We at Behavioral Health hope you had a restful and pleasant holiday. We recognize that this holiday may have been challenging for folks, especially having spent a large part of this year making sacrifices due to the pandemic. Having just celebrated Thanksgiving, we wanted to send out a couple of reminders on one of the best, most basic, but sometimes hardest to do ways to manage that stress – Self Care!

1. Sleep. You probably know that sleep and mental health affect one another. We cannot function properly without sleep! If we do not get enough sleep, we are more likely to feel negative when something goes wrong and less likely to feel good when something goes well or overall. Emphasizing sleep and perhaps trying to get a little extra respite might be an excellent place to start.  Having trouble sleeping is a characteristic symptom of stress. Look for emails to come on ways to improve your sleep!

2. Exercise. It is easy to fall out of exercise routines with the distractions of holidays, the weather turning colder, and changes to your exercise routines pandemic related. It is important to remember that exercise has great benefits for both mental and physical health. You do not necessarily have to be super athletic to reap the benefits of some exercise routine. Many folks turn to YouTube for in-home exercises, including things like yoga, HIIT, and Zumba. Most important is finding something that works for you. You can look forward to tips and resources in further emails!

3. Socialization/Loneliness. Many folks are feeling lonely or more socially isolated due to the pandemic and/or having problems with connecting/ not connecting with friends and family members. One of the best things you can do to combat this is to make purposeful efforts to reach out to others. Sending an email or text or calling a loved one can be a great way to show you are thinking of them. Additionally, many are having difficulty navigating the emotional waters when friends and family members don’t share the same thoughts of COVID safety as you do.

As the holiday season continues, we hope that our tips provide benefits. Please look for more guidance from our behavioral health team in the coming weeks for additional support and recommendations to juggle the holidays’ stressors.