mental health

Are you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted by your job? Do you need help feeling motivated or enthusiastic about the work you do? It could be that you’re experiencing burnout.  

Burnout can occur when you feel like you’re stuck in an endless cycle of stress and exhaustion without any relief.  

 And while it’s important to show dedication to your work or other commitments, ensuring you’re taking care of yourself is also essential. So it’s important to pay attention and take action if you are in danger of burnout. 

Read on to find out more about burnout and how to manage it!

Constant Fatigue and Exhaustion

If you’re having difficulty concentrating or making decisions, or if your emotions are running high and are difficult to manage, this could be a sign of emotional exhaustion.

This is one of the most common signs of burnout. If you’re feeling constantly overwhelmed, exhausted, and drained, it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate your situation. This could be a sign that you’re pushing yourself too hard and it’s time for a break.

Loss of Motivation and Enthusiasm

Another common sign of burnout is a loss of interest in activities that used to bring you joy. 

You may find that you’re no longer as interested in hobbies or social activities that you used to enjoy. 

If you lack interest, take time to do something that brings you joy, such as reading a book, getting a massage, or taking a walk. It’s also important to engage with friends and family. Spending time with those who make you feel supported can be incredibly beneficial in helping to fight off burnout. 

Frustration and Other Negative Emotions

It’s normal to feel frustrated or cynical when things seem to be out of your control. But if you’re feeling like this all the time, it may be a sign that something else is going on. 

It’s essential to take the time to identify the cause of your negative emotions and make necessary changes that can help you manage your burnout and prevent it from getting worse. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your work, take time to make changes to manage your stress. If you’re feeling stuck in a rut, take some time to try something new or adjust your routine.

Are you constantly feeling the need to control every aspect of your life? 

It’s natural to want to be in the know and in charge, but trying to do so can lead to negative emotions if things don’t go the way you planned. 

On the flip side, letting go of the reins can be a challenge, but it can bring inner peace, freedom, and joy. So, why not give up control and increase your happiness? 

In this blog, you will see how letting go of control can help you break the control cycle and find true happiness.  

You Will Feel Calm And Relaxed

Trying to control every little detail can be an overwhelming experience. So why not try surrendering and incorporating practices that help you feel relaxed and calm? 

This could mean taking a few minutes each day to meditate or simply taking a walk in nature and enjoying the outdoors. Taking the time to relax and unwind can help to reduce stress and anxiety and can help to improve your overall well-being.

The next time you feel the urge to control everything, take a deep breath and let it go. You may just find that you feel better! 

You Will Be Prepared for Anything

If you want to live a stress-free life, it’s important to let go of the need for certain outcomes. Rather than trying to control the situation, try to simply accept whatever life throws your way. 

By letting go, you are allowing yourself to go with the flow. This way, you won’t be disappointed if something doesn’t turn out the way you expected, and you won’t be overly attached to the outcome.

You Will Create More Meaningful Connections

When you try to control every aspect of your life, it can lead to being overly critical of yourself and everyone else. 

However, when you let go of that need to control, you can start to form deeper connections with those around us. This is because you’re no longer tying your love and acceptance to others.

Allowing others to simply be who they are, without your interference, and not expecting a particular outcome from every situation will allow you to love more openly.  

How often do you lean into your strengths? It’s time to tap into your potential and embrace the strengths you possess. Everyone has areas they excel, but the first step to fully accepting your strengths is by taking notice. of them. That’s how you can turn your strengths into superpowers.  Using self-awareness to your advantage allows you to pursue the opportunities you want out of life. You may even have strengths and talents that are waiting to be developed even further.  Here are some ways to keep the momentum up and recognize your power. 

Define Your Strengths

When you think about your strengths, what qualities come to mind? You may be a great listener, a wonderful cook, have an eye for design, or are a calming presence. There are no limits to your strengths – that’s why accepting them is so important. It’s your strengths that are a motivating force to achieve the goals you set for yourself. 

Put Your Heart In It

When your “heart is in” something, that means you’re putting your all into it.  When you utilize your strengths in different scenarios, it can be beneficial for a positive outcome. It’s with energy, confidence, and enthusiasm that you can take it to the next level.

So that job position you want or the project you’re hoping to finish can all come together when you play to your strengths.

Let Yourself Grow

Giving yourself the room to learn and grow can help to strengthen the skills you excel at.  After all, the more you practice your skills, the more you develop them. That comes by allowing yourself to try new things and being open to new possibilities.

Even if there is a skill you want to improve on, it can become your strength. When you put your mind to it, anything can happen.

By: Amalia Coxe-Trieger  

This is the first in a multi-part series looking critically at weight loss, dieting, and the cultural, social, political, and economic landscapes that have shaped our ideas about weight and bodies.

I write this from my perspective as a multi racial women, who experiences chronic health issues, and who has benefitted from the privileges of a thin body, and a white passing body, among others. I am indebted to the many pioneers of the fat acceptance and body neutrality movements, with particular gratitude for the Black and Trans women, and others holding marginalized identities who have incubated, enlivened, and sustained this work, often at great personal and professional risk. Thank you.

The Big Fat Lie

Would you sign up for swimming lessons if 90% of the class failed to learn to swim? You’d probably, and correctly, conclude that there is something wrong with the method of teaching.

Let’s say you did sign up for the lessons, because all your friends were signing up, and when you got to the pool, there wasn’t any water in it. You practiced holding your breath, and moving your arms, and sitting on the edge of the empty pool kicking your legs, but at the end of 10 weeks, like most of the other students, you hadn’t learned to swim. Would you blame yourself?

I hope the answer is an obvious “no”. How can you reasonably be expected to swim without water? What I’m describing with the swimming analogy is the trick the weight loss industry uses to convince people to buy into an idea or product that mostly fails, and to blame themselves when that inevitable failure occurs. And it’s incredibly effective. According to Business Wire, the global weight management market was worth $470 billion in 2021.

They use a lot of that money to convince people that losing weight and keeping it off is not only attainable, but will make them happier, healthier, and more successful.  The research simply does not support this. Studies have shown for decades that the failure rate of intentional weight loss attempts is high, with some estimates as high as 95%. Here is a link with more information, and cited sources for the studies that have documented this astounding failure rate.

When you start looking closely at the research conducted on weight loss, you’ll see the same basic failure to meet even the baseline requirements for sound methodology, and the same conflicts of interest over and over again.

The most common pattern in intentional weight loss is that people lose weight initially, (the greatest amount of weight losses are typically around the 6 month mark), and gain it back within 2- 5 years. Yet many studies claiming to show “long term weight loss” end before the two year mark.

There is also the issue of research findings that completely ignore the number of study participants who drop out of weight loss trials, which is high. These tend to be people who aren’t “successful” at losing weight, and therefore, if included in the study results would decrease the success rate of the treatment.

Most weight-loss studies don’t include control groups of non-dieters for comparison, and these studies are generally based on self-reports of weight, which tend to overestimate weight lost.

A remarkable number of this misleading research is tied to the pharmaceutical industry and companies that have a vested interest in selling weight loss programs and products. This is just a brief dip into this topic.

Validity of claims made in weight management research: a narrative review of dietetic articles

If dieting and other weight loss interventions worked, the industry wouldn’t be growing at the rate it is. Rather, the diet industry would be obsolete because everyone would be thin, especially Oprah! Reagan Chastain, a researcher, writer, and multi- certified health & fitness pro, puts it this way-

“The industry is based on a repeat business model, in which they take credit for the first part of the biological response to attempted weight loss (where people lose a little weight short-term) and then they get us to blame ourselves (and get everyone else to blame us) for the second part of the biological response (where we gain the weight back, often plus more.)”

So is there any good news to be gleaned from the abysmal failure of dieting and weight loss? Yes! All of this is helpful information to have if we hope to create a world where all bodies are valued, cared for, and treated with respect. In the following parts of this series we’ll explore why weight is not a good barometer of health, and why higher weight bodies are neither dangerous, in need of “fixing”, or a “drain on the system”. We’ll also look at the deeply racist history of dieting and the Western thin ideal. Stay tuned!

Further reading & resources:

Fearing the Black Body:  The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings

Belly Of The Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness, by Da’shaun Harrison

Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating by Christy Harrison  (this author has a great newsletter and podcast as well)

Weight and Healthcare Newsletter

November 20th marks Transgender Day of Remembrance, a time to commemorate those in the transgender community who have faced stigma and discrimination.

This day first started in 1999 as a time to honor the life of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed. Advocate Gwendolyn Anne Smith held a vigil to memorialize her, which began an important tradition that continues to this day.

Now Transgender Day of Remembrance signifies a time to come together and remember the transgender people who have lost their lives due to violence.

We can offer our support, understanding and compassion to those who continue to struggle to live their truth. By doing our part to educate ourselves and advocate for transgender rights, we can work to make a difference. 

On this day, we can also participate by attending vigils or events in our area, listening to stories told by transgender voices, and donating to charities that support those in the LGBTQ+ community. 

To learn more, check out the resources below. 

Transgender Resources

Tips For Allies of Transgender People

Transgender Day of Remembrance Resources

On November 19th, we can recognize International Men’s Day as a time to emphasize the importance of men’s well-being. This day was first created in 1999 by Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh to honor his father’s passing. Men’s issues are not one size fits all, and there are many different paths for how to show up as a man in this world. International Men’s day is meant to highlight…

• the mental and physical social issues faced by men 
• the role that men can play as active parents
• men as positive agents of change in society; role modelling inclusive behaviors

International Men’s Day is also a great opportunity to focus on gender equality. We can all do our part to inspire togetherness by empathizing and understanding another person’s point of view. 

We can continue to encourage those in our community to the values, character, and responsibilities we all can carry when wanting to make a change. Together, we can work toward strengthening our relationships and supporting one another. 

This is a chance for us to lead by example and make impactful contributions. To learn more, we can watch videos, attend events, and recognize those in our community who are making a difference for the better. 

“We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill.” – Wangari Maathai

Check out the resources below to learn more. 

International Men’s Day

History Of International Men’s Day

Six Objectives Of International Men’s Day

Why International Men’s Day Is Important For Inclusive Cultures

As the year is coming to a close, we can reflect on the connections and relationships we’ve made – new and old. 

It’s also a great time to build deeper connections with the people in our lives or reach out to those we haven’t seen in a while. 

After all, there is power in togetherness. We can inspire more of it in our daily lives by participating in community activities, openly sharing with others, and checking in on loved ones.

Be Mindful

We can be more mindful in our every day with purposeful communication. This comes from actively listening, talking openly, and thinking about how we connect with the other person. 

When we spread mutual respect and caring, it inspires others to do the same. 

Value Time

Cherishing the time we spend with others means focusing on the here and now. We can shift our mindset to the present moment and savor the time we are able to share with peers, family, or friends. 

Living each moment intentionally allows us to value our time together.

Get Involved

Community building can come from doing activities together. Volunteering, participating in clubs, or spending time in a group setting can bring us closer together with the people around us.

Getting involved allows us to meet new people or spend more time with those we value in our lives. 

For more tips, check out the resources below.

Bringing People Together

7 Ways to Be More Inclusive in Your Everyday Life 

How to Bring People Together When Events Push Them Apart

By: Hailey Sullivan

Substance abuse continues to affect many lives. In the United States alone, 13.5% of the population was found to have overused drugs sometime in 2020. Meanwhile, at least 28.320 million Americans are dealing with alcoholism.

The common response to this is providing medical treatment. However, substance abuse is a problem that concerns not just the individual but the community. Others can be affected by living with someone diagnosed with substance abuse disorder (SUD). A 2017 report published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration titled “Children Living With Parents Who Have A Substance Use Disorder” supports this with a finding that parents with SUD are highly likely to neglect or abuse their children. Even more concerning is that the children are also predisposed to SUD, affecting future generations.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for substance abuse. Keep reading to understand why and how substance abuse is both a mental and social problem.

How is substance abuse a mental disorder?

SUD is characterized by the unrestrained use of prescription or illicit drugs, tobacco, and alcoholic drinks, as well as risky behavior like driving under the influence. This is because SUD alters an individual’s brain chemistry, resulting in poor judgment and impaired functioning in everyday life. To add to that, SUD patients may also be diagnosed with another mental disorder since both can be caused by similar genetics or environmental stressors.

These underscore the importance of mental health treatment for substance abuse. We discussed this in our article about the month celebrating mental health and addiction recovery. Even more importantly, we underscore that recovery should not be for the individual alone, but also the family and the community.

Why is substance abuse a social issue?

Substance abuse merits being called a social issue as SUD-caused poor judgment may affect the economic stability of an individual and their family. A 2022 study published in Clinical Therapeutics titled “The Drug Abuse Scourge and Food Insecurity: Outlining Effective Responses for an Underestimated Problem” stipulates that 70% of diagnosed addiction cases are correlated with food insecurity. Individuals with SUD are uninhibited from spending family money on obtaining substances. It was also previously mentioned that households affected by substance abuse often result in child neglect and abuse. Such cases may result in a child’s separation from their family, which spurs more social issues.

While a medical approach treats the ailments of substance abuse, a social approach deals with causes and effects beyond the individual. Doing so can help prevent substance abuse. As such, it is important to address substance abuse both as a medical and social problem.

What is being done to address substance abuse as a mental and social issue?

Conventional and research-backed treatments for substance abuse include detoxification. This aims to manage withdrawal symptoms as substances are kept away from the affected individual. There’s also the option of long-term stay rehabilitation centers, where those experiencing SUD can receive 24/7 support in following a structured treatment plan by specialists trained in clinical psychology. These experts are trained to diagnose and propose research-backed interventions based on observations of human behavior.

When it comes to dealing with substance abuse as a social issue, efforts are led by probation or correctional specialists. These professionals’ careers are backed in forensic psychology, equipping them with the critical thinking skills and perceptiveness necessary to create appropriate rehabilitation or transition plans. These plans carefully factor in the circumstances, preferences, and needs of each individual seeking support.

Beyond treatment and rehabilitation, concerned actors are currently looking to formulate effective, preventive solutions. incorporating substance abuse prevention into the educational curriculum alongside related efforts.

Substance abuse is an issue that concerns both the individual and society. A multidimensional overview of SUD’s medical and social aspects emphasizes that for long-term change, treatment must be accompanied by social initiatives.

On October 10th, we can recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day to honor their history and culture. 

This day was first known as Columbus Day, but in 1992, it became Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a sign of protest. The idea was first introduced in 1977 when the United Nations held a conference to address the discrimination against Native Americans, and it has shaped the day into what we know it to be now. 

Many remember the past 500 years of colonization that have led to the pain and trauma of Indigenous peoples’. 

According to Van Heuvelen from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, “It can be a day of reflection of our history in the United States, the role Native people have played in it, the impacts that history has had on Native people and communities, and also a day to gain some understanding of the diversity of Indigenous peoples.” 

As a community, we can take the time to read Indigenous literature, attend events, and watch relevant movies. Check out the resources below for more. 

What Is Indigenous Peoples’ Day?

Ideas to Honor Indigenous Peoples Day 2022

Rethinking How We Celebrate American History—Indigenous Peoples’ Day