Zenzy Mag: Is it Stress or Anxiety? Here’s How to Find Out

“You have a difficult algebra test tomorrow. You’re trying to study but, ironically, you can’t focus because all you can think about is how you’re going to do on the test. You have butterflies in your stomach, you don’t feel like eating, your body is warm and your heart is beating faster. But is this stress, or anxiety? How can you tell the difference? More importantly, can you deal with both? We talked to Kristen Scarlett, LMHC, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, to find out.”
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I Do Podcast: E

I Do Podcast: Episode 213: Supporting a Partner who is Managing Depression

Depression affects people from all walks of life and can occur at anytime. It’s a mental health issue that can have a profound impact on the person whom it’s affecting, as well as on their loved ones and friends. Listen to today’s show to learn how you can help and support a partner who is depressed.

In this episode, we discuss relationship advice topics that include:

  • Learn the difference between clinical depression, mood swings and personality disorders

  • How you can help your partner through a difficult day

  • The differences between men and woman with depression

  • Steps in getting your partner help if they have not yet been diagnosed

  • How to navigate the relationship if one partner is in denial or unaware of their depression

  • The importance for the non-depressed partner to have their own support system

  • And much more!

Kristen Scarlett is the co-founder of Octave, a mental health startup in NYC. She launched the mental health services at Overlook Cancer Center and One Medical before opening Octave’s doors in October 2018. She’s a CBT therapist and teaches CBT at NYU Medical School.

Being a new mom is an emotional and sometimes, isolating time. It takes a village. →

Octave’s New Moms Group will provide a virtual community for new moms everywhere because we know how challenging it can be to set aside time for yourself. Using cognitive behavioral skills and mindfulness techniques, we’ll aim to provide support and education by normalizing the different emotions associated with having a new baby and help you identify the red flags of postpartum depression and anxiety. We’ll expand the discussion to topics including: self care, maintaining healthy relationships after baby, managing emotions, body image concerns, decisions about work, and more.

Virtual sessions are held weekly, for 6 weeks. This group requires a complimentary consult call prior to enrollment.

$75/session

Are your physical symptoms related to chronic stress? Maybe therapy can help

It's estimated that physical symptoms relating to stress, anxiety or depression make up around 60% to 80% of all primary care visits.  Complaints of back pain, digestive issues, skin irritations and headaches are often a result of chronic stress.

When we experience stress, our bodies release chemicals including cortisol and adrenaline that prepare us for danger.   This is referred to the "fight or flight response", which is quite useful when avoiding getting hit by a car or being attacked, but not too helpful with our every day stressors.  In fact, adrenaline speeds up our heart rate, increasing blood pressure, irritability and muscle tension.  

One of the functions of cortisol is to reduce inflammation but after time, it suppresses our immune system, making us susceptible to infection.  This leads to chronic inflammation, which is the cause of many symptoms and disorders from thyroid issues to autoimmune diseases.    

So what can we do?  Lifestyle changes including diet, exercise and mindfulness practices are important.  Another way is to express our emotions.  Many of us were taught to "power through" and "stay strong" during stressful times, but this can lead to repressing negative emotions.  Releasing these emotions verbally or by writing helps decrease those chemicals, reversing their effects on the body.  Many studies have shown that expressing negative emotions whether by speaking to friends, going to counseling, writing or even with art or music therapy, can decrease cortisol levels.

So, when medications, diet and exercise don't help to improve your physical symptoms, explore your thoughts and emotions...and talk.

Sleep is just as important as we age (Harvard Women's Health Watch Aug 2017) →

It was once believed that as we age, we start to need less sleep.  It's now understood that we may have more difficulty sleeping due higher sensitivity to circadian rhythms (meaning once we're awake, it's more difficult to fall back to sleep), but sleep is just as important.  

Here are some tips for getting a good night sleep at any age:

  • Develop a bedtime routine - go to sleep and wake up around the same time daily.  Before turning off the lights, read for 30 minutes, listen to a guided meditation or a pod cast.
  • Create a calm environment - set a comfortable temperature and make sure sound and light is blocked out.
  • Exercise daily - Exercising in the morning helps to reset your circadian rhythms. 
  • Keep a journal by your bed and write down any bothersome thoughts or "to-do's" keeping you awake.

NYT Well article touting the benefits of the FLOW state. →

The flow state, first recognized by Hungarian psychologist, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi , is a popular term defining the state of mind achieved when immersed in an activity.  It is summarized by the following points: 

  • Intense and focused concentration on the present moment
  • Merging of action and awareness
  • Stop thinking about yourself
  • A sense of personal control over the situation or activity
  • .Lose track of time
  • Experience of the activity is intrinsically rewarding

Flow state activities include running ("runner's high"), gardening, surfing, playing an instrument or a sport, working with your hands, writing, among others.  Achieving this state on a regular basis is associated with happiness, productivity and creativity.

Sleep Better with These 5 Tips

 

 Sleep Better Tonight with These Five Tips

Kristen Scarlett, LMHC, NCC 

It’s 3:00 a.m. and you’re awake again. Should you get out of bed and move to the couch, close your eyes and count backwards, or do you have a tried and true technique like listening to a guided meditation or drinking warm milk? 

Whatever you do, it’s distressing. Sleep is important not only because we need energy to get through the day, but also it’s imperative for our overall health. 

We know we need sleep but experts aren't 100% clear why. One theory is that sleep is an innate internal drive, like hunger, that makes us uncomfortably tired so we'll get the sleep we need to restore our bodies. We know that going without sleep long-term can cause substantial health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, a lowered immune system, obesity and even a lowered mortality. 

Sleep also increases our cognitive abilities. In fact, it helps to strengthen the neural connections that form memory. During sleep, neurons consolidate all the new skills you learn in a day and make them easier to retrieve. So, in addition to your lack of focus and bad mood, sleep deprivation can also affect your memory. 

But understanding why you need sleep isn’t going to help you get your zzzz's, so what will? 

Write it down: 

Sleep with a pen and pad of paper by your bed. When those intrusive anxiety thoughts or to-do lists keep you from falling asleep, write them down. Imagine yourself purging the thoughts from your mind on to the paper to address tomorrow. 

Create a peaceful environment: 

Once you've had several nights of disturbed sleep, bedtime and even your bedroom can cause anticipatory anxiety. To ease this, develop a calm routine starting an hour before bed. Turn off all phones and devices, wash your face with warm water, use lavender oil, read a book, play soft music or try a guided meditation. 

Exercise: 

Exercise, if possible, in the morning. It helps to reset your sleep-wake cycle. Exercising, especially in bright light signals to your brain that it's morning and time to wake up. Your cycle resets, allowing your body to become sleepier at night. 

Sleep apps? 

Wait, how am looking at an app if I have to turn off my phone an hour before bed? Here is the only exception. Listen to a guided meditation or sleep story to help your mind ease into sleep. There are several apps that offer guided meditations and sleep stories for adults – at different lengths of time, with different voices so you can find one that works for you. Progressive muscle relaxation is one that has been proven to work to calm your mind and body. 

Go on a walk

Think of a place and time where you felt most at ease. Maybe it was your childhood home, a vacation home or your college dorm. Close your eyes and take yourself there. Imagine yourself walking down each hall and entering each room. Look around, what do you see? This exercise can be both calming and restful. It helps to distract from your anxiety thoughts and changes the way you feel, preparing your mind and body to fall back to sleep. 

Next time you find yourself awake in the middle of the night, try one or several of these techniques. Even developing a plan can be enough to ease your mind and allow you a restful, undisturbed sleep. 

 

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sleep-bette...

Mindfulness in Pregnancy →

Practicing mindfulness techniques during pregnancy helps women to increase their confidence and find the inner strength and resilience to get through this challenging time.  It reminds them to get through moment by moment, decreasing their anxiety about birth and the upcoming life changes.   This study suggests that mindfulness techniques can even decrease the odds of post-partum depression by teaching new moms valuable coping skills.