Go MOM!!

Check out these interesting facts about women:

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Fascinating facts about brought to you by: Positive Acorn http://positiveacorn.com

Women and Courage

As Mother's Day is just around the corner we thought it would be appropriate to highlight some of the findings in Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener's new book, The Courage Quotient.

Did you know that in every single category except physical acts of bravery, women are more courageous than men?

Studies have shown that women, who make up 51% of the population, are about 60% of all Peace Corps volunteers.
Women also make up 60% of those who have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, an honor given to non-Jews who risked their lives to aid Jews during the Holocaust.
In addition, most people would agree that donating an organ takes quite a bit of bravery, and studies have found that women donate 57% of all kidneys in the U.S.

Another statistic of interest is the percentage of women who win the Carnegie Medal, given to a person who "voluntarily risks his or her own life, knowingly, to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person." Although women are nominated for this honor less often than men, those who are nominated for a medal win the award 11.2% of the time whereas only 10.6% of men nominated did.
 
In honor of Mother's Day we invite you to share your favorite story of a courageous woman in your life..after all, the act of giving birth takes a lot of courage! Post your comment on our Facebook page- we look forward to reading your stories!

Are you working too much?

Gone are the days when people worked regular 9-5 jobs, weekends were for leisure activities, and everyone got to sit around the family dinner table every night for a home cooked meal. Now a days people are lucky if they catch their family members in passing. Between our work schedule, the kids school schedule, their extracurricular activities and more - - it’s any wonder that we actually can remember what the family member look like anymore. We all complain about it – I wish I didn’t have to work so much, I wish I didn’t have so much on my plate, and yet it is a vicious cycle to break from (if you can).

With today’s economy it is a luxury to not have to work on the weekends and actually make it home for dinner. Many employers also want people to be “on-call” even when they are not at work – thanks to blackberries and smart phones. But, new research has shown that working too much can be an even bigger stressor to our already compromised mental health than we may have thought.

People who work too much are twice as likely to become depressed, finds a study led by a researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. The authors followed more than 2,000 middle-aged British workers over the course of five years and found that those working 11 or more hours a day had nearly double the odds of experiencing a major depressive episode than their colleagues. (PLoS ONE, Jan. 25)

Many people miss work due to physical and mental health days, but what employers may not understand, this cuts down productivity, increases cost for medical benefits and just creates a work environment full of people who can’t perform at their best – i.e., more cost to the employer. What is worse – if you are not performing your best at the office, chances are you are not performing your best at home.

Employers should begin to see that having longer work days doesn't mean better – for anyone.

Cake for Breakfast and other healthy tips....

Could Marie Antoinette have been right when she said..."let them eat cake"?  Check out the latest research in the field of Psychology. Maybe one of these tips can help you make a lifestyle change for the better.

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Monitor Magazine
April 2012, Vol 43, No. 4
In Brief - Snapshots of some of the latest peer-reviewed research within psychology and related fields.

Topping off breakfast with a piece of chocolate cake may help dieters lose more weight, according to researchers from Tel Aviv University. In a study with nearly 200 obese, non-diabetic adults, scientists found that participants who added dessert to their breakfasts — such as cookies, cake or chocolate — lost an average of 40 pounds more than a group that avoided such foods. They also kept the weight off longer. Researchers say that such a morning meal staves off cravings and defuses psychological addictions to sweet foods. (Steroids, March)

People eat less when they munch on snacks in pre-packaged segments or portions, according to a study by researchers at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania. In the study, 98 college students ate from tubes of potato chips while watching a movie. The control group ate chips that were identical and the treatment group ate from tubes that had colored chips inserted at regular intervals — every fifth chip was red, for example. The authors found that participants in the red-potato-chip group ate an average of 50 percent fewer chips than those whose chips were identical. (Health Psychology, online Feb. 6)

Exercise makes us happy, according researchers at Pennsylvania State University. For eight days, the study tracked the daily activities of 190 college students, who reported on the amount and level of their physical activity and their overall mental states. The participants who were more physically active reported greater levels of excitement and enthusiasm than those who were less active. (Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, December)

Children who get more exercise do better in school, according to a study conducted by scientists at the Vrije Universiteit Free University Medical Center in Amsterdam. Researchers reviewed 14 studies that compared kids’ physical activity with their grades or scores on math, language and general thinking and memory tests. They found that those with higher rates of physical activity did better in the classroom. The authors say this may be because children can concentrate better when they get enough exercise or because physical activity improves blood flow to the brain. (Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, January)

Good friends can reduce the effects of stress, according to a study by researchers at Concordia University in Montreal. More than 100 schoolchildren in fifth and sixth grades were given journals to record their feelings and had their saliva tested four times a day for four consecutive days. The authors found that having a best friend present during a stressful experience significantly buffered the children against the negative effects of that experience — cortisol levels and self-worth remained relatively unchanged. When a best friend was not present, researchers saw an increase in cortisol and a decrease in self-worth. (Developmental Psychology, November)