How Alcohol Affects Teens

As a teenager, I've never been predisposed to drinking beer or any alcoholic beverages. Besides loathing the taste, I've suffered tremendously from chest pain and nausea after having tried it once during a casual drinking spree with friends. As it turns out, my decision to steer clear of it after that horrible incident was right. Researchers have confirmed that alcohol does adversely affect certain functions of the brain, especially for teens.

• Alcohol impairs teens' decision making ability, as the perfrontal cortex—part of the brain responsible for decisions and planning—isn't bound to mature until after the teen years. Imbibing alcohol could lead to teens' inability to rationalize and weigh consequences properly.
  
• Also, they may become forgetful, as their memory is bound to be adversely impacted.
  
• Since drinking often could develop a tolerance among teens, hence making them drink more, they risk becoming alcoholic dependents.
  
• Alcohol can prompt them to indulge in risky behviors. In turn, the latter could promote damages to the brain's connections as they mature.
  
• Alcohol could either interfere or result to deadly consequences if they're taking certain medications. Bad chemical reactions between alcohol and medicines can negatively impact judgment and motor skills. 

Written By: Maris Modesto

Common Stress Overload Triggers

Pressure that is either too intense, prolonged, or both serves as the primary factor behind stress overload. Combine this with how each of us individually react to stress given our distinctive personalities, then we have an individualized stress equation in our hands, meaning that no two people experience stress overload in exactly the same way.

Nonetheless, these differences does not discount the truth that despite individual variations, our frequent or continuous exposure to the following stress-inducing circumstances would likely result to stress overload , a.k.a breakdown, in the long run:

• Violence and other emotionally straining scenarios
• Being bullied or our failure to assert ourselves
• Relationship issues, particularly those involving loved ones
• Heartbreaking emotions associated with losing a loved one
• Failure to resolve problems persisting for a long period
• Inability to vent negative emotions properly
• Overloaded schedules, especially those which leaves little or no time for rest and relaxation or personal enjoyment

Written By: Maris Modesto

Trim Down via Food Substitution

If there's one thing I've realized about having a bulging waistline is that it doesn't only shroud your good looks, but it also risks your health. All that extra fat baggage ups my chances of developing heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. However, as easy as it is to talk about dieting and losing weight, doing it and sticking to it has been confirmed to be quite an ordeal, not only by yours truly but by all wanna-be weightloss victors worldwide.

Before, I always ended up gaining all the lost weight after laboring hard to shed them. And that was when I decided to do an intensive research on food. I realized that I didn't have to go out of my way to prepare special meals or take diet drinks to trim down. Easy food substitutions was all I needed to get started. By this, I prepared and ate the usual dishes without having to make extra purchases. A little healthy tweaking here and there sufficed to yield the results I needed. However, don't rely on your own research alone. Consult with your doctor to get advice on what foods would best work for you given your current health condition.

Written By: Maris Modesto

No-Hassles Creativity Boosters

 

Having a hard time getting your creative juices flowing? Try these easy but foolproof tips:

• If nothing comes to mind no matter how hard you push; sit back, relax, and just stop thinking. Stimulating your creative juices requires you to perform certain exercises acclimated to your specific preferences and personality traits. And no aspect of either one could be linked to force. In fact, the more you force your mind to work to your liking, the more likely it wouldn't budge. Moreover, you risk coming down with a bad migraine headache if you persist.
 

• Go out for a walk. For some creatives, letting their minds drift while strolling works to conjure creative thoughts, which they could use for their particular endeavor. Walking, even when done leisurely, serves not only to ready their minds for creative thinking. It also loosens stiff muscles making them feel more at ease, hence more apt to think creatively.
 

• Doodle or play around with your head. Scientific researches confirmed that doodling, despite its seeming idleness, effects concentration positively. But if doodling isn't your thing, then feel free to do any activity that involves your mind—answer a crossword puzzle, sketch, play with numbers, do anagrams, etc.  

Written By: Maris Modesto

Learning to Be Hardy

Half the time, I find myself unable to control my responses to certain situations life hurls at me. This happens whenever troublesome events arise suddenly, or problems avalanche, leaving me helpless and miserable. Sounds like you? Do not despair.

Not all of us are born with hardy personas—stress-resistant personalities, but we could work hard to acquire some, if not all of its qualities.

• Staying committedBeing commited is having a purpose. Having a purpose defines our reason for living. Whether this involves making ourselves and loved ones happy or achieving excellence in our chosen fields, any kind of purpose suffices to motivate us to put our efforts, time, and abilities to good use.
  
• Taking controlNone of us could be in command of everything all the time. However, having a sense of control implies that we know how to take charge of ourselves, especially in handling our stressors.
  
• Living up to the challengeSeeing life as a challenge that needs to be overcome instead of a burden is what differentiates a hardy person from his weak counterparts. Hence, he acquires a positive outlook in life, enabling him to bounce back and stay rooted in his values despite adversities.

Written By: Maris Modesto

The Good and the Bad

Stress: you can neither have too much of it nor too little. The minutest inconsistency in balancing between these two extremes could spell a big difference in how we would fare in the face of life's daily challenges. Stress is as innate to living as breathing. Basically, since we can't keep ourselves from reacting to the events that confront us, there is no way we could prevent stress from setting in. But despite the negative connotation, stress is not always bad. In fact, in the right doses it could even be good for us. 

Good Stress

Instances like avoiding accidents causes an adrenaline rush, giving us the needed faculties to react accordingly and effectively. This adrenaline rush, also referred to as the flight and fright response, is stress—good stress to be exact. Activated in milder forms, good stress can push us into doing what needs to be done, even performing astounding feats we didn't know we're capable of, to steer us toward the right direction. 

Bad Stress

If adequate stress is good, too much automaticlaly means bad. Stress overload, especially when chronic, could turn our overall system upsidedown. Left alone, this could result to many kinds of health problems. 

Written By: Maris Modesto

Harnessing Your Emotional Resiliency

Saying that you can always stay in control of your emotions is one thing, but living up to it is another. If like me, you find it hard to stay tough when confronted by emotionally taxing situations, then harnessing your emotional resiliency is compulsory. But before you proceed, be reminded: being emotionally resilient does not give you an immunity from life's hassles.

If it has to rain, it would rain. There is not much you can do about it since staying alive means being exposed to problems time and time again. But the benefit of emotional resiliency you could definitely not do without would be having that presence of mind and positivity to help you react advantageously and bounce back should you get knocked down.  To help you develop your emotional resiliency, try out these tips:

Do not shy away from strong emotions. Let yourself experience them so as to get familiarized.

But do not leave yourself vulnerable to them when your spirit is down. Their combined forces along with your already stressed out self spells trouble for you in the end.

Face your challenges.

But know your limitations and give yourself enough time to recharge your spirit and energy.

Written By: Maris Modesto