The increase of gambling venues has addiction specialists concerned — and for good reason. Study after study has shown that as the availability of gambling opportunities rises, so too does the number of problem gamblers. And, while the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) has found that 6-to-9 million Americans will have a gambling problem in any given year, only a small fraction seek out education, intervention or treatment services. With this being the case, it’s even more important that those who know someone with a gambling problem reach out for help.

Compulsive gambling is called the invisible disease because it doesn’t carry with it the same recognizable symptoms as substance addiction.
This makes it even more important to look closer for the signs of a problem. Don’t assume someone has it under control. Instead, check in, ask questions and if the story doesn’t add up, reach out for support.

As with other addictions, compulsive gambling can be stopped with appropriate treatment. Even better news is that in most cases, funding is available — and not just for the gambler, but also family members and friends of gamblers. To learn more, contact Mikaela or Jason at (215) 421-1634 or info@guidanceforgrowing.com. Your confidentiality is always our priority.

Guidance for Growing will be on the Buxmont Live radio show on Monday, October 10, beginning at 11:10am. Mikaela will be talking with host, John Ralston about this month’s Healthy Bites topic: Balancing and evaluating your personal health — all seven areas of it

> Listen live on the AM dial at WNPV 1440
> Listen live online at http://wnpv1440.com/
> Listen to archives at http://www.buxmontlive.com/

Do you know where you rate on the happiness scale? Most of us could all use a little more — or maybe a lot more — happiness in our lives. For some, tapping into happiness seems like second nature and comes easily, but for others, connecting to joy seems challenging at best and impossible at worst. Sonja Lyubomirsky recommends in her book, The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want, that for those struggling with finding their inner smile, practicing some simple strategies may help. Take a look at the list below (adapted from Finding the Road to Happiness) and pick one or two that you think you can start doing this week:

• Look for the Positive: “Happy people are more likely than unhappy people to perceive themselves, as well as the world around them, positively,” says Lyubomirsky. The key here, she says, is to write down your hopes for the future, create goals and mini-goals and go for them, and identify thoughts that seem to be pulling you down, replacing them with more positive versions.
• Nurture Relationships: Not only do friendships and family relationships make you happier, the data also suggests that strong, supportive relationships help you live longer, notes Lyubomirsky. Make time for the ones you love or people you would like to get to know better; share in other people’s successes with your own delight; show appreciation for the people in your life.
• Be Physically Active: Exercise is a proven method for preventing or managing negative emotions. You could get even further along the way to happiness if you can work out with a group, building relationships even as you start to feel better about your life and your body. The key to success is making a regular appointment with yourself to work out — and sticking with it.
• Express Gratitude: Gratitude is a great antidote to anger and bitterness. Practicing gratitude for the little and big gifts in your life can push you along the way to happiness. Try writing thank-you notes, compose a letter of gratitude to a loved one or teacher, or jot down three things you are grateful for each week.
• Offer Help to Others: Happy people are often among the first to lend a hand….the reality is that being helpful does allow you to feel better about yourself, which helps you be happier. Just remember to find ways to be helpful that suit your personality and overall lifestyle, so that you will make helping out a regular habit.
• Forgive: Forgiveness is a tough — and deeply personal — subject. However, people who can forgive generally have higher self-esteem and more joy and happiness in their lives. While forgiving someone in person may not be possible or advisable, you can still practice forgiveness by writing a letter (even if you don’t send it) or imagining what it would be like to forgive them in person. It might help to think about times in your life when you have been forgiven.
• Savor Pleasures in Life: Savoring the big and little joys in your daily life increases self-esteem and may even protect against negative emotions, creating a buffer against stress. This particular habit includes reminiscing about happy times in your past, enjoying the little details of your daily life, taking time for a unique pleasure or a moment of beauty, and allowing yourself to fully appreciate even the bittersweet moments.
• Make Spiritual Practice a Habit: Religious or spiritual practice can help you get through hard times, give meaning to the good and bad days of life, and help you see the way to happiness more clearly. Lyubomirksy recommends regular prayer or meditation with a focus on seeing the spiritual in everyday life as a way to begin.

If you want to know how your joy scores, check out The Happiness Test on Oprah by clicking here.  If you have happiness tips, we’d love to hear them!

>>> Do you need a personalized strategy for bringing more happiness into your life? We have programs that will help you recognize and change the patterns that are preventing you from living your best life — contact us for more information by emailing info@guidanceforgrowing.com or calling (215) 421-1634.

While many adults do not have true Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), more and more of us are beginning to show the signs and symptoms of Attention Deficit Trait, or ADT.  According to Dr. Edward Hallowell, ADT is a condition resulting from constant and excessive, technology-driven multitasking. It has many of us feeling “crazy busy” — and not in a good way.

“Being too busy, which can seem necessary and unavoidable, can become a habit so entrenched that it leads you to postpone or cut short what really matters to you,” says Hallowell.  Ironically, being too busy actually makes us less productive, in everything from our relationships to our jobs. Not only does a hectic lifestyle reduce our senses of meaning, connection and peace, it also inevitably leads to stress damage on our bodies, increases illness, causes accidents and mistakes, and makes us impatient and rude.

So, how do we find the focus and balance needed to deter ADT?  In addition to reading Hallowell’s book, CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap, we recommend these tips, paraphrased from articles at Everyday Health and Time:

1. Downsize Distractions — “We’ve never seen in human history the technology that we have today” says Hallowell. “Why are we doing it? The short answer is because we can—because we can transmit so much information, we do. Because we can access so much information, we do. Because we can sign up for so many tasks, we do.”  Between cell phones, voicemail, instant messaging, and the Web, even a non-ADD, ADHD or ADT brain gets distracted. “Turn off instant messaging programs, check e-mail at prescheduled times (not randomly), and create an environment that is geared toward success,” says Caroline Miller, positive psychology and goal-setting specialist. The fewer audible, visual, and mental distractions you have, the more likely you are to stay on task.
2. Get Organized — “What I say to folks is: You don’t have to be super-organized. Just be well-enough organized to reach your goals,” says Hallowell.  Keep a daily to-do list, note events and appointments in a calendar, and post reminders in places where you can see them. When it comes to paper, remember the four D’s, suggests Miller: dump, do, delay (with a specific deadline), or delegate.
3. Get Moving — Exercise may improve ADD/ADHD symptoms, claims Floyd Sallee, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati. “If you have blood pumping to your brain because you’re exercising, it does improve attention.” Some experts believe a workout can also enhance mood and make medication more effective. Incorporate some form of meditation into your regimen, and you may have a silver bullet for ADD, ADHD and ADT symptoms.
4. Eat a Power Breakfast — You’d be hard pressed to find anyone, with ADD, ADHD, ADT or not, who doesn’t lack focus a few hours after a doughnut-and-coffee breakfast. Instead of loading up with simple carbs, eat a combination of protein and fiber-rich carbohydrates (a hard-boiled egg and greens, or tofu scramble and fruit) to give your brain the fuel it needs to stay focused and on task.
5. Reward Yourself — If you don’t celebrate the small, everyday lifestyle changes, there will be times when your long-term goals are so far off, it will seem that there’s little payoff. Rewards can be as simple as a star on your calendar.  Pick something that’s unique to you and makes you feel good. You might even plan a weekend getaway and put aside a little money toward your travel plans every time you achieve a short-range goal. (Sources: Everyday Health and Time)

Use the above tips to start recognizing where your behavior may be fueling your scattered sense of being, keeping in mind that the best treatment for our crazy busy lives is to make slowing down and reconnecting a priority.

>>> Need more help? We have programs that teach you how to recognize and change the patterns that are preventing you from living your best life.  Contact us for more information by emailing info@guidanceforgrowing.com or calling (215) 421-1634.

Photo by Kathleen Green

If you spend your day telling yourself that you’re worthless, don’t be surprised if you end up depressed. Affirmations — speaking positively to yourself — can induce change in you.
Written by Madeline Vann, MPH, and medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH.

How you talk to yourself matters. Repeating positive and uplifting statements, known as affirmations, can be beneficial to both your physical and emotional health.

Affirmations: The Power Within

There is strong evidence that repeatedly thinking about negative events or personal qualities can increase stress and depression and worsen physical health. In contrast, repeatedly thinking about positive qualities can:

• Improve your mood
• Ward off depression and stress
• Protect your physical health
• Give you the confidence to solve a problem
• Instill hope for the future
• Reduce anger or angry responses

Affirmations: Important Antidote

“Affirmations definitely have a pretty major impact, and [they're] one of the most popular ways of inducing situational change in people’s thoughts, ways, and behaviors,” explains Harry Wallace, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

In a way, affirmations are an antidote to negative self-talk. Negative self-talk involves focusing on your weaknesses, failures, less attractive qualities, and so on. These kinds of thoughts are more likely when you are already feeling down or in a tough situation, such as after losing a job. At these times, negative thoughts are normal, but they can speed some people towards depression and make it hard to take action.

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Affirmations: Using Them in Your Life

Affirmations can help you get through stressful times.

“If [you use an affirmation] prior to having encountered some kind of threatening feedback, it creates a buffer where you are able to tolerate it,” says Wallace, who adds that people who are “self-affirmed” are more willing to accept or even invite feedback about themselves because “they can handle it.” Similarly, people who must perform under pressure can benefit from affirmations, which ease some of the stress.

Affirmations: A Caution

While it’s a good idea to consider your positive qualities and the positives in your life, even in difficult circumstances, remember that some “negative” thoughts can actually be helpful as well. Worry is one of those. A little bit of worry can spur you to take action, so you don’t need to counter productive worry with affirmations.

Wallace points out that, as with worry, there are times when a realistic assessment of your situation is helpful. For example, while an appropriate affirmation (such as “I am prepared for my speech and my audiences generally respond well to my style”) can get you through the pressure of public speaking, you may want to prepare the speech without affirmations that could slightly distort your ability to see what changes need to be made.

Affirmations: Creating Them

Affirmations are personal to your situation and your needs. When creating an affirmation, think of the positive message that you need to hear based on your situation. Here are some examples:

• Affirmations that help to prepare for stress. Wallace says that if you are about to receive feedback from an employer or client that you suspect might not be as good as you’d like, try an affirmation like, “I am a valuable person regardless of what happens with this situation.”
• Affirmations that conquer stress. Use three or more affirmations that you repeat daily to get through a difficult time, such as job loss and job seeking, such as, “I am valuable” or “I have something to contribute.”
• Affirmations that support an overall goal. If you are having a hard time achieving a specific goal, affirmations that remind you of positive aspects of yourself related to that goal can make success more likely. For example, if you are trying to write a novel, you might want to use affirmations like, “I am a creative person” or “I am capable of meeting my deadlines” as positive and encouraging thoughts (instead of negative observations like, “I’ll never finish this novel!”)
• Affirmations should be abstract or concrete as the situation requires. A statement that supports an abstract positive quality (“I am a valued team player”) is helpful in getting you to look beyond an immediate frustration, but an affirmation of a concrete skill (“I am an excellent translator of French”) can be helpful if you need confidence in a particular area.

With practice, you will be better able to craft the kinds of affirmations that are most helpful to you, says Wallace. Be kind to yourself. Focus on your strengths and abilities when you are feeling vulnerable.