Stress Relief

This is my personal stream of consciousness rather than an article per se. I’m hoping that it will resonate with anyone who needs to hear that these types of thoughts aren’t just in their own minds and lives. We truly are in this together.

Some of us:

• feel guilty for having work and food when others do not.
• see friends and family losing money trying to keep businesses alive in a struggling industry.
• are grateful for having a job, yet also feel stuck in a holding pattern or worry about ending up a casualty of the pandemic.
• need to get away from the job, the kids, the significant other, even the dog (don’t judge), and there’s nowhere to go.
• wish for people to “want to get away from,” instead of facing terrible loneliness.
• worry about those close to us who could lose their lives if they contract the virus.
• hope, but are unsure that vaccinations will fix everything.
• know we’re strong, yet wonder why we don’t feel that way.
• see our children start to emotionally and intellectually crack doing online schooling, even though we know it’s best to stay home.
• feel the strain on our relationship(s), hoping we’ll make it through to the other side.
• wish we could see a counselor or confidant without having it be another zoom call.
• try to fill these new holes with food, cocktails, shopping, etc., yet nothing really works.
• want to throw a brick through the TV because we’re tired of going back to it time and time again.
• are just plain weary.

And don’t get me started on jigsaw puzzles (or what this pandemic has been like for someone minutes away from “the change”)!

Thanks for listening to my reflections ­– I know they are just the tip of the iceberg. I challenge us all to be brave and compassionate, and let’s be open to share and listen to one another.

Throughout history, we’ve found solace in putting down on pen and paper (or on the computer) words that attempt to capture our anxieties, feelings and general thoughts. Though the writing can never entirely cork into a bottle a specific time or place in history, it can offer a much-needed reprieve from the immediacy of the world.

Writing out your thoughts, a literal expulsion of ideas from your brain into the world, can be extremely therapeutic. Journaling for 20 minutes a day can reduce stress. It can help you decompress, and it helps put a distancing perspective on all the churning thoughts going on in your brain.

Reading others’ journals can likewise provide some much-needed perspective and parasocial community-based solace. Recently, I bought myself a copy of The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. I did this because I needed an escape from my own thoughts and feelings, or perhaps a reaffirmation of those thoughts and feelings, found in another human’s writing. The collection, spanning Plath’s life from 1950 to 1962, offers a glimpse into a profound life not our own, of a time removed from the present, and yet of a person still replete with similar feelings to ours.

Plath journals of her anxieties, questions her future, writes lyrically about the pain of loss and of moving into new chapters of life. These all have resonant power for me and others in the 2020s. As so many of us are sheltered at home, our work, schooling and personal lives are all being blended together and bandied about in chaotic ways. There’s comfort in disappearing into someone else’s words, of seeing similar plights to our own wrought in that confessional youthful prose in which Plath is so well-known.

Journals of famous writers are filled with all-too-familiar questions: what am I going to do after college? who do I want to be? when will [x] be over? how will [x] end? Plath asked these questions of her life back in 1952, and others like David Sedaris asked them again in the 1970s. In others’ journals, those documents created expressly for the single self, paradoxically present a universality of human thought and spirit, making them so engaging and comforting to read, that your experiences, not at all trivial, can nevertheless be found and empathized with by those who have come before. In this way, writing in your own journal is beneficial for yourself and for those who come after you, a record of your thoughts that, in time, is to be in good company.

CNM supports our employees and their families participating in programs and events that promote improvement on personal health and well-being. With that in mind, the Human Resources department of CNM is excited to introduce Wellness Bytes.

Wellness Bytes are short-form videos providing opportunities and events to encourage healthy lifestyles, maintain/improve health, and support personal health initiatives.​ Each month, there will be a new video (usually 10 minutes or less) jam packed with information that you and your loved ones can start using and applying in your lives today.​

January’s featured topic is Resiliency. Join Rick Vannay, Executive Director of The Solutions Group, to fill your toolbox with skills and habits that can help your health, relationships and overall happiness.

https://livecnm.sharepoint.com/sites/insights/FO/Benefits/SitePages/Wellness.aspx

There is more and more research being done to show how nutrition impacts our mental health. Studies show that what we eat can play a vital role in regulating our mental and emotional health.

Missing key vitamins and minerals can lead to raised levels of stress and anxiety. Research shows that nutritional deficiencies may even add to cognitive disorders like Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

Just like our body, the brain needs healthy fuel to work best. It needs healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and plenty of vitamins and minerals. Eating too little of these foods fires up the growth of toxins in the body. So, does eating too much sugar and processed foods that can lead to inflammation. In the brain, that can mean a build-up plaque, which may harm cognitive function.

When it comes to mental issues like depression, anxiety and dementia, studies have found that many people with these problems lack some of these key vitamins and minerals:

• Omega-3 fatty acids (help cut inflammation and are vital to brain health);
• B-vitamins (make brain chemicals that change mood and other brain functions);
• Vitamin D (impacts mood, sleep, hunger and digestion);
• Amino Acids (needed for healthy brain functioning; a lack of these can lead to depression, brain fog, lack of focus and sluggishness);
• Folate (supports the chemical Serotonin that produces good feelings; a lack of this has been linked to depression and Alzheimer’s);
• Magnesium (vital to stress response, recovery and repair);
• Zinc (also helps manage the brain’s response to stress; a lack of this has been linked to anxiety, Schizophrenia and eating disorders);
• Iron (vital for managing emotions; a lack of this can contribute to low mood, irritability and feeling tired).

So, what should you eat to support your mental health? No one has the exact same dietary needs. But the foods below are known to have the needed vitamins and minerals listed above:

• Oily fish like salmon, trout, mackerel, anchovies and sardines
• Leafy greens like kale, spinach and romaine lettuce
• Walnuts
• Sunflower seeds
• Chia and flax seeds
• Berries and dark-skinned fruit
• Legumes like lentils, chickpeas and beans
• Whole grains like rice, quinoa and oats
• Avocados
• Liver and other organ meats
• Olive oil
• Eggs
• Mushrooms
• Dark Chocolate
• Shellfish
• Broccoli

Before making any major changes, it is always best to speak with your doctor or someone who specializes in nutrition, like a registered dietitian, about your plans.

Sources: Association of Western and Traditional Diets With Depression and Anxiety in Women, The American Journal of Psychiatry, 2010; Fitness 4Mind4Body: Diet and Nutrition, Mental Health America; Iron and Mechanisms of Emotional Behavior, National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2014; Nutrition and Dementia: Foods That May Induce Memory Loss & Increase Alzheimer’s, Alzheimers.net, 2014