How to decompress high stress

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SELF IMPROVEMENT...................Manage your mind to full!!!!!

MENTAL HEALTH

 

 

 

Mental health is how we think, feel and act as we cope with life. It

also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make

choices. Like physical health, mental health is important at every

stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

 

Everyone feels worried, anxious, sad or stressed sometimes. But with

a mental illness, these feelings do not go away and are severe enough

to interfere with your daily life. It can make it hard to meet and

keep friends, hold a job or enjoy your life.

 

Mental illnesses are common – they affect about one in five families

in the U.S. It is not your fault if you have one. These disorders –

depression, phobias, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and many others -

are real diseases that you cannot will or wish away. Fortunately,

they are often treatable. Medicines and therapy can improve the life

of most people with mental illnesses.

 

 

Mental Health: Keeping Your Emotional Health

What is good emotional health?

People who are emotionally healthy are in control of their thoughts,

feelings and behaviors. They feel good about themselves and have good

relationships. They can keep problems in perspective.

 

 

It's important to remember that people who have good emotional health

sometimes have emotional problems or mental illness. Mental illness

often has a physical cause, such as a chemical imbalance in the

brain. Stress and problems with family, work or school can sometimes

trigger mental illness or make it worse. However, people who are

emotionally healthy have learned ways to cope with stress and

problems. They know when they need to seek help from their doctor or

a counselor.

 

 

 

What about anger?

People are sometimes not aware of what causes their anger, how much

anger they are holding inside or how to express anger. You may be

angry about certain events or your own or other people's actions.

Also, many little things can build up to make you feel that life is

unfair.

 

If you find yourself becoming increasingly irritable or taking

unhealthy risks (like drinking too much or abusing drugs), you may

have a problem dealing with anger. It's very important to talk with

your doctor or a counselor about getting help.

 

 

What can I do to avoid problems?

 

First, notice your emotions and reactions and try to understand them.

Learning how to sort out the causes of sadness, frustration and anger

in your life can help you better manage your emotional health. The

box to the right gives some other helpful tips.

 

 

How does stress affect my emotions?

Your body responds to stress by making stress hormones. These

hormones help your body respond to situations of extreme need. But

when your body makes too many of these hormones for a long period of

time, the hormones wear down your body -- and your emotions. People

who are under stress a lot are often emotional, anxious, irritable

and even depressed.

 

If possible, try to change the situation that is causing your stress.

Relaxation methods, such as deep breathing and meditation, and

exercise are also useful ways to cope with stress.

 

 

Can emotional problems be treated?

Yes. Counseling, support groups and medicines can help people who

have emotional problems or mental illness. If you have an ongoing

emotional problem, talk to your family doctor. He or she can help you

find the right type of treatment.

 

 

 

11 Ways to Decompress after High Stress

 

 

 

These are some simple and great ways to destress after a tough day or

event!

 

Work really well for me.

 

1)Deep breathing. Take a deep breath. Hold it. Now let it out …

slowly. Try counting to 10 as you let out your breath. Feel the

tension and stress flowing out of you with your breath. Repeat 3-10

times, as necessary.

 

2)Self-massage. I like to massage my shoulders, neck, head, lower

back. It helps a lot. Even better: get your honey to do it for you!

Another great relaxation technique is to tense up and then relax each

muscle in your body, one at a time, starting from your toes up to

your head.

 

3)Take a walk. When I'm in the middle of stress, I like to take a

walk around the building. I also do the deep breathing and self-

massage mentioned above as I do so. It's a great way of letting go of

tension and allowing yourself to re-focus.

 

4)Exercise. This morning, I went to the beach at 5:30 a.m. and went

for a swim. It was beautiful at the beach at around sunrise, and the

swim was invigorating. Yesterday I went for a bike ride, and the

morning before it was a short but refreshing run. Tomorrow I think

I'll do another short run. It really gets the stress out of your

system and gives you some quiet time to think when you exercise.

 

5)Get outdoors. Even if I didn't do the swim, just being there at the

beach, with my decaf coffee was calming. It's nice to connect with

nature and take in the beauty around you. While you're there,

stretch, yawn, take some deep breaths, and enjoy.

 

6)Disconnect. Turn off the phones, turn off the computer, and shut

off the outside world for a little while. These things just raise

your stress level. Go offline and forget about the online world! You

can do it! Except for Karmic Mantra. That's the only blog you're

allowed to read when you decompress.

 

7)Take a day off. That's what I'm doing today. Don't tell my boss. I

have lots of vacation and sick leave saved up, so it's not a problem,

actually. I'm just going to veg out and allow myself to calm down and

center.

 

8)Meditate. You don't need to be trained to have a short, relaxing

meditation session. Just sit somewhere quiet, close your eyes, relax,

and focus on your breathing. Try to concentrate on it coming into

your body, and then going out. When other things pop into your head

(they will, inevitably), just acknowledge them (don't try to force

them out) and allow them to leave, and then focus again on your

breathing. Do this for as long as you can, and then take a couple of

cleansing breaths, and get up a new person.

 

9)Read. I like to throw myself on the couch with a good book. Well,

not necessarily a good book — a page-turner. Something that will

engross me completely, take my mind off everything else. John Grisham

works well for me, as does William Gibson. And Terry Pratchett. Or

Ann Patchett, for that matter. And Stephen King. Just get lost in

their world.

 

10)Love. I like to spend time with my kids or my wife. Just snuggle

with them, focus on them, forget about the world. They are all that's

important, and sometimes I need that reminder.

 

11)Take a nap. One of my favorites. Just take a 30-minute nap, and

you're re-set! A nap is like a restart button for life.