Stress

April is National Stress Awareness Month. Stress is something that impacts all of us. In fact, it’s virtually impossible to go through life without some sort of stress each day.
April is Stress Awareness month. Everyone experiences stress, we just all experience it differently. Stress is the reaction to certain situations when a person feels anxious or threatened. It’s an "in the moment" reaction that can have a lasting impact on your body.
Science has made some incredible impacts in being able to make this pandemic more bearable. We have come a long way since 2020 with vaccines and a greater understanding of how we can safely navigate and reengage with each other.
As a DBT therapist who leads three skills groups at Hartstein Psychological in addition to seeing individual clients, I have taught the Distress Tolerance ACCEPTS skills too many times to count throughout my career and have used them even more in my own life (they work!).
Burnout is a state of emotional, mental and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. It is most commonly associated with work-related stressors, however, it can also appear in other areas of life such as school, care-taking, relationships and parenting.
Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by an emotion and as a result, acted on that emotion, only to regret it later? I know I have. We’ve all experienced a moment when we've responded with an emotionally-charged text or email, later wishing we had never pressed send.
As life would have it, I often find myself moving at 1,000 miles per hour. I get into a chaotic routine of going from one thing to the next. Each day becomes the same multitasking-mess, where my body is in one place, checking things off my to-do list, while my head is in another, making sure I’m on to something else. Sound familiar?
The holiday season can bring up a plethora of emotions for all of us and these emotions can be positive, negative, and everything in between. All these emotions, combined with seasonal triggers, can make for some very overwhelming thoughts and can leave us prone to mood swings and emotional dysregulation. While people mean well this time of year, hearing "Happy Holidays!" over and over again can feel a bit invalidating or can invoke feelings like sadness or disappointment if life hasn’t felt so happy lately.
Summer is officially in the rearview and fall is here. For some people, this elicits excitement over sweater weather and pumpkin spice everything. For others, it means dread over figuring out plans for the holidays. Anxiety over impending events (especially those that are still up in the air), is completely normal.
Don’t let the weather fool you – spring is finally here! What comes to mind at the start of this new season? Sunshine, flowers, the outdoors…CLEANING! Spring cleaning, in the traditional sense, refers to the yearly practice of thoroughly cleaning a home. Ridding the home of all the excess, the filth, the impurities can feel extremely satisfying and the physical act of cleaning can be therapeutic, as well. While this deep cleanse can require hard work and sufficient time, the final product is typically well worth it.
There is no better time than today to adopt a self-care practice. Science shows taking time to tune in to your own needs leads to emotional stability, a stronger immune system and better relationships with others. Many people forget to take care of themselves before helping others, but it is vital. In the time it takes you to scroll through your social media feed or read an article about a celebrity, you could have been practicing self-care (and yes, sometimes trashy magazines count as a self-care practice).
Radical acceptance is a skill we teach in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that aims to help you move from anger and pain to acceptance of the realities of life. It is the key to feeling more in control of your emotions. We all face situations in life that interfere with our mental health and overall happiness and learning how to radically accept them can make a profound difference in your life.