If you've experienced sleeplessness, whether it's a result of your own choice or external circumstances, you know just how frustrating it can be. I know from experience -- my brother just reminded me the other day of a family vacation in which I had to share a room with my mother, who snores very loudly. Being perhaps the lightest sleeper in the world, I averaged about 2 hours of sleep a night , and after the better part of a week, I desperately begged him to switch rooms with me, promising that is he didn't, he was going to have to pick me up from a loony bin, where I would be recovering from a nervous breakdown. Dramatic? Yes, but I was very serious. No sleep does that to a person.

Researchers out of the UK have been studying the effect of sleep deprivation on the brain, with some interesting results. According to findings, activity in the brains of sleep deprived people show a dramatic increase when presented with upsetting or sad images. Moreover, the study links sleep deprivation and mental illness -- yikes! To read more of the findings, click here.

So remember to get your sleep however you can. For me, it means never sharing a room with my mother. Ever.

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I can't imagine what it must be like to be diagnosed with any form of cancer. I can only guess that initially, amoung many emotions, one would feel terrified, angry and upset. I hope that I never have to find out what it's like but realistically, I know that some day I could have to deal with all of these emotions and prepare for battle.

I also imagine that it must help to hear the stories of those who have been where you are, and are surviving. The three women featured here, for example, offer advice on how to deal with cancer but more importantly, they offer hope to those facing a similar fight against the disease.

Donna McGrath, who battled breast cancer, insists that getting out and getting on with life is a good way to deal, Barb Brooks, diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, says that maintaining a healthy mind helped her deal with her overall health and Lina Prevedel, currently in remission from breast cancer, found that her friends and family helped her fight the disease.

To read these women's stories in full, please check out the full article here.

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I've always found goodbyes very sad and really difficult, and parting with a boyfriend has always been the most difficult kind of goodbye. Whether you're the breaker or the breakee -- or even if the break up is totally mutual, ending a relationship is painful. Recently Brian White wrote a post regarding a study with results that showed breaking up isn't actually that hard to do. It makes me wonder who was participating in the study -- robots perhaps that weren't programed to have feelings?

I know everyone has different experiences and I suppose that for some people, breaking up isn't that big of a deal but for everyone I know it pretty much just sucks. I agree with the author of this piece who discusses how the worst part of breaking up is all of the analysis that goes on in your head in the weeks and even months after you've ended things with your partner. Questions like "Did I do the right thing?", "What if I'd done a, b or c differently?" and "If things were so great at first, what happened to change everything?" can be torturous to someone suffering from post-break up blues.

I think the only saving grace is keeping in mind that pretty much everyone you know has been where you are and made it through, and likely you've been there before too. It may be difficult in the here and now, but try to remember that in time you'll look back and wonder why you were so upset in the first place.

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Frustratingly enough, the jury is still out on this one. But in reading this article it does sound more promising than not. St. John's Wort, otherwise known as Hypericum Perforatum, has been used for more than 2400 years -- maybe even by Hippocrates himself. And in the majority of studies performed in both past and recent years there has been at least some relationship shown between taking the herb and experiencing a decrease in signs and symptoms of depression. There have been contradicting studies also, but they seem limited to how St. John's Wort affects people with minor symptoms compared to more serious ones.

Although it is generally mild and safe as far as herbal supplements go, don't take it too lightly. St. John's Wort can have some significant side-effects like dizziness, photosenstivity, and even decreased fertility. And never, ever, take St. John's Wort if you're already taking other meds for depression.

Bottom line? St. John's Wort may be right for you, but be sure to check with your doctor first.

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When life throws you a curve ball and something terrible happens, you have two choices: wallow in self-pity or do your best to pick up and move on in the best way you can, learning from the experience. It's only natural to feel angry, depressed, or stressed out and anxious. The important thing is that you bounce back, and good news: resilience can be learned.

So don't worry if you haven't always been strong in the past, read these suggestions and see if they help you better deal the next time you're facing a rough patch.

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What do you do when you're stressed? Do you get angry? Do you cry? Do you go for a run? Or do you reach for the double stuff oreos and madly shove them down your gullet until you are covered in cookie crumbs and feeling very ashamed of yourself? If you answered the latter, you're an emotional eater. If you eat when your sad, or mad, or glad (Dr. Seuss?), you're also an emotional eater. For me, it's usually sadness or boredom that cause me to raid the pantry with feckless abandon. But this always makes me feel worse than I did before, and guess what that causes? More emotional eating.

Yes, it's a vicious circle, but it can be stopped. The first step is realizing you have a problem. For ideas on how to control your emotional cravings, check out this article.

What are your ideas for ending emotional eating?

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Whether it's that frustrating driver in front of you who turns without signaling, or that the snow plow blocked your car in yet again with a mini-mountain range of ice chunks, we all get angry sometimes. And it's a perfectly healthy emotion designed to help us know when something is wrong and let others know how we feel. But unfortunately, many of the ways we deal with anger are not so healthy.

The most common negative ways most of us deal with anger are: withdrawing or moping, denial and suffering in silence, lashing out, using sarcasm, or even feeling guilty.

It may not seem like the most pressing issue in your quest for healthier living, but unmanaged and suppressed emotions can wreak havoc on both your physical and mental well-being. Depression, insomnia, and even physical aches and pains can result from misdirected and/or unmanaged anger.

So how should you deal then? Learn to recognize the physical and behavioral cues that signal you are angry, identify exactly what it is that is making you upset, and validate/accept your own feelings. Try listing all the possible solutions, and think out what you're going to say ahead of time -- remembering to avoid laying blame and focus instead on getting your feelings across and finding a resolution.

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