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nowhere within the emotional feelings network of sites is any opportunity for me to make any profit from any of the 28 + sites within this network. this network of sites has been put together as a personal mission to help others by informing those who need information concerning mental health, eating disorders, lifestyle factors, and every other topic listed within.

navigational hint: all underlined link words open up a new window instead of changing your present one, taking you to another site within the emotional feelings network of sites - or to another site referencing the underlined link word!

thanks for visiting  emotional feelings network!

Welcome to more emotional feelings website!
 
emotional feelings is the home site for the emotional feelings network of sites!

If you're trying to find personal growth, an avenue to get to know yourself or recovering from something... you'll find that there are many "connections" along your journey.
 
It's all the "connections" that you find, that cause a spark to be ignited within you that will carry you along when the going gets tougher.
 
I've made it easier for you by including connecting underlined link words throughout the 28 sites of the emotional feelings network of sites! Look for "connections" & you'll find them, more & more often. Be aware, mindful & grateful when you find them!
 
kathleen

  It's very important that you visit the page: keeping in touch!
Reason being: If you're here because you're searching for an answer to your feelings of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, feeling sick, or just general feelings of misery in your life - you need to find a volunteer opportunity that you feel comfortable with.
 
For a life changing listen - click here - it's truly life changing and something we all need to listen to. It does take some time to listen to Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, but you won't regret it.
 
You can help yourself by helping others. You might not think so; but it's true. Find something you can do to help some worthy causes. "Keeping in Touch" will show you some important causes that need you!
 
Why not just click here now to get it over with! So even if you leave this site after finding some information concerning an emotion or feeling... you'll also leave with the seed of thought concerning volunteer work that might produce some results bringing you a sense of accomplishment & find yourself feeling better!

Your dictionary definition of:
 
al·tru·is·tic  
adjective

1.

unselfishly concerned for or devoted to the welfare of others (opposed to egoistic).

2.

Animal Behavior. of or pertaining to behavior by an animal that may be to its disadvantage but that benefits others of its kind, often its close relatives.

a quick background on me....

5 years ago I was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorderdepression & I was also experiencing an eating disorder that no one knew anything about; night eating.
 
While I was miserable in experiencing all the symptoms of post traumatic stress, an anxiety disorder & depression - which often accompanies anxiety disorders; I was overjoyed in finally finding out what was wrong with me!
 

Why would someone spend 1000's of hours designing & keeping up these websites to offer free information to others?

I have to reply - "You're absolutely right! It does take many, many hours each day to work on these sites. I'm a mother, a wife & an individual who has tons of personal work to do as well as the usual family responsibilities!

visit anxieties 101 by clicking here!

How would I find the time? I knew that if I made the commitment to myself to keep up these sites... I would HAVE to do it....
 
Why do I do it? I use the opportunity to combine my own recovery - personal growth journey with an important concept that I've made a commitment to:
 
"Helping yourself thru helping others..." 
 
I was so excited when after years of searching for the answer to my everyday question, "What's wrong with me?" that I felt determined to show others that if you don't quit & you know the path to take, you can find your answers as well!

connect the pics with the words...

My immediate concern at that time was "mental health." While I didn't know what was wrong with me, I did have one medical specialist tell me that my physical pain was due to a "mental problem."
 
I didn't quite understand it all, I was wallowing in many different symptoms of mental illness like panic attacks, severe anxiety & finally my eating disorder symptoms of waking up numerous times in the night to eat.
 
Just as you may have seen recently on either public service television commercials for depression or in your doctor's office waiting room; mental illness can manifest itself in physical symptoms that include many sources of discomfort. I was also experiencing the symptoms of "irritable bowel syndrome," that had started early on in my life. So I'll start with the mental health site that now exists within the network:
 

i've made this cake! it's delicious!

I've reached a point in my own personal recovery & growth journey that I believe I can describe accurately most of the emotions & feelings within the emotional feelings network of sites without using any information from anyone else.
 
But since the ruination of the "extremely emotional" site - I had to stop & ask myself - remembering to be aware & mindful of what's happening in my present moment -
 
"Why did this happen to me?" (the unreasonable ruin of my site, of course!) 
 
or - Choosing to seek a positive return for a negative energy passing my way - what would the positive ramifications be of having to go through every single page of a network of 28+ sites to delete the links to my ruined site?
 
Geez... now that I think of it... I've asked myself that question quite a few times before... "Why did this happen to me?" & I searched & searched for an answer, wasting time & positive energy on something very simple... Life is what's happening. Just look to find the positive about it instead of the negative
 
This is what I am looking for now in all aspects of my life. I'm looking for the "positive" reasons things happen. I remember what I've learned from my past to be prepared to have to confront negativities with my re-gained "power & control" on my side now instead of the enemy; but I choose now to look upon the face of countenance instead of upheaval.
 
After pondering a few days on this subject, while going through every page of the emotional feelings site - here - to unlink all the emotion & feelings words "s" thru the end of the alphabet - I realized something magnificent.
 
"This is my opportunity to take the time to check ALL linked words to be sure they're being directed to the correct places. This is my opportunity to re-check spelling & grammar. This is my opportunity to try to express in my own words - the most meaningful knowledge I've recently acquired!
 
I'll write what I've learned about the whole cake, almost 6 years of growth - not just reveal a the first piece of the cake! - I still offer other author's works to explain situational inferences to emotions & feelings!
 
I'll try to the best of my ability to explain the importance of every emotion & feeling. I'm honored you chose the emotional feelings network of sites to visit!
 
kathleen

Important notice:

 
is coming along.
 
it's the replacement site for extremely emotional!
 
thanks for your continued patience with me as it takes so long to re-establish all the underlined link words as well as building a new site!
 
kathleen

send me an e-mail!

click here to send me an e-mail!!

I feel "able"

I feel "able"

Be Kind - It's Good for You!
By Mary Kearns, PhD
 
From the time we are children, we are taught to be kind to others. And while it's obvious that being kind is important when we're the recipients of the kindness, it turns out that being kind to others isn't only good for them, but it's also beneficial to the person who is being kind.
 
Altruism has been found to boost the immune system, with altruistic people having fewer major illnesses during their lives than non-altruistic people.
 
In addition, longitudinal studies have found that an altruistic lifestyle in an important component of lifelong mental health. To achieve happiness, the Dalai Lama has said, “the main thing is deep mental satisfaction. That comes if you make yourself available to others & serve others. Basically, a human being is a social animal. So, if you create some short moment of happiness for people, you get deep satisfaction.”
One way to integrate altruism into your daily life is through random acts of kindness. Psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, of the University of California, Riverside & her colleagues developed a Happiness-Inducing Intervention to test whether asking people to “commit” 5 random acts of kindness would increase their positive emotions.
 
In this 2006 study, researchers instructed groups of participants to perform 5 “acts of kindness” per week for 6 weeks. Participants’ happiness was measured before & after the 6-week trial.
 
Participants received the following instructions:

In our daily lives, we all perform acts of kindness for others. These acts may be large or small & the person for whom the act is performed may or may not be aware of the act.
 
Examples include:
  • feeding a stranger's parking meter
  • donating blood
  • helping a friend with homework
  • visiting an elderly relative
  • writing a thank you letter

One day each week, you're to perform 5 acts of kindness. The acts don't need to be for the same person, the person may or may not be aware of the act & the act may or may not be similar to the acts listed above. Don't perform any acts that may place yourself or others in danger.”

It was found that committing random acts of kindness made the participants feel happier, more connected to others & more competent in their daily lives. Why not try Kennon & Lyubomirsky’s suggestion to “commit” 5 random acts of kindness per week & see how it feels?

The healing power of service
By Edward V. Brown
Apr 10, 2000

A few years ago in a small rural town in Oregon, USA, a teenage boy died in a drowning accident. In all likelihood his death could have been prevented if an ambulance & trained medical personnel had been available. However, this small town was too poor to afford these services.

The boy’s mother grieved for the loss of her son, but she also transformed her grief into a service to her community. While she couldn't regain her son, she worked to prevent a similar tragedy. This woman trained & became an Emergency Medical Technician.

After completing her training she raised money to purchase an ambulance & trained volunteers to help her. It's estimated that this volunteer ambulance service has saved the lives of over 100 people that might have died, as her son did, due to a lack of emergency care.

When interviewed, this woman said, "It’s easier to forget your own loss when you're busy helping others."

Medical scientists are beginning to discover what this woman already knows: that there's healing power in helping others.

This new field of specialization, psychoneuroimmunology or PNI for short, researches the power of the mind to influence health & healing. This research has produced some startling results.

IgA is an antibody that helps the body defend itself from infection. Harvard psychologist David McClelland measured this antibody in students before & after watching a film on Mother Teresa, the Nobel Prize laureate, for her work helping the homeless.

Dr. McClelland found that merely watching a film on selfless service strengthened the immune response in the students.

While Chinese & Indian medicine have long considered the mind & the body as inseparable, Western science since the time of Descartes has viewed the mind & body as separate unrelated entities.

The PNI research is providing concrete evidence that this separation is artificial & erroneous. Studies have traced direct neurological pathways between the brain & the immune system. This research shows that the immune system, consisting primarily of several types of white blood cells, is controlled by the nervous system & that the white blood cells in turn are capable of transmitting chemical messages back to the brain.

Many health statistics demonstrate that the mind can influence the body. Stressful life events such as the death of a spouse, divorce, or loss of employment greatly increase your risk of becoming ill. In the words of Hans Selye MD, "What we call ageing is nothing more than the sum total of all the scars left by the stress of life".

The so-called Type A personality is an example of how the way we think & act affects our health. Type A individuals tend to move & react quickly. They may do two things at the same time & find it difficult to relax. These hard driving, hurried & competitive individuals have increased risk of heart attack & stroke.

Newer research suggests that the tendency to become angry or irritated is the most damaging aspect of Type A behavior.

Fight or flight

Events that are perceived as stressful evoke what is referred to as the "fight or flight" response. In response to danger, the body secretes hormones that cause the heart & lungs to work faster, blood pressure goes up, skeletal muscles tighten & digestive processes slow down.

All of these changes are to prepare the body for physical exertion. In today’s high stress society, most of our threats don't involve physical danger. However, the mind’s imagination is so powerful that a perceived stress elicits the same fight or flight response that a physical stress evokes.

When our body is primed for physical activity by the stress response & we continue with our sedentary activity, this imposes an added burden on the body, somewhat like stepping on the accelerator in your automobile while at the same time holding down the brake pedal.

Cancer is a disease that is influenced by the stress response. One researcher found that the majority of cancer patients had a severe emotional trauma early in life, such as the loss of a parent. Other research suggests that cancer patients have difficulty expressing their emotions.

One can speculate that pent-up emotional energy finds its outlet in the manifestation of cancer.

Another aspect of cancer-prone personalities is their rigid way of looking at the world. They perceive self-imposed ‘rules’ by which they must live. When life situations develop that don't conform to the rules, there is a feeling of helplessness.

They see themselves as victims of circumstances beyond their control & give up. This mental surrender leads to a weakening of immune function. Considering the direct links between the brain & the immune system, this isn't surprising.

It appears that mentally giving up doesn't cause cancer so much as it allows cancer to develop.

While the mind-body connection has been known for years, modern medicine has had difficulty translating this information into viable treatment alternatives. What are the medical implications of these new discoveries & how can we use this information to facilitate health & healing?

If mental & emotional states influence our susceptibility to disease, can we not also use the power of the mind to strengthen our healing response?

Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard University, author of The Relaxation Response teaches his patients a form of meditation. He finds that the use of this technique for 20 minutes twice a day aids a whole host of measurable clinical factors, such as lowered blood pressure, lowered heart & breathing rate, decreased oxygen consumption & profound muscle relaxation.

Dr. Benson has further refined the technique by adding the element of prayer to the meditative technique. He has the person pick a word or phrase that has religious or philosophical meaning in their personal belief system.

He finds that adding the ‘faith factor’ to the relaxation response increases its effectiveness.

Dr. Carl Simonton, a cancer specialist, in his book Getting Well Again, outlines visualization techniques to strengthen the healing response. He has the patient mentally image the white blood cells fighting & destroying the cancer cells.

He finds that the ability to image a positive outcome is essential if the disease process is to reverse. When patients have difficulty with the visualization & has a negative expectation about their treatment, invariably the outcome is poor.

However, when patients are successful in turning around a negative self-attitude with creative visualization the results can be remarkable.

Dr. Bernie Siegel in Love, Medicine & Miracles urges the person to become an "exceptional patient". By exceptional he means for the patients to become an active partner in their recovery. Exceptional patients are sometimes viewed as being difficult by traditional medicine.

They may question their doctor’s advice or even defy their recommendations rather than being a passive recipient of treatment. However, it's precisely this active interest in the course of treatment & outcome that's required to marshal the enhanced immune response.

The power of the mind to influence the body is beyond question; a negative mental attitude can threaten one’s health & a positive mental attitude will trigger changes within the body that promote health & healing.

Thus, while research shows that social isolation is a major health risk factor, it also shows that people who do volunteer work are much less likely to suffer illness. The close interpersonal relationships & community involvement that occur with volunteer service are tailor-made to enhance the healing process.

Dr Albert Schweitzer, the medical missionary, commented: "The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought & found how to serve".

Considering the implications of the PNI research, we might extend this to include altruistic service of some kind as an essential element of becoming truly healthy.

source: selfgrowth.com

Altruistic Actions May Result In Better Mental Health

Science Daily - People who offer love, listening & help to others may be rewarded with better mental health themselves, according to a new study of churchgoers in the September / October issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

The study is one of the first to track the positive health benefits of altruistic behavior, say Carolyn Schwartz, Sc.D., of the University of Massachusetts Medical School & colleagues.

"The findings really emphasize how helping others can help oneself," Schwartz says.

Schwartz & colleagues analyzed data collected by the Presbyterian Church for 2,016 congregation members. The members were asked about how often they "made others feel loved & cared for" & "listened to others" in the congregation & how often they received this attention in return.

The members also answered survey questions about their mental & physical health. Most of the congregation members were in good physical & mental health to begin with, experiencing only normal levels of anxiety & depression.

While the researchers didn't find any significant differences in physical health specifically related to giving & receiving help, they concluded that giving help was a better predictor of good mental health than receiving help.

But feeling overwhelmed by others' demands - giving until it hurts - can have negative psychological effects, according to the researchers.

"Although our findings suggest that people who help others experience better mental health, our findings also suggest that giving beyond one's own resources is associated with worse reported mental health," Schwartz says.

Church leaders, older individuals, women & those who took satisfaction from prayer were more likely to be helpers rather than receivers, according to Schwartz & colleagues.

People who give help to others may be less likely to focus inward on their own anxieties & depression or more apt to see their own troubles in perspective, leading to better mental health, say the researchers.

Alternatively, it may be that "people who are functioning well psychologically are better able & hence more likely to give help," Schwartz says.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Center For The Advancement Of Health.

source: science daily

 
you've been visiting more emotional feelings...
please have a great day & take a few minutes to explore some of the other sites in the emotional feelings network of sites! explore the unresolved emotions & feelings that may be the cause of some of your pain & hurt... be curious & open to new possibilities! thanks again for visiting at anxieties 102!
 
 
anxieties 101 - click here!
anxieties 102 - click here!
 
almost 30 sites, all designed, editted & maintained by kathleen!
 
until next time: consider yourself hugged by a friend today!
 
til' next time! kathleen

thanks for visiting more emotional feelings... it's a never ending process - isn't it!?