The lowest need is physiological, which refers to things humans need to survive. Next is safety, followed by love and belongingness. An individual’s safety needs are expressed as a desire to feel physically, emotionally, socially, and psychologically safe at all times. Belonging and loving needs refer to the emotional desire for interpersonal connections and community, such as friendship, intimacy, trust, acceptance, affection, and being loved.

To fulfill their safety and belongingness needs, human beings need to form emotional bonds in several situations with significant people in those conditions. Children need an emotional bond with their parents to survive, grow, and be loved. While couples must form an emotional bond to ensure the relationship is thriving. This kind of emotional bond is commonly called attachment. 

This article will guide you through what attachment is, how it is essential in relationships, and the different types that might need to work out in any relationship.

What is attachment?

Attachment in psychology is theorized alongside relationships and bonds between people. The theory focuses on long-term relationships and bonds, including the ties and bonds between parents and children or couples. 

The basic theory of attachment suggests that people are born with the need to form close connections with their caregivers as children. It will influence and impact how they will form relationships in the future (Bowlby, 1969). The same research postulated four main characteristics of forming an attachment between two significant people:

1. Proximity maintenance: The desire to be near the people to whom the subject is attached.
2. Safe haven: Making and returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety in the face of a fear or threat.
3. Secure base: The attachment figure acts as a secure base from which the child can explore the surrounding environment.
4. Separation distress: Anxiety that occurs in the absence of the attachment figure.

These characteristics mainly describe children and their caregiver attachment bond. Research shows that attachment in children may affect how a person will form relationships and romantic attachments in their romantic relationships (Dinero et al., 2008). 

People with secure attachment styles in childhood have happier, longer-lasting relationships than those with insecure attachment styles (Banse, 2004). 

In addition, according to many researchers, people with a secure attachment style may be better at managing their emotions than people with an insecure or avoidant attachment style, which tends to suppress or deactivate their emotions, and individuals with insecure/anxious attachment styles, who tend to present heightened emotional reactions (Santona et al., 2019).

Types of Attachment

Adapting to Bowlby’s theory of attachment, some types of attachment might happen, both in children-parent and romantic relationships. In the original theory of attachment, there are two major parts of attachment: secure and insecure.

Secure attachment

Secure attachment is characterized by a strong bond formed between the person and their significant other. In child-parent attachment, secure attachment refers to how a child feels safe and secure with their parents and seeks comfort whenever they feel frightened (Benoit, 2004). 

This attachment style results in the comfort of expressing their feelings, including their love and negative emotions. The same principle also applies to adult romantic relationship attachment. 

Couples with secure attachment typically display openness when expressing emotions and thoughts with others and are comfortable depending on others for help and relying on others (Cassidy, 1994). The relationship will run into a healthy state because they have full confidence and trust in their partner, who is always present. 

A romantic partner can act as an attachment figure and become a source of comfort and security for the other person in the relationship. This can be attained through supportive behavior, positive affirmations, or unconditional care and love to soothe and comfort in healthy give-and-take reciprocality (Mikulincer, 2006).

Insecure attachment

This attachment style is basically the negative emotional bond that happens due to repeated negative experiences (Lee & Hankins, 2009). 

The researchers stated that insecure attachment does not directly cause psychopathology issues, but it is proven to have significant contributions, like contributing to cognitive vulnerability to depression and anxiety, as well as maladaptive relationship dynamics. Below are three major types of insecure attachment (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991):

Fearful-avoidant

This is characterized by a sense of unworthiness (unlovability) and an expectation of rejection and untrustworthiness. In this style, people avoid close contact with others to avoid expected rejection and cannot trust another person to give them affection. 

A person with this type of attachment may show confusing behavior to friends and romantic partners. At first, this type of person encourages closeness but withdraws emotionally or physically when they feel vulnerable — an attempt to protect themselves against anticipated rejection.

Preoccupied

In this style, one feels unworthy (unlovable) but evaluates others positively. When this combination of characteristics is present, the person will strive to be accepted by others to gain self-acceptance. 

Consequently, they will continuously seek reassurance and validation from others, and sometimes people who adopt this attachment style will be seen as ‘needy’ or ‘clingy.’

Dismissing-avoidant

This attachment style is characterized by a sense of love-worthiness and a pessimistic outlook toward others. By avoiding close relationships and retaining a sense of independence and invulnerability, such people shield themselves against disappointment. 

How to overcome insecure attachments

While insecure attachments have the massive potential to contribute to unhealthy relationships, you always have options to overcome insecure attachments as a fully-grown adult. No one can control the condition and circumstances of growing up, yet people can make an effort to form healthy relationships as adults.

Insecure attachments mostly stem from negative experiences in childhood and are continuously reflected in adulthood. The first thing to overcome it is to acknowledge the childhood experiences you may have experienced. 

You may also talk to professionals and seek helpful advice, especially when you want to start a serious commitment with your partner. 

While you are seeking professional advice, it is good to train yourself to trust and feel confident in your partner. Try to break down practical habits to apply with your partner, like having deep conversations every night, maintaining healthy, direct, and honest communication, or asking for help from your partner whenever you need it.

In conclusion

Attachment plays a vital role in human relationships, and there is no exception to adult romantic relationships. Moreover, attachment styles in a relationship will predict how the relationship’s dynamic will progress, either in a healthy or unhealthy way. 

There are four attachment styles: secure, fearful-avoidant, preoccupied, and dismissive-avoidant. The first one is the healthy and ideal type of attachment, and the other three are potentially unhealthy. To overcome insecure attachment, taking steps like acknowledging childhood experiences, seeking professional help, and building new healthy habits can help form a healthy attachment in the relationship.

If you would like to see more resources on intimate relationships, visit the Personal Science Labs. The lab uses the research of the Institute for Life Management Science to produce courses, certifications, podcasts, videos, and other tools. Check out the Personal Science Labs today.

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According to WHO’s (2022) global review report on mental health, nearly a billion people, including 14% of the world’s adolescents, lived with a mental disorder in 2019. More than 1 in 100 deaths are caused by suicide, and 58% of suicides occur before 50. The World Health Organization also found that people with severe mental illnesses die prematurely due to preventable physical problems. All these concerning data lead to the urgency of people’s mental hygiene, particularly in improving overall mental health. 

Since the pandemic began in 2020, it has affected every aspect of society, including mental and physical health. A multidisciplinary joint research team found several psychological effects that are profound in general, like anxiety and depression, and needs special care while disconnecting in physical ties (Holmes et al., 2020). This leads to the priorities in determining which mechanism could be the best for improving mental health. 

In this article, you will explore some of the ways mental health affects daily life and how you can take steps to improve your mental well-being, from best practices to the signs when you need to seek help when your mental health is declining. 

Best practices for improving mental health

Taking care of your mental health is an important issue that affects everyone, and it’s vital that you are aware of the habits that can affect your mental well-being. Below are some best practices you can apply to your daily life. 

Take care of your body

Taking care of your physical health should also be the utmost priority when improving your mental health. Research has shown that there is a strong correlation between physical and mental health. For example, exercise and general physical activity are associated with improved physical health and decreased depression/anxiety disorders (De Mello et al., 2013) and a systematic review by Taylor et al. (2014) found general evidence that depression, anxiety, and stress were reduced after a smoking cessation intervention. 

Taking care of your physical health can be done with the smallest steps like eating nutritious meals, avoiding smoking and vaping, drinking plenty of water, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep.

Surround yourself with good people

Social connectedness is one of the many basic needs that everyone should fulfill. A good social support system and a positive circle network are great additions to building a mentally healthy environment. Having a social network plays an important role in maintaining good mental health, and reducing the risk of anxiety, stress, and depression (Santini et al., 2020). 

Make regular meet-ups with your friends and have intimate dinners with your family. It doesn’t have to be fancy and grand, instead, try to plan something interactive to build a strong bond among your emotional support system. You can also join a community to surround yourself with people who has the same interests as you.

Learn how to deal with stress

When talking about dealing with stress, mastering coping skills is essential. Coping is defined as managing, tolerating, or reducing the effects of internal or external stressors perceived as exceeding the individual’s ability to cope (Folkman & Lazarus, 1991). Mastering the right coping skill will help to avoid any build-up of mental burden and maladaptive suppressed emotions. 

Look within yourself and find out what you like and what kinds of things make you angry, sad, or anxious. After that, try to find what kind of stress reliever suits you the most. There are plenty of activities to help you relax like meditation, hiking in the woods, or writing a journal. Remember to always have a bit of humor as it would help to ease the stress.

Practice gratitude

Practicing gratitude is also known to help in improving your mental health. As a disposition or characteristic, gratitude allows an individual to view and appreciate things from a positive and meaningful perspective. 

Research shows that gratitude has a strong correlation with declining stress and negative emotions like anxiety (Fekete & Deichert, 2022). 

Getting started on practicing gratitude is simple — you may want to keep a gratitude journal to help you be consistent in reflecting on your day before going to sleep. You may also want to be fully present and honor the time you are in like when you are eating, working, or doing small things that make you happy

Focus on positivity

Having a positive mindset and positive thinking is one pro tip for improving mental health. Positive thinking, also known as optimism, not only boosts mental health but also helps to avoid negative physical health issues. 

Study results suggested that positive thinking can help during difficult times in the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing the rumination of perceived stress. Those with a positive outlook on life are better able to cope with the challenges of the pandemic (Dymecka et al., 2023). 

Having a positive mindset can be trained by practicing gratitude, filtering and being aware of your negative thoughts and expectations, trying to reframe how things are done, and having the best positive manifestation of what will happen in the future.

Get help if needed

The last best practice is to seek professional help whenever you can’t get a grasp of yourself. Doing so will benefit you with the right guidance and advice. 

Deciding on whether and when should be the best time to go to a professional could be challenging. It is natural to feel confused and a bit overwhelmed. Try to recognize your feelings, emotion, and daily life first, that way you might be able to grasp what is happening in your body and mind.  

But when those negative thoughts or emotions start to take up most of your time and become overwhelming for a such prolonged period, seek help immediately. Here are some signs you need to be aware of : 

• An extended period of sadness
• Declining interest in social activities
• Alterations in eating or sleeping habits
• Increased use of alcohol or drugs
• Visual or auditory hallucinations
• Emotionally extreme highs and lows
• Suicidal or self-harming ideas
• Paranoia
• Lack of energy or fatigue unrelated to physical health issues
• Gaining or losing weight without a known cause

In conclusion

Our quality of life is greatly influenced by our mental health, which is a critical component of overall wellness. As part of improving mental health, self-care, lifestyle changes, and seeking professional support are necessary. Some of the best ways to promote good mental health are to adopt healthy habits, manage stress, engage in physical activity, and maintain positive relationships.  It’s critical to keep in mind that everyone’s road toward mental health is different. Yet, even tiny improvements can have a big impact on your well-being.

If you need more resources on improving mental health, visit the Personal Science Labs. The lab uses the research of the Institute for Life Management Science to produce courses, certifications, podcasts, videos, and other tools. Check out the Personal Science Labs today.

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Another famous person who spoke up about their dysmorphic image of their bodies, is today’s worldwide pop star, Billie Eilish. Billie stated in one interview that she has a horrible and unhealthy relationship with her body. She mentioned that whatever she wears, either baggy clothes or sexy ones, she always gets critics and felt she couldn’t satisfy anyone. As a result of this severe condition, she had a bad image of her body and a negative perspective on her mental health.

The condition that Billie and Lily experienced about the destructive images of their bodies leads to a more serious condition called body dysmorphia or often also known as body dysmorphic disorder. This condition is one of the major mental health problems which affects men and women equally in any age range. 

In most common cases of developing a dysmorphic image of one’s body, sufferers will spend hours obsessing over real or imagined flaws and take extreme measures to hide these flaws.

To make sure you fully comprehend what body dysmorphia is, this article will help you to understand the disorder in general and what you can do about it.

Defining body dysmorphia

Body dysmorphia or medically known as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), is a mental health condition that DSM 5 defined as “a preoccupation with a perceived defect or flaw in one’s physical appearance that is either not noticeable or only slightly observable by others” (Nicewicz & Boutrouille, 2022). This means those who suffer from BDD will experience persistent and intrusive obsession over one or more minor or slight defects, even imagined ones in their appearance. 

People with BDD will dislike any parts of their body, although sometimes the “flaw” or “defect” they refer to can only be seen from their perspective. These kinds of persistent thoughts about their flaw are prominent. They stay for a long time along with persistent stress and intrusive obsession with hiding their flaw from the public. As a result, there will be a great deal of emotional distress and difficulties in functioning day-to-day.

Anxiety and Depression Association in America (2022) stated that BDD is often developed in adolescents and young adults and equally affects both men and women. 

In research by Veale, Gledhill, Christodoulou, & Hodsoll (2016), it was found that BDD was estimated to occur in 2.2% of adolescent populations and 3.3% of student populations. The research also found that BDD is majorly found in the cosmetic and dermatology industry. 

Symptoms of body dysmorphia

Symptoms of BDD will grow gradually over time. As part of the clear diagnostic criteria, one must engage in repetitive behaviors during the illness, such as excessive mirror checking, camouflaging (covering up defects with makeup, clothing, etc.), skin plucking, obsessive grooming, excessive weight lifting, or widespread mental activities such as comparing one’s looks, which cause great distress to the sufferers. People with BDD are also seen to have a lack of self-control over these maladaptive behaviors.

People with BDD spend around 3 to 8 hours each day engaging in these excessive activities since they are so prevalent. 

In most cases, perceived physical flaws affect the skin, hair, or nose, but they can affect any part of the body. A person with this disorder has a preoccupation with five to seven different body parts throughout their lifetime.  

Muscle dysmorphia is a subcategory of BDD in which individuals perceive their muscles to be inadequate or too small. 

There is also BDD by proxy, in which an individual becomes obsessed with a perceived physical defect in another individual.

Treatments for body dysmorphic disorder

As body dysmorphic disorder is strictly a mental health medical issue, every diagnosis and treatment should be only done by professionals. Individuals with BDD can reach out to professional help like psychologists and psychiatrists to have an in-depth understanding of their condition and undergo therapy. 

BDD treatment is mostly a combination of psychotherapy and pharmacology interventions. Psychotherapy for BDD usually involves cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), an approach that uses a combination of behavioral experiments, exposure, and response prevention to understand and treat the problem (Veale, 2010). 

In pharmacology interventions, doctors often use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) (Hong, Nezgovorova, & Hollander 2018). 

If you notice symptoms of having body dysmorphic disorder before it severely disturbs your daily life functioning, please reach out to your nearest healthcare provider to get a proper intervention.   

Preventing body dysmorphia

As far as research is known to this day, there is still no clear cure and exact prevention methods for body dysmorphic disorder. Body dysmorphia starts at an early age, so detecting the symptoms as early as you can make a difference. 

Most cases have their first onset development in teenage age and it can get worse over time. Consult your healthcare practitioner if you have a youngster or adolescent who appears too concerned about their looks and needs regular reassurance. Consult a mental health specialist or your healthcare provider if you have BDD symptoms. Regular therapy will help to avoid BDD from relapsing in the future.

In conclusion

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental health disorder. While occasionally the “flaw” or “defect” they allude to may only be from their perspective alone, people with BDD will loathe any areas of their body. These types of persistent thoughts about their defect are obvious, they last for a long time, combined with persistent worry and an invasive fixation with hiding the imperfection from others. There will be a lot of emotional discomforts as a result, as well as challenges in coping daily. Treatment for BDD will be done through medical and psychological methods under a professional’s administration, and early intervention will prevent BDD from getting worse in the future.

If you would like to learn more about maintaining good body image, visit the Personal Science Labs. Using the research of the Institute for Life Management Science, the lab produces courses, certifications, podcasts, videos, and other learning materials. Check out Personal Science Labs today.

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According to the theoretical concept by Lazarus and Folkman (1984), stress (or conceptually as psychological stress) is a relationship between an individual and the environment that is perceived by the individual as draining or exceeding their resources and posing a threat to their well-being.

Meanwhile, anxiety is a mood disorder marked by tension and worried thoughts, as well as physical changes such as increased blood pressure (American Psychological Association, n.d.). 

Anxiety also refers to the anticipation of a future concern and is more associated with muscle tension and avoidance behavior. Anxiety is a fear-based response, where fear is an emotional response to an immediate threat and is more associated with a fight or flight reaction — either staying to fight or leaving to escape danger.

American Psychological Association (2022) stated that stress and anxiety are emotional responses, but an external trigger is more likely to cause stress. Stress triggers can be short-term, which makes them temporary such as being unable to work, social discrimination, or chronic illness. There are a number of mental and physical symptoms associated with stress, such as irritability, anger, fatigue, muscle pain, digestive problems, and difficulty sleeping.

In contrast to stress, anxiety involves persistent, excessive worries that persist even without a stressor. It is common for anxiety to cause insomnia, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, muscle tension, and irritability, which are nearly identical to the symptoms of stress. This point makes clear that anxiety will cause more harm and longer effect than just being stressed. 

This article will discuss deeper about anxiety, how anxiety affects the body functions, and what you can do to manage anxiety through meditation. 

Anxiety’s effect on the body

According to the American Psychiatric Association (2021), nearly 30% of American adults are affected by anxiety disorders which makes it the most common mental disorder in the USA. 

Usually, people with anxiety disorders experience recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. Occasionally, they may avoid certain situations for fear of causing harm. There may also be physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness, or a rapid heartbeat.

A study by Bystritky and Kronemyer (2014) listed comprehensive bodily and psychological experiences of having anxiety. Basically, there are some similarities between bodily and psychological responses between stress and anxiety, but anxiety responses are tenser and impact wider areas. For instance, anxiety symptoms are including apprehension and worry, vigilance, and experience of expectation of threat. 

Anxiety impacts vital functions, particularly the human nervous system and cognitive neuroscience as well. The researchers stated that anxiety may disturb the autonomic nervous system which yields irregular breathing, heart palpitations, blood pressure increase, and muscle tension. 

Anxiety also pushes the brain into a “default mode network”, a highly activated, unstable state. In an anxiety state, physiologic alarms are intense, dysfunctional beliefs are formed, dysregulated emotions are experienced, and maladaptive coping mechanisms are deployed. When the anxiety gets worsens, it can lead to catastrophic outcomes like severe anxiety disorders.

Managing anxiety through meditation

There are a lot of methods to get a grasp and control responses when the anxiety wave hits. Anxiety coping strategies mainly focus on how you can practice safety rituals and avoidance behavior in an attempt to escape the threat-maintaining anxiety. In order to be effective, coping strategies should reduce alarm frequency, intensity, and duration, as well as dysfunctional beliefs.

The meditation-based approach is quite well-liked for assisting those who struggle with anxiety. The meditation technique is easy to use and doesn’t have any prerequisites. A profound state of relaxation and a calm mind may be attained by meditation, which is regarded as a sort of mind-body alternative medicine. People who are anxious might release tension and become more aware of their bodies when they are in a deep state of relaxation. 

Dr. Elizabeth Hoge, a psychiatrist at the Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, in an editorial from Harvard Medical Publishing, said that mindfulness meditation is a great aid for treating anxiety. Those who suffer from anxiety have trouble handling distracting thoughts and cannot tell the difference between a helpful thought and a worry that is unhelpful.

Numerous research dug deep into how managing anxiety with meditation and how people can reap its benefits. A meta-analysis study by Bamber and Morpeth (2018) was conducted to find the effect of mindfulness meditation on college student anxiety. The conclusion was that mindfulness-based interventions like meditation significantly lower students’ anxiety as long as the meditation is done regularly. 

Another research was conducted to see the effect of meditation on mental health during the COVID-19 situation. Green et al. (2021) found participation in health behaviors such as physical activity and mindfulness meditation reduced the worsening of mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

How to practice meditation

Before stepping into any meditation practice to ease anxiety, it is important to understand the anxiety first. This is the initial step to finding the nature of the triggers of the anxiety and obtaining a better sense of what kind of situation was perceived as threatening. 

Meditation mediates rumbling thoughts, beliefs, and fear in your brain, connecting end-to-end pathways to understand and be aware of the elicited responses. Meditation also pushes and trains you to familiarize yourself and brings your attention to the surface, which makes it difficult to practice at first because of the potentially overwhelming sensations.

To help you be steady with meditation, here are a few tips you can follow to practice meditation for easing anxiety:

Start slow and small

Practicing meditation for the first time does not have to be a long and boring process. You can try to start at least 1 minute in the morning before you start your day. Starting slow and small helps you to train yourself to be attentive and calm down. Do one single meditation each day then increase the durations slowly.

Set a comfortable environment

A comfortable place can help you to succeed in practicing meditation because it will give you a sense of security and safety. You can start practicing meditation on your comfiest rug in your bedroom or in a secluded designated place where you can focus. Things like essential oils, burning incense, or lamps may help you to reach relaxation in your meditation as well.

Choose a meditation method

There are a lot of meditation techniques you can learn. You may choose any technique like mindfulness meditation which trains the attention of your passing thoughts, focused meditation which involves your awareness of your senses and your surroundings like breathing techniques, and movement meditation like walking, yoga, or tai chi. There are also a lot of websites that provide guided meditation for those who are new to practicing meditation.

Do it daily

The key to mastering meditation is practicing regularly. You will never know when the anxiety wave will come and hit your day, that is why you need to make meditation your daily routine. This way also helps you to set good habits and stick to them for a very long time.

Track your progress

In order to keep track of your journey to alleviate anxiety with meditation, it would be beneficial if you record it to check your progress. You can use an app to help, a calendar, or make a journal. Check every day after your meditation, tick the day, and you may put some reflections in your journal about your meditation journey.

In conclusion 

Having anxiety and controlling them is quite a journey. A lot might happen when the anxiety hits and could disturb your daily life. Meditation has been under extensive research and was proven to help alleviate anxiety. Meditation should not be a burden but need to be done regularly. Several tips to help include starting slow in small progress, choosing a comfortable place, choosing an easy technique, and tracking your progress every day.

If you would like to know more about meditations, check out the Personal Science Labs. Based on the research of the Institute for Life Management Science, the lab produces courses, certifications, podcasts, videos, and other learning tools and resources. Visit the Personal Science Labs today.

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Then you entered your 20s and graduated from university, found a new job, all by yourself. At the same time, you might have felt a little bit lonely since there are no more 4-hour calls or long texts after class. All your friends were busy with their own life as well, settling themselves into the adult world.

All these things are normal; human relationships are one of the most dynamic things that could occur. Your feeling of loneliness at first is a sign that your relationship with your friend was important and influential. 

When you were a student in elementary, friendship is important in developing a sense of community and emotional security. 

Then as you grew up as a teenager, you still find your relationship with your friends as important as ever. That is because friendships are common boosters of self-esteem and are seen as perceived support for adolescence and, at that age, people tend to expand their network of friends. 

By the age of 20, particularly in the mid-20s, naturally, the circle of friends you made along the way will reduce. Most people at that age have limited energy to maintain a wider circle of friends. Instead of having all-nighters and non-stop chats, they will maintain the closest ones and gradually hang out occasionally, maybe once in 3 months or sometimes just twice in 6 months. This is called a low-maintenance friendship. 

But what exactly is a low-maintenance friendship and how should it be established and maintained?

What is a low-maintenance friendship?

A low-maintenance friendship is an urban term for a relationship between the closest ties of people that does not require much maintenance, like the intensity of meeting and spending time together, but still emotionally close and trusting each other. 

As in the friendship concept, the maintenance of the relationship generally refers to the individual’s behavior to keep the relationship existing, to keep the relationship at a certain specific condition, to keep the relationship in a satisfactory condition, and to keep the relationship in good terms (Dindia & Canary, 1993). This definition gives light on why people keep their engaging behavior in their friendship still satisfying and committed over a long time.

Low-maintenance friendships can be characterized by a moderate amount of checking on each other and you can always be yourself no explanations required. Keeping in touch is not an obligation because you truly cherish each other and the time spent together. Although you only catch up once in a while, you can easily pick up where you left off and still have fun always. Also in low-maintenance friendships, you grow more understanding toward each other and become less worried and insecure about the relationship with your friends.

Why low-maintenance friendships can be good for you

Embracing low-maintenance friendships does not mean you have to be out-of-reach for a long time or meet each other just occasionally. Despite the assumption that a low-maintenance friendship does not have to be in full 24/7 contact, you still need to maintain the relationship respectively and regularly. These are some benefits you reap when you have a low-maintenance friendship:

No risk of alienation

By embracing each other’s “busyness”, you get to live your own life and your friends can also live their lives too. You will gradually learn to cherish your intimate relationship and understand each other more.

Less drama

High-maintenance relationships will surely end in hellish tension when expectations aren’t met. But low-maintenance ones don’t have these expectations. The rules don’t dictate that you have to meet every day. You recognize that you still love and care for each other even when you’re apart for a while. It would be unwise to put that kind of pressure on your relationship when you respect each other’s time and space so much.

Long-time support system

As in friendships, everyone will know how precious the relationship and the time spent together with them are. The understanding between each other will also increase as everyone also faces the same adulthood reality. 

Thus, when you have something to vent about, you will always have an emotional safety net from your friends. When you’re going through something, short calls or texts are very much cherished until you get better and become ready to face the world again

In conclusion

Relationships that require the least amount of effort to maintain are called low-maintenance friendships. It is not necessary for them to be attended to, to follow rules, or to have expectations. Every once in a while, you’ll meet up for meaningful reasons — and it’ll be easy since you’ll love it. Now more than ever, you don’t need to stay in constant contact with them because you always know they’re there for you. As time and distance pass, you both become so confident of each other that you don’t even think about it anymore.

If you would like to know more science-based tips on maintaining close friendships, check out the Personal Science Labs. The lab uses the research of the Institute for Life Management Science to produce courses, certifications, podcasts, videos, and other learning materials. Visit the Personal Science Labs today.

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Research revealed that nutrients that are consumed in everyday food have a significant impact on altering brain health and mental functions. For instance, it’s well known that omega-3 fatty acids support brain health, which is why a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids is being praised for helping cognitive function in humans. 

This is why many people try to incorporate as many nutrients into their daily diet. But for people who just started their healthy diet, choosing the right food to fulfill nutrient intake for a healthy brain might be confusing. To help you get started, here below are some superfoods you can include in your daily meal:

Fish (fatty ones are better)

Fish, especially oily and fatty ones, are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids and are rich in unsaturated fats. Omega-3 is essential to help build and maintain healthy membrane cells, including brain cells. Furthermore, omega-3s provide calories for energy and are essential for a healthy heart, blood vessels, lungs, immune system, and endocrine system (hormone-producing gland network). 

Aside from providing a great source of omega-3, research also showed that dietary consumption of fish helps to improve cognitive abilities in healthy people. The said research also suggested having a fish diet at least 2 times a week, reducing the risk of mild cognitive impairment in the long run.

Green, leafy vegetables

Greens like kale, spinach, broccoli, and dandelion greens are rich in healthy nutrients for the brain. They are packed with several minerals and vitamins like vitamin E, vitamin K, lutein, folate, and beta carotene. 

Study findings showed that regular consumption of leafy greens may help slow cognitive function decline in older age and decrease the risk of dementia.

Spices and herbs

Spices like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, and many other spices and herbs have many health benefits, especially for brain health. 

Several extensive studies showed some effects of consuming herbs and spices in food on the brain and cognitive function in the long run. For instance, researchers have proven that consuming particular herbs like Ginkgo Biloba and ginseng has been reputed to have beneficial effects on cognitive processes and reduce the risk of degenerative cognitive illnesses like dementia. 

Another great fact: spices and herbs are great sources of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients which help to avoid Alzheimer’s disease and age-related mental decline.

Berries

Blueberries, blackberries, and cranberries are some types of berries that are most consumed by people. 

Evidence suggested that berries may have positive effects on memory function, global cognition, and depression, particularly among older patients. 

A group of plant compounds known as anthocyanins is found in blueberries and other deeply colored berries, which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Neurodegenerative diseases and oxidative stress can be mitigated with antioxidants by preventing oxidative stress and inflammation. 

Nuts

Nuts are well-known as brain food and are rich in neuroprotective nutrients including vitamin E, healthy fats, and plant compounds. These neuroprotective nutrients can prevent or delay age-related neurological dysfunction and cognitive decline. 

In metadata research about walnuts, it has been shown that walnuts are associated with cardiovascular benefits. The lower risk of cardiovascular disease may be associated with better brain health since cardiovascular disease increases the risk of cerebrovascular disease, stroke, and mild cognitive impairment as well. 

However, some people are highly allergic to nuts, and some can be lethal, so consume them in moderation.

Tea and coffee

It may seem like a joke but it is the truth that tea and coffee are good for your brain and cognitive health. As long as tea and coffee are consumed at 200 mg in one sitting (around 2½ cups of coffee) or 400 mg daily (around 5 cups of coffee), it isn’t considered harmful. Both tea and coffee contain caffeine which can increase alertness and well-being, help concentration, improve mood, and limit depression. 

A study conducted on Japanese residents aged over 60 showed that green tea consumption is significantly associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline or mild cognitive impairment. A lifetime of coffee/caffeine consumption has been linked to a reduced risk of stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. It appears to have no impact on seizure occurrence. Thus, daily coffee intake can be part of a healthy balanced diet.

Eggs

Eggs are the easiest and most versatile food source that can fulfill your mineral and vitamin needs. Eggs are rich in vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folate, and choline which are supernutrients for a healthy brain. 

Deficiency in vitamin B6 and B12 may cause several cognitive problems like irritability, impaired alertness, depression, cognitive decline, and impairment like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. 

Choline is an important micronutrient for humans and is required for the synthesis of neurotransmitters (acetylcholine) in your brain. Together with folate, choline plays an important role in pregnancy. The deficiency of choline and folate may cause birth defects. 

Seeds 

In recent years, there are a lot of extensive research on seeds as brain superfoods. A study was conducted to analyze how chia seeds can improve intelligence. The researcher experimented by comparing 2 groups in several intelligence tests, one group was required to consume chia seeds for 21 days and the other group was not. The finding shows that chia seed nutrition has positive effects on cognitive abilities. This was proven in particular by the two tests with high significance and the memory task, which indicates that a dietary intake of chia seeds can positively impact memory abilities. 

Another rich-nutrient seed is pumpkin seed which is dense with antioxidants and an excellent source of essential micronutrients like iron, copper, magnesium, and zinc. These micronutrients are important in maintaining healthy nerve signals and help to improve memory.

Fermented foods

Fermented foods are identical to ancient and traditional ethnic food and might seem intimidating to those who are not used to them. With rich flavor, fermented foods also come with high-profile nutritional benefits. Fermented foods are packed with healthy probiotics and prebiotics which can be directly associated with gut health. 

A study showed that mental disorders like depression are often comorbid with gut health. And fermented food dietary practices have the potential to influence brain health through microbial action. 

Another reason to incorporate fermented foods into your diet is that fermented foods have powerful neuroprotection against neurotoxicity and reactive oxygen species. These benefits lead to cognitive enhancement and neuroprotective effects in the long run.

In conclusion

Numerous foods can help to keep your brain healthy. You can try to include these superfoods into your healthy diet one by one to get used to them. No need to hurry in changing everything on your plate. Make sure that you incorporate these types of foods without drastic changes and still fulfill your daily nutrient needs. In the end, these superfoods are only beneficial if you balance your meals with a healthy lifestyle and keep training your brain.

For more research-based resources on nutrition, visit the Personal Science Labs. The lab produces courses, certifications, podcasts, and videos based on the research of the Institute for Life Management Science. Check out Personal Science Labs today. Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

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People nowadays live a fast-paced life without thinking about slowing down for a while. Commuting to work in the morning and coming back home in the evening — people are living in their bubbles without taking breaks. This kind of lifestyle affects almost every aspect of someone’s life outside work, and mutual relationships with family and friends are no exception. 

Family and friends are essential contributors to your life balance outside work. Family is your innermost circle that provides primary comfort in life. But in terms of maintaining healthy social life and relationship, it is also essential to spend some time with your good friends. 

A study focusing on friendship relationships found that friendships beyond those within an individual’s family are indispensable sources of support that can offer companionship, intimacy, affection, and mutual assistance.  Here are some powerful benefits of spending time with your friends:

Improves your well-being and mental health

Maintaining well-being and mental health is quite hard when you have no one to guide and support you. One of the easiest ways to do so is by connecting with your loved ones, for instance, your closest friends. 

A longitudinal study was conducted on first-year university students in Australia to find any links between social connectedness in university friends, mental health and well-being, and the social status of said university students. The findings showed that social connectedness with friends was positively associated with well-being and negatively associated with depression.   

Generates happiness

Decades of research have shown that there is a strong relationship between quality friendship and happiness. Spending time with friends and participating in enjoyable activities can contribute to an individual’s happiness. This is because meeting with your friends can increase your sense of belonging as it reduces loneliness and promotes companionship. 

According to a research from Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego, happiness spreads through social networks like an emotional contagion. After conducting research on nearly 5,000 individuals over 20 years, researchers found that people become happier when their networks open up to three degrees. It is not just one person’s happiness that triggers a chain reaction that benefits their friends, but also their friends’ friends, and so on. The surprising finding was that after one year, the effects were still present which made it obvious that growing a lifelong friendship and maintaining the friendship will make you happier even in the long term.

Increases your sense of belonging and purpose

As defined by psychologists, the sense of belonging, also known as “belongingness”, refers to the emotional need to belong to a group and to be accepted by its members. A person may want to belong to a peer group at school, be accepted by coworkers, be on an athletic team, or belong to a religion. 

Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, belongingness is the third tier of the hierarchy which can be fulfilled by friendship. Spending time with your friends helps you to develop your sense of belonging and sense of being accepted by one’s peers or relationships. 

Maintaining friendships and regularly spending time with them will also help you grow and improve your life satisfaction. A study on PubMed Central analyzed the relationship between friendship ties and life satisfaction using the Italian National Statistical Institute’s 2012 multipurpose survey. The data held a large sample survey that interviewed a sample of approximately 50,000 people in about 20,000 households. According to the results, life satisfaction is positively correlated with friends’ intensity (measured by how often individuals see them) and friendship quality (measured by how satisfied they are with their friendships). 

Provides emotional support and safety

Spending time with your friends may also help you to develop closeness which can benefit you when you have things that are difficult to share with other people. Cleary and colleagues (2018) in their review and critique paper about friendship and mental health said that friendship could offer a level of intimacy in which one can disclose personal issues, desires, and questions or seek advice and help.

Spending quality time is one of the many ways to ensure you have emotional backup and support aside from your family. Friends are considered another support group that you can reach out to whenever you need support. You might face difficult conditions or traumatic experiences that can directly affect your well-being and it might get worse if you handle it all alone. 

Those who experienced traumatic events can lean on the safety net that friendship can offer. Emotional safety is the emotional level of comfort and security between two or more people when they are together. Having a safety net with your close friends helps to encourage you to be resilient, and feel secure to trust your friends whenever you face something difficult in your life.

Improves your self-confidence and self-worth

Have you ever joined a school running competition where you nearly gave up? But your friends cheered you on the side of the track and suddenly your confidence boosted up a hundred percent? It is a simple example of how your friends can boost your confidence. Sometimes you are feeling unsure or gloomy with insecurity, you can reach out to your best friends and they can cheer you up while giving you constructive opinions on what you should do or what you should change. 

In a study conducted by Harris and Orth (2019), they examined over 47,000 participants in 52 studies to determine the effects of self-esteem on social relationships over time. The researchers found that positive social relationships, social support, and social acceptance influence self-esteem development across the lifespan of children and adults. This is evidence that friendship, as well as regularly hanging out with them, is really important to influence someone to grow his/her self-esteem along with confidence and self-worth.

In conclusion

The essential baseline is, that spending time with your friends is not just a free leisure activity. It has many benefits you can reap while having a fun and great time with them. As simple as maintaining your relationships with your best friends can benefit you by improving your well-being, creating happiness and acceptance, to finally realizing that your friends can be your safe place whenever you need it.

If you would like to improve other aspects of your life, the Personal Science Labs has several resources available. Using the research of the Institute for Life Management Science, the lab produces learning resources including videos, podcasts, quizzes, and other interactive tools. Visit the Personal Science Labs today.

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Since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world, burnout seems to have a significant increase among people across the globe. APA’s 2021 Work and Well-Being survey was conducted on 1,501 American adult workers during the highest rate of pandemic numbers and found heightened burnout rates. Concerning results showed that 79% of employees had experienced work-related stress during the month before the survey. More than 3 out of 5 employees reported negative work-related effects, such as lack of motivation, energy, or interest (26%) and lack of effort (19%). There was also a dramatic growth in the number of people claiming physical fatigue: 44% — an increase of 38% over the last year — along with cognitive weariness at 36%, emotional exhaustion at 32%, and physical fatigue at 36%.

As stated in the survey’s findings, most respondents reported that the negative effects they experienced influenced their daily cognitive states like lack of motivation, interest, emotional exhaustion, and weariness. A lack of stable cognitive state may be especially harmful to those who are working on high-risk factors like medical workers. 

All these facts and figures on burnout rates raise important questions: how does burnout affect our daily cognitive functioning, how harmful is burnout for individuals, and how do you keep a healthy cognitive functioning when exposed to a potentially stressful circumstance?

In this article, we will provide answers to these questions along with some tips on how to deal with burnout.

What is burnout?

Burnout in everyday life may not be always visible. It is a gradual process where it accumulates and slowly creeps out at you like a ticking bomb. Signals and symptoms are subtle but gradually become worse. Early signals like frequent headaches, being overwhelmed, feeling tired and restless, self-doubt, and helplessness are red flags that warn our bodies of imminent burnout.

To define burnout scientifically, WHO revised the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) in 2019 to categorize burnout as an occupational phenomenon. It stated that “burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”. Burnout is described in ICD-11 as a condition that affects health status or contact with health services but is not classified as an illness or medical condition. This underlines that burnout does not fall into any kind of health disorder, is peculiar to the workplace, and should not be applied in other areas of a person’s life. 

Three dimensions of burnout

Based on ICD-11, burnout is characterized by three dimensions. This three-dimensional model by ICD-11 pinpoints both the individual’s self-conception as well as their social context as contributing factors to the stress experience. Researchers elaborated on these three dimensions in more concrete experience: 

1. Feelings of exhaustion, can also be described as being worn out, loss of energy, depletion, debilitation, and fatigue.
2. Cynicism, previously described as depersonalization, has also been described as irritability, loss of idealism, withdrawal from clients, increased mental distance from your job, or feelings of negativism related to your job. 
3. The inefficacy and ineffectiveness, are described as a lack of productivity or capability, low morale, and an inability to cope with general work and environment situations.

How does burnout affect our cognition?

As the most extreme prolonged effect of burnout is brain damage, burnout has been revealed to have a great effect on the higher level of cognitive functioning by disrupting creativity, problem-solving, and working memory.  

A group of Greek researchers conducted a systematic review of several studies about job burnout and its correlation to cognitive functioning. The finding showed that in 13 of the 15 studies, burnout was associated with cognitive deficits. Deligkaris and colleagues (2014) found that burnout is associated with a decline in three main cognitive functions: 

1. executive functions (which allows you to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and perform multiple tasks simultaneously), 
2. attention (e.g., engaging in active processing of specific information while tuning out other details), 
3. and memory (psychological processes of acquiring, storing, retaining, and later retrieving information). 

They also stated these findings have clear implications, particularly in professions characterized by both high levels of work stress and cognitive demands.

Researchers from Karolinska Institute and Hospital in Stockholm used a neuroimaging system to investigate the most devastating effects of prolonged burnout and accumulated stress on our brains. They assessed how a group of diagnosed burnout employees would perform compared to a group of healthy subjects in a series of tasks involving loud noise as experimental disruption. Those diagnosed with burnout reported more difficulty modulating their strong negative emotional response compared to the healthy control group. Golkar and colleagues (2014) also found that the burnout group has a different structure in the amygdala — a brain structure that is critical in emotional reactions including fear and aggression. 

In short, Golkar and her team found that the diagnosed group has a relatively enlarged amygdala and significantly had a weaker connection between the amygdala and brain areas linked to emotional distress. This explains why participants in the burnout group had more difficulty controlling their negative emotions. 

How do you deal with burnout?

Dealing with burnout is tricky, especially when you are already at the critical breaking point. An article from HelpGuide provides several approaches and tips to follow. To deal gradually with burnout, there are three approaches (Three Rs) that you can follow:

• Recognize – Burnout can be detected by watching for warning signs.
• Reverse – Support and stress management can help undo the damage.
• Resilience – Maintaining a healthy emotional and physical state will help you become more resilient to stress.

As you apply the approaches, other tips to help you deal with burnout are beneficial:

Turn to other people and seek help

Burnout may feel insurmountable. Problems and exhaustion can drain you to the lowest point. Reaching out to your closest ones like family and friends can help relieve stress and burden and provide emotional support when the burnout waves hit. It is also beneficial to seek the help of professionals like psychologists or counselors when you feel too overwhelmed to manage your negative emotions.

Reframe the way you look at work

Sometimes things you do either at work, school, or in society reach the point where you may feel unfulfilling and boring. Now it is time to reframe the way you do things. Try to find interesting values in what you are doing, you may want to seek a new environment, try some voluntary work, or try to cut negative factors in your work like toxic people and work-life imbalance.

Reevaluate your priorities

Lack of control is one thing that can worsen burnout. Try to find quiet times to meditate and prioritize yourself, then slowly reorganize your work and to-do list. Burnout has a massive effect on your attention and working memory, so try to do one thing at a time, avoid distractions and multitasking, and have rest in between.

In conclusion

To sum everything up, burnout is something that you need to be alert to. Many studies have stated that burnout is malicious to bodily functions, especially cognition. And since cognitive faculties are crucial, it is your top priority to keep them healthy by avoiding burnout. Tips to prevent burnout include seeking help, doing stress management, and reevaluating values and priorities.

For more content that relates to human intelligence, visit the Life Management Science Labs’ (LMSL) Personal Science Labs. The lab translates the research of the Institute for Life Management Science into courses, certifications, podcasts, videos, and more. Find out more today!Photo by Manfred Hofferer on Pexels

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