Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that people who have endured a traumatic event such as war, a violent crime, or abuse sometimes deal with. PTSD includes symptoms such as nightmares, irrational fears, flashbacks, anxiety, and insomnia. It affects about 7.7 million American adults and it can affect children, too.

Preliminary research suggests that PTSD patients may benefit from virtual reality psychotherapy. The virtual reality helps patients relive some of their traumatic experiences while in a safe environment. Iraq war veterans took part in the study -- taking medication and using the virtual reality treatments -- and it's helped many of them confront their fears.

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If you suffer from panic attacks, which can often feel like a heart attack due to the rapid heart beat and shortness of breath, you should be aware that they can often signal very real heart problems later in life. In a group of women studied those who reported having even just one panic attack were 5 times more likely to report having a heart attack over the next 5 years.

Experts are lumping panic attacks into the same category as other psychological disorders like depression and anxiety, which have already been established as heart risks.

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When we're young and told to eat healthy, we're influenced by promises that some day our bad eating will catch up with us. When we're older. But sometimes bad food decisions come back to haunt us sooner rather than later, as this article from eDiets points out. Want examples?

• High soda intake has been linked to seizures
• MSG in many Chinese dishes, not to mention convenience store foods, can cause drastic mood swings, panic attacks and depression
• Decreasing your sugar intake can lessen the effects of anxiety attacks

I believe it, although I also believe that you shouldn't get between certain people and chocolate (myself included) or the results could be disastrous.

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