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by tea_rex_627

The Mind-Gut Connection

December 18, 2018 in Educate Yourself

It may seem weird that our thoughts and emotions can be linked to our stomach, but it turns out that they actually are! The gut-brain connection is a real thing! Our brains are constantly talking to other parts of our bodies. For example, they send signals to our stomachs that food is coming — this triggers the stomach to start making stomach acids to digest our food. But the connection is two-way: our guts also talk to our brains!

stomachThe gut itself has tons of neurons, the same types of cells that make up your brain. This nervous system in your gut, known as the enteric nervous system, is so large and complex that it is often nicknamed as the “second brain.” It can even function independently of our brains! (Though to be clear, it cannot have conscious thoughts, it is just responsible for making sure we digest our food correctly). While our guts may not have their own thoughts or moods, they do communicate back to our brains and may help influence our moods. For example, one form of treatment for treatment-resistant depression is stimulation of the vagus nerve, one of the large nerves that connects the brain to the digestive tract, which includes the gut.

There are a few reasons why our guts may influence our mental states. One reason is that our gut’s nervous system uses the same chemicals (neurotransmitters) that our brains use and that are part of mental health problems. For example, the gut nervous system produces serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved with depression. In fact, about 95% of the serotonin in our bodies is manufactured in the gut (the other 5% is in the brain)! It is possible that part of the communication between the gut and the brain could be through the exchange of these chemicals. Alternatively, it is also why some depression medications, such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s), can have effects on your gut and bowel movements.

bacteria-icon-2316230_1280A second way is through the critters living in our gut. Our guts are lined with trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms. If we counted the number of bacterial cells to human cells in our body, they would outnumber us by a lot! These bacteria are generally peaceful — in fact, we need them to digest foods that we can’t, like fiber, and to give us certain types of vitamins. But they also give us some other things than can affect our brains. Some bacteria give off low levels of toxic products, not toxic enough to hurt us, but enough to cause low-level inflammation in the body. This type of inflammation has been associated with many chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease, but it also is associated with mental health disorders. This is because chronic inflammation causes our cells to start acting incorrectly, and it could magnify any underlying issues that we already have.

Do you want to guess what other type of chemicals gut bacteria produce?

Ding ding ding! You got it — serotonin! Not only can gut bacteria produce serotonin, they also influence how our own guts make serotonin!

So, our guts have some influence on our brains! Cool, right? This of course isn’t to suggest that our guts are the source of all problems. Rather, one of the ways that we can help keep our symptoms in check is to listen to what our guts are telling us, and to treat them right through healthy eating and exercise! Trust me — I have a gut feeling about this!

Have you noticed if your stomach gets upset when you’re feeling anxious or nervous? Do you trust your “gut feelings?” What do you think you can do for your stomach that can also help your mind?

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by tea_rex_627

Qualities of a Good Confidant

October 24, 2018 in Be Positive, Educate Yourself

Aerial view of hot tea drink

Expressing your thoughts and feelings can be difficult. It is sometimes hard to find the right words that really say what we’re experiencing. Even more difficult, though, can be finding the right person to say them to.

Many people have issues with sharing their feelings and experiences with others, especially when it comes to the more negative feelings. I’ve personally had this problem. When I thought about confiding in others, I didn’t want to seem like I’m a downer, or that I’m always complaining, or that the other person should be worried about me. But finding those right people to confide in — whether it be a parent, therapist, or friend — is possible!

This short New York Times article discusses some of the qualities we can work on to be a good confidant to others, but I think it also helps us to identify the qualities we should look for in someone that we wish to confide in. (Also as a bonus, it uses experiences from a Pittsburgh person!) These skills include:

  • Ask open ended questions These allow someone to explain themselves, and reveal any details at a level they feel comfortable with. You can ask questions like “What’s troubling you?” and “How do you feel about ____?” These types of questions can’t be answered as a simple yes/no, and let’s a person know that you are willing to listen to details.feedback-2466833_1280
  • Observe body language This can help you gauge if someone is feeling really anxious, uncomfortable, or ashamed. Some common signs are turning away while speaking or physically closing themselves off (like crossing their arms). Other signs could indicate a fight-or-flight response, such as talking quickly or in a much higher pitch than usual.
  • Be patient Confiding in someone takes time and trust. Wait to build a relationship where both parties can feel comfortable in taking part in the conversation.
  • Don’t pry for more information Just listen to what’s being shared. Understanding and respecting someone’s boundaries in what they are willing to share helps to ensure that the confiding person feels more comfortable.
  • Don’t offer advice (unless it’s being asked for) Most people just want to be heard, not necessarily told what they should do next. Unsolicited advice is rarely followed, and given that a confidant may not know all of the details of a situation being shared, can even backfire. This isn’t to say that advice is always a bad thing — simply realize that having a friend listen to them may be all a friend really wants!
  • Talk about good experiences This can help lighten the mood, and in addition to feeling better about confiding in someone, it also can help people leave feeling the conversation wasn’t all negative!

What qualities do you look for in a confidant? Feel free to share in the comments below!

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by tea_rex_627

Resistance Training Exercises and Mental Health

September 4, 2018 in Educate Yourself

weights fitness barbell dumbbells hardwood exercise gym health Being physically active is one way to help improve your mental health. In my first ever post almost a year ago (eek!), I talked about different ways to get motivated to be physically active. Generally, it was known that aerobic exercise — A.K.A. cardio exercises like jogging, cycling, and swimming — can help to reduce depressive symptoms. However, not much was known about the relationship of depression with resistance training, the types of exercise that require you to work against a force that resists your movement (for example, weight lifting).

A special kind of study called a meta-analysis was done to look at this topic this year! (Here is a link to a Business Insider article talking about the study results). A meta-analysis is a study of research studies — essentially, it tries to give a final answer for a question based on all of the best evidence available. In this case, the meta-analysis looked at 33 clinical trial studies in which people were either randomly assigned to a resistance training group or a non-active group. The meta-analysis found that resistance training was associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms, and that it seemed to work just as good as aerobic exercise! Additionally, the antidepressant effect didn’t seem to be affected by how much resistance training an individual was asked to do, what that person’s health status was, or how much stronger they got.

Of course, different types of exercises give you different physical benefits, and all have their own risks to them as well. It is always important to talk to a coach, gym teacher, or personal trainer about how to properly do your exercises so as to prevent injury. But it’s also great to know that regardless of the types of exercises we may do, they all seem to have a great benefit on our mental health as well!

Have you ever used exercise to improve your mental health? Are you interested in resistance training as a way to help your mental health? Let us know in the comments below!

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by tea_rex_627

“I Have No Real Friends”: A Lie Depression Tells Me Is True

July 30, 2018 in Be Positive

friendshipSometimes I feel like I have no friends.

Or, let me clarify, no real friends. It’s not that I don’t have nice conversations with other people, or get invited to hang out in groups with them. Instead, I think that people only ask to hang out with me because they really enjoy hanging out with my boyfriend (and just are unluckily stuck with me too). Or I think they are talking with me just to be nice to me, but don’t actually care about me or my interests.

So it more or less feels like I have a ton of acquaintances—like I’m surrounded by happy people who can get on just fine without me in their lives.

It’s hard, too, when you see other people on social media hanging out and sharing happy moments in their friendships, or when you hear stories about the things other people did (and quite obviously you weren’t invited to participate in). When it seems like you are surrounded by everyone having these awesome fun times and everyone else being friends with each other, it can feel very isolating and lonely.

I don’t always have this feeling, though. I have found that these and other negative thoughts tend to creep in and magnify whenever I’m feeling down and stressed out. But when I’m in a good mood and have my stress under control, I don’t find that I’m troubled by any perceived lack of friendships—instead, I feel pretty good and optimistic about the relationships that I have!

This is all not a coincidence: feelings of loneliness often go hand-in-hand with depression (which I have), and can often be fueled by anxiety (which I also have).

Making friends when you are dealing with depression can be difficult. This blog here has some great tips, such as joining support groups/interest groups, making healthy decisions, and taking the friend-making process slowly (all, of course, while also continuing with your depression treatment!).

But what do you do when you in fact have a friend network, but your depression starts to make you feel like you are isolated and friendless?

Here are some tips that help me when I find myself sliding into this situation:

  • Recognize that the feeling comes from the illness of depression, not reality. Living with a mental health issue doesn’t mean eliminating your symptoms, but rather managing them when they arise. Being able to acknowledge when something is a symptom of your mental illness—such as feeling no one truly likes you—can help to remove the power of that symptom!
  • Ignore social media. SOVA has published many blogs on how we represent ourselves on social media, and how these representations are not always accurate at describing our lives. Remembering that social media posts are often just carefully chosen snippets of someone’s life (and possibly an inaccurate representation of what is happening) can help you to work at not comparing your friendships/relationships with others’ social media presences. Another option is just to ignore social media altogether for a bit!
  • Give yourself a value-oriented definition of a close friendship. What is it that makes a close friend to you? Part of the problem is that, culturally, we don’t have a great definition for a close friendship the way we do with other types of relationships, such as romantic partners. Still, there are some common themes seen in how people do tend to define close friendships! We often interact with close friends over multiple contexts—for example, they are not just someone we share one class with, but may also interact with in an after-school activity, extra-curricular group, family function, etc. In addition to shared interests and activities, close friends are often people who are well-trusted and who can be confided in. Finally, close friends respect each other and encourage each other to be better/enjoy life more.
  • Recognize situational changes in friendship dynamics. Our friendships and relationships can change over time, especially as our priorities and those of our friends change. For example, moving to a new school or new part of the country, caring for a family member, and increased job responsibilities are all factors that can take away from our ability to be close in friendships and can modify the close friendships that we do have. We often have little control over these factors, but identifying that they have come into play can help you to avoid blaming yourself. For example, the statement “They don’t talk to me anymore because I’m not worth being friends with” can become “We aren’t able to be as close as we once were, but I still think of ___ as a good friend”!

Do you ever feel lonely, or like your friends aren’t close friends? What do you do if you get these feelings? Let us know in the comments below!

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by tea_rex_627

How Media Influences Self-Harm, And What We Can Do About It

June 21, 2018 in Social Media Guide

spade03

Kate Spade.

In the past week or two, after the deaths of fashion designer Kate Spade and chef Anthony Bourdain, we have seen a great deal of reporting about suicide. Reading about these events, I’ve started to think about how news coverage—including social media sharing—of events like these can affect those of us with depression and anxiety.

There has been a lot of positive news coverage generated by celebrity positions on social issues. Many celebrities have brought awareness and positive attention to mental illness by sharing about the difficulties they have experienced. These types of stories have the potential to inspire readers who struggle and educate them about how to cope with symptoms of mental illness.

But media stories about mental health can also have a negative impact on people’s understanding of mental illness. Many studies have linked increases in self-harm and suicidal behavior to irresponsible reporting of people, including celebrities, taking their own lives. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services refers to this phenomenon as “suicide contagion”: exposure to graphic reports or representations of self-destructive behaviors in our families, peer groups, social media, or media coverage can place vulnerable individuals at greater risk to their own self-destructive tendencies.

bourdain

Anthony Bourdain.

How can the media do a responsible job of reporting the news, while also preventing the potential spread of self-harm behavior? The World Health Organization, one of the global leaders in helping create healthy societies, has created a set of guidelines for reporters to follow. Some of them are:

  • Being careful with the language used in the reporting
  • Providing links to professional hotlines and other resources for seeking help
  • Giving lists of “Warning Signs” and “What To Do” in order to help yourself and others who may experience a crisis
  • Seeking advice from experts in the mental health field
  • Avoid misinformation and offer hope

On social media sites, we often share news stories and talk about them. In that way, we all become reporters. As we communicate with each other on social media, we can minimize the risk for self-harm by using these tips for professional reporters.

Here is another great link about suicide prevention, from the National Institute of Mental Health.

And if you or anyone you know ever feel in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or go to your nearest emergency room.

By working together to talk about mental health issues in a thoughtful and careful way, we can create a more informed society while also taking care of each other.

13rw2How did you feel when you saw posts about Kate Spade or Anthony Bourdain? What do you think of the Netflix show “13 Reasons Why”?—Stay tuned for a forthcoming blog about the potential effects of that show on individuals with depression and anxiety.

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by tea_rex_627

Oh No—I Forgot To Take My Antidepressant Today!

June 12, 2018 in Educate Yourself

pillboxRED ALERT! Sound the alarms! Batten down the hatches! I forgot to take my antidepressant!

The above panic was me earlier this week. I take an SSRI antidepressant each day when I wake up in the morning—it has been part of my daily routine for the past year. I even got myself a day-of-the-week pill box to help remind me if I took my medication or not. I’ve been great at staying consisten

However, last Tuesday when I was about to go to bed, I saw it: the Tuesday box had been unopened.

Cue: cold sweats and anxiety.

What should I do? I had a lot of questions:

  • Do I take the medication now, right before going to bed? Or do I wait until morning?
  • How many pills do I take in the morning?
  • What will happen to me now that I forgot to take my medication?

The answers may not be the same for everyone, or for every medication. For that reason, to get the best answer for you, you will have to discuss with your doctor or pharmacist what to do in the event you forget your medication.

My medication came with directions for a missed dose: I was to take it as soon as I realize I missed it UNLESS it is close to when I would take my next dose. Given that it was late at night for me, I decided to wait until the morning.

Now the next question: Should I just take my normal one pill tomorrow, or do I double up to make up for the dose I missed? According to my doctor, it is not a good idea to double up my specific medication—instead, just take one dose like I normally would.

So, the last question: How will this affect my functioning? What happens now that I missed a dose?
Again, this will depend on the medication you take, the dose that you take, and how your body handles medication.

The drug I take, Zoloft (sertraline), has a half-life of 26 hours. This means that when I take my dose in the morning, it will take my body 26 hours to eliminate half that dose; and then it takes another 26 hours to eliminate half of the half-dose left in my body. Theoretically, when I missed that Tuesday dose, by the Wednesday morning that I took my next dose, I had about one-fourth of my usual medication level in my system.

Another thing to consider is how fast the medication takes effect. It takes my medication four to eight hours to reach its peak level in my circulation. Therefore, I expected that there would be a few hours during that day in which I would have an unusually low level of circulating Zoloft in my system, and it might be the case that I could experience some effects of missing the medication.

My expectations were correct. There was about a 1.5-hour period where I started to feel a little dizzy, muscle weakness, and possibly some nausea. However, these feelings did go away as the day went on and my next dose took effect.

Woo-hoo, I survived a day of missing my medication! And I learned that there are certain things I can do to prepare for any future missed doses of medications:

  1. Check with my doctor/pharmacist beforehand to find out when to take my next dose.
  2. Also check with the doctor/pharmacist to determine if I take a regular dose the next time or not
  3. Expect that it may be likely that I could experience some short-lived and minor negative side effects, but know that these will pass within a short period of time

Have you ever missed a dose of your medication? Did you know what to do when this happened? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below!

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by tea_rex_627

Having a Bad Mental Health Day

May 7, 2018 in Be Positive

puppy03Living with depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues can sometimes be taxing. I know I have come across this a lot—I feel down, anti-social, or just plain exhausted! While it’s true that we are starting to talk more about mental health conditions, lots of people still find it difficult to talk about what they are experiencing. It’s especially hard when you feel like you were doing so great the past few days and today you just feel like … ugh.

I often don’t know what to say on my ugh days when someone asks me, “How are you doing today?” or, “Do you want to hang out later?” Most of the time I end up just saying something like, “I feel a little tired today—must not have slept well,” or, “I think I’m just staying in tonight, I have a lot of work to do!” Usually, what I really want to say is:

My depression/anxiety symptoms are acting up, and I’m just having a bad mental-health day.

I just feel like people can relate to tiredness and stress a bit more than a real confession of mental-health difficulties. And I don’t want to feel like I’m being a downer or burdening people with my current symptoms.

However, some friends of mine have recently started being completely open about their bad mental health days!

puppy01They are very open about their feelings, posting on Facebook, “Hey everyone, I’m having a bad mental health day today,” followed by words of encouragement for their friends (“You are all lovely people!”) and requests for positive posts (“Feel free to send cute puppy pictures or funny videos!”). Not only were they able to express how they were truly feeling, but they also created a wonderful thread of positivity and puppy pictures.

It didn’t even feel like they were burdening anybody! And bonus, they now have a bunch of cute animal pictures—and who doesn’t want to see a bunch of cute baby animals from time to time?

puppy02Not everyone feels comfortable to post publicly about their mental health state. But if you have a friend or close significant other, it might be helpful to let them know if today just happens to be a bad mental health day for you! I tried this recently with my boyfriend when he asked how my day went—he was super understanding of it, and it also gave me a partner in figuring out how to make my night better.

Have you ever told someone else that you were having a bad mental health day? Let us know in the comments below (and feel free to post favorite pictures of baby animals!).

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by tea_rex_627

Coming Out as a Positive Experience

March 12, 2018 in Be Positive

“Coming out” is a decision to tell someone a fact about yourself that they may not know—usually something extremely personal and potentially something with a social stigma to it—so it can be hard to remain positive through the process. 

Most people know of the phrase “coming out” in relation to sexual orientation or gender identity—like “coming out of the closet”—but it has also been used to refer to times we reveal secret behaviors, beliefs, affiliations, tastes, identities, and interests. Examples could be “coming out as an atheist” to a religious family member, “coming out as disabled” to one’s community, and so on.

In my life, I have come out to several people for a few different things: I’ve come out as being gay, and I have come out with my mental health conditions, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder. I have gotten a mix of positive and negative responses in coming out to family and friends. Interestingly, the people responded positively changed depending on what part of myself I was revealing.

When I came out as gay, I found that my family was initially unsupportive, but my friends were overwhelmingly positive. When I came out with mental illnesses, it was actually the opposite: my family was very accepting and helpful, while some of my friends had a surprisingly (to me) negative response.

My communities had different responses, but I noticed some similarities: those who had responded positively felt like they “knew” that quality about me already—or at least had some types of hints—from the ways I behaved when I was around them. Those who responded negatively seemed shocked and felt that I was a different person than the one they knew, or that I was being influenced by doctors or other gay people.

This isn’t to say that it was my fault that people reacted good or bad! The ways other people respond are never something you can control! We just tend to act differently around different people—I can joke with my friends in ways I wouldn’t with my parents, for example, and I have experiences with my siblings that I don’t with my best friend.

This taught me that coming out with any information in a positive way may require different approaches with different groups of people. People tend not to react well when their world view is being challenged, but I think it also happens when the view of people that we feel we know well is also challenged.

People’s responses to coming out are affected by many factors, including religious beliefs and people’s knowledge—or lack of knowledge—about mental health. There is no one-size-fits-all way to come out. But if you think someone may not understand or have difficulty understanding this “new” aspect about you, it may be a good idea to give them a way to process it in their own time. (I found that with time, most of my communities eventually came to have positive responses).

Here is a recent post by a SOVA blogger on how to educate your parents about your depression. I think regardless of what you may be coming out as, these strategies could be helpful!

Have you had any experiences in coming out as something? How did you make the experience as positive as you could? Did you find that you had to use different approaches with different people? Feel free to share your experiences below!

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by tea_rex_627

A Recipe for Stress Relief

February 12, 2018 in Be Positive

Sometimes life is stressful. Sometimes you want to eat cookies. Sometimes, both of those feelings happen at the same time!

A friend of mine recently introduced me to “procrasti-baking”, which she defined as “making food for friends in order to put off doing your work”. While procrastinating is not always a great idea, there is something about baking and cooking for others that makes me happy!

baking

Psychologists have a few ideas why cooking for others can reduce stress:

  1. Cooking is a way for us to be creative! You can try new recipes, or decorate your dishes to look fancy!
  2. It’s also a way to communicate without using words — being able to say “I’m sorry for your loss” or “I appreciate you” by giving a gift which you created!
  3. It is a mindful process! You must be in the moment to follow a recipe’s directions!
  4. It also makes you feel good to give something to others! The act of sharing and devoting time to making someone else happy can, in turn, make you happy!

So the next time you’re feeling down and stressed, try reaching for the cook book! Whether you’re making a simple chocolate chip cookie for a friend or an elaborate creole cornbread stuffing for your family, you may soon find yourself feeling a little less stressed (and perhaps a little bit hungry)!

Have you ever tried procrasti-baking? What is your favorite thing to make? Tell us in the comments below!

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by tea_rex_627

Being “S.M.A.R.T.” with Goal-Setting!

January 16, 2018 in Educate Yourself

We are now slightly more than two weeks into 2018. And on January 1, many of us made promises to somehow better or change ourselves in the upcoming year. There are multiple ways to have resolutions — check out a cool SOVA blog here about setting New Year’s Intentions!

motivation

Often, resolutions have some type of goal or result that we want to achieve. A common New Year’s Resolution may be to lose weight, or to exercise more, or to save money. However, many people have difficulty in achieving their resolutions, which can make them feel pretty bummed out. Did you set a goal for 2018? How have you done so far? 

There’s an awesome acronym that can help us with setting good goals! S.M.A.R.T. stands for “Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely”. When goals are SMART, you are often more successful in achieving them.

Here is a great article from Michigan State University that talks about setting SMART goals. The basics are this:

Specific — What do I want to do? Where would I do it, and with whom? (ex. Instead of saying “I want to eat healthier”, say “I want to eat more vegetables and to eat less snacks”.)

Measurable — What am I counting as success? (ex. I want to lose 10 pounds. I want to exercise 3 times a week. I will save $100.)

Attainable — Make sure the goal is reasonable! Think about your personal schedule and what you have control over. If you don’t make your own meals, it may be difficult to increase the amount of vegetables you eat — but you may be able to decrease the unhealthy snacks! If you have a lot of work and school work, then saying you will exercise every day may be difficult, especially if you don’t exercise on any days — try setting a goal to exercise twice a week!

Relevant — Think about your priorities. Is this an important goal to have? Do you have the time and energy to commit to this goal? Sometimes our goals may conflict with each other, so it is important to plan out what we want to accomplish (and when we want to accomplish it by!). For example, I may want to save up money for a trip this summer, but this may take away from my ability to also save up money for a new cell phone.

Timely — Set yourself a realistic starting date and a realistic deadline! It can help to have a calendar or a planner to help schedule a deadline, and to give yourself multiple smaller deadlines (or mini-goals) in the buildup to your big goal.

What are your intentions or goals for this year? How have you managed thus far? How do they look when you set them up with “S.M.A.R.T.”? Let us know in the comments below!

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