Citation Schwartz, Tony. "Relax! You'll Be More Productive." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. Summary So as people of a world in which the 9 to 5 job is a dream for most, we probably all know that more time worked means more work done, which means that all that time was spent more productively than if we had worked less... Right? According to a study of around 400 employees, this may not be true. More work and less sleep increases chances of burning out on-the-job. Harvard conducted a similar study, but they researched what sleep deprivation was costing us. The amount? $63.2 billion a year. Cheri D. Mah, who is a researcher for Stanford, found that 10 or more hours of sleep for basketball players increase performance. Similar tests were performed on those doing different jobs - night shift workers, accountants and athletes. All did better, especially with longer hours to sleep. Vacations did wonders, too. The reason for this is that humans are not build to expend energy continuously. We need breaks, and especially sleep. Through all of these studies, researchers have found that 90 minutes of consecutive work and then a break is the most ideal for maximization of productivity.

I thought this was really useful information to know, because a lot of people that I know like to keep working even though they're tired or sleep deprived. Well, knowing that their performance overall is affected by sleep deprivation to the point where the quality drops dramatically, maybe would encourage them to take the time to rest a little bit and refresh themselves. It also shows how vital sleep is to our overall health.

Citation Belluck, Pam. "Promising Depression Therapy." Well Promising Depression Therapy Comments. New York Times, 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. Summary There is a new form of treatment for depression - it's still experimental, thus far, but it involves electric shocks to the brain. It's similar to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but unlike ECT, which is only administered for a couple of seconds while the patients are anesthetized, the new form of treatment, called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), is given consecutively for 20 to 30 minutes to a fully conscious patient. It doesn't have nearly as high risks as ECT (which can cause memory loss), or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), another form of treatment, which has risks of seizures. With tDCS, there are few side effects. Not only that, but it's fairly inexpensive. Eventually, if the tDCS leaves the trial stages, it is simple enough that it may even be used at home. Michael Donnelly, one of the trial patients, vouches for its positive effects, as it worked where his medications did not.

I found this article very interesting in a hopeful sort of way. Depression is part of the foundation of many other mental issues or disorders and can even lead to suicide; if we find a way to combat depression effectively and with few side effects, then we may be able to help more people. For an example, we've learned in class that traumatic experiences can cause people to have eating disorders, from depression or from a feeling of lacking control in their life. But if this kind of therapy leaves the testing stages, because of it's low-risk and fairly low price, as well as easily administered, we can help more of those people. In particular, I think it would be a great thing because many people, especially parents of depressed kids or teens, worry about letting them take medication with high-risk side effects. From what the trials have shown so far, it also seems to be pretty effective. So I think that this therapy shows a great hope for people who are depressed and need help. Personally, I can't imagine being sad all of the time, so I think that being able to help these people, who are trapped in a perpetual state of despair or lethargy is something very hopeful and wonderful.