Behavioral Health Care: Mood, Stress, and Healthy Habits

1. Behavioral Health Care:Mood, Stress, and Healthy Habits William Lamb, Ph.D.

2. Learning Goals of this Presentation • To learn more about mood, stress, and well-being. • To review healthy habits and positive coping tools.

3. Content of this Presentation • Mood, Stress, and Well-being • Healthy Habits and Positive Coping Tools • Exercise Regularly • Eat a Healthy Diet • Have Some Fun! • Get Regular Sleep • Practice Relaxation Techniques • Take Action on Procrastination • Use Positive Self-Talk • Use Stress Stoppers

4. Mood, Stress, and Well-being

5. Mood, Stress, and Well-being • How you feel, your mood, is affected by how you think, how you behave, and how much stress is in your daily life.

6. Mood, Stress, and Well-being • A negative state of mind that colors all of your experiences is the chief feature of depression.

7. Mood, Stress, and Well-being • If depressed, you might feel sad, unhappy, down, or “blue” much of the time. You might lose interest in things that you used to enjoy doing.

8. Mood, Stress, and Well-being • If depressed, you might feel fatigued and simple chores might require great effort and everyday problems might seem overwhelming.

9. Mood, Stress, and Well-being • If depressed, you can become your own worst critic and believe that you’re being punished for something you did wrong.

10. Mood, Stress, and Well-being • If depressed, you can lose or gain weight, experience difficulties in thinking or making decisions, have trouble sleeping, and have impulses to harm yourself.

11. Healthy Habits and Positive Coping Tools

12. Healthy Habits & Positive Coping Tools • Depression can be a significant health problem. The lifetime risk for women is 10% to 25% and 5% to 12% for men. • Depression is self-limiting and will usually lift on its own---although this might take a while. Fortunately, you can do more than just wait. You can learn to overcome your depression and help prevent future depressions. • There are a range of effective treatments for depression, including antidepressant medication and psychotherapy. • Here are some healthy habits and positive coping tools you can use to manage stress and to defeat depression.

13. Exercise Regularly • Physical exercise is a great stress reliever. Be it walking, jogging, running, swimming, golfing, tennis, or softball, a work-out can do wonders to help us feel fresh, alert, energetic and positive. Try to get at least 30 to 60 minutes of exercise daily.

14. Eat a Healthy Diet • A healthy diet plays an important part of our physical and mental health. Beware of fatty, sugary, and junk food. Limit salt intake to no more than 2 grams per day; eliminate or reduce processed foods from your diet.

15. Have Some Fun! Planning Pleasurable Activities • When stress makes you feel bad, do something that makes you feel good. Doing things you enjoy is a natural way to fight off stress. • You don't have to do a lot to find pleasure. Even if you're ill or down, you can find pleasure in simple things such as going for a drive, chatting with a friend or reading a good book.

16. Have Some Fun! Planning Pleasurable Activities • Try to do at least one thing every day that you enjoy, even if you only do it for 15 minutes. • Start an art project (oil paint, sketch, create a scrap book or finger paint with grandchildren). • Take up a hobby, new or old. • Read a favorite book, short story, magazine or newspaper. • Have coffee or a meal with friends. • Play golf, tennis, ping-pong or bowl. • Sew, knit or crochet. • Listen to music during or after you practice relaxation. • Take a nature walk — listen to the birds, identify trees and flowers. • Make a list of everything you still want to do in life. • Watch an old movie on TV or rent a video. • Take a class at your local college. • Play cards or board games with family and friends.

17. Get Regular Sleep Pay attention to good sleep hygiene. Do: • 1. Go to bed at the same time each day. • 2. Get up from bed at the same time each day. • 3. Get regular exercise each day, preferably in the morning. There is good evidence that regular exercise improves restful sleep. This includes stretching and aerobic exercise. • 4. Get regular exposure to outdoor or bright lights, especially in the late afternoon. • 5. Keep the temperature in your bedroom comfortable. • 6. Keep the bedroom quiet when sleeping. • 7. Keep the bedroom dark enough to facilitate sleep. • 8. Use your bed only for sleep and sex. • 9. Take medications as directed. It is helpful to take prescribed sleeping pills 1 hour before bedtime, so they are causing drowsiness when you lie down, or 10 hours before getting up, to avoid daytime drowsiness. • 10. Use a relaxation exercise just before going to sleep (e.g., imagery, massage).

18. Get Regular Sleep Pay attention to good sleep hygiene. Don’t: • 1. Exercise just before going to bed. • 2. Engage in stimulating activity just before bed, such as playing a competitive game, watching an exciting program on television or movie, or having an important discussion with a loved one. • 3. Have caffeine in the evening (coffee, many teas, chocolate, sodas, etc.) . • 4. Read or watch television in bed. • 5. Use alcohol to help you sleep. • 6. Go to bed too hungry or too full. • 7. Take another person's sleeping pills. • 8. Take daytime naps. • 9. Command yourself to go to sleep. This only makes your mind and body more alert.

19. Practice Relaxation Techniques • Learning relaxation techniques can help reduce stress greatly. Learn to watch your breath, listen to music, practice Yoga, or meditate. Visualization techniques where we picture ourselves relaxed in a peaceful, serene, and beautiful place like a beach, a mountain, or garden can facilitate relaxation.

20. Practice Relaxation Techniques Daily Relaxation • Like most skills, relaxation takes practice. Many people join a class to learn and practice relaxation skills. • Deep breathing is a form of relaxation you can learn and practice at home using the following steps. It's a good skill to practice as you start or end your day. With daily practice, you will soon be able to use this skill whenever you feel stress. • Sit in a comfortable position with your feet on the floor and your hands in your lap or lie down. Close your eyes. • Picture yourself in a peaceful place. Perhaps you're lying on the beach, walking in the mountains or floating in the clouds. Hold this scene in your mind. • Inhale and exhale. Focus on breathing slowly and deeply. • Continue to breathe slowly for 10 minutes or more. • Try to take at least five to 10 minutes every day for deep breathing or another form of relaxation.

21. Take Action on Procrastination • Avoidance of doing what needs to be done to reach your goals creates body tension that drains energy and leads to fatigue. • Taking action on what you have been avoiding is one of the best ways to get un-depressed. By taking action, you stop negative thinking, focus outside of yourself, raise your mood, and expand your horizons. • When you’re depressed, motivation works backwards. At first you’re unmotivated; but, if you take action anyway, you then begin to feel motivated. Paradoxically, you only feel like taking action after you have already taken some.

22. Take Action on Procrastination • Tips for taking action: • Do the easiest step. Break a task into small steps and do them one-by-one, easiest first. Do the easiest step first and you will usually start to create some momentum that will help you move onto the next step. • Plan your day in advance. Review your day’s accomplishments every evening and then set goals for the next day, either by constructing a ‘to do list’ or by using a day planner to visualize and plan tasks hour-by-hour. A schedule can give you a sense of direction and mastery as you focus your thinking on planned activities. • Do the opposite. Do the opposite of what your passive side is telling you to do and you will find that you have begun a movement away from passivity. For example, instead of withdrawing from a confrontation, approach the person instead of hiding.

23. Use Positive Self-Talk Positive Self-Talk • Self-talk is one way to deal with stress. We all talk to ourselves; sometimes we talk out loud but usually we keep self-talk in our heads. Self-talk can be positive ("I can do this" or "Things will work out") or negative ("I'll never get well" or "I'm so stupid").

24. Use Positive Self-Talk Positive Self-Talk • Negative self-talk increases stress. Positive self-talk helps you calm down and control stress. With practice, you can learn to turn negative thoughts into positive ones. For example:

25. Use Positive Self-Talk Positive Self-Talk • To help you feel better, practice positive self-talk every day — in the car, at your desk, before you go to bed or whenever you notice negative thoughts. • Having trouble getting started? Try positive statements such as these: • "I can get help if I need it." • "We can work it out." • "I won't let this problem get me down." • "Things could be worse." • "I'm human, and we all make mistakes." • "Some day I'll laugh about this." • "I can deal with this situation when I feel better." • Remember: Positive self-talk helps you relieve stress and deal with the situations that cause you stress.

26. Use Stress Stoppers Emergency Stress Stoppers • There are many stressful situations — at work, at home, on the road and in public places. We may feel stress because of poor communication, too much work and everyday hassles like standing in line. Emergency stress stoppers help you deal with stress on the spot. • Try these emergency stress stoppers. You may need different stress stoppers for different situations and sometimes it helps to combine them. • Count to 10 before you speak. • Take three to five deep breaths. • Walk away from the stressful situation, and say you'll handle it later. • Go for a walk. • Don't be afraid to say "I'm sorry" if you make a mistake. • Set your watch five to 10 minutes ahead to avoid the stress of being late. • Break down big problems into smaller parts. For example, answer one letter or phone call per day, instead of dealing with everything at once. • Drive in the slow lane or avoid busy roads to help you stay calm while driving. • Smell a rose, hug a loved one or smile at your neighbor.

27. Links of Interest

28. The End William Lamb, Ph.D. williamlambphd@gmail.com http://www.drwilliamlamb.com