Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental Health Awareness month is upon us and I don’t think it could have come at a better time.

Stress. It’s something we all deal with on a daily basis. Some of us deal with it better than others. Symptoms of stress vary between everyone. What are your stressors? How do you deal with them? Are you craving carbs after a long day working from home, trying to teach your kids their at-home school session, come up with dinner ideas, finish the laundry, clean the kitchen, the list can go on and on. It’s overwhelming at times and understandably so.

If you feel like you’re stressing more now during the current climate and the changes that have impacted your life, don’t feel alone. This time is a season and the seasons come and go. It might be affecting you more than it’s affecting your neighbor but everyone is struggling in their own way.

Stress takes a massive toll on the body. There are two different kinds of stress. Eustress is a positive stress that pushes you forward to help you reach your goals. Distress is the stress that stops you in your tracks and keeps you from succeeding. When you are in a mode of distress your body is releasing higher levels of Cortisol which is the “stress hormone”. During this time you might begin feeling that “fight or flight”
mode resulting in a jittery feeling, elevated heart rate, and feelings of anxiety. Elevated levels of Cortisol confuse your body since you’re probably just sitting behind a desk and not running from a bear.

Cortisol isn’t the only thing you should be worried about. If you are experiencing multiple stressful moments over time with your boss or children, your heart rate is elevated. Overtime if you don’t learn how to lower your heart rate you will end up giving yourself high blood pressure and possibly high cholesterol.

I say this not to give you even more anxiety but to make you aware and know that you can make some changes that will reduce your distress and chances of giving yourself health problems. These things may sound simple but mentally trying to put out the fires of stressors will overtime make it easier for you to calm down quicker.