Senior citizens are most likely to have a “nest egg,” own their home, and/or have excellent credit—all of which make them attractive to con artists.

People who grew up in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were generally raised to be polite and trusting. Con artists exploit these traits, knowing that it is difficult or impossible for these individuals to say “no” or just hang up the telephone.
Older Americans are less likely to report fraud because they don’t know who to report it to, are too ashamed at having been scammed or don’t know they have been scammed. Elderly victims may not report crimes, for example, because they are concerned that relatives may think they no longer have the mental capacity to take care of their own financial affairs.

When an elderly victim does report a crime, they often make poor witnesses. Con artists know the effects of age on memory and count on elderly victims not being able to supply enough detailed information to investigators. In addition, the victims’ realization that they have been swindled may take weeks—or, more likely, months—after contact with the fraudster. This extended time frame makes it even more difficult to remember details from the events.

Senior citizens are more interested in and susceptible to products promising increased cognitive function, virility, physical conditioning, anti-cancer properties and so on. In a country where new cures and vaccinations for old diseases have given every American hope for a long and fruitful life, it is not so unbelievable that the con artists’ products can do what they claim.

Telemarketing Fraud
If you are 60 or older—especially if you are an older woman living alone—you may be a special target of people who sell bogus products and services by telephone. Telemarketing scams often involve offers of free prizes, low-cost vitamins and health care products and inexpensive vacations.

It’s very difficult to get your money back if you’ve been cheated over the telephone. Before you buy anything by telephone, remember:

• Don’t buy from an unfamiliar company. Legitimate businesses understand that you will want more information about their company and are happy to comply.
• Always ask for and wait until you receive written material about any offer or charity. If you get brochures about costly investments, ask someone whose financial advice you trust to review them. But, unfortunately, beware—not everything written down is true.
• Obtain a salesperson’s name, business identity, telephone number, street address, mailing address and business license number before you transact business. Some con artists give out false names, telephone numbers, addresses and business license numbers—verify the accuracy of these items.
• Before you give money to a charity or make an investment, find out what percentage of the money is paid in commissions and what percentage actually goes to the charity or investment.
• Don’t pay in advance for services. Pay for services only after they are delivered.
• Always take your time making a decision. Legitimate companies won’t pressure you to make a snap decision.
• Don’t pay for a “free” prize. If a caller tells you the payment is for taxes, he or she is violating federal law.
• Never send money or give out personal information such as credit card numbers and expiration dates, bank account numbers, dates of birth or social security numbers to unfamiliar companies or unknown persons.
• If you have been victimized once, be wary of persons who call offering to help you recover your losses for a fee paid in advance.

If you have information about a fraud, report it to state, local or federal law enforcement agencies.

By Anam Baig

Léman Manhattan Preparatory School, part of the Meritas group of international private and boarding college prep schools, promises a dynamic, culturally aware education for all of its pre-kindergarten through high school students.
Formerly known as Claremont Preparatory School, it was acquired by the Meritas Family of Schools, a conglomerate of prep schools, last April. It was renamed Léman Manhattan Preparatory School after its sister schools, Collège du Léman in Switzerland and Léman International School in Chengdu, China.

Both Léman campuses are located in the Financial District. Its lower school, ranging from pre-K through 4th grade, is at 41 Broad St., the former headquarters of Bank of America International—where Claremont Prep used to be.

The middle and high schools opened to students in September 2010 and are on the top four floors of the Cunard Building, located on Morris Street and Broadway right by the Wall Street Bull. The campus boasts a two-floor library, art and music studios, multiple computer labs, a café and an athletic facility with a 25-yard pool, full-size gymnasium and fully equipped exercise room.

“We are located in the heart of American history. If you look outside our window, the Statue of Liberty is there, welcoming people as she has for hundreds of years. It’s just an amazing, amazing place to be able to teach children,” said Christine Karamanoglou, interim head of the Léman middle school.

Léman Prep immerses students in a globally charged curriculum and promises an open forum for communication between parents, students, faculty and the administration, as well as with students at other Meritas schools located on three different continents.

From day one, students are encouraged to be critical, culturally aware learners. Léman’s lower school curriculum focuses on educating the child as a whole, with careful attention to math, language and art.

“Critical thinking is very important in the lower school. We strive to give our youngest students the tools they need to become independent learners, rather than just simply memorizing and reciting things they’ve read or heard,” said Rob Cousins, head of the lower school.

The middle school furthers the critical thinking process for students, giving them insight into how to use the education they acquired in the lower school in a productive way. During this time, students are introduced to an advisory group, a concept many new schools are adopting in order to ensure a safe, fostering environment for the youth.

These are usually small groups of students headed by a teacher, forums for discussion that go past academia and into the personal lives of these growing individuals. The goal of the advisory system is to ensure every student is well-rounded before continuing with more rigorous high school and college education.

The Léman Prep high school will graduate its first senior class in 2013. It provides its students opportunities for academic excellence, co-curricular activities, special projects and internships with neighboring government, nongovernmental and artistic, environmental, educational and financial organizations.

By combining facets of local and international communities in the burgeoning neighborhood of the Financial District, Léman Manhattan Preparatory School continues to excel as a global learning community.

Baruch College has a program in its Division of Continuing and Professional Studies (CAPS) for anyone looking to expand their skillset or fulfill a personal goal. Courses range from accounting to yoga, with many costing as little as $150. One of the largest CUNY colleges, Baruch is always evolving, determined to bring relevant education to meet ever-changing interests and career trends.

Ann Clarkson, assistant dean of CAPS, stressed Baruch’s effort to help individuals overcome a “skill gap,” nurturing what she calls “a belief in lifelong learning.” Lifelong learning is the idea that one never stops learning and that there is always room to grow. Clarkson said that there aren’t any specific subjects regularly pursued by those who register in CAPS programs, but that many of its students come from a business background.

Over 100 years old, Baruch’s goal is to provide graduate programs focusing on professional preparation that enable students to become innovators in their fields. Some of the continuing education courses they offer include project management, certificate programs and real estate licensing. Advisement staff are also on hand to help with students’ goals.

For more information and a list of programs, visit baruched.com.

By Sean Creamer

The New York College of Health Professions, which is chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, has been offering education in the fields of Western, holistic and integrative medicine for 30 years. After great success in their Long Island location in Syosset and two locations in New York City, the college will now collaborate with the world-famous Open Center to hold continuing education classes for even more students, starting Feb. 3.

For many years, the college only offered classes at its Syosset location but, according to Barbara Carver, vice president of marketing and communications for the College, the program began to attract students from Massachusetts and Connecticut, which prompted them to begin expanding into New York City.

“One of the fastest-growing occupations for nurses is holistic care, which would be utilized in assisted living conditions,” Carver said.

The partnership between these two educators is a momentous occasion for both institutions because it exemplifies the growing acceptance of holistic practices in the Western spectrum of medicine.

“We are going to be working jointly with Open Center staff,” Carver said.

Both organization have been working in the field for over 25 years, each teaching in differing styles.

The New York College of Health Professions welcomes both new and continuing education students and offers classes to members of the public who wish to enhance their knowledge of Eastern medicine. One of the most popular classes offered by the College is “The Science of Self-Improvement,” where students learn how to assess their strengths and weaknesses versus their personal goals. This type of learning characterizes the outside-the-box style of education that the College offers.

The College was the first to give degrees in acupuncture and massage therapy, according to Carver. As holistic medicine begins to take hold in Western practices, the College has gained “a worldwide reputation for being at the top of the field,” She said.

The College offers many of its programs to the public, such as massage therapy, healing arts and energy work and physical arts. These classes are all included in the curriculum of the continuing education major and serve to expand upon the culture behind the medicine, a facet of holistic care that is crucial to implementing it in a field dominated by Western medicine ideals.

Although the College offers many of its programs to the public, the focus of the curriculum can be found in its continuing education program, where registered nurses, doctors, physical therapists and chiropractors take classes in the aforementioned fields to be certified as holistic caregivers.

While the College has been accredited to award degrees in the field of holistic care in traditional college-style classes, The Open Center explores much more the spirituality of holistic care while still teaching the techniques of the trade.

The Open Center has been teaching the practices for over 28 years, bringing “over 500 programs of exceptional depth and integrity to audiences totaling more than 10,000 annually,” according to The Open Center’s website. Akin to the New York College of Health Professions, The Open Center offers classes in the many fields of holistic care, ranging from the physical to the spiritual side.

The Open Center focuses not only on teaching the practice of holistic medicine but on living it. This is a notion that the College shares as well, requiring that continuing education students take one class in yoga, tai-chi or reiki because “physical arts play an essential and vital role in the education of our holistic health practitioners [as they] grasp an understanding of the culture behind the medicine,” according to the College’s course description.

Now that these two programs have united, students will be able to take advantage of the best of both worlds, working toward accredited degrees from the New York College of Health Professions while taking advantage of the many spiritual classes offered by The Open Center.

By Paulette Safdieh

Staying healthy requires more than an impulsive New Year’s resolution and a spanking new gym membership. To nix bad habits for good and maintain positive changes to your body in 2012, fitness experts argue that the first and biggest change starts with the mind.

The philosophies behind yoga, Pilates and meditation share the idea of a mind-body connection. These exercises require a certain awareness of the body that differs from running on the treadmill or breaking a sweat in Zumba class. Instead of counting the calories burned, practitioners believe a mental shift and commitment to change yield the best results.

“We live in a fast-paced, results-oriented society,” said Allan Lokos, founder of the Upper West Side’s Community Meditation Center. “If you stick with certain exercises long enough, you realize one day that you can now handle difficult situations with greater ease than you could have before.”

According to Lokos, 71, newcomers flock to classes as holiday bells start ringing. He says the human body doesn’t know how to differentiate between negative stress and the good stress brought on by the holidays, like shopping, overeating and traveling. People turn to meditation for the pleasant feeling of calm and quiet, but Lokos insists the sessions can be far from carefree.

“When you’re left alone with your body and your mind, all kinds of stuff comes up—and some might not be pleasant,” said Lokos, a two-time author on the topic. “Do I really want to lose weight? Do I really want to quit smoking? You get that clarity and it creates motivation.”

Meditation can help spur positive change—whether it’s dropping a few pounds or throwing out the cigarettes for good—if people have genuine concern for their well-being and the desire to change for themselves, not just because the doctor said so.

Unfortunately, the weight won’t slip off just by sitting in lotus position with your legs crossed a few times a week. To reap the most benefit from meditation, proper activity should be incorporated between the hours spent in the office cubicle. Lokos agrees that exercises like yoga and Pilates maintain a similar philosophy—being attuned to your body, making long-term changes and clearing your mind.

“It’s about sculpting yourself from the inside out, changing your mind’s perspective so your body will fall into place,” said Marissa Antebi, who has been a yoga instructor in Midtown for 11 years. “With any body issues, it’s about how you’re seeing something. You need to become aware of the bad patterns and grow from there.”

For Antebi, 40, January is the busiest time of year. Despite the holiday rush, not all newcomers tap into the endurance needed to stick it out and see results. Antebi suggests starting with something as minor as a walk in the park once a week and building from there.

Attending group sessions provides the support system of fellow classmates, further encouragement to stick with it. Soon enough, you’ll learn how to maintain your health and weight instead of experiencing the fluctuations of fad diets and cleanses.

Pilates instructor Donna Singer, of the Upper East Side’s Center for Movement, said that’s the common ground between yoga and Pilates—it becomes a way of life, not just a method of exercise.

“You become aware of your posture and alignment and understand that you don’t need intense exercise to feel limber, supple and stronger,” said Singer, 42, who opened her first studio with cousin Elle Jardim in 1998. “We don’t play music—we want you to keep your mind on what you’re doing. It encourages you to make positive steps to a healthy lifestyle and continue on that journey outside of the class.”

Pilates helps create strength without the bulk that comes along with weight training. Sessions at Center for Movement, on the Upper East Side and in Scarsdale, focus on flexibility and elongating the body though breathing. The goal is to do the movements correctly, increasing efficiency so fewer repetitions are required.

“As opposed to a spinning class, where you feel sore or you sweat, we teach a method,” said Singer. “After six sessions, you start to see subtle differences, like a flatter stomach and more flexibility. We want to help people meet their resolutions.”

Antebi agrees that sticking to your New Year’s resolution through mid-February can be long enough to earn a pat on the back.

“People get caught up in their goals for the year,” said Antebi. “If you put it on the back burner and just commit to becoming aware of your mind and body, positive changes will come from that.”

Q. My wife and I recently moved into a retirement community. I’ve noticed a lot of people I’d call alcoholics in this community. Do seniors drink more in these places?

A: I could find no information that demonstrated that residents of retirement communities drink more. However, these developments are, by nature, more social. So, perhaps you’re just seeing more drinking. With more drinking, you’ll always find more people who don’t handle it well.

Alcoholism is a serious problem among seniors. Here are just a few statistics that tell the story:

About 70 percent of hospital admissions for older adults are for illness and accidents related to alcohol.
About half of older adults in nursing homes have an alcohol problem.

Older adults lose an average of 10 years off their lives because of alcohol abuse.

About 80 percent of doctors misdiagnose alcoholism as depression in older women.

The highest growing rate of alcoholism is among 75-year-old widowers.

About 10 percent of patients over age 60 who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease are actually suffering from brain damage caused by alcoholism.

“Alcohol abuse among older adults is something few want to talk about or deal with,” said Charles Curie, former administrator of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “Too often, family members are ashamed of the problem and choose not to address it.

“Health care providers tend not to ask older patients about alcohol abuse if it wasn’t a problem in their lives in earlier years,” he said. “Sometimes the symptoms are mistaken for those of dementia, depression or other problems common to older adults. Unfortunately, too many older persons turn to alcohol as a comfort following the death of a spouse, a divorce, retirement or some other major life change, unaware that they are markedly affecting the quality of their lives.”

A few definitions:
Alcoholism is a disease with four symptoms: a craving or compulsion to drink, the inability to limit drinking, high alcohol tolerance and physical dependence.

Alcohol abuse is defined as drinking that causes problems in your life, such as failing at work, getting arrested for drunk driving and hurting someone physically or emotionally. It does not include strong craving, loss of control or physical dependence.

Moderate drinking means consuming up to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women and older people. A standard drink is 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.

The American Medical Association provides the following list of physical symptoms to diagnose alcoholism. If an older person shows several of these symptoms, there is a high probability of alcoholism.
• Bruises, abrasions and scars in locations that might suggest frequent falls, bumping into objects, physical altercations or other violent behavior
• Cigarette burns on the fingers
• Flushed or florid face
• Jerky eye movement or loss of central vision
• Damage to nerves causing numbness and tingling
• Hypertension, particularly systolic (the first number)
• Gastrointestinal or other bleeding
• Cirrhosis or other evidence of liver impairment, such as swelling in the lower extremities and other signs of fluid retention
• Psoriasis

First rule about buying books for infants and toddlers: Don’t get hung up on “age appropriate.” Second rule, with apologies to James Carville: It’s the pictures, stupid.

Oh yeah, and the words.

Long before babies start understanding language, they love to look at illustrations. Personally, I probably jumped the gun a bit reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See to my son when he was still in the hospital—though on the other hand, some parents start reading before their child is even born and has a view of the book. Books are gifts filled with lots of fun, and a gift card may provide a fun trip to the store if you are picking for a baby with a big library.

Babies, of course, love the sound of their parents’ voices, and it’s not long before many can sit for surprisingly long periods of time looking and listening to books. When my son was only a few months old, I was expecting to only get through a page or two when I started reading some of the great Dr. Seuss books to him. I was amazed at how enraptured he was by the pictures, leaning forward sitting on my lap with his eyes fixated as dad said the rhymes in the background.

So what are the greatest of the great Seuss works?

Most lyrical? Green Eggs and Ham. Best plot? Horton Hears a Who (don’t get me started on the problems with the movie). Most underrated? One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. Honorable mention: Sneetches and Other Stories and The Cat in the Hat. Best short? There’s A Wocket in My Pocket (edited board book version.).

Wocket, apparently, was edited to get rid of the scary Vug under the rug, but other improvements have been made, most notably the addition of this gem of a line: “There’s a Zillow on my pillow that helps me fall asleep.”

One Fish, like many Seuss books, has a little violence, but those pages can easily be skipped. That’s not so easy in some of the others, so if you’re looking for books that are certain not to offend, go with Green Eggs, Sneetches, Wocket or Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?

Seuss, in all likelihood, would have had trouble getting published if he were writing today, but if you trust your own parenting abilities and overlook a few things, there is a lot of great fun in there.

There’s a whole world of greatness outside of Seuss. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is one of the best rhyming books around. Author and illustrator Sandra Boynton has many short, clever board books with engaging pictures. Some of our favorites are Dinosaur’s Binkit, Hippos Go Berserk and Belly Button Book.

Terrific books continue to be written. Road Work Ahead, by Anastasia Suen, illustrated by Jannie Ho, is unlikely to be on your youngest loved one’s shelf. It’s best for truck-lovers, a sizable lot in the tot crowd.

These kids also won’t want to put down Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, which has drawings of hundreds of vehicles, real and imaginary, including cars shaped liked pickles, pumpkins and pencils. The story is not great but the pictures give readers lots to point out rather than sticking with the text.

If he or she is fascinated with canines, classics like Harry The Dirty Dog and Go Dog Go are must-haves. The Adventures of Taxi Dog, a wonderful story narrated by a mutt rescued by a cab driver, is more recent and a more likely “doesn’t have.”

Dog and Cat, by Matthew Van Fleet, with photographs by Brian Stanton, are beautiful gifts, although the books are almost too enticing for tiny hands grabbing at the activity tabs. Van Fleet’s more recent books, last year’s Heads and, apparently, Moo this year, are a little more sturdy.

Looking for two more to add to the gift bag? Get Tumble Bumble, a lesser-known rhyming book by Felicia Bond, the illustrator of the If You Give a Mouse…series, and Lisa McCourt’s I Love You Stinky Face. It’s much sweeter than the title.

From flying sharks to handmade winter wear, you won’t have to travel far to find that special holiday gift for a loved one.

A basket of goodies from UWS haunt, Zabar's.

“For your hippie aunt”
Planets Scarf ($99)
Museum of Natural History gift shop
Central Park West at 79th Street, 800-671-7035
www.amnhshop.com
Here’s the place where fashion and design meet elegant science. The shop at the Museum of Natural History is replete with gifts inspired by their exhibits, so you can find a petrified wood cheese tray ($120) as well as a remote-controlled flying shark ($50). If nothing strikes your fancy at the shop, you can always give a gift membership to the museum ($95 individual, $125 family).

“For the NYC history buff”
City skyline necklace ($165);
cufflinks ($98); membership to New-York Historical Society ($75)
N-Y Historical Society Gift Shop
170 Central Park West, 212-873-3400
www.nyhistorystore.com
The newly re-opened Historical Society also boasts a brand new gift shop, where you can grab presents that speak to the serious appreciator of New York City lure and imagery, or anyone always referencing “the good old days.” Select a solid old-fashioned kids’ toy favorite like a bag of colorful marbles ($9) or cuff links made from ancient subway tokens ($80)—not to mention the selections of history books, appropriate both for heavy readers and coffee table adorners.

“For the romantic sweet tooth”
Coffee ($11/pound for whole beans) and dessert ($25 for 10-inch pear apple crumb pie)
Cafe Lalo
201 W. 83rd St., 212-496-6031
www.cafelalo.com
Cafe Lalo specializes in European delights and maintains a dizzying inventory of desserts. They happily take special orders for whole cakes, pies and boxes of their other delicacies. If you happen to stop for an espresso and slice of maple walnut cheesecake (kosher, as are many of their selections) while you’re there placing gift orders, no one will blame you.

“For the newly moved or always redecorating”
Antique white “Snowflake” tin mirror ($110)
Olde Good Things
450 Columbus Ave., 212-362-8025
www.ogtstore.com
It’s all in the name with this unique shop, which sells things both old and good, specializing in architectural salvage pieces. There’s the metal armchair with an eagle in a gold tone finish ($125) for the patriotic uncle who likes uncomfortable seating, or a Victorian bronze chandelier ($1,750) for the aunt who wishes she lived in 19th-century England.

“For the teenage girl obsessed with beauty products”
Hair gift box, peppermint shampoo & cilantro conditioner ($42)
Malin & Goetz Apothecary
455 Amsterdam Ave., 212-799-1200
www.malinandgoetz.com
Founders Matthew Malin and Andrew Goetz work with chemists to develop each new product and utilize local and sustainable ingredients for their beauty concoctions. They focus on simplicity and scientifically based formulas to come up with products like the best-selling grapefruit face cleanser ($30), eucalyptus deodorant ($18) and cannabis candle ($52), which is entirely legal, we promise.

“For the true New York bagel connoisseur”
Bagels & Nova Brunch Basket ($179)
Zabar’s
2245 Broadway, 212-787-2000
www.zabars.com
You literally cannot get more Upper West Side than Zabar’s, and choice selections from the 70-year-old Jewish staples emporium will please anyone from the die-hard New Yorker to your cousin in Arkansas who’s never seen the ocean. They make up bounteous gifts like the kosher Babka and Rugelach Crate ($69) or the Quintessential Zabar’s ($279), which packs the entire store into a basket. You can also go rogue and pick out your personal favorites, throw them in a box and make your own holiday assortment.

“For the literary snob”
First edition of Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude ($300)
Westsider Rare & Used Books
2246 Broadway, 212-362-0706
www.westsiderbooks.com
This little bookstore has wedged thousands of titles onto its sagging shelves, and it’s worth spending an afternoon listening to the jazz often played on the stereo while perusing the superb selection of used books. They’ve got everything from mass market mysteries to obscure anarchist texts, and also sell rare and first edition books, so you can stock up for your niece who reads voraciously, as well as the relative who collects rare German novels.

“For the princess of a granddaughter”
Velvet rose dress ($63)
Granny Made
467 Amsterdam Ave.
www.grannymade.com
If you want to deck out your wee ones in lovingly made attire but don’t possess the requisite knitting skills, Granny Made can fill in the blanks. They sell handmade zip-up cardigans ($68) for active boys, sweet dresses for girls and special order Adele Salzberg custom-made quilts ($175), great for a baby’s first Christmas.

“For the hostess you don’t know”
Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut Blue Label Reserve Particuliere ($23)
67 Wines and Spirits
179 Columbus Ave., 212-724-6767
www.67wine.com
This neighborhood favorite boasts an impressive selection, helpful staff and a good number of sales and wines under $30 from which to choose. Whether you’re looking for an affordable Bordeaux (2009 Chateau Bellevue Rougier Bordeaux, on sale for $10) to go with dinner or a collectible bottle to add to the cellar, they’ve got you covered.

“For the sophisticated couple”
Tickets to Symphony Space (various prices)
2537 Broadway, 212-864-5400
www.symphonyspace.org
No need to trek all the way to the Theater District to see a fantastic performance. The uptown arts spot hosts literary lectures and readings from the likes of Joan Didion and Nora Ephron, debates, comedy nights, theater (The Pirates of Penzance runs through the end of December this year), opera, classical music and family entertainment. Tickets range from $27 for a night of Selected Shorts readings to $87 for full-scale productions.

“To bring home to your mom”
Jars Tourron Orange Serving Bowl ($77)
La Terrine
280 Columbus Ave., 877-837-7463
www.laterrinedirect.com
If you’re looking for a gift that reflects your own superb taste, browse the imported tableware at La Terrine for bright, lovely designer collections from Italy, France and Portugal. They have funky picks like an Animale Ram Wine Decanter (with a ram’s head for a stopper) from Arte Italica ($225) or a set of six mixed pink berlingot Claude Dozorme steak knives in a wood box ($160) to jazz up any table.

“For someone who never shops in a mall”
Jacket by G.I. Fashion (prices on location)
GreenFlea Indoor Market (Sundays only)
Columbus Ave. between 77th & 79th Sts., 212-239-3025
www.greenfleamarkets.com
Designer Gertrude McCain has been creating feminine, fun dresses and jackets for women for 15 years, and this past Fashion Week she enjoyed her “discovery” and showed her designs on the runway for the first time. McCain brings her garments to the GreenFlea most weeks, and shopping there also has the benefit of helping out the local public schools P.S. 87, the Computer School and M.S. 44. They’ve got loads of handmade jewelry, clothing, accessories, food and strange vintage finds, too.

While department stores dress up their windows and shoppers search for the perfect gifts, those who work in the mental health profession prepare for the holidays in a different way: making sure New Yorkers stay healthy and happy during the holiday season.“The holidays are often markers for people,” said Lisa Brateman, a New York City-based psychotherapist and relationship specialist. “It’s a time when people compare themselves to others, whether in their career or their relationships.”

While the holidays are often expected to be the happiest time of the year, it is a time that can bring on sadness or depression as individuals compare their lives to others or contemplate where they were in their lives in the previous year, Brateman said.

“We’re bombarded this time of year by what it means to have someone. When a person doesn’t have someone, they start to wonder, ‘What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I have that?’” she said.

Images in the media are often to blame for setting these expectations. If someone is feeling lonely during the holidays, Brateman advises that they surround themselves with people they like and not isolate themselves further. For example, a person shouldn’t decide not to attend a party because he or she does not want to go alone.

Janet Pfeiffer, a motivational speaker and president of Pfeiffer Power Seminars, tells her clients to redefine what the holidays mean and create new traditions.

“I worked serving dinner to nursing home residents on Thanksgiving after my marriage ended,” she said. “I never enjoyed Thanksgiving as much as I did then.”

But even people who are not alone during the holidays can experience the holiday blues. Brateman said she often sees her past patients return during the holiday months, and she sees the largest number of new patients during this time than any other part of the year.

“Who to spend time with on Christmas Eve or New Year’s—unless you find a system that works for everyone, that’s a problem that repeatedly comes up every year,” she said. “That’s a matter of handling conflict and outside pressures from family.”

There are many sources of stress and anxiety during the holidays that can trigger depression, said Marty Forth, senior director of teen programs and service for the YMCA of Greater New York, who also oversees the organization’s mental health work.
“What we’ve seen is there’s a lot of stress in the parents or guardians and it manifests itself through them or through the kids,” he said.

The YMCA refers families to mental health services when appropriate, but one thing the organization does during the holidays is work with the families to make their lives easier. For example, they take on Christmas lists and recruit individuals to buy the gifts.

“It’s one less thing to worry about,” Forth said. “Finances are a huge part of the stress.”
Many YMCA locations also provide holiday meals, serving thousands of people with the help of donated food and local volunteers.

In addition to financial stress, overstretched schedules and simply trying to do too much can bring on the blues, Forth said. He advises doing everything in moderation and realizing that you can’t say yes to everything.

Holiday depression and holiday blues should not be confused with Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is a depression that affects people the same time each year, said Brateman. The symptoms are similar to regular depression, and while experts are unsure of the cause, it is often associated with a lack of sunlight.

“Holiday blues are different. The holidays can bring different feelings, but it is not seasonal depression,” she said.

The holidays can be an especially difficult time for someone mourning the loss of a loved one.

“There are a lot more reminders around the holidays, and you feel the loss a lot more,” Brateman said. “Take a moment or an hour to feel those feelings instead of acting busy and pretending you’re not feeling it.”

While holiday depression has many triggers, there are also effective solutions.

“I think one of the most important things is to not base how you feel on what everyone else is doing,” Brateman said. “What’s important is to keep one’s life in perspective.”

By: Dr. Cynthia Paulis

It’s that time of year again, when friends and family get together to celebrate the holidays and your diet gets ditched as you indulge in all of the wonderful and fattening treats of the season. But before you despair, there is actually one treat that is good for you: dark chocolate.For centuries, chocolate was revered more for its medicinal qualities than its taste. Aztecs reserved chocolate (which was usually consumed in liquid form) for priests and the very wealthy, but it was also given to soldiers because it was believed to make them strong.

When the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés arrived in the court of Aztec ruler Montezuma in 1529, he was impressed by the magical drink and returned to Europe with trunkloads of cocoa beans, writing to the King of Spain that he had found a drink that built up resistance and fought fatigue.

The drink was quickly viewed as a cure-all, with eventually more than 100 medicinal uses for chocolate. In one document dating from 1590, a mixture of cacao beans, maize and herbs was used to reduce fever and panting and treat heart ailments. They even used it in baths, which were thought to cure fatigue in government officials and those who held public office. Maybe that’s what our Congress needs today!

In the 1800s, chocolate was given to pregnant women, since it was believed to help nourish the mother and child. Even Thomas Jefferson was quoted as saying, “The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.” Soon, chocolate had sugar and milk added to it, taking away its medicinal qualities. At one point, Milton Hershey, the founder of Hershey Chocolate Company, advertised his milk chocolate bar as: “Hershey’s: More sustaining than meat.”

So why is dark chocolate so special? Chocolate is made from the cacao bean, which grows on the plant Theobroma cacao. The solid part of the bean is roasted and ground to a powder. Cacao powder, if not too sweetened, has anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. The cacao has flavonoids that have antioxidants, enzymes capable of neutralizing the damaging effects of toxins in the body. One ounce of dark chocolate or cocoa has more antioxidants than blueberries, green tea or red wine.

Studies at the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic have shown that these flavonoids can improve blood flow and keep vessels healthy. One square of dark chocolate can benefit the cardiovascular system by enhancing blood flow and lowering blood pressure by two points. It can also prevent the buildup of plaque that can block arteries, and it possesses mild anti-blood clotting effects. Dark chocolate has also been known to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol by as much as five points.

Cocoa may have a beneficial effect on cholesterol levels because it consists mainly of good fat, mono or polyunsaturated fat in the form of stearic acid and oleic acid, the same fat that is found in olive oil.

Chocolate and cocoa contain copper, magnesium, iron and potassium, which are essential for good health. An average bar of dark chocolate has 4 percent of the daily requirement of copper, a mineral critical to the absorption of iron and key in skin-strengthening collagen. Copper also helps the heart.

Magnesium reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. One bar of dark chocolate can deliver 12 percent of your daily requirement. Magnesium deficiency can lead to leg cramps, migraines, fatigue, loss of appetite, depression, nausea and vomiting. In addition, an average bar of dark chocolate can deliver up to 7 percent of the amount of iron a body needs. Iron is essential for carrying oxygen to parts of your body. If you are low in iron, you can become anemic, fatigued, irritable and prone to headaches. Chocolate also contains potassium, a key element in lowering blood pressure and preventing strokes.

Chocolate also contains more than 500 natural chemical compounds that are mood-elevating and pleasure-inducing. One of these is theobromine, a mild stimulant similar to caffeine but not as strong. It has been used in medicines as a cough suppressant. Chocolate also releases mood-elevating chemicals known as endorphins and serotonin in your brain. Eating chocolate really does make you feel good!

Chocolate maker Marilyn Maguinness has a less scientific view of its benefits. “It gives you a good feeling when you get chocolate, roses or a box of candy,” she said. “I have heard that the dark chocolate is actually good for women, for their hearts, so I think you should eat chocolate every day.”

Remember that chocolate is still loaded with calories and fat, so limit your consumption to just one square a day. Look for chocolate that is at least 60 percent cacao; the higher the cacao number, the lower the sugar. A 75 percent cacao bar is 25 percent sugar, while a 65 percent cacao bar is 35 percent sugar.

Milk chocolate and white chocolate have no health benefits. Avoid drinking milk with dark chocolate because it binds with the antioxidants, making them unavailable.
When the big man in the red suit comes calling this month, instead of leaving cookies loaded with saturated fats, leave him a few squares of dark chocolate. Don’t forget some carrots for the reindeer, loaded with vitamin A, which are good for their night vision!