We all know there is an obvious difference between ‘black’ hair and other cultures. Some say kinky hair is a gift – you can wear it in so many different ways, but others call it a curse and have made the decision to permanently change the texture of their hair with the use of chemicals. I said permanently because once you add chemical relaxers or perms to your hair it is changed forever. There is no way to get back the natural wave pattern, even if you let the perm grow out. This is why the ‘older generations’ of African American women frown upon relaxing children’s hair. They say it will stunt their hair growth and ruin their hair forever. Well, the same it true for adult hair.

Before we review the top 10 list, let’s talk about the difference between perms and relaxers. A perm makes hair curly. This is also called a “Jerry Curl,” or “texturizer,” and used by African American men and women to create ‘waves’ on a short hair style. A relaxer, straightens the hair transforming the original curl pattern by loosening or relaxing the kinky texture. This is where the evolution of your hair takes place changing it from its original natural state to a lifelong process of having to reapply chemicals to maintain the same look each time causing more damage to your hair.

As odd as it sounds, the relaxer was actually invented by an African American man trying to create a product for a sewing machine shop back in 1910. He wiped his hand on a wool cloth and found that the chemical gave the cloth a smooth appearance. This must have been some kind of strong chemical to turn a cloth into a different texture. Did you know that this is the same chemical used to make drain cleaners to unclog sinks? It is even used to remove fur from animals in the leather making industry. And this is the same chemical that you want to apply to your precious hair? Are you really willing to risk the damage resulting from the use of chemical hair straighteners?

9. Hair Breakage

If you think using no lye relaxers are less damaging than those containing lye, think again. There are two basic types of chemical hair relaxers – Sodium Hydroxide (relaxers containing lye) and Guanidine Hydroxide (relaxers containing no lye). The manufacturers of these products want you to believe that no-lye relaxers will not damage your hair. This is simply not true.
The truth is those stunning pictures you see on the relaxer kits of black women with silky smooth hair are usually individuals who already have a good grade of hair. Don’t be fooled into thinking a mere $10 for a home relaxer kit will give you the same look; it is not that simple. There is only one full proof method to avoid hair breakage from chemical relaxers and that is to avoid them. Relaxers permanently alter the natural pH balance and chemical breakdown of your hair. This process weakens each strand of hair. Hair breakage and scalp irritation are common side effects from relaxing or perming your hair and is not a solution for hair that is damaged despite what you may have heard.

Let’s discuss a natural remedy for hair breakage using egg yolk and olive oil treatment. Applying one egg yolk and two tablespoons of olive oil to your hair while showering and rinsing with a mild shampoo is a home remedy that will help with hair breakage. You can use this remedy once a week and see a decrease in hair breakage. No chemicals, no burns; just positive results.

8. Hair Thinning

Hair thinning is inventible with applying chemicals. What we believe to be improving our hair is actually causing irreversible damage. Many women think leaving the relaxer in a little longer, or ‘getting the edges’ a little straighter by smoothing it down with a fine toothed comb will give them the look they want. Well, the truth is, this overprocessing is causes more damage resulting in thinning hair, especially around the natural hairline. You see women all the time with thinning ‘edges,’ and while there may other logical causes for this, it is a clear sign of the damage chemical hair straightening can cause.

An easy fix is don’t use a chemical agent to try to thicken your thin hair; try oat flour. Two little tablespoons added to your regular conditioner will thicken thinning hair. Oat flour can be found at your local grocery store or health food store and costs far less expensive than over the counter beauty products.

7. Permanent Hair Loss

Permanent hair loss is not uncommon with the use of chemical hair strengtheners. What starts out as a burn and turns into a scab can ultimately end up being a permanent bald spot where your hair does not grow back. This is frustrating, not to mention embarrassing as you try to cover up the unsightly area. Permanent hair loss can also start out with an area of thinning and as time goes on the hair continues to fall out. The likelihood of permanent hair loss is increased with the use of hot combs, curling irons, and hair that is pulled tight by hair rollers.

Instead of applying harsh chemicals, try a natural method to straighten your hair. As crazy at it sounds fresh coconut can gradually straighten those kinky locks without the fear of damaging your hair. You simply blend fresh coconut with lime and refrigerate. This will create a creamy mixture. Rub this on your scalp and cover with a hot towel for about an hour and rinse with a mild shampoo. If you do this three times a week you will notice the kinks start to straighten out.

6. Frizzy hair

Frizzy hair is a result of dry hair. This can be caused by a number of things – lack of moisturizer, infrequent or too frequent washing, lack of conditioning, or use of a perm or relaxer. Black hair does not take well to overconditioning. It can leave the hair flat and unable to hold a curl. Perms and relaxers do not help with frizzy hair; they only add to the problem creating dry brittle ends that lead to hair breakage. Flat irons and hair curlers only add to the problem.

Let’s go with a natural method to prevent the frizzies. Create a rinse of apple cider or vinegar and lemon (1 ounce to 1 quart of water). Since acidity helps restore the ph balance and tames the hair shaft by closing the cuticle, applying after shampooing is a natural way to get rid of frizziness without damaging your hair. The best thing about this remedy is that you probably already have it in your kitchen.

5. Scalp Irritation/Burns

Leaving perms and relaxers on too long can case scalp irritation or burns. The problem is only worsened by using additional products containing alcohol such as hair gels or sprays. Alcohol-containing hair products can aggravate the affected area causing slow healing, further irritation, or permanent scalp damage.

Treating scalp irritation should include removing dirt and oil from the affected area with a gentle shampoo and conditioning the hair. Applying antiseptic ointment to the area will help the healing process. Remember not to scratch or further irritate the area.

4. Split Ends

Your hair is made up of layers. The outer layer protects the hair shaft. When layer of protection is damaged with the use of chemical relaxers this causes the ends of your hair to split. This damage can travel up the hair shaft and cause hair breakage resulting in damaged uneven hair. Some say just trim the ends, but the truth is, perms and relaxers actually promote split ends. They dry the ends of your hair and wear down the protective layer. While trimming your hair is recommended with or without a perm, think of how much hair you are destroying each time you get a perm or even a touch-up. If you are trying to grow your hair long, you are fighting a losing battle with the use of chemicals.

3. Dry Brittle Hair

We all know that chemicals dry out your hair. This is not a secret. The makers of these hair products try to sell a dream and too many African American women buy into it to the tune of billions of dollars each year being spent. As their pockets get bigger, more and more consumers end up with damaged hair. This only means more money in their pockets as they (the companies) advertise different remedies to help restore the damage that their products have caused in the first place.

Not everyone has bought into this pipe dream though; many African Americans are going back to their natural roots with dreadlocks and natural kinky twist hair styles. Even the ‘afro’ has made a come back and it looks stunning. You need to know that chemicals do not repair dry brittle hair; they create it. If going straight is a must for you there are natural ways to get this look without applying chemical hair straighteners.

2. Scalp infection

Scalp infection as a result of perms and relaxers not so uncommon. There are several cases where consumers have filed lawsuits against the manufactures after using their products. In fact, some women are left with permanent bald spots due to scalp infection after the use of chemical hair straighteners requiring medical treatment. This is not the look that you want to achieve with the use of chemical straighteners; however, it may very well be the end result.

1. Respiratory (Breathing)/Gastrointestinal (Stomach) Problems

As strange as it sounds respiratory problems can occur from using perms and relaxers. Potassium hydroxide, also called ‘potassium lye’ is a very strong chemical and inhaling the chemical may cause coughing, sneezing, and breathing problems. If exposed to for long periods it is strong enough to cause damage to your lungs.

Ingesting potassium hydroxide can be equally damaging resulting in burns to the mouth and/or throat, vomiting, severe stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and even death.

The effects of using perms and relaxers sound dangerous and it is; not just to your hair but to your overall health. Imagine something you apply to your hair having so many side effects – is having straight hair really worth the risk?

While the pictures of silky shiny straight hair are enticing, the health risks are overwhelming and not advertised nearly as much as they should be. Hair breakage, going bald, stunted hair growth, scalp infection, thinning hair, respiratory and GI problems – seems like a big price to pay for having straight hair. Consider natural alternatives to hair straightening or even going natural with braids, twists, or locks. Look good and feel good inside and out without the risk of permanent hair damage from the use of perms and relaxers.

Phobia sufferers experience physical symptoms when confronted with the source of their dread, including sweating, shivering, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, rapid breathing and an overall, pervading feeling of dread.

When you suffer from a phobia, in fact, your whole life is affected. Germ phobic’s become unable to touch anything that may transmit bacteria to them. Arachnophobics go into blind panic when they see even the smallest spider, and agoraphobics won’t leave their houses.

We’ve also probably all heard of claustrophobia, and a few of the other more common fears, but for just about everything out there, there’s a phobia to match it, and, as quickly as we can invent new things, new fears are born.

Then again, there are some celebrities with strange phobias too. Billy Bob Thornton for one lives in dread of antique furniture. The thing is, there are phobias about everything. Somewhere, sometime, on our planet, there’s at least one person, it seems, and who is afraid of just about anything you can think of. Some are stranger than others though, and here is our collection of the top twenty weirdest phobias we could come up with, in no particular order:

20. Chorophobia

To most people, the idea of going dancing sounds like great fun, and a good way to spend an evening, especially a Friday or Saturday night. It’s a fun way to get out, spend some time with friends, and get a workout. Or maybe a little more romantic dancing with that special someone. However, if you suffer from Chorophobia, that’s not likely to be the case – since Chorophobics fear dancing itself. That means no clubs, no boogying, and even avoiding certain movies!

19. Decidophobia

Yup. You guessed it. Decidophobia is the fear of making decisions. Most of us avoid difficult decisions every once in a while. Some could even be classed as chronically indecisive, but it’s only when the thing that’s causing you to not decide is not the outcome, but the decision itself, that you would call yourself decidophobic. Imagine what life must be like for the decidophobic – never able to order in a restaurant, or even choose which one to go to. Shopping, work, even relationships must be shear hell! So next time someone calls you indecisive, you could always claim to be decidophobic instead.

18. Papaphobia

Of all the religions in the world at present, the pope is surely the best known. Revered for his benevolence and wisdom, he is nonetheless the subject of a bizarre fear, called Papaphobia. Papaphobia is the abnormal, irrational and pervading fear of the pope, and all things papal. In fact, sufferers may even be afraid of the Catholic Church in general, or symbols of the Pope, or the church. Come on guys, it’s been centuries since the inquisition. I think it’s OK now!

17. Anglophobia

As the name suggests, Anglophobics fear England, and in fact, all things English, whether spoken or written. Now, I know the English used to conquer other countries quite a bit, but they haven’t done that in a while! This is one phobia that must make a trip to the library, or the movies, difficult to stomach, and since English is the language of business, how on earth would you work anywhere?

16. Arachibutyrophobia

Have you ever eaten a peanut butter sandwich, only to have the butter stick to the roof of your mouth? Annoying, isn’t it. If you’re an Arachibutyrophobic, it’s not just annoying though. It’s terrifying. In fact, there’s a good chance you won’t even eat peanut butter sandwiches. You see, those who suffer from Arachibutyrophobia are phobic of peanut butter sticking to the roof of their mouths, and experience the usual phobia symptoms just from the merest thought!

15. Alektorophobia

Most of us don’t give a second thought to chickens, right? They’re just birds, until they end up at KFC, and then, they’re lunch! However, these feathered farmyard creatures strike fear into the heart of those who are Alektorophobic, since that is the fear of chickens.

14. Hellenologophobia

Being Hellenologophobic must be particularly difficult. This particular phobia is the fear of Greek, or complex scientific terms. And since most names of phobias are derived from the Greek, and are complex, and scientific, how would you ever get diagnosed? How, indeed, would you explain your phobia to anyone who asked?

13. Nomophobia

This is a relatively new phobia, and proof positive that as long as we humans continue to evolve, and invent new things, we’ll just be giving ourselves more new things to be afraid of. Nomophobics are afraid of being outside of cell phone signal. Now, for most of us, having a low battery, or no call time, or even just being somewhere where there is no signal, is a little bit of a relief in our modern world, where we’re expected to be available all day, every day, but when it comes to Nomophobics, that’s simply not an option!

12. Asymmetriphobia

OK, so most of us like things to be symmetrical, and orderly, most of the time. But a little bit of asymmetry is not the end of the world, is it? It is if you’re a sufferer of Asymmetriphobia. Just imagine having to arrange everything in your life to be perfectly symmetrical, or suffer the symptoms of phobia? You desk, home, closet, and everything else will need to be completely reshuffled to accommodate your fear. And what happens when you leave home, and venture out into the anything but symmetrical world.

11. Scopophobia

I don’t think there’s anyone alive who enjoys that feeling you get when someone is looking at you. It’s unnerving and uncomfortable. However, when that goes beyond the merely uncomfortable, and becomes an irrational fear, you could be suffering from Scopophobia. Of course, those who suffer from Scopophobia have a hard time getting through the day. A trip to the mall is impossible, as is working in any normal job, or even driving. Let’s face it, as soon as you leave the house, there are going to be people looking at you. Just imagine what that must be like!

10. Phalacrophobia

Most men would consider this particular phobia appropriate, if not justified! Phalacrophobia is the fear of going bald, and let’s face it, most men who’ve seen a few extra hairs on their comb, or going down the drain, have felt a twinge of this one. Heck, there’s a thriving industry built up around hair replacers and baldness inhibitors, and although most of them don’t work that well (if at all) you’ll still find men using them religiously. Our opinion? If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, so bite the bullet, and shave it off. No more problem!

9. Phagophobia

Phagophobia is another fear that has the ability to impact on your life. Except that left unchecked, this one could even kill you! Phagophobics fear swallowing. In milder cases, this may lead to eating only soft or liquid foods, but some who suffer from this fear eating any kind of food at all. This might lead to a misdiagnosis as a fear of eating, or even an eating disorder, when in fact, it’s not the food, or even weight gain, that sufferers avoid, but rather, the physical act of swallowing.

8. Bromhidrosiphobia

This is one phobia that we think might actually be too rare. Those who suffer from bromhidrosiphobia, fear body odor. This type of fear though goes far beyond the normal, average type of fear, using deodorant and so on, which most people have. I mean, let’s face it, no one wants to smell bad! These people, however, become obsessed with their own body odor, and may even begin to imagine that they smell bad, when in fact, they don’t. Of course, when you consider the other end of the spectrum – those people who don’t realize they’re rather ripe, and who you’d rather share an elevator with, the choice is clear.

7. Hobophobia

If you live in just about any big city, anywhere in the world, chances are, on your way to work, or the store, or anywhere else, you’ll be approached by at least one homeless person. For most of us, this is an annoyance at worst, or you might feel pity, or anger at society. If you’re hobophobic though, the sight of a vagrant is enough to strike fear in to your heart, and have your palms sweating and your heart racing in no time at all.

6. Spectrophobia

We all have days when looking into the mirror is difficult, where we just know we don’t look our best, and we’d rather not rub it in. If you suffer from Spectrophobia though, looking in a mirror is a terror beyond all others for you. In fact, seeing your reflection anywhere is beyond your capabilities, and you’ll end up suffering the symptoms of panic if you do. Psychoanalyst Sandor Ferenczi boiled it down to one of two main causes – fear of knowing yourself (or self knowledge) or fear of exhibitionism.

5. Amnesiphobia

This one’s quite tricky to wrap your head around. We can understand being afraid of amnesia, I mean, no one wants to lose their memory, but then, how do we know that we’ve lost our memories? If you’ve lost your memory, would you remember enough to know that you had? This is exactly what amnesiaphobics fear though. The possibility of losing their memories.

4. Erythrophobia

None of us like to be embarrassed – that’s easy to understand, but did you know that there are a group of people who fear the act of blushing? Instead of fearing the potentially embarrassing situation that makes them blush, they fear the blush itself. It’s got to be tough being Erythrophobic – imagine going to the movies – you’d have to choose carefully! And what would you do when you met someone you thought was cute?

3. Melanophobia

It’s a fashion staple. On nearly every runway, or every shelf in every department store, every season, you will find at least one black item. It’s even become the way to describe the latest, hottest color – the “new black.” However, much as the little black dress or the classic tuxedo is the ultimate in stylish fashion, there are those, better known as Melanophobics, who fear black. That’s got to make life really tricky. Just think of how many black things there are in the world around you. Look around the room you’re in right now. Maybe your phone? Computer? Shoes? Black is everywhere – then again, what on earth would you do on Halloween?

2. Tapinophobia

Most of us fear being sick. Not the bone chilling, heart racing kind of fear that phobias induce, but a healthy sense of unease about the whole idea. We stay home, dose ourselves, and sleep more when we’re sick, but there are a group of people, those who suffer from tapinophobia, who are actually afraid of being contagious too. Their fear of illness extends beyond merely fear for their own health when sick, but fear of passing their illness on to others. Now, we all know it’s not nice to spread your cold, flu, or other illness around, but not many of us are actually afraid of the possibility!

1. Ephebiphobia

If you suffer from ephebiphobia, chances are, leaving your house is difficult. Going to the mall, or just about any fast food restaurant, must be well nigh impossible, and teaching in a high school would send chills down your spine. If you guessed that ephebiphobia is the fear of teenagers, you’d be right. Just imagine trying to parent a teen if you suffer from Ephebiphobia! It’s difficult enough, from what we hear. While it’s true that teenagers can be difficult and moody, we still don’t see the reason to have a mortal fear of them!

There’s a million ways to go and all of them are permanent, but like your own internal assassin, some ailments may only make themselves apparent when it’s too late to do anything about them while others can kill you before you even know you have them.

This list of the top 10 Medical Silent Killers hopes to not only alert you to some of the Grim Reaper’s sneakiest tricks, but also how you can prevent and treat them, sometimes without spending a dime to do so.

10. Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a type of lung cancer that is different from the common form of lung cancer; it usually involves prolonged exposure to asbestos. The warning signs of Mesothelioma are far from readily apparent; it may take up to 50 years for an individual to become symptomatic. While the American Occupational Safety and Health Association and the Environmental Protection Agency currently regulate laws for working in areas filled with asbestos, and they do so with an iron-fist, this was not always the case. Asbestos was widely used in construction from the late 1800’s until the late 1970’s, but crafting new asbestos was not banned until 1989. Given this and Mesothelioma difficulty to diagnose due to its likenesses to other respiratory illnesses, Mesothelioma is not only a hazard for people who currently work in occupations where asbestos is encountered, but Mesothelioma poses an especially grave risk for the elderly who may now be retired, but worked and lived around asbestos while it was still in common use. Though Mesothelioma is a distinctive form of cancer, it is still a cancer and may be treated through the same methods, not to mention lawsuits against those responsible for an individual’s exposure to asbestos is an often exercised option.

9. Osteoporosis

As a disease that causes weakening of the bones, Osteoporosis can bring an individual to an extremely slow and painful end if left untreated. Osteoporosis doesn’t always result in death, but when it does, it can be the result of a blood clotting following an osteoporosis-caused injury, with a spinal injury being the most severe. Severe pain in the arms, legs, or back are signs of the osteoporosis onset, however the disease will often have been developing within a person for many years. For this reason, people over 50 years old, especially women, are at a severe risk of developing osteoporosis and consist of over half of osteoporosis patients. A bone density test may be used to diagnose osteoporosis, and fortunately, it is very preventable by exercising and keeping a decent amount of Vitamin D in a diet.

8. Heart Disease

We probably all know at least one person who suffers from any given form of heart disease, of which there are many. Heart disease in all of its forms has and will continue to be a leading cause of death across the world, and while high blood pressure, weight, and lack of exercise may expedite the onset of heart disease, chances are a heart condition will kill you in old age anyway. While easily considered a silent killer, the symptoms of some forms of heart disease are unmistakable; a burning in the chest, or the numbness of a body part. Treating heart disease with pills and surgery is far from easy, but medical technology has advanced in the area of treating heart conditions possibly more than medical technology has advanced in any other endeavor. Even still, living a healthy and smoke-free lifestyle may be one of the best ways to treat, even reverse an aortic condition. Excluding age or a hereditary predisposition to heart disease, the best way to prevent it may just be to take care of oneself.

7. Aneurysms

Occurring usually in the brain or the heart, an aneurysm is the weakening of a blood vessel to the point it bursts, which will cause a hemorrhage that can result in a sudden death. Aneurysms are often caused by conditions such as diabetes and hypertension with, in fact the symptoms are similar to the pain one feels when they are about to have a heart attack. An MRI can diagnose an aneurysm, but depending on the severity of the aneurysm, surgery may be the only option to save a patient’s life.

6. Obstructive Sleep Apnea

A 22 year old female in peak physical condition is laughing, eating and joking at dinner with her family after a long day of work, goes to bed that night, and by the morning they’ve died; obstructive sleep apnea may be responsible for this tragedy. OBA is a common condition where the airway is blocked during sleep and a person may not even know they suffer from OBA as a result. OBA’s vague symptoms, which include loud snoring and post-waking headaches can make diagnosing OBA even more elusive. When someone discovers they have OBA, often from a family member, a polysomnogram is the best option for diagnosis, although the often machinery-based treatments for OBA can be expensive.

5. Obesity

Obesity is definitely a prominent silent killer that is worsened by the growing numbers for obesity and hyper-obesity growing worldwide. Today, over 200 million adults are at least 50 pounds overweight, not including children. Obesity is notoriously dangerous regardless of age as it leads to many other conditions such as diabetes, thyroid cancer, heart disease, and strokes. So, if obesity is so widespread and dangerous, why is it the only number 5 on the list of silent killers? Obesity cannot be considered as dangerous as other medical silent killers because governments, health organizations, and commercial weight-loss companies worldwide are aware of the obesity epidemic and are committed to stopping it. From the drastic gastro-intestinal bypass operation to generic diet food, the overweight have many avenues they can pursue to lose weight and stay healthy. Obesity may be a dire problem across the globe, but it is usually more than treatable if an individual is devoted to solving it.

4. Type II Diabetes

Diabetes is the epitome of a medical silent killer if only because a person has the possibility of getting it before they are even born.

www.diabetesthesilentkiller.com reports that Type I Diabetes remains uncommon, but the more dangerous Type II diabetes is similar to obesity’s status as an epidemic, as it may affect the old, healthy, and obese alike. Type II diabetes is considered somewhat impossible to detect early on because there are no outward symptoms, but as the condition grows serious Type II Diabetes can first be identified through rashes on the skin and feet. Though self-diagnosing is secondary to an evaluation by a doctor, you can determine your own risk level with an easily purchased home diabetes test. Prescription medication is currently the best treatment for Type II diabetes, but a good diet and exercise will dramatically decrease the risk of even developing Type II Diabetes.

3. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

SIDS is the sudden, unexplained death of an infant between 28 days old and a 1 year old. SIDS is an especially dangerous silent killer primarily of its unpredictability, lack of definitive causes, and the thought of a life ending before its even begun is horrifying in itself. With SIDS, generally an infant has been laid to rest for the evening and has died by the time the parent checks in on them again. It may be important to note that SIDS is not always a result of an inherent sickness within the child, but that child abuse and placing an infant on their stomach rather than their backs for bedtime may be the cause of a sudden infant death. The efforts of “The Back to Sleep” campaign, dedicated to preventing SIDS through educating and informing new parents about the risk factors of SIDS, are largely responsible for a 50 percent decline of SIDS between 2005 and 2009. Give the great people at Back to Sleep a visit at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sids/, and then give them a round of applause.

2. Cancer

With many forms, over 1,500 Americans dying from it daily, the ability to become untreatable before it’s even diagnosed and no cure for it in sight, cancer is possibly the most lethal and infamous of all medical silent killers. There are over 200 types of cancer that may develop in the human body, and while cancers such as skin and eye cancer may appear on the extern of the body and may be easier diagnose before they become life-threatening, cancers such as breast cancer, testicular cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer are among the deadliest cancers because the symptoms may not manifest until the cancer becomes difficult to treat. While there are some commonly known risk factors associated with developing a cancer, such as old age, smoking’s link to lung cancer, tobacco’s link to mouth cancer, and red meat’s link to colon cancer, there are still no definite ways to prevent cancer, as individuals whom have never smoked a cigarette in their lives may still develop lung cancer or brain cancer. Generally, the best chance one has of surviving cancer is to have it diagnosed early; mammograms serve this purpose for detecting breast cancer and rectal exams serve this purpose for prostate cancer. The treatment for a diagnosed cancer varies depending on the type of cancer, but chemo-therapy, radiotherapy, and surgery are the three most prevalent treatments.

1. Stress

When you broke that vase at age seven and your parents screamed “you’re killing me!” they weren’t exaggerating. Stress is the oldest, most prolific and deadliest of all medical silent killers: 100% of the human population either directly or indirectly suffers from the results of stressful situations and generally stressful lives. The causes of stress are absolutely innumerable, and the effects any given stressful event can have on a single person is extremely unpredictable.

Philosophically, too much stress in the mind can cause sickness in the body, and this belief is rather factual. Stress can be responsible for high blood pressure, mental illnesses such as depression and high anxiety, epileptic seizures, strokes, chronic migraines, and allegedly ulcers. While stress is not a disease in itself, stress may definitely make an existing condition worse through internal and external means; for example the stress of coping with a possibly terminal form of cancer may force a cancer patient into such a depression, they refuse to seek treatment that may otherwise save their life.

Stress is an even deadlier silent killer than the rest because of its contagiousness; one person’s stress often affects someone else, usually those closest to them. A person whom commits suicide as a result of stress may leave behind a family who must now live with the grief that comes with such a stressful event, and this trauma may exist for the rest of their lives. Stress influences and affects the world on a scale possibly twice that of cancer, as oppression, which is a major cause of stress, has led to rebellions, wars, and even genocide. Stress is not only the deadliest silent killer, but also a major source of worldwide violence.

The good news? First, recognize that stress of some form exists in all living human beings, then recognize that while stress is incurable, treating stress is by far one of the cheapest, easiest, and best things a person can ever do. To treat stress all a person must do is go for a walk, talk to friends, play a game, do whatever an individual person loves to do, or just deal with the source of the stress directly. Saving oneself from stress is the definition of irony: overcoming mankind’s worst silent killer by simply not worrying about it.

We’re so busy taking advantage of all the time saving devices and advancements out there, that we have failed to notice that our lives are becoming busier and busier with each added responsibility and activity.

The result of all this is that our focus has become diffused. Frantically we multi task, making sure that our home, work and social lives stay up to scratch. Of course, nothing is perfect, but everything is good enough. With so many things on our plates, it’s well nigh impossible to focus on just one or two of the most important things, and so, we never achieve our full potential.

What about when we really need to focus though. What if there’s a critical project that needs to be completed, or if something else arises that requires our attention. How can we improve our focus, still achieving all the things we need to do, and making sure they’re all done right. Focus and dedication are the two keys to getting anything done, and the better your focus is, the easier you will find it to achieve all of your goals, whatever they may be.

Here are our top ten tips to improve your focus.

10. Decide on Your Goal

The very first step in getting focused is to set a goal.

You wouldn’t go on a trip with no destination in mind would you? Trying to get focused without a goal amounts to the same thing. A lot of running around, with no progress.

Your goal could be broad, such as “make more time for me” or more pinpointed, such as “improve my performance at work and get a promotion.” Your goal should be backed up by sound reasoning too. If you’re trying to do better at work, why? Do you want a raise or a promotion; are you trying to protect your job?

Knowing your goal is the very first step in improving your focus, and of course, you can have short, medium and long term goals. Whatever they are, figure them out, and write them down.

9. List the Steps

Once you’ve figured out your goal, you’re probably sitting looking at a piece of paper with a word or two scrawled on it, thinking that it seems just as unattainable as ever.

Looking at anything like that is daunting, and can make you want to crumple up that piece of paper, forget your goals, deal with having less focus, and go back to your old system, of fixing whatever’s most broken first. That’s why it’s important to break everything into easy to manage, bite sized pieces, and tackle them one at a time.

Remember the old saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day?” that’s the same reason we break things up into steps. It helps us look at the building blocks, rather than just that one overwhelming task.

Setting timeframes can also improve focus. Give each item on your to do list a timeframe, and you’ll be adding motivation to get it completed.

8. Give Yourself Visual Reminders

When you’re trying to stay focused, giving yourself something visual to remind you of your goal will help enormously.

If, for example, you’re focusing on getting a promotion, get yourself a black or white board, and put it up somewhere where you will see it. Write messages to yourself, reminding yourself of the goal. If you want to lose weight, keep your focus on the goal by putting a picture on the fridge. Its clichéd, but it works.

Even post it notes can help. Stick a few where you’ll see them. Put them on your computer monitor, bedside lamp, and bathroom mirror. Wherever you’ll see them, and be reminded of your goals works.

Another great idea is to put reminders on your cell phone. All too often, we write things in a diary, and then forget to check it, rendering the effort futile. A reminder, with an alarm, on your cell phone, will help you get, and keep on track, helping you focus, and removing the worry that you will forget something crucial.

Last, but not least, get yourself an in tray, whether at home or in the office. Seeing physical files, documents, bills or other items in your tray will help remind you to focus, and to achieve those tasks on your list!

Visual reminders help us stay focused and motivated, which leads to achieving goals quicker and easier.

7. Talk to Yourself

It’s another cliché, but then, clichés become that because they’re used over and over. And the reason for that is that they work.

Giving yourself a pep talk before work, or first thing in the morning, whether in the mirror while you get ready, or in the car on the way to work, will help you remember your goals, whatever they may be, and to keep focused on them.

Appoint yourself your own life coach, or motivational speaker, and remind yourself often what your goals are, and that focus, determination, hard work, and a little bit of luck, can get you wherever you want to be.

6. Clear Out the Clutter

A cluttered house, office or desk is unlikely to inspire motivation or focus in anyone, so if you want to get, and stay focused, you’re going to have to spend a little time banishing all the junk you’ve accumulated over the years.

Start small. Take it one room or one drawer of your desk at a time. If you can’t bear to part with papers, in case you’ll need them sometime in the future, invest in storage boxes to keep them safe, label them, and stack them on a shelf or in a cupboard.

Keep going, and eventually, every physical area of your life will be organized, helping you to get your mind organized. Plus, it’s easier, and more pleasant, to do anything if the area you do it in is well organized, clear and uncluttered. Be brutal if you have to, but get it done.

5. Learn to Stay Calm

Panicking is one thing that can kill focus very, very quickly. When we get stressed, and start to panic, we stop reasoning, and start doing indiscriminately.

Have you ever met someone who always seems busy, but gets very little done? Chances are, they are in a constant state of panic, acting and reacting without planning or thinking about what they’re doing and why. They bounce frantically from one task to the next, never finishing anything, always rushed, unfocused and unproductive.

Train yourself to remain calm. Take deep breaths, count to ten, or talk to yourself. Do whatever it takes to keep your mind focused on the goal. Once you can do that, and keep focus on your immediate goal, you’ll start doing things that will help you reach your goal quicker, and the more you practice, the better you’ll get.

Pretty soon, you’ll be planning every step, thinking about every action, and keeping your focus much easier than before.

4. Delete

We all want to do it all, and have it all. Unfortunately, however, there’s only so much focus to go around, and the more irons you have in the fire, the more likely you are to lose focus on all of them.

Take a look at your schedule, and figure out if there are things you can strip away, giving yourself less to do, and narrowing your focus to the really important things. If you find duplicates, for example, taking a yoga class and going to the gym, choose one, and scrap the other.

Figure out which activities are the most important to you, and your short, medium and long term goals, and plan your day, week and month around those, making sure you leave yourself some down time in between.

A big part of deleting is learning to say no gracefully. Have you ever said yes to someone automatically, only to realize later on that you actually don’t have the time, or the energy, to accomplish the task you agreed to? Not only does that steal focus from the things that are important to you, but it can eventually lead to resentment. Rather say, I’ll think about it, and then do just that. If you honestly have the time, agree, but if you don’t, just say no, apologize for being unable to help, and be done with it. I can guarantee you, true friends and family won’t hold it against you, and if they do, that’s their problem. Not yours.

3. Delegate

For most people, delegating is one of the most difficult time management skills to master. Handing something over to someone else is a scary prospect, since it means you no longer have complete control, but if you want to narrow down your responsibilities, and gain more focus, you have to reduce the number of worries you have.

It could be as simple as asking your spouse to pick up the dry cleaning, or handing over simpler tasks at work, but whatever you do delegate means one less thing you need to do yourself, and one less thing to split your focus on.

Delegating could even mean hiring house help, or getting an assistant or child minder. Anything that splits your load will help you focus more decisively on the important things.

The key to delegating though is to delegate, and then actually give up control, trusting the person you have given the task to get it done. Giving away some of the problems that are impacting on your focus and then micro managing them makes no sense whatsoever, and will actually cause you to lose focus even more.

2. Simplify

Simplifying your life is actually an easily accomplished thing, if you set your mind to it. Things like banking online instead of rushing out during lunch, or using bought pasta sauce instead of homemade, sorting out your closet and finding your favorite work outfits, putting them one side, all mean there’s less to think about, meaning more time, and more focus, for the important things.

Paring down, and automating basic functions and tasks , so that there’s barely any thought or effort involved, frees up more time for you to focus on the important stuff.

Even things as simple as putting your keys in one place, doing your grocery shopping once a month instead of weekly, and finding a better route to work can make your life easier, and give you more time, and energy, to focus on the important things.

1. Relax

Just as it’s important to learn to be calm, it’s important to learn how to relax. If you’re stressed out, your body goes into fight or flight mode. All unnecessary systems start shutting down, including your immune system, which is why you get sick easier when you are stressed out.

Being stressed is also an easy way to kill focus. You’ll be more lethargic, find it harder to concentrate, may have trouble sleeping, and will certainly have a short fuse. None of which is conducive to focusing on anything. Stress can even lead to serious health issues like heart problems and a stroke, so learning to relax helps more than your focus!

Learn meditation, yoga, tai chi or other relaxation techniques, pencil some down time into that hectic schedule, and make some time for you, and you’ll be able to get back to being much more focused when you’ve recharged.

Once you’ve gone through all of these steps, you should be a lean, mean, focused machine, ready to take on the world, tackle anything, and tick tasks off your to do list with lightning speed. And when you’ve reached that stage, there’s absolutely nothing on earth you cannot achieve. So go out there, focus on what you want, and get it.

Over the years, there have been countless books written on relationship development and improvement. Many of those authors have touched on the subject of injecting soul into a relationship, but that’s a tricky thing indeed.

After all, what is the soul? How does it differ from the mind, or indeed the heart? Some might say the soul is that indefinable something that makes you who you are.

Having a soulful relationship, therefore, would mean having a relationship where you, and your partner, are free to be yourself, without fear of recrimination, or judgment, and to have your partner do the same. It would also mean feeding your soul, by doing the things you love, either as a couple, or on your own.

Easier said than done in this modern world, where divorce is no longer a scandal and multiple marriages are the order of the day. So just how can you inject a little soul into your relationship, feed your soul, stay happy, and committed? We don’t claim to have all the answers, but here are a few ideas from the experts.

10. Love Unconditionally

This is the basis on which any soulful relationship is built. Unfortunately, it’s also the most difficult to achieve.

While in theory, maintaining love for your partner regardless of what happens in your life, what they do, say or omit, should be possible, after all, we have that kind of love for our children, don’t we? However, the reality is that a marriage or relationship is a partnership, and when something happens that unbalances this partnership, whether it’s a job loss by one partner, and affair, or an accident that leaves them disabled, all too often, we simply cannot continue to love as we had before.

What we can do, however, is attempt to love unconditionally. Everyone has their deal breakers, and no one is saying you should forgive everything. There are some things that are just unforgiveable, and will stay that way, but if you examine every event, occurrence, statement or issue with a more careful eye, you may find that they are not worth the amount of fighting, arguing or effort you put into them.

If it’s not something you know will still be bothering you a year, or five, or ten years down the line, or if it’s something that was no one’s fault, like a job loss, or accident, consider letting it go. You’ll feel much, much better than you would had you fought about it.

9. Know Yourself

How can we ever expect to truly connect with another human being, if we have never truly connected with ourselves?

If you really want to connect with your partner, and enjoy a soulful and happy relationship, you first need to make sure you know yourself. What do you believe? What is most important to you – money, family, career, or something else? What is your greatest goal in life? What makes you angry, sad or happy? Until you can answer the important what’s and what if’s about yourself, you will always find it difficult to truly connect.

Figure out who you are, how and why you react as you do to the situations that occur in your life, and what you really want, and it will be easier to let your partner know, and figure out what they want. Otherwise, instead of togetherness, you might end up with two lives lived in parallel, never truly meeting – a recipe for disaster.

8. Give, and Take, a Little Space

There’s an old saying – absence makes the heart grow fonder. That saying is as true today as when it was first coined.

Too much togetherness can kill a relationship as quickly as too little, so make sure you cultivate your own interests, friends, and social life, and take time, just for you, every once in a while to enjoy them, while allowing your partner the same.

By doing the things you love, you feed your soul, and in doing so, and allowing your partner to do the same, you will bring more soul into your partnership. Whatever you do though, whether it’s listen to music, play a sport, go shopping with the girls or anything else, make sure it’s something that your partner would approve of.

7. Care

Ever heard the saying it’s the little things that count? That’s where caring comes in. If your partner is sick, take them tea or soup in bed. When they’re worried or tense, give them a massage.

All too often, we think love needs to be a big, showy expensive performance, when the truth is, a little caring, combined with the knowledge that you’re thinking about them, are concerned about their happiness and well being, and want to do everything you can to help, makes all the difference.

It could be something as simple as picking up the dry cleaning if you know they have to work late, but showing you care is guaranteed to bring the soul back into your relationship. Make a point to be considerate and caring, and see how it works for you!

6. Respect

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Aretha Franklin sang about it, we all pay it lip service, but how many of us really make sure we pay the important people in our lives respect?

Honesty and respect go hand in hand, so lying automatically cancels out respect, no matter how polite and considerate you may be, so remember that when you’re making an effort to respect your partner. Make a point of treating them exactly as you would like them to treat you, and you should find that you have a trouble free, soulful relationship.

When in doubt, remember what the bible has to say: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” While you’re at it, why not apply that principle to everyone you meet? Treating people with respect is the very best way to earn respect, and you’ll be a lot happier all round if you have less conflict in your life.

5. Forgive

The fact is, when someone does something bad, hurtful or inconsiderate to you, you have two choices. You could choose to bear a grudge, allowing the sin they committed to fester in your heart and mind, poisoning you against them, and the rest of the world, for the rest of your life.

Or, you could choose to forgive them for their human foible, and move on with your life. Clearly the former is the far more destructive option, since, instead of putting their crime behind you, you begin to focus all your attention on it, to the exclusion of everything else. The result? They may blithely move on with their lives, while you live in abject misery.

Of course, in a relationship, when the misdeed is serious, like adultery, it’s impossible to simply walk away, and let them get away with it. If you don’t receive a sincere apology, and you feel the deed warrants it, you could always approach the courts for justice. But don’t let the deed, word or other crime of another ruin, or rule your life. If you do, you remain the loser forever.

If you have hurt your partner, by accident or knowingly, the only thing to do, is to sincerely ask for their forgiveness, and own up to your misdeed. Remember – small lies lead to bigger ones, until it will seem that your life is one big lie, and you are lost. Better to bear the brunt of their anger than the guilt.

4. Encourage

If you think about it, why do humans form relationships? To have a companion, someone to share their hopes, dreams, problems and joys with. A partner. The word says it all.

What better way for you and your partner to enjoy a more soulful relationship than by encouraging each other to achieve your goals and dreams. However, that encouragement should not mean that you fix everything for your loved one. As much as anything else, they should have the pride that comes from standing on their own two feet, and if you fix everything for them that would never happen.

Rather than being a substitute parent, focus on being a cheerleader, boosting their confidence, and convincing them that anything they put their minds to is possible, and remember, there’s nothing ,more demoralizing than being told by someone you love that your most dearly held hopes and dreams are out of your reach.

If your beloved does have some dreams that are, to your mind, a little ambitious, encourage them, and help them see that even the biggest hopes and dreams are achieved one small step at a time.

3. Communicate

Usually the number one rule in relationships, it’s pretty high on our list too. For a relationship to be soulful, you need to communicate with your partner.

And we’re not talking non committal grunts, or monosyllabic replies over the breakfast table here. You need to share your hopes, dreams and fears. If something in your relationship is making you unhappy or mad, get it out in the open. Never miss an opportunity to share your feelings, but remember to do so with respect, and taking into account that people are entitled to a difference of opinion.

If you’re not comfortable communicating on your own, face to face, or need some help getting started, consider seeing a couples counselor, or write each other notes. As long as your thoughts are heard, you’re making progress.

2. Enjoy

Too often we’re caught up in daily life’s minutiae, and we forget that we’re supposed to enjoy being together. The easiest way to do that is to share things you both love. Cook a great meal, or go to a restaurant you both love. Take a short trip together, even if it’s only to a neighboring town. Walk on the beach, go dancing, or watch a movie together, curled up on the couch.

Whatever you have in common is what brought you together in the first place, so make sure you make time for it, no matter what your schedule looks like. Or you could find something new that you love to do together. There are probably many things on both your lists of things to do in this life. Why not compare lists, and pick a few to try right now? Eventually, whether it’s bungee jumping together, or enjoying a specific cuisine, you’ll find something that brings both of you joy, that you can share with each other.

Joy is a rare thing in our hard, fast paced modern world, and when we can get it, we should grab it with both hands. What better way to find it, and keep it in our lives, than to rediscover all the things we love to do together, and them actually doing them?

1. Learn

Remember the first few weeks or months of your relationship? The delight you took in learning about your partner, their hopes, dreams, fears and passions? The wonder of uncovering the secrets of their personality, along with a hefty dose of biochemical’s, were what gave you that tingly feeling, that wondrous giddiness that comes with new love.

So, it’s been ten, or twenty years. Do you really think there’s nothing new to learn about your partner? Do you really think they haven’t changed, even a little, in those years? Make the effort to learn about your partner all the time – you might be surprised what you find.

Then again, you could make learning something new something that brings you closer together. Maybe you’ve always wanted to do something. Make it a couple project. Sign up for classes, and then go. Together. If nothing else, it will give you something to talk to each other about, and usually, once you start talking, it’s easy to carry on.

Make it a point, today, to find out something new about your partner. Ask them a question. Listen to the answer. Take note. Eventually, you may remember what it was that gave you those butterflies!

Unless you’re a member of the “live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse” school of thought, chances are you’re on the lookout to at least prolong the life that fate has given you. If that’s the case, then these fifteen ways, in no particular order, to prolong your life should at least offer a little direction, and give you a little more time before you shuffle off your mortal coil, into whatever unknown lies beyond death.

Some of these are the same things your mother told you when you were growing up, but others may surprise you a little. Most of them are easy to start today, allowing you to rest assured that you’re doing your bit to ensure your long term health, and that you’ll be here for a long time to come.

15. Sleep a Little Less

Contrary to dear old mom’s advice, and to popular belief, eight hours of sleep a night is not the optimum, if you want to lead a longer life. We actually need a little less than that to function at our peak.

In fact, researchers have discovered that those who get around six hours a night live longer than those who get eight hours or more, or those that get four hours or less. So, stay up, watch a little late night TV, and live longer, or get up a little earlier in the morning, giving yourself a little me time, or reducing the stress of rushing to work. Either way, you’ll be getting added benefits. Think of it as health multi tasking.

14. Get, and Stay, Married

Yup, it’s been proven. Those of us who are married, both male and female, enjoy longer lives. But make sure you work on that relationship, because studies have also shown that those who divorce, and then remarry, are more likely to die sooner than their happily married counterparts.

So, if you’re in a relationship, spend some time working on it, making sure it’s a happy and enduring one, and if you’re not, go out there and meet someone! You’ll live a longer life with a companion and partner by your side.

13. Laugh

Laughter is a surprising and little thought of way to lengthen your lifespan, but it’s true. Laughing is a workout, since it is physical activity, and the more you laugh, the more of a workout it is! In fact, researchers have found that laughing 100 to 200 times can be equivalent, in fitness terms, to ten minutes of rowing or jogging, and sound like a lot more fun than either!

Not only that, but it has been proven to reduces stress hormone levels, and improve immune function, so next time you’re staying up late, waiting to kick off your six hours of sleep a night, why not put a funny DVD on instead, and lengthen your life a little?

12. Move to the Country

OK, so not all of us can give up city life and move to a rural paradise. However, studies in Tokyo, Japan, one of the world’s most population dense cities, have shown that retirees and pensioners that live near parks or other open spaces live longer.

So even if moving to a small town in the country is not realistic, try to spend more time outdoors, in the garden, or in your local park, or why not plan weekend trips to a cabin, or camping, fishing or hiking trips, that will give you more time with the family, and get you outdoors. It will lengthen your life, and you’ll probably have some fun at the same time!

11. Eat Right and Exercise

This is one that your mom definitely mentioned! Eating the right foods, steering clear of cholesterol laden saturated fats, maintaining a healthy weight, and getting around thirty minutes of exercise a day will significantly improve your lifespan.

Eat a balanced diet, lose the extra weight if you have it, and learn to love vegetables and fruit, particularly super foods like broccoli, tomatoes and anti oxidant rich fruits like blueberries, throw in some nuts, oily fish, lean meat and poultry, and other healthy foods, and you should do well on the diet front. As for exercise, there’s no need to join the gym to get your daily dose. Walk the dog, play with the kids, or mow the lawn – any physical activity counts!

Also important to note is that we’re not talking yo yo dieting here, which has actually been proven to be dangerous. Rather make manageable changes to diet and exercise that you can live with. Take up a sport, or commit to walking rather than driving where possible. When it comes to food, don’t starve yourself, just make sure your choices are healthy and low fat, and remember, often, it’s not the food itself, it’s the preparation, so swop French fries for baked potato, grill rather than frying meat, and ban the creamy sauces, and you should be fine!

10. Keep Your Brain Stimulated

The busier your brain is, the more likely it is to continue building new connections, keeping your overall mental function in tip top condition. Whether you read (or write) a book or two, learn chess, or the piano, keeping your brain constantly stimulated will help you stay mentally younger for longer.

Anything that keeps your mind active and busy helps, so find a new hobby, learn a new skill, take up crosswords or spend more time in the library, and you’ll be contributing to a longer, mentally fitter life.

9. Always Look On the Bright Side of Life

Monty Python said it best. Optimists, on average, live twelve years longer than their pessimistic counterparts, and are more likely to perform critical self examinations, detecting life threatening diseases like breast cancer early.

They’re also more likely to take medical advice when necessary, and to be less stressed, and prone to depression, than their gloomy compatriots. Plus, optimists are just more fun to be around, so, look for the silver lining, be a glass is half full kind of person, and live a longer and happier life!

8. Quit Smoking

Tough to do, but a very good idea. Damage from smoking is cumulative, so the sooner you quit, the less likely you are to die from heart or lung diseases related to smoking, and let’s face it, if you have to choose, lung cancer, emphysema, or heart disease would probably not be high on anyone’s list of ways to die!

Quitting smoking is tough though, with experts comparing the addiction a smoker has to nicotine to that of heroin, so speak to your doctor, get advice on one of the many methods to quit, take one of the quitting drugs available, or join a support group.

7. Keep Learning

Strangely enough, researchers at Arkansas University have found that the higher qualified someone is, the longer they are likely to live.

When you examine the findings though, it does make sense: less educated people are more likely to work in higher risk fields, like factories or construction sites, and they are more prone to taking up dangerous habits like smoking.

Add to that the likelihood that their access to quality medical care when they need it is lower, and you begin to see why studying, and educating yourself more, will eventually lead to a longer life, in fact, the more diplomas and degrees you rack up, the longer you’re likely to live.

6. A Few Vices Are Good for You

This is probably the best news you’ll get for a while: chocolate, and red wine, are good for you, so enjoy in moderation!

Chocolate contains phenols, which protect against diseases like cancer, and heart disease, and red wine contains a special kind of anti oxidant called phytochemicals, that also help reduce the likelihood of heart disease and other ailments. While you should not over indulge, since the sugar and fat in chocolate will still affect your weight, and the alcohol in wine is still alcohol, enjoying either in small quantities is most definitely allowable.

Sounding better already isn’t it? Now you can stay up late, watch a comedy, while eating chocolate and sipping Merlot!

5. Get the Necessary Tests

For some reason, we all seem to avoid the necessary tests – breast exams, pap smears, prostate exams, blood work. However, if there is something medically wrong, there’s more chance of curing, treating or managing serious diseases if you know sooner rather than later. In fact, in all cases, early detection, proper treatment and management will certainly increase your life expectancy.

It may be scary. You may want to stick your head in the sand, but getting tested for various life threatening diseases regularly can dramatically increase your chances of living with them, or beating them. Even something as simple as cholesterol, blood pressure, or diabetes test can be the difference between life and death. Isn’t it better to know?

4. Drink Tea

A cup of tea a day may be more use to you than the apple, when it comes to keeping the doctor away!

Researchers at Harvard have found that one cup of ordinary black tea a day cuts the risk of heart attack dramatically, while another study found that even after heart attack, drinking tea increases your chance of survival by twenty eight percent.

The good news is that ordinary black tea has been found to be as effective as green, so sit back and relax with a nice cup of tea, and drink to good heart health.

3. Get Yourself a Pet

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But research has discovered yet another benefit to owning a furry friend. People who own pets are, on average, healthier than those who don’t.

Owning an animal actually reduces stress levels, so those who own pets are more likely to be happier. They are also statistically less likely to visit the doctor than their non pet owning counterparts.

So go out, find a Fido or a Kitty, or some other critter to become a part of the family, since there are no limit on the type of pet you should own to enjoy this benefit, although choosing a dog may increase your likelihood of exercise. Then again, stroking a cat can be a great stress reliever!

2. Watch Your Bowels

Early warning signs of bowel cancer include an increase in problems like constipation, diarrhea, and bloody stools. Pay attention to your bowel movements, and if you notice a change, or if you are already experiencing any of these symptoms, make a point of seeing your doctor.

As with most cancers, bowel cancer is easier to treat when it is caught early, and since this is a particularly virulent form of the disease, it’s better to be safe than sorry!

1. Relax

Learning a relaxation technique, whether it be yoga or meditation, can greatly reduce your stress levels, known to contribute to everything from cancer to heart disease and stroke.

Try not to work too hard either. Work related stress contributes significantly to overall stress levels, and elevated stress levels mean a dip in your body’s immune system, as the fight of flight reflex kicks in. The Result? A higher likelihood of disease. In fact, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins, you have up to twenty times more chance of developing heart disease if you’re stressed.

Another interesting point to note is that taking work home with you is an early sign of feeling stressed and overworked. So workaholics beware! Leave work where it belongs, in the office, make more time to kick back, relax and spend time with family and friends, and you’ll live longer to enjoy the fruits of your labor!

10. Left Brain, Right Eye

You may have heard that the two sides of our brain controls different aspects of our thinking. The left-brain essentially controls the rational, or logical side of our thoughts and the information and analysis of what we know. The right side of the brain is the more intuitive, creative side. You can think of it as the Objective, left side, and the Subjective, right side. In a sense lying is an act of creation, sometimes people blend the truth in with a lie, but other times it is entirely fictitious. In either case you use the right side of your brain in order to weave the lie together. Some ‘lie detectors’ in law enforcement agencies suggest that by watching peoples eyes you can get a good sense of which side of the brain they are using. Like most body language eye movement is an unconscious act while you speak, so if you notice a flick of the eyes to the right they may well be using the creative side of their brain in order to form a lie. Of course they could just be coming up with a good way to say it, or trying to make it humorous, but all body language is subject to this kind of multi-layered possibility.

9. Ant’s in his Pants

Someone who is lying will often feel uncomfortable about it, even if they are practiced or used to lying they will likely want out of the conversation as quick as possible. This kind of pressure makes them fidget with their hands and with things around them. They may simply shuffle their feet. Generally a liar will show one or more types of this behavior, depending on the size or seriousness of the lie, as well as their ability to lie effectively. If you know the person well, or even a little, it should be easy to pick up the warning signs and if they play with their hands, move their feet without purpose, or simply start peeling the label a bottle close to hand when they normally don’t they are probably lying.

8. Whining

Liars are more likely to complain. They will moan and whine about things and generally give off a much more negative impression. This is partly because they are uncomfortable and feel miserable, but complaints also have the effect of giving solid opinion and replacing vague unknowns with the impression that the liar is really involved in the story, or their surroundings. It can also be a distraction technique. By complaining they hope not only to ward of undue questioning, ending the conversation early, but also to give their audience the impression of having been effected by the story they are telling.

7. Devils in the Details

The level of detail he or she offers in a story often marks a liar. Many liars will try to be vague and push you off the subject quickly, but more commonly when someone is telling a lie they give you whole wads of detail they wouldn’t ordinarily. So instead of getting annoyed the next time you’re wife insists on telling you about the color and consistency of each stuffed animal at the mall on her way to pick up the laundry, just before she met Edith, but after she saw the man with the one eyed chicken, stop to read some of the other signs on this list. Of course if you are trying to read your wife’s body language like this then you might have more serious problems to address before considering whether or not she has or has not been shopping all day. Also note that a liar is often prone to produce more ‘wild’ elements in their story as they stretch to fill in the gaps between the truths. Hence the one eyed chicken.

6. When it Becomes About You

‘I can not believe you do not trust me!’ When telling a lie a person is normally very uncomfortable. If the story doesn’t make sense, or even if you are simply interested in what they have to say, and you start asking them questions you will often find that it becomes about you. They will get angry, feeling that they are being pressed backwards into their own lie, and start to act out like a troubled 2nd grader. (Someone sticking his or her tongue out at you is also a good way of spotting a lie.) This kind of tell is common when talking to a teenage daughter who swears she was only doing her homework with the girl across the street and that she was home well before her curfew. It is also the last resort a husband when he is not willing to admit he didn’t drive straight home but stopped of at the bar / fast food joint / or betting track.

5. Talking up and Stealing Words

Liars will often use fewer contractions then usual. Making no judgments, Bill Clinton’s famous line ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman!’ might have been an indication that he was lying since he didn’t say ‘I didn’t have sex with her.’ Talking up is not an uncommon mental tick when telling a lie, but again it must be weighed against the person’s habits. If they tend to use a lot of contractions, as is common with slang and modern ‘text-speak’, then talking without contractions might be a sign they are lying. On the other hand if you are talking to the Queen of England and she says ‘you certainly did not do well’ then you probably just sucked. Similarly if a person repeats a lot of what you say back to them, or uses your own words in answering a question, then it is a good sign they are lying. If you say ‘where did this lipstick come from?’ and they say ‘I do not have a clue where that lipstick came from!’ then they are probably lying. Liars also tend to speed up in order to get it over with as quickly a possible, as well as slurring and fumbling over words because they are busy trying to think of what to say next.

4. Change the Subject

This works two ways. One, a liar will be eager to get off the subject because they fear being uncovered. So if they try to introduce new lines of conversation, drift off topic, or set their hair on fire in order to create a conversation piece, they might just be lying. But there is also another way to use a change of subject to detect a lie. If you suspect someone of lying, then you can change the subject. The more surprising the change of subject the better it is to gauge if someone is lying. So just as they are about to explain what color the tiles in the pet store were, (with their speech slurring and their eyes wandering around the room), try jumping in with something unexpected like, ‘hey, did you see that really big red cloud the other day?’ or possible something a little more plausible like, ‘hey, did you see the game last night?’ A liar is more likely to roll with the change of topic because they will be only to happy to move on, whereas someone who is telling the truth, or at least not wrapped up in trying to misguide you, will likely look at you oddly and try backing away slowly.

3. Taking Cover Behind the Salt-Shaker

Another form of body language that might indicate someone is lying is if they put things between you. If they literally move a physical object in front of themselves it might represent a bridge between you, the audience, and the truth. In short by placing a saltshaker in the middle of the table, (a book or any other object handy), they cerate a physical barrier between themselves and the person they are lying to. Like most tells this is designed to put distance between them so that the lie might have a better chance of working. Obviously this is largely unconscious behavior since no matter how many salt-shakers you hide behind the facts, or fiction, or the story remain the same and reach the audience the same way. But interacting with various innocuous objects around them is a good sign that someone is lying.

2. Say that Again

One of the most commonly used tools in lie detection is asking a person to repeat the information. Police investigators commonly use this when they interrogating a suspect. Often times law enforcement agencies will go over the same information a hundred times to see how well a person can sick to their facts. If there is another person involved this only makes the technique so much stronger because you can see how the two versions differ over time. More importantly in our day to day lives a liar will often add an unusual amount of detail to the story they tell, (see item 7 on this list), which only opens them up further to the technique of asking them questions because there is more to remember while making up other answers.

Asking specific questions is another good way of using this technique because even though a liar will add a great deal of detail to a story, since it is a lie, they will be unable to think up absolutely everything for a ready answer, (because it didn’t happen). The best example of this is when you ask what a person had for dinner when they were at the restaurant, or what their friend had if you want to be really tricky. But it works just as well when you ask other things like, ‘is the road work still on Old Kent road?’ or ‘What color tie was Jim the grocer wearing today?’ This practice can lead to the liar getting angry with you because they feel like they are being interrogated, and they are, but the level of their frustration and the uncertainty of their answers can help you decide if they are lying.

1. Listen…see

Of course all the items on this list are very subjective. If you are talking with someone you know these signs will often be easy to spot since you know what they are ‘usually’ like and the extra body language will show by comparison to what you know of them. But if you don’t know someone that well, then it gets a little harder. More often then not one or more of these tells can occur in the course of every day conversation, and mean nothing. But by paying attention and listing closely it does seem possible to assess a certain degree of honesty. What’s more if you are listening carefully to the person talking they will likely notice the extra scrutiny. This is a great way to put the pressure on someone who is lying. Liars don’t want a persons full attention, (as has been said by they way they will often try to distract and move the conversation), and by actually giving them your full attention the pressure will more clearly show in their behavior. Keep eye contact, listen carefully, and watch them closely. A lot of times this attention alone can be enough to break a liar since a person with a guilty conscious will often mistake it for a judgment in itself.

But sometimes recognizing the problem is half the battle, so maybe it might help to get it all out in the open. Here is a list of the top 10 worst fears in the world.

10. Putting on weight

It’s not just for women anymore, and probably never was. True there is more pressure on women to keep themselves in shape, to look like the women in the magazines and on the big screen. But with a world becoming increasingly obsessed with cholesterol, national weight medians, celebrity fit programs, and reality TV exercise shows not to mention a cult of self image fed by a growing stream of media outlets the fear of getting fatter is growing. What’s more it brings on the kind of paranoid suspicion comedians have enjoyed playing on for years. Such torment makes it one of the worst fears in the world. So…does this font make me look fat?

9. Being alone

Being alone has to be one of the worst fears in the world, because it’s universal. No one likes to feel alone, even if we do enjoy our personnel space. The idea of being alone has been used as an essential worst fear by every genre of writing from romance to horror movies. But what’s more being alone has come to be linked to the idea of marriage and dating, perhaps it always was, but this link has come to be a driving force behind the need to date often and succeed as often as possible, (or at least that’s what the movies tell me), and that can lead to early commitments and, let’s face it, a rise in affairs when people find partners they might be better suited for. Maybe the rise in the divorce rate isn’t because of how easily you can get one, but actual because of how easy it is to get married. If nothing else the feeling of being alone has to be one of the worst fears in the world simply because of the devastating effects actually feeing alone can create. It is a highly common reason for suicide, and one of the worst experiences many people have ever had.

8. Getting caught

Whether it’s short changing a customer, taking a sneak peek at your spouses Christmas gift, or lying on a job interview, we all have some reason to fear getting caught. Of course if you’re hobbies including robbing banks, stealing doe and generally breaking the law then you have a lot more reason to justify the fear. But most of us are familiar with the tingling sensation of fear mixed with anticipating as our heartbeat drowns out the world when we think we are about to get caught. The fact it is so common and happens to most us on a weekly basis, and the disproportionate nature between the levels of anxiety we reach because someone as small as taking an extra five minutes for break, makes it one of the worst fears in the world.

7. Mold

Close to being a phobia, the fear of mold is another worst fear in the world. Some people can’t go near cheese because of it, others just stay away from the blue cheese stuff, and no matter how many times we are told that mold does a lot of things we like, (making alcohol anyone?), it is sometimes hard not to worry about the idea of ingesting tiny little organisms. Plus with the growing threat of ‘house mold’ many wonder about it living in their walls. It’s hard to judge when you think about it, everyone’s smelt the results of a festering bowl of cereal in their kitchen, (even if you were a student at the time and it wasn’t even yours), and had an emotional response, (like throwing it out the window.) Besides tiny organisms that grow and make things fester getting into your body is a scary thought, what if they got into your blood or something, right?

6. Speaking to the opposite sex

Some people never have this do they, and don’t lie, because the rest of us have to watch as you all get along so well form the moment your hormones start to kick in. Anyway, speaking to the opposite sex is a scary thing for many people, and often doesn’t get easier as time goes o and hormones level out. Simply but if you don’t suck it up and learn to talk to girls when you’re still not sure they don’t have cooties, it might make your working life a hell when you get older. Even then a lot of people still feel that nervous tick coming back the first time they meet a new member of the opposite sex.

5. Rejection

This of course runs on from the last item on the list of worst fears in the world, after all a lot of people are afraid to talk to the opposite sex because of rejection. But rejection is so prevalent in our growing world that it’s not right to limit it to a sub category. From an early age we are all pressured to do well, succeed and pass tests. Many kids feel like their whole lives rest on next week’s math finals, or last week’s English homework. The fact is hardly any of it does; really, it’s how you grow that matters. But before we figure any of that out we have to apply to jobs, collage, more jobs, loans, the military, a mortgage (maybe), more jobs and any number of other things we have dreamed about all our pressure cooking lives. The fear of rejection is everywhere and seems to mean more and more. The fear of rejection has to be one of the worst fears in the world, especially when so much we think is so important is open to the prospect of kicking us to the curb.

4. Bees

Bee’s, moths, mosquitoes and all little creatures of the devils winged division of his empire, right? They seem to come after you whenever you’re enjoying yourself and whenever you least expect it, or so it seems. From an early age many of us are told to stay still and it won’t hurt you, (unless it’s a mosquito of course, they’re just evil), and they do. But a lot of people, perhaps people a little more paranoid then most, understand that parents and teachers are merely in league with the devils angles attacking us, and find that running around and hiding under peoples arms, tree branches and generally getting the heck out of their is a much better option. Far better to look silly, (or jump of a boat), then let the dastardly bee kill you, (it does hurt to be fair), where you stand. Bee’s, don’t trust ‘em, never will!

3. Speaking in Public

This is a big one, someone people can get cold sweats when they find themselves in the position of even having to give a birthday thank you message, some people find themselves paralyzed by the fear of having to stand up and speak in front of people. While it does come easy to other people, it is one of those things that cannot be practiced or, in the end, avoided. At some point in life most of us will have to address a crowd, even if it is only a handful of half friend’s, and it’s not something that can be prepared for. Of course you can have what you want to say and run scenarios in case something happens, you can do that, but the sensation of adrenaline and the nerves about having to think on your feet and opening yourself up to people, alone, is something that can only be experienced, not simulated. Like almost everything else speaking in front of people gets better with practice, but the only way to really practice it is to actually do it. And while it does get easier, everyone from teachers to Presidents admit that you can never truly be ride of the anxiety and fear of speaking in public.

2. Death

Some people say there are not afraid of death, and they’re probably telling the truth, (I wouldn’t tell most of them f they were wrong anyway.) But it’s what about the fear of not being alive anymore? That probably gets to the root of the matter. If you read a number of biographies about writers, poets, politicians, (or anyone else for that matter), you will start to notice that there are a large number of them who die while they are working on something, still trying to finish the next project. There is always something more, we learn that quickly, and there is a lot of good stuff we always want there to be more of. The fear of death isn’t just the fear of feeling what it might be like, (although that itself can be terrifying,), it’s not all about the pain of the event or the strangeness of the scenario. It’s also about the fear of not being about to finish, which we never can, and the fear of not being able to continue, which we also never can. So it’s clearly a very depressing fear even before we factor in the fear of losing someone else, pets, parents, friends, or worse, and we know there is worse. Yes the fear of death has to be one of the worst fears n the world, stalking not only us but everyone we care about. What make s it worse is there’s no real way of making you feel better about it, you just have to hope you fit in enough life that those you leave behind can smile and remember for as long as they need to grieve. Because it’s not the one leaving, it’s the one who gets left who really know what being afraid of death is like.

1. Getting old

Getting older above death, that can’t be right, can it? Well, yes, it should be because while death can be a terrible thing, it doesn’t follow us like the fear of getting old does. Everybody reaches a point in their life (normally when their metabolism changes and they suddenly can’t eat whatever they like without gaining weight), when they have to face the prospect of not being the new kid in town anymore. The moment is an awkward one, because you don’t’ want to go around saying, ‘god I’m old,’ to early. That’s just bad form in front of an 80 year old. But from then on we are aware of the ageing process. Aches and pains slowly become more than simply problems, they are signs of our body giving out, and getting on the trade mill is no longer a hip thing to do but a necessity to keep your heart from giving out. By being aware of this problem so early we end up torturing ourselves over the possibility of ageing and the helpless sensation of withering away. What’s more, it’s not true, but worry and stress can actual make us age. So the fear of ageing might just be a self fulfilling prophecy. In the long run the reason the fear of aging is one of the worst fears in the world is that it can rob us of enjoying the process of maturing, learning and growing up to see everything life has to offer. In the end worrying about what you can’t fix just leaves you looking constantly surprised, (if you have enough money for face lifts and such), and far more likely to live an unfulfilled life.

Fear. Most people crave it, whether it’s going to see a scary movie, walking home through the alley instead of on the sidewalk or taking a deep breath and finally getting on a theme park’s latest insane invention, fear works like a drug. It can make you feel alive, adventurous, or just plain excited. But while the fear we seek is for fun, the stuff that just shows up built into our wiring is an entirely different species. Heights, spiders, snakes, and nuclear war are some of the best examples of fear that many of us share. But fear is trickier then that, because even though a spider might be behind a sturdy glass window at the zoo a lot of people still can’t bring themselves to get too close, or even go near the building. This is the irrational fear, the stuff that keeps us up at night worrying about what could happen, and what might be.

So what happens when you become afraid of other things? The worst, worst fears in the world, if you like, the ones that sound funny, until you really think about them. We’re not talking fear of germs here, as debilitating as that might be. We’re going further than that. Here is a list of the top 10 worst fears in the world, not because more people believe them, not because they are outlandish or strange but because, like any good horror story, they are based in the nightmare of every day things.

10. Nomophobia – (No-mobile-phone-phobia)

This one is first on the list because it is not yet a phobia, but it seems to be going that way. At the moment we can all rest easy and call this a little silly, but a poll commissioned by the English Post Office might give us all reason to re-consider. Apparently 53 per cent of English people polled said they felt anxiety about being out of cell phone range, losing a connection, or forgetting their phone. That’s not exactly big news is it? After all it’s only natural to get annoyed by things like that. But if you look a little closer you’ll start to see the beginnings of something else. This is not just annoyance, its anxiety! Okay it’s not exactly fear yet, but it’s growing, and one day not to far into the future we may actually hear of a recorded case of debilitating fear due to the lack of cell phone signal. The scary thing is that if this newly coined fear were to turn into an outright phobia, the world probably wouldn’t even notice until it was too late. How many teenagers do no without a cell phone? They’ll be the older generation one day; so how many of they’re grandchildren do you think will go without a phone? One day someone might lose their phone and find out they can’t continue to function until they find out where it is.

9. Emetophobia – Vomit

This affects a lot more people then you might think, and it goes beyond the general dislike everyone feels about vomiting. The phobia, like all phobias, is an irrational fear and the people experiencing realize this. Some research has suggested that people suffering from the condition have an ‘internal locus’ rather than an ‘external locus.’ Essential this means that people suffering from emetophobia believe things to be under their control, whereas people with external loci accept that some things simply aren’t. As we all know vomiting it not something you have a choice in and people suffering from emetophobia fear facing this lack of control. But the phobia can also be based on the sight, smell, or sound of vomiting. It can inhibit someone’s day to day life in a number of ways. People suffering from emetophobia might refuse to eat out for fear of food poisoning, they can be excessively concerned with food hygiene, avoid hospitals when having stomach problems and put of getting pregnant all together because of morning sickness. The fear is often linked to heights because and the disorientation feeling of looking down that makes you feel nauseous.

8. Ablutophobia – Bathing

Ever met someone and wondered why they smell so bad? Well they might just be suffering from ablutophobia. This is the irrational fear of bathing, washing or cleaning your self and is usual traced back to a childhood trauma but it can also result from seeing someone else get in trouble in the water, even on television! Somewhere in the mass of wiring we call the brain the incident can get connected to the act of bathing, showering, and washing with water and by avoiding it the person thinks they can escape the hazard. As with all phobias the people who suffer from ablutophobia are aware that it is an irrational fear, but fear’s funny like that, just because you know something probably won’t happen, doesn’t stop you thinking about what could happen.

7. Gephyrophobia – Bridges

Most of the phobias here are ‘specialty phobias’ which means that they are linked to one of the bigger, more commonly known fears. Gephyrophobia is no different and is often linked with the fear of heights, or open spaces. This phobia recently had some press mention in the New York Times when they wrote an article about a woman suffering from the condition in January 2008. In this article it was pointed out that the Tappan Zee Bridge inspired such terror in people that New York State actual provides a driver for those who just can’t bring themselves to cross on their own. Gephyrophobiacs suffer this kind of fear regularly, never mind on a bridge that would scar anyone, and if they are unfortunate enough to live in an area where bridges are used a lot then they are known to drive miles out of their way to avoid them.

6. Gynophobia – Women

Not to be confused with misogyny, the loathing or hatred of women, gynophobia is an irrational fear of women. The myths of Amazonian warrior women, the fear present in latter day witch-hunts could be symptoms of gynophobia. Perhaps. But the condition is not a hatred of women, but a fear of women. Just like with bathing or vomiting, the gynophobic do not have to believe that the subject of their fear is evil. These aren’t the people hurting women, but the ones cowering in corners worried that a woman might be out to get them.

5. Phagophobia – Swallowing

A specific phobia often confused with other conditions and phobias. People suffering from phagophobia complain that they have difficulty swallowing but there is no physical condition hampering them. This was why it was originally named ‘choking phobia’ because it was often brought on by experiencing or witnessing a choking fit. But that lead to the assumption that the people suffering phagophobia were actual afraid of chocking. In fact it is an intense anxiety about swallowing. Not to be confused with a fear of eating, these people have no problem with food, but find it scary to swallow. It can often be overlook as a dietary problem like anorexia or bulimia since without being able to swallow sufferers often exhibit sever weight loss. But some less affected cases may eat an entirely liquid diet.

4. Tetraphobia – Four

A fear of the number four. This condition is found most often in the Eastern world because of the similarity between the Chinese word ‘four, and ‘death’ (In most dialects anyway.) The same pattern persists in some Japanese and Korean languages. As such this might be considered a fear rather then a phobia, but it is irrational and people do go out of their way to avoid the number four in a variety of situations such as during festivals and when a family member is ill, or missing. Elevators in the West often leave out the number ‘13’ for the same reason, and reversely in the East elevators and room numbers often avoid using the number 4. It makes number four on the list, mainly because it is good irony, but also because it has a large hold on a large culture.

3. Coulrophobia – Send in the clowns

Who wouldn’t put the fear of clowns, (and mimes), on a list like this? Perhaps a better question is who doesn’t feel a little fear about the funny men in big pants and red noses? But coulrophobia is actually a much more acute sensation then the rest of us feel, and Bonzo has been known to give some people panic attacks, dizzy spells, and feelings of detachment along with the poodle shaped balloon. It is of course more common in children, and some studies have shown that clown designs on hospital wall paper are a bad idea, but there are many adults suffering from the condition. Still it seems likely that most coulrophobia originates from childhood incidents. It may be linked to the fear of having your own face covered, (with paint in the case of clowns), but it might also stem from a distrust of people who hide their faces. (Bank robbers, muggers, and people like that. Or perhaps even John Gracy the serial killer who liked to dress up as a clown at parties.) Not to be hard on the men and women of the clown industry but it seems that clowns offer themselves to coulrophobia sufferers as untrustworthy and dangerous.

2. Phobophobia – There’s nothing to fear but fear itself

Can you beat that? Well we’ll see when we get to number 1, but at the moment let’s consider the fear, of fear. It is liked with anxiety disorders and more common phobias like agoraphobia, (the fear of the market place, or the outdoors in today’s language.) But it is more commonly describes as a fear of fears, or a fear of developing phobias. People suffering from this disorder often have anxiety issues to begin with and phobophobia is the result of being so afraid of the internal consequences of anxiety. In other words a person can get so afraid of the sensation of anxiety that they become petrified of it happening again. As has been said before a phobia is an irrational fear and phobophobia is about as irrational as you can get. No matter what the old saying says. In the end this makes number two just for the way it twists your head around trying to understand it.

1. Autophobia (or Monophobia) – Fear yourself

This phobia has to be the worst, right? The condition can simply mean ‘the fear of being alone,’ which I suppose we can all understand. But a rarer version of the phobia is actual being afraid of, or not trusting, your self. How exactly do you deal with that kind of thing? Symptoms of the condition included breathlessness and dry mouth to nausea, heart palpitations and a sensation of detachment. The way out? Well, besides some current therapies being developed and plugged on the Internet autophobics have the same options as every one else: Long and involved therapy, hypnosis maybe? The statistics for curing autophobia are low, sometimes as low as 5 per cent, and in the mean time you are irrationally afraid of yourself- because you don’t trust you and you might just hurt you. Get it? In any case this is perhaps the one fear, besides phobohobia, that truly does follow you wherever you go.

10. Take a Hot Bath

Because our body needs to lower its overall temperature in order to fall asleep, taking a hot bath seems like the exact opposite of what we should do before bedtime. However, if you’re careful to follow a few simple rules, a warm bath prior to bed can help you drift off to sleep quickly. First, make sure you don’t stay in the bath too long. While a quick soak will relax your muscles and central nervous system, a long bath will leave you exhausted and make it more difficult to fall asleep. Use bath salts or a combination of Epsom salt and baking soda to release toxins from your muscles. Finally, make sure you finish your bath at least two hours before you head to bed. This will give your body time to cool down before bed and your temperature time to fall sufficiently to make it easy for you to drop off to sleep.

9. Listen to Music or White Noise

Whether it’s memories of being serenaded to sleep as a baby or something more sophisticated going on in our brains, many people find that listening to relaxing music or creating white noise (like the sound created by a running fan) is the key to falling asleep. White noise is effective because it actually acts as a barrier to sound, making it impossible to hear anything other than a constant, monotonous drone. As such, any white noise that you can tolerate will probably do the trick; but choosing the right music to fall asleep to can be a bit more complicated. Choose something soothing, without a complex melody. Obviously, this isn’t the time for The Ramones or Van Halen. Many companies currently market CDs custom-made to help you drift off to dreamland. If you’re going to make your own CD, classical music is always a good bet.

8. Try Melatonin to Sleep

Rather than prescription sleep pills, which have the potential to be addictive and to leave you groggy during the day, consider taking Melatonin, a natural hormone produced by your body to aid in falling asleep. This simple amino acid, which is available in the vitamin aisle of your pharmacy or grocery store, works best when combined with exposure to sunlight during the day and complete darkness as you attempt to go to sleep. Commit to taking Melatonin consistently for at least two weeks before you expect to see a difference; it can take some time for Melatonin to build up in your system enough to take effect.

7. Excercise

In addition to helping you lose or maintain your weight, add “helps you get to sleep” to the list of benefits of daily physical exercise. Just 15 minutes of intense physical exercise each day will help ensure that your body gets the oxygen it needs to maintain a proper sleep cycle. In fact, the more tired you are during the day, the more you should commit to exercising, as it will help you sleep better at night. Make sure that you plan to your exercise to end at least one hour before bedtime, or you might be too wound up to sleep. Most sleep experts agree that exercising in the morning ensures the biggest benefit: giving you more energy during the day and the ability to sleep more soundly at night.

6. Get Up

Don’t try to fall asleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. If you aren’t able to drop off to sleep within those 30 minutes, get up and try again later. In the interim, do something quiet and non-stimulating, such as reading a short magazine article or making a to-do list for the following day. This is not the time to pick up that engaging mystery novel you’re reading, or you could find yourself up all night. Once you find yourself feeling tired again, give sleep another shot. If you can help it, don’t keep looking at the clock and worrying about how much sleep you’re missing out on. Stress will only add to your inability to sleep.

5. Avoid Alcohol and Caffeine

Though it might seem that sleepy feeling frequently brought on by alcohol would be a good thing prior to bedtime, the sleep that results from imbibing alcohol is actually shallow, disturbed, and characterized by frequent waking in the early morning hours. Alcohol also disrupts your dream cycle, which leads to feelings of sleepiness during the day. And while avoiding caffeine before bedtime might seem like a no-brainer, many people fail to realize that their bodies metabolize caffeine at a slower rate, leading to them feeling “caffeinated” long after their last cup of coffee. Avoiding caffeine after 2:00 p.m. can help ensure that you’re not wired when it’s time for bed.

4. Yawn

Scientists recently discovered that yawning is linked to brain temperature. As exhausted or sleep-deprived individuals are more likely to have an elevated brain temperature, sleep experts believe that yawning helps cool down the brain, a process necessary for the body to fall asleep. By the same token, forcing yourself to yawn is believed to begin cooling the brain and signal your body that it’s time for sleep. Though it might sound unlikely, many former insomniacs swear that making themselves to yawn 2 to 3 times in quick succession is the only thing they need to cause their body to drift off to meet the sandman.

3. Take Naps

Contrary to popular belief, taking naps during the day can actually help you better fall asleep at night, provided you follow a few simple rules. If you have the kind of lifestyle that allows you an afternoon nap, make sure you nap each and every day at the same time. Keep your naps short: no longer than 20 to 25 minutes, and try to nap in the early afternoon; 20 to 30 minutes after lunch is the ideal time for a catnap, as your body is most inclined to be drowsy then. However, there is one caveat to the daily nap routine: don’t nap the day following a bad night’s sleep! Forcing your body to stay awake and active when you’re most tired will go a long way towards helping you make up for a rough night when you get the chance to sleep again.

2. Chill Out

It seems every fall our local television meteorologist advises us that a certain night will be “good sleeping weather.” This is because your body needs to lower its temperature in order for you to fall asleep; hence, cooler nights are equated with better sleeping. Keeping the temperature in your bedroom below 70 degrees can aid your body in falling asleep faster and staying asleep. Opening a window in the cooler (but not cold!) months has the added benefit of getting your body some fresh air in the process. One of the best parts of keeping a cool bedroom is the cozy feeling of nestling into warm covers to fall asleep.

1. Turn Off the T.V.

While some people are able to drift away while watching ESPN or Seinfeld reruns, watching television before bed is a sure path to insomnia for many. This is because television is mentally and visually stimulating, keeping awake the very parts of your brain that you want to put to sleep. Additionally, the light coming from a television set can interfere with the dark environment most people require in order to fall asleep easily. To help your brain wind down and prepare for bedtime, make sure to turn off the television at least 30 minutes before you attempt to fall asleep. If you have difficulty going to sleep, don’t turn the television back on. Find something non-interesting to do until that drowsy feeling signals you that it’s time for bed once again.

10. Panic Disorder

When it happens you are not warned. your body goes into sudden shock and you feel dizzy. Before you know it the walls enclose in on you and your heart beats through your chest. At this point breathing never felt so difficult and you can feel your hands sweating and trembling uncontrollably, but not for long because soon it will end. You feel trapped and suffocated and you may start having delusions or you might pass out on the ground. The situaton is so overwhelming that you may think you are going crazy or dying. People with panic disorder have feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. During a panic attack, most likely your heart will pound and you may feel sweaty, weak, faint, or dizzy. Your hands may tingle or feel numb, and you might feel flushed or chilled. You may have nausea, chest pain or smothering sensations, a sense of unreality, or fear of impending doom or loss of control.

9. Schizoid Personality Disorder

Individuals with Schizoid Personality Disorder may have a particular difficulty expressing anger, which contributes to the impression that they lack emotion. They do well when they work under conditions of social isolation. People with this disorder are generally loners with a profound inability to connect with others and form relationships. To other, people with schizoid personality disorder aloof, dull, or humorless and they are often ignored in social situations. They show flattened or limited range of emotions and can appear indifferent to praise or critiscism. However, their life can be rife with deep emotional need, sensitivity, and confusion about the world around them. Unlike anxiety disorders, who know they have a problem, but cannot control it, people with personality diorders are generally not aware that they have a problem and don’t believe they have anything to control. They are often reclusive organizing their lives to avoid contact with other people. Their inability to form relationships with other poses a challenge even to therapists because trust is an important factor for treatment. Interesting Fact: Most never marry and continue to live their lives with their parents as adults.

8. Histrionic Personality Disorder

People with this disorder are usually able to function at a high level and can be successful socially and professionally. People with histrionic personality disorder usually have good social skills, but they tend to use these skills to manipulate other people and become the center of attention. Furthermore, histrionic personality disorder may affect a person’s social or romantic relationships or their ability to cope with losses or failures. People with this disorder may seek treatment for depression when romantic relationships end, although this is by no means a feature exclusive to this disorder. They often fail to see their own personal situation realistically, instead tending to dramatize and exaggerate their difficulties. They usually blame others for failures or disappointments. They may go through frequent job changes, as they become easily bored and have trouble dealing with frustration. Because they tend to crave novelty and excitement, they may place themselves in risky situations. All of these factors may lead to greater risk of developing depression. [ Wikipedia ]

7. Folie à deux

Folie à deux disorder occur when a person has been exposed to the paranoid thoughts, delusional beliefs, or magical thinking of a disordered individual, and begin to accept them into their own belief system. A mind is full of thoughts and spends a great deal of time thinking about what goes on in other people’s heads. In an unhealthy and abusive relationship, exposure to negative thoughts will eventually lead you to take on another’s as your own. Constant exposure to the abuse will also lead to a reinforcement of your own negative thoughts.

6. Social Phobia

A man finds it difficult to walk down the street because he’s self-conscious and feels that people are watching him from their windows. Worse, he may run into a person on the sidewalk and be forced to say hello to them. He’s not sure he can do that. His voice will catch, his “hello” will sound weak, and the other person will know he’s frightened. More than anything else, he doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s afraid. He keeps his eyes safely away from anyone else’s gaze and prays he can make it home without having to talk to anyone.

5. Pica Eating Disorder

Pica is an eating disorder typically defined as the persistent eating of nonnutritive substances for a period of at least 1 month at an age in which this behavior is developmentally inappropriate (eg, >18-24 mo). The definition occasionally is broadened to include the mouthing of nonnutritive substances. Individuals presenting with pica have been reported to mouth and/or ingest a wide variety of nonfood substances, including, but not limited to, clay, dirt, sand, stones, pebbles, hair, feces, lead, laundry starch, vinyl gloves, plastic, pencil erasers, ice, fingernails, paper, paint chips, coal, chalk, wood, plaster, light bulbs, needles, string, cigarette butts, wire, and burnt matches. Older persons can develop pica as well. Among adults, it is common in pregnant women, particularly those in their first pregnancy in late adolescence. The disorder occurs more frequently in those with psychiatric or developmental problems (Ellis and Schnoes, 2006). Also, individuals living in difficult socioeconomic conditions are more likely to have pica. This can be due to malnutrition, lack of adequate supervision, or both (Ellis and Schnoes, 2006).

4. Apotemnophilia

Apotemnophilia is the erotic interest in being or looking like an amputee. It should not be confused with acrotomophilia, which is the erotic interest in people who are amputees. When experienced very strongly, some people with apotemnophilia come to feel discontented with their bodies and want to actually remove an otherwise healthy limb, a condition called Body Integrity Identity Disorder. Some apotemnophiles seek surgeons to perform an amputation or purposefully injure a limb in order to force emergency medical amputation

3. Frotteurism

Frotteurism is obtaining sexual arousal and gratification by rubbing one’s genitals against others in public places or crowds. Men have a paraphilia called Frotteurism when the focus of their sexual urges are related to the touching or rubbing of their body against a non-consenting, unfamiliar woman. Usually the male rubs his genital area against the female. Most commonly, the man chooses to attack in a crowded public location and then he disappears into the throng of people. Frotteurism usually begins in adolescence and the abnormal behavior tends to decrease when the man reaches his late twenties. As with most paraphilias, frotteurism is usually concurrent with other paraphilias and, in this case, other courtship disorders.

2. Misanthropy

Misanthropy is a general dislike, distrust, or hatred of the human species or a disposition to dislike and/or distrust other people. The term is also applicable to those who exile themselves or become loners because of the aforementioned feelings. A misanthrope is a person who dislikes or distrusts humanity as a general rule. People who suffer from Misanthropy only depend on themselves, they trust no one but thenselves and have a particular belief that friendship is only temporary because friends may turn on you anytime any day.

1. Messiah Complex

Messiah complex is a state in which the individual believes themselves to be, or destined to become, the saviour of the particular field, a group, an event, a time period, or in an extreme scenario, the world. This could also be the state in which a group views an individual as a messiah, such as followers of a cult leader. The cult leader doesn’t have to claim to be a messiah, but if he is treated as such by his followers, it can also be classified as such. People with a messiah complex tend to see themselves as saviors to a specific group of people or a specific field, making claims of their own glory, or claiming a self-awareness of their own gift and how that gift can affect a group of people or a field of life. Messiah Complex may also refer to a person who has formed a habit of “creating” crisis in a given culture, only to later “rescue” or “save” the poor helpless soul upon whom the crisis has been perpetrated. [ List of messiah claimants ]

10. Spinach

Spinach has been linked to preventing dementia in women. A study has proved that middle-aged women who ate spinach and other green vegetables, delayed cognitive decline by 2 entire years. Spinach is literally brain food and feeds the brain vital nutrients and enzymes that it needs to strengthen synapses and produce healthy levels of neurotransmitters. Spinach also keeps up Folic acid – low levels of Folic acid have been linked to memory decline and heart disease. A few years ago, Tufts research proclaimed antioxidant-rich spinach as brain food. A slew of new evidence confirms it, at least in animals. Elderly rats fed spinach extract beat younger rats on memory tests at the University of Houston.

9. Coffee Beans

The coffee bean, much like the cacao bean, is incredibly rich with antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Fresh-ground gently roasted coffee bean powder (again, like with cacao) has numerous brain and body health benefits…yes, including the caffeine content which has recently been shown to be GOOD for the brain, not bad, and particularly in the area of antioxidants. Also, Coffee consumption has been linked with reduced risk of Alzheimer’s, Dementia and other mental diseases.

8. Legumes

Legumes, such as soybeans, kidney beans, chick peas, and lentils have the lowest glycemic index of any food. Potatoes and carrots have a much higher G.I.. Legumes contain important oils and fats for a healthy brain.

7. Fruits

Fruits and vegetables also contain antioxidants and it is the effects of these dietary sources of antioxidants on brain aging that was the subject of the report by Dr. James Joseph of the US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.

6. Eggs

Eggs can be the best thing you can eat during pregnancy. The offspring of pregnant lab rats that were given choline did better on mazes and memory tests. The mother rats also showed slower memory loss, even when they were given a drug known to damage crucial areas of the brain.

5. Yogurt

Did you know that yogurt cups and drinks have Omega-3 DHA in them? I did not until I read the information I was given. Omega-3 DHA is a nutrient that helps brain growth during child development. Know what else helps kids brain development?

4. Avocados

Avocados are almost as good as blueberries in enhancing brain health. While the avocodo is pretty fatty, the fat is monounsaturated; promoting increased circulation and bloodflow. The increased circulation from avocado nutrients is not only found in the body, but is highly prevalent in the brain.

3. Potatoes

The simple potato could help our memory, suggests new research from Canada. Researchers at the University of Toronto Bayview Centre for Geriatric Care found that dietary carbohydrates enhanced memory in a small group of healthy elderly people.

2. Fish

It may sound like a joke, but the brain is largely composed of fat. Fats, along with water, are the chief components of brain cell membranes and the specialized tissues enclosing the nerves. The anti-fat message promoted as part of heart-healthy diets these days makes it easy to forget that not all fats are “bad,” and that some types are essential to human life. Fish plays a very positive role in a healthy powerful brain. Not only is fish good for your brain it is good for your cardiovascular system.

1. Chocolate

Nibbling on the sweet stuff is a smart idea–literally, according to a new study from Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia. Researchers found that volunteers who ate about 3 ounces of milk or dark chocolate (about the amount in a regular-sized bar) before taking tests that measured their reaction times and short-term memory did about 20 percent better than those who weren’t given any chocolate.