3 Things to Know About Change & COVID-19

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You likely have your hands full right now, as you’re dealing with both minor and major changes to your lifestyle and routine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But you can use this time to improve your life, cope with recent changes, and maybe even thrive.

Stress Can Make It Harder to Make Smart Decisions  

As Harvard Business Review explains, stress and decision-making don’t mix well together. Reactions in your brain can make it harder to make decisions objectively.  So if you have any major life decisions that you can put off until the COVID-19 crisis begins to settle down, you may want to do so. This can include changing jobs, changing homes, or changing social connections.

Now when it comes to smaller decisions, like coloring your own hair or picking up a new hobby, making mistakes isn’t really that big of a deal, and in fact, learning from smaller mistakes can help you avoid major missteps in the future.

Of course, there are a few common pandemic changes that can help you alleviate feelings of stress. One such transition is to adopt a pet. Pets can provide a whole host of health and wellness benefits, including reducing feelings of anxiety and tension. Plus you can pick up any pet supplies you need, including a comfy cat bed, by researching and buying products online. Choosing the right supplies will also make this transition easier for you and your new pet. Just keep in mind that pets are a long-term commitment, and your new buddy will likely be around long after the pandemic ebbs.

But Sometimes Major Life Changes Simple Can’t Wait

Holding off on major transitions is a luxury that some people may not have right now, so it’s also helpful to understand how to make those changes with the least amount of risk. For example, buying a home can already be a challenging process, but doing so in the middle of a pandemic can be even more complicated.

If you must move in the next month or two, protect yourself from unintentional risks by asking for 3D walkthroughs, video conferences and virtual signings rather than dealing with these tasks face-to-face. Knowing how to safely manage a move amid restrictions and health hazards can also prove crucial if you need to relocate soon.

With so many business and employment shifts, you may also find yourself in need of a sudden career transition—it might even be triggering your housing transition. Rather than feeling stressed by the need or desire to find a new vocation, try to focus on the benefits that extra time at home can provide for this shift. You should have more time to work on new skills and projects that will help with your new career.

Extra Support Can Make Coping With Change Easier

Dealing with a global pandemic, business closures and other COVID-19 effects in conjunction with major lifestyle changes can be a lot for anyone to take on alone. So if you are currently experiencing these sorts of overwhelming transitions, reaching out for help can provide the advice and relief needed to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

If you are looking for emotional support, you can seek help from psychotherapist Shushan Khachatryan, who can help you deal with complex feelings and issues brought about by the pandemic. Psychotherapy can provide the support necessary to process feelings of loneliness, panic, or any other mental health concerns, and can provide insights for managing various emotions.

The coronavirus pandemic means millions of people scrambling to keep up with constant change. Not to mention those same people are also trying to deal with ever-changing emotions. Make sure you have everything you need to handle and adapt to this unprecedented time.

Author: Jennifer Scott

Photo Credit: Unsplash

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Top 3 Reasons to Exercise When You’re Blue

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Exercise is known to have numerous health benefits. In the past, physicians, nutritionists, and other health experts focused their research on the effect that exercise has on weight loss, boosting endurance, and beating high cholesterol levels. Recently, there has been an emphasis on mental health.

Scientists have not discovered which specific exercises are best, but we do know that exercise helps you fight the blues in the following ways:

  • When you exercise, you increase your energy levels
  • People who exercise get a better night’s sleep which in turn improves mood
  • Exercise is one of the best distractions to help break the cycle of depressive thoughts
  • Exercise settings like gyms and sport clubs help eliminate loneliness

The Science behind Exercise and Mood Elevation

A study conducted by Psychology Today found that when a person exercises for at least 30 minutes, mood improve significantly. A group of people who had been exhibiting signs of mild depression improved when they started exercising at least three times a week. Here are three reasons why exercising when you feel blue will improve your mood:

  • You Release Feel-Good Hormones

When you exercise, your body releases several feel-good hormones. The most common are serotonin and endorphins. Serotonin is known for regulating mood, appetite, and sleep. Endorphins, on the other hand, are known to be relievers of pain and stress in the body.

Exercise breaks down the brain chemicals known to worsen conditions like depression. When you exercise, you reduce the effect that stress has on your brain. Exercising also helps curb the desire to self-medicate with alcohol and drugs.  People who exercise regularly actually report that they feel a kind of high when they exercise. Exercise also conditions your brain in such a way that when you meet a certain goal, you feel a sense of accomplishment and this feeling is what keeps people hooked on exercise.

  • You Interact with Others

There are countless exercise options for anyone who wants to boost their moods. Some of the popular options include jogging, yoga, pilates, cycling, step aerobics, kickboxing, and weightlifting. All these activities can be done in group settings. Leaving your house and getting outdoors is better for your mood than sitting inside by yourself on the couch. Many people make new friends from their exercise classes. The more you interact with other people, the more able you will be to release negative thought patterns and beliefs. Some exercises such as Zumba, cycling, and step aerobics also involve music, which is also known to be very therapeutic.

  • You Get a Sense of Accomplishment

Exercise also gives you a sense of accomplishment. When you exercise, you gain strength and endurance and can potentially loss weight. Being at a healthy body weight can improve your body image, which boosts self-esteem and reduces negative thought patterns.

Setting Up a Schedule

If you are exercising purely as a way to lift your mood, experts recommend that you exercise outside. You can try activities such as hiking, mountain climbing, jogging, swimming, snorkeling, or anything else done outdoors. If you are looking for an easy way to get over the blues and start smiling again, consider signing up for an exercise class at the local gym. Yoga is also known to have help release stress and reduce anxiety. Choose the exercise type that works best for you and see how your outlook brightens.


About the author:  

Erika Long loves corgis, curry and comedy. Always searching for the next great snuggle, flavor or laugh, she inspires people to live their best life now. When not writing, Erika can be found at her local brewery dominating Harry Potter trivia night.

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Happy Mother’s Day!

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Few roles in society are as essential, yet underappreciated as a mother. Being a mother is a non-stop, overworked and exhaustive life, though it can also be one of the most rewarding. Whether they are your wife, your daughter, a friend or your own mother, they contribute immensely to society and the future of humanity in so many ways. So, this Mother’s Day it is a great opportunity to wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day!

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Fighting Anxiety

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The truth is that so much of what happens to us in our lives is beyond our control…So, how do we fight anxiety?

  • Accept that you cannot control everything. “I will not stress about things that I cannot change.” This is a good quote to memorize and use it when you are feeling your anxiety is rising.
    • One of the top reasons that people feel stressed is a lack of control.There is endless things that can cause stress however you are not in control of that. For example,
      • Stresses caused by nature such as sickness, death, aging, the weather, and everything else that can occur in the natural world.You, as a person, cannot change nature. This is why you need to let it go.
      • Time is another cause of stress for people with anxiety. Things that have or have not happened in the past; things that may or may not happen in the future; and not having enough time left to do what needs to be done. People, being social creatures, tend to worry about what we have or haven’t done, which leads to becoming preoccupied with something already done and in the past, or something that we want in the future. When it comes to fighting with time, it is always best to let it go.
      • Trying to control other people, how they think, act, or feel can not only be detrimental to your anxiety and mental health, it can also be a strain on every relationship in your life. And it is a fight that everyone will always lose. When it comes to other people and their beliefs or feelings, it is always best to let it go.

So, how do you get away from the constant stress that not being in complete control can leave you in? It’s an easy thing to say, but a difficult thing to do: You have to let your worries go. You have to focus on what you can change (you) and what you can’t change (everything else). Try these simple tips and see if it helps. You can always schedule a session with a therapist and go over your options and see if she/he can further help you. http://www.shushantherapy.com

Mindfulness – Grounding exercises: noticing your environment, bodily sensations, and breath

Progressive Muscle Relaxation – Creating a Tension and Release effect with all the muscles in the body

Opposite Actions – By listening to calming music, taking a walk, talking, enjoying sunshine

Safe Place Mental Imagery – Visualizing a place where you can go in your mind to feel safe. This is a form of meditation.

Calming Affirmations – To help recognize that the moment of panic will pass. Self talk is big with anxiety. Mentally talking to yourself and keeping yourself calm.

Exercise – A valuable way to exhaust excess adrenaline built up in the body

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Tips to minimize Holiday Blues

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For some, the holidays represent a time of love, family and celebration. For others the holiday season may spark an overwhelming feeling of stress and depression. There are many factors that contribute to holiday depression: Self esteem, financial issues, unemployment, memories of deceased loved ones, relationship status, loneliness and much more. So, how do we minimize holiday blues?

If you find yourself feeling overly fatigued, frustrated, lonely, sad, or wanting to be isolated, there’s a good possibility you are suffering from holiday blues. This is a period of depression and will usually go away after the holiday or winter season, but should still be taken very seriously! If your feelings become too overwhelming, talk to a therapist to figure out your options.

Try these tips to help you feel better:

  • Accept your feelings. The very first thing you want to do is accept and acknowledge your feelings. If someone close to you has recently died or you can’t be with loved ones, realize that it’s normal to feel sadness and grief. It’s OK to take time to cry or express your feelings. You can’t force yourself to be happy just because it’s the holiday season. Similarly, if you are having financial issues and you are not happy about it, accept how you are feeling at the moment and realize that it is temporary.
  • Be open to change. The holidays don’t have to be perfect or the same like last year. As families change and grow, traditions and rituals often change as well. For example, if your adult children can’t come to your house, find new ways to celebrate together, such as sharing pictures, emails or videos. Be open to the possibility that not every holiday season will go according to how you imagined and wanted. You may have a limited budget and you may need to spend accordingly.
  • Stick to a routine and get enough sleep. Holiday parties, and other events may make it difficult, but it is extremely important for your mental health to stick to your normal routine of eating and sleeping well.

Try these suggestions:

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Happy Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving, a widely celebrated day dedicated to acknowledging the goodness in our lives.

We stop to reflect on things and people we are thankful for. Being thankful is strongly linked with both mental and physical health. Thankfullnes can help relieve stress, depression and addictions, among other conditions. Various studies link counting one’s blessings to health. The simple act of expressing gratitude on a consistent basis has been shown to positively impact key areas in a person’s life. These areas include: relationships and connectedness, emotional well-being, and better physical and psychological health. Better psychological health means that people are more likely to engage in health-promoting activities and to seek medical help when it needed. Of course, it’s possible that mentally healthier people feel that they have more to be grateful for, which may explain some of their extra thankfulness.

Those who are struggling with mental health issues may find it difficult to find positivity in their lives.

The reality of Thanksgiving for some Americans is filled with family tension, arguments, sorrow and loss. Others face the stress of hosting, or the dread of being asked questions about their lives that they are not ready to answer. In a recent online poll conducted by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Read More

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Importance of Mental Health

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When we are free of depression, anxiety, excessive stress and worry, addictions, and other psychological problems, we are more able to live our lives to the fullest.

Many research studies have shown that when people receive appropriate mental health care, their use of medical services declines. People with untreated mental health problems visit a medical doctor twice as often as people who receive mental health care. For example, let us look at anxiety. Excessive anxiety and stress can contribute to physical problems such as heart disease, ulcers, and colitis. Anxiety and stress can also reduce the strength of the immune system, making people more vulnerable to conditions ranging from the common cold to cancer. Read More

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Love and Mental Health

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There is a great value and importance of maintain loving relationships since love has a positive effect on mental health.

Love has been defined in various ways and I am curious as to how you would define it. Please feel free to comment and/or send me a private message on your thoughts. But for now, according to science, love is more than just a unique feeling.  There is evidence that when we are involved in loving relationships various neurotransmitters and hormones in our bodies play a role that affect us systemically.   Read More

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4 Red Flags of a Relationship Going Downhill

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Valentine’s Day is around the corner. It is suppose to be happy times for you and your partner however, things are going worse and worse day to day. That love you had towards your partner is becoming annoyance, hate, anger… dead end

 

Is it a dead end to your relationship or can you save it? Try exploring these 4 red flags and if all or most apply to you, I suggest contacting a therapist to give you a helping hand.

communication-problems-in-marriage
1. Lack of Communication

Do you feel your conversations are becoming shorter and shorter? That’s not a good sign. Here are some things to look for when you and your partner are exchanging words.
a) Bitter Language: This is when unconsciously or consciously you or your partner use words that are offensive or words that project accusation and criticism.
b). Negativity: This occurs when majority of your talks are negative. You only speak to one another when there is something negative to point out. You only see the flaws of your partner and fail to recognize the positive traits and actions.
c). Not Letting Go: You hold on to arguments and negative experiences however, you tend to forget the positive and happy moments in your relationship. When the right time comes, you use the past against your partner. Read More

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