Posts Tagged ‘mental health’
Keeping Emotions in Check May Not Always Benefit Psychological Health – Association for Psychological Science
Maintaining a stiff upper lip and keeping our emotions under control is not beneficial to our mental health. Of course for our resilience and ability to cope with the lifes ups and downs we need to be able to regulate our emotions. But a common emotion strategy called ‘cognitive reappraisal’ may actually be harmful in our daily lives.
Allison Troy a lead researcher on the project says
“For someone facing a stressful situation in which they have little control, such as a loved one’s illness, the ability to use reappraisal should be extremely helpful — changing emotions may be one of the only things that he or she can exert some control over to try to cope”. She goes on to add that “But for someone experiencing trouble at work because of poor performance, for example, reappraisal might not be so adaptive. Reframing the situation to make it seem less negative may make that person less inclined to attempt to change the situation.”
This new research is fascinating and is well worth the read.
5 Traps That Keep You Lonely, And How to Avoid Them
‘Loneliness is tricky’ says Paul Sanders writing for the thebridgemaker.com. Paul also begins by explaining that being aware of the traps that cause loneliness is the first step of avoiding them.
The traps he describes are those such as thinking the friends you want to have are unattainable, thinking that you are not interesting enough or that you are afraid of being disappointed again. You may also have loner habits that prevent you from socialising and making new friends. He then goes on to give you straight forward simple advice to help you tackle your loneliness. The bottom line though is; it’s you who must put in the effort to reap the rewards! What are you waiting for?
5 Traps That Keep You Lonely, And How to Avoid Them | The BridgeMaker.
Overcoming Autopilot: The Challenge of Focusing Attention
Have you ever had the experience of driving your car somewhere, parking up and then realising that you have no idea of how you got there, no idea of the route you have taken? You have been on autopilot.
Leanne Reed challenges you to overcome this state of autopilot. To focus in on the present. To be mindful! She remarks that this is much easier to do for pleasant experiences like looking at a beautiful sunset for example but so much harder for painful, difficult experiences or even neutral ones such as a car journey.
She says that we are constantly caught up in the current content of our thoughts and this can prevent us from being mindful; really taking notice of the present moment.
Why not take a read of her article and have a go at her suggested experiment of following your breath. Let me know how you get on!
How Your Thoughts Create Your Brain
We all realise that our brain creates our thoughts. However in reality our thoughts create our brain too.
So how does this work? This is because every thought creates a neural connection. Therefore if you think a thought regularly enough the neural connection will grow stronger, especially if there’s an emotional attachment to it. The opposite to this is if a memory has little use, or is rarely stimulated, eventually those neural connections will largely wither away from disuse.
This is a really interesting article and discusses how stress can effect your brain and how we can get into patterns of negative thoughts called cognitive distortions.
How Your Thoughts Create Your Brain – Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement.
Changing brains: why neuroscience is ending the Prozac era
Steadily emerging from the research of neuroscience are new approaches and new treatments for mental illness. The use of psychiatric drugs could be replaced in the future. Rather than developing new medicines there is more focus on research that looks at how the neural circuits in the brain can be altered by physical intervention into the brain itself.
This new research focuses not only on how each network of the brain works but also how it interacts with the other neural networks within the brain. The idea is that by researching into these neural networks more specific treatments for mental illness can be created.
Changing brains: why neuroscience is ending the Prozac era | Science | The Observer.
Self-Esteem; How’s yours?
What is Self-Esteem?
Self-esteem answers the question; ‘’How do I feel about who I am?’’
The way we view and feel about ourselves has a profound effect on how we live our lives. Self-esteem is learned throughout our lives from our family, the friendships that we make, our experiences at school, the workplace and from wider society. Two very small words that effect the way we think, live our lives and impact on our happiness. Self-esteem is not fixed in place but changes throughout our lives as a result of our personal circumstances and our life experiences.
How is your self -esteem right now?
If you have high self -esteem you will view yourself in a good light. Having high self -esteem enables you to ‘bounce back’ from difficult times in your life and significant life events such as loss.
If you have low self -esteem your view of yourself is very negative. Your focus will be on your weaknesses and the mistakes you have made in your life.
Self -esteem is an opinion not a fact. It is your beliefs about yourself that determine whether you have high or low self-esteem. It is really important to recognise that these are only opinions, not facts. They can be inaccurate and there are things you can do to change them. Change is not easy but you can help yourself by being realistic and seeing each small success as a step in the right direction.
What is the link between self- esteem and mental health?
If you have low self -esteem it will affect your mental health. When you have negative beliefs about yourself it lowers your ability to cope with stresses; you have less resilience than someone with high self -esteem. You are therefore at a greater risk of developing mental health problems such as depression and eating disorders.
How can I build my self-esteem?
The charity Mind say that if you want to increase your self- esteem you need to challenge and change the beliefs you have about your value as a person.
Does this seem like an impossible task? There are lots of ways that you can do this and remember that small changes do add up. Looking after yourself physically like eating regularly and healthfully is a good place to start. Getting some exercise and plenty of sleep as well as just simply paying more attention to your personal appearance can help. Why not try smiling at yourself in the mirror every-day?
What about just having some fun? How do you like to enjoy yourself? Perhaps learn something new or arrange to be in situations where you can laugh and enjoy yourself. Join in with others rather than isolating yourself; you are important! Spend time concentrating on experiences that are rewarding and make you feel good and avoid the people and situations in your life that make you feel worse about yourself.
Taking the responsibility to make these changes is daunting but it can be done. If you just can’t get started why not talk it through with someone you can trust like a family member or a good friend. There are ten great top tips you will find on the Mind website to help keep you going.
Seeking professional help is also a very good option if you are experiencing mental health issues because of your self-esteem. Here at Manchester Institute for Psychotherapy we have experienced counsellors and therapists who can help you with dealing with the stress and anxiety in your life. Our emphasis is on friendliness and providing a safe and warm environment. You can phone the Institute on: 0161-862-9456 to book your initial assessment or contact us via email.
Focus on mental health for teens to improve physical health
A new study published in the American Journal of Preventative medicine has looked at a new teaching programme called COPE (Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment) in american high schools. The programme consisted of a 50 minute lesson each week looking at behavioral skills, nutrition and exercise delivered to 14- 16 year old teenagers. What is different about this programme is that it focuses on the link between thinking patterns, emotions and behaviour which is relevant to any age group not just teenagers.
So did the teenagers physical and mental health improve? Take a look at their findings in the National Post.