So its official, you are feeling stressed, now what? Whether you are feeling momentarily overwhelmed or if you are prone to stress related panic attacks you can take control of your state of mind by learning and utilizing a few simple procedures. One of the quickest and most effective ways to reduce stress, curtail a panic attack or just to relax for the night is breathing exercises.
Practicing a deep breathing exercise can be both calming and energizing. Reducing your level of stress via controlled breathing has been shone to clear confusion, induce healthy sleep and even aid in the digestive process. It’s easy and you can do it nearly anywhere at any time. This exercise is the best and easiest tool I know for managing stress.
1. Sit up straight or lie flat on something firm but comfortable.
2. Slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of eight, making sure to empty both your upper lung (shoulder area) and your lower lung (stomach area).
3. Close your mouth and inhale through your nose to a count of eight, refilling both your upper and lower lung.
4. Hold your breath for a count of six.
5. Exhale again through your mouth to a count of eight.
6. Repeat three times.
Practice this breathing exercise twice a day. You can repeat the whole sequence whenever you begin to feel overwhelmed, but don't do more than four breaths at one time. Slowing down your breathing will help keep you from hyperventilating but be aware of your body and stop if you begin to feel light headed.
1. Regular exercise is another great way to help reduce the build up of daily stress. A brisk walk for 15-20 minutes is sufficient. But if you can only do five minutes at a time start there. Work up to exercising for thirty minutes, five days a week. Biking, swimming, gardening, or whatever physical activity appeals to you is acceptable.
2. Try to get at least 20 minutes of sunshine a day. Try walking the dog or reading a book at the park to get some sun. Even on a cloudy day the sun's uplifting rays can decrease your stress level. Sit at a sunny window for breakfast or go out and pull some weeds.
3. Decrease the amount of caffeine you take in each day. Caffeine can make a stressful situation feel worse.
4. Time management is one of the best ways to decrease daily stress. If you can manage your time properly, you will eliminate the stress of worrying about being late or becoming stressed in traffic. Managing your time means being realistic about what you are actually able to do in a given period of time rather than what you think you ought to get done.
5. Do your best to get enough sleep and to maintain a regular sleep pattern. Most people need between 8-10 hours of good undisturbed sleep every night. Recent studies have shown that taking a 15-30 minute power nap in the middle of the day reduces employee stress and improves productivity by as much as 25%. If you stay at home during the day take a nap when your children take theirs, instead of using that time to get more work done.
Attitude is half the battle. People who best deal with stressful situations are those who have a positive outlook on life, who are able to think realistically about the situation and attack a problem head on instead of going into denial or panic mode. For instance, if your child breaks a vase while playing indoors you can panic, get angry at the child or you can be grateful the child didn’t get hurt and recognize that everyone has accidents.
Your attitude and the way you decide to interpret stress can make an enormous difference in the way you cope with everyday events. Remember that you are ultimately in control, and by utilizing these simple steps you can change your life for good.
Wednesday
Should Depressed, or Obsessive Compulsive People Vote?
Snippets from a University of Arkansas news release
Of the 50 states in our nation, 44 contain constitutional laws and statutes that bar individuals with emotional or cognitive impairment from voting," said Kay Schriner, research fellow at the Fulbright Institute of International Relations. "The only other group of Americans who face such disenfranchisement are convicted felons."
According to Schriner's research, the practice of revoking voting rights for people with mental disabilities began with the earliest state constitutions, drafted and ratified in the 1700s. Early American politicians felt that excluding "the idiot and insane" would ensure that the voting public consisted only of those capable of making informed and intelligent political decisions.
But as medical and social concepts of mental disability continued to evolve, these exclusionary laws were neither altered nor erased. In fact, states persisted in drafting and amending their constitutions to include such laws until as late as 1959.
As these issues come to light, it becomes increasingly important that people with disabilities -- both physical and mental -- be allowed to participate in the formation of policies that directly affect them.
Rather than making a blanket discrimination against people with mental illnesses, Schriner suggests that states conduct individual assessments of competency before banning a person from the election process. Yet even this can cause personal humiliation and could be viewed as a form of discrimination, Schriner said.
A better solution would be to throw out the disenfranchisement laws altogether and follow one simple rule: if a person can fill out a voting registration card, that person should then be considered competent to vote.
"Someone in an active psychotic state is not likely to sit down and register to vote or to visit their local polling place," said Schriner. "It's ridiculous even to worry about that, let alone write a law to prevent it."
Of the 50 states in our nation, 44 contain constitutional laws and statutes that bar individuals with emotional or cognitive impairment from voting," said Kay Schriner, research fellow at the Fulbright Institute of International Relations. "The only other group of Americans who face such disenfranchisement are convicted felons."
According to Schriner's research, the practice of revoking voting rights for people with mental disabilities began with the earliest state constitutions, drafted and ratified in the 1700s. Early American politicians felt that excluding "the idiot and insane" would ensure that the voting public consisted only of those capable of making informed and intelligent political decisions.
But as medical and social concepts of mental disability continued to evolve, these exclusionary laws were neither altered nor erased. In fact, states persisted in drafting and amending their constitutions to include such laws until as late as 1959.
As these issues come to light, it becomes increasingly important that people with disabilities -- both physical and mental -- be allowed to participate in the formation of policies that directly affect them.
Rather than making a blanket discrimination against people with mental illnesses, Schriner suggests that states conduct individual assessments of competency before banning a person from the election process. Yet even this can cause personal humiliation and could be viewed as a form of discrimination, Schriner said.
A better solution would be to throw out the disenfranchisement laws altogether and follow one simple rule: if a person can fill out a voting registration card, that person should then be considered competent to vote.
"Someone in an active psychotic state is not likely to sit down and register to vote or to visit their local polling place," said Schriner. "It's ridiculous even to worry about that, let alone write a law to prevent it."
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