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Another 3 day weekend ahead of us. What will you do? sit in the garden, do some DIY or meet up with friends.

Whatever your doing I would recommend doing something adventurous. Whether that be going for a long walk or climbing a mountain. Get that heart pumping; apart from all the obvious physical benifits the effects on your psychological wellbeing are even greater. You can gain a sense of accomplishment and possibly get the old adrenaline pumping.

Having gone out and done something strenuous like a walk or climbing a mountain at the weekend you can return to work on Tuesday with a sense of satisfaction, something to tell people about and a sense of pride. This will then help carry you through the week ahead, when you're getting stressed with work you can look back and smile at the weekend you just had and look forward to what you will do next.

Wayne Rooney’s outburst on TV has led to a big discussion in the media about high profile personalities and how they should present themselves.

My daughter now 2 ½ repeats everything she sees, like a parrot you say something and find it said back to you, often again and again. She does not have a concept of all that she is saying and she represents only one area of mimicry that people do.

As children get older they have heroes and people they want to emulate, and if they see their heroes behaving in a particular way they will think that it is OK as this person can do no wrong in their eyes. Also they may think that it looks good or they look good or like their hero if they do the same thing.  

It is for these reasons that people who are in the media spot light should be careful about how they present themselves. Like it or not and whether they want it or not they are influencing many people mentally and emotionally.

I am sure you have heard of the saying ‘you are what you eat’. The message behind this is well known and refers to your health as a result of the foods that you consume. 

Ghosts are rising.

According to research by Professor Richard Wiseman (Psychologist) more and more people are claiming sightings of Ghosts. Research in the 1950s showed just just 7%  of the population had some experience of a ghost, however more recently more than 11 million people have claimed to have sighted a ghost.

TV shows like 'Most Haunted' are being offered as explanations, as to why more people are sighting ghosts. Professor Wiseman was quoted as saying, (according to Metro newspaper) "all these shows are feeding off the perception that these things actually exist and not looking at the psychological perspective".

Confronting the subject of mental illness can often be difficult for most people Ruby Wax takes this to a whole new level on stage.

Ruby Wax has written a new play entitled 'losing it', in which she stars. Based on her expereinces of living with Bipolar disorder. Ruby talks about her expereinces in her own inevitable style. Exploring how to fit into society.

http://www.rubywax.co.uk/ruby-wax-losing-it.html 

A study carried out by Cancer Research UK has shown that ex smokers are not just feeling the physical health benefits of quitting but also psychological benefits too.

More than two thirds of the 879 people studied reported feeling happier overall as a result of quitting smoking. Having worked with many people who have wanted to quit smoking and received feedback from them as they continue to remain non-smokers, these results do not surprise me. The people I have worked with often report on how much better they feel in their lives. They no longer feel that sense of control that cigarettes once had over them. Instead they feel in control of their lives and as a result much happier that they are no longer a slave to smoking. The sense of accomplishment is also an important factor - that they have managed to break a habit that is known to be difficult to stop. This once again ties in with the results of the research study as those who had quit for more than a year felt much happier.

So if you want to receive not only the physical health benefits of stopping smoking but also the psychological benefits then why not quit today... 

There is nothing better than a lie in, a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep, though for many of us we begin to feel guilty. We think that we should be doing something else, we lead busy a life and have a lot to get done, and ‘do we really have the time for a lie-in?’

Well, finally we may be able to give the perfect excuse to our partners. Recent research from Duke University in America has shown that women are more susceptible to heart disease if they suffer from a lack of sleep than men.

Behavioural science experts measured the levels of blood chemicals in participants of the study. They found that women whose sleep was disturbed were more prone to chemical markers that indicated higher risks of heart disease.

They found the 33 percent of women who suffered from disturbed sleep had protein levels that were associated with a higher risk heart disease.

Additionally, poor sleep was also associated with higher levels of depression, anger and psychological distress.

In the study, 210 male and female participants were used to test the affects of sleep disturbance. The study shows that the men were less affected by poor sleep than women, and that it was the time it took a person to fall asleep that appeared to have the most dramatic affect on a persons health.

So when you can, have that extra half hour in bed, have a lie-in, and if anyone asks, just tell them it’s for the good of your health.

Scientists in America at the Northwestern University in Chicago have found that our brain lights up when we see sugary treats.

Studies carried out recently have reported that when hungry people were presented with a picture of a Krispy Kreme doughnut or a screwdriver, two distinct parts of the brain became active.

Volunteers were shown the pictures whilst functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans were carried out to identify the parts of the brain that became active.

The volunteers were first fed a substantial amount of food so they weren’t hungry, a picture of a doughnut and screwdriver were shown to them but neither image caused a reaction.

The volunteers were then asked to fast for eight hours, and the same experiment was carried out. This time however the reaction was different.

First the limbic system (responsible for fleeing, fighting, feeding and sexual behaviour), became significantly active and detected that food was available and that the body was hungry.

The second part of the brain to become more alert was the brain’s spatial attention network, this detected that the food was more important than the screwdriver. Its role is to detect what is important in our environment to help us to function.

This research helps us to further understand the parts of the brain and how they all interconnect and have different roles to play in maintaining our survival.

One of the researchers of the study Dr Aprajita Mohanty, said: "There's a very complex system in the brain that helps to direct our attention to items in the environment that are relevant to our needs, for example, food when we are hungry but not when we are full."