Strategies for Coping with Negative Feelings

Daily writing prompt

What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?

Coping with negative feelings is essential for maintaining mental well-being. Here are some strategies people commonly use:

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Mindfulness and Meditation: Practicing mindfulness and meditation can help you become more aware of your thoughts and feelings without judgment, allowing you to better manage them.
Physical Exercise: Engaging in regular physical activity can release endorphins, which are natural mood lifters. Exercise also helps reduce stress and anxiety.
Healthy Lifestyle: Maintaining a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, and avoiding excessive alcohol and caffeine intake can all contribute to better emotional regulation.
Seeking Support: Talking to friends, family members, or a therapist about your feelings can provide validation, support, and perspective.
Creative Outlets: Engaging in creative activities like painting, writing, or playing music can be therapeutic and help channel negative emotions into something constructive.
Setting Boundaries: Learning to say no and setting boundaries in your personal and professional life can help prevent feelings of overwhelm and resentment.
Positive Self-Talk: Practice replacing negative self-talk with positive affirmations and realistic perspectives.
Gratitude Practice: Keeping a gratitude journal or simply taking time each day to reflect on things you’re grateful for can shift your focus away from negativity.
Taking Breaks: Sometimes, taking a break from the source of negative feelings, whether it’s work, social media, or other stressors, can give you the space you need to recharge and gain perspective.
Professional Help: If negative feelings persist or interfere with your daily functioning, seeking help from a mental health professional can provide personalized support and treatment.

Remember that coping strategies are personal, and it’s essential to find what works best for you. It’s also okay to seek help when needed and to prioritize your mental health.

Laugh Your Stress Away With These TV Shows

The current pandemic has been very stressful for many people around the world. Uncertainties in employment, increased job stress, academic stress and worry about the spread of the coronavirus and contracting the disease have been a few worries plaguing the minds of many people across the globe. Too much of stress and worrying is bad for both the physical well-being of the body and mental health of the psyche.

It is important to occasionally take a step back from the various problems and worries in life and destress. What better way to do it than with some laughter? The saying ‘Laughter is the Best Medicine’ is actually more than just that. Some of the benefits of laughter are:

It is a mood booster– Laughing releases endorphins. Endorphins are hormones which are responsible for the feeling of happiness and pleasure. The more a person laughs, the more endorphins get produced, which consequently lead to more happiness
It protects the body from effects of stress– When you laugh, your body’s stress response gets activated and then gets reduced. This causes a increase and subsequent decrease in the blood pressure and the heart rate
It gives a boost to the immune system– Prolonged stress and tension can compromise the immune system. Laughter decreases its effects thus strengthening your immune system
It protects the heart– Laughing lowers blood pressure, increases blood flow and improves the functioning of blood vessels.

Laugh your way to good health with these five American sitcoms:

Friends

No list of the best American sitcoms would be complete without this iconic series. ‘Friends’ narrates the story of a group of six friends – Monica Geller, Rachel Green, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribbiani, Chandler Bing and Ross Geller. The series follows their daily ups and downs. The series ran for a decade- from 1994 to 2004. Although some of the jokes and situations may be lost to a lack of relevancy in current times, the humorous situations the characters go through will make you laugh out loud.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Ever thought that a comedy cop series couldn’t exist? Brooklyn Nine-Nine is here to prove you wrong! As the name suggests, it’s based in the fictional 99^th precinct of Brooklyn, as follows the daily lives of a group of New York Police Department personnel. The shenanigans they get into will have you in stitches the whole time! Season 8, which will also be the final season, comes out on the 12^th of August, you might want to catch up on the story till then!

Modern Family

Tired of seeing dramatic family soap operas? Itching for a family-based show with laughter, heartfelt moments and light-heartedness? Give Modern Family a chance. The show follows the life of the families of Jay Pritchett, his daughter Claire Dunphy and his son Mitchell Pritchett. The show is filmed in a mockumentary style, which further enhances its comedic value.

The Big Bang Theory

Love science? Love comedy too? Don’t worry, the Big Bang Theory’s got you covered! This sitcom is centered around five friends- physicists Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, their neighbor Penny who is an aspiring actress and their co-workers, astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali and aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz and the various humorous situations they experience with each other, their co-workers and other friends.

Young Sheldon

Couldn’t get enough of the Big Bang Theory? Loved Sheldon? Did you want to know more about him and want to see more of him? Watch Young Sheldon! The series is a spin-off acting as a prequel to The Big Bang Theory. The show is a narration of Sheldon about his life as a kid. Follow the hilarious interactions of the child genius and socially inept Sheldon Cooper as he tries to navigate the world!

Addressing Mental Health

Mental health refers to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being. It is all about how people think, feel, and behave. Trying to tell the difference between expected behavior and signs of mental illness isn’t always easy, there is not a simple standard test to diagnose someone with a mental health issue. Having a gene with links to a mental health disorder, such as depression or schizophrenia, does not guarantee that a condition will develop. Likewise, people without related genes or a family history of mental illness can still have mental health issues.

Mental health conditions such as stress, depression, and anxiety may develop due to underlying, life-changing physical health problems, such as cancer, diabetes, and chronic pain. Each issue related to mental health has different symptoms but the common signs of disturbed mental health in adults and teenagers can be excessive worrying or fear, confused thought or problems concentrating and learning, extreme mood changes, avoiding friends and social activities, strong feelings of irritability and anger, difficulty in relating to people, change in sleep schedules or feeling tired all the time, change in eating habits, delusions or hallucinations, overuse of alcohol or drugs, suicidal tendencies, inability to carry out daily activities, and changes in personality.

Everyone has some risk of developing a mental health disorder, no matter their age, sex, income, or ethnicity. Young children can develop mental health conditions but their behavior and symptoms are mostly ignored. The most important thing is not to be afraid of reaching out to someone for help, acceptance is the first and most important step towards your mental health. Talk to people you trust.

Acknowledging the warning signs can help, getting an accurate diagnosis helps and for that seeking professional help is a good plan, to begin with. After a proper diagnosis, a psychiatrist can help develop a treatment plan which could be medication or therapy. Getting a proper diagnosis is just a first step, working on your goals is very important. Treatment varies from diagnosis and by the person, there is no fixed treatment of the same diagnosis, for some medication can help while for some counseling or therapy or social support can work.

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