APA released its annual Stress in America survey yesterday, and we have again found that our nation is under pressure. Yes, average stress levels have declined somewhat from their max in 2007 and 2008, but that was at a time of extreme economic uncertainty when the housing crisis began to bubble, and the nation’s economy was on the cliff, about to take a deep fall.

But even as the nation’s economy begins to improve, we found that yet again, the majority of people surveyed said they are experiencing very high degrees of stress at levels that are higher than they consider healthy.

Our snapshot of stress is even bleaker for those who said they are caregivers or living with a chronic condition. Caregivers reported higher levels of stress, poorer health and a greater tendency to engage in unhealthy behaviors to alleviate their stress than the general public. They report feeling overwhelmed by the amount of care their aging or chronically ill family member require of them.

And those with chronic conditions, such as depression, obesity and Type 2 diabetes, are also caught in a vicious cycle. They said they were unable to take necessary steps to reduce their stress and engaged in unhealthy behaviors to manage their stress, thereby reducing their ability to appropriately manage their illness.

We have said for years that people need to be more aware of their stress levels; need to recognize what triggers stress for them; need to recognize how stress can damage their health; and need to manage their stress more effectively.

But while the majority of Americans know this is true, let’s face it, change isn’t easy.

There are a lot of reasons that Americans aren’t taking better care of their stress and their bodies. I believe, along with many others, that while we’re all responsible for our own health, change cannot happen in a vacuum. Aside from individual efforts, supportive social and community networks, as well as a responsive health-care system are needed to help individuals make the changes needed for better health.

We all need to think differently about health and illness.

Most chronic conditions can be prevented by better managing our stress and making better choices about our nutrition, activity level, alcohol and tobacco use, and our strategies for managing stress. By understanding the relationship between stress and chronic illness, we can all take steps to make better choices.

Psychologists working side by side with physicians—as part of someone’s personal health-care team—enhance the possibility that health care focuses on the whole person, not just an illness. Access to the right kind of care from the right kind of health-care provider must be assured in our evolving health care system. More focus on prevention will save lives and health-care dollars in the long run.

We need big changes in our evolving health-care system.

I believe they can happen. They need to happen.

Until then, do your best to make small changes and practice better stress management strategies.

• Engage understanding people who support the changes you want to make for yourself.
• Increase your activity level, and make better food choices.
• Set realistic expectations.

And if your efforts aren’t paying off for you, consider talking to a psychologist who can help you identify and remove those barriers that are standing in the way of the changes you want.

Photos by hradcanska and yourdon (via Flickr)

Imagine if you’d spent as much time learning to understand your emotions as you did learning to read, write and count. Unfortunately, like most of us, you likely received very little education or guidance in this area, surrendering your emotions to chance.

That often doesn’t work out too well.

Life is complicated and people are even more so. The chances are that at some point, we are faced with some difficult and emotionally challenging situations involving loss, conflict or rejection. These stresses (all too common in this ongoing economy) can often cause us to feel anxious or a bit down. If you don’t have the emotional skills to understand and manage these feelings, and this cycle goes on long enough, it can lead to feeling depressed or out of control, causing major problems in everyday life.

But here’s the really good news. Even if you weren’t blessed back in the days of the 3 Rs in school with learning how to understand and manage your emotions, it’s not too late!

Psychotherapy is a remarkably effective technique that helps you take back emotional control of your life and live better. Through the context of the therapeutic relationship, the therapist teaches you important skills for understanding and managing difficult emotions in your present life, but also helps you to retain these skills so you can apply them in future situations. Psychotherapy has the power to not only make you feel better, but to positively change the course of your life. As a practicing psychologist, I see evidence of this every day in my office.

Recently a group of psychologists produced a video for the public, which beautifully and evocatively illustrates the powers of psychotherapy. Take a look for yourself.

If you are unsure of how to find a good psychotherapist, you can start with talking to your primary care physician. (Psychotherapy is covered by most major insurance providers, as well as Medicare and Medicaid.) You can also check out the APA’s Psychologist Locator Service for a list of psychologists–doctors trained to listen and help–in your area.

Don’t leave your emotions to chance. Consider psychotherapy–take control of your emotional life now, and learn to hold on to it forever.

Photo by room_onfire (via Flickr)

My daughter was asked to be an altar server at the annual mass for all those who died in my parish in the past year, and I decided to go with her without giving it much thought. I attended several funerals this year for family members of friends and acquaintances, and when I arrived, I saw many familiar faces.

There was a friend who lost his mom and his dad within weeks of each other. There was a classmate of my daughter whose father died over the summer—in attendance with her mother, brother and sister. A palpable sadness stirred among the attendees when this young family approached the front of the church together. Several others that I knew, and a host of others that I didn’t, lit a candle when the names of their loved ones were called.

One older gentleman, whose face I recognized but whose name I didn’t know, lit candles for three different people, the last time returning with tears in his eyes. Other names were read with no family in attendance. I’m sure we all prayed for those folks. I found myself remembering a similar service I attended more than 20 years ago at the hospital where my mother died, and I began to cry. I cried mostly just seeing the tears of others, but also as I recalled the real sense of loss I felt at age 17 and for years after.

In those years since, experiencing more losses and eventually working with many people grieving many kinds of losses, I’ve come to believe some things about grief that I sometimes offer to people I see in counseling.

We all experience loss

First, and I was so aware of this tonight, we all experience pain and loss. No one is immune. To be sure, some tragedies are hard to imagine, but in general, most of us can relate to the pain and emptiness of a loved one’s death. And for the most part, we survive it. I don’t often lead with this realization when working with someone’s “fresh” grief, but the expectation that they will survive allows me to more easily walk the journey with them. Knowing that the intensity of grief fades (and sometimes returns and fades again), and that life resumes, helps us to be there when another person needs us.

Grief is a process

Secondly, I see grief as a very active and tangible process. I find myself talking to people about the usefulness of pictures, keepsakes, and stories—not to make their loved ones into heroes that had no flaws—but simply to remember and honor the shared life experience. It is so common that these practices result in tears and/or laughter, each of which help to heal, and can be real signs of living through the loss.

Take time to remember

Related to this idea of being active, I encourage people to attempt putting some boundaries around the process. The best I can describe it to them is to move in and out of grief, taking some time intentionally to remember their loved one—possibly by writing a letter or looking at some pictures—and then to get on with life. Such a practice helps them to see that grief is real and valuable and does not have to be overwhelming.

Of course, no one is in perfect control of the process, nor should they be. Most of my healing tears have come from spontaneous memories prompted by a song or an event, like at the service tonight. I realized years ago that I could be grateful for the tears because they reminded me just how much each of those lost loved ones meant to me—may they rest in peace.

Photo by L.C.Nøttaasen (via flickr).

The weather outside is getting warmer, the days are growing longer, events like graduations and weddings and outdoor barbeques are looming on the horizon. People expect you to be happy right now, but instead you actually feel more depressed and irritable than in the winter.

 Why?

Despite what you think, you aren’t alone feeling this way. In fact, in late spring and summer, admissions to psychiatric hospitals actually increase from the winter months. There’s a name for what you might be feeling– seasonal affective disorder (SAD), summer variant.

Summer seasonal affective disorder is different than the more well-known, winter seasonal affective disorder, and it’s also rarer. Unlike the winter variety of SAD, which affects 4-6 percent of the U.S. population, summer SAD affects less than 1 percent of the U.S. population and is more common in warmer climates in the United States and in countries near the equator. But like the winter SAD, it affects primarily women in their 20s to 40s.

Summer SAD is thought to be related to increases in temperature and decreases in melatonin. Severe fluctuations in barometric pressure and rainfall also seem to exacerbate mood changes associated with summer SADS. 

The primary symptoms of summer SAD are the following:

• Poor appetite
• Insomnia
• Increased anxiety
• Increased irritability and/or agitation
• Weight loss
• Increased sex drive
• Loss of interest in your usual activities
• Hopelessness
• Feelings of Depression
• Suicidal thoughts

 So, what can you do if you think you might suffer from summer seasonal affective disorder? Here are some recommendations.

 Tips for coping with summer seasonal affective disorder 

• Recognize that there is help! If you are struggling for more than two weeks with the symptoms listed above, get help from a psychologist or other licensed mental health professional. In rare cases, the symptoms of summer SAD can be the beginnings of a manic episode, or they can turn into a major depression, if you do not get some help.

  A psychologist can help you by using certain therapy techniques, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, which have been proven to be very effective in treating seasonal affective disorders. Cognitive therapy works by teaching you strategies to “reframe” or think more positively and flexibly about your situation. This leads to increased self control, improvements in mood and lessening of anxiety and helplessness. Medication may be useful too.

•  Limit your exposure to heat. Stay indoors in air conditioning on extremely hot days.    
• Keep up a regular exercise schedule (stay indoors on hot days). 
• Get enough sleep. Try to get at least 7-8 hrs a day. This will definitely make you feel better. 
• Plan your vacation to a cooler climate, if possible. 
• Finally, recognize that you are not alone in feeling sad and uncomfortable. This time of year is particularly hard on single, divorced or widowed people, especially those who have lost loved ones in the summer months.

 The contrast between what we think we should feel (joy, happiness, delight in the “carefree summer”) and what we may actually feel (sad, anxious, irritated, uncomfortable with our body) can definitely lead to feelings of irritability and depression. Remember, even though it may seem as if everyone else is having a wonderful time frolicking in the sun, many people are not and are coping with some of the same issues as you!

Photo by Chapendra via Flickr

We look forward to reading — and sharing — your posts tomorrow. Who knows what kind of difference it can make in educating more people and changing perceptions and views about what it means to live a healthy life.

If you’re participating in the event, be sure we know about it. Here’s how you can let us know:

• Use the blog badge code (it helps us to track links)
• Post your link in the comments of this blog post.
• Send an email to blogparty@yourmindyourbody.org
• Mention it to @APAHelpCenter on Twitter. Use #mhblogday as a hashtag (mental health blog day, naturally)
• Add your link to our update on APA’s Facebook page (we’ll post a status update tomorrow morning, so you can start commenting and adding links.)

We’ll be updating our blog throughout the day with your links and posts. And if you write something late on Wednesday night, that’s OK too. We’ll share it on Thursday morning.

Thanks for joining us again this year. Words can change lives — let’s see how many we can change in one day.