Health Pulse Dealing with dysthymia If you’ve been feeling a little blue for a long time, you may have dysthymia. Also called persistent depressive disorder, dysthymia overlaps with major depression, with two key differences: symptoms are less severe and they last longer. The condition may sneak up on you so that you hardly notice it but, over time, it wears you down like the drip-drip of a leaky faucet. Symptoms to watch for include low energy or fatigue, low self-esteem, feelings of hopelessness, difficulty concentrating, changes in appetite and sleep problems. To get diagnosed with dysthymia, you need two or more of these symptoms to persist for two years. By contrast, major depressive disorder requires at least five of the symptoms – but for a minimum of only two weeks. Just like major depression, dysthymia is typically treated with antidepressant medication, psychotherapy or both. Some people may need to switch or add medications to get the best results. Cognitive behavioural therapy or interpersonal therapy can help you change distorted perceptions about yourself, improve relationship skills and manage stressors so that they don’t affect your mood as much. Above all, managing dysthymia requires patience: the condition usually persists for several years, so finding the best treatment strategy may take a while. Sources: WebMD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Break up with these morning habits Morning routines provide comfort and predictability, but if you’ve let the following unhealthy habits slip into your routine, it may be time for a shakeup. ▶ Hitting the snooze button. Those extra 10 minutes of sleep may seem precious at the time, but if you actually fall back asleep, you’re likely to wake up groggier. Practise waking up as soon as the alarm goes off and your brain will soon adapt. ▶ Skipping breakfast. It’s not that you must eat breakfast to be healthy, but research shows that people who have a morning meal tend to get more vitamins and minerals and have less fat and cholesterol in their system. If your stomach says no to a full breakfast, experiment with mini-meals such as yoghurt and apple slices. ▶ Not getting enough fluids. A lack of fluids can lead to headache, dizziness and increased heart rate. Aim for one to two glasses of water first thing in the morning. (Sparkling water with a splash of citrus fruit counts.) ▶ Reaching for your phone. If you’re like 80 per cent of smartphone users, you check the device within 15 minutes of waking up. This habit robs you of a calm mind and may affect your productivity. Your favourite Tik Tok influencer can wait. Source: healthshots.com House plants and your health Water, vitamins, fibre, physical activity, and … philodendron? We generally buy houseplants for their beauty and connotation with nature – but these bursts of greenery can also improve our health. Specific benefits include stress reduction, lower blood pressure, better attention and improved academic performance. Even creativity may bloom in the presence of plants. In one study, subjects performed better on a creative verbal task when they had a plant in the room. It’s not just the view, it’s also the interaction with houseplants that promotes health: a study revealed that repotting a houseplant lowered the stress response, as opposed to a computer task, which caused blood pressure and heart rate to spike. Plants can also help you recover from health problems: a review of research on this topic found that patients recuperating from surgery had shorter hospital stays and required less pain medication if they had plants and greenery to look at. And plastic doesn’t cut it – it has to be the real thing. In a study of students at school, those with real, living plants in the classroom had better concentration than those with a fake plant, photos of a plant or no plant at all. One caveat: if you have children or pets living with you, double-check before bringing a new plant into your home – not all of them pass the safety test. Sources: healthline.com, everydayhealth.com 34 | www.snowbirds.org
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzMzNzMx