Time off is what your brain thrives on. It spends hours every day working and managing the constant streams of information and conversation that come at you from all directions. But if your brain doesn't get a chance to chill and restore itself, your mood, performance, and health suffer. Think of this recovery as mental downtime—periods when you're not actively focusing on and engaged in the outside world. You simply let your mind wander or daydream and it becomes reenergized in the process.

Fear can be a helpful emotion, particularly for children who are learning to navigate the world. Feeling afraid lets them know when they are in danger and helps them respond.

Back in the late 2000s, Four Loko—the caffeinated alcoholic beverage—was all the rage, especially amongst college students who wanted to get a buzz and a burst of energy at the same time. Unfortunately, mixing caffeine and alcohol wasn’t the best combo: It was eventually banned in some states, and it even caused the Food and Drug Administration to change its caffeinated beverage laws. But as you know, trends tend to repeat themselves, and now, newer companies are testing their luck by targeting coffee drinkers. And in case you couldn’t already tell, mixing caffeine and alcohol just isn’t good for anyone.

After about six months of individual therapy, Audrey A., then 28, felt like her progress had stalled. But she still wanted help working through a traumatic stalking incident that happened earlier in her life. “I chose group therapy to see if talking to others could help shine a light on things,” she tells SELF. “I went to be around people who were in [similar] situations so that I could see I wasn't alone.”

Exposure to loud noise can certainly damage your hearing.

But increasingly, scientists are finding that too much noise can take a toll on our health in other ways. Here is how our loud world can can affect you, plus what you can do to protect yourself.