Mental Health and Chronic Illness
Behavioral Activation for Depression
Behavioral activation is an intervention used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression, offering a structured and evidence-based approach to combat the debilitating effects of this mental health condition. At its core, behavioral activation aims to alleviate depression symptoms by encouraging individuals to engage in meaningful and rewarding activities that bring a sense of accomplishment and pleasure.
Understanding Your Values
In the maze of choices we have to make in our lives, values can serve as our guides, showing us which path leans towards decisions aligned with our core beliefs. They are the moral compasses that steer us through uncertainty, ground us in times of doubt, and empower us to navigate with clarity and purpose. Values matter because they define who we are and what we stand for. They are the principles that shape our actions, reflecting our deepest aspirations and ideals. When we make decisions in harmony with our values, we cultivate authenticity and integreity, fostering a sense of self-assurance.
Diabetes and Mental Health
Living with diabetes is more than just managing blood sugar levels; it also involves navigating the mental and emotional toll it can take. The link between diabetes and mental health is significant, as the daily emands and ucertaintes associated with the condition can lead to stress, anxiet, and even depression.
The Transformative Power of Self-Compassion
Self-Compassion is a powerful tool that has a host of benefits for our mental health including improved confidence, higher self-esteem, and decreased anxiety. At its core, self-compassion is the practice of treating oneself with the same warmth, care, and concern that one would offer to a close friend or loved one. It involves recognizing our own humanity, embracing our imperfections, an offering ourselves gentle kindness rather than harsh self-judgment.
Developing a Growth Mindset
Mindset is a very powerful thing. Essentially, it encompasses our thoughts, feelings and beliefs and has a direct impact on how we behave, the choices we make, and the actions we eventually do or don’t take. Take a moment to consider if you can identify any self-limiting beliefs that have been part of your personal narrative. What did you say or think to yourself? A fixed mindset is when we become entrenched in those self-limiting thoughts and beliefs to the point where it impacts our belief in our own ability to change and makes us feel like we don’t have control.
Normality is Overrated
Is normality overrated? Dictionaries define normal as typical, common, usual, or expected. While it is often nice to be somewhat predictable, have we put too much stock in being ordinary?
The Wrong Side of the Bed
We spend about a third of our lives asleep, or at least we should! Most of us have felt firsthand the effects of a bad night’s sleep and know how difficult it can be to function the next day. Sleep and mental health have a reciproal relationship. Each stage of sleep is important, improving mood control, concentration, coping ability, problem solving, emotion regulation, memory retention, learning and, appetite control. Lack of sleep or poor quality is associated with increased risk for cardivascular disease, obesity, depression, and diabetes. Here’s five tips for improving your sleep.
Hello Doubt, My Old Friend…
Doubt, in all its uninformed wisdom, can create a pattern where we start to hold back, limit our choices, accept less, aim low, believe when things don’t work out that it was what we deserve, assume failure is the natural conclusion of any effort, and begin to feel like we’re not worth…the job, the joy, the love… It’s harder to tackle doubt when it runs deep, the grooves of the thoughts embedded into a well-worn comfortable pattern. Doubt feels safe.
5 Habits to Improve Mental Fitness
The first time I heard the term ‘mental fitness’ I admit that I pictured someone training intensely for a seriously fierce world sudoku championship. Do they have those? I wonder. I giggled ridiculously at an image in my mind of a big time super buff brain flexing madly all over the Sunday New York Times crossword, striking a pose in the mirror every time they solved one of the words with synonyms flying like sparks in every direction. Let’s just say, I have an active imagination. However, what does mental fitness mean? Is it all brain games and memory boosting superpower berries? Think of it as a concept that expands well beyond crossword puzzles to encompass a wealth of improvements that contribute not only to the health of our brain, but to our overall well-being.