Mental Health

How to Treat Anxiety Without Medications

February 26, 2023 by Dr. Cesar Vasconcellos de Souza - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

Many are wanting to treat their anxiety only with tranquilizers. People are becoming more and more medicalized, and living under the influence of synthetic drugs. Is there a better way?

How to Treat Anxiety Without Medications

Many are wanting to treat their anxiety only with tranquilizers. People are becoming more and more medicalized, and living under the influence of synthetic drugs. Is there a better way?

In fact, it is not just tranquilizers, but drugs in general, because it is easier to take a pill, thinking it will cure everything, instead of working to change our lifestyle, which involves food, exercise, the way you think, how you deal with emoticons, breathing pure air, drinking pure water and getting sunlight.

So there are general principles of lifestyle medicine that really should be applied, practiced in our lives constantly, and thus gradually improving our health, so that those who use medication, whatever it is, can with medical supervision reduce or even eliminate some of that medicine, precisely because they managed to modify the lifestyle so that it favors our body and our brain to function better.

So, the amount of prescriptions for anxiolytics, which are medications to reduce excessive anxiety, is frightening. What can help to prevent abuse of this medication in people who have excessive anxiety?

An anxious man with a huge amount of tranquilizers

Remembering that, this excessive anxiety manifests itself differently for different people. Some people have a lot of anxiety and this leads to a panic attack. Others will have a phobia, simple phobia or social phobia. Others will have some somatization, and their body ends up suffering because they have exaggerated emotional stress of high anxiety. So there are several ways in which excessive anxiety manifests itself in people. It also manifests itself explicitly, purely with anxiety, the person is anxious, nervous, and distressed all the time.

So what can you do to not become dependent on anxiety medication? First, it is important to accept that there may be something in your life that produces excessive anxiety and to understand and accept that there may be conflicts in your life that increase your anxiety. Accepting is not agreeing, accepting is admitting the reality.

The person may have excessive anxiety about some conflicts, and run away from them, not wanting to face and resolve them. But with the guidance of a professional and with God’s help, your choice and determination to understand why that conflict arose, it will certainly resolve itself. Could it be something from your past life that you’ve carried into your adult life, often adding current conflicts there?

You have to stop to think, analyze, and pray about the matter so that your mind is clear. And then you will begin to realize that there may be some things you can do, in the way you think, feel and deal with people, in the expectation of receiving attention and affection from others. Perhaps you will need some adjustment in these behaviors and attitudes so that the anxiety can gradually subside.

It is important to remember that excessive anxiety can be a red light, indicating that there may be some situation in your way of functioning as a person that needs change, adjustment, or repair.

A red warning light on the dashboard of a car

It could also be that you have always been a person with an anxious profile and that you have a tendency to have anxiety in your personality structure. We call this trait anxiety, which is different from state anxiety. State anxiety is when a person is experiencing a somewhat tense situation and their anxiety increases for a while, but after that stressful event passes, anxiety returns to its normal level. Trait anxiety, on the other hand, is when the person has high anxiety almost all the time, perhaps since childhood.

So, the first step is this: if there is a problem in your life that you need to accept, which is a reality, although it is hard to accept, instead of running away, or not thinking about it, admit that this is a reality that you are living. Second, it’s important that you look outside of yourself instead of focusing on the feeling of anxiety you may experience.

Try to think that you are not the anxiety; it’s just something on your mind. Think that you can use the healthy side of your mind to learn how to deal with it. So, don’t freak out. Take a deep breath and think, “I’m overly anxious here. Let me think where that comes from.” You are not anxiety; anxiety is something that is disturbing you excessively, but you can think, you can work, and you can study. So even though your mind has an anxious side, there’s also another healthy side that’s working.

Also, think that everyone has anxiety. Therefore, the aim is not to eliminate anxiety, but to see how it can be diminished if it is exaggerated. If there is, for example, tension in a relationship, what can you do to resolve it? What is depending on you? Exaggerated anxiety can be explicit, that is, appear as restlessness, a feeling of emptiness, or a tightness in the chest, or it can arise through another disorder such as phobia, which is exaggerated fear; obsessive-compulsive disorder, which are obsessive thoughts, that lead to compulsive acts disrupting the proper functioning of the person. Excessive anxiety can appear through a panic attack, which is an overflow of anxiety. But it can manifest itself in other ways as well.

Another thing that helps you work on your life and avoid becoming dependent on tranquilizers is to take action instead of doing nothing to resolve, and freaking out with exaggerated anxiety or distress. For example: Decrease the pace of work, do not despair, and perform your tasks more slowly on that day when you are most anxious. Of course, as far as possible, without demanding from yourself that you have to perform the same as before the anxiety disorder.

Breathing can also help. Very anxious people often breathe poorly. Therefore, throughout the day, breathe deeply and slowly, about five or six times in a row, pulling air through your nose and letting it out through your mouth very slowly. This extra oxygenation helps the brain to function better.

Also, check how your diet is doing. Caffeinated beverages, for example, can make anxiety worse. Therefore, eliminate these substances, or reduce their consumption as much as possible. In the case of caffeine, it is better to eliminate it. Doing some exercise, especially outdoors, such as hiking, also contributes to the relief of excessive anxiety. Preferably exercise in nature, because you will reach the benefits of fresh air, Sunshine and a calming landscape! Nature calms down.

Finally, examine your thoughts. Think about what you have been thinking about most often. A person with excessive anxiety often exaggerates things and tends to focus on problems that haven’t happened, and probably never will. So, don’t anticipate tragic events that possibly won’t happen. Check whether your most frequent thoughts, which increase anxiety, have a real basis. Are they reasonable? Are they based on truth or an assumption? Do you have proof? Do you have concrete evidence that this thought that comes into your head, which generates anxiety, is true, or is it just produced by an anxious mind that imagines things?

You can keep imagining countless negative, tragic, catastrophic things, which have no basis in reality, and which may never happen. So, analyze the reason for the catastrophic thoughts, your pessimistic thoughts of tragedy. If you cultivate them, it will increase anxiety. Then you can choose what kind of thought you will allow to linger in your mind. We call this psychoeducation, or education of thoughts.

Seek to develop your spiritual life and your faith. Scientific studies show that prayer, meditation on a biblical text, and helping others for free, on a voluntary basis, help us become more serene. Attitudes like this, practiced with perseverance, insisting with patience, with humility and determination, will help to reduce anxiety. The person who practices this may not even need a tranquilizer, or if he does, he may use it for less time and without needing a high dose. As you practice these principles and ask God for help, you can overcome this excessive anxiety.

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Utilize the Power of Prayer for Stress Relief

February 12, 2023 by Martin Neumann - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

Stress is sometimes getting us unaware. We are suddenly facing a crisis and do not know how to handle it. Other times it will creep on us in small increments until we feel that life spins out of control. Stress will hit us harder when we are overtired, being sick or passing through tragedies. Few people think about prayer as a stress reliever when the schedule is tight. But a growing body of research shows that it could be a useful tool to get your stress under control.

Utilize the Power of Prayer for Stress Relief

Research on Stress and Spirituality

The link between spirituality and health is starting to get the interest of several researchers. In the forefront is the research of Harald Koenig, MD, associate professor of medicine and psychiatry at Duke University, who surveyed more than a thousand studies showing the link between spirituality and health. In his book Handbook of Religion and Health he found that people attending church regularly have 1/3 of the time of hospitalization compared to the non-active group. He also found that religious people have 14 times higher chances to recover after heart surgery compared to the non-religious group. These are just some of the impressive findings of the relationship between spirituality and health.

Dr. Roberta Lee speaks about the relation of prayer and stress relief in her book The Superstress Solution. She says: “Research shows that people who are more religious or spiritual use their spirituality to cope with life,… They’re better able to cope with stress, they heal faster from illness, and they experience increased benefits to their health and well-being. On an intellectual level, spirituality connects you to the world, which in turn enables you to stop trying to control things all by yourself. When you feel part of a greater whole, it’s easy to understand that you aren’t responsible for everything that happens in life.”

Practice Stress Relief Prayer the Effective Way

Not every prayer is equal. Some people just go through the motions without really feeling the liberating effects of genuine prayer. In order to be effective in lifting your load, there are some vital principles to include in your prayer experience.

1. Recognize a Power Higher than You

When you are in a tight spot, it is a liberating thought that there is a higher power taking care of you. Put things into the right perspective. Who are you in comparison to the universe? Do not think it is all your responsibility to save the world, because the world is much bigger than you can grasp. And don´t think your problems are the worst one within the universe either.

When you do not find a way out, you need to trust that you have a heavenly father who is able to take care of you. Some people are believing this religion thing is just for emotionally weak people who need a crutch in order to get something they can hang on to. There are a lot of skeptical people out there. For me, it is as real as it can get. When you are sincerely interested in experience the presence of God, He will have a way to show you how He is acting in Your life. I have experienced it over and over. And it is very reassuring to know that there is somebody bigger than you, who is able to help you out when you are in a tight spot.

2. Be Authentic

When something is bothering you, it is not the moment to recall a prayer you have memorized as a child, or recite 10 times the Lord’s Prayer. It is the moment to speak to God as to a friend. Be honest about what is bothering you. And you do not need to wait for the right moment, present your request to God as soon as you feel a need. Be very specific about what is your problem, if you are formulating it into words, the undefined and abstract is becoming something concrete that you can put a handle on. The Christian Author Ellen White expresses it nicely in her book Steps to Christ:

“Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. “The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” James 5:11. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3. The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.”
E. G. White. Steps to Christ, p. 100

3. Pray With and For Others

Nobody is an island. If you can share your concerns with your friends then go for it. But instead of just be sorry and whine, use the moment to present your problems together with your friends to your Heavenly Father. Sometimes the faith of your friend can inspire you to take courage. It can relieve your stress if you can share your challenges and get some upbeat to put you on the right track.

Some other times you can pray for some of your friends, neighbors or even strangers you meet at the road. Praying for the need of others makes you realize, that other people around you may face even larger challenges then you, and your problem may not be that big after all.

4. Take Action

By now you have identified your problem and you have submitted yourself to the care of God. You see some light at the end of the tunnel, you have hope to get your life under control, but there are things that still remain for you to do. Maybe you need some rest, take time to restore your body and mind. Get for real with a stress management plan. Get your priorities right, examine your diet and exercise plan. If you are working through some loss or tragedy, you may need to give you some time to heal and restore.

There are moments we need to take action, and other moments where we need to be just quiet. Reinhold Niebuhr is expressing it quite on the spot in his famous Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

A man at sunset sitting on a stone at a beach, expressing serenity

Elements of a Prayer for Stress Relief

You need no model or script to follow in your prayer life, like you do not need a script to have a chat with your friend. But there are some elements that can make your prayer experience more meaningful.

Take time to talk openly about your life. Talk about the good, the bad, even the things you think are irrelevant to God. How are you talking to a friend? Are you worried that he is bored when you relate what is happening in your life? Probably not. So just take some time to be real.
Analyze your actions. What did you do right, where did you fail? Where did you hurt somebody? What do you have to get straight? Confess your mistake and take responsibility for things you did the wrong way. Decide with whom you need to reconcile. And ask forgiveness for your wrong attitudes. In 1. John 1:9 we have the promise: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” You will feel a burden being taken off from your shoulders, and life will get so much easier.
Surrender yourself to God. He is your Heavenly Father and will surely care for you. But sometimes His plans for you may be higher than yours. God says to you in Isaiah 55:9: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Trust that your Heavenly Father has the best intentions for you, and try to understand what He is trying to do in your life.
Ask God for help. Be specific on what is going wrong and what you need. And when you have surrendered it to God, rest assured that He will take good care of you. Maybe the outcome is not always like you expected, but sometimes it is even better than you thought.
Pray with Promises. The Bible is full of promises, and you can claim them within your prayer session. If you find a promise that applies to your situation, it is alright to claim it. If you are burdened with troubles, you can claim Mattew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”. Or you may like to claim Psalms 4:8: “I will lie down in peace and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe.”
Express your gratitude and praise. When we start to catalog the things we are thankful for, our list of challenges is less intimidating. It gets things into perspective. Life is not all bad, there are a lot of things to be thankful for. Look at the psalms. They are full of sincere talk with God, but they are also full of thanksgiving and praise. And it helps a lot to remember that God still cares for us. Remember how He has brought you through in the past, and you will gain courage to face the future.

Now you have a number of tools to make your moments of prayer an opportunity to release stress from your lives. Once you apply them, you adapt those principles to make them something meaningful for yourself. It is good to create habits. Start out right in the morning, surrendering yourself and your plans in the hands of God. In the evening spend some special moments to reflect on the day, what was good and what needs to change. And whenever you face a problem, make it a habit to turn it over to somebody higher than you, so you have less on your plate to worry about.

Do you need a guide to help you understand how to cope with Stress in an all inclusive approach? Learn how to combat stress, mentally, physically, emotionally and strategically in your life.

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5 Signs That You May Have an Unresolved Childhood Trauma

January 29, 2023 by Dr. Cesar Vasconcellos de Souza - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

A boy lived in a family where his nervous mother constantly belittled him, although she took good care of him in terms of his physical health, food, hygiene, and medical care. He grew up feeling worthless and this affected his career and some relationships, as is the case with many children who were victims of abuse in childhood and adolescence.

5 Signs That You May Have an Unresolved Childhood Trauma

Several scientific studies have shown that emotional abuse, abandonment, and emotional traumas in childhood can cause changes in the brain that will result in psychological difficulties for these individuals as they reach adulthood. Some may develop psychological disorders and even abuse substances such as alcohol, medication, and illicit drugs. Emotional and physical abuse against children can include cursing, threatening to harm the child physically, doing things that scare the child, hitting, belittling, and devaluing the child.

One of the mistakes of parents or caregivers of a child is neglect, which means failing to meet the child’s emotional needs. Neglect can happen when the father is excessively involved in work and neglects the family or when the mother is obsessed with romances or her own appearance, leaving the children in second or third place.

Taking good care of children involves believing in them, making time to play with them, taking them to the playground, making sincere compliments on their accomplishments, no matter how small, fighting to keep the family united, supporting children in their difficulties at school, in social interactions, and having a genuine love for children, sincerely wanting them to be successful in their tasks.

The brain of children is rapidly developing and things like early exposure to electronic screens and emotionally traumatic experiences in the family, such as the presence of a drug-addicted father or mother, divorce, and constant fighting, harm the children’s brain development, which later may favor the emergence of anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, personality disorder, among others.

Dr. Martin Teicher and colleagues at Harvard Medical School’s McLean Hospital and Northeastern University studied the relationship between abuse and brain structure, using MRI scans to discover structural brain changes among young adults who suffered abuse or neglect in childhood.

They found differences in nine brain regions in those who suffered childhood traumas, more present in brain regions that help balance emotions, impulses, and thinking. Some of the negative effects on the brain development victims of abuse and neglect in childhood are:

decreased size of the corpus callosum, which is a brain structure linked to motor, sensory, and cognitive performance, connecting the left and right hemispheres;
decreased size of the hippocampus, which is an important area in learning and memory;
less volume in the prefrontal cortex, in the forehead region, which affects behavior, emotional balance, and perception, among other functions.

Child abuse and neglect affect the way the brain’s chemistry works, damaging children’s behavior, how they deal with emotions, and their social interactions. Children who have emotionally uncontrolled parents may often be in a state of alert, have difficulty relaxing, feel afraid most of the time, and have learning difficulties.

According to attachment theory, when parents abuse or neglect their children, it harms the formation of a secure attachment between the child and their caregiver, causing distress in the child and influencing how the child sees himself and others.

A toddler holding the hand of his father

Child abuse also disrupts the emotional image that children build about God, as one thing is what one thinks God is, and another is how one feels about him. If the relationship of parents with their children is traumatic, predominantly neglectful and abusive, they may come to feel that God is the same way, even if they learn rationally in their religion that God is good.

Studies have shown that children who have suffered emotional abuse or neglect in childhood may later present:

lack of emotional control
feelings of devaluation
hopelessness
automatic negative thoughts and
difficulty dealing with stressful situations in adulthood.

The severity of the emotional disorder due to emotional suffering in childhood depends on the frequency of the traumas, the child’s age when it happened, who the abuser was, whether or not the child had a trustworthy and loving adult in their life, the duration of the abuse, the type and severity of the abuse, whether or not there was help for the child in the face of the abuse, among other factors, such as the emotional sensitivity of the child.

Adults who were victims of childhood abuse who developed emotional disorders can be treated with individual psychotherapy and, in some cases, with medication. There are different types of psychological therapy to help adults who have suffered or are suffering the consequences of child abuse, such as Exposure Therapy, which involves interacting with something that normally causes fear while gradually learning to stay calm.

Also there is family therapy, which is a psychological treatment aimed at improving relationships within the entire family and creating a better and more supportive home environment. The consultation with the family therapist happens with all members of that family nucleus at the same time.

In psychotherapy, the person can also learn to become more aware of their thoughts and feelings and be instructed on how to regulate their emotions and face stressors in a better way.

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on helping people learn new coping skills, restructuring negative thoughts, regulating mood and overcoming trauma.

Rather than treating traumas caused by child abuse, it is better to prevent them from happening. This is done with parents who are aware of the impact of their words and actions towards their children, who are concerned with learning to manage their own dysfunctional thoughts and disturbed feelings, so they can offer better emotional education to their children.

Parents need to remember that their children did not ask to be born and deserve to be treated well. It is also important to consider that children are not to blame for the suffering that their parents had in their childhood, and that, therefore, these parents need to control themselves so as not to repeat the same mistakes that occurred in the past in their family of origin. Think about it. May God help you control your past suffering so as not to repeat it in the present. Your child deserves it.

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Reclaim Control in a Stressful World

January 15, 2023 by Martin Neumann - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

Ask anyone and they’ll probably tell you that their stress levels are at an all-time high. Brought on by global health issues, economic uncertainty, and dozens of personal issues, men, women and children are suffering from emotional turmoil that’s spiraling out of control.

You don’t have to live like that anymore. It’s easy to get caught up in the barrage of stress coming at you from every angle. But if you want to take back control of your mental health and not be victimized by stress overload any longer, you can implement an action plan designed to get your life under control. Whether you’re worried about your finances, relationships, health concerns or other issues, the strategies you’ll find below will free you from the chains that are contributing to your unhappiness.

You Are Not Alone – How Stress Is Weighing Us All Down

Right now, especially since the pandemic hit, stress has negatively affected people in regards to being worried about health issues, the financial impact the pandemic and inflation has caused, and other issues that hit close to home.

Recent polls are showing that stress is on the rise, and it is negatively influencing peoples’ behavior (such as making them snap in anger), causing tension in their body, and resulting in mood swings they don’t know how to manage.

It’s not only what’s happening in the world right now, the uncertainty is also a big stress factor. Nagging questions about how things will turn out are a burden none of us should be carrying, but we are.

As far as what’s causing all this stress, in the past three years, it was the pandemic, as most people reported. But the “future of the country” has also caused great concern. Job stress is a big one, and it’s no wonder with so many changes in the workplace due to the pandemic – not to mention paychecks not going as far as they once did.

Other top stress issues are responsibilities you face as a spouse and parent as well as health issues you might be facing. And while older adults are suffering on a more regular basis, the younger generations are reporting extreme levels of stress.

Women are saying they’re more stressed than men and married women have more stress than single women. Stress is affecting a large part of the population in a negative way, and detracts from our quality of life.

How to Reduce Stress Over Money Issues

Finances are one of the most common stress factors in many individual’s lives, and it is not limited only to the poor. Even the wealthy can be suffering financial stress from poor decisions, the stock market, inflation, job loss and other situations that can wipe out someone’s financial security in an instant.

Your money stress may stem from simply not earning enough to pay your bills or afford groceries. When you pair this with soaring inflation, it can be a recipe for disaster when it comes to your mental health.

It’s natural for financial stress to emerge from time to time. But if you are feeling on edge 24/7 from money woes, you need to dig yourself out of that hole and take care of the situation so that your emotional needs are met.

One thing that will help you reduce stress over your finances is to know exactly where you stand. If you are no longer opening your bills or have not looked at your credit score, it can be worse than if you had the facts laid out in front of you.

Doing accounting to find out the current financial situation

You can start a spreadsheet that tracks exactly what your income is, and also all of your monthly expenses as well as debt that you have incurred. It may be a little unsettling to initially see the numbers in front of you.

But once you know where you are standing, it will be easier for you to create a plan to become financially resilient once again. The best way to ease stress over finances is to start cutting back on careless spending.

You will feel more guilt when you are looking at the money you need if you know you have spent it on things that shouldn’t even be in your budget, like a daily coffee at Starbucks.

Even though something like this isn’t a lot of money, it can add up. Even if you only bought a small coffee every day, that would be almost $100 you would be spending just on a single beverage each month.

The next thing you want to do when it comes to achieving peace of mind with your finances is to reach out and contact those companies that you owe money to and see what arrangements can be made to lessen your burden.

Some companies will waive penalties or change the due date for you if it will help you keep your head above water. You want to make a plan to pay off your highest interest rate debt first.

Then, find ways to earn extra money. You might sell things that you have lying around the house that you no longer use on sites like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or eBay.

Another thing you can do is get a side hustle such as delivering food from restaurants or grocery stores, or using your car for rideshare purposes working for companies like Uber or Lyft.

If you can’t be out of the house after your normal working hours, you can even start a business online as a freelance service provider or as an online entrepreneur who makes money by sharing good advice on a topic of your expertise.

What to If You’re Still Suffering from Pandemic Stress?

There has been a lot of fear mongering that has occurred over the past two to three years. The pandemic led people to spread misinformation from all sides, to attack one another, and to heighten their fears even if they were unfounded.

This was a health issue, but it was turned political in the process, which added even more stress to peoples’ daily lives. The stress wasn’t just about health, even though initially everyone was concerned about whether or not they would get sick or even die if they caught the coronavirus.

In the beginning stages of the pandemic, you couldn’t even get groceries without whipping out a package of disinfecting wipes and carefully cleaning every item in the bags.

Some people were masked up and some were not. Some had vaccines and others did not. Instead of everyone living their life by their own rules, which Americans have always done, you may have had to deal with people who thought differently from you confronting you about your decisions. In fact, this type of behavior still exists in some places. The fear was based on the uncertainty of what impact the unknown virus would have.

However, stress from the pandemic was more than just health related. Many people experienced stress from the isolation that they felt. Whether or not your city or state had a mandatory lockdown, many people stayed home just to be on the safe side.

The isolation and loneliness that many people felt no longer socializing in public took a toll on our society. From school kids who no longer had friends to interact with, to elderly individuals who were left to fend for themselves without family to visit them, there were very few people who were unaffected by these decisions.

Another toll that was due to the pandemic is the job stress that many have to endure. Some companies were able to morph into a telecommuting situation where you were able to work from home and continue earning a paycheck.

Other companies simply had to lay off most of their staff, and you were suddenly without a steady paycheck and had to rely on government assistance. Those that were left on the job, had to work overtime to keep everything afloat. If you were a business owner, you may have lost everything that you have worked for, which is a very stressful and heartbreaking situation.

Most people have either gone back to work or started their own business at this time, but you may still have some lingering social anxiety or health concerns that you would like to manage better.

It may help you to stay informed on ways you can protect yourself. You need to focus only on what you can control for your own life and not stress yourself out about what others are doing or not doing.

It’s one thing to stay informed and another to obsess about the pandemic. You don’t want to let it consume your life on a daily basis. Keep in mind that it’s the media’s job to inflate fear so that you will click through on their links and stay tuned to their channel, so even if the information is accurate that they are reporting, you can’t rely on it to convey the correct level of alarm.

Do World News Keep You on Edge?

News of global catastrophes have never hit us this hard before. Previously, you might hear a segment on the 5 o’clock news or keep up with the world with the Sunday newspaper. But now, global news is being shoved down your throat 24/7 on every channel and website you visit.

It’s no wonder we’re stressed! Never before have you had to hear about every country’s war, famine, crime and political chaos on a daily, if not hourly basis. And the media know that it’s going to get views and clicks if they make it sound as dire as possible.

A man with a startled look examining news on a website

Whether it’s a war brewing in a far off nation or a political climate that’s teetering on the brink of instability, you don’t need to be tuned in to this day in, day out. Unless you are in immediate danger, it isn’t necessary to sabotage your mental health like this.

Drought, political decisions, plants that are shut down – ask yourself if it’s affecting you right now, or if it will be something sabotaging your daily life in the near future. If not, shelve your worry until a later date and see if it gets worked out.

There’s a reason why stress levels tend to decrease as we age. While Gen Z is highly stressed right now, older Americans are less so. Experience tells us that things we used to panic about eventually have a way of working themselves out – and it is of no use to fret about things that likely won’t materialize or can’t be controlled.

Managing the Many Personal Stress Issues in Your Life

Part of your stress might be more personal and less global or newsworthy. Everyone goes through ups and downs in life. You will – at some point – have to weather the storm or become a victim to it.

There may have been relationship woes in your life recently – a breakup with your significant other who you hoped to spend an eternity with. Recently, the pandemic affected these unions in a horrible way – maybe because people were locked down together, experiencing their own stress over money and health, and took it out on each other.

You might want to work on the relationship to see if it can be salvaged now that things are going back to normal. If things can be repaired, it is normally better for everybody involved.

If your relationship ends, give yourself permission to grieve, but let go of the hatred and stress it brings thinking about what went wrong. You don’t want to keep one foot in the past as you try to move forward and find your own happiness.

Sometimes, you might be dealing with the stress of parenting. Parenting stress never ends. As a new parent, you stress about not knowing what you’re doing. When they’re toddlers, your stress is about everything they get into when you’re not looking for a moment.

Later on you’ll have to deal with stress about schoolwork, chores, protecting your child from bullies and heartache – their health and more. Even once they leave the nest, your stress will be about their happiness and if they’re sad, you’ll be sad.

Being a parent is stressful, but in order to give your child the best life possible, you have to teach them how to be resilient in spite of what’s happening around them. The best way to do this is to lead by example.

Another stress you might be experiencing is your job. Maybe you don’t have one and are having trouble finding one. You might have to take the stress away by increasing your skills or taking something temporarily to take the financial pressure off until you find the perfect position.

Or maybe you’re employed, but unhappy at your job. If this is the case, don’t sit around stewing about your situation – make a plan to take action! You might be able to level up within the company to a better position, or find a different company or even career to pursue that will make you happier.

There are times when our personal stress is more heartbreaking. A death in the family can cause grief that’s overwhelming. Only time can ease the pain, but you can choose to focus on appreciation for having had that person in your life.

If you’re a caregiver of a disabled or special needs child or adult, it can put a physical and mental strain on you. Make sure that, in order to stress less, you give yourself some time away from your duties to relax and recharge.

There are home health aids who can step in and provide relief for you so that you can go to the spa or visit the beach and soak up the sun. Don’t feel guilty about this – because what you’re doing will allow you to be your best self for the one you’re taking care of.

Don’t Self-Soothe with Dangerous Vices

When you’re looking for stress relief, you might inadvertently turn to things that can ultimately do more harm than good. Initially, they may take the edge off and make you feel better – but over time, they can have very damaging effects.

For example, regardless of what is at the root of your stress, you might find yourself drinking a little more alcohol than you used to. It might start with one drink after a rare hard day at work, only to evolve into three or more drink on a regular basis.

A drunk man in the couch of his living room

Some people abuse their prescription pills, too. A doctor may have prescribed muscle relaxants or sleeping pills and now the person gets hooked on them just to avoid having to think about all of the stress swirling around in their head.

Non legal drugs might also become an issue. From marijuana to heroin and everything in between, there are some people who get drawn to this lifestyle as a way to escape the pain and stress they are plagued by.

Smoking (or vaping) might be something you start doing on breaks at work or at other times to relax your mind. Then one day you find that nicotine is in control and you no longer have a choice about using it.

Or you might be someone who turns to food to suppress your anxiety. Emotional eating is a big problem for both men and women, and it can turn into something that damages your health over time.

People reported gaining a lot of weight during the lockdown of the pandemic. It was stressful, and instead of going out, they would order food and grocery deliveries and binge eat since they were no longer working or socializing on the go.

Even sitting and binging on videos and shows can harm you if that’s what you choose to use to veg out and forget about your worries. Many people are now suffering from sitting disease, which is a term that describes how many health issues stem from the habit of not moving very much and sitting excessively.

And of course, your vice may not be a habit like food, alcohol or drugs, either. You might get in the habit of taking your pain out on others. You may not mean to at first, but snapping at loved ones or strangers can help you let off steam for a second, but do more harm than good.

There are even people who trauma dump on others – unloading all of their stress on their spouse, friends, family, and even people they don’t know online. Make sure you’re working with a therapist or even using self-taught methods to alleviate your stress without adopting any of these vices that can ruin your reputation and relationships and cause you more mental or physical harm.

Trade in Your Social Media Addiction for Calming Activities

If you poll younger generations, they’ll tell you that they belong to a number of different social networking sites and apps. They’ll also tell you that social media is one of the main sources of their stress.

You might have formed this addiction yourself. It’s tempting to avoid work or other demands to scroll on Facebook or TikTok for a few minutes. But these minutes end up turning into hours each week.

This can be very damaging to your psyche. Now some people will say that there is a lot of positive out social media. This is true. Social media can provide a way for people to socialize without having to get out of the house and there is a lot of positive content to be found on social media.

However, while you are trying to find the nuggets of positivity, you will inevitably encounter negative and harmful content that you are actively exposing yourself to on a daily basis.

Social media can be used to learn new things – like how to cook a certain meal or how to start a garden. But if you just let anything and everything into your feed, you will see all kinds of harmful influences.

You have to make sure you’re weeding out accounts that bring stress into your life. If you train the algorithm of the platforms you are using by engaging in content that lifts you up and hiding the content (or blocking the accounts) that cause you stress, they will provide more of what you want and less of what you don’t.

There are a lot of people trauma dumping on social media, too. And now it’s not just them telling their stories. You might be scrolling on TikTok and see an entire series posted of a woman who secretly recorded her husband being extremely abusive to her.

This is traumatic to witness and can cause your Cortisol to spiral out of control. Instead of gawking at the videos and immersing yourself in other peoples’ problems, take back control and shut that kind of content out so that you’re being lifted up when you use these tools.

You may also want to put some parameters about how often you are using social media. Sometimes, people can get hooked on these sites and platforms and spend hours each day on them.

Teenagers with cell phone addiction - Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

You want to be living life in the real world, and if it takes a digital detox to help you wean off of these sites and apps, you might want to take that approach so that you are able to find joy with those around you and in your home and work life.

Build a Stress-Relieving Routine You Can Rely On

One thing you can do to reclaim your life from stress is develop a routine that ensures you are getting stress relieving properties every single day. From the time you wake up until the time your head hits the pillow each night, you want to be engaging in self-care.

If you are the kind of person who spends all morning rushing around in a panic to get out the door, get yourself on a better sleep schedule so that you have plenty of time to wake up relaxed, eat a nutritious breakfast, and start your day off on a positive note.

There are physical things that you can do to alleviate stress. For example, you can engage in deep breathing techniques anywhere at any time to instantly calm your nerves.

In the evening after work, you may want to put on a soothing face mask and take a nice warm bath with some Epsom salts and a candle lit nearby with your favorite scent emanating from it.

A routine that includes exercise is always beneficial in helping alleviate stress and empowering you throughout your day. Not only does this contribute to your physical health, but it also gives you a boost of endorphins that can benefit you emotionally, too.

If you have trouble sleeping at night, make sure you are setting yourself up on a proper sleep hygiene routine. This can include dimming the lights a bit and reading before bed rather than being on your phone or iPad.

If you have the opportunity, timewise, you may want to also integrate some of your favorite activities into your routine. These may not be daily, but you may be able to do things like volunteer with animals, play golf or go to the spa once or twice per month.

Another part of your stress relieving routine will be to make sure you are spending time with people who bring joy to your life. That may simply be your spouse and children or it may extend beyond that and include friends and additional family members.

Prevent Future Stress by Preparing Early and Being Aware

Sometimes, there are situations where the stress is unavoidable. You know it’s bound to happen, and instead of preparing for it, you simply brace yourself for the unknown. Instead of walking on eggshells or living your life in a heightened state of anxiety, you can alleviate a lot of that stress simply by being prepared and staying aware.

For example, if the news is something that frequently causes you concern because you are watching stories about a broken supply chain or threats of war being waged against your country, you can begin a sensible survival prepping plan that gives you peace of mind that you will be okay in a worst case scenario.

You can do this with anything that brings you stress. For example, if you know you will be stressed out at the beginning of school trying to get your kids back in a routine, start a couple of weeks early and have everything planned so that they can assist you with making their lunches and choosing their clothes the night before.

You have to walk a fine line between staying informed and becoming obsessed. It’s never a good idea to stick your head in the sand and ignore everything that’s going on in the world.

However, it’s also not smart to take the opposite approach and stay glued to mainstream media 24/7 so that they can feed you a diet of fear and anxiety. You are in control of what you allow yourself to be exposed to and how you react to it.

The key is to sit with yourself each night or at least once a week and ask yourself what it is that is causing you stress and see if it can be mitigated so that it doesn’t have power over you from that point on.

Stress has become a pandemic of its own in this world. Many people will succumb to it and live a life of depression and anxiety. You don’t have to be chained to an overload of stress if you’re willing to take steps to prevent and manage it in your life.

Do you need a guide to help you understand how to cope with Stress in an all inclusive approach? Learn how to combat stress, mentally, physically, emotionally and strategically in your life.

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The True Meaning of Christmas

December 25, 2022 by Dr. Cesar Vasconcellos de Souza - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

Christmas has a very special meaning for some people, while not so much for others. But what does Christmas mean to you? At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Son of God, Creator of the Universe, humble Lord, Deliverer, Truth, Peace, Light, Way and Life. The essence of Christmas is the Messiah.

We have gone through some difficult years of the pandemic, but we are still alive. That’s wonderful, isn’t it? God, the Creator of the Universe, keeping our lives until this moment. And if you had COVID-19, with or without complications, He has preserved you and that’s why you’re still here, alive. Cultivate gratitude for this. Gratitude is important to our health, isn’t it? So it may be that you have lost some loved one in your family or a friend this year for whatever reason. But God has preserved your life.

You are here and certainly, the kind Lord has given you strength to deal with the losses that have occurred this year in your life, whether it be financial, emotional or loss of someone important to you. The Bible says that God does not let anyone go through trials beyond what one can endure.

Secondly, it also reveals that the difficulties we have to face can be God’s instruments to mature us. Yes, there is a spiritual war going on in this universe, a war between good and evil. This war is as much out there in society, as it is inside our minds.

But this text gives us comfort and confidence if we are connected with Jesus, who is the essence of Christmas:

Even the power of demons is under the control of our Savior, and the working of evil is overruled for good.
White, E.G. The Desire of Ages, p. 340

This is coming from one of the best books on the life of Jesus. You can get this book for free on this site: whiteestate.org

See also this other quote that talks about the sovereignty of God and his kind, protective and restorative character:

All earthly powers are under the control of the Infinite One. To the mightiest ruler, to the most cruel oppressor, He says, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further.” Job 38:11. God’s power is constantly exercised to counteract the agencies of evil; He is ever at work among men, not for their destruction, but for their correction and preservation.
White, E.G. Patriarchs and Prophets, 694

Have you noticed how this text ends? I will repeat: “He (God, the creator of the universe) is always at work among human beings, not to destroy them, but to correct and preserve.” So I think this: God is always working in your life, not to destroy, but to correct something bad that hurts you and to preserve your physical, mental, and spiritual health. Nothing is by chance. Christmas means: to be born for health, to be born for fraternity, to be born for compassion. Remember that we are all human beings, we are brothers by creation, we are in the same boat, that is, we will die and we need a God to give us eternal life, the eternal Christmas.

Philosophers use the expression, ” We are a being destined for death.” Yes, we are going to death, the one the Bible calls the first death. It speaks of a second death, which will be eternal after the Final Judgment. So Christmas is to be alive and to be able to acquire eternal life, having victory over the second death, by the grace of the Lord Jesus and by the salvation he has provided for us on the cross.

To be alive is wonderful! Usually, when I open my eyes in the morning, I do this almost every day, I say to God the Creator: ” Thank you, Lord, for continuing to be alive! ” This is wonderful! You are alive! So, there is still the chance for change, to get further, to greater personal growth. If you want a proof that the Creator of the universe still has something to tell you, to mend your character defects, or to use you to help other people, and that He still has something for your life, the proof is that you are alive, right? While you´re alive, there is hope.

So Christmas is spirituality. It is submitting to the Creator, to the Lord Jesus Christ. It means humbling oneself before the reality of human, personal or technological impotence. Medical technology, for example, is wonderful indeed, but it can’t generate life. Being spiritual means submission to the truth, to the light, that comes to all, though not everyone wants it. Being spiritual has to do with perceiving reality beyond the ordinarily observable. Being spiritual is something extraordinary, beyond the ordinary, beyond the conventional.

Going to church on weekends is something ordinary. You can do this for decades and still not be a spiritual person. Why is that? You can become dependent on what the leader of your religious community says and preaches, and you do not research for yourself what the truth is. Maybe you want to stay in the humanistic comfort zone, or because the attractions of the world can blind and trap you, or because you go to church in a well-conditioned, half-decorated way, without any deep sense attached to it.

The most spiritual person who has ever passed through this earth in my view, Jesus Christ, came in poverty and humility to be our example and our Redeemer. If He had appeared in royal pomp, how could he have taught humility, right? How could He have presented the truths so incisively, like those of the Sermon on the Mount? Where would the hope of the materially poor of life be, if Jesus had come to dwell as the king among men? Jesus was even courteous to his persecutors, even those individuals who had fallen morally lower in society. They were treated with respect by Jesus, who saw each person through the eyes of divine compassion. How wonderful is that! What a Christmas!

The feet of Jesus walking in the desert sand

In this difficult time, it is important that you exercise compassion for people, for anyone, by helping, supporting, forgiving, protecting, and exercising self-control over your aggressive and selfish impulses, to protect people from yourself, in case you are, perhaps, somewhat rude in your words.

You know, Jesus can change that character flaw in you, as he has changed the apostle Peter. Peter was impulsive and bold, and how did Jesus change John and James, right? They are even called by the Master the sons of Thunder, because they were explosive before learning meekness from Jesus. Seek for yourself the presence of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Christmas! Listen with respect to the leaders of your religious community, but go personally, individually, in the quest for light, truth, doctrine, which, being Christian, is in the Bible.

If Nathaniel, one of Christ’s earliest disciples, had relied on the direction of the rabbis, who were the leaders of the Jewish church of the time, he would never have found Jesus. It was seeing and judging for himself that he became a disciple. So, in this sincere, persistent, daily search, your spirituality will gradually emerge.

Years ago, I read a book by a professor from the University of São Paulo. He is a retired psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He wrote in his book: “Psychotherapy Religion”, that the mature man, the mature woman is spiritualized.

Christmas is spirituality. People can fight or challenge our logic. They can resist our appeals. But the selfless life of love is an argument that cannot be resisted. A coherent life, characterized by the meekness of Christ, is a force in the world. It is Christmas that should be, in fact, one day at a time and every day. Solomon is saying the following:

And he who waters will also be watered himself.
Proverbs 11:25 (New King James Version)

In other words, you give and receive, if you give from all the heart. Christmas is about giving, and I believe that the best gift you can give and receive is the one that feeds your spirituality. Everything else ends, passes, wears out, gets old, breaks, goes out of style, but Christmas remains. Jesus Christ, Christmas, the personification of spirituality. We are a family with you, who may be going through difficulties, but we are with you, and Jesus Christ is there looking to help you. Accept his help. Accept our embrace. Merry Christmas!

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Plea for a Simpler Life – Less is More

December 11, 2022 by Esther Neumann - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

If my grandfather, born in 1890, were to come into my house, he would not find his way around, neither in my household nor in my office. Our present generation has so many more opportunities to shape our working world and our private lives. But life has also gotten more complicated. We need to be familiar with so many modern communication tools. So many machines and gadgets with complex procedures that we can’t figure out, do the heavy, tedious work for us. Actually, these modern technical achievements are supposed to give us more time for ourselves.

When I’ve finished writing this article, I won’t have to write it clean on paper, put it in an envelope and take it to the post office for my editor-in-chief. I remain seated in my office chair and send it via the Internet. If the editor wants to, he can open and read it on his computer a few minutes later.

What do I do with the time I’ve saved? Am I going to fold my arms, be happy about the successful article, and reflect on the essentials? I have to watch over my time, my health, my thoughts. I don’t want to plunge into the next activity like the fast swimmer with a head dive into the cold water.

I want to take the liberty – and fortunately I can afford it – to structure my working hours for myself. Instead of getting dragged by the daily grind, I want to consciously take responsibility for my everyday life. After a few hours at the computer, it’s time to do some gardening or kitchen work. Every now and then a nature walk is allowed. During this time, I come up with all sorts of things.

Most people live outside of their “assets”. It’s not just about money, about consumption, but also about time, about food, about relaxation. It’s not about asceticism, but about simply doing without the superfluous, which we find difficult to deal with anyway.

Too many pounds make me short of breath. Why did I eat so much again? I have been wanting to lose a few pounds for a long time! Yes, I can afford a pumpkin pie with whipped cream every now and then. Tomorrow, however, there will be an apple for dessert – and I’ll simply enjoy it! Actually, a fruit day every now and then is good for my health. Or should I try just drinking tea for a whole day? That’s definitely good for me and I’m happy when I’ve grown beyond myself and my appetite.

While I’m tidying up, I can go through my closet. What has accumulated there, such an abundance! I haven’t worn this lovely piece in a year. That’s why my friend recently said to me: “I always see you in the same sweater.” Both pieces are still in good condition: so wash one of them and off it goes to the thrift store. There’s still enough in the closet.

What else can I get rid of in order to live a simpler life? How was it last night before falling asleep? I was worried and anxious about the future. The car is getting in his years, the roof of the house would need some repairs. The winter is still long and the wood supplies are running out. All this costs money. Where does it come from? How am I going to do this? Then even the past came into play. Do you still remember the mistake you made back then? You really weren’t fair to your child. Hopefully it hasn’t been hurt and is getting over that.

Fears and worries about the future, lingering in the past are robbing me the strength and time to simply live in the now. And I can only live in the now. Have I ever experienced anything in the past or done anything in the future? The answer is simple: I live in the now. I can cope with today, this attitude gives me strength, but today I don´t get what I need for tomorrow.

So I can also simplify my thoughts, I can remove the superfluous. Simply by not brooding too much over things I can’t change; but also, simply by looking forward to the new day every morning, to the sun that will rise again, even if the weather should remain cloudy, it’s still there. For me, every new day is an invitation to simply live – or live simply – simply in both senses.

It’s up to me to shape my day to be simpler, to find joy in the simple things of everyday life, in the opening of a flower, in the laughter of a child, in the surprised expression on my work colleague’s face when I have greeted him with enthusiasm and wished him a very good day.

No amount of possessions can buy me the joy of life. Proverbs 13:7 says, “There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.” If I give in to every wish and fulfill it, then I cannot be happy in the long run. Neither money nor confirmation, not even success can still my longing for a fulfilling life. True joy comes from living a simple life, enjoying nature, being accepted by my circle of friends and feeling safe with my God, Creator and Sustainer.

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