How To Focus Your Mind

Mental clutter,hyper mind, head on overdrive—we have all been there. Here is some soothing relief.

Try these simple suggestions for slowing things down. Your concentration and memory will 

improve, you will gain greater perspective on your life, and you’ll be able to think more 

clearly and with less effort.

Learn to relax your mind as you relax your body, to reap the benefits of less stress, and 

gain a more calm and mindful awareness of the present moment. You will be surprised 

how easy it can be.

1. Witness your thoughts. No one can stop thinking entirely; it is impossible. If you start 

trying not to think, you only end up thinking about how to stop thinking! What you can do,

 however, is to withdraw from your thoughts and become more of an objective spectator.

2. Picture your mind as a blank canvas or a dark sky. Allow your thoughts to come and 

go, but resist the urge to follow each one. Your brain will eventually slow down and you 

will feel less pressured.

3. Count. If you find it difficult to let go of your thoughts, try counting slowly as you 

breathe. Watch your thoughts and try to resist following them. Turn your attention to the 

count as you breathe out.

4. Pay active attention. As you work and think, try to keep our attention on the task at 

hand. Be strict with yourself and each time your mind wanders, return it to the task. As 

you keep refocusing your attention, your “mind stillness” will improve.

5. Still your body. One sign of fragmented attention is fragmented movement. For 

example, when you are at the theater, it is easy to tell if others around you are fully 

attentive to the performance. People who sniff and sigh, move their heads this away and 

that, and wiggle in their seats are having some difficulty concentrating. Rapt attention is

 usually accompanied by still body posture.

6. Find a comfortable position and don’t allow yourself to move. Concentrate on what 

you are doing or watching, drawing your attention away from physical distractions, and 

focus your thoughts on your task. After a while, you will notice that you fidget less and 

feel less physical discomfort. You are now channeled into mental exertion.

7. Interest your mind. Try to find interest in projects to help you concentrate. Taking up

 a new hobby can be a tremendous help. You should also try to find something interesting

 even in the dullest chore. If you are at a gathering, find someone and start a 

conversation. Be inquisitive and you might discover you have similar interests.

8. Open the mind. Just as strength, stamina and flexibility must be incorporated in your 

physical routine, the mind needs new and absorbing challenges to give it a change from 

its 

everyday journey. Notice something new on the same way home that you might not have 

noticed before. Buy a magazine on a subject you normally wouldn’t look at, read it, and 

open yourself to new possibilities.

Take Depression Very Seriously .

Depression is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world today. Thirty  percent of the our adult population suffers with the illness every year, with many persons receiving either no or inadequate treatment. Psychiatrists know depression as an illness that affects the mind and mood of a sufferer, alteringthat person’s core experience of others and the world around them. But now, research convincingly shows that significant morbidity and mortality are associated with the primary manifestations of depression beyond that occasioned by the disturbed affect. Patients with major depression have a doubling of mortality at any age, independent of suicide, smoking, or other risk factors for poor health. There is emerging evidence that depressed patientshave a significant loss of cells in the prefrontal cortex, a brain area important in discerning reward versus punishment, in shifting mood from one state to the other, and in exerting cortical restraint on the amygdala fear system through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system. An increase in cortisol and norepinephrine secretion represents a highly adverse biochemical environment, a condition that is likely to contribute to many different adverse outcomes, including increased visceral fat, insulin resistance, increased inflammation, enhanced blood coagulation, deficient fibrinolysis, decreased bone formation, and increased bone resorption. These changes support the concept of depression as a systemic disease that may have primary medical manifestations. Moreover, depression has adverse effects on comorbid medical diagnoses as well, such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Indeed, emerging data have shown that prospective treatment of depression in patients who have experienced myocardial infarction increases chances of a good medical outcome and survival. Thus, detection of depression in all ill persons is critical, and the pursuit of new and more effective treatments for depression will increase psychological,psychiatric, and medical health worldwide.