Category: mental health

Depression vs. Expression

I attended a class at Pathways Mental Health Crisis Center in uptown Minneapolis about healing the body from trauma, judgment, guilt, pain, anger, or resentments. I learned many things like you need to liberate yourself from guilt and shame by embracing the pain because you battled it and won. For example, if you were abused, acknowledge the vulnerable remains within your body and move forward. According to one of the many texts we delved into was The Secret by Rhonda Byrne who says something to the effect of what you pay attention to grows stronger so acknowledge the guilt and shame but don’t drown yourself in pain. If its grief holding you back, acknowledge that life is for the living and the spirit of those that have passed stays with you. So, they are never far away; they bathe you in strength.

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If there’s a project, illness, or relationship that makes you feel confined address it then return with the attitude of awareness and cooperation even if it isn’t the case. You can’t make “them” or “it” liberate you; you must do it yourself. That doesn’t mean quit, ignore your body, or leave the other person, just be aware and mentally cooperate with the tension. If it leaves you frustrated, imagine your utmost self thriving and evolving. Refuse to be stunted, welcome growth and new change.

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Don’t live in distress because it causes the body to remain in a state of depression or regression and it can cause or agitate illness. If it’s stress, embrace the experience and grow from it. If it’s an irrational, obnoxious, or arrogant person, step back and think about what has their presence in your life sought to teach you. Refuse to judge negatively whether it be a person, thing, or experience. Confront any suffering and liberate yourself from the pain afterward.

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Use resilience to avoid being stuck in denial and delusion because it’s temporary and you’re strong enough to see that truth. Think about how far you’ve come and refuse to be discouraged with what you accomplished. Greet the future you with hopeful curiosity. Imagine any anger as if it’s standing before you and battle it until it disappears then forgive it, whether it’s a person, an illness, or an experience. Just because you forgive doesn’t mean that you have to subject yourself to any further drama or pain by keeping them or the pain in your life. If you were abused or harmed in any way, forgive the abuser then forget the judgment. Don’t be a victim because what happened is in the past. Write it down succinctly then tear it up. It’s not you anymore. Let your resilience express gratitude for what the person, illness, or experience has taught you, built you up, made you the best self that you are despite their effect on your life.

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Heal the bad feelings by meditating, doing yoga, or by doing a body scan which is where you lie down and focus on one part of the body and acknowledge how it feels. Start with your head and go to toes and really feel the tension, sadness, or anger and release it. Move onward and upward and refuse to neglect yourself anymore, instead express yourself. Sit with dignity!

Anti-anxiety Hobbies

Hobbies for People with Anxiety

1. Writing Expressively:

Expressive writing is a highly effective anxiety management technique and once you start to notice the benefits you are likely to get pleasure from engaging in this activity.

I found that regularly writing about what happened in my childhood and how that made me feel was incredibly healing.

2. Listening to Calming Music: 

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Regularly listening to calming music can be a highly effective way to calm down quickly and ease your anxiety symptoms.

One study in 2017 concluded that:

Music listening is associated with a decreased level of anxiety and distress.

This is one of my favorite hobbies for relieving anxiety, because I realized very early on that each time I would put on my headphones and listen to relaxing sounds my anxiety would start to ease instantly. I found this to be incredible and putting on calming music became one of my emergency anti-anxiety measures.

3. Reading Empowering Books:

A 2009 study at the University of Minnesota found that reading can reduce stress by up to 68%, so this is a highly effective hobby for people suffering from stress and anxiety.

Reading powerful books by beautiful authors helped me to get out a very dark anxiety hole.

If you don’t have the time to read, you can listen to all of these books instead by signing up to a platform such as Audible.

4. Going for Walks:

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Being physically active is essential for managing anxiety because exercise stimulates the release of endorphins, hormones that makes us naturally feel good.

It also helps to release excess energy, which if not released would make you more anxious.

But the trouble is, anxiety as a condition can be very exhausting and overwhelming and so it is often hard to find the motivation to do any form of exercise.

That’s why I recommend gentle physical activities for people with anxiety, and in my experience, walking is the best form of exercise for anxiety relief.

5. Connecting with Animals :

Thor (Cocker Spaniel & Cavalier King Charles mix)

Spending time with animals—by playing with them and stroking them—can be a great hobby for managing anxiety.

Getting a pet would be of course an amazing solution for that, but it’s also not essential. You can always volunteer at rescue centers by offering to walk their dogs or play with their cats.

The reason animals have such a great effect on your mental health is because, according to research interacting with them can increase the levels of “the love hormone” oxytocin and decrease levels of “the stress hormone” cortisol, which has a calming effect on the body and mind.

For example, one study, showed that,

Interaction between owners and their dogs’ results in increasing levels of oxytocin in both owners and dogs, whereas cortisol levels decrease in the owners, but increase in the dogs

6. Dancing in Your Own Home 

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It might sound silly but dancing in your house or apartment when no one is watching is another great hobby for releasing tension and anxiety.

I like to put on my favorite songs and dance; you may even like dancing like crazy, doing lots of jumping, and freestyle movements.

7. Getting into Yoga:

 Yoga is an ancient technique that is very beneficial for managing anxiety.

Anxiety makes us tense, irritable and inflexible, while yoga can work to reverse all of these, plus nourish us with a whole host of other health benefits. 

A lot of people are hesitant about trying yoga because they think they won’t be able to get into certain positions, but I can assure you that anyone can practice yoga. Yoga is about connecting with your own body, mind and soul, and everyone else is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter what the other people are doing, all that matters is that you are listening to your body and doing what you can do. I have fallen in love with yoga, and it has become a big part of me. I just practice for myself, and I don’t care how I look to anyone else. Yoga has helped me to improve my breathing which is essential for managing anxiety.

8. Cooking Enjoyable Anti-Anxiety Meals

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Healthy eating is necessary for reducing and managing anxiety. But when we start to eat healthily it can be hard to stick with it because we don’t know how to make tasty meals that are healthy and also, we often don’t know what to eat.

That’s why searching for healthy recipes and experimenting in the kitchen is a great hobby to adopt because it can help you eat healthily long-term, which can make enormous positive changes to your anxiety levels.

But that’s not all, cooking as an activity has shown to benefit mental health.

One study showed that adolescents with the most cooking skills reported a greater sense of mental well-being, as well as less symptoms of depression.

9. Watching Inspirational Movies:

Watching inspirational movies and documentaries, or movies based on a true story, can be very uplifting and motivational to encourage us to make positive changes in our lives.

I have found that watching such movies benefits me the most in the evening after a long day to help me calm down and unwind.  

10. Create Beautiful Pictures or Paintings:

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Whether it’s photography or painting, I find these activities extremely relaxing and fun, and it’s also a great way for me to be present in the moment (mindfulness) which is an anxiety alleviator, especially out in nature.

 

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Anxiety and Nutrition, specifically Carbohydrates

“What a strange combination? What have carbs got to do with anxiety?”

According to Harvard Medical School, natural foods rich in carbohydrates including whole grains, vegetables, legumes and fruit, are an essential element of a healthy and balanced diet but are also some of the best anti-anxiety foods. These foods are a good source of complex carbohydrates and fiber, provide a slow release of energy and are stable on blood sugar. But that’s not all, natural whole foods contain many other beneficial nutrients necessary for mental and physical health.

So, despite increased popularity of low carb and keto diets, carbs belong in your diet, and natural foods rich in carbs are very important foods for managing mental health.

What are Carbohydrates?

There are three types of carbohydrates: sugars, starches, and fiber.

  • Sugars are simple carbohydrates.
  • Starches and fiber are complex carbohydrates.
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Due to their simplicity, sugars absorb rapidly into the bloodstream and give a quick release of energy. But sugars (simple carbs) can affect blood sugar levels causing sudden spikes and dips. Low blood sugar can in turn affect anxiety levels. When your blood sugar drops suddenly, this signals hunger to the brain, which can activate the flight-or-fight response (stress response), causing irritability, nervousness, and other classic anxiety symptoms.

In contrast …

According to Harvard Medical School, 

Complex carbohydrates are metabolized more slowly and therefore help maintain a more even blood sugar level, which creates a calmer feeling.– Harvard Medical School

Carbohydrates are found in both natural (good carbs) and refined foods (bad carbs). Taking all of the above into account, the best source of carbohydrates for health and managing anxiety are natural foods high in complex carbohydrates.

How to Manage Anxiety with Carbs?

1. Choose The Best Source of Carbs 

If fruit and legumes are natural foods, a good source of carbohydrates and contain vitamins, minerals, and more why are they not the best source of carbs?

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2. Limit Fruit and Legumes

Fruit and legumes are healthy but while you can have whole grains and veggies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, fruit and legumes need to be limited.

  • Fruits are high in natural sugars and if consumed in large quantities can affect blood sugar levels. Two pieces of fruit a day is healthy and sufficient.
  • Legumes are a good source of protein and a great meat replacement for lunch or dinner. But since we need protein in relatively smaller quantities than carbohydrates, legumes should also be limited.

So, it’s still important to consume fruits and legumes as part of health eating, but the bulk of your calories need to come from vegetables and whole grains.

Get into the habit of using the glycemic index to check which vegetables are better for your blood sugar. The lower the glycemic index, the more stable the effect on blood sugar.

Examples of Good Carbs

Vegetables such as Acorn squash, Artichoke, Asparagus, Bok choy, Beans, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Butternut squash, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chives, Green, red, yellow pepper, Kale, Leek, Onions, Parsnip, Potato, Pumpkin, Radish, Spinach, Sweet potato, and others

Whole Grains such as Barley, Corn, Oats, Quinoa, Brown, red, black and wild rice

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Legumes such as Chickpeas, Lentils, Peas, Kidney Beans, Black Beans, Soybeans, Pinto Beans

Fruit such as Apple, Apricot, Banana, Blackberry, Blueberry, Cherry, Cranberry, Grape, Raisin, Grapefruit, Kiwi fruit, Mango, Melon, Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Nectarine, Papaya, Peach, Pear, Plum, Prune, Pineapple, Pomegranate, Raspberry, Strawberry

3. Avoid Bad Carbs

When plant-based foods are refined, we have refined carbohydrates. For example, whole wheat grain is refined to produce white flour. During this refinement process, wheat grain is stripped of fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and healthy fats, leaving behind only the starchy carbohydrate. Manufacturers also commonly use bleaching agents, additives, preservatives, colorings, flavorings, and other chemical ingredients which are bad for our health and can trigger anxiety. If foods are minimally refined, i.e. in the case of whole-wheat flour, then some of the nutrients are still retained. But foods such as pizza, cakes, chocolate, and similar are examples of heavily refined carbohydrates, and these are bad carbs.

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Bad carbs are poor in nutrients, can be very inflammatory, and should be avoided. Refined carbs are likely to impact blood sugar levels and anxiety levels, according to Harvard Medical School.

What are some of the side effects of consuming bad carbs? Due to the poor nutritional content and commonly added chemical ingredients and bleaching agents, refined carbs can cause or contribute to many health issues and chronic diseases. For example:

4. Become Good at Spotting Bad Carbs

Refined carbs are all sugars and starches excluding those in the form of natural whole foods. It might be easy for most of us to identify sugars because they taste sweet. Also, they usually come in the form of crystals, syrups, or powders. Refined starches such as refined grains, however, are a lot more confusing.

To help you, here are the main categories of refined carbohydrates:

  • REFINED SUGARS – Also referred to as added sugar. I.e. table sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, fruit juice concentrate. Manufacturers add refined sugar to foods as a sweetener or as a preservative. They use over 90 different names for refined sugars.
  • FRUIT JUICES – Purchased juices go through a heavy industrial process.
  • ALL KINDS OF FLOUR  – Also, from any type of grain. I.e. wheat flour, rice, and corn flours. Note, whole meal flours are less refined and healthier.
  • INSTANT/REFINED GRAINS – including breakfast cereals, white rice, and instant rice.
  • REFINED STARCHES – i.e. corn starch, potato starch, modified food starch. Or any powdered ingredient with the word “starch” in it.
5. Adopt an Anti-Anxiety Diet

According to Harvard Medical School, introducing complex carbohydrates into your diet is a great way to manage anxiety. But it’s also important to consume balanced meals, stay hydrated, reduce caffeine, cut out processed foods, eat magnesium-rich foods, get enough omega 3 fatty acids and follow many other anti-anxiety diet techniques

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Exercise to Reduce Anxiety

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Exercise and Happiness

Exercise and fitness are like a tug of war for our minds. For instance, part of us envisions ourselves getting stronger and fitter, while the other half prefers to sit on the couch and watch Netflix. 

Negative thoughts about exercising include:

  1. Why put more effort into my life?
  2. I’m fine doing less work
  3. Working out requires effort; I’m already tired from my job
  4. I won’t lose weight
  5. I’ll probably get tired within five minutes of exercising
  6. I don’t see any results
  7. It’s too much work

Right off the bat, our mind comes up with negative thoughts and reasons as to why we shouldn’t exercise. This is because it’s easier for our mind and body to relax and not put in any effort. The problem is that we can’t obtain the benefits of exercise and fitness if we don’t make an effort. Some people try to get away by exercising here and there; inconsistency leads to inconsistent results. Eliminate your negative thoughts about exercise with the following positive thoughts listed below.

Positive thoughts that we need to start having regarding exercising:
  1. Hard work pays off
  2. My mental health will improve
  3. My body-mind connection will improve
  4. I will feel more confident and better about myself
  5. My discipline will improve
  6. People will compliment me on my improved physique
  7. I will have more confidence in my ability to work hard
Exercise and Fitness for Our Mental Health

You see, as with anything that requires hard work in life, negative thoughts often get in the way of succeeding. Negative thoughts have to be intentionally replaced with positive ones until our attitude shifts and the process of exercising becomes easier. Also keep in mind that exercising is also great for our mental health and you’ll feel much better after a workout.

Exercising helps us to overcome our sadness. When we feel depressed, working out helps our mental health. Exercising is a distraction from negative thoughts that accompany depression. Rather than focusing on feeling worthless, you devote your energy to breaking down your muscles to become stronger. You transmute your negative thoughts into physical energy. Your mind becomes distracted and focused on exercising; it has no room for depression. With constant repetition, you overcome your depression and become mentally sturdier. Your mental health benefits just as much as your physical health when you stay in shape.

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Working Out Even When We Have No Drive

One of the most challenging tasks throughout the day is working out when you have no motivation. I’ve felt the experience of having days when I lack drive and motivation to workout. Everyone has experienced those days when you feel drained and you have no idea why. You feel like you’re dragging yourself throughout the day, carrying your own weight but as if you lack the strength to effectively do so. Not only do you feel your body drained of energy, but your mind feels mushy as if all you want to do is pass out. But even passing out is a difficult task because that takes effort to actually lay down and put your day on hold. When you have no motivation to exercise, it often feels like you just want to quit.

“When you have depression or anxiety, exercise often seems like the last thing you want to do. But once you get motivated, exercise can make a big difference.”—Mayo Clinic Staff

But quitting gets you no where exciting when it comes to that realm. The more you allow your lack of motivation to prevail, the harder it’s going to become to get back into a solid routine. That’s because it’s not easy to work out. You have to power through even on the days when you don’t feel like doing it. That’s because if you can get through those days successfully, you often end up with a renewal of energy and interest for your next workout session.

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Not everyone can afford to just put their day on hold and take a nap as they wish. These are also the days when exercising is the absolute last thing that you want to do. You almost feel that even if someone were to offer you money to exercise, you’d still find the energy to say no; the only energy you do have. So why do these days occur and how can we prevent them?What you don’t want to do is power through on those days and not enjoy it one bit. This is because it will lead you to burning out rather quickly. But as with anything in life, you need a balance of different activities.

There are many reasons as to why these days occur in the first place:

  • Fatigue from work
  • Fatigue from lack of stimulation
  • Depression
  • Lack of motivation
  • Poor sleep hygiene
  • Stress
  • Drug consumption
  • Simply a bad day

The more honest you are with yourself, the easier it will become to prevent these types of days from reoccurring in the future. But when you are too tired to analyze why, just remember that you can always rely on a quick sugar fix to get your day going and allow you to continue your exercise routine. At the end of the day, exercising will burn off your sugar consumption, allowing you to have effectively tackled your day in style and good form!

Finding Pleasure Outside Your Home

Just take a look outside your window . . . do you see a street? There you go. That’s where you should go exercise. If there’s a park near your home then that’s even better! Now that it’s “almost” spring and the temperature is rising, it’s quite lovely to put on your Apple AirPods and go jogging outside. Forget the treadmill; it doesn’t beat nature. Leaving your home to exercise is actually really good for your mental health.

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Exercising in nature really helps to clear your mind and escape the confinement of your house. Allow the fresh air and brisk breeze surrounding the trees to guide your way through the park; feel the air rushing into your lungs as you increase your pace to the beat bumping in your eardrums.

Don’t become a sloth. Your lack of motivation plays with your sanity by gaslighting you. It’s very easy to fall into the habit of waking up late on the weekends. After all, you have just worked 5 days in a row, and the last thing that you want to do is force your body into some annoying exercise routine. But waking up early to exercise actually feels quite amazing, once you actually get going with it.

The thing with sleeping in on the weekends is that you feel rested, but it’s a different kind of feeling than exercising early in the morning. When you wake up late, you have the tendency to lay around the house and maybe just relax on your couch; your mind continues to want to rest. But when you force yourself to wake up early on the weekends in order to exercise, you feel tired at first when you wake up, but afterwards, you feel amazing!

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It feels much different to exercise in the morning than in the afternoon. In the afternoon, you still feel good after a nice workout, but you kind of also feel a little tired, considering that you just spent half or more of your day doing things. When you get home from exercising, you kind of just want to relax and maybe even stay in for the evening. It comes down to preference. But the important thing is that you are exercising!

Journaling to Reduce Anxiety

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Journaling may whisk your worries away. Keeping a journal has many health benefits, and according to research it is a highly effective technique for managing stress and anxiety.

Studies also show that journaling can help boost self-confidence, improve mood, relieve depression and improve focus, further reducing your anxiety. There are no rules to journaling. You can write freely or use journal prompts for anxiety.

Research shows that journaling can help

  • Boost mood
  • Release negative thoughts
  • Reduce stress
  • Reduce chronic worrying
  • Release pent-up feelings
  • Induce better sleep
  • Enhance self-awareness of anxiety
  • Help with depression
  • Increase productivity
  • Boost memory and comprehension
  • Help achieving goals
  • Strengthen self-discipline 

Journal Prompts for Anxiety (as taken from a UMN Center for Spirituality & Healing class group work):

  1. What do you feel most anxious about and why?
  2. What 3 positive things have happened to you today?
  3. What are today’s worries?
  4. What are 3 things that you are most afraid of and the reasons why.
  5. What is your dream job?
  6. Write about 5 occasions in your life when you were truly happy?
  7. Write about what you have learned from a past failure.
  8. What strategies have you used to help you cope with anxiety?
  9. Make a list of situations when you are anxious.
  10. What triggers your anxiety or makes your anxiety worse?
  11. Write a letter to a person that caused you pain explaining that you forgive them.
  12. Write about the 3 lessons you have been given by your anxiety.
  13. Is there a situation or person that you need to let go of? Write your reasons for holding on.
  14. Make a list of all the things that you are grateful for in your life.
  15. Take a moment to imagine your life without anxiety. What would you be doing in this life?
  16. Write down at least 10 things that always make you smile.
  17. What are your greatest qualities?
  18. If you could meet anyone in the world who would that be and why?
  19. If you could travel anywhere, where would that be?
  20. Choose a fear that you would like to overcome and write a list of ways how you could overcome this fear.
  21. Describe your biggest accomplishments.
  22. Make a list of things that you like and don’t like about your body. Next to each item write a reason why.
  23. Write down all the people with whom you have a good relationship with and the reasons why.
  24. Think about people who you have a bad relationship with. Make a list of these people and the reasons why. Also, write next to each person why they are still in your life.
  25. Write down your most re-occurring negative thoughts and the reasons why they keep repeating.
  26. What brings you peace and why?
  27. Make a list of 3 things that you want to change about yourself. Then write action points on how you could accomplish this.
  28. Where do you feel the safest and the reasons why?
  29. Who loves you truly for who you are?
  30. Write about what you look forward to every day and the reasons why.

What is social anxiety?

Social anxiety disorder (social phobia) is a chronic mental health condition in which social interactions cause irrational anxiety and fear. Social anxiety disorder typically begins in the teenage years, though it can sometimes start in younger children or in adults.

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If we consider the statistics, according to the National Institute of Mental Health social anxiety is more common among women than men, and approximately 12.1% of U.S. adults experience a social anxiety disorder at some time in their lives. That means that 12 adults in every hundred, struggle with social anxiety, and these numbers are growing every year.

So how can you tell if you’ve got social anxiety? Some of the symptoms are:

  1. avoiding social situations
  2. cancelling plans abruptly
  3. immense guilt when you cancel plans
  4. needing alcohol to face social situations
  5. feeling like you can’t participate
  6. dreading social situations
  7. dreading being outside your safe space (home)
  8. missing school or work due to anxiety
  9. worrying about perceptions of you
  10. overthinking things to say or do
  11. blushing or reddened face
  12. excessive sweating
  13. fast heartbeat when in social situations
  14. talking to strangers
  15. going on dates
  16. meeting new people
  17. making phone calls
  18. making eye contact
  19. using public restrooms
  20. isolating yourself
  21. dizziness in public
  22. muscle tension or twitches when social
  23. stomach trouble when social
  24. dry mouth or throat

At one time or another I’ve experienced many of these. Why? I believe it’s a combination of genetic and environmental factors at play.

The good news is that social anxiety responds very well to medication management; at least for me it has.

If you experience these symptoms for a prolonged period of time, do yourself a favor and seek therapy. No one should have to suffer when there are treatments available to at least alleviate some of the symptoms.

Anxiety Causes and Things I Had to Do to Lessen It

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Please note that I didn’t write to cure it because for some people there is no cure. Anxiety may be in part genetic. So, what are some other causes: alcohol and drug abuse, chronic pain or injury, stressors or uncertainties, personality, unhealthy eating and little to no exercise, traumatic events, or diabetes, cancer, or other physical medical conditions like thyroid disorder.

So, according to my therapist, what are some things I tried that alleviate anxiety?

  1. Deep breathing
  2. Progressive muscle relaxation or the body scan from head to toe
  3. Taking a walk even around the block to begin
  4. Listening to soothing or upbeat music
  5. Drinking chamomile tea
  6. Practicing yoga or stretching
  7. Journaling
  8. Limiting caffeine & avoiding alcohol and/or nicotine
  9. Exercise such as running or swimming
  10. Get plenty of sleep by aiming for 7-8 hours in a room without electronics, preferably dark (for melatonin) and slightly on the cool side
  11. Meditation by either sitting on a chair, on the floor, or laying down to get the incredible benefits for reducing and managing anxiety
  12. Questioning your worries by asking: Is this thing that I fear likely to happen? How can I be sure? What evidence do I have? If it does happen, how does this affect me? How would someone else view this worry? Is there another possible outcome or explanation? Is this fear solvable? What can I do to solve it at soon as possible?
  13. Immerse yourself in nature by getting daily doses of fresh air and sunshine
  14. Aerobic exercise reduces cortisol levels (stress hormone) and anxious thoughts thereby making you feel happier and calmer.
  15. Give up on perfectionism by setting goals and striving for completion with the time allotted. Then submit and move on. No looking back.
  16. Cut back on sugar, which can cause or contribute to many health issues and chronic diseases, including mental health disorders like making anxiety or depression worse. Remember, sugar quickly releases energy, but it is followed by a sudden crash, which brings on even more sugar craving.
  17. Eat an antianxiety diet such as vegetables and whole grains that give a slow release of energy and are stable on blood sugar, helping to control your sugar cravings.
  18. Avoid foods from conventional farming that use chemicals such as pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and other toxins that your body needs to eliminate. Visit a farmer’s market.
  19. Avoiding processed foods are loaded with additives, preservatives, colorings, flavorings, and other chemicals that also cause a lot of extra work for your detox organs.
  20. Detoxify your body with techniques that include eating plenty of high fiber foods, i.e., root vegetables and whole grains, Epsom salt baths, quality sleep, sauna sweating, drinking enough water, hot shower for five minutes then immediately followed by a brief cold shower.
  21. Eat a healthy and balanced meal, i.e., that avoids essential nutrient deficiencies with B vitamins, Vitamin A and C, magnesium, zinc, iron and selenium, and omega 3 fatty acids that aid the body and mind in functioning correctly.