Here’s another perk from the page. When you read an actual book, it lowers your stress levels (one study shows that it might lower stress by as much as 68%) and helps you to sleep better. Using a screen to read late at night, especially right before you go to bed, can mess with your circadian rhythms and make it harder for you to fall asleep or stay asleep (Wise, 2019). 

The brain undergoes lots of development and change during the teen years. Introducing something like alcohol can lead to lasting consequences. When you drink, your hippocampus is immediately affected; however, drinking can have long-term effects too. Alcohol has the potential to damage or kill cells in the hippocampus, which helps with learning and memory.

Fact: For every good way of coping we might choose, there is an equally destructive or damaging way of coping we could turn to instead. We might turn to alcohol or drugs to numb the pain of a failed relationship instead of sitting with it and examining the part we played, or we might choose to cope with low self esteem by trying to be the best at everything instead of doing the hard inner work of changing what we believe about ourselves. Unfortunately, we can even use people as an unhealthy way of coping the same way that we can turn to people for healthy support, guidance, and love.

Using MRIs, researchers can figure out what part of our brain lights up when listening to music. What they’re seeing is that music is not just sent to one part of the brain. It actually affects most of our brain. Different parts of a song like rhythm and tone are analyzed in different parts of the brain. The part of our brain that processes emotions also lights up when listening to a song (McCollum 2019). 

What do all these songs have in common? Alcohol. I guarantee most of us hear someone talking or singing about drinking every day. It’s a huge part of American society. However, most of us also know that drinking is really not great for you, especially the kind of drinking these songs are talking about. What really happens in your brain while you drink alcohol? 

About 4 months later, we ran a half marathon. She had easily convinced me to join her in training. We’d found a training plan that didn’t look that bad, I had already been exercising so how hard could it be to add in running, and it gave us an excuse to spend more time together. I didn’t expect to fall in love with it, though. Who would want to run so much and so far? 

Skin hunger? I promise, this has nothing to do with cannibals! When we discuss health and wellness, it’s safe to say that touch probably isn’t the first thing to come to mind. We might think of getting enough exercise, eating healthy, or working to create positive self talk about ourselves but hugs?

Well it turns out that hugs matter. A lot.