At the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North Luncheon on February 20, 2020 Elizabeth Spring Nichols, Program Administrator for Youth and Family Services, for Washtenaw County, at PIER Training Institute, talked about maintaining mental health.
Elizabeth said,"Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.
Mental Health, Like Physical Health Roots in Interactions Between an Individuals:
- Biological factors, such as genes, brain chemistry, neurodevelopment
- Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse, loss grief
- Family history of mental health /physical health problems
- Environmental factors,
- social support (protective factor)
- stress, adversity, genetics (risk factors)
For prevention of bad mental health, become aware of symptoms of stress before they become severe, and establish clear yet realistic stress management goals. The challenge is to find the optimal level of stress each of us requires to thrive.
There are 4 primary sources of stress:
- The Environment - examples include noise, pollution, traffic and crowding, and the weather.
- Physiological - examples include illness, injuries, hormonal fluctuations, chronic pain and inadequate sleep or nutrition.
- Your Thoughts - the way you think affects how you respond. Negative self-talk, catastrophizing, and perfectionism all contribute to increased stress.
- Social Stressors - examples include financial problems, work demands, social events, losing a loved one, feeling unsafe physically and emotionally.
The warning signs and symptoms of bad mental health are:
- Eating or sleeping too much or too little
- Pulling away from people and usual activities
- Having low or no energy
- Feeling numb or like nothing matters
- Having unexplained aches and pains
- Feeling helpless or hopeless
- Smoking, drinking, or using drugs more than usual
To have good mental health practice good Emotional Hygiene.
- Make time for friends and family
- Make time for yourself
- Nourish your body with healthy food
- Get enough sleep
- Move your body, exercise, yoga
- Help others
- Manage your stress, deep breathing
- Manage other medical or physical problems
- Ask for help
Laughter helps strike out stress! Helps breathing, massages the heart. stimulates circulation. improves digestion, aids blood pressure problems, prolongs life, turns off tension
