Blog post #4

What are the different coping mechanisms to deal with stress?

There are 2 kinds of stress that is usually inflicted, and these are physical and emotional stress. Physical is usually (but not limited to) being sick with pain, not sleeping well, substance or alcohols abuse, recovery from injury or any strain on your body. Emotional stress is usually (but not limited to), stress from school/work, relationship problems, experiencing discrimination, financial stress or major change in your every day life. Sudden or active stress will activate your nervous system, which will flood your blood with adrenaline and cortisol, which will raise blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar. This will activate your fight or flight senses. Some effects of too much stress can be

• Prolonged periods of poor sleep.
• Regular, severe headaches.
• Unexplained weight loss or gain.
• Feelings of isolation, withdrawal or worthlessness.
• Constant anger and irritability.
• Loss of interest in activities.
• Constant worrying or obsessive thinking.
• Excessive alcohol or drug use.
• Inability to concentrate

Ways to cope with stress and when experiencing these symptoms’ due to stress is to,  rebalance work and home life. This can cause stress because you aren’t giving yourself enough time to reset and to take a break from stressful situations, you just keep putting yourself back into it without a break. Another one would be to exercise. I have mentioned this in my past blog post, but exercise helps with resetting your brain and body, giving yourself something else to focus on instead of the stressful situations. Getting enough sleep is also necessary to living a healthy mental life, because it gives you enough energy to push through the stressful situations and to think clearly and calmly. When you are tired, you tend to panic and cause yourself even more stress. (6) The first way that I use to cope with my anxiety is to talk with my therapist/counsellor. This has helped me so much, because it’s not easy talking to your parents about these kinds of things, so I would talk to someone that I could trust, and it has helped me so much. I feel a lot more stress about things when I don’t have someone to talk to about these things, and my therapist has helped me a lot. If you don’t want to talk to someone, I highly suggest to go outside, get some exercise even if it’s just going for a walk, it helps a lot to clear your mind. The last one is journaling, to write at the end of the day and just let go of everything helps me a lot to reset and be refreshed in the morning, not worrying about what happened the day before.

Is technology like social media beneficial for our mental health?

Social media is often compared to playing slot machines in the sense that you don’t know what’s going to be next, and if it isn’t up to standard, or you per say lost, you want to keep playing or watching until you win. It releases dopamine into your brain, which makes you want to keep going and that’s how it becomes addictive. Most studies show that social media has a negative affect on the teenage brain, and this is due to the fact that you might start de prioritizing yourself and the things that actually matter. When spending too much time on social media can increase the feeling of anxiety, depression and loneliness, you might spend more time online than with the people around you. Something that most teenage girls especially struggle with is comparing themselves to others online, which demoralizes yourself, thinking you’re fat or ugly because you don’t look like the girl online. Something else that happens very often is being cyberbullied online, which may seem like a joke, but can really affect the mental health of some people. Things like putting yourself in danger for likes and views is also common when spending too much time on social media. The finally (but not limited to) deprioritizing things such as school, homework, relationships and self care to spend more time on social media. These are all possible things that can happen if you spend too much time on social media.  (7)

A few positives that come with social media is that you can stay connected to friends and family that might live farther away. Exploring new things, such as travelling, sports and forms of art can also come from social media. At the end of the day, it is all about the content and the length of time that can have the negative effect on your mental health.

1)  Kendra Cherry MsEd (12/01/22) The 6 types of Basic Emotions. Retrieved from The 6 Types of Basic Emotions (verywellmind.com)

2) Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD – By Ann Piertrangelo – Updated on March 21, 2023 The Effects of Stress on Your Body (healthline.com)

3)Medically Reviewed by Jennifer Robinson, MD on September 20, 2023 Written by WebMD Editorial Contributor Mental Health: How it Affects Your Physical Health (webmd.com)      

4) Medically reviewed by Jennifer Litner, PhD, LMFT, CST- By Crystal Raypole- Updated on February 9, 2023 How to Control Your Emotions: 11 Strategies to Try (healthline.com)

5) By waqar July 26, 2023 25 Psychological Manipulation Techniques | Psychologyorg

6) Sutter health (2023) 10 simple ways to cope with stress retrieved from 10 Simple Ways to Cope with Stress | Sutter Health

7)  Christine M. Stabler MD, MBA, FAAFP published sept 1, 2021 The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health – Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health

8) Medically reviewed by N.Simay Gokbayrak PhD-BY Margarita Tartakovsky MS on April 20, 2022 Social Media and Mental Health: What’s the Connection? (healthline.com)

9) Mayo Clinic (2022) How might friendships boost your mental health Jan. 12, 2022 retrieved from Friendships: Enrich your life and improve your health – Mayo Clinic