SOVA Blog

Wear Your Label

March 17, 2017 in LINKS

Wear Your Label is an online store that creates clothing to get the conversation started about mental illness. Their profound motto is: “It’s okay not to be okay.” Wear Your Label makes clothing that reduces stigma (they have a shirt that says “stigma free” on it), promotes positive body image and embraces mental health. Each of the team members behind Wear Your Label has experienced mental illness. All of the clothing items have phrases that support mental health. They also have a bracelet line with various colors signifying different types of mental illnesses. Watch their video to learn more!

Wear Your Label partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in 2016. In this collaboration, they created clothing that aligns with NAMI’s #stigmafree campaign. Additionally, the online clothing store donates 10% of their proceeds to mental health initiatives. These initiatives include  Jack.org, the Jed Foundation, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Project UROK, and Project 375, and the Semicolon Project. Wear Your Label also promotes fair, humane, and ethical work standards where their clothing is made.

Check out the website and let us know what you think!

Social Media Can Induce Feelings of Anxiety

March 16, 2017 in Social Media Guide

Social media can produce high levels of stress and anxiety.  Sharing and posting  aspects of your life with others is the purpose of social media but it can lead to negative outcomes. These negative outcomes can cause a mental health concern or it can exacerbate an existing disorder. Studies show that those with higher levels of self-esteem use social media to creatively express themselves by posting and sharing information.  On the other hand, those with lower levels of self-esteem use the sites differently.  Individuals with lower self-esteem spend a significant amount of time counting likes, making sure there is never an unflattering picture, or negative comment made that would change the image of themselves they are creating.

Photo Credit: Visual Content Flickr via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Visual Content Flickr via Compfight cc

Constantly checking for updates, statuses, comments, and likes can generate massive amounts of worry and anxiety.  According to psychcentral.com studies show that people feel a constant impulse to check the sites and it can cause anxiety and worry when individuals don’t have access to social media.  The constant need to check up on what is happening on social media can cause sleep disturbances and can cause individuals to compare themselves to others.  When a person begins to compare themselves to others it can lower self esteem even more and cause a cycle of negativity.

Anxiety is a part of life and everyone has feelings of anxiety at times but it is important to stay connected with how you are feeling so you know when things are going wrong.  If you realize that you are checking social media constantly try taking the time to separate yourself from it.  Social media can be fun but your mental health is more important.  Self-care is key and you must do what you can to protect yourself from becoming too invested in this virtual version of yourself. At the end of the day being satisfied with who you are in reality and loving that person is far more important than comparing yourself to virtual versions of people online.

Mental Health & Changes in Functioning

March 14, 2017 in Educate Yourself

In order for mental health concerns to be considered a disorder, the individual usually must present “significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities” (DSM 5). These vast changes in functioning can look different depending on the person, the environment, and the disorder. For this post, we are going to focus on what the impairment in functioning can look like. Usually, it means there is a significant and negative change from how one functioned previously, to now. There are different areas of life that these impairments can show up in like school, social settings, and other important activities.

Big differences in how someone interacts with others can indicate a problem. For example, if someone is really outgoing and generally a happy, positive person and they become withdrawn and start avoiding social situations for an extended period of time -that might indicate a problem. These changes in social functioning can also take place around family members. Big changes in the way someone communicates might mean the individual is experiencing a problem.

Photo Credit: matthewstanley via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: matthewstanley via Compfight cc

Additionally, major changes in how one functions or performs at work and/or school can indicate a problem. If someone who typically enjoys school and gets good grades starts having a lot of trouble concentrating and begins performing poorly on quizzes and exams, this also might indicate a problem. Complete loss of interest in doing things that were once enjoyable might mean a problem is present.

With all of this said, it’s also important to note that as people grow up, they can develop and change into new ways of behaving. It is certainly possible that someone grows out of activities that were once enjoyable. As one matures, they might lose interest in past activities. Additionally, just because someone has made changes to the way they function in various situations doesn’t automatically mean they have a mental health problem. Impairments in functioning can be indications of a mental health problem, but the presence of these changes doesn’t automatically mean one has a mental health concern.

Female Celebrities Discuss Mental Health

March 13, 2017 in Be Positive

Check out this video of some awesome celebrities discussing their experiences with mental illness and working on mental health. These women are using their platform to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.

Did one of these celebrity quotes stick with you? Let us know in the comments below!

Mental Health Check-up

March 10, 2017 in LINKS

Learn about your moods

A Brief Mental Health Check-up

Take five minutes and ask yourself these questions! The American Psychiatric Association is a great resource to use when you are interested in gaining more knowledge about mental health! Let us know if you learned anything new about yourselves!

 

10 Games to Help You Get Rid of Some Stress

March 3, 2017 in LINKS

Sometimes we all just need to take a moment and escape from the real world for a second. For many people, games on the internet can be a fun outlet. Lifehack.org has complied a list of 10 fun and relaxing games to play to help you de-stress and stimulate your mind.  Alex Morris from Lifehack.org describes the games as “minor masterpieces of chilled-out enjoyment which can help calm you after a busy day, or hectic morning, by ridding you from the stress of modern life. It’s blissful escapism at its best, and it’s entirely free!”

Photo Credit: Robin Hutton Flickr via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Robin Hutton Flickr via Compfight cc

There are ten games available on the website. Here’s a description of one of the games: Echogenesis

“Put your headphones on and immerse yourself in the wonders of Echogenesis. The visuals come from nature; swamps, forests, coves, and the like, whilst the sounds are created by interacting with the various life forms come across. It’s an immersive experience, from the beautiful graphics to the luscious stereophonic orchestration. You can’t win or lose; you just experience and influence the worlds you see, making it a relaxing tale of exploration.”

Take at look at what they have to offer and lets now what you think of the games.

Do We Share Too Much On Social Media?

March 2, 2017 in Social Media Guide

Social Media is all about communicating and sharing your experiences with friends and followers. The question is at what point does it become too much and we begin to overshare? How and what we choose to share on social media will affect how people see us. It is important to be mindful of what information you decide to disclose. Psychology Today has provide some tips to help keep oversharing to a minimum.3333841090_c0d144158e_o

  • Don’t Tell everyone what you ate for breakfast….if you communicate with them a lot 
    • Studies show that when individuals share trivial or superficial information on social media it impacts relationships. Those closely associated with the person find more dissatisfaction in the relationship when told trivial information but it had little effect on those the person had less contact with
  • Don’t whine 
    • Research found that people don’t like viewing negative posts. Also when outside observers, unknown to an individual, evaluated the statuses/posts, the more negative and less positive emotions that are expressed, the less the person is liked by the observers
  • Show, but don’t show off, your romantic relationship 
    • This is not to say don’t talk about your relationships but keep the SUPER “lovely-dovey” posts and statuses to a minimum. People see others in happy and healthy relationship, but just limit some displays of affection to just each other and not the entire internet
  • Show who you are…but do it by being positive 
    • “Disclosing information about yourself in a way that gives people a full impression of the kind of person you are can make a better impression, as long as you keep the tone positive.
  • Don’t be completely self-centered
    • Those that post more self-oriented posts tend to receive fewer posts from others. It can also create a bad impression of who you are when the goals of social media is to connect but you are only posting about yourself.

 

At the end of the day just keep in mind that social media represents who you are to many people. This is a snapshot of your life and you want it to represent the best of who you are.

Have you overshared or seen others overshare on social media? What was the result?

Symptoms of Depression Are Not Just Changes in Mood

March 1, 2017 in Educate Yourself

The mind and body have many different ways of expressing depression. Often times the symptoms of depression are mood-based such as hopelessness, feelings that one is unworthy, and suicidal ideation. Although those are symptoms related to mood that are often found with depression, it can also be represented through the physical changes and not just in a person’s mood. The depression symptoms can easily be managed, just as any illness or sickness.

Photo Credit: Tulane Publications via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Tulane Publications via Compfight cc

“Many people suffering from depression never get help because they don’t realize that pain may be a symptom of depression. The importance of understanding the physical symptoms of depression is that treating depression can help with the pain–and treating pain can help with depression.”Melissa Breyer

Some common physical symptoms:

  • sleep disturbance – Hard time going to sleep/staying asleep or a person beings to over sleep
  • change in weight/appetite – Increased eating causes weight gain (especially in women)
  • headache/body-aches – Chronic pain in back, joints, and muscles aches. Chest pain can also be a factor but that needs to be checked out immediately because pain in the chest could be a sign of other major medical issues.

Pain and depression often go hand in hand. Many of the same neural pathways that control pain signals also involve neurotransmitters that help regulate mood such as serotonin and norepinephrine. According to Health.harvard.edu; “When [mood] regulation fails, pain is intensified along with sadness, hopelessness, and anxiety. And chronic pain, like chronic depression, can alter the functioning of the nervous system and perpetuate itself.”

You just have to constantly be aware of what is happening within your body because a person’s mind and body does work independently of one another. What is happening with your mood and emotions will manifest in your body and vice versus. The body can impact a person’s moods and emotion.

Social Anxiety: The Symptoms and Potential Causes

February 28, 2017 in Educate Yourself

There are lots of different kinds of anxiety. The general definition of anxiety is an unrealistic, irrational fear or worry of disabling intensity. While fear is the natural response to a serious threat to someone’s well-being, anxiety is a response to a potential threat in the future. People with anxiety can experience it in different situations and in different ways. It’s important to keep in mind that everyone experiences anxiety. When the anxiety gets to a point that it is disabling, it can then be classified as a disorder. For this post we are going to focus on a common type of anxiety: social anxiety disorder.

As we always do before discussing a disorder, it’s important to note that only a professional can diagnose individuals with mental health disorders. We want to warn against the dangers of self-diagnosis, especially relating to mental illness. If you or someone you know is experiencing some of these symptoms, it’s okay to investigate further by educating yourself on the disorder, but important to get a professional opinion before drawing any conclusions.

The defining feature of social anxiety is a marked or intense fear or anxiety about one or more social situations in which the individual may be scrutinized by others and be negatively evaluated (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The following are symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder:

  1. Marked fear of anxiety about one or more social situations in which the individual is exposed to possibly scrutiny by others
  2. Fear of acting in a way or showing anxiety symptoms that will be negatively evaluated (i.e. will lead to rejection by others)
  3. The social situations almost always provoke fear or anxiety
  4. The social situations are avoided or endured with intense fear or anxiety
  5. The fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the social situation
  6. The fear, anxiety or avoidance is persistent and typically lasts six months or more
  7. The fear, anxiety or avoidance causes clinically significant distress or impairments

Social anxiety causes individuals to be unable to attend social situations because of the fear or anxiety. If they do attend, the fear or anxiety is difficult to tolerate. Social anxiety is more prevalent among females than males, and usually develops between the ages of 10-20 (Comer, 2014). Researchers and theorists have proposed lots of causes for social anxiety disorder. They believe that people with social anxiety disorder maintain social beliefs and expectations that work against them. These social beliefs include:

-They view themselves as unattractive social beings,

-They maintain unrealistically high social standards and so believe that they must perform perfectly in social situations.

-They view themselves as socially unskilled and inadequate

-They believe they are always in danger of behaving incompetently in social situations

-They believe that inept behaviors in social situations will inevitably lead to terrible consequences

-They believe that they have no control over feelings of anxiety that emerge in social situations.

(Comer, 2014)

There are lots of successful treatments available for people with social anxiety disorder. While social anxiety can cause great distress, therapy can do amazing work to help individuals manage and cope with social anxiety.

What are some of the ways you manage anxiety in social settings?

Comer, R.J. (2014). Abnormal Psychology (8th Edition-DSM5 Update). New York: Worth Publishers

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM5). (2013) Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

J.K. Rowling on Depression

February 27, 2017 in Be Positive

“I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never. What’s to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that.”

-J.K. Rowling

Photo Credit: Ian Halsey via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Ian Halsey via Compfight cc