{"id":2209,"date":"2020-01-01T17:59:25","date_gmt":"2020-01-01T17:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/?p=2209"},"modified":"2020-01-01T17:59:25","modified_gmt":"2020-01-01T17:59:25","slug":"6-tips-for-emotional-wellbeing-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/2020\/01\/6-tips-for-emotional-wellbeing-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"6 tips for emotional wellbeing in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2019\/12\/31\/792505428\/start-fresh-6-tips-for-mental-health-in-2020<\/a><\/p>\n

Cultivate joy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Feeling stressed? Just\u00a0eight techniques \u2014 a “buffet of life skills” \u2014 can make a significant improvement in well-being<\/a>, say scientists who taught the techniques to caregivers of people with dementia. After learning techniques such as how to keep a gratitude journal, for example, and how to quickly reframe negative experiences in a positive light \u2014 these family caregivers reported impressive decreases in both stress and anxiety.<\/p>\n

Prepare to fail. It’s part of succeeding<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you’re trying to get a new routine to stick \u2014 whether it’s getting more exercise, eating less sugar or learning to play the ukulele \u2014 scholars who study human behavior say\u00a0the key is to accept failure as a part of the process<\/a>. Expect that at some point you will mess up. And when that happens, don’t give in to the “what-the-heck” effect \u2014 the feeling that since you’ve missed one session, your whole plan is a bust. Just get back to taking steps toward your goal, and don’t beat yourself up.<\/p>\n

Help an anxious partner the right way<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can\u00a0support a partner who has an anxiety disorder<\/a>\u00a0without sinking yourself, say therapists:\u00a0First, don’t try to fix things immediately. Instead, acknowledge your loved one’s perspective. “You can move to logic, but not before the person feels like they’re not being judged and … misunderstood,” says licensed psychologist Carolyn Daitch. Learning how to gently maintain boundaries is important, too.<\/p>\n

Feeling extra angry? Get checked out for depression<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many patients \u2014 and doctors \u2014 associate depression with feelings of hopelessness, sadness and lack of motivation. But a growing number of psychiatrists say\u00a0depression is also behind some hypercritical tendencies and outbursts of anger<\/a>. The good news: This sort of irritability is responsive to counseling and medication.<\/p>\n

Redefine exercise: Move a little bit, often<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maria Godoy, one of NPR’s editors, learned to love exercise when she realized every little bit counts. “I reframed what I thought of as exercise,” she says. Vacuuming with gusto, taking the stairs \u2014 these\u00a0little bursts of movement throughout the day add up<\/a>, like pennies in a piggy bank.<\/p>\n

Take a minute today to consider your life’s purpose<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having a purpose in life seems to have a more powerful impact on decreasing a person’s risk of premature death than exercising regularly, quitting smoking or curbing your alcohol intake, research suggests. Maybe you find greatest meaning in guarding the environment, raising good children, making music or touching lives through your volunteer work. It doesn’t seem to matter what your life’s purpose is, a growing body of research suggests.\u00a0What matters is that you feel you have one<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2019\/12\/31\/792505428\/start-fresh-6-tips-for-mental-health-in-2020 Cultivate joy Feeling stressed? Just\u00a0eight techniques \u2014 a “buffet of life skills” \u2014 can make a significant improvement in well-being, say scientists who taught…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2211,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209\/revisions\/2211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ctd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}