Illness Anxiety Disorder (IAD) is an anxiety disorder where a person is overly preoccupied with having or getting a medical illness or disease, despite having few or no symptoms. Illness Anxiety Disorder is a fairly recent term, previously referred to as hypochondriasis or hypochondria. Despite having no or only mildContinue Reading
Somatoform Symptom Disorder (SSD) is a mental disorder that occurs when an individual feels extremely exaggerated anxiety about physical symptoms – to a point where they feel they cannot perform some normal activities in their daily life. The Real Problem A person with SSD believes their medical problems are lifeContinue Reading
What is it like to grow old? To gauge our own understanding, take a few moments to take the following quick True/False quiz: Common Misconceptions The above statements are all false and among the common misconceptions about aging. The elderly are the world’s most rapidly growing population group. Life expectancyContinue Reading
Amid all the controversy regarding alcohol consumption, a new study over a twenty-three year period in the United Kingdom of more than 9,000 middle-aged people found that those with an excessive drinking habit or non-drinking teetotalers had an equally higher risk of dementia than those who drank moderately. It’s AllContinue Reading
There are more reasons than ever before to give up alcohol. A new, in-depth research study involving nearly six hundred thousand (600,000) people from nineteen different countries, conducted by a team of one hundred and twenty scientists found that contrary to public belief, “the more you drink, the shorter yourContinue Reading
A recent global research study published in the August 28 issue of Investors Business Daily looked at alcohol use and its health effects in 195 countries between 1990 and 2016. It found while moderate drinking may protect against heart disease, this is outweighed by the risk of cancer and otherContinue Reading
We should be thankful for feeling pain once in awhile. Pain is our body’s way of letting us know that something is wrong. It alerts us to pay attention and to change our behavior. Pain will draw our attention to a burn or cut, a broken bone, a rupture, evenContinue Reading
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose” said American author Robert Byrne (1930-2016). This important yet simple statement is the answer to a question that has been asked throughout all of history. Why are we here? What is the purpose of our lives? Underlying these questions is theContinue Reading
How can I tell if I have meaning and purpose in my life? The following short quiz has statements from two different but related scales. One set of statements, 1 through 5, measures meaningfulness and belongingness. The second set, 6 through 10, measures whether you are undergoing a crisis ofContinue Reading
Aging does not inevitably bring an end to engaging in challenging, rewarding activities. We are all aging. While you are reading this you have become the oldest you have ever been. To live is to grow older. That means we can all look back on our lives with satisfaction orContinue Reading