On Health & Stress Management

There’s no simple answer because 1) there are so many different factors that potentially influence one’s mental health, and 2) each individual has a different set of risk factors for poor mental health (e.g. genetic, neurological, psychosocial, socioeconomic, etc). Since you’re not referring to specific mental health problems, I can only bring up a few things that I believe everyone should pay more attention to.

I think that the most important and perhaps most overlooked aspect of mental health is physical health. In Western culture, there has been a long history of treating the mind and body as separate. This has unfortunately been enormously detrimental to our understanding of human well-being. Recently, there’s been a lot of exciting research investigating biological influences on psychological problems. The mind and body often influence each other through feedback loops.

Physical health is an essential building block of mental health. Most people pick up their physical habits haphazardly from family and the people around them. If you’ve put time into learning more about physical health and adopting better habits, that’s great. If you don’t know where to begin, here are some simple ideas and tips that have come out of the latest research:

Even just one night of sleep deprivation can negatively impact your state of mind for several days. It’s not just a matter of getting enough sleep, it’s also a matter of getting enough quality sleep.

• Quality sleep means sleeping deeply and undisturbed. In order for sleep to feel refreshing, the brain needs a certain amount of time to get through several stages of regenerative neuronal activity.

A healthy sleep routine is necessary for brain and body healing, learning and memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and efficient executive functioning (i.e. rational processes such as impulse control and decision making). This means that when you don’t sleep well: you learn more slowly, you’re more likely to forget things, you’re more emotionally volatile, you’re more impulsive, and you certainly won’t look your best complexion-wise, which means that you won’t feel at your best. Feeling like crap at the start of the day certainly affects your performance on cognitively demanding tasks, which can affect your self-esteem if it becomes a long term problem.

• Determine how much sleep you actually need to feel refreshed. It differs somewhat by individual but everyone falls somewhere between 7 to 9 hours. Determine how much sleep is too much, in terms of making you feel sluggish or groggy.
• What is the best time for you to go to bed and wake up, in terms of your daily energy demands? Don’t forget that the human body is highly responsive to the sun and exposure to sunlight has a positive effect on mood. Energy levels ebb and flow throughout the day. If your schedule allows it, some people really benefit from a short 10-20 minute nap when their energy dips midday.
• “Program” your bodily rhythm to feel energetic when waking and tired before bed by going to bed and waking at roughly the same time every day.
• Avoid stimulating activities 30-60 mins before bed. Perform a nightly ritual right before sleep time to signal to your mind and body that it’s time to rest (e.g. breathing, meditation, calm music, praying, mantras, counting sheep, etc).

Recent research has discovered important links between the brain and the gut microbiome. A poor diet is a significant contributing factor to anxiety and depression, as well as other cognitive problems. Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusing info about diet out there. Many people go on a (fad) diet when they feel bad about themselves, they lose a bit of weight, but then they stop dieting and put the weight back on (and more). They end up feeling even worse about themselves. Ultimately, this strategy doesn’t work because being healthy isn’t the real intention at the start. Healthy eating habits should be an integral part of your life, always.

Do you believe that it’s possible to eliminate junk food cravings? One of the biggest misconceptions about diet is that it boils down to willpower, specifically, that a failure to exert willpower is the cause of eating poorly or overeating. Actually, research now suggests that poor eating habits are often a result of a vicious metabolic cycle. People underestimate how much the body influences hunger and cravings.

To oversimplify, your body learns to crave the kinds of foods that you eat the most. What you eat influences the composition of your gut microbiome, and the gut, in turn, teaches your body to desire more of that food. If you eat a majority of processed or sugary carbs, you teach your gut to desire them. If you eat a majority of whole and fresh foods, you teach your gut to desire them.

The problem with eating heavily processed foods (junk) is not just that your gut starts to crave them the more you eat them, it’s also that they negatively affect satiety. Instead of making you feel full, junk foods are (chemically) designed to keep you hungry and wanting more. It creates a double whammy of craving that easily overwhelms your willpower to resist (gut craving + hunger craving). When you consistently feel as though you have no power to be disciplined in your eating habits, it hits your self-esteem, and you’ll gradually lose the motivation to even try (i.e. learned helplessness).

Improve satiety and gut health by increasing fiber intake. One simple way is to ensure that half your meal is a variety of fresh, leafy, and colorful vegetables (frozen veggies will do in a pinch). If you can’t manage making vegetables half of your plate at every meal, at minimum, do it for your biggest meal of the day. This change alone can significantly decrease your cravings for junk food. Studies have shown that children receive a boost in mental well-being just by eating more fruits and vegetables. You don’t have to give up junk food entirely, but always ensure that you eat more healthy foods in comparison, so that your gut learns which foods to prioritize.

• Program your gut to crave healthy foods by adding more vegetables (fiber) to your meals. It might take about 2-4 weeks for your gut to reprogram, depending on how poor your eating habits have been.
• If you want to lose weight through calorie reduction, eat all the veggies first so that you have less room for the higher caloric foods. If you want to enjoy a bit of junk food, eat it with or shortly after a proper meal, to help limit intake.

Ever feel sluggish or even comatose after a huge meal? Food digestion uses up a lot of energy. The more often you’re eating throughout the day, the more energy your body diverts to digestion, and the less energy is available for brain function and rejuvenation. If your body doesn’t take a long enough break from digestion between meals, it also won’t be very efficient at burning your fat reserves, thus making it more difficult to slim down.

• Eat less often by consuming properly portioned meals.
• Eat slowly. Give your stomach time to send the full signal to your brain.
• Eat more whole and unprocessed foods that don’t digest quickly and release energy slowly, so that you don’t get too hungry between meals. This will help reduce the urge to snack.

Recent research suggests that intermittent fasting produces a wide variety of health benefits. (Of course, consult with a doctor first if you have any conditions that make fasting risky for your health.) Most people prefer the 16/8 method: fast for 16 hours a day (sleep time included) and only eat within an 8 hour window. People hear the word “fast” and associate it with starvation. Actually, you’d be surprised at what your body can get used to, as long as you give it enough opportunity to adjust. Many people who try the 16/8 method report that they are fine with it after a couple weeks because their appetite eventually adjusted itself. Develop an eating routine that fits with your daily schedule.

• Program your body to only feel hungry at specific times by eating meals at roughly the same time every day and avoiding snacks.
• Keep yourself busy between meals so that you’re too distracted to think about eating. If you must snack due to hunger cravings, choose healthier options like nuts, fruits, vegetables, or proteins.
• Remember: If it’s not there, you can’t eat it. Remove temptations from your physical environment by not stocking your home with junk food in the first place. And never enter a grocery store with an empty stomach.

If you have overall healthy eating habits, your body will treat one day of terrible eating as an anomaly, and nothing really changes. You can still enjoy eating some junk, as long as you work it into your routine properly. However, if you eat poorly for more than two days in a row, your body starts to think “this is the new normal” and begins to reprogram itself to the poor eating habits, and you start to crave unhealthy foods more.

Regular exercise makes your body more efficient at delivering fuel and oxygen to your brain cells, which greatly influences your state of mind. Exercise keeps you looking and feeling young; lack of exercise hastens cognitive decline as you age. A sedentary lifestyle results in physical weakness, frailty (to injury), poorer immunity, and lethargy. In terms of mental health, not being physically fit enough means that you won’t have enough strength, stamina, energy, and motivation to get out into the word and achieve all your goals.

• Keep your brain and heart healthy by doing a minimum of 20 minutes a day of any activity that elevates your heart rate (cardio). It doesn’t have to be a chore. Walk, run, dance, swim, jump, or do whatever sport you enjoy. Get the oxygen and blood flowing to feed your brain. Get the endorphins going to improve your energy and mood levels.

Whatever position your body is in for long periods of time affects the development of your muscle strength. Good core muscle strength improves balance and mobility, makes complex exercises easier, and reduces your risk of injury. It also helps you sit properly, stand up straight, and walk with good stride. (Did you know that changes in stride are correlated with cognitive problems?) Sitting too long overuses certain back, hip, and leg muscles, therefore, do exercises that counteract those negative effects on your body alignment and posture. In terms of mental health, good alignment and posture means carrying yourself confidently; you increase the likelihood of performing well and having successful interactions throughout the day. If you aren’t even able to express confidence through your physical presence, where will you find the confidence to tackle life’s problems?

• Your workout should include basic core strengthening. This is where to begin if you’re really out of shape. These are simple exercises that you could easily do throughout the day during breaks. Yoga practice also includes a lot of core activation.

A lot of people have difficulty implementing a regular workout routine, and if they do, the workout isn’t very efficient. Your body gets used to doing the same exercises, so it will expend less and less energy on them, making the workout less and less effective over time. One way to combat this loss of efficiency is to always keep your body guessing. High intensity interval training (HIIT) has shown a lot of promise in helping people get fit quickly and efficiently, so that they need less overall time for exercising. You don’t need to do it every day. This is a good option for people who are short on time, don’t have exercise equipment, or don’t love exercising but still want to maintain basic physical fitness. A good HIIT routine includes cardio and strength training. There are lots of free routines available on youtube. Switch up your routines to keep exercise interesting.

Even though I’m mentioning this last, it is the most important point. When you’re stressed, you’re more likely to suffer disturbed sleep, you’re more likely to eat poorly for emotional reasons, and you have less motivation to exercise. The negative effects of poor sleep, poor diet, and no exercise then worsen your stress in a vicious cycle.

Stress is one of the most important ways that the mind and body intersect. It’s very much a physical problem, not just psychological. When you perceive stress, your body releases cortisol, which preps you to be on high alert (fight or flight mode). This is useful when you’re in urgent situations and you need extra focus and energy. However, this cortisol stress response is harmful to your body when it’s constantly switched on.

Putting all your energy into mental alertness (brain) and physical readiness (heart) means that certain systems easily get burned out and the rest of your bodily functions don’t get enough energy to perform their tasks. Your bodily systems get out of whack and then no longer work well together. This is why chronic stress leads to a wide variety of problems like: high blood pressure, heart disease, decreased immunity, indigestion, disordered eating, sex drive issues, fatigue, headaches, irritability, insomnia. These health problems increase your risk of anxiety and depression and exacerbate existing mental health problems.

What’s worse, being under stress all the time normalizes a stressful lifestyle, to the point where people aren’t even able to recognize when they’re stressed to an unhealthy degree. Some people get addicted to a fast-paced life and aren’t able to slow down even for the sake of their health (e.g. workaholism). Therefore, the first step of stress management is to be aware of stress and its effects on you, both physical and mental.

• Mindfulness: Check in with yourself regularly throughout the day. Check in with yourself before and after a stressful task or event. If you have trouble remembering to check on yourself, use a reminder app or have people monitor you.

Which symptoms of stress are most common for you?

• Be aware of physical symptoms like: increased heart rate, irregular breathing, sweating, trembling, dry mouth, headaches, chest constriction, muscle clenching, muscle tension/aches, restless muscles, getting sick more easily, insomnia, nausea, indigestion, appetite changes, manic behavior, fatigue, lethargy, nervous tics, fidgeting, pacing.
• Be aware of psychological symptoms like: irritability, moodiness, pessimism, rumination, racing thoughts, intrusive thoughts, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, carelessness, disorderliness, procrastination, social avoidance, perfectionism, self-esteem insecurity, negative self-talk, poor judgment, impulsivity, controlling behavior, anger/rage, apathy, detachment, escapism, increased reliance on unhealthy habits for emotional numbing/comfort (e.g. food, drugs, alcohol, sex, etc).

When you’re able to identify stress quickly, then you have a chance to do something about it. Distinguish between the stress you can and can’t control, so that you know the best places to direct your limited energy. What is causing the stress exactly? Are you able to remove the stressors? If so, do so.

• Self-imposed stress arises from how you perceive situations and/or what you expect from situations. Therefore, ask yourself whether there’s a different way to look at the situation (change your perspective) or whether your expectations are appropriate (readjust your expectations). Both strategies encourage creativity.
• Situational stress arises from heavily demanding situations and/or unpredictable changes in situations. Find ways to handle the heavy load better, such as: prioritize tasks, postpone some tasks, delegate tasks, ask for help, schedule and plan better, or develop a more streamlined and efficient operating procedure. When something unpredictable happens, pause for a moment and take stock of the implications by doing critical analysis, soliciting critical feedback, or weighing the pros/cons of all your options. These strategies encourage adaptability.

It’s normal to feel stress throughout the course of a busy day. Some stress is good for you because it keeps your mind sharp and your body running smoothly. If you have too little stress in your life, that can be a problem too, because your mind and body won’t get the challenges that they require to stay fit.

The main point is to prevent stress from reaching unhealthy levels that damage your body and impair your cognitive and emotional functioning. When stressors can’t be removed or removed quickly, ensure that the stress doesn’t drag you down by addressing it as soon as possible. Knowing how to mitigate or reduce the spiraling effects of stress allows you to maintain rational judgment. Remember that making bad decisions under stress will only compound your stress. There are several strategies that have been proven to help with stress reduction:

• Relaxation: Use deep breathing exercises to calm your physical symptoms of stress. Use movement exercises to improve your posture and muscle alignment. Pay attention to the parts of the body that carry most of your stress and release the muscle tension there (e.g. neck, shoulders, head, jaw, stomach). If possible, have someone massage problem areas to help you loosen up.
• Focus: Use meditation techniques to calm the mind and improve your focus and attention. Go inward and observe your thoughts and feelings. Acknowledge them in a nonjudgmental and nonreactive manner so that they can pass more easily.
• Refresh: The more stress you’re under, the more important it becomes to make time for leisure and use that time wisely. Maintain better work-life balance. Choose leisure activities that serve to remove you from stress for awhile, both mentally and physically, so that you can return to problems with a fresh outlook. Chat with someone. Nature walk. Take a day trip. Go adventuring. In other words, get out of yourself for awhile.
• Emotional Intelligence: Practice self-compassion by forgiving yourself for being human and giving yourself fair opportunity to learn from mistakes. Practice empathy so that you are more understanding of others and reduce the stress of interpersonal conflicts. Practice full acceptance of feelings and emotions so that they don’t escalate or spill over. Instead of suppressing discomfort, reflect on it. Confront recurring negative feelings/emotions. What are they telling you? What kinds of life changes are they encouraging you to make for the sake of your well-being? Make those changes whenever possible.
• Self-Improvement: Are you missing certain skills that would help you manage your stress better? For example, time management, organization, study, or people skills. By learning new skills or addressing the gaps in your skill set, you grow your competence and improve your self-esteem. Believing that you have what it takes to face life’s problems is often half the battle. Do you know someone who performs better than you or handles certain tasks better than you? Instead of comparing against them and then trashing yourself, learn from them, with the intent to realize more of your personal potential. Making personal progress in life is essential for maintaining a positive attitude.
• Gratitude: It’s hard to feel good about life when you only focus on the negative things or always indulge greed/entitlement for more. There are people in this world who don’t have a place to live, a comfortable bed to sleep in, a warm bath to soothe their aches, clean water and fresh food, or loved ones to depend on. Take time every day to SHOW true appreciation for all the good things in your life and the progress that you have made.

Correcting your sleep, diet, exercise, and stress problems will improve your mental health dramatically. People often neglect physical health because they believe that it’s not as important as their deadlines or because they think it can be put off and made up later. This only allows problems to accumulate and slowly spin out of control under the radar. Without a well-functioning body, it’s very difficult to have a well-functioning mind. Invest in your body’s needs so that you have the energy to care for your mind’s needs. Treat physical health as the foundation of mental health.i