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Gratitude Prompts

October 29, 2018 in Be Positive

gratefulAccording to Grateful, researchers at Harvard Medical School report, “Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”

However, Brianna Steinhilber writes that while practicing gratitude seems simple enough, it can be difficult for some, “especially if you’re a person who has a hard time expressing emotions, or you’re going through a rough patch that makes channeling gratitude difficult.”

Therefore, to begin, use a gratitude prompt. Gratitude prompts can tap into your creativity and help you recognize the things you’re grateful to have in your life. You can also use gratitude prompts as a conversation starter with others. And try writing them down by keeping a gratitude notebook or using an app!

Try these gratitude prompts:

  1. List five small ways that you can share your gratitude today.
  2. Write about a person in your life that you’re especially grateful for and why.
  3. What skills or abilities are you thankful to have? (You communicate well, you’re a good cook, you have an uncanny ability to dominate in Fantasy Football. Hey, it’s your journal).
  4. What is there about a challenge you’re experiencing right now that you can be thankful for? (This is a tough one, but you have learned something or grown from the hardship—how?)
  5. How is where you are in life today different than a year ago–and what positive changes are you thankful for?
  6. What activities and hobbies would you miss if you were unable to do them?
  7. List five body parts that you’re grateful for and why. (Those long legs help you reach items on the top shelf … don’t forget the little things.)
  8. What about the city you live in are you grateful for?
  9. What are you taking for granted about your day to day that you can be thankful for? (Can’t think of any? Your alarm clock, your coffee machine, the paperboy who delivered your newspaper, your friendly neighbor who always says good morning … and that’s before you even leave the house.)
  10. List 5 people in your life who are hard to get along with—and write down at least one quality for each that you are grateful for.
  11. What materialistic items are you most grateful for?
  12. Write about the music you’re thankful to be able to listen to and why. (We couldn’t make it five minutes on the treadmill without our beats.)
  13. Who has done something this week to help you or make your life easier and how can you thank them?
  14. What foods or meals are you most thankful for? (Bacon, egg and cheese on Monday morning, we’re looking at you.)
  15. What elements of nature are you grateful for and why? (The beach, a starry sky or one speckled with fluffy clouds, the sunset…)
  16. What part of your morning routine are you most thankful for? (A big stretch before you get out of bed, that warm cup of coffee, a cuddle session with your pet…)
  17. Write a letter to someone who has positively impacted your life, however big or small.
  18. What is something you’re grateful to have learned this week?
  19. When was the last time you laughed uncontrollably—relive the memory.
  20. What aspects of your work environment are you thankful for? (Supportive co-workers, flexible hours, great snacks in the kitchen…)

Don’t have time to write?  Check out one of these apps instead:

  • Grateful: A Gratitude Journal
  • My Gratitude Journal
  • HappyFeed: Graditude Journal
  • Gratitude Journal 365
  • Gratitude Journal: The Life-changing App

Answer one of the prompts above, and if you feel comfortable, share your response in the Comments section below!  Have your own prompt? Let us know!

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National Alliance On Mental Illness

October 26, 2018 in LINKS

NAMI-service-LogoThe National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the United States’ largest grassroots mental health organization. NAMI is dedicated to building better lives for millions of American’s affected by mental illness through education, advocacy, listening, and awareness.

The NAMI website is an excellent resource for information about mental health, with a wide variety of news articles on mental illness, specific conditions, blogs, stories, and more!

Learn More: Learn about the warning signs of mental illness, mental health conditions, statistics, treatments, research, and public policies.

Find Support: This section includes tips for reaching out to support services, advice on living with a mental health condition (such as navigating insurance, finding a therapist, romantic relationships, and more!) and support for:

  • Family members and caregivers
  • Teens and young adults
  • Veterans and active duty personnel
  • LGBTQ
  • Diverse communities

There is also a HelpLine and programs that offer support, education, and training.

Get Involved!  This section shows various ways that you and your family can get involved with NAMI, whether that be through education, peer support, policy advocacy, or promoting public understanding.

NAMI News: Read about mental illness in the news and ways to take action.

NAMI Blogs:  A place to comment on post from people who have lived experience with mental illness and those with expertise in living with mental illness and mental health.

Personal Stories: Read personal stories from the NAMI community.

Find your local NAMI! What are they up to in your community? What is something valuable you learned from the NAMI website? Leave us a comment and let us know! 

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Apps You Depend On

October 25, 2018 in Social Media Guide

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You know those moments when you’re hanging out with friends or family and all of a sudden you look around and everyone is on their phones, not talking or looking at each other? It can be amusing, but also a good reminder to put down our phones and be present. And while we all need to check ourselves from time to time, the reality is we depend on our phones a lot.

In the world of balancing our health, well-being, work, school, family, friends, commitments, errands, intentions and more there are definitely some apps out there that serve as reminders and help keep us organized and on top of it all. Whether its scheduling, keeping up on our health or a useful tool for school, there’s no doubt apps can serve as a reminder and help us live a healthier life.

However, if not careful, we can become overly attached to our phone (and the apps we use). Read more about nomophobia here.

What apps do you rely on the most? If you were doing an app cleanse, which ones would you get rid of from your phone? Leave a comment below!

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Reducing Test Anxiety

October 23, 2018 in Educate Yourself

math-1500720_1280One of the greatest causes of stress in adolescents is feeling like that they have to do well in school. A significant contributor to this, and what determines a good portion of grades, are tests. This also includes larger tests like AP exams and standardized tests like the ACTs and SATs.

If you find yourself having anxiety attacks or feel that anxiety symptoms heighten as exams approach, you’re not alone. Test anxiety is a real thing, described by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America as a subset of performance anxiety, or stage fright. It’s the feeling that comes when you feel like you have to do your very best at something because this is the only opportunity you have to show it, and you don’t get another chance. It’s knowing that this is the only activity you’ll be doing for an extended period of time, with little to no opportunities for a break or to take a moment to relax. It’s the fear of what other people may think of you if you don’t meet their expectations when you get your results back. 

In short, test anxiety is not fun.

However, it’s something that people are starting to recognize. The ETS, the company behind all those frustrating standardized tests, has a publicly accessible guide explaining what test anxiety is and offers advice on how to healthily prepare for exams. The Princeton Review, one of the publishers of endless exam preparation books, also offers tips to help reduce test anxiety. It can feel like these sorts of tips can feel like they’re preaching to the choir, and are easier said than done. Positive thinking and deep breathing almost feel obvious, but sometimes, it’s difficult to do when you’re overwhelmed with not just learning the material, but the action of taking the exam too.

A study in England researched whether schools could do something to help reduce test anxiety while preparing for exams a few years ago. Here, they gave hundreds of students an electronically-based program through a CD they could use on their computers called Strategies to Tackle Exam Pressure and Stress (STEPS). StockSnap_M8IUUOBB9ISTEPS was divided into six 30 to 40 minute sessions that the student could complete whenever they wanted. Each session focused on different ways of coping with test anxiety, with one session focusing on self-reflective exercises, to another showing videos of other students candidly talking about their own experiences with exams and how they manage their anxiety with it. Some teachers had the students work on the sessions during classes, while others could work on them at home.

The study didn’t specifically choose students who expressed that they experience test anxiety and delivered it to all sorts of students. This was done in order to see if the program could benefit anyone, regardless of stress level, as well as making sure that those who do experience test anxiety did not feel self-conscious for being the only ones using it. After they collected the results after the time period was over, the study found that those with a lower level of stress when it came to exams were less likely to finish the STEPS sessions, while those who experienced test anxiety were more likely to finish the entire thing. The latter group also showed a significant reduction in their worry and tension when it came to exams after completing the program.

These sorts of findings are important because it lets schools know that there is some sort of benefit in delivering methods for students to reduce their test anxiety, and it’s something that they can do on their own accord and don’t have to lose class time for. It’s also important to recognize that test anxiety does in fact exist, and reducing it can reassure students that doing well on exams is more than likely. 

Do you experience test anxiety? Do you think that it’s common in a lot of students? How do you think schools and teachers can address test anxiety and reduce it?

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Learning to Run

October 22, 2018 in Be Positive

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Sometimes all we want to do when going through a hard time is to run away from all our problems. This can be especially true when dealing with a mental illness, when our thoughts and stressors keep building up and are impossible to escape from because they’re trapped in our heads. There are many ways to cope when dealing with these situations, exercising included. Running specifically is metaphorical, allowing you to feel like you are literally leaving your problems behind. There have been multiple studies exploring just how running can benefit your mental health, which include reasons such as increased chances of a better night’s sleep and increased productivity.

Working out, particularly when you’re not athletic, can feel extremely daunting, but there’s something about running long distances that sounds satisfying. Of course, this doesn’t have to mean that you can go online and find out when the next 26.2 mile marathon is and immediately sign up, but even little things like going for a fifteen minute jog on the treadmill or finding trails nearby to explore can make a difference. The latter is especially good for this time of year, when it’s brisk and colorful, which can also contribute to a more positive perspective.

landscape-78058_1280No one has (allegedly) ever made the decision to begin running and was then immediately able to run several miles the next day. The Internet knows this, and there are endless guides offering advice on how to start. Now that exercising has become more electronic, from FitBits to Apple Health, there are just as many apps to help you build your way up. These include programs like Couch to 5K, which alternates between walking and running, decreasing the former and increasing the latter week by week until you can fully run five kilometers (or 3.1 miles).

This isn’t to say that running is the only exercise, or even coping mechanism, you can use when your mental health isn’t the best and you need a distraction. It’s something that’s still possible, however, and even if those first few steps seem intimidating, they’re still attainable.

If you want to read more about connecting running to mental health, check out this feature about the “Ice Breakers,” six people with mental illnesses who have formed a nationwide running group. They ran around the country in order to open up the conversation more about mental health.

Do you run? If so, why did you start? Do you think that it helps with your mental health? If not, would you consider running?

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Taking a Break

October 19, 2018 in LINKS

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Though we’re constantly on our computers, sometimes we need to have a brief distraction from whatever task we’re currently focusing on, whether to jump start our motivation or calm any stress that the assignment is causing. The reasons we’re working or need a distraction may vary, and just like needing distractions for different reasons, the things we seek out to relax and ease our anxiety differ from person to person.

It can be easy for these distractions to build up however, and before you know it, it’s two hours later and you’re deep into the social media feed of your choosing. The options below offer brief online distractions that shouldn’t last more than a few minutes. This way, you can get some quick me-time in before continuing with whatever task you have at hand.

website-1624028_1280Want a complete escape?  The website Do Nothing for Two Minutes from Calm.com wants you to do exactly that for, you guessed it, two whole minutes. The timer on the screen counts down the 120 seconds against a sunset sky, and if you try to move your mouse or keyboard, the timer starts over, making sure you don’t touch your computer for the duration. Obviously, it can’t stop you from going on your phone or talking to a friend next to you, but no cheating! Whether it be staring at the calming screen or closing your eyes, these two minutes should all be about doing absolutely nothing.

Want some support? In a classic meme style, The Calming Manatee opens up to a random cute image of manatees with reassuring phrases. Think of the “Hey Girl” Ryan Gosling meme, but instead of the actor, it’s a positive aquatic animal. The red button at the bottom of the page generates a new, similar meme, providing as little or as much reassurance as you need.

Want to think about what to eat for dinner? BuzzFeed’s Tasty is the most well-known cooking channel, popular for its quick videos preparing a variety of dishes that can take hours in a couple of minutes. It’s just one of several video channels that features food preparation against an aesthetically pleasing counter and catchy music; similar channels like Spoon University was created specifically for college students, and TasteMade has a whole playlist where food is made…but miniature in a tiny “kitchen.” Be careful though, because though they are short, it’s easy to build them up and watch them in succession. And of course, it can make you really, really hungry.

What do you do for distractions when you take a break from assignments? Do you think breaks are needed, or do you prefer to completely finish your work before doing something else?

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Using Social Media to Diagnose Depression

October 18, 2018 in Social Media Guide

twitter-292989_1280So often, we hear about the damage that social media is having on our mental health, from isolating ourselves to avoiding face-to-face human interaction to experiencing FOMO. A recent study however, tried to see how social media wasn’t affecting mental health, but instead how it can help diagnose mental illnesses, specifically with depression.

The study reviewed the Facebook statuses of 683 people who consented to have their profiles analyzed. Of those, 114 had been diagnosed with depression, so for each person who had been diagnosed, there were 5 others being compared to them who were not. The researchers used a time frame based around the months leading up to depressed person’s diagnosis, resulting in a total of analyzing over half a million Facebook statuses!

What did the researchers discover? By organizing that statuses and ensuing conversations into categories, they found patterns of supposed depression-associated “language markers.” These are words and phrases that had more negative emotional connotations, including sadness, hostility, and loneliness. Those who used these also were more likely to use first person pronouns like “I” and “me” more often too.

Through these “language markers,” the researchers discovered that they were able to predict the depressed StockSnap_AF3ULYHHIMindividual’s diagnosis with significant accuracy. This was especially true in the three to six months before the diagnosis. To the researchers, these statuses included words that overlapped with those often found in medical screening surveys for depression, implying that it can be adapted in a way so diagnosis can be done electronically.

The ability to screen for depression by using social media is also important because it allows for those who are vulnerable a more accessible opportunity to get diagnosed. For example, it can be difficult for a primary care provider to screen for it in a brief session. Also, by having the statuses and information already there can make it easier for those who are hesitant to reach out to submit it instead of speaking up if they’re uncomfortable.

The article makes sure to reiterate that the study had the participants consent to submitting their statuses for analysis and that they did not use data provided by Facebook. This should also hold true for potential future diagnosing. Between having mental health be a very personal issue and being in a time where social media companies have notoriously been selling data, it’s important that the choice ultimately lies with the individual in question.

Do you think that social media is a good indicator to tell when someone is at risk of a mental illness? Do you think that it’s a good idea for people to submit their profiles if they want to get screened for depression?

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Global Funding and Adolescent Mental Health

October 17, 2018 in Educate Yourself

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We recently talked about how mental health treatment can be extremely inaccessible for adolescents both here in the United States and across the pond in England. We also talked last week about World Mental Health Day and how it’s theme centered around young people’s mental health in the changing world. Even so, the Earth is large, and these are just glimpses at how much (but mostly how little) treatment adolescents receive worldwide, not just with mental health, but as a whole.

A large reason that adolescent health treatment is unavailable is because of the lack of money going into it, and as researchers found in the Creditor Reporting System, the funding for adolescent health as a whole is appalling. For making up 25% of the world’s population, not even 2% of global health funding goes towards adolescents aged 10 to 24. Of the 1.6% of global health funding for adolescents, about 70% went to HIV-AIDS related causes in sub-Saharan Africa, with the most of the rest going to other physical health issues, including tuberculosis and interpersonal violence. What’s remaining most likely barely touches the surface of mental health, much less on a global scale.

The failure to administer funding for adolescents for any sort of health treatment may come from the idea thatCloseup of stethoscope isolated on white table they are healthy, after all, they’re young and bright and most of their bodies are fully functioning and agile…right? The assumption certainly holds true for people, though more are recently starting to realize that adolescent health – both physical and mental – are vital and predictive of health throughout the life course. This includes nutrition habits that develop during this time and how most mental disorders begin to take root during adolescence.

There have been some changes in how people are approaching treating adolescent health, though. The World Health Organization devoted some time in their 2018 monitoring report for Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health to the topic. In it, they mentioned how adolescents are not only the most vulnerable in humanitarian settings, but also the catalyst for change. They also made sure to address mental health, stating that self-harm is one of the leading causes of death in older adolescents. The report also mentions that 10-20% of children and adolescents experience mental health disorders. 

Through the rise in conversation and more people being open to talking about mental health, perhaps there might be a change in how accessible treatment can be for adolescents. For now, however, statistics remain grim. 

Why do you think so little funding is provided for both adolescent mental and physical health? How do you think policymakers and funders can learn that adolescent health is needed?

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Why Does Organizing Help with Anxiety?

October 16, 2018 in Educate Yourself

StockSnap_0NV2FAVPAXWe’ve heard it before (in fact, we’ve even discussed it here): tips to help de-stress and relax often include getting organized. Whether that be through cleaning out your closet, getting a planner, or buying color-coordinated folders and binders, we feel some sort of satisfaction when things are put in their place, even if it isn’t relevant to what may be causing anxiety.

But why is that the case? Even considering organizing sends a calming rush sometimes. De-cluttering and putting things in order are popular activities in order to help with stress, and there have been several studies that have come up with possible reasons as to why this happens.

Clutter and messes can be a visual representation of the mind, which can therefore make your own disorganized thoughts that much more stressful. These visual stimuli can make it harder to focus because the business overwhelms the visual cortex. This is particularly true if the clutter has nothing to do with what’s currently stressing you out too, therefore making them task-irrelevant objects. Identifying what you need to focus on and complete becomes more difficult as a result.

There are even health benefits associated with organization, and as a result, cleanliness. A survey found thatpegs-2664512_1920 those who make their bed and/or sleep with clean sheets are much more likely to get a better night’s sleep. Other studies found that those who keep a schedule, set goals for an exercise regimen, and keep a clean home are more likely to commit to being active.

On the mental health side, studies have established that there is some sort of link between organization and depression. In one study, women who felt that their spaces were cluttered and had “unfinished projects” were more likely to be depressed compared to those who described theirs as restorative. The former also had higher levels of cortisol, or the hormone that controls stress. Clutter can also make people self-conscious and worry about how others perceive them. The fear of being judged for a messy space can contribute to a worsened mental state, particularly because of the human need to be accepted by others.

The human body itself is incredibly organized and well-functioning. Our bodies love routine and order – think of circadian rhythms (the way that our behaviors follow a daily cycle). We know to sleep when it’s dark and complete activities when it’s light, for example. Some believe that our bodies strive to be organized inside and out, so having an organized and clean environment gives our bodies some peace of mind.

So, there are several reasons that a lot of wellbeing lists include cleaning up and getting organized. There are likely a lot more contributing factors, but next time you clean out your backpack or color code your closet, you can have a better understanding as to why that’s the case.

Why do you think organizing helps with stress relief? If you’ve tried it before, do you think that it works?

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New Music Friday

October 12, 2018 in LINKS

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Music can help us in many ways. As several posts here have discussed, it can be particularly helpful when it comes to calming anxiety, providing an escape, or even helping us feel justified in moments when emotions can feel too overwhelming. Music players allow us to create our own playlists depending on our mood, or create ones for us depending on what we like. YouTube allows you to get creative, featuring not just songs, but remixes, mashups, and strange combinations that you can’t find anywhere else.

Finding new music can be difficult, though. While the internet has an infinite of music to search for, it’s just that, infinite. Even finding music that is similar to what you currently listen to and actually like can be daunting, but the Internet is here to help, offering tools to help you find new music that’s refreshing, but also familiar.

If you’re looking for similar music to help with concentration and mental health, or if you just want to find new artists to listen to, here are a few websites that make the process a little bit easier:

Gnoosic The musical subset of Gnod (the Global Network of Discovery), Gnoosic has you enter three artists or bands that you like. They can be from any genre, and don’t need to match. From there, Gnoosic recommends you a new artist that they predict that you would like, a song of theirs to play from Spotify, and three options: “I like it,” “I don’t like it,” and “I don’t know.” Regardless of which option you choose, Gnoosic repeats the process, using your choices to narrow down their recommendations. 

music-1925056_640Live Plasma Live Plasma looks rather simple at first glance. It’s just a search box where you put in an artist that you like. Once you enter that, however, the page suddenly fills with a web, the artist you searched for at the center. Though intimidating at first, Live Plasma recommends a few artists that they think are similar to your chosen artist, and then recommends ones similar to those artists, and so on. Even better? If you click on any of the artists, there’s a small play button that allows you to listen to one of their songs so you can see what kind of style they have.

TuneFind TuneFind is a little different than the other websites in that you’ve probably heard the songs that they’re listing already. You may not know what it is though and most likely heard it on a TV show or a movie. TuneFind allows you to look up that song that you found particularly calming or inspirational that played in the background during a scene on an episode last night: simply search the TV show or movie, find the relevant episode if it’s the former, and TuneFind lists the songs that played throughout. Sometimes, TuneFind makes it even easier and will list what specific scene the song plays in too.

How do you look for new music? Are there any resources you use to look for music to help with stress relief?

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