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Tag: emotional health

  • Body Image Issues? You Aren’t Alone

    Body Image Issues? You Aren’t Alone

    In most cases a distorted view of body image has been presented by the media and simplified with male and female stereotypes. Men are all portrayed as tall, muscular and smoothly shaven, while impossibly thin women with disproportionate attributes make their way into thousands of commercials and magazines. We now know that someone with a camera and a simple grasp of Photoshop can easily change these images, airbrushing, changing size and re-colouring pictures. Simply put, the media portrayal of the human body is wrong.

    Never is there a time in an adolescent’s life that the body is focused on so much as the prom. The pressure falls a lot more on girls than it does with boys. Most (but certainly not all) guys are expected to attend prom wearing an expensive formal suit and tie, whereas girls are expected to be skinny but not too skinny, wear fashionable dresses and high heels.

    While prom is a formal gathering its important not to lose sense of your own style and personality. Wear whatever dress that you feel like wearing, or even wear pants if you’re comfortable. It’s one of the last big gatherings in high school so take this chance to be creative and express yourself! Maybe you could even craft your own outfit if fashion design is your thing. That’s not to say you should come in with combat boots and a trench coat – you should follow your school’s dress code when deciding what to wear, but let loose and have fun. Don’t let fashion trends or other people’s opinion’s decide for you. Prom is your night, so make your look your own, too.

    Prom is a time to celebrate that you are almost done thirteen years of education! This is a huge accomplishment and you deserve to celebrate it no matter your size, gender or personal style. Don’t let other people’s opinions ruin your night; stay true to yourself and your own style. In the end that’s what truly counts.

  • Dealing with Stress

    Dealing with Stress

    At any age, stress can take a toll on your mind and body. For most, stress is caused by an event or situation that is considered dangerous, difficult, or unpleasant. If it is not dealt with properly, long term stress can cause physical and mental damage. Coping mechanisms, if taught early, can be a helpful ally in battling stress and conquering stressful situations.

    For teens and young adults, stressful situations can be present in everyday life. Some common things that can cause stress are demanding school schedules, drama with friends, low self-esteem, changing bodies, high expectations, and family problems. Most young people encounter one or several of these situations on a daily basis. After a while the weight can start to take an affect and they can become overloaded with stress.

    Fortunately, stress is manageable, especially if the proper coping techniques are taught early. One way to help manage stress is to exercise and eat healthy. Exercise reduces the stress hormone levels in the body and causes the release of endorphins, which are the body’s natural mood lifters. In fact, exercise actually helps you relax. Doing some sort of moderate physical activity every day can ease stress or even prevent it. Healthy eating goes hand and hand with exercise. The healthier you eat, the better you feel. Keeping the body well-nourished and balanced is especially important during stressful times.

    Another way to cope with stress, especially with school, is to prioritize. If you have a heavy work load, do the biggest most difficult projects, or the projects that are due sooner, first. This way, you will have peace of mind knowing that they are completed. The smaller and easier tasks will be a piece of cake after the more difficult tasks are off your plate. Also, if a project or assignment seems overwhelming, break it into smaller pieces. For example, if you have a large paper to write, give yourself the time and take it paragraph by paragraph. Treat each paragraph like it’s a separate assignment. This way, the thought of writing large paper won’t seem so daunting.

    Last but certainly not least, the best way to deal with stress is to talk to someone. Stress is common and many people can relate and sympathize. Talk to a person who is close to you, someone who you can open up to and be honest with, like a parent, a teacher, or even a best friend. Voicing your stresses and frustrations can help you get them off your chest. Sometimes a long chat with your closest friend can do wonders for your mood and stress level. Situations that are seemingly stressful might not be so bad once you know you have support and you’re not alone.

    Stress can be dangerous, especially for teens and young adults who are not sure how to manage it. It’s important to recognize when a situation is beginning to weigh on you and make it a priority to do something about it.

  • Focusing On Your Mental Health

    Focusing On Your Mental Health

    Life can be busy, and it can be difficult to take care of your health. Caring for your physical health can be hard enough, but what about your mental health? Mental health essentially relates to how you think and feel about yourself and other people and how you act in everyday life. How do you keep your mind and emotions healthy so that you can go to school, have fun with your friends and family, and live a normal life? Looking after your mental health can be a very important part of your daily routine.

    Sometimes, people experience major mental health problems which require medication or regular conversations with a counselor. Even when mental health issues aren’t that bad, they can be very hard to live with. The feelings of sadness and hopelessness that come with depression, for example, can make people stop caring about life. Often these problems are related to what happens to people in their lives, but they come from a combination of factors. One of the most common mental health problems, stress, is a good example.

    Stress happens when something puts pressure on another so that the second one is in danger of breaking. In mental health terms, this could be when school or work becomes so busy that people can no longer manage or when they are dealing with a difficult situation, such as a death or divorce in the family. It can also come through physical factors, such as ongoing pain from an injury or illness. If you are like most people, stress is a part of your daily life.

    How can you deal with the problems like stress that affect your mental health? In some cases, you might be able to change the situations that cause stress, such as how busy you are. If your schedule is causing you stress, you can try to reduce the number of things you do and take more time to relax. You might need to ask for more help with your work so that others can help reduce the stress you feel. Basically, you might have to concentrate on the activities that are most important in your life.

    You might not be able to change everything that you find stressful, but you can try to find ways of making the situation easier. If you have a large and noisy family and you prefer quiet, for instance, there might be little that you can do about it. You might also have to live with a health problem or other difficult situation. However, you can find ways to relieve your stress by spending time on activities you enjoy or by talking with people you trust. If you can deal with mental health issues like stress before they become major problems, you will find it easier to cope with life.

    You need to be aware of the things that affect your mental health and to get help if necessary. Whatever issues you may face, it’s important to see mental health as an essential part of what keeps you going every day.

  • Self-Improvement 101

    Self-Improvement 101

    As we face September and the coming of a whole new school year, we are often faced with the same questions: Am I good enough? What can I do to make myself a better person, the person I truly want to be?

    I recently read an article that focused on improving one’s relationships by remembering six negative qualities of past relationships. Instead of dwelling on them, take those negative aspects and turn them into positive aspects to seek and ask for. For example, instead of looking at a past bad relationship in terms of, “I never want to go out with someone who cheats”, think, “I am looking for someone who will be true to me”. This type of thinking trains your brain to ask for what you do want as opposed to what you don’t want. It is a great way of turning negative points in your life into positive points and helping you to further your personal growth. So, for this effort in self-improvement, I suggest elaborating on the example of negative relationships. However, this time we will be using it to improve our relationship with ourselves.

    Pick six aspects about yourself that you find negative or that you would like to change. Here are my examples, and remember to replace “I don’t want” with “I do want”:
    – “I do want to be fit, athletic and healthy inside and out”
    – “I do want to be practical, smart and well-adapted to my world”
    – “I do want a job that will provide me with a source of steady income”
    – “I do want to live independently”
    – “I do want to have routines that keep me healthy and organized”
    – “I do want to have social relationships that nourish and energize me”

    Once you’ve nailed down some good goals or positive statements about what you want in your life, post these somewhere you can see them every day. Choose to look at this list whenever you have a negative or a self-destructive thought. Remind yourself of what you want: “I want to be fit, athletic and healthy inside and out”, and then move to setting and reaching a goal that will get you there. This way of changing negative cognitions into positive self-statements is a great way of improving your self-esteem and self-image. The way that we look at ourselves is in our control, and when you believe you can succeed, you can do anything!

    The important aspect to keep in mind is repetition. Be prepared to tell yourself positive statements over and over again. Be prepared for setbacks; You will have moments and days when it seems like you will not be able to convince yourself of your worth. It is those moments when you will have to be strong and hold on, feeding yourself positive thoughts to replace your negative thoughts. Eventually, with repetition, this will become a habit, an ingrained tendency, that will make your life that much easier! Good luck!