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| Mental Health and Children
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"Statistics show one in five children will develop a mental-health problem by age 11," says The Gazette newspaper of Montreal, Canada. "Good mental health means balancing the social, physical, spiritual and emotional aspects of one's life." According to Sandy Bray, a community-education coordinator for the Canadian Mental Health Association, we should be as concerned about our mental health as we are about our physical health. Bray states: "If we continue to leave mental health last on the list of priorities, that's when we tend to get depressed, anxious and stressed out." Parents are encouraged to be more proactive in keeping their children mentally healthy, by scheduling family time into their lives and by eating meals together. Other suggestions to help all to maintain good mental health include getting sufficient sleep, eating well, keeping fit, making time to do the things you enjoy, spending time with friends, laughing, volunteering, giving and accepting compliments, really listening to others, and not being too hard on yourself when you make mistakes.
How to Get a Good Night's Sleep
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For many centuries it has been known that a good night's sleep does not happen by chance. Sleeping well depends on a series of factors beyond just controlling anxiety and stress. These are known collectively as sleep hygiene.
Effective sleep hygiene amounts to a way of life. It includes getting regular exercise at the right time of the day. Exercise during the morning or afternoon can help one to be drowsy at bedtime. But working out close to bedtime can interfere with sleep.
Exciting films or engrossing reading material can also have a stimulating effect. Before going to bed, it may be better to read something relaxing, listen to soothing music, or take a warm bath.
Experts say that you can teach your brain to associate bed with sleep by lying down only when you really mean to sleep. People who eat, study, work, watch TV, or play video games in bed may find it harder to fall asleep.
Preparing the body for restful sleep also involves watching your diet. While alcoholic drinks make a person feel drowsy, they can actually impair sleep quality. Coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, and cola-based drinks should be avoided at night because they are stimulants. On the other hand, small quantities of mango, sweet potato, banana, persimmon, palm cabbage, rice, bean sprouts, or nuts stimulate the production of serotonin and can thus be sleep-inducing. A word of warning: Eating a heavy meal late at night can be as harmful to sleep as going to bed on an empty stomach.
Just as important as our presleep routine is the environment in which we sleep. A pleasant temperature, a dark and noise-free room, and a comfortable mattress and pillows are an invitation to a good night's sleep. In fact, with so much comfort, it may be hard to get up the next morning. But remember, staying in bed longer than necessary, even on the weekend, can disturb your sleep pattern and make it harder for you to sleep the following night.
Surely, you would not purposely harm any of your vital organs. Sleep is just as vital, a part of life that should not be neglected or underestimated. After all, a third of our life is spent sleeping. Can you improve your sleeping habits? Why not start tonight!
SLEEPINESS TEST
How likely are you to doze off in the situations mentioned below? Using the following scale, circle your answers, and then add up your total score.
0 Would never doze
1 Slight chance of dozing
2 Moderate chance of dozing
3 High chance of dozing
a Sitting and reading 0 1 2 3
b Watching TV 0 1 2 3
c Sitting inactive in a public place, such as 0 1 2 3
at the theater or a meeting
d As a car passenger for an hour without a break 0 1 2 3
e Sitting quietly after a lunch without alcohol 0 1 2 3
f Lying down to rest in the afternoon 0 1 2 3
g Sitting and talking to someone 0 1 2 3
h In a car, while stopped in traffic 0 1 2 3
Score ___________
Score Results
1-6: No need to worry
7-8: Within the average
9 and over: Seek medical advice
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