Proper diet, sleep, exercise, and pursuing work-life balance are important for managing stress. Less often considered is how to think differently about stressful incidents in order to reduce their emotional impact. Your perception is reality, so intervening here goes to the heart of matter. One such intervention tool is "reframing". When you practice reframing, you decide against being overwhelmed. You aggressively view your distressful circumstances differently - reducing their perceived…

Although your teen may tell you "everybody's doing it," don't view teens or adults smoking pot (marijuana) as "normal" or a "rite of passage". When teens are using pot while suffering from depression, there are associated increased suicidal thoughts, plans, or attempts. You haven't lost your legitimate authority as a parent if you used pot in the past. What you as a parent believe is right, right now, is what matters. The alternative is accepting risk and hope for the best. According to the…

Fight the blues with behaviors that lift you up. It's a strategy proven to help a person overcome feelings of sadness when those feelings aren't caused by clinical depression, which could require additional assistance. The earlier you act to behaviorally change your mood, the more successful you'll be. Anniversaries, bad weather, disappointments, media news, boredom, or even a movie can trigger sadness. Take charge of your thoughts and decide "not to go there". Then take action. To influence a…

The express elevator ride to the bottom for drug addicts is well-known, but what happens when they recover? Health benefits accrue, of course, but there are many add-ons. The most powerful benefits result from reorienting one's thinking from blaming others for one's problems to taking personal responsibility for thoughts and actions. This elimination of the "my problems are caused by others" approach to life relieves guilt, anger, and depression. Relationships become healed, and new ones are…

Eldercare resource agencies and websites offer information on adult day care, assisted living, transportation, and more. Harder to find is help on coping with fear, anger, and grief from changing relationship with your elderly parent. If it is difficult to accept an elderly parent's forgetfulness, dependency, frailty, depression, and inability to perform small tasks, you may benefit from short-term counseling. The parent's admission to a nursing home can add dramatically to this "acceptance…

Schizophrenia, bipolar order, anxiety disorder, hearing voices - these psychiatric terms have become part of everyday news. Do you know what they mean? A mental illness is a mental condition that disrupts a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others, and daily functioning. Having a better understanding of these conditions can reduce fear, help you play a role in reducing stigma, and allow you to act and intervene more quickly to help a friend or loved one exhibiting sudden or…

Could using Facebook, a smartphone, or other bright electronic device just before bedtime explain your poor sleep? Bright light is known to disturb sleep, so try keeping your last hour before sleep "technology free" to see if you notice a difference. The research is still unclear, but 95% of adults admit to using technology devices in the hour prior to going to bed. The National Sleep Foundation says 50-70 million Americans complain of not sleeping well in any given week. Is there a connection?…

Knowing when to see a professional counselor can help you stop a problem from growing into a crisis. If you're hesitant, remember that professional counselors help by providing objective feedback and work with you to achieve resolution at your own pace. Counseling might be a good idea if you: 1) struggle with unrelenting feelings of sadness; 2) suddenly experienced personal loss; 3) can't resolve sleep difficulties; 4) feel hopeless; 5) experience worry that interferes with daily functioning;…