Effective Ways To Handle Stress

Are you always stressed about the things that are happening in your life? Do you experience anxiety most of the time? If you answered yes to these two questions, then maybe it is about time to consider eliminating the negative emotions out of your life. Keep in mind that the more stressed and anxious you become, the more dangerous it is for yourself. Aside from this, it can also start to affect your relationship with the people around you.

 

 

According to Aarti Gupta, PsyD, “Negative stress, or ‘distress,’ is more chronic, hinders optimal functioning, and can be detrimental to your health.”

For today’s article, allow us to provide you with different ways on how you can make it happen. Make sure that you read the article from start to finish so that you can discover the practical techniques on how to get rid of stress.

 

Take A Break

 

One of the essential things that you must never forget is to rest when necessary. Stop making yourself a slave of your work and business. Find time to rest, especially at times when you need it the most. When you are already stressed with the things happening in your office, never feel guilty to take a break. Go home and rest on a weekend. At the same time, you can also consider traveling to a new country or city. You can travel alone or with the people close to you.

 

 

Have A Balanced Diet

 

Are you aware that the food you eat can have adverse effects on your body? Make sure that you focus on choosing healthy and nutritious food. Aside from this, you must also start to eat on time. Do not skip your meals because it will not only make you cranky. At the same time, it can also result in some illnesses or sicknesses. Keep in mind that when you are sick, the chances of experiencing stress also increase.

 

Amy Lukowski, PsyD said “Find your stressors and effective ways to cope with them – remember that you can learn to control stress because stress comes from how you respond to stressful events.”

 

Relax And Have Fun

 

You must stop thinking about negative thoughts as you are trying to survive life. Remember that you can take control of all the circumstances that will come your way. You can always select or choose how to react to the situation that you encounter. What is essential is that you remain relaxed at all times. Do not let anything or anyone annoy you easily. Be bigger than your issues so that you will not feel stressed out.

 

 

Choose Your Daily Company

 

Another thing that you must never forget is the significance of learning how to choose your friends right. As much as possible, keep yourself away from those who constantly make you feel bad. They do not deserve your attention and care. Instead, surround yourself with those who encourage bringing out the best in you. These are the persons who are supposed to stay in your life because they care for you. Remember that you are too great to be with those who can bring out the worst in you.

 

Stress is easy to eliminate as long as you know the right things to do. Keep yourself happy, and everything will start to improve soon. Follow everything we mentioned above for a better you!

 

According to Dr. Sal Raichbach PsyD, LCSW, “The key is to find someone who understands your condition, and that won’t say things like ‘just relax’ or ‘stop worrying so much,'” since that can feel invalidating. What you really want is someone who will let you vent, and offer support when you need it.”

 

How To Stay Healthy

There are many things that you need to remember when it comes to staying healthy. As much as possible, it is essential to keep yourself fit and healthy at all times. Remember that when you encounter a medical condition or an illness, it can have a ripple of adverse effects in your life. First of all, you may end up draining your finances because of the treatment or medication. Second, you will put a lot of stress and anxiety in your family members. Of course, they will worry once you get sick. Third, you may experience a lot of pain and inconvenience.

 

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Fortunately, taking care of your health is not a big problem at all. You can be happy with your life while trying to live a healthy lifestyle. Stop making excuses for not acting right today. Take note that the more you value your health, the better it is on your part. In this article, we are going to share or provide you with easy and practical ways on how to stay healthy. Here are the top things to remember:

 

Get Enough Sleep

 

When was the last time you had seven or eight hours full sleep? If you cannot remember when then that is an indication that you have to change your sleeping patterns. Stop depriving yourself of sufficient sleep. Keep in mind that staying up late in the night will not do you any good. It will only tire you out the following day and even put you in a bad mood. On the other hand, sleeping early can keep your energized and stress-free.

 

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Discover what therapists have to say about sleep:

  • “We know that getting enough sleep, eating nutrient-rich foods, and participating in physical activities (that we actually enjoy) are all vital for our well-being.”  – Casey Radle, LPC
  • “Wake up and go to sleep.” – David J. Norton, LPC
  • “Getting good sleep can be a challenge for many, yet sleep is truly a vital component to life.” – Megan MacCutcheon, LPC

 

Be Physically Active

 

As much as possible, find time to go to the gym or do your home exercises. Stop thinking that you are too busy with physical activities. If you do not change this mindset, there is a high chance that you will suffer from illnesses or sicknesses. Remember that exercising will not only health you prevent from encountering medical issues. At the same time, it can also improve your mental awareness. When this happens, you can get a guarantee that your life will be a lot better.

 

Avoid Stress At All Times

 

Do you know the things or people that continue to add stress in your life? Make sure to avoid them as soon as possible. Do not wait before it is too late for you to get out of a compromising situation. Remind yourself that you are absolutely in control of everything that is happening in your life. Never let anyone or anything cause you stress. Take note that too much stress or anxiety can affect your physical health and mental health. If you keep on entertaining negative emotions in your life, you may end up getting depressed. Depression can make you feel down most of the time. Aside from this, it can also make you want to harm yourself at times.

 

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Take care of your overall health while you are still young. Always prioritize self-care as it can offer you tons of benefits in the future.

 

What You Need To Know About Health Insurance

Getting health insurance at this time of your life has become a necessity. As much as possible, get the right insurance policy while you are still young and healthy. Keep in mind that no matter how fit you are, there is still a high possibility that you may encounter a medical condition. At the same time, even if you have all the money necessary for the treatment, the entire process can still drain your finances. Because of this, you must take time to get insurance.

 

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We understand that several people out there are not comfortable in getting health insurance. They think that the money to pay the premiums will just go to waste if they are not going to get sick. Some people also say that they are only attracting illnesses or diseases to come their way if they have insurance. As such, we are inclined to share some of the things that you must know about health insurance.

 

The Company

 

The first step that you must do is to research about the available insurance companies in your locality. Look for a company that has a good reputation in the community. Find time to search for one that can provide everything you need through its policy. You must look for the insurance provider that can instantly pay your claims whenever you need one. Otherwise, you may end up having problems in the future.

 

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The Deductible Amount

 

Just because you have health insurance does not mean that the insurance provider will pay everything for. Keep in mind that there are still expenses that may not be covered in the costs. It is best to discuss the terms and conditions with your insurance agent before getting a policy. If you are not sure with the information, do not hesitate to get a clarification from the agent.

 

The Online Account

 

Are you aware that several insurance companies are now embracing technology? Most of them already allow insurance principals to create an online account to access the details of the policy. Make sure that you enroll your account in the online system so that you can see everything in one portal. Most announcements or news by these insurance firms are also posted in the said portal. Getting an online account is essential these days, especially if you want to get updated instantly.

 

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The Payment Terms

 

The best thing about paying for insurance premiums is that they can be scheduled depending on your capacity to pay. Almost all insurance providers offer monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, or annual deadline for the premiums. You can discuss this with your insurance agent before finalizing the policy. These firms also provide a grace period wherein you can still pay the premium after the deadline.

 

What are you waiting for? Find the right insurance agent now so that you can get your policy. It is better to pay premiums now than drain up your savings for future health complications. Be prepared for what might happen in the future!

 

Check out these interesting comments from therapists and cousnelors:

  • “Establish regular and consistent times for going to bed and waking up. This helps regulate your internal clock..” – Megan MacCutcheon, LPC
  • “Mindfulness meditation practices are effective interventions, and sometimes for mild to moderate conditions—depression and anxiety—super-effective as front lines.” – Saundra Jain, MA, PsyD, LPC
  • “When we lose sight of our self-care practices, we can experience burn-out.” – Emily Griffiths, LPC

 

Tips In Finding The Right Insurance Agent For You

If there is one thing that you need to prioritize right now, it is finding the right insurance agent for you. Make sure that you have insurance that can take good care of you when you encounter health issues. As much as possible, take time to get health insurance while you are young. Keep in mind that the younger you get it, the more affordable the premium payments are. There are also many other benefits if you get your insurance from the right agent.

 

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As you probably noticed, the insurance industry is already saturated. Many companies are now offering several packages to their target clients. The question now is how you are going to find the best company that suits your needs. Of course, the first thing that you must do is to look into the best insurance agents in your local area. In this article, we are going to state or provide you with the list of tips to remember when searching for the right agent:

 

Ask For Referral

 

Do you have close friends or family members with insurance plans? Talk to these people and ask for recommendations from them. Do not hesitate to throw out all the questions that you can think about. If possible, ask about the details of their agents so that you can easily decide the right one to choose. Listen to their suggestion because they are the ones who have previous experiences with the agent.

 

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Talk To Several Agents

 

Before you decide on where to get your insurance, make sure that you spend time talking to several agents first. Do not rush the process of finding the right insurance agent for you. It takes a lot of time to understand the insurance policy as well as the rules and regulations that you need to follow. It requires an excellent agent to deliver the most convincing proposal. Keep on meeting agents until you find the best one.

 

Search For The Expert

 

Another way of searching for the best insurance agent is to use the availability of the Internet. All you have to do is to go online and read the recent news regarding the insurance industry. You will be amazed or surprised to find out that some several features or articles talk about the recent work of the expert agents. However, it is recommended to verify the source of information first before you believe it. Do not forget that some information on the Internet may be fabricated. Find time to check the authors and sources of the features.

 

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Now that you are aware of the persons to contact for your insurance needs, be sure to get one as soon as possible. Do not wait before it is too late. Remind yourself that health insurance is not an expense but an investment. It can offer you several benefits in the future, as long as you get it early. The first step is to talk or get in touch with the right agent.

Should I Really Be Insured For My Health?

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With the continuing cost of healthcare in America plus the ever-increasing incidence of health conditions, insurance these days is a grave need. Health insurance offers people a solid backup during emergencies, as health risks are part and parcel of life and are quite unpredictable. Of course, one doesn’t plan when he gets ill, but he can arm himself financially. Whether it’s the cost for a physician, therapist, or psychiatrist, purchasing health insurance is one of the most reliable ways to be financially ready against any sudden health hazards.

What Is It?

Health insurance is a category of insurance coverage that takes care of medical expenses that are billed to the insured. The insurance company can refund it, particularly if the insured individual has been billed for his injury or illness, and it may also pay the healthcare provider directly. There are various types of insurance, including individual and family health insurance and life-threatening illness insurance. Buying health insurance is a crucial aspect of financial and life planning.

As already mentioned, health insurance offers people with a reliable backup during medical emergencies. However, it is a sad truth that up until today, healthcare in the United States remains to be a costly issue. Reports reveal that India still has the lowest permeation of insurance company sales in the world. Fortunately, people like Ayushman Bharat Yojana are currently helping alleviate this problem in the said country, among other new initiatives.

There are more than enough reasons to purchase a health insurance policy. This is especially useful if you are supporting a family because you choose the family insurance option to better take care of their medical needs. But it is important to note that the good insurance policies that people have to buy vary per person and they also depend on several different factors.

Why Get Health Insurance?

Most of us buy an insurance plan because we don’t want to pay so much when we are admitted to the hospital. Some get a plan to protect their family in case of an emergency. Here is a list of some of the most common reasons why people decide to get health insurance.

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  • Fast-Increasing Medical Costs. Medical lab tests, diagnostic examinations, and other medical costs are rising every year. So when medical emergencies occur, families often exhaust most of their savings to pay up for the hospital bills. In India, residents primarily use their savings to deal with medical emergencies.
  • Change In Lifestyle. Our way of living has tremendously changed these days. We have become more assertive, curious, and willing to do anything to provide more for our families. Thus, we are more vulnerable to a range of health conditions, including mental illnesses. Also, our busy work schedules, the current pollution problem, and our inappropriate eating habits have further heightened the risk for us to develop an illness.
  • Pre And Post Hospital Expenditures. People pay so much for outpatient appointments and procedures, which are similarly rising every year. People have realized that it is crucial to purchase insurance plans because these plans do not only include admission and other hospital costs but also expenses incurred when their family members have bills at the outpatient department, which include diagnostic and laboratory examinations.
  • Supplementary Coverage. When you purchase health insurance, you are also entitled to vaccination and checkup costs, outpatient surgeries and procedures, and even ambulance privileges. These added benefits make medical emergencies relatively convenient compared to those who have no insurance plans.

When Can I Buy A Health Insurance?

This is a common question for most of us – when is the right age to buy an insurance plan? But the most straightforward answer would be that there is no right age to purchase one. However, if one decides to get insurance for himself early on, he will be paying less for it. This is because health insurance policies become more expensive as he increases in age, as his risk for developing a medical condition or getting injured is heightened. Thus, it is suggested that one gets a plan at an early age. He’ll be paying less and getting the same amount of premium.

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Vital Coverage Considerations

One of the recommendations from reputable insurance companies is to purchase a critical illness insurance plan. This type of plan offers a fixed payment for every circumstance that you diagnosed with a life-threatening condition that is included in the policy. You can choose to get critical illness coverage alone, or better yet you can get it as a rider when you get a regular health insurance plan.

 

 

3 Aspects Of Car Insurance You Need To Know About

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Considering you get into a car accident, it is not only the therapist’s fees that you will have to think about to deal with such a traumatic experience. If your vehicle became severely damaged, for instance, you may need thousands of dollars before a mechanic can return its original appearance. In case you have unfortunately hit another car, a property, or worse, people, the bills – or even legal charges – may pile up. Continue reading “3 Aspects Of Car Insurance You Need To Know About”

Beat Anxiety And Start Doing It Now

A lot of people struggle with anxiety, and most of them experience the same symptoms. There’s the feeling of nervousness, restless or tense. There’s an increased heart rate. There’s also trembling, sweating, and feeling tired or weak. There’s the problem on concentration as well as having a sense of impending danger.

In some cases, the symptoms of the mental condition vary from one person to another. But there are honestly a lot of things to do to get rid of it. Here are some of the lists that can get you started.

 

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According to Kathleen Smith, PhD, LPC, “While depression and anxiety are two different medical conditions, their symptoms, causes, and treatments can often overlap.”

Keep Yourself Busy All Day

I know the idea is entirely silly and simple, but it does work in mysterious ways. That’s because anxiety often lives and crawls up in the quiet. It usually appears when you have nothing to do but sit at home and mope about anything. It makes things worse especially when you opt to think about things around you such as your daily duties, social and relationship problems, and even personal issues. But if you’re going to do stuff the usual way and go about your day, you won’t have time to think about anxiety. In other words, if you have everything planned out and you’re making sure that you are continually working on productive activities back-to-back, then you’re going to get a hold of anxiety naturally.

Look For A Specific Diversion

Your mind can go out searching for more worries so you have to know the points where you may have to drop anxiety out of your system. Looking for a diversion is something that you can do no matter where or whenever you are. Since you never know where and when anxiety may strike, this process can give you a heads up and keep stress and anxiety away for an extended period. If you find your mind is rambling, make sure to bring it back to the spot where you have to lock it in there. Some examples would be your focus on breathing, the focus on a thought about a particular happy scenario, as well as the focus on activities you are currently doing. By drawing your concentration to different stuff, your anxiety eventually diminishes.

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“People who have depression are actually quite resilient,” said Mullen, PsyD, LMFT.

Find Time To Exercise

Yes, you probably heard it a lot of times, but it does work perfectly with anxiety. It doesn’t have to be that extreme though. You can have a 30-minute walk; you can go for a run, try a jumping rope, maybe do some house chores, or take your dog outside. There are tons of things that you can do to exert physical energy to help reduce anxiety. You only need to have an outlet for the pent up energy so you can bring the mental condition down. Since exercise releases good and useful brain chemicals, you can potentially secure a proper brain function away from mental health issues.

Talk To Someone

One of the most significant ways to get rid of anxiety is phoning a friend. It is essential to connect and talk with people all the time. It’s a significant move to tell other people in your life how you currently feel, what you are presently experiencing, and what thoughts are crawling up in your head.  It can also help you with what you are going through on that particular instance. When you take time to consider listening, sharing, and exchanging ideas, you’ll never have to worry about getting anxiety. Reaching out to people is so soothing that it removes you from an emotional and mental dilemma.

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According to Laura Strom, LMFT, “Life can often be unpredictable and stressful.”

Seek For Professional Help

There are instances that anxiety can entirely become a pain in the ass. That whatever you do, there seem no escape from the mental illness even if you are trying so hard to help yourself. So with that, seeking professional advice is necessary. Yes, some tips may work for some occasions, but also some of them don’t guarantee a full mental health recovery. Seeing a psychiatrist can be beneficial because they can offer help in medication along with therapeutic processes. They can assist you from making steps towards your recovery so you can put things in place again.

If you are struggling with anxiety, don’t delay actions in solving it. Start working on your recovery as soon as possible.

The Secret To Achieving Pure Bliss

Everyone wants to live a happy life – one where everything seems to be in order or everyone seems to be nice. It is safe to state that many people work hard for the sole purpose of achieving pure bliss or ultimate happiness. While every one of us knows what happiness feels like, each of us can have different views on how we define it. Your satisfaction does not necessarily mean that it is also how other people view it.

 

According to Marni Goldberg, LMFT, LPCC, “Even though feeling disconnected from yourself is uncomfortable, frustrating and disorienting, the good news is that there are many ways to reconnect.”

 

Consider yourself lucky because, for today, we are going to share some exclusive tips on how you can achieve or accomplish pure bliss in your life. Make sure to familiarize yourself with these practical ways that can help you reach your goal.

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Let Go Of Negative Emotions

Learn how to distinguish negative emotions from the positive ones. Of course, you need to get rid of the negative feelings as well as thoughts in your life. The more you have negativity within you, the more you attract adversity. If this continues to happen, there is a high possibility that you will be in a lousy mood, act grumpy in front of others or feel discontentment with everything that you have.

 

On the topic of work-related stress, David W. Ballard, PsyD, MBA said “Change is inevitable in organizations, and when it happens, leadership often underestimates the impact those changes have on employees”

 

Practice Gratitude

Make it a habit of appreciating all the blessings that you have in your life. Learn how to master the art of being thankful for every high thing that you encounter. You will be amazed at how doing this matter can improve your life. What you need to do is to get used to saying “thank you” when someone does something great. Another option is to keep a “thank you” or gratitude journal where you can jot down the reasons for being grateful.

 

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Be Physically Active

Engage in physical activities that will not only improve your stamina but also make you feel great. Take note that the human body produces happy hormones, called dopamine, after a quick workout or exercise session. Do not worry because you are not required to exercise for hours every day. Even thirty minutes or one hour is already enough to do your daily workout routine or a simple morning jog.

 

Ari Tuckman, PsyD said “Get to bed earlier tonight Sleep is “an obvious but often overlooked” strategy.

Hang Out With Friends

Be a friendly person by going out with the people who matter in your life. Take some time off from work or business. Instead, spend quality time with the people who matter in your life. However, do not forget the most crucial thing that you must always remember and is to be careful in connecting with others. Remember that their vibe can affect your vibe. Never get in touch with them if they can only cause sadness.

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Conclusion

Achieving pure bliss is a reward that you can give to yourself. Make sure to observe or follow the tips mentioned above. It is going to be challenging in the beginning, but once you master it, everything will be okay. Do not hesitate to seek professional help if you believe that there is a deeper reason why you still feel depressed or stressed even if you make an effort to defeat these negative emotions.

 

Counseling 101: High Functioning Depression

Depression tremendously affects people’s lives by minimizing their interest in everything. It creates a negative impact on social interaction with family and friends as well. Fortunately, not all depression locks people in isolation. There are some cases that it leaves people active even if they are experiencing the mental disorder. And as soon as they’re done with their everyday responsibilities, they withdraw themselves from everything around them. This scenario is what they call high functioning depression.

Laura Strom, LMFT said “Clinical depression” is a term often used to refer to one or more types of serious depressive disorders that may occur with or without the presence of a specific stressor.”

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Continue reading “Counseling 101: High Functioning Depression”