During the pandemic, life was all about survival. We humans were constantly in fight or flight mode to avoid getting sick while protecting our families from illness, surviving financially, and agonizing about how this would impact our kids. Since then, our society has never fully recovered. Weve gone from racial protests to political strife, climate disasters, and the lasting mental health repercussions of isolation from one another for far too long.As a result, says Aditi Nerurkar, a lecturer at Harvard University and author of The 5 Resets: Rewire Your Brain and Body for Less Stress and More Resilience, around 96 percent of us are facing at least some level of burnout, the mental exhaustion caused by chronic stress.Chronic stress has become the new normal, says Nerurkar. And it manifests in the body in many different ways.Read More: The Biology of Stress in Your BodyHow Do You Know If Youre Too Stressed?Caused by longterm activation of the bodys fight or flight response, which causes stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to remain elevated in the body, our stress response can lead to both physical and mental health symptoms.For some, stress can cause aches and pains, headaches, digestive issues, shortness of breath, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and issues with memory and focus. Other mental health symptoms might include getting lost in negative thought loops or thinking catastrophically, a thought pattern that imagines the worst possible outcome to a situation.You might replay something upsetting over and over again or rework a problem in a way that doesnt help with problem-solving, says Jennifer L. Taitz, a clinical psychologist and author of Stress Resets: How to Soothe Your Body and Mind in Minutes.You might also do things to take the edge off in the short term, like procrastinating or having a cocktail, when in the long term, these strategies can backfire, says Taitz.How To Do a Stress ResetThe goal in doing a stress reset is getting out of flight or flight mode, which is run by the amygdala, the small almond-shaped structure deep in the brain thats responsible for your survival. When the brain is running normally, its centered at the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain just above the forehead thats responsible for complex behaviors, emotions, and thoughts.The reason you reach for calorie-dense comfort foods, alcohol, or your phone when youre stressed is because the amygdala is designed to meet your pressing needs, not your future needs, and its unable to think in the long term.Setting Digital BoundariesNerurkar says that one of the first steps that you should take when its time for a stress reset is setting digital boundaries. Doom scrolling through your phone on news sites or social media amps you up. Still, were more likely to want to doom scroll when we feel stressed.When we were all cave people living in tribes, you had a night watchmen who would scan for danger while the rest of the tribe slept, says Nerurkar. But in modern times, were our own night watchmen and we scan for danger by scrolling through our phones.Even though it makes us feel worse, when were stressed, we keep doing it. While we might call it mindless scrolling, it has a very negative impact on the brain.Nerurkar recommends gray scaling your phone or turning it on black and white mode, especially at night. Keep your phone off your nightstand so you dont scroll first thing in the morning, which can set the tone for the day, or right before bed, which can disrupt your sleep.Protect Your Sleep At All CostsSleep is vital to controlling stress levels, and so often, were quick to sacrifice it. Avoid waiting until your kids go to bed and then scrolling through your phone. This, says Nerurkar, is called revenge bedtime procrastination, a product of our hustle culture that causes us to stay up late into the night because we crave time alone. As a result, we dive deep into our devices late into the night. The next day comes like a slap in the face. Were exhausted, which puts us back into survival mode.By scheduling brain breaks during the day, amounting to several 10-minute breaks where youre at rest, walking, stretching, reading a book, etc., you can avoid revenge bedtime procrastination because you wont feel as out of breath at the end of the day.Stop MultitaskingThis, says Nerurkar, is one of the most important tools for reducing stress because multitasking is a myth. It weakens the prefrontal cortex and reduces productivity, cognition, memory, and your ability to solve complex problems, she says.Its a fallacy that has led us astray for far too long. So, no matter what youre doing whether its writing, reading, eating, or talking on the phone do only that. You can also try time blocking instead, spending 15 minutes on one task, taking a short break, and starting on task number two. And then move onto tasks three and four with breaks in between.In the end, the human body was not made to take on modern-day stress levels. It was meant to escape the saber-toothed tiger and then chill out, or hunt the mammoth and then relax. And if you dont take steps to allow your fight or flight system to normalize, youll eventually pay the price.Article Sources:Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Aditi Nerurkar, a lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard University and author of The 5 Resets: Rewire Your Brain and Body for Less Stress and More ResilienceJennifer L. Taitz, a clinical psychologist and author of Stress Resets: How to Soothe Your Body and Mind in MinutesNational Review of Neuroscience. Stress signaling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and functionSara Novak is a science journalist based in South Carolina. In addition to writing for Discover, her work appears in Scientific American, Popular Science, New Scientist, Sierra Magazine, Astronomy Magazine, and many more. She graduated with a bachelors degree in Journalism from the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. She's also a candidate for a masters degree in science writing from Johns Hopkins University, (expected graduation 2023).

Spravato must be taken while supervised by a medical professional. Credit: Alicia Windzio / DPA / GettyShareJohnson & Johnson has announced the FDAs approval of a first-of-its-kind, esketamine nasal spray called Spravato for the standalone treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD), PTSD, and similar psychiatric conditions. The decision builds on previous FDA approval for the drugs treatment when combined with additional oral antidepressants. While Spravatos underlying mechanisms remain unclear and only be available to certain qualifying adults, the new option could soon provide help for many in the US dealing with treatment-resistant depression.Over 21 million Americans report depression-related issues. Of those, an estimated one-in-three people dont see improvement after using many of the most common prescription offerings. However, medication involving the anesthetic, ketamine, has shown promise in recent years for treating these hard-to-resolve depressive symptoms. But these often rely on intravenous administration in supervised settings like hospitals and clinics, which limit their accessibility for many patients. Meanwhile, some critics continue to voice concerns about lingering long-term health questions and unregulated clinics. Licensed medical providers have also faced dwindling supplies as a result of increased demand.Treatment-resistant depression can be very complicated, especially for patients who do not respond to oral antidepressants or cannot tolerate them. For too long, healthcare providers have had few options to offer patients much-needed symptom improvement, Bill Martin, Johnson & Johnsons Therapeutic Area Head in Neuroscience, said in a statement on January 21st.Researchers including Martin have spent years studying an alternative to direct ketamine IV injections and shots. This treatment is delivered through a nasal spray and relies not on ketamine, but one of its two primary components called esketamine. The end result, Spravato has since been approved in 77 countries and prescribed to over 140,000 patients. As of Tuesday, the US is now also one of those countries to allow it as its own treatment without any additional prescriptions.Like many other antidepressants, Spravato works as a non-selective, non-competitive antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Where it differs, however, is its ability to travel through a different brain pathway affecting the neurotransmitter, glutamate. An imbalance in a persons glutamate levels can lead to exhaustion, concentration issues, and clinical depressive problems.The FDA fast-tracked Spravatos approval through its Priority Review process after receiving results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the medication. Volunteers were sorted into two groupsone that received the prescribed medication, and another control group given a placebo. Participants took a commonly used 10-question survey known as the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale before and after the 28-day trial to contextualize their overall mental health state. Get the Popular Science newsletter Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.At the end of week four of the trial, just 7.6-percent of the placebo group reported a MADRS score indicating remission, compared to 22.5-percent of those taking Spravato. According to Johnson & Johnson, Spravatos safety profile as a standalone treatment was consistent with the existing body of clinical and real-world data when used in conjunction with an oral antidepressant, adding that researchers also didnt identify any new safety concerns.Spravato is taken by the user under the supervision of a healthcare provider in a clinic. Because reported side-effects include temporary nausea, vomiting, and tiredness, healthcare supervisors require a patient to wait a short period of time before clearing them to leave. Patients are also advised against driving for the rest of the day, and are required to have someone take them home after each treatment. Other side effects potentially include temporarily increased blood pressure, mental haziness, and bladder problems.Although the data indicates Spravato (and, by extension esketamine) helps many patients with treatment-resistant depression, researchers still arent sure how it technically works. But with most users reporting only mild-to-moderate side-effects and the FDAs approval, Spravato may offer a new option for the many Americans who have long struggled with drug-resistant depression.

Sennheisers HD 599 open-back headphones were already a great deal at $199, but right now Amazon has them for just $99, which is borderline ridiculous. Open-back headphones are basically the exact opposite of noise-canceling headphones. The earcups arent fully enclosed, which allows them to integrate your music into the ambient sound happening around you. Its an amazing experience that fancy audiophiles love. Its like having Dire Straits performing right in your living room. This is even lower than the price we saw on Black Friday for these, so go grab them while theyre still in-stock.Sennheiser Consumer Audio HD 599 Open Back Headphone, Ivory $96 (was $199)SennheiserSee ItSennheiser considers these headphones the start of its audiophile line, which goes up into the thousands of dollars. The HD 599 employs Sennheisers engineered transducers use aluminum voice coils, which you can brag about to your friends with regular headphones. These are wired headphones, so no Bluetooth built-in, but you will find both a 3.5mm jack and a 6.3mm jack so you can plug it into just about anything with a headphone port including turntables. The open-back design really is something if youve never experienced it. You wont want to listen to music any other way. SENNHEISER HD 569 Closed Back Headphone $96 (was $149)SennheiserSee ItIf youre looking for a more traditional closed-back headphone, the HD 569 is also on-sale with a deep discount right now. These are very similar to the 599s, only they provide a more immersive sound thanks to the sound isolation provided by the closed backs. More headphone dealsSennheiser Consumer Audio HD 400S Closed Back, Around Ear Headphone $49 (was $69)Jabra Evolve2 65 UC Wireless Headphones with Link380a $149 (was $301)Nothing Ear (a) Wireless Earbuds with ChatGPT Integration $87 (was $97)Nothing Ear Wireless Earbuds with ChatGPT Integration $114 (was $159)Soundcore Q11i Wireless Over-Ear Bluetooth Headphones by Anker $35 (was $49)Skullcandy Indy ANC In-Ear Noise Canceling True Wireless Earbuds $45 (was $119)The post These $199 open-back Sennheiser headphones are just $96.99 right now appeared first on Popular Science.

NewsAstronomyGalactic chaos at cosmic noon may have stunted Milky Way planet formationThat may be why the galaxys oldest stars have fewer planets than ones in our neighborhood Stars in the Milky Ways central thin disk (brightest region in this image from the Gaia spacecraft) have more planets than stars above and below that plane.DPAC/GAIA/ESABy Lisa Grossman1 hour agoThe Milky Way keeps its planets close to its chest. Stars in a thin, flat disk bisecting the galaxy have more planets on average than stars in a thicker, enveloping disk and astronomers now think they know why.Stars that currently live in the galaxys thick disk were born during a time of galactic chaos, says MIT astrophysicist Tim Hallatt. The stars violent upbringing hindered their ability to grow and retain planets, he and astrophysicist Eve Lee, formerly of McGill University in Montreal, report January 22 in the Astrophysical Journal.

Nature, Published online: 22 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00101-7A multi-ancestry genome-wide study of 158,036 people with bipolar disorder and 2,796,499 control individuals identified 298 genomic regions associated with the disease. Variations in 36 genes were linked to the condition, and this variation was enriched in certain neuronal cell populations. The genetic architecture underlying bipolar disorder varied with subtype and how cases were identified.

Nature, Published online: 22 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00143-xHuge analysis identifies regional variations in the criteria that institutions use to move researchers up the ranks.

Scientists have found an elusive third form of magnetism that could help solve a longstanding puzzle about superconductors.

A new study suggests that the explosive deaths of the universe's earliest stars created surprising quantities of water that may have sparked extraterrestrial life in the very first galaxies.

Not perfect but was fun trying to get the lighting and reflections as good as I could submitted by /u/cinnamon_mango [link] [comments]

Sometimes, its a bit addictive to watch shows about how modern people survive in the isolated wilderness without help from any modern techniques. The crazy idea to give it a try occasionally pops up for me, but it wouldnt be a great idea to do it without enough preparation or knwoledge.Luckily, video games can help us experience it virtually. The upcoming Bushcraft Simulator is one such game where you need to gather food and resources to survive in a hostile environment.This immersive open-world adventure challenges you to live off the land, honing essential bushcraft skills like resource gathering, tool crafting, shelter building, and hunting for food. Every decision you make shapes your survival journey, the game description reads.A2 SoftworksA2 SoftworksFrom drilling wood to make a fire to catching fish with a fish spear, setting up campfires to cook food and keep yourself warm, crafting various tools using the resources you collected, and filtering water using layers of small stones to make it drinkable, youll purely focus on keeping yourself alive. Its from a first-person perspective, and the environment in the game resembles reality; youll truly feel like youre physically present in the forest on the mountains.The game encourages you to pursue various goals other than surviving, like upgrading your tools and leveling up your bushcraft expertise.While focusing on crafting and surviving, youll also need to battle the elements, which I assume could be found in an abandoned house deep in the forest, where a radio repeatedly broadcasts an SOS signal, Mayday.A2 SoftworksA2 SoftworksA2 SoftworksBushcraft Simulator is developed by Poland-based indie studio A2Softworks, which teased that the game would soon be available on Steam. If youre looking for a simulation game that tests your ability to survive the wilderness, dont hesitate to add it to your wishlist.Dont forget tojoin our80 Level Talent platformand ournew Discord server, follow us onInstagram,Twitter,LinkedIn,Telegram,TikTok, andThreads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post Check Out This Simulation Game That Tests Your Bushcraft Expertise appeared first on CG SHARES.