Spring Fever

As the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, you may find yourself getting drawn outdoors more and more. The good news is that spending time outdoors has been shown to improve mental health, physical wellbeing and overall life satisfaction.

Reduce Workday Stress with Mindfulness

Have you ever been driving and suddenly realized you stopped paying attention? It is not uncommon for us to go on autopilot throughout our day. As our attention frequently wanders to the past or future, paying attention to the present may feel strange, uncomfortable, or even impossible. Daily stress may contribute to this disconnection from the present, leaving us feeling overwhelmed, distant, easily distracted, irritable, or like we’re “sleep-walking” through life.

Stress Eating – Tips to control an unhealthy behavior

All of us have experienced overeating at one time or another. However, if you regularly overeat to the point of discomfort; eat to control stress; eat more than is needed to curb your hunger; or if you typically feel guilt and shame afterwards; you may be suffering from emotional eating. This is a common condition also referred to as binge eating disorder.

New Year, New Resolutions for Better Mental Health

If you are like the majority of Americans, you made a new year’s resolution to welcome 2017. But did you know that only about 8% of those who make resolutions actually succeed in keeping them? Most often those that succeed do so by making explicit measurable goals. This month’s blog post from Behavioral Health Partners (BHP) shares 3 simple resolutions you can easily incorporate into your daily routine to promote positive mental health. Behavioral Health Partners is brought to by Well-U, providing eligible individuals with mental health services for stress, anxiety, and depression.

Photo courtesy of Dorothy Joseph

Identifying and Combating Burnout

Katherine used to like her work, but her feelings about it have changed. Katherine works full time as a nurse on an inpatient medical unit, but lately she finds herself struggling to keep up with increased work demands, and feeling emotionally and physically exhausted. Now she has less control over her schedule and has been canceling several family and social events to accommodate her work schedule. She used to look forward to going to work, but now she dreads the start of her shift.   Katherine feels detached from herself and from those around her. Recently, she’s been making sarcastic comments about her co-workers and even some of the patients in her care. She used to find her work meaningful and took pride in her job. However, over the past few weeks, she has struggled to see the purpose of her role and has been worried about the quality of her work performance.  When Katherine does have time away from work, it never seems enough time to help her re-charge. Lately Katherine has been wondering if she is experiencing burnout.