Do we really know the impact of stress?

Do we know that stress can make our brain more susceptible to mental illness?

Stress, no matter its cause has been found to alter brain activities in ways that can have a long-term lasting detrimental effect on our mental health. There are several ways stress produces lasting damage to our mental health and one of these is by indirectly interfering with the normal functioning of our bodily chemicals which are called neurotransmitters. These chemicals in turn directly impair the function of the pre-frontal cortex of our brain, which is the area known to be home to higher level of thinking in man. Now what happens is that when these normal functions are disrupted, our reflective tendencies become inhibited while our reactive tendencies takes over and these automatically results to being consumed by feelings of anxiety, aggression and even depression.

Stress however does not only have damaging effect on our mental health but it also has negative lasting effect on our body, mood and behaviour.

Ways stress can affect our body:

•   Having constant headaches
•   Chest pain
•   Experiencing fatigue
•   Change in sex drive
•  Developing sleep problems
•   Stomach upset, and having muscle pain.

Ways stress affects our mood:

•   Producing feelings of anxiety
•   Restlessness
•   Lack of motivation or drive
•   Causing irritability
•   Anger outburst and overwhelming feelings of sadness.

Stress doesn’t leave our behaviour out of its reach as it also finds a way to cause overeating or under eating, social withdrawal, which can in turn lead to drug or alcohol abuse.

Here are 5 tips to help you “de-stress”:

1.  Remember: This Too Shall Pass! Stress can lead to excessive worry, nervousness, dread, upset stomach, or difficulty breathing. The first step to overcoming negative feelings and stressful situations is recognizing that you are experiencing a very common emotional state most commonly identified as anxiety and that in fact it WILL PASS! Fighting the anxiety can make it stronger. Paradoxically, accepting that you are feeling anxious helps activate the body’s natural relaxation response.

2.  Diaphragmatic Breathing: This is an effective way to activate relaxation response as its goal is to decrease the heart rate. It’s been observed that a rapid heart rate can be lowered with deep breathing techniques. The most commonly utilized strategy is breathing by contracting the diaphragm, a horizontal muscle in the chest located just above the stomach cavity.For more information, visit www.mobilehealthconsult.org

3. Check Your Diet: Little do we know that what we drink and eat impacts greatly on our emotional state and food containing caffeine and alcohol have been found to be highly associated with stress/anxiety triggered state. When any of these is consumed on a regular basis, it can cause anxiety, trigger panic attacks, and increase feelings of nervousness and irritability. In light of this knowledge, it is important to decrease consumption of these stressor ingredients and also create a log for our daily meals which we would decide to carefully observe so as to take note of those causing more harm than good whenever they are consumed.

4. Get Moving: Maintaining a regular (healthy, non-obsessive) exercise routine. Being on  the move daily and getting more involved in sporting activities has been proven to reduce stress, improve mood, enhance self-esteem, and increase energy levels. You can choose any of the various sporting exercise that best suits you and make a decision to commit yourself to it dedicatedly.

 5. Get More Sleep: You will be surprised at how losing just a few hours of sleep can increase the feelings of stress, anger, sadness, and exhaustion and so getting the right amount of sleep on a daily basis is absolutely important if we desire to be rid of stressful and anxiety prone situations.

Now that you have the tips to keeping stress at bay at your disposal, be sure to make them a part of your lifestyle

Have a stress- free day!

Self-confidence is one of the most attractive aspects in a person. Men admire it in women and women desire it in men. Self confidence is a major step to success in many different areas in life. A confident person leads and achieves and most of all is generally happier than others. Are you a confident person? Here are some main characteristics of confident people. A confident person:

1. is self-assured: Don’t wait for others to tell you good things about yourself to motivate you. Motivate yourself! Remind yourself who you are and what you want to achieve and be content. Be mindful of yourself. Take time out to sit quietly and explore your thoughts so you are aware of who you are all the time. Take criticism well, it is not the end of the world, don’t let it put you down. Exaggerate your good qualities to yourself and always tell yourself “I can!”. Be your number one fan.

2. has a plan:  Make a plan and a checklist of both your short term and long term goals and stick to it. You’d find the more achievements you check off the list the more confident you’d become. Know the things you can and cannot do. Not reaching our goals adversely affects our confidence. Achieve short term goals to boost your confidence for long term goals. It is also important to reward yourself as you attain your milestones.

3. looks the best he or she can: Find what colours goes best with your skin and wear such colours often. Always dresses nicely and have an image of yourself that you like and want to maintain. Be creative and stylish with your dressing and on formal occasions look extra sharp. Always look neat.

4. has “open” body language: They say body language is 70- 80% of communication. You’d find that most confident people use a lot of hand movements and don’t fold their arms across, which is a sign of being defensive. Be expressive and audible in speech. Make yourself comfortable all the time, wherever you find yourself.

5. is comfortable with himself/herself: Can spend time alone and not feel bad about it. In fact, they relish their alone time. Confident people like they’re own company. If you can’t bear with yourself others may equally not be able to bear with you.

6. holds beliefs firmly: Stands for something. Always have strong beliefs that practically defines them. They would always defend this belief and it is very difficult for them to let go of it. Remember the saying, “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”, confident people do not fall for anything.

7. is active: Whether its playing sports or taking walks, confident people tend to have an active lifestyle. They are cautious of their physical well-being and are always up to something. Solve puzzles and read books. Gather as much knowledge as u can each day. Keeping the mind busy prevents automatic negative thoughts which people with low confidence levels often have. In addition, knowledge increases self-confidence. Stay active.

A great way of improving your self-confidence is through writing meditation. It’s the recording of ones thoughts without filtering, editing or judging oneself. It’s pouring out your mind on a piece of paper with utmost sincerity. It’s great for confidence, especially when you write down affirmations of your good qualities, for example “I am a good listener. I am hardworking. I am brilliant” and so on. This practice elicits a higher sense of self-discovery, self-assurance and, over time, significantly improved self-confidence.

Register for a FREE mindfulness meditation training which includes writing meditation, follow this link: https://www.mobilehealthconsult.org/?page_id=1008

7 year old Yomi pushed aside his homework after one failed attempt as he gazed at the neighbors children playing outside, he simply believed that he couldn’t do it. His teacher had taught them the steps, but he found it a herculean task to perform. After all, he didn’t like numeracy. As soon as his mum spotted that he was leaving his numeracy home work for football, she immediately asked Yomi’s older sibling to fix the home work. 

Many children can be found in this same situation likewise many parents. They have this ” I can’t” mindset. Oh! its too tough, somebody help me! They complain the workload in school is enormous and their parents are quick to change schools. Such children who are easily provided a way of escape in the face of seemingly difficult tasks as a numeracy homework grow up to believe that life is a bed of roses  . They also give up easily and will not complete projects in the face of obstacles. They may grow up believing that their parents  have it all planned out for them. They become dependent on others and lack the ability to initiate projects or handle responsibility especially under pressure.  They may also be convenient to stay in their “comfort zone”, never venturing out to take risks.

Resilience can be defined as  an individual’s ability to cope and bounce back in the face of stress and adversity. Grit, a word associated with resilience can be regarded as  the ability to persevere when achieving long term goals.  Resilience determines a lot of things in life, school success, college success, and general success in life. According to Angela Duckworth, Ph.D., a psychologist who has researched on character skills that  may be responsible for success, she discovered that grit  matters more to a child’s ability to reach full potential than intelligence, skill, or even grades.

While some people are of the opinion that  resilient  is innate, research has shown that this “trait” can be taught and learned.

So just how are we supposed to build grit or resilience in a child? Parents, may ask.

Here are a few keys of building this life quality:

1. Help your  child see failure as an opportunity to learn.
2. Encourage them to always try again
3. Teach them problem solving skills e.g. STOP, THINK and ACT can be used in the face of challenges.
4. Avoid criticism or harsh judgment
5. Rewards in form of praise, Hi-5’s can be given positive behaviors are observed, when goals are achieved regardless of the obstacles.  
6. Avoid focusing on failure or negative behavior
7. Celebrate your children’s strength and cultivate their weaknesses
8. Build a close, loving  and positive atmosphere in your home
9. Don’t accommodate every need. This gives them a chance to develop problem solving skills
10. Model Resilience

With these 10 keys used consistently, your child will be well able to face the hiccups that life brings.