I don't want to catch your sadness

The attitude of a person could rub off on people but can it literally rub off on people?

Happiness and sadness can actually be infectious. As Fox News reports studies from Harvard University. The study featured a sample of 1801 people. They monitored the feelings of the person at each visit by the people that they came in contact with.

When it came to being content it was less "contagious" but once "caught" the effects lasted longer than discontent. Discontent was easier to "catch" and easier to shake off.

So, when you are with someone who is unhappy or happy their feelings can literally rub off on you. Sometimes it's just a matter of events in their life but other times it's the people that surround them.

"While emotions can be contagious like disease, they also show that they can result from one’s own life events, rather than just being contagious."

Pull the plug or hold on

When your computer starts acting up it's easy to just pull the plug but when your friend is in a vegetary state is pulling the plug really the right decision?

Richard Rudd was in a comatose state and hooked up to life support when they pulled the plug. But then Richard Rudd blinked and they realized that he could hear and feel but he couldn't speak.

After realizing that he could blink they asked him if he wanted to live and he answered with blinks. . . he did.

This story will possibly cause an uproar for people who are in a vegetable state and hooked up to life support. How does a person know when the plug should be pulled? How do you deal with the guilt of keeping someone alive when they would be better off dead but how would you deal with the guilt of pulling the plug when there's a possibility of that person living.

Many bloggers write as to whether or not they support the idea of pulling the plug. In the end it depends on the situation and the family.

Rush Limbaugh, an influential Republican radio broadcaster, confessed his addiction to pain med in 2003. Celebrities all over the world are addicted to pain meds and are constantly being put in rehab whether it's Brittany Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Robert Downy Junior Kurt Cobaine, or Janis Joplin.

In a recent news story on ABC news it talked about how pain med addiction is up 400 percent in just the last decade, "In 2008, nearly 10 percent reported abusing common prescription drugs such as Vicodin, OxyContin or morphine, according to the study released Thursday."

With so many addicted to these substances what are some signs to look for in order to not further the addiction.

• Loss of control over medication use
• More frequent use of the medication per day
• Taking medication for other reasons besides pain, such as when depressed
• Taking medication that was prescribed for another person

With addiction to pain medications steadily rising, it's become apparent that these signs are significant to look for if you or someone you love is taking pain medications.

Warning: Art may cause suicide

Music, art work, books, television encourage the thoughts to suicide.

In a recent story on CNN it said that "Images of suicide, be they in art, cinema or news media, can make the act seem more real to vulnerable people, who have probably been suffering from depression or other mental illness and feel stressed, experts say. Something like the mosaic at Dostoevskaya isn't all bad or good, but it can affect people already at risk, said Nadine Kaslow, a psychologist at Emory University."

Listening to the wrong music or reading the wrong book can lead someone who is already weak to commit suicide. My own mother swears that my brother experience suicidal thoughts because of the music he listened to. Do we sometimes listen to songs that encourage sadness? Just as listening to a song can make us happy it can also make us sad.

Studies have shown that when the music is preferred it doesn't tend to have negative emotional effects but when it comes to heavy metal and not liking it, it leaves you feeling hostile and angry.

Wearing heels is a heel

Your high heels may create an air of professionalism and they may make you look "hot" but what effects do they have on your body?

A recent news story on CNN said, "Wearing two-inch heels (or higher) five or more days a week shrinks a woman's calf muscle fibers by 13 percent, on average. It also thickens her Achilles tendon -- which attaches the calf muscle to the heel -- by 22 percent, according to the study, which was published Thursday in the Journal of Experimental Biology."

Apparently this news isn't too new. www.personalhealthzone.com shows several studies where wearing high heels can be an impediment and have negative effects on feet. It can cause heel problems, toe problems, postural problems and of course there are the safety effects of wearing heels.

There is also the rumor that heels were invented for the benefit of men. Some see heels as a sex symbol or making us more submissive to the male gender. So are wearing high heels really worth it?

Paranoid hypochondriac. Is what you're feeling, what you think you're feeling really a medical issue or has a past medical issue made you think your every scrape or bruise is a disease?

This was how it was for Jason Zimmerman, who was diagnosed with cancer three times. Even today, when it's been over a decade since his cancer went into remission, he still gets scared that a bruise could mean cancer. But how many people have this problem or are just paranoid or a hypochondriac.

Hypochondria, as defined by www.medterms.com is "a disorder characterized by a preoccupation with body functions and the interpretation of normal body sensations (such as sweating) or minor abnormalities (such as minor aches and pains) as portending problems of major medical moment. Reassurance by physicians and others only serves to increase the hypochondriac's persistent anxiety about their health."

When something hurts or we think something hurts is there something really wrong with us or are we just over reacting. I recently suffered a head injury. Before this I had occasional dizzy spells but they were a monthly occurrence. After my head injury the dizzy spells became a daily incident. Was I paranoid? I thought I was. I avoided the doctors for weeks. After a particularly bad episode I went to the doctor.

With several different studies done on me they still haven't diagnosed what is wrong with me. With these occurrences I have become obsessed with other possible medical issues. I still wonder if my problem is legit or if I am just a hypochondriac.

Love hurts. . .literally

You ever love someone so much that you struggle to breathe when you think about it? Ever been dumped when you loved someone? It hurts.

The Journal of Neurophysiology shows that the rejected crave love the same way a person craves drugs. It's especially noticed in romantic relationships. When you have it and then it's suddenly taken it away, it becomes an addiction. This could explain the rebound. A person goes from having a strong relationship with love and romance and then it's gone. What do they do? They find someone else to have those feelings with but sometimes they find those feelings with the wrong person.

The recovery process isn't easy. But just with drugs the addiction will go away. Some people can do drugs and feel no real addiction while others can and feel totally addicted. It differs with each person. Feelings of love differ with each person and you have to keep that in mind when you are dating someone and you feel that they feel more or less strong about your relationship.















http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/12/rejected.love.addiction/index.html