As a doctor, my challenge is to distinguish true cases of hypersomnia from the chronic, low-level fatigue and tiredness that sometimes afflict people who, while basically normal, may be bored, restless, or otherwise unhappy. I must also sort out those patients who are simply unaware that they are not getting enough sleep to meet their [...]

Body image—something we all have—is a complex concept. Researchers have offered various definitions over the years. One offered by psychologists Thomas Cash and Thomas Pruzinsky is the following: Body image consists of the internal, subjective representations of physical appearance and bodily experience. Another useful definition from Paul Schilder, is “the picture of our own body [...]

All of us at times stay up later than we want to or later than we should—cramming for tests, completing projects for work, or enjoying a late-night social event. Usually we have no trouble readjusting to our normal schedule. If our sleep cycle is biologically delayed, however, we may find it virtually impossible to go [...]

I do not intend to discuss each and every form of pain, but this system lends itself so well to the control of the pain of childbirth that we must have a few final words about it. The young woman approaching childbirth is in fact subjected to an extraordinary number of anxiety-producing influences. Other women [...]

There is evidence showing that meditation in the absence of visualization is more effective in the treatment of cancer. The main problem that leads people into visualizing is that the inexperienced see it as something practical as opposed to the rather mystical idea of stillness. Visualization is an easy technique as it gives the meditator [...]

Each of us is a conglomerate of living matter. By the process of evolution there has been built into us a whole series of psychological reactions which help us survive. The way in which we become aggressive, when we are faced with someone who is acting aggressively towards us, is a simple example of this [...]

  Breathing troubles «Sometimes I can’t get my breath. Breathing won’t come naturally. Talking to someone and I have to gulp. Conscious of my breathing. If I was not conscious of it, I would not be ready to take a breath if it should stop. Does your breathing just sometimes stop? It must when you [...]