Balance is key in life, and that pertains to just about every aspect of it. Finding and maintaining that balance can be quite difficult. There are certain things that we need to prioritize when it comes to our effort and time management. Things like diet and exercise are important aspects of a healthy life that require balance, but the most important and most commonly detrimental is the act of balancing work and family. People are social beings, we desire connection, companionship, and contact with other people by nature. An expert or any wise person will tell you that your relationships with others are one of the most important means of feeling purpose and happiness in your life. With relationships being so vital to our mental and emotional health and well-being, it puts it into perspective just how important those relationships are with those closest to us, such as our family members. While we must work to live, we shouldn’t live to work, and we must remember to prioritize and cherish those relationships that we have closest to us like our family. Conflict between work and family is actually one of the most common stressors amongst working adults. Finding that balance…
Divorce can be extremely hard on children. As a parent, having to tell your children that you are getting a divorce will likely be one of the most difficult things you will do. It is important to remember that even if the divorce doesn’t seem like it would come as a surprise – for example, if you are already separated or have been arguing a lot – your child is likely clinging onto hope and the shock can still be just as severe as if the child had no clue this was in the cards. How you talk to your children about the divorce is of immense importance. Experts state that almost all children remember this conversation vividly for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, because of the shock and trauma a child feels during the moment they are told, many go on to experience pain when the conversation is recalled, and this pain is said to never dull in some children. Because this moment can be so traumatic for a child, it is very important to ensure that you take all measures to have the conversation in the best way you can. Present the situation from equal standpoints As…
Summer is coming to an end and it is time to start getting your children ready for the new school year. Going from summer break with all the fun, games, and playtime to the daily school routine can be a difficult transition for kids. While you may be getting the back-to-school shopping list ready for supplies, clothes, etc., you should also be taking a few other steps to prepare your child for the new school year. Whether your child is starting at a new school or even just going into a new grade, it can be stressful and a bit overwhelming, especially for certain children. Follow these back-to-school tips that can help you in preparing your child for the new school year. Get back on a schedule While summer days, usually mean late nights and lazy mornings, the difference in schedule is usually the first and most difficult adjustment for your child when the new school year starts. Avoid the rough mornings and bed-time debates at night by starting your child back on a schedule about one to two weeks before school starts. It doesn’t need to be a cold-turkey transition, but try starting by first implementing a bedtime and…
It is often difficult for us to see ourselves from an outside perspective. It is for this reason that sometimes we don’t realize how experiences from our childhood are affecting our adult relationships, and more often than not, affecting them negatively. The most common ways that childhood impacts our adult relationships is via the relationship that we had with our parents growing up. Whether it is trauma that we experience as a child or how our parents showed affection or didn’t, there is no denying that the correlation exists in regards to our adult relationships. To be more specific, how our caregivers act towards us as children carries over into the attachment style that we display in our adult relationships. Generally, people who have grown up in stable homes with happy and healthy childhood relationships with their caregivers develop secure-attachment styles. If your caregivers were emotionally available to you and responsive to your needs as a child then you will likely carry these healthy traits onwards into your adult relationships. Your attachment style will likely be balanced and you will not display clingy tendencies nor push others away. However, not everyone grows up in a healthy and happy home. So,…
Over the past ten years or so, there has been a significant increase in children and young teens having suicidal thoughts. Doctors are seeing more and more of these children and young teenagers in emergency rooms showing up for anxiety attacks, depressive episodes, and suicidal thoughts, feelings, and attempts. This is even more common during the school year as the kids are feeling the pressure of school as well as suffering from issues related to social anxiety, bullying, peer pressure, and more. There was a study recently published by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that from 2008 to 2015 children ages 5 years old to 17 years old are being admitted to children’s hospitals for reasons relating to suicide, either suicidal thoughts, feelings, or attempts. It was found by researchers at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt that girls are more often attempting suicide than boys are. It was also found that the suicide numbers were higher during the school year and lower during the summer months. Depression in children should never be taken lightly or dismissed One of the issues that kids face is that many parents don’t take depression and anxiety in their children seriously. They…
One of the aspects of children’s health has been overlooked for quite some time. For many years, pediatricians didn’t consider the significant importance of a child’s mental health. Maybe simply because of a lack of understanding, or perhaps a lack of motivation in that it was necessary, regardless of the reason there was a time that a large majority of pediatricians did not place as much of an emphasis on a child’s mental health as they did their physical health. In the past, very often children who suffered from mental issues such as anxiety, depression, or a mood disorder, were simply dismissed. These problems weren’t considered valid or legit in that the child would simply “grow out of them.” Occasionally a parent would send a child to a child psychologist, but these problems were not taken as seriously in children as they were adults. How serious is a child’s mental health? As reported by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 5 children in the United States from the ages of 3 to 17, have a mental, emotional, or behavior disorder that is diagnosable; those numbers are contributable to about 15 million children. An astonishing 80 percent…
Any suicide is tragic and draws us to feel immense sadness. However, something about a celebrity. Suicide seems to really draw focus and peek our interest, as well as affect many of our emotions. There could be various reasoning to this. A Reason could also be that we are shocked as that celebrity seemed to have it all, and to have it all together, so we question how they could possibly be unhappy. Another reason is simply that it is a sad occurrence, and people who suffer from depression seem to be hit the hardest by such sad occurrences. However, it is all subjective and rarely will an onlooker be able to fully understand why that celebrity, or any person rather, made the decision to take their own life. The impact celebrity suicides have on us Not only do so many find interest, but a good amount of people grieves when a celebrity passes away, especially when they take their own life. It is interesting how we as people can feel so much for and about someone whom we didn’t know personally. People see celebrities as sources of entertainment, as well as measures of success against them. When it comes…
Throughout our lives most of us will at some point experience trying emotional difficulties. Sometimes the emotional pain left over after these encounters are seemingly impossible to let go of. It isn’t difficult to get stuck letting the past affect your everyday life and future decisions, but that is no way to live healthy or happily. There are actually positive ways to let harmful past occurrences shape a better future for yourself, and that is by learning from them and then letting them go. Of course, letting go is easier said than done. There is no simple way to do it. It takes a strong will and the courage to try and learn to control your thoughts and change your mindset. Try to recognize your reasons for needing to let go You need to try and recognize the reasons why you need to let go of what it is that is causing you emotional turmoil. You need to recognize that this past experience doesn’t need to continue hurting you forever and nor do you want it to. Write down the reasons why you no longer want to hold on to this harmful thing in your mind and use these reasons…
What we put into our bodies has a lot to do with our health, how we look, and how we feel. But can it affect our mood? The answer is yes. If you have ever eaten a candy bar or had a milkshake, and then felt a sudden and intense wave of energy, you know that food can affect how you feel. However, there are other conditions in which food can impact your mood, from the specific foods you eat to your eating schedule and habits. The chemistry of various foods can chemically and physiologically alter changes in our brain’s structure, which can lead to significant influence of mood and behavior: #1 Unhealthy diet and depression Research has indicated that having an unhealthy diet for an extended period can put you at risk for increasing symptoms of depression. Although there isn’t really proof that an unhealthy diet causes depression, it has been found that the two things are correlated. #2 Sugar & stress When you feel stressed out or overcome by anxiety, it is natural for the body to crave sugar; sugar helps to energize the body while it is trying to cope with negative feelings. However, if you feel…
The first official day of summer is nearing, and with it comes intense summer heat, backyard BBQ’s, and fun vacations; it’s safe to assert that summer is a time of happiness. However, if you are suffering from summer depression, it probably isn’t. Many people believe that seasonal affective disorder is only prominent in the winter, but the sad reality is that so many are also affected in the warm, summer months. Symptoms of summer depression Difficulty sleeping Loss of appetite Anxiety Weight loss Unexplained stress or feelings of sadness Agitation Isolation What causes summer depression? There are different possibilities in terms of why people suffer from summer depression. While for some people it stems from environmental stressors like intense heat, vacation envy, being “out-of-shape”, or a lack of structure and responsibility, for others it actually has to do with their biological structure. For those who have this innate biological influencer, it is called summer-onset seasonal affective disorder, or summertime SAD. #1 Summer-onset Seasonal Affective Disorder First, let’s discuss the biologically related reason behind summer depression. You may have heard about SAD (seasonal affective disorder) from the opposing end, where people experience depression in the colder winter months. Unfortunately, a small…
