There has been no shortage of disturbing international and domestic events in recent news. Rising gas prices, Ukraine war, inflation, just to name a few. These headlines can cause a significant increase in stress, worry, and anxiety!
So what is someone to do with all of this bad news? We certainly can’t bury our heads in the sand, though that thought may cross your mind. Often times, these headlines can make us feel helpless and act out in ways that may be detrimental to our mental health state.
That’s why we have put together some best practices to keep you positive and feeling calm in a social state of unrest.
Recognize Emotions
When our brain evaluates an emotion as good or bad, it causes arousal in the body that can lead to a dysfunctional state of mind and perpetuate an imbalance in your mind. This imbalance can cause of flood of other emotions from painful past memories to flood your mind creating an intolerance and sense of overwhelm. This form of stress increases cortisol in your body (the stress hormone) and causes your body to overwork. So it’s important to first recognize the emotion that is coming up in your mind.
“Am I sad”? “Am I angry”? “Did this news upset me or make me afraid”?
These are common responses to upsetting news in your life. The healthiest way to deal with these types of responses is to first recognize the response and label it. No need to say whether it’s good or bad, just recognize it.
Gain Control
After you recognize your response and correctly identify the emotion (without self-criticism ), the next becomes much easier. Gain control of your body by using breathing techniques and mindfulness of your thoughts for mental training. Mindfulness means purposefully paying attention to the present moment. Bring your body back into a relaxed state by letting go of the unwanted thoughts and emotions through mindfulness and breathing. Use a healthy distraction activity to divert your attention to something more helpful, like running, or spending time with loved ones. Anything that can increase your positivity. You can find more helpful tips and additional information by visiting our article on healthy responses. (https://inneractnow.com/how-to-deal-with-depression/)
So here is what a healthy response should look like:
You see a headline on rising gas prices, and you have an emotional response.
- Identify the core emotion (fear or anger).
- Validate what emotion you feel inside.
- Take a breath. Science has shown that simple diaphragmatic breathing can take the brain out of the emotion state and into the logical state
- Take a moment to write down your plan for rising gas prices. Whether that means revamping or even creating a budget.
You can’t make headlines go away or remove all causes of panic or concern, but you can manage the way you process those instances and create a healthy path forward.
Normalizing and Prioritizing Mental Health
The key to maintaining a healthy mental health lifestyle is to prioritize your mental health. All goods things flow from a positive and inviting mindset. Be flexible in your thoughts and perspectives of mental health. Be open-minded and seek to see more positive ways of viewing mental health.
Recognizing mental health problems does not mean you are weak, crazy, or inadequate. Remove the negative labels and see mental health situations as a normal part of our reality and existence as humans.
In Conclusion
Mental health dilemmas can arrive at any point in life because of events outside our control and everyone has different perceptions. Establishing your own mental health hygiene routine that incorporates pleasurable activities, exercise, building a solid support system, and psychological flexibility can you help you overcome those negative moments and can put you back on the track of creating the life you really want.
Practice empathy, compassion, and seek ways to be kind to yourself and others!
