Living Well: Health and Wellness Tips from Indiana University

Newswise — E-mail can be extremely useful for work and socializing but managing the never-ending "pieces of love" can cause anxiety and even legal problems and financial jeopardy. Each day, an estimated 55 billion e-mail messages are written.

"It has taken over our professional lives in many ways," said Marty Siegel, associate dean of the Indiana University School of Informatics and author of The E-Mail Diet Book, (LifeQuest, 2006). "That's really the danger, that we're spending so much time just reacting to the next e-mail message rather than focusing on what's most important to do to move our work goals forward. I describe it as 'another piece of love' that we get. That bell rings, and it's someone paying attention to us. Someone sent us e-mail, and we have to look."

E-Mail Diet takes a humorous approach to the issue, drawing parallels throughout between e-mail management and weight issues (where did all those e-mails/pounds come from? I'll begin cleaning out my inbox/eating right tomorrow"¦) Below are some tips designed to help readers shed unwanted e-mails and take control of their e-mailing habits:

* Don't respond to everything right away. Allocate certain times during the day to look at e-mail and stick with the plan. "Some people think it's only polite to respond to e-mail immediately, or they need to instantly respond to appear on top of things," Siegel said. "This is where the addiction begins." * Use spam filters. Spam filters come with most e-mail programs and services. If used, they can help prevent unwanted e-mails and potentially dangerous phishing attempts from clogging inboxes and claiming our attention. Spam is more of an annoyance -- unsolicited e-mails about sexual enhancement products, pharmaceuticals and other commercial and marketing interests. Phishing is more serious -- it's a term to describe efforts to trick people into disclosing personal information that could lead to identity theft or improper use of financial information. * Have at least two e-mail accounts. Siegel recommends having one e-mail account for work and another for personal use. This will help reduce spam on the work account if this account is never disclosed during on-line shopping or in other instances when e-mail addresses are requested. Siegel noted that e-mail accounts can be created for free, using services such as http://mail.yahoo.com, http://gmail.com and http://hotmail.com. Siegel said some people have more than two e-mail accounts, some just for friends, while others use e-mail alternatives, such as Facebook and other social networking sites. * Read it or move it. "There's something incredibly powerful about getting down to the point where you have no messages in your inbox," Siegel said. "Sometimes it's really important to give yourself a clean slate." He suggests creating an "unread messages" folder in your e-mail program for unread e-mail and then moving most of your e-mail into it, aside from the top 100 or so. Then, go through the remaining e-mails in the inbox and respond or delete them. * No "thanks." Siegel encourages people not to send gratuitous e-mail responses. It just adds to other people's e-mail problems. * Never send e-mail when angry. "That's the worse thing you can do," Siegel said. "It's so easy to misread e-mail. Sometimes people are trying to be cute or funny, but it sounds sarcastic or rude. Sometimes it can be intentionally mean, but you don't have to respond in kind." This can create bigger problems by providing something in writing that can be recorded and discoverable from a legal perspective. * If you have to respond. Suggest a live meeting so nothing is in writing, or send yourself a draft of the e-mail first and then read it 24 hours later. "Often when you look at these, you think, 'This is so silly,' and you delete it," Siegel said. "Always try to take the high road."

The E-Mail Diet Book was co-authored by Steven E. Clapp, president of Christian Community, Inc., a nonprofit research and development company that focuses on the health of congregations and nonprofit organizations.

HOLIDAY BLUES DIMMING HOLIDAY CHEER

The holiday rush tends to intensify feelings that people typically have. Bernardo J. Carducci, psychology professor at Indiana University Southeast, refers to this as "density intensity." When you have periods of density, when you're crushing things together whether physical, psychological or emotional, it tends to intensify the feelings you're having," he said.

"If you're typically sad and down, this time of year intensifies that. If you're generally a pretty happy person, it really puts you in the spirit."

People who feel low can actually bring down people around them who are not depressed, Carducci said, while cheerful people generally do not make people around them more cheerful.

Carducci offers the following suggestions to help perk up the holiday blues:

* Be wary of humbugs. Be aware that this time of year can make people who are typically cynical and toxic even worse, so consider avoiding them. * Express gratitude. Being thankful can help put life into perspective and counteract a tendency many people have to focus on what they don't have or how their life is far from picture perfect. "Rather than focusing on what you don't have -- your house isn't as sparkly as your neighbor's home, your cookies aren't straight from Martha Stewart's kitchen -- focus on what you do have," Carducci said. "You have social support. Friends and family, they're the number one thing." * Random acts of kindness, intentional acts of kindness. "You're in a line at a bank or mall, let someone step in front of you; let someone have that parking space; hold the door for people; give compliments, particularly to sales people. This points to social involvement," Carducci said. The holidays also are a great time to pay extra attention to friends and others who provide that important sense of social support in your life -- the people you know you can count on when you're down, he said. * Get real. Carducci encourages people to focus on the present and to realize the past is not always as great as we remember. He also suggests people avoid "aspirational media," which makes it appear that what we need is "more, more, more," such as bigger TVs and smaller phones. "They equate what you spend with the happiness you'll feel," Carducci said. "It's aspirational rather than realistic."

To learn more about the Shyness Research Institute, which he directs, visit http://www.ius.edu/shyness.

ADOLESCENTS STRUGGLING WITH DEPRESSION -- THEY'RE NOT ALONE, THEY JUST DON'T KNOW IT

Jerry Wilde's book, Hot Stuff to Help Kids Cheer Up (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2007), should help change this.

"Kids tend to be so egocentric that they often feel alone when in fact, they are surrounded by adolescents struggling with the same ideas," said Wilde, associate professor of educational psychology at Indiana University East. "Nearly 10 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 experienced at least one major period of depression this past year. That's about 2.2 million in that age group."

Hot Stuff takes a conversational approach to a serious issue and is designed to be read by the kids, similar to Wilde's books about anger management and stress management.

In Hot Stuff, adolescents learn about the difference between sadness and depression. Sadness, says Wilde, typically is a reaction to loss, disappointment or significant change, such as natural disasters and world events, and can last for days or a few weeks. Depression is longer lasting and more severe.

"Beyond length, I tend to look for the presence of other indicators, such as sleep disruption and the failure to enjoy previous activities," said Wilde. "But in the end, this tends to be a judgment call, which is why I recommend that if a parent is concerned, see a professional."

The book also helps them see the difference between true and false beliefs that could be bringing them down and helps them identify "alligator thoughts," thoughts lurking just below the surface that are the real culprits of the sad feelings.

The book includes interactive activities, such as personal quizzes. Wilde offers the following suggestions to adolescents and their families:

* Pay attention to your children. Symptoms of depression include anger, lack of motivation, withdrawal from friends, difficulty concentrating, sleep disruptions, fatigue and more trouble getting moving in the morning. * Get out and have some fun. People suffering from depression try to withdraw themselves from life, so kids should try to have some fun doing things that involve other people, and parents should try to help them become actively engaged. This could include clubs or sports at school -- or attending matches to cheer on your school's team. Some kids have no interest in after school activities, however, so Wilde suggests finding out what the kids are passionate about and helping them become more engaged in this activity. If a child enjoys skateboarding, for example, but no skateboard parks are nearby, make time to take the child to the one even though it is farther away. Try to limit activities that involve more solitude, such as video games and time online. * Bite your tongue. Rather than accepting that depression is a medical condition, many people wrongly think people who are depressed should just cheer up and find the bright side of life, Wilde said. "Nobody would tell a diabetic to just get over it," he said. * Exercise. Increasing evidence has shown that exercise is an effective part of treatment for depression. Develop a family plan to ensure everyone is getting the right amount of exercise to stay healthy -- mentally and physically.