Post secret faves

There were a lot of Post Secret cards that I liked for this week ...

How to Cope with Seasonal Affective Disorder

By LiveScience.com

Winter, for those who live far from the equator, means cooler temperatures, fewer daylight hours and occasional pangs of "winter blues." While these feelings of mild malaise come and go easily for some, each winter signifies a new, unshakable cycle of depression for Rebecca Davis that is more serious.

"I had grown up in Minnesota and North Dakota and went to boarding school in Michigan. It was there that I realized what a profound effect the weather has on my mood, personality and all aspects of my life," said Davis, a publicist who now splits her time between New York City and St. Petersburg, Fla.

"My doctor determined it was seasonal affective disorder after my time in Michigan. He put two and two together, and noticed my symptoms are far worse when clouds are in the sky," Davis said.

About 1 to 10 percent of adults in the United States suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD). First described as a medical condition in 1984, SAD is now listed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a type of major depression.

Symptoms of SAD

However, unlike conventional depression, SAD is unique in that it always recurs at a particular time of the year. And although SAD is frequently thought of as a winter depression, it can affect patients during other seasons, too.

The cause of SAD is unknown, but it has been hypothesized that the lack of sunlight disrupts the body's circadian rhythm. According to research published in the journal Nature by Johns Hopkins University neuroscientists, our eyes have special photoreceptors that monitor light levels. These could be linked to the "non-visual" ways we respond to light, such as setting the body's circadian pacemaker and affecting mood and temperament.

Changes in light levels could explain why the majority of SAD patients, including Davis, experience symptoms during winter and remission during spring.

"I get the classic symptoms of depression when the weather is gray, like feelings of low self-esteem, anxiety, obsessive worry and just a general inability to be joyful about anything," Davis said.

Aside from these symptoms, some SAD patients go through bouts of craving carbohydrates. They are also likely to be more sleepy. Based on what they report, SAD patients average an additional 2.5 hours of sleep a day during winter than during the rest of the year; the general population sleeps about 0.7 hours more in the winter.

How to cope

While some SAD sufferers may be too lethargic or depressed to leave the house, outdoor activities and regular exercises can help alleviate the symptoms. A 2007 study by Duke University researchers confirmed that exercise is comparable to antidepressant medication in treating patients with major depressive disorders.

And because the illness is linked to the production of serotonin in the brain and the duration of exposure to bright sunlight, according to a 2002 Lancet study, increasing your exposure to daylight can be comforting.

"I felt the difference immediately after I moved from New York to Florida. Actually this is pretty much the case as soon as the sun comes out, regardless of where I lived," Davis said.

When moving to a sunnier locale isn't an option, a light box can help.

There are no official "dosage" guidelines for light therapy. However, most physicians recommend using a specialized light box that mimics outdoor light by providing adequate brightness, proper wavelength of light and appropriate ultraviolet light filtration.

A 2009 study at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital suggested that SAD patients respond more favorably to blue-hued light rather than broad-spectrum, white light. However, the researchers said more studies are needed to determine the optimal therapeutic brightness and color.

In any case, users should make sure their light box was designed for SAD sufferers. According to the Mayo Clinic, light boxes designed for skin therapy may emit too much harmful ultraviolet light to the eyes. Similarly, tanning beds are not proper substitutes.

The brightness recommendations given in the past have ranged from 6 hours per day of 2,500 lux (an amount of light approximately equivalent to the brightness of five 100-watt incandescent bulbs) to 1 to 2 hours a day at 1,500 to 2,500 lux.

Davis has found the light box helps her. "I use it anytime when it's likely to be cloudy a few days in a row," she said.

Like people with other mental illnesses, SAD patients can benefit greatly from cognitive behavioral therapy. However, unlike conventional therapy, the CBT sessions are likely to focus more on the seasonal aspect of mood changes, said Yael Nillni, a doctoral candidate at the University of Vermont who is involved in ongoing SAD research. Some preliminary data have shown that talk therapy could work better than light therapy in the long run.

"At first, light therapy and CBT both do an equally good job of correcting mood disorders," she said. "However, we start to see a difference during the 1-year and 2-year follow-up. We see that CBT does a better job of prepping the patient and preventing future occurrences of depression during the following winter."

The results can vary among patients, however. Although Davis tried out CBT in her early 20s and found it helpful at times, she said she has relied mainly on antidepressants to control her symptoms.

"SAD is about general mood, and I just don't think it's possible to talk yourself out of feeling blue," Davis said.

SAD can be a long-term illness, but it doesn't have to be debilitating. Davis has been coping with it for 15 years and has kept her symptoms in check with antidepressants and exercise. She is also adapting very well to sunny Florida.

"I think most of my advice would be intuitive to anyone who craves sunlight. Insist on a workspace with natural light. Same goes for finding a home with ample windows and good sunlight. Throw back the blinds and shades on sunny days, even if it is cold," she said.

"And during the day, exercise, exercise, exercise!" she said. "Nothing gives me more energy on dreary days."

Pass it on: Antidepressants, therapy, exercise and light-box treatments may help alleviate seasonal affective disorder.

Best post secret cards of the week

Severe Mental Health Disorders Untreated in Many U.S. Teens

By HealthDay

Among American teens, many with severe mental disorders never receive treatment, the results of a new study suggest.

Researchers examined data from a nationally representative sample of 6,483 adolescents, aged 13 to 18, and found that only 36.2 percent of those with any mental disorder received treatment.

While the severity of the disorder was significantly associated with the likelihood of receiving mental health treatment, only about half of the teens with severe mental disorders ever received such treatment, according to the report published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The disorders most likely to be treated were attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (59.8 percent) and behavior disorders, such as oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder (combined 45.4 percent), study author Kathleen Ries Merikangas, of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, and colleagues found.

On the other hand, only about one in five teens with anxiety, eating or substance abuse disorders received treatment. In addition, Hispanic and black adolescents were less likely than whites to receive treatment for mood and anxiety disorders, even when the disorders caused severe impairment, the researchers noted.

"National shortages of mental health specialists for children remain widely prevalent," the researchers wrote in a news release from the journal's publisher. "Recruitment, training, and promotion of child and adolescent mental health professionals remain leading priorities. Strains on available treatment resources are likely to grow as coverage is extended to large groups of currently uninsured American young people."

Good Bond Between Therapist, Depressed Patient Aids in Recovery

By HealthDay

A good relationship between a patient and therapist is likely to improve the patient's recovery from depression, a new study finds.

But the outcome of the patient-therapist alliance is often affected by the patient's marriage and occupational status, unusual variations of major depression and coexisting personality disorders (if any), the researchers found.

Researchers from the University of Ghent in Belgium looked at the outcomes of 567 people with major depression who received six months of combined treatment with therapy and antidepressants.

Having a high score on ratings of the patient-therapist relationship four weeks after the start of treatment predicted subsequent progress in the patient's condition.

Next to the patient-therapist alliance, other factors that affected the rate of patient improvement included the initial severity of depression, a history of psychiatric disorders, job status and early improvement of depressive symptoms.

The study was published in the last 2010 issue of the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

Parents' Divorce May Contribute to Suicidal Thoughts Years Later

By HealthDay

Adults who were children when their parents divorced are more likely to seriously consider suicide than adults who grew up in intact families, according to a new study.

University of Toronto researchers looked at 6,647 adults, including 695 who were younger than 18 when their parents divorced. Their parents' divorce affected males and females differently, they found.

Men whose parents divorced when they were children were three times more likely to seriously consider suicide (suicidal ideation) than other men. Adult daughters of divorced parents were 83 percent more likely to have suicidal thoughts than those whose parents stayed married.

The connection between divorce and suicidal ideation was particularly strong for men who grew up in families with childhood stressors, such as physical abuse, parental addiction and parental unemployment.

The link between parental divorce and suicidal ideation was no longer significant among women who did not experience these childhood stressors. But even without these stressors, adult men who were children when their parents divorced still had a twofold increased risk of suicidal ideation compared to men from intact families.

The study was published online Jan. 19 in the journal Psychiatry Research.

The findings suggest "that the pathways linking parental divorce to suicidal ideation are different for men and women. The association between parental divorce and suicidal thoughts in men was unexpectedly strong, even when we adjusted for other childhood and adult stressors, socioeconomic status, depression and anxiety," lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, of the faculty of social work and department of family and community medicine, said in a university news release.

"Females whose parents had divorced were not particularly vulnerable to suicidal ideation if they were not also exposed to childhood physical abuse and/or parental addictions," she said.

The research is "not meant to panic divorced parents," she added in the release. "Our data in no way suggests that children of divorce are destined to become suicidal."

It Goes Like This

Thursday Dating Profiles: Ok, It Goes Like This

1. ok it goes like this im a kind, caring, considerate, passionate person who loves the finer things in life like sharing with that special person the kind of music i like listening to is country,rock,80's&90's sometimes rap,r'n'b but i'm not really into classical,opera movies i watch are action,comedy,horror
Since when are music & movies the "finer" things in life?

2. Co-workers are very important to me and so you must love spending time with them.
Talk about being married to your job......

3. am looking for someone permanent to spend the next half of my life.
Nothing in life is permanent. The world is constantly changing.

4. You must be matured to match my personality.
Wow, that person sounds like she's not looking for a mature person but someone who can be changed into a mature person. You can't change people

5. I can stay put doing the same activity for a long time too if I want to.
Staying on your ass masturbating to porn on the computer for a long time doesn't make me want you any more...

6. I'm single, without kids, but I love animals, although I don't have any pets.
Sounds like a cat lady in the making

7. I like who same as me, honest, kind.... and who like out door activity... Better if like reading, conversation , share knowledge of everything. So you think me?
Me think you need to learn to make full sentences

8. Hi! im ,from philippines right now im here inkorea working.
Sorry long distance relationships aren't for me

9. i don´t have a tv and no real interest in tv or films, may sound strange in these modern times, however, wasting time with a take out dinner and a dvd is not my kind of evening.
Well that is my ideal kind of evening, so keep moving on to the next profile

10. I do enjoy the occasional wild night.
See answer to #9 and keep on moving too

Ricky Gervais

Welcome to Wednesday Wickedness!

1. When was your last trip to a library?
A couple weeks ago. I had to print something off the internet, and didn't want to waste my ink. I paid 10 cents at the library

2. Does your attire properly represent you?
I wear whatever is comfortable and cheap.... I guess that means I'm cheap and comfortable? Hmm

3. Do you feel the United States really runs the world?
I think God runs the world. We're just all players in his game

4. When was the last time that you worked in an office like that?
The office I work in is a mostly mixture of middle-aged men who are socially awkward and twenty-something women who mistakingly thought they could change the world by becoming journalists ... And we all have extremely dirty minds

5. Do you have a will? If yes, have you ever changed it?
When I was 24, I had an attorney help me make a will because I was afraid that my then-husband would kill me and I wanted my affairs in order. Of course, he tried to kill me more than once. I'm lucky to be alive

6. How do you feel about bull fighting and hunting?
I grew up in a family of cattle farmers. I feel that anyone who intentionally tries to fight a bull is just a plain idiot. I don't personally hunt, but I'm not against it

7. Have you ever thought that you were over paid for a job?
Hell no

8. Are you usually on time for things?
I used to be chronically early for everything. I'd always be at least 15-20 minutes early to everything. Now I'm lucky if I'm only 15 minutes late to things

9. What are your “pet hates”?
I hate all people in general

10. Are you a fan of “Lord of the Rings”?
Absolutely not

Project 365 - photos 7-14

7) These were Christmas trees that were still lit as of a few days ago near my home

8) This is my neighbor's new dog

9) The start of this year's first snow

10) Oreo desperately needs a haircut

11) Random light that I thought was cool in a restaurant

12) Clouds that I thought looked cool

13) This just seemed pretty to me for some reason

14) Pretty sunset

Video Game 'Addiction' Tied to Depression, Anxiety in Kids

By HealthDay

Video game addiction among children and teens may lead to the development of psychological disorders such as depression, researchers say.

The new study found that children who are more likely to become addicted to video games (which the researchers call "pathological" video gaming) are those who spend a lot of hours playing these games, have trouble fitting in with other kids and are more impulsive than children who aren't addicted. Once addicted to video games, children were more likely to become depressed, anxious or have other social phobias. Not surprisingly, children who were hooked on video games also saw their school performance suffer.

"What we've known from other studies is that video gaming addiction looks similar to other addictions. But what wasn't clear was what comes before what. Gaming might be a secondary problem. It might be that kids who are socially awkward, who aren't doing well in school, get depressed and then lose themselves into games. We haven't really known if gaming is important by itself, or what puts kids at risk for becoming addicted," said Douglas A. Gentile, an associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University in Ames.

Not only did the study reveal risk factors for pathological gaming, "the real surprise came from looking at the outcomes, because we had assumed depression might be the real problem," explained Gentile. "But we found that in kids who started gaming pathologically, depression and anxiety got worse. And, when they stopped gaming, the depression lifted. It may be that these disorders [co-exist], but games seem to make the problem worse."

Results of the study were released online and will be published in the February issue of Pediatrics.

The study included 3,034 children and teens from Singapore; 743 were in 3rd grade, 711 in 4th grade, 916 in 7th grade and 664 in 8th grade. The children came from six primary schools and six secondary schools. Five of the schools participating were all-boys' schools. Almost 2,200 of the study participants were male.

The children -- although not their parents or teachers -- were surveyed annually from 2007 through 2009.

Eighty-three percent of the study volunteers reported playing video games sometimes, and another 10 percent said they had played video games in the past. The average time spent playing video games was around 20.5 to 22.5 hours a week.

But, Gentile pointed out, "A lot of video gaming isn't the same as an addiction. Some kids can play a lot without having an effect on their lives. It's when you see other areas of your child's life suffer that it may be addiction. Parents might notice that a child doesn't have the same friends any more, or that he's just sitting in his room playing video games all the time. Or, there might be a drop in school performance," he said.

In this study about 9 percent of the children surveyed qualified as being pathological video gamers, and Gentile said that number is fairly consistent with the U.S. population's rate of pathological gaming.

Playing video games more than 30 hours a week, lack of social competence, less-than-average empathy and greater impulsivity all contributed to the addiction, the researchers found.

Gentile said the researchers aren't sure how gaming is contributing to depression, anxiety and other social phobias, but in this study, "the gaming precedes the depression. We don't know if it's truly causal, but gaming has an effect on its own, and you can't just ignore gaming and treat depression," he said.

Although pathological video gaming appears to share a number of characteristics with other addictive behaviors, such as pathological gambling, the researchers noted that "pathological gaming" is not yet an established psychological disorder.

"Getting highly involved with video games can become addicting, and parents need to be cautious about how many hours kids play," said Dr. Richard Gallagher, director of the Parenting Institute at the New York University Child Study Center in New York City.

"In this study, it looks like kids with less than 19 hours a week didn't get involved in pathological gaming, so no more than two hours a day," he suggested.

But Gallagher also emphasized that time spent playing is less important than the effect that gaming is having on your child. "If they're attracted to games so much so that they don't get involved in other things, or they talk about gaming and don't talk about anything else, there may be a problem," he said.

Both Gallagher and Gentile said the finding that video games can lead to poorer school performance is likely due to the time spent gaming. "Gaming is taking away time that could be spent on activities that have educational benefit," Gentile said.

Gentile also recommends no more than two hours a day of "screen time," in line with the American Academy of Pediatrics' guidelines. And, screen time includes TV, computer, video games and even the newest music players and smart phones that have computer-like capabilities.

Post secret favorites of the week

I'm now a Virgo??? Say what?

So I was just reading this news story about the horoscope signs being all messed up. I've always been a Libra, and I've always felt that the description fit me very well, but apparently I'm really a Virgo according to the story. I don't know how to handle this news...


New astrological sign proposed

By Toronto Sun

Better check your horoscope – according to astronomers, your sign might not actually be your sign.

Scientific star-gazers say the 12 Zodiac signs we have come to memorize as handily as our own birthdays are actually out of date by a few thousand years.

In fact, there should actually be a 13th sign called Ophiuchus between Scorpio and Sagittarius, changing the dates of the other signs as well.

“Precession has shifted our view of the stars significantly over a few thousand years, so the sun is no longer situated in front of certain star groupings on the astrologically appointed dates,” Mary Lou Whitehorne, president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, as well as an astronomy educator and author, explained in an e-mail to QMI Agency.

Precession is the change in the orientation of Earth's axis over the years.

Because of this gradual shift, “things are 'off' by about one month, which is roughly the equivalent to one constellation (or sun sign) of the zodiac” since the times of ancient Greece, when these first signs were created, said Whitehorne.

That means the dates of signs are out of whack and many of us born Virgos could actually be Leos, many Aries are actually Pisces, and so on.

Others – born between Nov. 29-Dec. 17 – should actually be following the little known sign of Ophiuchus, the snake.

While astrologers are well aware of Ophiuchus, don't expect a change in your newspaper horoscopes anytime soon.

“This isn't news. This is nothing,” said Anne Massey, an astrologer and author based in Surrey, B.C.

She said astrological prognosticators have long known about the existence of Ophiuchus, and the shift of how we see stars over time, but that scientists are missing the point.

“This is symbolic – it follows a certain symmetric geometry. It's based on the seasons,” she said. “Astronomers don't observe the skies the same way astrologers do.”

According to a scientists, modern astrologers should be using these dates for the signs of the Zodiac.

Capricorn: Jan. 20 - Feb. 16

Aquarius: Feb. 16 - March 11

Pisces: March 11- April 18

Aries: April 18- May 13

Taurus: May 13- June 21

Gemini: June 21- July 20

Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10

Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16

Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30

Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23

Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29

Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17

Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20

Talk therapy may help tough-to-treat depression

By Reuters

People with long-lasting depression may benefit from talk therapy when other treatment methods such as antidepressant drugs alone aren't working, suggests a new study. But the topic needs more research, the authors say - and they also point out that talk therapy isn't accessible or affordable for everyone.

About 15 million adults in America suffer from major depressive disorder - serious cases of depression that last more than two weeks - in any given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Most people who are diagnosed with major depressive disorder get prescribed an antidepressant rather than going straight into talk therapy, explained Dr. Ranak Trivedi, the lead author on the current study from the University of Washington School of Public Health.

But up to half of those people might not feel any better after they start taking the medication, she said.

Guidelines point doctors to a few different options for treating patients who don't respond to their first antidepressant drug. The doctor can add a new antidepressant to the first one, or switch drugs completely. Sometimes it takes several attempts to find the drug or drugs that will help the patient feel better. They can also refer the patient to talk therapy, either in addition to medication or instead of medication.

However, "though the guidelines seem to suggest there are four ways to approach treating people who don't respond to (the first) treatment, we tend to gravitate toward giving medication," Trivedi told Reuters Health.

To see if patients could be getting more out of talk therapy instead of switching between different antidepressants, Trivedi and her colleagues reviewed a series of seven studies involving nearly 600 adults with major depressive disorder who hadn't been helped by medication.

In each of the studies, researchers either took patients off antidepressant medications and substituted talk therapy, or they added therapy on top of patients' usual medication routine. Then they compared those patients to others who stayed on their antidepressant drug, switched to a new drug, or had another drug added to their original medication - but didn't have any talk therapy.

Each of the studies was a "randomized" trial, meaning participants and doctors didn't get to choose which treatment the patients got; instead, the assignments were made by chance. This type of study is the most reliable.

Taken together, the results published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine were generally favorable. Some of the studies suggested that patients improved more when they were in therapy and on medication than when they were only taking medication. Others showed that adding or switching to talk therapy was beneficial, but not any more so than changing a patient's prescription or having the patient take additional drugs.

Researchers say the results show that talk therapy may be promising for people who don't get better on medication - but they also reflect the fact that many more studies are needed.

As it becomes clearer that the first try at an antidepressant doesn't work for many people, "it's apparent that greater attention needs to be paid to this whole other avenue of treatment for people who aren't responding to first and second and third choice medications," Dr. Michael Thase told Reuters Health. Thase, a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has participated in some of the research that suggests that talk therapy can be beneficial. (He wasn't involved in Trivedi's study, however.)

For some patients, however, getting access to talk therapy is more difficult and costly than taking medications, which have gotten cheaper as generic versions became available. As of August 2010, according to data from Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions reported by Consumer Reports, average monthly costs for antidepressants were as low, for example, as $19 for fluoxetine (the generic form of Prozac), $26 for sertraline (Zoloft), and $35 for citalopram (Celexa).

Talk therapy costs more than medication, at least in the short term. And insurance companies often put limits on reimbursements (although new rules issued by the Obama administration are intended to improve coverage of mental health care for people whose insurance comes through their employers).

But Trivedi said that in the long run, talk therapy may well be worth it. "People who take antidepressants often end up taking them for life," she said. With talk therapy, patients often go for a few months, or sometimes a few years, and then stop when their symptoms have gone away.

The bottom line is, treatment choices should come down to what the patient prefers, Thase said. In the early stages of chronic depression, "you should pick the (treatment) that you want, or the combination, and go with that. Then consider the alternative if three months into it you're no better."

Trivedi agreed that people with depression should try to be attuned to the kind of help they want and need, while not losing hope of getting better. For those with chronic depression, she said, "keep at it. If you don't respond to the first treatment, you're not alone."

Simple Screen May Help Spot Depression in College Students

By HealthDay

Among students who go to university health centers for a physical ailment, between one-fifth and one-quarter are depressed, but the condition often goes undiagnosed because most university health centers don't screen for depression, a new study reports.

The researchers also found that 2 to 3 percent of these depressed students have had suicidal thoughts or are considering suicide.

"Depression screening is easy to do, we know it works, and it can save lives. It should be done for every student who walks into a health center," lead author Dr. Michael Fleming, a professor of family and community medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a university news release.

Fleming and his colleagues surveyed 1,622 students who went to health centers at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Washington and the University of British Columbia. The study findings are published in the January issue of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.

Screening for depression is simple, Fleming said. While sitting in the health center waiting area, students can answer seven questions about depression that can be immediately entered into his or her electronic health record. During the appointment, the health care provider can address any issues about sadness or depression.

The consequences of not identifying and treating students with depression can be serious and even deadly.

"These kids might drop out of school because they are so sad, or hurt or kill themselves by drinking too much or taking drugs," Fleming said.

He noted that university students face many challenges, and events such as a low grade or problems with a boyfriend or girlfriend can trigger depression.

"If you don't take the opportunity to screen at every [health center] visit, you are going to miss these kids," Fleming said.

Write Your Test Stress Away

By HealthDay

Whether it's winter mid-terms or the upcoming SAT that's got your teen's stomach tied up in knots, a simple intervention might ease their anxiety and improve their scores.

New research, published in the Jan. 14 issue of Science, found that when students spent 10 minutes writing about their test anxiety and fears just before a test, their scores went up. And, the biggest improvements were seen in teens who were most stressed before testing.

"We show that giving students an opportunity to write their thoughts and feelings about an exam before the exam can boost performance, especially for those who are anxious before the test," said study co-author Sian Beilock, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Chicago.

"Students who are chronically anxious generally perform below their classmates," noted Beilock, who is also the author of the book, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To.

"With this intervention, we have an opportunity to erase that difference," she added.

In background information in the study, the researchers pointed out that while the idea of drawing attention to the problem of test anxiety by writing about it might intuitively seem to be something that would increase worry, other studies done on depression and other psychological disorders have found the opposite to be true. Expressive writing about a traumatic or emotional event is an effective way to get people to stop worrying about the experience.

To see if this type of writing might help lessen testing anxiety, the researchers performed four tests on high school and college students.

The first test included 20 college students who were asked to take two math tests. During the first test, the students were simply told to do their best. For the second test, the researchers added pressure to the situation by promising a monetary incentive if people scored well. However, each student was paired with another, and both partners had to do well on the test to earn the money. Half of the students were told to spend 10 minutes before the test writing about how they felt about it. The other half was told to sit quietly during this time.

Those who didn't perform writing exercises "choked under pressure" and their test scores dropped by 12 percent, according to the study. Those who wrote about their feelings regarding the test improved their scores by 5 percent.

In the second study, the researchers had 47 college students taking the same set of tests. Only this time, there was a third group that was instructed to write for 10 minutes about an unrelated unemotional event. Students in the non-writing group and in the group that wrote about an unrelated event had a 7 percent decrease in their test scores, while the group that wrote about their test fears improved by 4 percent.

Studies three and four were done one year apart, using different 9th grade students from year to year who attended the same school. Study three had 51 students and study four had 55 students.

Six weeks before a final exam, the researchers measured the students' general anxiety levels about taking tests. Then, right before taking the first final exam of their high school career, half were directed to write about their test anxiety. The other half was told to sit quietly and think about something other than the test topics.

After the final exam was graded, the researchers found that those with the highest anxiety levels performed the worst in the non-writing group. But those in the writing group who were highly anxious before the test performed similarly to the low-anxiety teens. There was no significant difference between the writing and non-writing groups if the students had low anxiety levels about the test to begin with, the study authors noted.

Beilock said the writing exercise works because once you have the worries out on paper, you don't need to worry or ruminate about them during the test.

"Worries can compromise important thinking and reasoning skills that we could otherwise use to think at our best. This writing exercise gives students more cognitive horsepower," she explained.

"They're definitely on to something here," said Dr. Jonathan Pletcher, an assistant professor of pediatrics in the division of adolescent medicine at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. "When you're worrying and you don't put that worry into words, it has an impact and makes it harder to focus and to pull knowledge from your memory to do well on the test."

Pletcher said he recommends a similar technique for teens who have trouble sleeping at night. Before bed, writing down a list of concerns you have clears your head and lets you fall asleep.

He said that students could practice this skill ahead of time and see if it helps.

Although many teachers might not allow a student to take 10 minutes to write down their worries just before a test, Beilock said that writing about your test fears earlier in the day might still be helpful.

"In our increasingly test-obsessed culture, we can develop quick and easy exercises to help everyone achieve their full potential," she said.

Can't Find the Words

The Dating Profiles Meme: Can't Find the Words

1. Can't find words to describe myself. Just writing this because it was a requirement.
That's pretty much how all my answers on my past dating profiles sounded

2. I'm quirky, have a twisted sense of humor, I'm really boring and caffeine-addicted.
If you truly had a twisted sense of humor, you wouldn't be that boring

3. I am submissive..we!!!
Boy, that sounds so attractive... to aggressive gay men who are looking for a bottom partner

4. You will need to be affectionate cos I am, and share my values and passions....I know its a big ask, but I know you are out there..wherever you are...and I know you are not far away...
Sorry, but I'd never be affectionate to someone who types "cos" instead of "cause" or "cuz"

5. I am spunky but simple.
What are you ... 15?

6. Things have changed in the last week !!! so I'll add: No Drunks. No Liars. No Married peoples.
Man, that knocks out almost all the men on dating sites

7. Do you have what it takes?
To deal with your stupidity? ... I doubt anyone has what it takes to deal with it

8. Not, interested in someone who play games,who is tacky,lazy, sleeps with others,ARROGANT (usually a person who thinks they're too cute, and talks like a teenager about themself, too wacko for me) I prefer an mature,reserved,laid back, the caring kind any day.
.... Not, interested in someone who can't type in proper grammar and doesn't space after commas

9. Blessings I am not interested in dating at this time .
Um, then why would you fill out a dating profile??

10. I think the inner side of the person is what makes him/her be beautifull and wonderfull!
Urgh, I can't overlook beautiful and wonderful being misspelled long enough to come up with a response

Optimism Could Help Kids Keep Depression at Bay

By HealthDay

Here's a reason to try to change your kid's attitude: The most optimistic adolescents may be somewhat less likely to be depressed than their peers.

Researchers also have found a slight link between optimism and less heavy drug abuse and bad behavior.

There are caveats. The new research, on kids in Australia, doesn't prove that optimism directly causes kids to be less depressed. Other factors could explain things. The study also suggests that the most optimistic kids were not able to avoid having as many bad things happen in their lives as more pessimistic kids.

"Optimistic kids do better in avoiding emotional and behavioral problems during the teens, but it in no way makes them immune to setbacks," said the study's lead author, Dr. George C. Patton, of Australia's Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. "There are a whole lot of other skills and experiences that are also important in getting through life."

The study is only the latest in a series of examinations of optimism. "It's been associated with decreased risk of depression, heart attack and death, even after other important risk factors -- like age, smoking and cholesterol -- have been taken into account," said Dr. Hilary Tindle, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh's Division of General Internal Medicine.

The new study, published online Jan. 10 and in the February print issue of Pediatrics, examined optimism in 5,634 children who began taking part in the research when they were 12 to 14 years old.

The kids were asked about how they "viewed the future, ... the world as it currently is and themselves," said Patton, a professor with the Australia hospital's Centre for Adolescent Health. The kids who were less optimistic generally were recognizing positive things about the world or themselves "rarely or only some of the time," he said.

The researchers found that the quarter of kids who were the most optimistic had almost half the risk of showing signs of depression, compared with those who were least optimistic. Being highly optimistic only had a "modest" link to less heavy substance abuse and antisocial behavior.

The researchers figured that if everyone in the study had low levels of optimism, "the number of new cases of depression would rise by 32 percent in any year," Patton said. "That is a pretty big effect."

But what can be done with this information? Should kids take classes in optimism? Not quite, Patton said.

"Learning to get things in perspective and put yourself in the shoes of others are more realistic aims than simply trying to teach your teenager to always be positive about everything."

Tindle, the Pittsburgh researcher, said the attitudes regarding optimism and pessimism that form in early life may play a big role in the choices that adults make about their health. If that's the case, she said, it might be worthwhile to teach kids about how to look at the world. But for now, "no one knows all the nitty-gritty of how such a program could be logistically rolled out," Tindle said.

Best Post Secret cards of the week