Managing Your Anxiety about Swine Flu

Below is an article published by the American Psychological Association about how to manage your anxiety about swine flu.  While we have no confirmed cases in Oregon (yet) remember to frequently wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough, and if you become ill stay home or go to the ER if you suspect you have the flu.

Managing your Anxiety About Swine Flu

The sudden and near-constant stream of news reports about swine flu can cause anyone to feel anxious and worried. These reactions are understandable because there are unknowns about the spread and severity of the illness. Even during this period of uncertainty, you can take several steps to manage your anxiety and have a positive outlook.

Keep things in perspective. Government officials need to prepare for worst-case scenarios in order to protect the public. The public, however, does not need to expect the worst. To date, the cases that have been identified in the United States are not severe. Americans who have contracted the illness have recovered.

Get the facts. Gather information that will help you accurately determine your risk so that you can take reasonable precautions. Find a credible source you can trust such as news from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (http://cdc.gov/swineflu/), a local or state public health agency, or local elected official such as a state governor. This is a rapidly evolving situation, so gather information at regular intervals in order to help you distinguish facts from rumors. Be wary of unsubstantiated rumors, which can be upsetting and may deter you from taking appropriate action.

Maintain a hopeful outlook. Public health agencies around the globe are working on identifying outbreaks of the illness and to ensure the availability of the best medical care to those who are sick. Throughout the centuries, people have survived difficult life circumstances and gone on to live fulfilling and productive lives. There is no reason why this situation cannot be similar. Limit worry and agitation by lessening the time you and your family spend watching or listening to upsetting media coverage.

Stay healthy. A healthy lifestyle—including proper diet and exercise—is your best defense against any disease threat. Adopting hygienic habits such as washing your hands regularly will also minimize your exposure to all types of germs and disease sources. A healthy body can have a positive impact on your thoughts and emotions, enabling you to make better decisions and deal with the flu’s uncertainties.

Build resilience. Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, threats or significant sources of stress. Draw on skills you have used in the past that have helped you to manage life’s adversities and use those skills to help you manage your emotions during this challenging time. See APA’s Road to Resilience brochure.

Have a plan. Think about how you might respond if swine flu were discovered in your area. You may want to stock up on non-perishable foods in case officials recommend staying home, explore options for working from home, and caring for sick family members, and establish an emergency family communication plan. Explore how you might spend your time if schools or businesses are closed. Working out some of these scenarios in advance can lessen your anxiety.

Communicate with your children. Discuss swine flu with honest and age- appropriate information. If your children have concerns, addressing those together may ease their anxiety and distress. Parents can also help allay distress by focusing children on routines and schedules that remain unchanged despite any changes due to swine flu preparations. Remember that children will observe adults behaviors and emotions for cues on how to manage their own emotions during this time.

Keep connected. Maintaining social networks can foster a sense of normality, and provide valuable outlets for sharing feelings and relieving stress. If officials have recommended limiting your social contact to contain an outbreak, you can stay connected via e-mail and telephone.

Seek additional help. If you have intense feelings of anxiety or hopelessness or are having trouble performing your job or other daily activities, a licensed mental health professional such as a psychologist can help you develop an appropriate strategy for moving forward. You can find psychologists near you by contacting your state psychological association or through APA’s psychologist locator.

A special thank you to: H. Katherine O'Neill, PhD; Ester Cole, PhD; and John R. Tassey, PhD for their assistance in preparing this document.

© 2009 American Psychological Association

When No Means Yes

Do you hate to say 'no' to others?  

Do you think that by saying 'no' others will get angry or upset with you?

They might get upset, but...have you ever had a time when you said 'yes' but you meant 'no' and later, when you couldn't come through for the person, they got upset with you?  Or, you said 'yes' but you meant 'no' and later realized that you didn't have time for what YOU needed to do?

Saying 'yes' when you mean 'no' drains your energy.  It causes people to take advantage of you and takes away your personal power.  If you can't say 'no', then other people have control over you, your time, and your energy.  Your life is not your own.

Saying what you mean is being truthful.  And, being truthful gives you a solid foundation to stand on.  Saying 'yes' when you mean 'no', puts you on a foundation of sand.  The sand will shift, you will lack integrity, and next thing you know, you will be in one of those situations (again?) where someone is upset.  Either your friend is upset because you can't do what you promised, or you are upset, because keeping your word means you sacrifice something of importance to you.  

If you repeatedly sacrifice what is important to you just because someone asked you to do them a favor, resentment can build and you may end up sacrificing the relationship.  How's that for an undesireable outcome?  You said 'yes' to keep the peace but in reality you jeopardized the relationship.

It is hard to say 'no' but when we do it, it sends the message that we are taking care of ourselves.  When we take care of ourselves, we are better friends, family members, partners, and co-workers.  It actually makes us more dependable.  

When you say what you mean, saying 'yes' is a great feeling.  

Live Healthy,

Julie

If That's All It Takes

After reading my last post Steps to Success, I bet you are thinking, "It sounds so easy."  If it was so easy then why don't people succeed?  It has to do with the need to avoid pain.  Think about what success is to you.  Is it losing weight, quitting smoking, exercising more, earning more money?  What stands between you and getting your desires?  Is it the pain of...not having your favorite foods, craving cigarettes, exercising, working harder?

We are all driven to avoid pain.  If we have pain associated with the steps it takes to get what we want, then we won't get it.  We will sabotage it.  

The trick is to associate pleasure to what we want, rather than pain.  We need a bigger reason to go for it, despite being uncomfortable.  Instead of focusing on how painful the journey is, find ways to make it fun and pleasurable.  

I recommend writing out what you want and why you want it.  Then read it everyday.  Stay focused on what you want and all the good that will come to you when you get it.  It will make the journey to success a whole lot easier.

Live Healthy,

Julie

The Steps to Success

Ever wonder how successful people get successful?  It isn't talent, it's persistence.  It is focusing on what you want.  The details of each success story are unique but the framework is the same.   

1.  Know your outcome

2.  Make decisions and take action

3.  Know whether your actions are getting you the results you want

4.  If you aren't getting the results you want, change the actions until you get your results

If what you want is within the realm of possibility, then you can achieve it.  It isn't a matter of whether you have enough time, energy, money, connections, or know how...it's a matter of being persistent, going for what you want, and being flexible with what you are willing to try.  

Watch Randy Pausch's video on the Last Lecture or read his book.  See what you can achieve.

Live Healty,

Julie

Keeping Your New Year's Resolution

To keep or not to keep, that is the question. Many of us (me included) see the start of a new year as a chance to start anew. We make promises that we are going to work harder, keep our houses cleaner, save more money, lose weight, exercise, stop smoking, etc, etc, etc. Any one who has set a New Year's Resolution has found that keeping those promises to ourselves is very very difficult, if not nearly impossible.

Why don't we keep our New Year's Resolutions? Why is it so difficult?

The best answer to that question is always, life gets in the way. It is difficult to do things differently. When we get stressed, we revert to behaviors we know best, which include the behaviors we are trying to change.

How can you set yourself up for keeping your resolutions?

There are three things you can do when you set your resolution that will help improve your ability to keep it.

First, figure out why you want to change. Get very clear on your purpose for making the change and then make a list of all the advantages of changing. Read your list every day.

Second, find a buddy who will help keep you accountable, get their cooperation, and then talk with them regularly about how well you are doing. Be sure to tell them when it is hard and when you slip up. They can help encourage you and give you suggestions for "getting back on the wagon."

Third, if you slip up, don't think you have failed. Changing behavior is difficult and getting it perfect right away is nearly impossible. When we are working on changing our behavior, there are many times we will unconsciously go back to old behavior. It is normal to do that. If it happens, notice that it happened, talk to your buddy about how to avoid slipping in that situation in the future, and get back to your new behavior.

You can do it!

I'd like to hear about your resolutions. Please write me a comment. Let me know what your resolution is and how you plan to keep it.

Have a great holiday season and prosperous new year!
Julie

The Power of Negative Thinking

Here is a link to an article that got me thinking. I love ideas that get me thinking. They are unique or different enough that I don't feel a need to defend against them. Often they shift my view just a little.

Here is the link: The Power of Negative Thinking

The idea is that the power of positive thinking isn't "all it's cracked up to be." As Ms. Ehrenreich (the author of the article) writes,

... the idea is to firmly believe that you will get what you want, not only because it will make you feel better to do so, but because 'visualizing' something--ardently and with concentration--actually makes it happen. You will be able to pay that adjustable-rate mortgage or, at the other end of the transation, turn thousands of bad mortgages into giga-profits if only you believe that you can.

But she isn't promoting positive thinking. She is pointing out that putting blinders on, whether being too positive or too negative has its downside. Towards the end of the article she notes that "consistent pessimism can be just as baseless and deluded as its opposite."

She has a point. When we are driving, we don't just focus on our goal, ignoring the twists, turns, and obstacles on the way. Instead, we have a plan for how to get where we want to go and we keep our eyes open for dangers on the road ahead. Our goal is to arrive safely and on time.

Let's get real. Don't focus on your faults or the problems, and don't ignore them either. Acknowledge the problems, do what is necessary to compensate, and go for your goal.

Live Healthy. Be Healthy.
Julie

Strategies for eating less

We all do it--we eat for many reasons other than because we are hungry. Unfortunately, the unintended side-effect of eating for other reasons is usually weight gain. Look around, two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. So, how can you eat less and (hopefully) start to lose some of those extra pounds? Here are some suggestions:

Identify times when you eat, but aren't hungry. You might start by keeping a food log for a few days and note your emotions and the situations when you ate. If you find that you eat when you are upset, depressed, anxious, bored, or tired, you've discovered one factor contributing to overeating. Do you eat when you are with others? Eating is usually a social activity and when we are in the presence of others we may not realize how much we eat. We may also eat the foods that everyone else is eating to fit in, even if that is not what we want.

Know your palatability scores for foods. Palatability is how good the food tastes to you and it changes over time. Have you ever noticed that the first bite of dessert is often the best bite and by the time you finish the dessert it doesn't taste as good. Palatability also changes for a food if you eat it a lot. For example, if you have had macaroni and cheese everyday for the last week, you probably wouldn't be that excited to have it again. If you choose foods that are in the middle of your palatability rating, you will be satisfied sooner and have less desire to eat more later.

Establish a routine for what to eat and when. By having a routine you take away the risk that you will make an unhealthy choice because the choice was made for you when you established the routine.

Make a list of healthy food choices ahead of time. It can be hard to make a healthy choice when you are hungry. If you have a list of healthy choices ready for when need to make a good decision, your chances of making a good decision improve greatly.

Once you identify factors that contribute to eating when you aren't hungry, you can use some of these strategies to make healthier choices. Remember, that changing old patterns is hard and takes time. If you make a mistake, no big deal. Just, recommit to your goals and make a plan to keep you on track.

Live Healthy. Be Healthy.
Julie