Psychology

"To sleep--perchance to dream," wrote Shakespeare in his masterpiece play, Hamlet. It's a nice concept. However for many men, women and children, the elusive road to slumberland is anything but a dream.

Stress is a fact of life, but it need not be a way of life. There are many things in life that you can't control, but very few that you can't learn to manage, including the negative aspects of stress.

Battered child syndrome; Physical abuse – children. Because adults are so much stronger and bigger than children, the abused child can be severely injured or killed unintentionally. For example, shaking an infant, especially if the head hits something, even against a soft object like a mattress or pillow, can cause bleeding over the brain. This can cause permanent brain damage or death.

Child neglect, also called psychological abuse, is a form of child abuse. It occurs when someone intentionally does not provide the child of the necessities of life, or do so with reckless disregard for the child's well being.

Repeated stress drains and wears down your body and mind. Stress is like starting a car engine or pushing the accelerator pedal to speed up. If you keep revving up the car, you'll burn out the starter and wear out both the brakes and the engine.

Mental health experts don't know what combat stress reactions to expect from service members returning from the war in Iraq.

Any sort of change can make you feel stressed, even good change. It's not just the change or event itself, but also how you react to it that matters. What may be stressful is different for each person.

A panic attack typically lasts for several minutes and is one of the most distressing conditions that a person can experience. Most who have one attack will have others.

War-Zone-Related Stress Reactions: What Veterans Need to Know
A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet

The mind can be trained to produce or inhibit certain brain waves.