Welcome to Part 2 of the 3 Part Wellness Blog Series. This post will address Major Life Changes and Wellness.
As we transition into a post pandemic world, we find ourselves frequently discussing the importance of mental health. The time to prioritize mental health is now. However, every individual and community faces unique challenges to their mental health, particularly the LGBTQIA+ community.
Ever felt stressed out? Did you ever think to yourself,” Oh wow what a week or day!”. Everyone faces stress from time to time and being an adult by no means exempts us from feeling a mixture of emotions on a regular basis. When we experience some ups and downs all sorts of emotions may come out, and dealing with these big emotions can increase our stress levels to an overwhelming feeling.
Often times we associate depression symptoms as a risk factor for suicide. This is certainly an unfortunate truth but did you know that suicidal ideation is also relatively common among pregnant and postpartum women? When a common person hears of a woman being pregnant you typically associate that as a time of their life in which they are filled with joy and anticipation of meeting their new baby but for some women it can actually be one of the riskiest, and scariest times of their lives as suicide has emerged as one of the leading causes of death among new moms.
While all children and youth go through different moods and emotional responses to daily challenges, coping skills like exercise, deep breathing, talking with friends and family, and listening to music usually help us feel better. However, when it becomes harder to manage our feelings; when we have difficulty going to work or school; when we do not want to see our friends and feel hopeless, these are all signs and symptoms of depression and may require an appointment with your doctor.
Image the daily life of a child.
"Elijah, you need to get up for school now.”
“Elijah, you need to brush your teeth now!”
“Elijah, stop yelling at your sister and get down here.”
“Elijah, do you have your bookbag? Where is your homework?”
“Elijah, you need to hurry, or you will miss the bus."
When Elijah gets to school, it starts again.
"No running on the playground!”
“Put your pencils away now.”
“No talking in the hallway."
"You are what you eat." You might have heard this phrase at some time in your life. It comes from a French phrase from 1826, "Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es." [Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are]. Slightly different, but you get the point. "You are what you eat" originated with an idea in Europe in 1800 that "the food one eats a bearing on one's state of mind and health." Well, people in 1800 were correct. There is more and more evidence that food can have an impact on your mental health.
If you are looking for a quick mental health boost, researchers recommend getting outside. They have shown that just being outside can help people feel more mentally healthy. It feels that science has caught up with what people already know: how many times have you, when you felt upset, just wanted to “get some fresh air.” Well, it turns out that it works.
There once was a psychiatrist in New York who worked with patients who were depressed. While he provided the usual treatment, he would add something out of the ordinary. He would ask all his patients to do a mitzvah.
A mitzvah is a good deed, but not just any good deed. A mitzvah is a good deed where you are not expected to get anything back. You don’t expect an acknowledgment: it doesn’t give you points; you don’t get a reward; and you might not even get a thank you.
In the previous post on mental health wellness, we talked about the need to meet with a friend face-to-face, either just talking or eating together. However, some people have only a few or no friends. In this post and the next, we share recommendations on how to be social even if you don’t have many friends.
