol?

Inositol is a type of sugar related to glucose. It occurs naturally in the body and is present in many foods. Inositol can also be taken as a dietary supplement.

How does Inositol work?

Low levels of inositol have been found in the spinal fluid of people who are depressed and in the brains of people who have committed suicide. These findings have raised the possibility that taking inositol might be a useful treatment.

Is Inositol effective ?

There have been several small studies on inositol. It is unclear from this evidence whether inositol is effective.

Are there any disadvantages?

None known.

Where do you get Inositol?

Inositol powder can be bought as a dietary supplement at some health food shops or over the internet.

Recommendation

It is unclear whether inositol helps depression. More research is needed.

Key references

Taylor MJ, Wilder H, Bhagwagar Z, Geddes J. Inositol for depressive disorders (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2004. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

back to: Alternative Treatments for Depression

When caring for an Alzheimer's Disease patient, there are medical and emotional needs to consider during the holiday season.

Alzeimer's Patients and Emergencies

Make sure that you know which doctors and pharmacies are open over the holiday period and ensure that you know where your nearest emergency room is. Keep a list of emergency numbers in a safe place - for example, for the gas, electricity and water, and for the local police.

Social services have an emergency duty team operating during holidays to provide statutory care. In case of emergency or crisis you can call them; the local social services department will be listed in the phone book under the name of your county or state services.

Medicine

Check whether your guest is taking any medication and ensure that they have enough to get through the holidays, as getting repeat prescriptions may be difficult at this time. If they usually live in a care home, talk to their care manager about this situation.

Emotional needs

The person with Alzheimer's

Your guest may find it unsettling to be in an unfamiliar house. Even if they live with you year-round, the atmosphere at Christmas may be very different from usual, and their routine may be disrupted. Each person with Alzheimer's will react to this differently, but some people may become more confused, upset or even aggressive. Holidays may also trigger emotional memories of the past, which could be difficult for them to deal with. Be prepared for changes in the person's behavior and try not to be alarmed. Try to understand how they might be feeling and spend some time reassuring them and listening to them.

It may help if you can think of some activities and tasks that the person might enjoy doing in quieter moments. What do they enjoy doing in their day-to-day life? What might make them feel more at home? They may have some happy memories of bygone holidays that you can reminisce about. Do you have any old photos you could look at together? The person might also enjoy puzzles, games, walking, or household tasks such as cleaning or cooking. Try to involve them in your own activities and reassure them that their help is valued.

Try to help your guest get a good night's sleep, as this may make a big difference to how well they cope during the day. Try not to allow them to take too many naps during the day, if possible, by encouraging activities and providing stimulation. Limit fluids in the evening and avoid stimulating drinks like tea and coffee. Try giving them a warm, milky drink at bedtime.

Your guest may also get some solace from spiritual activities. Think about their usual or past religious attitudes: would they like to go to church, or listen to church hymns? Talk to them about their views on the Christmas festival. Try to accommodate any particular wishes they may have if possible.

The caregiver

If you are caring for a guest with Alzheimer's over the holidays, you may become quite exhausted or stressed yourself. The following tips may help:

• Congratulate yourself for coping, and for being there for someone who needs you.
• Try to pace yourself and set realistic goals - if a task is not urgent, perhaps you can just let it go.
• Remember to take some time for yourself, even if it's just a few quiet minutes in the evening. You might also find it helpful to get out for a brief walk in the fresh air every now and then.
• If you are struggling and you need to talk to someone impartial, you can call the Samaritans. This is a charity providing confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week for people who are in crisis or feel that they can no longer cope.
• Go online and and participate in chats or bulletin board discussions.
• Check your local TV, press and radio for details of local Christmas help lines. These can be very helpful if you need some advice or information about local services or if you are struggling and just need somebody to talk to.

The family

Stress and anxiety are common during the holidays and many families experience arguments or tension at this time. Try to avoid known triggers - for example, if you tend to argue about politics in your family, try to avoid the subject.

It might help to plan a group activity after lunch so that everyone is busy and entertained. Perhaps you could all play cards together or watch a film.

Many people tend to drink more during the holidays and this can make arguments and accidents more likely. Although sociable drinking is all part of the fun for many people, try to ensure that drinking stays within sensible limits.

It may be helpful to designate a room as a 'quiet room' if possible and agree not to watch television or listen to music in there. If anyone is feeling stressed or tense, there will then be somewhere quiet for them to sit and relax for a few moments.

When your friend or loved one is staying in a care home

You may have a family member or friend who will be staying in a care home over the holiday. This is a very difficult situation for many people. Try to remember that there is no right or wrong way to handle the situation. Some caregivers like to visit their relative and spend a large part of the day with them in the home; others are not able to do this, for a variety of reasons. Whatever your situation, try not to feel guilty and do your best to enjoy the holiday. If you need to talk about your feelings, you can call the Alzheimer's Helpline or go online and speak to others in a similar situation.

Sources:

• Alzheimer's Society - UK - Factsheet: Christmas Holidays, 2006.

next: Helping Someone With Alzheimer'

A balanced diet is required for the proper metabolism and functioning of the body. A healthy diet should contain all the nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Fats and carbohydrates are usually ignored as part of the diet in today's "must-be-thin" lifestyle when, in fact, they are the energy-giving components. Instead, one should consider exercise to lose weight and should not get down to eating disorders which may cause excessive harm to the body.

Many factors lead to unhealthy eating habits. Starting in childhood, overweight children are laughed at. Classmates make fun of them.

You may also have heard your father or mother talking about losing weight. Some mothers talk about losing weight to maintain their youthful appearance.

In many parts of the world, thinness is equated with beauty and success. According to the overwhelming amount of advertising and the huge diet industry, beauty and success cannot be achieved without thinness. You only have to open up a beauty magazine or turn on the TV to see that this is true. Thin models and actors are paraded in front of us constantly, reminding us of how life could be if only we were thinner!

Low Self-Esteem Can Lead to Eating Disorder

All of the above factors contribute to low self-esteem and, in turn, may result in an eating disorder. Although many children may not develop an eating disorder, the effects of such ridicule will bare its ugly head in some other way.

Medical and genetic factors may also contribute to the development of an eating disorder. These have not been thoroughly investigated to date. A family history of depression or eating disorders seems to increase the risk that a family member may develop an eating disorder. This link could be of importance when it comes to identifying those at risk and helping to prevent the development of an eating disorder.

An eating disorder not only makes your body weak but also causes emotional, psychological and medical problems.

Source: Health Section ExpressNewsline.com

next: Do Online Support Groups Help Eating Disorders?
~ eating disorders library
~ all articles on eating disorders

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
• Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders)
• Bipolar Disorder
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Depression
• Eating Disorders: Facts About Eating Disorders and the Search for Solutions
• Psychiatric Medications
• Child Behavior Disorders
• Antidepressant Medications for Children and Adolescents: Information for Parents and Caregivers
• Child Mental Health
• Teen Mental Health
• Teens and Destructive Behavior
• Progressive Brain Changes
• Youth in a Difficult World
• Unraveling Autism
• Dysfunctional Network in Brain's Left Hemisphere Linked to Dyslexia
• Atypical Brain Activity Detected in People with Dyslexia

back to: Parenting Information NIMH Homepage

These articles, written by Robert Burney, deal with codependency. What makes a person codependent and how to heal from codependency.

• Stinking Thinking
• Emotional Release Technique - Deep Grieving
• Roles In Dysfunctional Families
• The Emotional Frontier Within
• Emotional Incest
• The Concept of Empowerment
• Thanksgiving
• The True Nature of Love - Part I, What Love Is Not
• The True Nature of Love - Part II, Love as Freedom
• The True Nature of Love - Part III, Love as a Vibrational Frequency
• The True Nature of Love - Part IV,   Energetic Clarity
• Mother's Day
• Father's Day
• Fathers
• Codependence and Self-Worth
• 1994 Inaugural Speech
• Romance
• Happy, Joyous, and Free
• The Amazing, Magnificent, Miraculous, Magical, Fiery Eruption of Joy & Love & Dazzling Light
• An Adventure in Love - Loving and Losing Successfully
• Union Within
• Loving the Wounded Child Within
• Happy Holidays

next: Stinking Thinking

Introduction

Research has enabled many men, women, and young people with cancer to survive and to lead fuller, more productive lives, both while they are undergoing treatment, and afterwards. As with other serious illnesses, such as HIV, heart disease, or stroke, cancer can be accompanied by depression, which can affect mind, mood, body and behavior. Treatment for depression helps people manage both diseases, thus enhancing survival and quality of life.

About 9 million Americans of all ages are living with a current or past diagnosis of cancer. People who face a cancer diagnosis will experience many stresses and emotional upheavals. Fear of death, interruption of life plans, changes in body image and self-esteem, changes in social role, lifestyle, and medical bills are important issues to be faced. Still, not everyone with cancer becomes depressed. Depression can exist before the diagnosis of cancer or may develop after the cancer is identified. While there is no evidence to support a causal role for depression in cancer, depression may impact the course of the disease and a person's ability to participate in treatment.

Despite the enormous advances in brain research in the past 20 years, depression often goes undiagnosed and untreated. While studies generally indicate that about 25 percent of people with cancer have depression, only 2 percent of cancer patients in one study were receiving antidepressant medication. Persons with cancer, their families and friends, and even their physicians and oncologists (physicians specializing in cancer treatment) may misinterpret depression's warning signs, mistaking them for inevitable accompaniments to cancer. Symptoms of depression may overlap with those of cancer and other physical illnesses. However, skilled health professionals will recognize the symptoms of depression and inquire about their duration and severity, diagnose the disorder, and suggest appropriate treatment.

Depression Facts

Depression is a serious medical condition that affects thoughts, feelings, and the ability to function in everyday life. Depression can occur at any age. NIMH-sponsored studies estimate that 6 percent of 9- to 17-year-olds in the U.S. and almost 10 percent of American adults, or about 19 million people age 18 and older, experience some form of depression every year. Although available therapies alleviate symptoms in over 80 percent of those treated, less than half of people with depression get the help they need.

Depression results from abnormal functioning of the brain. The causes of depression are currently a matter of intense research. An interaction between genetic predisposition and life history appear to determine a person's level of risk. Episodes of depression may then be triggered by stress, difficult life events, side effects of medications, or other environmental factors. Whatever its origins, depression can limit the energy needed to keep focused on treatment for other disorders, such as cancer.

Cancer Facts

Cancer can develop in any organ or tissue of the body. Normally, cells grow and divide to produce more cells only when the body needs them. But sometimes cells keep dividing when new cells are not needed. These extra cells may form a mass of tissue, called a tumor. Tumors can be either benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Cells in malignant tumors are abnormal and divide without control or order, resulting in damage to the organs or tissues they invade.

Cancer cells can break away from a malignant tumor and enter the bloodstream or the lymphatic system. This is how cancer spreads, or "metastasizes," from the original cancer site to form new tumors in other organs. The original tumor, called the primary cancer or primary tumor, is usually named for the part of the body in which it begins.

Cancer can cause a variety of symptoms. Some include:

• Thickening or lump in the breast or any other part of the body
• Obvious change in a wart or mole
• A sore that does not heal
• Nagging cough or hoarseness
• Changes in bowel or bladder habits
• Indigestion or difficulty swallowing
• Unexplained changes in weight
• Unusual bleeding or discharge

When these or other symptoms occur, they are not always caused by cancer. They may also be caused by infections, benign tumors, or other problems. It is important to see a doctor about any of these symptoms or about other physical changes. Only a doctor can make a diagnosis. One should not wait to feel pain; early cancer usually does not cause pain.

Treatment for cancer depends on the type of cancer; the size, location, and stage of the disease; the person's general health; and other factors. People with cancer are often treated by a team of specialists, which may include a surgeon, radiation oncologist, medical oncologist, and others. Most cancers are treated with surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or biological therapy. One treatment method or a combination of methods may be used, depending on each person's situation.

Get Treatment for Depression

At times it is taken for granted that cancer will induce depression, that depression is a normal part of dealing with cancer, or that depression cannot be alleviated for a person suffering from cancer. But these assumptions are false. Depression can be treated and should be treated even when a person is undergoing complicated regimens for cancer or other illnesses.

Prescription antidepressant medications are generally well-tolerated and safe for people being treated for cancer. There are, however, possible interactions among some medications and side effects that require careful monitoring. Therefore, people undergoing cancer treatment who develop depression, as well as people in treatment for depression who subsequently develop cancer, should make sure to tell any physician they visit about the full range of medications they are taking. Specific types of psychotherapy, or "talk" therapy, also can relieve depression.

Use of herbal supplements of any kind should be discussed with a physician before they are tried. Recently, scientists have discovered that St. John's wort, an herbal remedy sold over-the-counter and promoted as a treatment for mild depression, can have harmful interactions with some other medications. (See the alert on the NIMH Web site: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/.)

Treatment for depression can help people feel better and cope better with the cancer treatment process. There is evidence that the lifting of a depressed mood can help enhance survival. Support groups, as well as medication and/or psychotherapy for depression, can contribute to this effect.

Treatment for depression in the context of cancer should be managed by a mental health professional - for example, a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker - who is in close communication with the physician providing the cancer treatment. This is especially important when antidepressant medication is needed or prescribed, so that potentially harmful drug interactions can be avoided. In some cases, a mental health professional that specializes in treating individuals with depression and co-occurring physical illnesses such as cancer may be available.

While there are many different treatments for depression, they must be carefully chosen by a trained professional based on the circumstances of the person and family. Recovery from depression takes time. Medications for depression can take several weeks to work and may need to be combined with ongoing psychotherapy. Not everyone responds to treatment in the same way. Prescriptions and dosing may need to be adjusted. No matter how advanced the cancer, however, the person does not have to suffer from depression. Treatment can be effective.

Other mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) and anxiety disorders, may occur in people with cancer, and they too can be effectively treated. For more information about these and other mental illnesses, contact NIMH.

Remember, depression is a treatable disorder of the brain. Depression can be treated in addition to whatever other illnesses a person might have, including cancer. If you think you may be depressed or know someone who is, don't lose hope. Seek help for depression.

next: Depression Co-Occurring with Medical, Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Disorders
~ depression library articles
~ all articles on depression

The bottom line of everything I've said so far is this: If you, or someone you know, shows signs of depression, then by God, please, please, please, get help, or help the depressed person receive treatment for depression.

For Those Who May Be Depressed: If you think you might have depression, I want you to stop what you are doing and call your doctor or a local crisis line. Even if you are not sure, it's worth it to have a professional look into this possibility. Please do not think you cannot be helped or that you are not worthy of help. Both of these are symptoms of depression, and therefore are all the more reason to look for help. I know what it's like, and even though it's the hardest thing you've ever done, I beg you to ask for help. Your doctor or crisis worker won't think any less of you because of it. In fact, they respect patients who take the initiative and look for help, for they know that the depression itself will try to hold you back. And you may think your friends and family won't understand, but they may respect the fact that you are looking for help, nonetheless, and for some of them it may be a relief to know that what is wrong with you, can be diagnosed and treated. You owe it to yourself to get help. You are worth it. Please do it.

For Those Who Think A Friend Or Loved One Is Depressed:

You may believe that a kind word or two, from time-to-time, is all that's needed. However, if someone shows the signs of depression, and they persist, they need more help than you can provide. Do your best to cajole them into treatment. Be kind about it, but firm. Depending on how well they are functioning, you may have to make an appointment for them, and actually take them to it. Having someone go with the depressed person may help him or her feel a little better about it. And take it from me: the person did not choose to be depressed and is not--consciously--trying to inflict anything on you. If he or she has said or done something hurtful, remember that it's the illness, and not him or her. The best way to help him or her, as well as yourself, is to get him or her to treatment.

next: Getting Therapy For Depression
~ back to Living with Depression homepage
~ depression library articles
~ all articles on depression

Contents in Serendipity Website:

Introduction
The Twelve Steps of Co-Dependents Anonymous
Top Co-Dependence Recovery Topics
Topics on Co-Dependency and Life
Resources

Introduction

• Serendipity Homepage

The Twelve Steps of Co-Dependents Anonymous

• Step One
  We admitted we were powerless over others, that our lives had become unmanageable.
• Step Two
  Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
• Step Three
  Made a decision to turn our will and our lives, over to the care of God as we understood God.
• Step Four
  Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
• Step Five
  Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
• Step Six
  Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
• Step Seven
  Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
• Step Eight
  Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
• Step Nine
  Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
• Step Ten
  Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
• Step Eleven
  Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.
• Step Twelve
  Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Top Co-Dependence Recovery Topics

1. Admitting Powerlessness
2. Recovery Is...
3. Feeling Overwhelmed
4. Letting Go of Painful Situations
5. Healthy Relationships
6. Boundaries
7. The Heart of God's Love
8. Responding to Feelings
9. What is Co-Dependence?
10. Friends and Lovers
11. Healthy Giving
12. Adjustments
13. Forgiveness

Topics on Co-Dependency Recovery and Life

• Topics on Co-Dependency Recovery and Life Table of Contents
• Respect and Co-Dependency
• First Anniversary Celebration
• What I Believe
• A Power Greater
• Admitting Powerlessness
• Snow on the Mountain
• Walls and Bridges
• The Heart of God's Love
• Patterns
• Adjustments
• Healthy Giving
• Recovery Is...
• Every Little Thing
• The Answer
• Spaces in Your Togetherness
• Forgiveness
• Morning Meditation
• Options
• Feeling Overwhelmed
• We Can Be Heroes
• Happiness Is...
• Responding to Feelings
• The Best of Life
• Revealing Riches
• Celebrate Yourself
• Messages of Love
• Friends and Lovers
• Letting Go of High Standards
• Letting Go of Conceptual Limitations
• Embracing Love
• Recovery and My Marriage
• Letting Go of the Future
• Doing Fine
• Changes
• Single-Minded Focus
• Letting Go of Old Beliefs
• Happiness
• Powerlessness
• Letting Go of Painful Situations
• Healthy Relationships
• Milestones
• Activity and Stillness
• Choosing to Love
• Letting Go of Urgency
• Trusting God, Again
• Healthy Communication
• Embracing the Moment
• Letting Go of the Past
• Letting Go of Outcomes
• Clean and Empty
• Letting Go of Perfectionism
• Becoming Whole
• Having Fun
• Remaining Neutral
• Letting Go of Ego
• Serenity Prayer
• Attitude
• Acceptance
• Patience
• Meditation
• Being
• Responsible Recovery
• Self-Love
• Detachment
• The Calm Center
• The Twelve Steps: A Perspective
• What is Co-Dependence?
• Responsibility in Relationships
• Letting Go of Fear
• One Day at a Time
• Boundaries
• Recovery and Discovery
• Higher Power Concept
• Twelve Steps Before the Program
• Healthy Thinking
• Open-Heart Sharing

Resources

• Download the Serendipity E-book
• Co-dependency Recommended Books
• Serendipity Links

back to: Serendipity Homepage

"One of the core characteristics of this disease of Codependence is intellectual polarization - black and white thinking. Rigid extremes - good or bad, right or wrong, love it or leave it, one or ten. Codependence does not allow any gray area - only black and white extremes.

Life is not black and white. Life involves the interplay of black and white. In other words, the gray area is where life takes place. A big part of the healing process is learning the numbers two through nine - recognizing that life is not black and white".

The "stinking thinking" of Codependency causes us to have a dysfunctional relationship with ourselves and others. These are some traits of that stinking thinking:

1. Black and White Thinking:

The disease comes from an absolute black and white, right/wrong, always and never perspective. "I will always be alone". "I never get a break". Any negative thing that happens gets turned into a sweeping generality.

2. Negative Focus:

The disease always wants to focus on the half of the glass that is empty and lament, rather than be grateful for what we have. Even if the glass is 7/8 ths full the disease can find some negative to focus on. (On the other extreme are some people who focus only on the good as a way of denying their feelings.)

3. Magical Thinking:

Mind reading, fortune telling, assuming - we think we can read other peoples minds and feelings, or foretell the future, and then act as if what we assume is the reality. We often create self-fulfilling prophecies this way.

4. Starring in the Soap Opera:

Blowing things out of proportion, playing the "King or Queen of tragedy". Some of us are addicted to "Trauma Dramas" and want the excitement and intensity of dramatic scenes while others of us are terrified of conflict. It is quite common in codependent relationships to have one person who is over-indulgent and dramatic emotionally coupled with someone who wants to avoid conflict and emotions at all costs.

5. Self-Discount:

Inability to receive, or to admit to our own positive qualities or accomplishments. When someone gives us a compliment we minimize it ("Oh it was nothing"), make a joke out of it, or just ignore the compliment by changing the subject or turning the compliment back on the other person.

6. Emotional Reasoning:

Reasoning from feelings. "I feel like a failure therefore I am a failure". Believing that what we feel is who we are without separating the inner child's feelings about what happened a long time ago from the adults feelings in the now.

7. Shoulds:

"Shoulds", "must", "ought to" and "have to" come from a parent or authority figure. "Should" means "I don't want to but they are making me". Adults don't have shoulds - adults have choices.

8. Self-Labeling:

Identifying with our shortcomings and mistakes, with our human imperfection, and calling ourself names like "stupid", "loser", "jerk" or "fool" instead of accepting our humanity and learning from any mistakes or shortcomings.

9. Personalizing and Blame:

Blaming yourself for something you weren't entirely responsible for, or for how someone else feels. Conversely, you may blame other people, external events, or fate, while overlooking how your own attitudes and behavior may have contributed to a problem.

As children we learned to blame others to keep from feeling the shame of being blamed. As adults we swing between blaming and self-blame - neither is the Truth. The answers lie in the gray area, in 2 through 9, not in the extremes.

The Rules for Being Human

1. You will receive a body.

You may like or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.

2. You will learn lessons.

You are enrolled in a full time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons.

Growth is a process of trial and error experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works"!

4. A lesson is repeated until learned.

A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end.

There is not part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is no better than "here".

When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will, again, look better than "here"

7. Others are merely mirrors for you.

You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you.

You have all the tools and resources you need, what you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie inside you.

The answers to life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

10. You will forget all this!

Source Unknown

Risking

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose your feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk.
To Love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.

But, risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing at all.
The person who risks nothing still does not avoid suffering and sorrow because suffering and sorrow are an unavoidable part of life.

What they avoid by not taking risks it the opportunity to learn, feel, change, grow, Love, live.

Chained by their certitudes, they are a slave. The have forfeited their freedom. Only a person who risks is free.

Source Unknown

next: Emotional Release Techniques - Deep Grieving

Chapter 55 of the book Self-Help Stuff That Works

by Adam Khan:

DO YOU SOMETIMES feel tired? Listless? It might be boredom. Some tasks are just plain boring, and when your mind is bored, it starts shutting down or drifting off and going to sleep. To stay awake, you must engage your mind. Here are a couple of ideas to help you:

Move faster.
This makes your mind pay closer attention in order to avoid mistakes. This demand for increased attention wakes you up, focuses your mind and makes the task more challenging. You can speed up without feeling unpleasantly stressed: Make it like a game. How much can you get done in the next half hour? Set a target and see if you can reach it. This makes a tedious task less boring and, as a bonus, frees up more time for things you like to do.

Listen to something.
Everyone knows it's more fun to do physical work while listening to good music than it is working in silence. Music engages your mind to some degree. But there is something that engages your mind more completely: talking. There has been a virtual explosion in the publishing industry of books and seminars on audiotape. Many people who commute to work have converted that boring and otherwise unproductive time into a mind-engaging education. The amount of material available on tape is staggering. In the next few years, using only the time you spend driving and doing household chores, you can learn a foreign language, listen to countless great books read to you by the best readers in America, and transform boring routines into an opportunity to expand your mind.
There's another kind of value to tapes. Often it doesn't matter what you have learned. Even if you could recite it, some practical knowledge matters only if you have it in mind. Ideas about human relations are like that. I have pretty much memorized the principles in Dale Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People, but when I am face-to-face with a real human being, I often forget it all. It isn't fresh in my mind - it's stored away somewhere. For this kind of knowledge, it's better to listen to a little every day. Then the ideas will be in the front of your mind when you need them.

USE THESE two ideas to make boring tasks more interesting to your mind. Move faster, listen to something, or both. A mind is truly a terrible thing to waste. Brains are made to be constantly interested. Brains aren't like muscles; muscles get tired when they are used too much. Brains get tired when they aren't used enough. Brains not only get tired, but over time, they can become smaller and more feeble.

Research is now showing that it is a myth that people lose their mental ability with age. What they have found is that people who don't continue to use their mental abilities - people who don't continue to learn and grow - lose their mental ability with age. Learning and growing is for everyone, young and old alike. Even during a boring task, you can find a way to engage your mind.

During a dull task, move faster or listen to something.

Here's a technique to use when you're having a hard time accomplishing your goals because other people seem to interfere with you.
Use What You Get

Scientists have found out some interesting facts about happiness. And much of your happiness is under your influence.

Science of Happiness

Find peace of mind, tranquility in body, and clarity of purpose with this simple method.
Constitutional Right

The questions you ask direct your mind. Asking the right kind of questions makes a big difference.
Why Ask Why?

A simple change in perspective can make you feel better and can also make you more effective at dealing with the situation. Here's one way to change your perspective.
Adventure

What if maximizing your full potential was bad for you?
Be All You Can Be

This is a simple technique for reducing a little of the stress you feel day to day. Its biggest advantage is youcan use it while you work.
Rx to Relax

next: "I Don't Know What to Do With My Life"