Mental Illness and Stress: A Vicious Circle
HealthyPlace Mental Health Newsletter
Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:
- Mental Illness and Stress: A Vicious Circle
- Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
- From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
- Stand Up for Mental Health
- Latest Mental Health New
Mental Illness and Stress: A Vicious Circle
Living with a mental illness can be stressful. While each mental illness is unique, they all share some common elements. They are complex illnesses of the brain that impact the whole person: thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. No wonder, then, that mental illness is almost synonymous with the word stress. (Take our online stress test.)
As if the disruptive activity in the brain weren't stressful enough, life itself is full of stressors. Unfortunately, just as mental illness contributes to stress, stress can exacerbate mental illness. This, in turn, increases stress, which again causes mental health symptoms to worsen.
Does this mean that people with mental illness are doomed to lead a life filled with stress and mental health challenges? Absolutely not! There are ways to manage stress and mental illness.
- Practice self-care by eating well, taking breaks, and getting enough sleep
- Notice what you're experiencing (thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and sensations in your body)
- Step aside from what you notice and question it (for example, are your current stressed-out thoughts realistic; are your emotions too strong for the situation?), then keep reminding yourself that you are separate from these thoughts and emotions
- Soothe yourself by doing something you enjoy
Related Articles Dealing with Mental Illness and Stress
- The Different Kinds of Stress
- Understanding Stress and Mental Illness (video)
- Overwhelmed by Stress and Anxiety? How to Deal with It
- Stressed Out? Connecting Stress to Mental Illness
- Relaxation Techniques for Relief of Anxiety and Stress
- School Anxiety and Stress
Your Thoughts
Today's Question: Today’s Question: When stress makes your mental illness symptoms worse, how do you deal with it? We invite you to participate by commenting and sharing your feelings, experiences and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page and on the HealthyPlace Google+ page.
Share our Stories
At the top and bottom of all our stories, you'll find social share buttons for Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest and other social sites. If you find a particular story, video, psychological test or other HealthyPlace feature helpful, there's a good chance others in need will too. Please share.
We also get many inquiries about our linking policy. If you have a website or blog, you can link to any page on the HealthyPlace website without asking us beforehand.
Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:
- Intense Anxiety and the Highly Sensitive Person
- Dealing With PTSD Symptoms After Leaving Abuse
- What is Dependent Personality Disorder?
If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.
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From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.
- Undiagnosed Trauma Can Lead To Substance Abuse (Mental Health Treatment Circle Blog)
- Social Anxiety, Jumping to Conclusions, and Peace of Mind (Anxiety-Schmanxiety Blog)
- Don’t Let Sleep Deprivation Keep You from Bliss (Living A Blissful Life Blog)
- The Struggle of Mental Health in Your 20s (Mental Health For The Digital Generation Blog)
- When Bipolar Ruins Your Vacation (Breaking Bipolar Blog)
- Three PTSD Myths: Ending Stigma of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Recovering From Mental Illness Blog)
- Debunking the Myth of Mental Weakness in PTSD Sufferers (Trauma! A PTSD Blog)
- Practicing Self-Compassion Can Increase Self-Esteem (Building Self-Esteem Blog)
- Recovering From Narcissistic Abuse Without Validation (Your Mental Health Blog)
- Mental Health Stigma Teaches That Mental Illnesses Are Rare (Surviving Mental Health Stigma Blog)
- Creative Coping Skill For Binge Eating Disorder: Art Therapy (Binge Eating Recovery Blog)
- Forming Relationships With Alters in Dissociative Identity Disorder (Dissociative Living Blog)
- The Dangers of Anxiety-Related Sleep Deprivation (Treating Anxiety Blog)
- Mothering With An Invisible Mental Illness (Mental Illness in the Family Blog)
- Forming Healthy Relationships During Mental Illness Recovery (Relationships and Mental Illness Blog)
- Talking to Children About Addiction and Recovery (Debunking Addiction Blog)
- Why My Schizophrenic Psychotic Episode Still Matters (Creative Schizophrenia Blog)
Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.
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Stand Up for Mental Health
Thousands Have Joined the Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign
But we still need you. Let others know there's no shame in having depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, trichotillomania, OCD, ADHD, schizophrenia or any other mental illness.
Join the Stand Up for Mental Health campaign. Put a button on your website or blog (buttons for family members, parents, mental health professionals and organizations too). We also have covers for Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
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Latest Mental Health News
These stories and more are featured on our mental health news page:
- Study Identifies Roadblocks To Mental Health Services For Adolescents Affected By Bullying
- Children In Foster Care Three Times More Likely To Have ADHD Diagnosis
- Skin-To-Skin Contact After Birth Reduces Stress Levels For Mothers
- People With Sedentary Lifestyles Are At Increased Risk Of Developing Kidney Disease
- Stroke In Marijuana Users Linked To Arterial Stenosis
- Lack Of Face-To-Face Contact Almost Doubles Depression Risk For Older Adults
- Oxytocin Has Social, Emotional And Behavioral Benefits In Young Kids With Autism
That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network (like facebook, stumbleupon, or digg) you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week:
APA Reference
(2015, October 26). Mental Illness and Stress: A Vicious Circle, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, November 2 from https://www.healthyplace.com/other-info/mental-health-newsletter/mental-illness-and-stress-a-vicious-circle
