Haifa Haroon

Kissing Cousins: How risky is it, really?

April 13, 2013

Everyone gives out marriage advice. The most memorable ones for me are both from former teachers: 1. Marry someone that can fix it or can afford to pay someone to fix it. 2. Marry someone that is your complete opposite – find a strapping, young Swede. I’m not sure why the Swedes were singled out [...]

Read the full article →

The Power of Color: How it influences our perceptions of what is “healthy”

April 6, 2013

What do you think of when you see (or hear the word) “green”? We associate colors with certain moods, behaviors and events. The associations we have about colors, especially green, are almost automatic – “being green”, recycling, the environment, Al Gore etc. We also have a learned response to colors. Green = go. Yellow = [...]

Read the full article →

Buried Alive: Hoarding As a Mental Disorder

March 30, 2013

Here’s a question for you: When was the last time you gave your inbox a deep clean?Or, unsubscribed from the several mailing lists that you’ve stopped checking. Although I try to make the ‘tough’ decisions to keep mine organized, after a while, it can be easy to come up with an excuse to not hit [...]

Read the full article →

Placenta Smoothies, Anyone? A Look at the Practice and Effects of Placentophagia

March 23, 2013

Reader Beware: This post contains graphic images. I’d advise holding off on the turkey sandwich for now. Last year, the actress January Jones made headlines for revealing she ate her placenta. Why? [It] can help women with depression and fatigue…I’d highly suggest it to any pregnant woman. Although, I was appalled at first,  I had [...]

Read the full article →

Change for Change: Can How You Present Yourself on the Outside Change You on the Inside?

March 16, 2013

“If you want to be different, then be different.”  Much as I would like to believe this advice, it seems a little naïve.  If being happy was that simple, surely the self-help industry wouldn’t be pulling in over $10 million a year. Yet some studies suggest that behaving like you want to can make a [...]

Read the full article →

Barefoot (Running) in the Park

March 9, 2013

In 2010, the world’s first barefoot half marathon took place in India. That’s 13.1 miles – barefoot. By choice. Just to be clear, by barefoot, I meant without shoes –  not the five finger running shoes that supposedly simulate running barefoot known as barefoot shoes. However, the phrase ‘barefoot running’ refers to both running barefoot [...]

Read the full article →

Lead (exposure) in the Time of Standardized Tests

March 2, 2013

You know the drill: Clear your desk. #2 pencils only. Fill in the oval on your Scantron. If you change your answer, erase it completely.* Just about every school year, students throughout Michigan spend a week taking the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test. The purpose of the test is to gauge how well students [...]

Read the full article →

The High Cost of Drinking

February 23, 2013

It’s been 12 hours since my last drink. I was at a family gathering, when I saw a 48 pack on the floor, barely touched. Waiting. Just for me. I’ll admit, I snuck one in my purse. I don’t remember when I started drinking – at least 15 years ago. My parents never approved. Until [...]

Read the full article →

Let’s Get Chemical: Oxytocin & Monogamy

February 16, 2013

As we wrap up the MTSG Valentines Day 2013 coverage, I want to expand on a topic touched upon earlier this week – monogamy. The blog post – which you should check out if you haven’t already – describes a theory on the evolution of monogamy. Whether or not this theory holds is a separate [...]

Read the full article →

Patch On, Patch Off

February 9, 2013

If you’re a parent, you’ve probably had the unfortunate task of holding your child’s limbs down in a doctors office while they got their shots. As a kid, I remember doing this for my brother, watching his eyes well up and feeling guilty for putting him through this. What if we could bypass this pain [...]

Read the full article →