Women Diary Network >> Women Personality and Mental Health

Minimizing the Holiday Stress

Minimizing Holiday StressHoliday stress occurs when people are exposed and involved in more events and obligations than usual, which demand more attention as well as pressure. However, unlike many other types of negative stress, holiday stress is usually easier to predict, thus makes it easier to minimize, too. Here are some plans that you can apply whenever you would be impacted by holiday stress.

1. Set your priorities
In holiday events, especially the ones that demand participation from the whole family members, you must decide what traditions offer the most positive impact and eliminate superfluous activities. For example, if you usually become overwhelmed by a flurry of baking, shopping, sending cards, visiting relatives and other activities that leave you
exhausted, you may want to pick a few favorite activities and really enjoy them, while skipping the rest.
Read more!

Holiday Stress: What Cause It?

Holiday Stress CauseHoliday should be a perfect even to hang out with families, hold parties and celebrations, and give gifts. However, it is no surprise that many people suffer for overwhelming stress during major holiday seasons. What could possibly cause holiday stress in an event that should be fun? Take a look at these major causes of holiday stress, and see if you are familiar with them.

1. Doing too much
There are too many things to do during a holiday; cleaning up, planning for events, and engaging in family gatherings or events. All of those activities, even the fun one, can leave us exhausted and frazzled, rather than fulfilled.

2. Overindulgement

During holiday events, we tend to overindulge by eating, drinking, and spending too much. The temptation to overindulge Read more!

You are What You Think: Stress and Cognitive Distortions

Stress and Cognitive DistortionsStress comes when we are having difficulties in dealing with certain problems, such as finding a way to pay the taxes, facing a very difficult test, or receiving bad news related to family members. But sometimes, stress and its excess (i.e. depression) are often the result of habitual negative thoughts.

Aaron Beck, a psychiatrist who developed cognitive therapy in 1960, stated that if we think something often enough, we begin to believe it is true and our feelings match what we are thinking about ourselves. The goal of this therapy is eliminating cognitive distortions, or faulty thought patterns, that send us into depression. Take a look at these cognitive distortions, and see if you recognize yourself in any of these.

1. All-of-nothing thinking
This thinking is characterized by absolute terms like always, never, and forever, based on the lack of accurate description Read more!

How to Help People who Want to Commit Suicide

Help who Want SuicideOften, news about someone who has committed suicide presents comments from his or her friends and families, such as, “he didn’t seem like someone who’s going to commit suicide,” or, “we didn’t know that she would do something like this.” Actually, if we know what to do, there are big chances to help someone who wants to, or thinks about, commit suicide.

1. Take it seriously
Do not easily fall on suicide myths, such as, “the people who talk about it don’t do it,” “anyone who tries to kill himself has got to be crazy,” and “those problems weren’t enough to commit suicide over.” Whenever someone you know show signs such as talking about suicide in a serious way, or having any sudden and odd behavior changes, immediately talk to him or her.

2. Understanding the “cry for help”

Whenever someone mentions any suicidal intention, there is usually a part of him or her that still wants to stay alive. The suicidal Read more!

Tips to Prevent Post-partum Depression

Prevent partum DepressionPost-partum depression, which happens to most women after giving birth, caused by hormonal changes that follow childbirth and rapidly resolve within hours or days. Most women probably only experience mild depression, weepiness, irritability, fatigue, and moodiness. Others, however, experience deeper and longer symptoms. Good self-care and support from family and friends can help many women, although others will require treatment with medication and/or therapy.

Here are tips to prevent the worst symptoms of post-partum depression.

1. Save some time for your well-being
If you are a new mother, you tend to focus on your new baby without giving slightest attention to yourself. It is important to save some personal time, even though it is just some quiet moment alone in a bathroom or when doing personal grooming.
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Common Warning Signs of Suicide

Warning Signs SuicideOne of the most famous suicide myths is that someone who has committed suicide was surely psychotic or had delusional beliefs about reality. The truth is, most of suicidal people suffer from the recognized mental illness of depression; but many depressed people adequately manage their daily affairs. A person who looks normal could suddenly and ‘inexplicably’ commit suicide, even if everyone around him or her said that “he looked just fine.”

Actually, suicidal people almost leave subtle signs days, weeks, or even months before the actual suicide occurs. If we can read these signs, it will be easier to give those people the help and support that they actually need.

These are some common warning signs of suicide:

1. Increased level of depression
In the young depression may be masked by hyperactivity or acting out behavior. In the elderly it may be incorrectly attributed to the Read more!

Symptoms of Burnout You Need to Know

Symptoms Burnout NeedHerbert Freudenberger, author of “Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement,” first coined the term ‘burnout’ in 1974. He described the word as “the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one’s devotion to a cause or relationship fails to produce the desired results.” While burnout is not a recognized psychological disorder, it shares similar features with conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, or mood disorders.

If you are in the middle of such stressful professional routine, and have experienced (or are experiencing) symptoms below, you might suffer from burnout. Read more!

Steps of Meditation to Relieve Stress

Meditation Relieve StressWhile meditation is surrounded by religion, beliefs and superstitions, it is a valid body state like any other, such as arousal or sleep. By learning to meditate, you can reap the benefits of this body state which include relaxation, energy and perspective on your life.

Meditation is being taken seriously by health researchers interested in stress reduction and methods to improve overall health.

Here are steps of meditation that you can practice at home to relieve stress and relax your mind. It is easy and only takes up about 20 minutes of your time every day. Read more!

First Look on Seasonal Affective Disorder

Look Seasonal DisorderIt may be common to hear someone complains about weather; the most common one perhaps when someone has bad mood because he or she could not bear staying at home for a whole day because of the storm, or someone becomes depressed because he or she does not like the dark, threatening appearance of the cloudy sky. However, there are people who experience more than those things. If the depression is severe enough and interferes with one’s daily life, that condition is called seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression that starts and stops in a pattern that is linked to changes of season.
The most Read more!

Signs of Social Anxiety Disorder

Social Anxiety DisorderIt is normal to be nervous and anxious when you have to deliver a long speech, perform on the stage for the first time, or being trusted by your boss to lead an important meeting with big subjects. However, the story will be different if you feel nervous, anxious and even afraid just to meet regular people at the mall, or being in any social situations in normal, daily basis. Be aware, because they might be signs of social anxiety disorder.

Basically, social anxiety disorder (SAD) is related with various conditions in which a person has persistent fear of social or performance situations,
especially when there are possibilities to be Read more!