mental health

15Aug

3 Tips to Handle an Anxiety Attack

August 15, 2016 by

1. Awareness

Many therapists have agreed that when a patient feels a panic attack coming on, it is essential to craft a short checklist to keep in mind while the situation occurs. Although each individual experiences anxiety in a different way, following the below steps is important to maintain some calmness.

Accept the anxiety and try to assess what is going on from an objective standpoint. Try your best to act normal and not let the anxiety overtake your mental state. As difficult as it may seem, do your best to gain control of what is happening.

2. Consult a doctor

Consulting a doctor may be necessary after you notice your panic attacks either increasing or becoming more frequent in your day to day life. It is in your best interests to meet with a doctor on a semi-regular basis. With this in mind, your doctor may prescribe you medication or refer you to a mental health physician for further evaluation.

3. Deep Breathing

Taking deep, consistent breaths is one way to most effectively deal with a panic attack when it comes. While it is common for people to breathe very quickly due to stress, keep in mind that this actually augments the level of anxiety. It is important to practice taking deep slow breaths, even when you are not experiencing a panic attack. In other words, focusing on deep breathing will allow you to relax a bit.

It is important to note that everyone’s panic attacks differ. Consulting a medical professional is highly encouraged as you experience any discomfort. Remember that you are not alone and thousands of other Americans across the country are going through the same issues and experiences as you are. Reading up on how other people cope with anxiety in their day to day lives will also help you try out other ways to improve your emotional or mental health.

20Jun

9 Ways to Successfully Return to Work After a Health Problem

June 20, 2016 by

Regardless of the amount of time you took off to recuperate after a mental health crisis, you need to make sure that you take the necessary steps to maintain your well-being. Working your way back to become healthy again is just as, or sometimes more difficult than actually undergoing the mental health crisis you endured.

However, taking the appropriate steps after an emotionally or psychologically draining event can be overwhelming as you figure out how to assimilate back into the workplace environment.

Seek out help from professionals and stay connected until you have recovered 100%

Gathering enough information from professionals in the psychiatric and psychological fields will allow you to access the point where you are seeing improvement in your day to day. Staying connected with the professionals that guide you in your life is absolutely essential when it comes to making strides to overcome the obstacle you had faced for so long.

Positive thinking

It can be helpful to think about future goals and think less about what happened in the past. Loehr works with a psychiatrist and life coach to focus on where she is trying to go in life, versus focusing on the hurtful situations she has gone through.

As a result, one of the goals of her coaching company is to help spread kindness and provide actual solutions to help prevent people with mental health issues from suffering as much and as long as she did in her past.

Take care of yourself

Often overlooked, simple parts of your routine such as eating healthy (fruits & vegetables), exercising on a regular basis, and communicating with loved ones are vital during this stage of your life. Before attempting to respond to a thousand emails or hopping on an international conference call,

Work is no space for your personal business

While you may have become close with your co-workers, it is also important to maintain a healthy distance and create some boundaries. As the workplace is a professional environment in nature, adhering to this in general is the best way to keep your private life private.

Slowly get back into it

There is a strong chance that both stress and anxiety were primary causes of your work related mental health crisis. In terms of getting back into your job to start this process gradually on both micro and macro levels. Basically, don’t get frustrated or overcommit to tasks or events that you know are not feasible at the moment.

Reach out to people who can help

Although it may be quite difficult, be sure to touch base with loved ones when you are feeling alone or powerless. It is common for individuals to undergo these negative feelings throughout the recovery process.

Getting support from these type of outlets are key ways to overcome any short-lived sadness or rough patch you are going through. Your loved are the emotional foundation in your life and you should receive support from them as much as you can during any hardship you are facing at the time.

Solid work-life balance

Although work is the main priority for many professionals across the country, keeping a solid mental health state by engaging in recreational activities or perhaps taking up a new hobby that you have been wanting to try for awhile. Engaging in activities not only improves your emotional health, but also provides you with a cathartic outlet to showcase another set of developed skills in a new area.

Take medication on a regular basis

If you’re taking medication to help keep your mental health in balance, it’s tempting to go off medication once you’re feeling fine. Although you may feel perfectly fine in the moment, this is no way reflects how the medication is helping you in terms of the bigger picture.

Bad symptoms can come back quickly if you stop taking medication, which can be overwhelming. Not taking medication for a said amount of time can also sometimes lead to another crisis that essentially could be prevented by consulting a medical or healthcare professional.

Take time off as you need to

Keep in mind that taking time off work to battle with a mental illness is no different from taking time off to recover from a condition that affects other parts of the body. Healing one’s mind takes a fair amount of time and convey the importance of personal time off as an essential need when communicating with your employer.

Applying all the above tips will not only guide you to most effectively overcome your most recent mental health crisis, but this will also allow you to better prepare or better yet, prevent a similar crisis moving forward. Be sure to remember that nothing is more important that your health, and it is therefore absolutely essential to take care of yourself in every way possible.

01May

Applying Creativity to Help with Life Transitions

May 1, 2016 by

Awareness
When undergoing intense, often times unpleasant or emotionally difficult life changes, it is natural to attempt to ignore the current predicament that you are experiencing. Although this defense mechanism is common, it takes a great deal of mental strength to actually come to terms with this difficult life stage. Becoming emotionally aware of what’s going on around you is absolutely essential to better grow and stay in touch with your feelings about the transition.

Making big decisions such as resigning from a job or switching schools are serious life stages that require substantial thought and emotional preparation. Taking the time to thoroughly process the decision before you make it, or talk it through with family members or other loved ones is a great way to gain relief and support from this hardship.

Facing your fears
Another great way to deal with a new life transition is to normalize any fear that comes with the difficult issue that you are currently dealing with. In other words, an essential way to normalize your fears is to envision these barriers as a form of motivation to move forward in this life stage. Fear that debilitates has the unfortunate power to hinder any emotional progress as you delve deeper into your life transition. By shaping the fear into a motivational source, you can actually mold a more positive mentality in a healthy way.

Lesson learning
A key takeaway when confronting difficult situations is to challenge your perception when dealing with the transition. Take this negative situation and spin it in a way that is more focused on making the environment as positive as possible. Even though the pain or sadness may be unbearable in that moment, be mindful that this extreme emotion you may be feeling is simply temporary.

After an intense or high emotion situation passes, there is a strong chance that this fact will improve over time. Another incredibly valuable lesson to take away from any difficult situation is to master the art of being mentally and emotionally present. In other words, appreciate who and what is currently surrounding you. Even if you are undergoing an emotionally draining situation, taking the time to take your mother out to lunch or spending more time with a friend who is in even a more difficult predicament is allows you to attain a new level of emotional strength.

Experience sharing
After you have gone through this experience, there is no question that you’d be in a position where you can mentor or help guide others who have gone through a similar situation. The lessons you have learned from this experience will allow you to be better equipped with skills and emotional strength to help others in need of guidance from a confident individual who has gone through a similar predicament.

29Jul

Depression in Teens

July 29, 2015 by

Symptoms of depression arise in people of all different socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, and ages. Adolescents and teens are not immune to it, especially as they are experiencing a rather unsettling stage of life that includes going through a myriad of physical, emotional, psychological and social changes.

Often teens overreact when things don’t go their way based on unrealistic academic, social and familial expectations that they are either putting on themselves or they are feeling from others. While most of these feelings are normal and subside over time, sometimes it can disrupt their daily lives, indicating a more serious emotional or mental disorder: adolescent depression.

How to Cope

Teens require guidance from trusted adults in order for them to take a firm grasp on the emotional and physical changes they are going through. Most importantly, they need to develop a sense of acceptance and belonging. Here are a few coping mechanisms to avoid serious depression:

Make new friends: Emotionally healthy, stimulating relationships with peers are essential to helping teens’ level of self-esteem as well as providing an appropriate social outlet

Participate: Whether it’s after school activities, sports, or diving into a personal hobby, staying busy helps teens stay positive and focused.

Join youth-organizations: Catering to the needs of adolescents and teens, programs offered can help develop additional interests as well as cultivate more peer relationships.

Recognizing Depression

Despite best efforts and emotional support, teens can and will become depressed. Teens become more susceptible to depression as a result of a family history of depression, unavoidable life events, and even side-effects of certain medications.

Adolescent depression is increasing at an alarming rate, with many of them self-medicating with drug, alcohol and sexual promiscuity. In order to avoid any serious implications, it’s important to recognize symptoms of depression, especially when they last for more than two weeks.

Some symptoms include: poor academic performance, withdrawal from friends and activities, sadness and hopelessness, anger and rage, dysphoria, poor self-esteem, changes in eating and sleeping patterns, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts or actions.

Treating Depression

If left untreated, already-serious depression can become life-threatening, therefore it’s extremely important teens receive professional treatment as soon as symptoms are recognized.

Different form of therapy can help teens understand the underlying causes of their depression while giving them the tools to cope with the stresses of daily life outside of therapy. A wide variety of therapies are offered in different formats, including individual, group, and family counseling.

Recognizing the need for help is a giant step towards recovery for teens, yet few of them actually want to seek out help, and encouragement and acceptance from those supporting them is key.

The most common and effective forms of adolescent depression treatment are:

Psychotherapy teaches teens coping skills while providing an opportunity to explore troubling and upsetting events and feelings in a space space.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy addresses negative patterns of thinking and behaving and provides teens the tools to change those patterns for the positive.

Interpersonal therapy focuses on the relationships at home and school, often focal points in teens lives, and how to make them healthier.

Medication often paired with an additional form of therapy, it can help relieve some serious symptoms of depression.

29Jul

A Screening for Mental Health

July 29, 2015 by

The concept of checking in on your physical health has been ingrained since childhood; the yearly check-up with a general physician, the six-month check-ups with a dentist, and annual blood-work. We know the drill. But what about screening for mental health and depression, in particular?

With nearly 350 million people suffering from depression globally, and more than half of people who commit suicide experiencing some form of depression, it seems screening for this, among other mental health disorders, is rather pertinent. Most, if not all of us, have experienced some overwhelming situations that cause extreme stress and sadness. And knowing the difference between what’s a transient episode and a chronic mental illness could be potentially life saving.

That’s why Screening for Mental Health, Inc. created the National Depression Screening Day twenty-five years ago. Pioneered as the first, voluntary mental health screening initiative, it has now expanded to thousands of colleges, community-based organizations, and military installations providing the program to the public each year.

The goal is by offering ways to get free screenings, people will start taking their mental wellness more seriously. “A check up from the neck up…makes a difference,” said Michelle Holmberg, director of programs at Screening for Mental Health, Inc. These screenings are paramount in not only helping individuals understand their mental ailments, but also understand, that while it won’t be overnight, there is a treatment for it.

Not only will it be an illuminating experience for those participating in the screening, but for their loved ones as well. Experts stress the importance of persistence when it comes to encouraging others to get help and support is vital to success, and being there for that initial screening is the first step. “By offering to go with them, you’re not only being supportive, but you’re telling them that what they have is treatable and not just brushing it off as something that’s no big deal,” said Gregory Dalack, M.D., chair of the department of psychiatry at the University of Michigan.

National Depression Screening Day, which will be on October 8th this year, is held annually during Mental Illness Awareness Week. While it offers a range of clinician-created evaluations as well as potential further evaluations and treatment options, the NDSD has a goal of addressing mental illness stigma in a more productive way. By creating awareness, a message of commonality amongst those diagnosed with disorders and a community of support will be perpetuated to the public.

30Apr

Meet Martha Beck, The Life Coach!

April 30, 2015 by

At a California horse ranch on a mid-September afternoon, Martha Beck blindfolds two men and instructs them to think themselves as animals and using only their sense of hearing to tag each other. The crouching men, one pretending to be a mountain lion or bobcat, and the other pretending to be a monkey are a lawyer and tech executive respectively. Martha Beck, on the other hand, is a life coach and owner of the horse ranch. The men are there as part of a weekend getaway and training session, provided by Ms. Beck, which she calls “Escape from the Man Cage.” The purpose of this eccentric training exercise is to awaken the senses and instincts that have been deadened by desk jobs and smartphones.

As the men stood frozen, neither making a move, Ms. Beck told them, “the way we do anything is the way we do everything.” Waiting for their turn were 10 other men, all of whom paid $3,000 to be there and take part in Martha Beck’s exercises. For years, Ms. Beck has been offering such weekend retreats, targeting individuals who may be unhappy with their current careers or lifestyles, but has so far mostly attracted women. However, believing that men too could use help, coaching and the chance to be happy, Ms. Beck has begun tailoring specific training sessions for men.

The price tag, as hefty as it may seem, is well understood given Martha Beck’ richard battista s meteoric rise in popularity and demand within the nearly $2 billion coaching industry. Ms. Beck is well known among female-centric circles, particularly among women who are fans of The Oprah Winfrey Show, on which she has made guest appearances, or the fans who read her monthly column on O, Oprah Winfrey’s magazine. In 1999, Martha Beck published her best-seller, “Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth and Everyday Magic,” about her journey with her middle-son, Adam, who was diagnosed with down syndrome in-utero. After appearing on Oprah in 2000, her coaching services were in such high demand that she formed her own company, Martha Beck Inc.

Martha Beck has turned her life coaching services into a multimillion dollar business, with clients like General Electric and individuals spanning across various career fields. Part of Martha Beck Inc. is also dedicated to training new people in becoming life coaches and passing on the “Martha Beck method.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/business/the-merchant-of-just-be-happy.html

29Nov

Spirituality’s Influence on Mental Health

November 29, 2014 by

Spirituality can help protect one’s mental health and help them feel a sense of self-worth and direction.

Spirituality is, by definition, varied; there is no one perfect definition of what one’s spirituality entails, according to an article recently completed by the Mental Health Foundation. When someone speaks of their spirituality, they could be referring to their religion or faith, the direction in their life—the journey they believe themselves to be on, a way of understand the world and their place in it, a core aspect of their personality, identity and humanity, an existing feeling of belonging or a quest to find one such feeling or some form of a belief in a vague higher being or force greater than themselves. Generally speaking, the distinct difference between spirituality and religion is the broader use of the word; spiritual beliefs can be particular to the individual, whereas a large group shares religious beliefs and follow and expressed teaching.

Just as definitions for the word vary, the development of one’s spirituality and the means of expressing it differ as well. Traditionally, there are religious practices, such as worship, prayer and the reading of religious texts. However, just as some of the definitions of spirituality could be considered alternative to mainstream religions, some forms of expression and development are just as varied. A group could simply choose together casually as a spiritual community, to live together by certain values. Rituals—thought of so fondly by many religious groups—also play a role in spirituality and the communities formed. Particular foods or types of clothing could be use to mark a group of common beliefs. Activities such as contemplation and yoga can be engaged in, to seek self-awareness. Alternatively, some define an act of spirituality as something as simple as friendship or volunteer work.

From these activities, the question is often raised as to the influence spirituality can have on mental health issues and members of the mental health service profession. Spirituality can help maintain and protect mental health, as a general feeling of connectedness can help individuals cope with stress from everyday life. Communities formed through spirituality can also provide a solid support group of friends. But spirituality can also occasionally help those suffering from mental health issues, as it provides a means of coping to the individual’s mental resilience. However, unfortunately, it can also do harm, as well as good. If an individual disagrees with a certain belief system, and feels it is too repressive or judgmental, this can have a negative effect. Overall, it is the duty of those in the mental health service profession to respect their patients’ spirituality for what it is—a human right.