stress

May 20, 2016

Mental Health is Important

May is mental health month. Mental health is as important as our physical health and affects our physical health either positively or negatively. Mental illnesses are common and treatable. One common mental health illness is Anxiety. We all live with some stress, which can increase anxiety. Do you experience: • feeling tense and angry, frustrated, […]

March 18, 2016

Mindful Eating: Revitalize Your Relationship with Food

Stop and think about the last meal you ate today. Try to describe it in detail. What did the food smell like? Do you recall how the food felt in your mouth? How did it taste? Were there specific spices in the food? Was it hot or cold? Were there vibrant colors? Did you chew […]

February 26, 2016

Stop Creating Stress

My friend and I were recently lamenting about our busy schedules and the craziness of life. She turned to me and said something very profound: “We create our own stress.” How true. We do create our own stress through the choices we make every day. In essence, it comes down to time management and a […]

WRITTEN BY: Christine Kendle, MS, RD, LD, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Educator, Ohio State University Extension Tuscarawas County

REVIEWED BY: Kate Shumaker, MS, RD, LD, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Educator, Ohio State University Extension Holmes County

February 5, 2016

Downsize Your Worries

Do you ever have worries pressing on you? Do they seem to ‘super-size’ or grow in intensity as the day wears on, until you feel like a dark cloud is hanging over you? Worries have a way of taking on a life of their own in our minds. When worry brings on a panicky feeling, […]

January 15, 2016

Find Your Own Healthy Way to De-Stress

Stress has been identified as significantly impacting our mental and physical health for decades(PDF)Links to a PDF document.. In fact, the American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) surveys on American stress show that 4 major factors are consistently reported as major causes of stress: money, work, family, and health. It is important to be aware of stress factors, but also our […]

WRITTEN BY: Shawna Hite, Healthy People Program Specialist

REVIEWED BY: Pat Holmes, Extension Educator, Montgomery County

SOURCES:

American Heart Association (July 2014). Four ways to deal with stress: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/StressManagement/FourWaystoDealWithStress/Four-Ways-to-Deal-with-Stress_UCM_307996_Article.jsp#.VpVIH_krLIU
American Psychological Assocation (2010). Managing stress for a healthy family: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/managing-stress.aspx
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (October 2015). Coping with stress: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/coping_with_stress_tips.html
Harvard Health Publications (January 2015). Relaxation techniques: Breath control helps quell errant stress response: http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/relaxation-techniques-breath-control-helps-quell-errant-stress-response
OSU Extension, Live Smart Ohio (2015). MIndful Extension: http://livesmartohio.osu.edu/mindful-extension/

REFERENCES:

Anderson, N., Belar, C., Breckler, S., Nordal K., Ballard D., Bufka, L.,... Wiggins, K., ( February 2015). Stress in America: Paying with our health. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2014/stress-report.pdf
Countryside Recreation Network. (2006) A Countryside for Health and Wellbeing: The Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Green Exercise [Online]. Available from: http://www.thehealthwell.info/node/3900 [Accessed: 14th January 2016].
Jacubowski, A., Abeln, V., Vogt, T., Yi, B., Choukèr, A., Fomina, E., & ... Schneider, S. (2015). The impact of long-term confinement and exercise on central and peripheral stress markers. Physiology & Behavior, 152(Pt A), 106-111. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.09.017
Ozbeyli, D., Gokalp, A. G., Koral, T., Ocal, O. Y., Dogan, B., Akakin, D., & ... Kasimay, O. (2015). Protective effect of exercise and sildenafil on acute stress and cognitive function. Physiology & Behavior, 151230-237. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.07.030
Schneiderman, N., Ironson, G., & Siegel, S. D. (2005). Stress and health: psychological, behavioral, and biological determinants. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 607.
Vella, E. J., Milligan, B., & Bennett, J. L. (2013). Participation in outdoor recreation program predicts improved psychosocial well-being among veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: A pilot study. Military Medicine, 178(3), 254-260. doi:10.7205/MILMED-D-12-00308- Nature/ the outdoors/ being outside may aid in dealing with stressful situations
Watson, D., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1989). Health complaints, stress, and distress: exploring the central role of negative affectivity. Psychological review, 96(2), 234
Westlund, S. (2015). 'Becoming human again': Exploring connections between nature and recovery from stress and post-traumatic distress. Work: Journal Of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, 50(1), 161-174.
http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.ohiostate.edu/science/article/pii/S0031938415300445

December 18, 2015

During this Holiday Season – Keep the Peace

Many of us will enjoy family members visiting for the holidays. Some have company coming but are feeling stressed about the upcoming visit. I have a blended family with five adult children and three grandchildren. We are lucky – our household will be busy – most of our kids will visit over the holidays. This […]

REVIEWED BY: Kathy Green, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University, Clark County, green.1405@osu.edu