Mental Health Archives - Vivoo : Your Body's Voice

Keeping Kidneys Healthy: Relieving Stress

August 16 2021/0 Comments/in Well Being /by Vivoo Team

The health complications that come with stress, if not handled properly, could lead to kidney damage, and as such, there is a connection between the renal system and the way you manage your stress levels. This shows how interconnected the human body is.

In this piece, we shall look at how stress relates to overall health, stress impacts the health and kidneys, tips on stress management, and the positive effect of renal health.

Stress and the Overall Health

As implied earlier, stress could trigger a plethora of health complications such as depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and the likes. Typically, the human body experiences stress from time to time as a result of so many reasons such as everyday tasks and responsibilities like work, family, and so on.

As much as stress has its downsides, it also has a plus side for an immediate and short-term basis. It is quite effective in allowing you to manage very serious situations. By default, the body reacts to stress by releasing hormones that enhance breathing and heart beating levels, eventually preparing the muscles to respond adequately.

However, if the stress response is not halted, and the high-stress levels retain their pace longer than needed, it can have quite a negative effect on your body. Chronic stress could be really life-threatening if not properly treated, and it negatively affects various body systems such as the central nervous system, the endocrine system, the respiratory system, the cardiovascular system, the digestive system, and many others.

How Can Stress Impact Your Health and Kidneys?

Stress has been linked to several morphological and physiological alterations or changes in different body organs, especially the renal system. Chronic stress could result in kidney damage. Given the fact one of the kidneys’ functions is blood-filtering, they are prone to problems related to blood circulation.

Scientific studies indicate that high blood sugar and high blood pressure are quite burdensome on the functionality of your kidneys. Thus, people who suffer from such health deficiencies have a high tendency of developing kidney diseases. In addition, if such a person is experiencing chronic stress, the body’s natural reaction to stress could be quite “serious” Thus, you should cut down on your sugar consumption and drink enough water to aid the functionality of your kidneys. Having enough water in the body ensures the renal system does not struggle in filtering the circulating blood, passing out excrement, and the likes.

Tips to Manage Stress

Maintain Good Nutrition and Physical Exercise

Good nutrition and consistent physical exercise are good ways to manage stress. When your body is healthy, so will be your mind. It has been proven that physical exercise greatly relieves stress and also improves your overall quality of life. Nutrition on the other hand is quite important as vitamins such as A, C, B complex and E can be depleted by stress.

Connect with People

Naturally, humans are social beings. To feel supported, it is necessary to connect with people. Finding a sense of community whether at your place of work or a religious organization is vital to your well-being. Enjoying quality time and shared activity with people could help to foster relationships that would help you in difficult times.

Practice Deep Breathing

Deep breathing is an amazing way to reduce the activation of your body’s sympathetic nervous system which controls the response of your body to a perceived threat. When deep breaths are taken into a count of 5 seconds, held for 2 seconds, and then released to count another five seconds, your parasympathetic nervous system is activated. This helps to relieve anxiety and stress.

The Effect of Better Kidney Health on the Body

Healthy kidneys are one of the most important organs in the human body. One of the main roles of the kidney is maintaining homeostasis. This means that they help to manage electrolyte balance, fluid levels, and other factors that help keep the body’s internal system consistent and comfortable. Other effects of a healthy kidney are:

Waste Excretion

The kidneys help to remove several waste products and get rid of them in the urine. Two major waste products the kidney relieves the body of are urea and uric acid.

Regulation of Blood Pressure

When necessary, the kidney helps to regulate blood pressure. However, they are also responsible for slower adjustments. This means that they adjust long-term pressure via causing some changes in the fluid outside the cells.

Secretion of Active Compounds

The kidneys are also responsible for the release of several important compounds the body requires. Some of them are erythropoietin which aids the production of red blood cells, renin which manages arteries expansion as well as the volume of blood plasma, interstitial fluid, and lymph, calcitriol which increases the amount of calcium that can be absorbed by the intestines.

Regulation of PH

Kidneys also make sure that the blood plasma doesn’t become too acidic or basic by regulating ions.

Osmolarity Regulation

The kidneys also keep extracellular fluids from becoming too dilute or too concentrated concerning the solutes the fluid carries.

Final Thoughts

The human body is interconnected and the management of stress is linked to the utmost functionality of the renal system. It is best you keep to the tips for stress management and also keep a highly natural diet. As much as working out, taking long periods to rest properly, and staying hydrated are quite helpful, eating more natural foods than artificial is quite beneficial to the renal system, and the overall health of the body.

6 Ways to Build Your Emotional Skills in Stressful Times

April 13 2021/0 Comments/in General /by Vivoo Team

In today’s world, many factors may cause you to feel stressed. Traffic, long meetings at the workplace, financial problems, pandemic illnesses (like COVID-19), or losing a loved one are frequent factors nowadays for challenging situations. How do you respond to those stressful times? How do you make important decisions under pressure? What kind of activities do you choose to manage your emotions? Do you care about emotions more, and ignore objectivity? Of course, it’s challenging to make reasonable and logical decisions when your feelings are intense. However, because that stress affects your decision process, the consequences of those challenging experiences may affect your business, social, and mental life negatively and permanently.

Stress management provides you to show your difference everywhere. Many life experiences, like employment interviews, social relationships, health problems, family life, financial status, and more, require you to handle negative emotions. To make decisions that you do not regret, and to motivate yourself and others, you need to manage your stress by developing emotional intelligence.

Here are six activities for building emotional skills and managing your stress.

1. Define Your Emotions

A person has a lifelong journey to get to know themselves and develop emotional intelligence, which helps to manage feelings in challenging situations. This person will have more resiliency when they experience difficulties, like depression or burnout. However, being resilient does not mean being on either extreme of the spectrum (being overly emotional or emotionless). The point is to recognize your emotions, how they make you feel, how you act when experiencing them, etc. This will help you build your basis for learning how to self-regulate these emotions and develop ways to cope with feelings like anger, hate, depression, or unhappiness.

2. Recognize What Causes Your Stress

It is normal to be stressed in challenging situations. But which situations cause you stress? To define your emotions and constructive responses for those emotions, it is important to determine situations that cause stress for you. You may be stressed in those situations again and again. However, when you know those specific conditions, you can plan activities for building emotional skills before you encounter those situations. For example, you can choose to be alone, you can listen to a specific song, or you can talk with somebody that helps you to de-stress.

3. Try to Look from Different Viewpoints

Think about a moment that is stressful for you. You may generally think about those situations from your own perspective. When you continue to justify yourself by noticing your own emotions and thinking, you may continue to be stressed. Fortunately, there is a trick for countering this! Try to see things from another person’s perspective! Why did a person act or feel a certain way? Think about the person’s past experiences. When you continue to approach people and situations like this, you might decrease conflicts and judgments.

4. Perfection is Harmful

Thinking that everything must be perfect harms building emotional skills. Thinking that things should be always complete, perfect, and successful is annoying and stressful for you. Life is never perfect, so your products, emotions, and thinking are not going to be perfect every time. Letting go of the expectation of perfection will help you feel more productive, creative, and less stressed.

5. Take the Lessons from Your Mistakes

One of the most important activities for building emotional skills is taking lessons from past failures. Mistakes sometimes inflict pain, make people feel that they are insufficient or unsuccessful. However, successful and logical people analyze the reasons and the consequences of their mistakes. To avoid making the same mistakes and make reasonable decisions the next time around, you need to figure out why you made the mistake and how you respond to the mistake.

emotional skills

6. Apply the Cognitive Approach

The cognitive-behavioral approach emphasizes awareness of how your feelings and thinking affect your behaviors. Evaluating negative thinking and emotions allows you to manage them. Also, recognizing how feelings and thinking affect your actions allows you to recognize and fix mistakes.

Think about it. If you say, “I will never pass this university exam”, you might find your motivation to study decreasing. If you don’t study, you probably won’t pass that exam. You have to recognize that your negative self-talk had a detrimental effect on your preparation for the exam. This contributes to feelings of insufficiency. A positive alternative to that sentence would be, “If I keep steady and study, I will pass this exam.” A simple sentence can alter our outlook.

Need to Calm Yourself? Here Are 7 Ways

February 23 2021/0 Comments/in Well Being /by Vivoo Team

Worries, difficulties, overdosed work-load, issues of the pandemic or problems with loved ones… These all may make us stressed or worried, or even furious from time to time and it may be difficult to calm yourself.

Here are 7 ways to calm yourself in these situations.

1) Breathing

Breathing is definitely the most effective way to calm down. What basically breathing does is stimulate our nervous systems. Since there are 2 basic nervous systems being the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, breathing has different effects on both systems if used correctly.

Briefly, when we breathe, it stimulates these systems in each cycle. What inhalation does is that it affects the sympathetic activities like fight or flight responses, while exhalation stimulates the parasympathetic nervous systems that relates with the can also adjust the effect on our nervous system. There are lots of studies that show that longer exhalations directly affect the ‘rest and digest’ influence of the parasympathetic system. If we breathe diaphragmatically, then these relaxing effects may start to rise up and we immediately start to calm down. Here follows an easy technique: how we can prolong the exhalation to calm down.

2-to-1 ratio: If you are stressed out, find a quiet place and sit nice and tall, inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth 2-3 times. Then start to breathe in a 2 to 1 ratio. What this means is that, for example, inhale for 3 counts, but exhale till 6 by prolonging the exhalation. Or you may use the ratio of 2-4 or 4-8 without forcing the breath. Continue this technique at least 2-3 minutes, then you will immediately feel the relaxation.

2) Exercising

Exercises like yoga, pilates, walking in nature, running or sometimes boxing may be a perfect way to calm down. It is known that regular exercise not only changes the physical body, but also changes our mental body. Regular practice stimulates and calms the body. Furthermore, there are also verified clinical trials that use exercise to treat anxiety disorders and depression.

3) Listening

Listening to podcasts or music may be another option to calm yourself down. There are many studies proving that music around 60 beats per minute stimulates the brain to produce alpha brain waves which release from the brain when the body is relaxed and conscious. So music has a positive effect on calming our bodies down. As slower music is more effective in relieving stress, upbeat music may of course also be effective to calm yourself.

4) Taking a Cold Shower

Cold showers have tons of benefits according to Ayurvedic medicine techniques. The most commonly known effect of taking a cold shower is to reduce symptoms of anxiety. It is said that taking a cold shower for at least 5 minutes, 2-3 times a week helps to release tension. But it may take a while to build up the ability to have a cold shower, if you’re not used to it.

5) Massage to Calm Yourself

It is known that there are certain points on the body that immediately release tension both in the body and mind when pressure is applied. Although there is still limited research about these acupressure points, there are also promising results when used in stressful situations. Basic points like the third eye area, auricle, shoulders, hands, feet, and the pressure points of the wrists can be used to release tension. Here is a guideline on how and where to press.

6) Meditate

It can seem very difficult or impossible to focus on something when we get stressed out. But a simple and short meditation is a great way to calm yourself. Breathing is the most readily available aspect of ourselves where we can quickly gain focus and control. Focusing on the breath or counting down each breath is a great way to make the mind steady. Focusing on breath may be combined with lengthening the exhalation and this technique definitely affects the brain release alpha brainwaves and helps us to calm down.

Moreover, you do not need to sit in a crossed-leg position to meditate. You may stand up nice and tall or sit upright and also meditate. And start to focus on your breathing or whatever emotion you want to bring awareness to during your meditation session. Whether it takes 2 minutes or 15 minutes, focusing on the breath starts to stimulate the brain and eventually you will feel more calm.

7) Get It Out and Write It Down

Writing is a good exercise to calm yourself when you get angry. Expressing the feeling out loud may be hard, but writing them can be more helpful to calm yourself. It is important to note, that ignoring feelings or repressing them may cause more stress in the long term. When you are stressed out, try to write out your feelings, maybe the reasons why you feel that way or etc. Then read them loudly and you will see you feel more relaxed.

Mental Health is Just as Important as Physical Health

May 22 2020/4 Comments/in Well Being /by Vivoo Team

Health is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, when you decide whether you are healthy or not, you tend to focus on your physical health. On the other hand, as you see in the definition of health, mental health, and physical health are always linked together. Can you think of your body and mind separately? Most probably, the answer is no, because the reality is that an unhealthy mental life impacts you physically, and an unhealthy physical life increases the risk of problematic mental health.

Physical health is visible and observable by you and everyone. There’s lots of evidence when determining whether you are healthy physically or not, such as blood tests, coughing, shortness of breath, and so on. However, when you want to determine your mental health, you might have difficulty. Mental health issues do not always show physical symptoms. Therefore, most people think that the problem is temporary, other people do not recognize the problem, thinking there is no need to care.

There are clear signs that affect your physical and mental well-being,

Along with your quality of life, mental health disruptions, such as headaches, sleeping problems, fatigue, loss of appetite, overthinking, focusing problems, and so on. Do you want to continue with those symptoms? Most probably, your answer is “no”, because the symptoms affect your business life, financial status, relationships, physical health, and life quality in a negative way. How can we fix it? Put simply, to have a successful business life, quality social life, and strong physical health, you need sufficient energy, motivation, and desire. The definition of mental well-being includes the requirement of energy, motivation, and desire. Consequently, you have no chance to ignore your mental health all your life.

Let’s analyze why mental health is just as important as physical health.

1. Your mental health can affect your physical state.

People who experience any mental illness tend to have problematic immune systems. Therefore, those people can easily have physical illnesses such as colds, headaches, and so on.

Physical symptoms of mental illnesses also affect your physical state. For example, if you experience depression, your appetite may decrease, causing you to lose weight. In addition, if you experience post-traumatic stress disorder, you may have difficulty sleeping, so you may generally feel tired.

2. Your mental health can affect your financial stability.

Most of you do not think about whether mental status affects financial status or not. However, since mental status affects your productivity, concentration, and memorization, your business and work performance suffers. Therefore, you may have difficulty getting a promotion or finishing responsibilities on time. Your salary may not increase as much as you want.

3. Your mental health can influence your family life.

According to studies about the causes of mental illnesses, it is determined that children of people who suffer from mental illnesses tend to experience abuse, neglect, and some emotional and behavioral issues from childhood. Those results continue to show their effects in adulthood as mental problems in general. Think about a mother who experiences a general anxiety disorder. The mother may be sick to her stomach while helping her daughter with homework. Unfortunately, even if the mother may sad at that time, she may not help her daughter because of the symptom. Because of the mother’s difficulty with anxiety, she may have difficulty assisting her child. Another example is an unemployed father who has four children whose stress levels are elevated. Because of that stress level, the family environment might be affected in a negative way.

Mental Health is Just as Important as Physical Health

4. Good mental health can give you a cheerful, productive, and qualified life.

Symptoms of poor mental health decrease the quality of your life, such as sleeping problems, loss of appetite, eating too much, tachycardia (fast heart rate), shortness of breath, and so on.

Care for yourself and value yourself. Exercise physically, do yoga and meditation, avoid too much alcohol and cigarettes, do things that cheer you up and allow you to spend quality time with yourself and loved ones.

If you continue to have good mental health, you might feel more physically energetic. Therefore, when you continue to exercise, physical activity and productivity can help you feel cheerful.

5. Mental illnesses may lead to dangerous behaviors.

Mental illnesses, such as chronic depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or anxiety, may cause loneliness. To forget these negative feelings, people might start to use drugs or alcohol. While using drugs or alcohol, physical symptoms might become worse, like sleeping problems, eating problems, focusing problems, violence to others, and so on. Because of that, a person loses his consciousness because of too much alcohol or drugs, the person may both hurt yourself and harm others physically with a knife or gun.

10 Self-Care Strategies to Help Manage Your Depression

April 21 2020/3 Comments/in Well Being /by Vivoo Team

In today’s world, one of the most common mental health problems is depression. Experiencing depression and managing the symptoms of depression can be difficult for most people. However, there are several strategies that can help people cope, many of them easy and effective.. Self-care strategies can alleviate some symptoms of depression and set you on the road to recovery. Here are 10 self-care strategies to help you overcome your depression.

1. Relaxation Techniques

Some of the simplest techniques support both mental and physical comfort. Relaxation techniques can be done at home and can calm you down in just moments, especially if you face intense symptoms. They can soothe your mind and reduce the stress level of your body.

Here are 4 common relaxation techniques that you can try at home:

Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Breathing Exercises
Guided Visualization
Repeating Constructive Sentences to Yourself (I can handle everything because I am strong)

Some methods may work better than others for you so it is important to note which techniques are the most effective in alleviating your symptoms.

2. Self-Help Books

Self-help books that are written by psychiatrists, psychologists, or other mental health professionals generally have effective problem-solving strategies. These books can teach you how to recognize the effects of negative thinking on your decision-making and emotions, and how your negative thoughts cause the symptoms of depression. Self-help books generally teach you to change negative thoughts into positive ones. These changes in mindset can help you think and live in a positive way.

3. Setting Small Goals

Setting goals can give you motivation and encouragement. They can help you establish daily routines and keep you moving at a steady pace… It is important to minimize uncertainty in your life when you are experiencing the symptoms of depression. The main idea is to set small, manageable goals like finishing a book or trying to cook a new meal. Setting big goals that cannot be completed may increase stress levels and depression symptoms. Keeping things simple with tasks that can be easily accomplished can help you feel inspired to keep moving forward.

4. Keeping a Diary

Writing in a diary allows you to see your mood change day by day. It can help you to remember whether activities, places, or people make you feel better or not. Furthermore, when you try other self-care strategies and write about the positive changes in your diary, you may gain a sense of control over your life. It could increase your self-confidence, self-discipline, and self-control, and help you handle the symptoms of depression.

5. Smiling

Look at yourself in the mirror while smiling, and then look at yourself in the mirror when you are sad. There is a huge difference between them, not just in how you look, but in how your brain perceives them as well… The act of smiling releases chemicals in your brain to feel better and make you feel happier. When you continue to smile at other people during the day, they generally will smile back. This can lift your mood as well as the mood of those around you.

6. Connecting with People

People who experience depression generally withdraw from social life. Even if you don’t feel like spending time with a lot of friends, talking to even one friend who respects you and your thoughts and feelings can help you feel better. When a person takes the time to listen to you and shows that they care, it may help you start to feel happier.

7. Developing A Healthy Life Routine

Developing a healthy routine can help to minimize the symptoms of depression. You can start by getting enough sleep. The hormones released during the sleep cycle can make a huge difference in your psychological and mental health. Exercising regularly increases your energy levels and hormones such as endorphins. Exercising is a natural antidepressant, and just walking for 30 minutes can be beneficial. Using alcohol and drugs in order to cope can cause your symptoms to worsen so avoid the use of alcohol and drugs. Finally, eating healthy foods is important for overcoming depression. Avoiding sugar and fast foods and getting necessary vitamins will improve physical health. And improved physical health can lead to improved mental health.

8. Spending Time with Animals

Spending time with animals may be another way to alleviate the symptoms of depression. You can share your feelings and thoughts with them without fear of judgment, and they are always ready for a hug. Having a furry friend around can help you feel less alone at home, and you can have fun while playing together. Both of these things can help improve your mental health. There are many wonderful pets available for adoption at animal shelters or local pet adoption days. When you see a happy pet, you can feel happier, too.

9. Spending Time in Nature

Being alone in nature can provide you with the opportunity to think deeply and reflect on things in silence. You can go for a walk or read a book at a local park or beach. Even growing plants at home can be beneficial. Deep thinking allows you to recognize which thoughts affect you negatively. In addition, fresh air may help to clear your mind and improve your mental health.

10. Listening to Music

One of the simplest and most effective techniques to change your mood is to listen to music… Certain songs may bring to mind happy and lively memories. You can listen to these songs when you feel down in order to improve your attitude. Using music to inspire happy thoughts and memories is a quick and easy way to make yourself feel better.

Look After Yourself During Stress Awareness Month

April 11 2020/1 Comment/in Well Being /by Vivoo Team

Many of us feel stressed during our daily lives due to work, family and social life problems and responsibilities. Stress is the physical response of your body when it feels it is in danger, in order to protect you. Your body transfers from flight mode to fight mode, and hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are released to prepare you for action. Heart rate, breathing, and energy increase while other unnecessary functions, such as digestion, stop. This fight response is our body’s survival mechanism in dangerous situations. However, the stress in the modern world is much more different compared to the times of our ancestors. April is Stress Awareness Month, and, especially during this time, we should become conscious of this topic. It seems hard to cope with stress, but there are some methods you can try and apply the ones that work best for you. Moreover, in this stress awareness month, you can go one step further and help others that also require help.

Causes of Stress

Today, there is work or family-related stress that can show itself with physical symptoms. Stress factors may vary depending on your age. For adults, the main cause of stress is work-related, while for younger individuals, it is generally school-related. Work-related factors include excessive workload, unclear expectations and job description, lack of job security, having dangerous work conditions, and an unhealthy work environment. There are also life-related factors that may cause stress, such as death, illness, divorce, traumatic events, the pressure of obligations or taking care of the family. Alongside the external factors, stress can be caused due to internal reasons, like fear, perceptions, being hard on yourself and change. In order to enhance stress awareness, you may first start with yourself. For instance, determine the causes of your stress by observing yourself in stressful situations, and you may recognize some of these symptoms:

Physical symptoms of stress:

Headache
Digestive trouble
Muscle aches
Increased heartbeat and chest pain
Losing motivation
Irregular sleeping schedule
Loss of appetite

Cognitive and emotional symptoms of stress:

Feeling overwhelmed
Unwillingness to socialize
Dealing with constant negative thoughts
Difficulty concentrating
Anxiety
Being disorganized
Problems with memory
Loss of self-esteem and avoiding responsibility

Photo by Total Shape

What does stress trigger in our bodies?

Stress doesn’t just cause short term or external malfunctions in your body. According to multiple studies, stress can lead to diseases that can be lethal:

Cardiovascular disease
Hypertension
Obesity
Metabolic syndrome
Depression due to high cortisol levels.

Additionally, stress may cause some diseases indirectly by inducing an imbalance in hormonal levels. It may contribute to infertility or weaken the immune system, which makes the person more prone to infectious disease and even cancer.

Coping with Stress

People all around the world who live different lives may face similar problems that may cause stress. The key is to know how to handle stressful situations so that it has a minimal effect on your health. Because of the importance of stress awareness, we present some suggestions you can try to cope with stress:

Take care of yourself
Sleep well
Try breathing techniques
Try finding the “silver lining”
Drink water
Exercise
Talk to your family and friends
Keep a stress journal
Have quiet “me” time
Have a healthy diet and meal schedule
Don’t get stuck in social media
Manage your time well
Decide what is good and bad for you
Let go of the things that you can’t control,

Nevertheless, if you want to see instant results and get out of challenging situations, you can try these methods to reduce your stress level and make more important decisions:

Deep abdominal breathing: Your breathing becomes fast and short during stressful moments. You can reduce stress by taking deep breaths into your belly. This way, your body will relax.
Focus on calming things: Visualize something peaceful or verbally command yourself to calm down.
Muscle exercise: Tense and relax your 5 muscle groups: face, arms, chest, abdomen, and legs. Firstly, close your eyes, then tense your face muscles for 10 seconds and release for 20 seconds. Notice the relaxation during this 20 seconds and then continue with the next muscle group.

The instant effect of these exercises is to increase parasympathetic activities which occur when the body is at rest. In the long run, cortisol levels will drop, blood pressure will reduce, overall reducing anxiety and stress level.

How can you help others?

After you help yourself, you should also consider others during Stress Awareness Month. If you see the symptoms above in your family or friends, you should approach them with compassion and go through these steps:

Politely tell them that you noticed their stress.
Just listen.
Offer alternative viewpoints if asked.
Help them to find the underlying causes of their stress
Try instant relaxation techniques together.

These are the things that you can do as a friend or family member, but there is a limit on what you can do. Sometimes, the best option is to get professional help. Some people may not be eager to do so, but remind them that their mental health and wellbeing is as important as physical health. While helping others, you may also draw attention to stress awareness in your social circle.

How Do We Protect Our Mental Health While the Pandemic Continues?

April 3 2020/4 Comments/in Well Being /by Vivoo Team

The year 2020 had a very hard beginning. The global climate crisis, environmental disasters, wars, earthquakes and the stress caused by the coronavirus have affected us all. Coronavirus (COVID-19) has serious psychological effects on society because it spreads very quickly and it is possible for it to result in death.

The stress of the virus is so great that it causes more intense symptoms than the virus itself. These symptoms are stress, anxiety, and panic. Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations. When there is an emergency, people’s emotional reactions change according to their life experiences and characters. For this reason, the responses of individuals can be different when faced with the threat of coronavirus.

Some people experience anxiety and panic, while others manage to remain calm. The social and economic conditions of the society in which a person lives also directly affects these reactions. Emotional responses to emergencies also depend on the news sources a person has access to. Continuously seeing images and news about the epidemic on all media platforms causes increased coronavirus stress. People with previous mental health problems, doctors, first-aid teams, other healthcare professionals, children, and support staff related to COVID-19 can react more intensely to coronavirus stress.

Some Reactions Observed During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Feelings of intense fear and anxiety about the health status of themselves and their loved ones.
Changes in sleeping or eating patterns.
Difficulty sleeping or concentrating.
The symptoms of those with chronic health problems may worsen.
Increase in the use of alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.
Increasing emotional eating behavior to cope with coronavirus stress.

Coping with stress and anxiety in emergency situations and getting help when needed helps the recovery process. It is important to connect with your family, friends, and others, not staying alone, taking care of yourself and each other, and knowing when and how to seek help. In addition, it is important to not overshare the news and risks of COVID-19. I also would like to remind you that the people who have visited risky areas more than two weeks ago and haven’t shown any symptoms of the disease are not risking anyone’s health. If your coronavirus stress responses prevent your daily activities for several consecutive days, seeking medical and psychological support would be appropriate.

Resilience in Hard Times: Don’t Be a Victim of Coronavirus Stress

In such an epidemic, making recommendations such as “think positively” would be denying the truth. Some people give unreal reactions to traumatic stress such as “nothing will happen to me” or “everything will be fine”. However, denying the problem and being overly optimistic is a kind of defense mechanism.

What is important here is emotional resilience. Emotional resilience is not about optimism. Being too optimistic in extreme situations like coronavirus stress can even lead you to disaster. Survival begins with accepting the truth rather than optimism. I am not saying that optimism is a bad thing, in fact, it is very important not to lose a sense of hope. However, when there is a vital threat in the middle, what makes you strong and durable is accepting the truth and taking precautions – that’s what keeps you alive.

To protect your emotional resilience during this process, it is a good idea to:

Do a social media regime.

Do not view news and speculations about COVID-19 more than necessary. If necessary, put a time limit on your smartphone.

Take care of yourself.

Eat a healthy and balanced diet. Exercise regularly, even if you cannot go out. Get plenty of sleep. Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, and overeating.

Feelings are temporary.

Know that intense emotions will pass (trust me) and take time to relax. Stop watching, reading or listening to the news. It can be sad to hear the news or see the images that can trigger coronavirus stress. Try to do some activities you like to add a sense of normalcy to your life.

Connecting is important.

It’s good to share your feelings and concerns (no matter how ridiculous) with family members and friends. Maintain healthy relationships.

Realistic optimism is healthy.

Accept the truth, take necessary precautions, and do not lose hope.

Create a meaningful life.

The ability to see facts is closely related to the second element of emotional resilience, “making sense of difficult times”. I’m sure you know those people who raise their hands in the air and ask the question “why me?” They see themselves as victims and, blinded by their complaints, miss the opportunity to learn from the difficulties they are in.

However, people who have strong emotional resilience tend to make sense of the pain they experience both for themselves and the people around them. Many researchers think that the mechanism of “making sense of the difficulties experienced” is a bridge that enables people with strong emotional resilience to overcome the difficulties they face today and to have a future built on a solid foundation. This bridge makes the present time “manageable”. It fights the feeling that the current moment is unbearable. Austrian psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl, who escaped from the Auschwitz concentration camp, is the person who came up with this concept and made a very good observation about it. Frankl states that such difficult times can only be overcome by giving meaning to life in the days of suffering and grief.

As a conclusion, no one is caught prepared for disasters and epidemics. Coronavirus stress caught all of us off guard. This situation causes anxiety and panic in society. It is very important to remain emotionally resilient, realistic, and hopeful while giving a meaning to life in such difficult times. Following the recommendations, I listed can be beneficial for you and your loved ones. Remember, nothing lasts forever, even the emotions you are experiencing right now. This, too, shall pass. I wish you healthy and meaningful days.

What Are Eating Disorders?

February 26 2020/5 Comments/in Nutrition /by Vivoo Team

Eating disorders are seen at first glance as a condition that involves food and excessive occupation with weight, but they are, in fact, quite complicated disorders that consist of long-term psychological, physiological, and social conditions. Individuals with eating disorders often use foods or their control over foods to deal with their emotions. The desire for intense control can lead an individual to behaviors. It aims to form a control mechanism over their body, and these behaviors create obstacles that are both physiological and psychological.

There are many psychological, interpersonal, and social issues underlying eating disorders. Research shows that factors such as low self-confidence, depression, loneliness, difficulty in expressing emotions, and physical or sexual assault are prominent reasons. It is inevitable for some individuals to become obsessed with their bodies, especially when the media equates being thin with being beautiful, and societies place greater value on physical appeal than on inner beauty. However, not all individuals exposed to these factors will develop eating disorders. Saying that eating disorders develop in all individuals who are exposed to these factors would be misleading, of course. Psychological and genetic predisposition, family structure, social environment, and traumatic experiences constitute an important part of this condition.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by having a markedly low body weight based on the individual’s age, gender, and developmental status. Despite this low body weight, individuals with anorexia nervosa tend to:

Have an extreme fear of gaining weight.
See themselves as having extra weight even though they do not
Give excessive importance to weight when evaluating themselves.
Show continuous behaviors that make it difficult to gain weight (refusing to eat to the point of starvation, excessive exercise, vomiting, using laxatives, etc.)

These are some of the prominent symptoms of Anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia not only manifests itself as a restriction of what a person eats but also by purging after periods of overeating.

Patients with anorexia feel an intense fear of being fat and gaining weight. They show great interest in body shapes and an intense desire to avoid gaining weight. In anorexia nervosa, it is very common to see menstrual losses due to this excess weight loss.

Bulimia Nervosa

The patients show compensatory behaviors (avoid eating, vomiting, using laxatives, excessive exercise …) after recurring binge eating periods. This situation gradually becomes a vicious cycle and individuals find themselves unable to get out of this position.

Binge eating is eating an unusually large amount of food in a short period of time. During this period, the most prominent feature is the loss of control over eating habits. After this period, individuals show compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain (self-induced vomiting, using laxatives, excessive exercise…). Again, the self-evaluation of the individual shows a very close relationship with their weight.

At first, individuals think that they can get out of this cycle on their own and may not even see themselves as being sick. They believe that it will pass over time. However, expert support becomes necessary when they realize that this situation has gotten out of control.

Binge-Eating Disorder

Binge-eating disorder is very similar to Bulimia nervosa. However, behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, laxative use, and excessive exercise after binge eating are not observed in binge-eating disorder. Binge-eating periods are characterized by:

Eating faster than usual.
Eating to the point of gastric discomfort.
Feeling self-disgust, depression, and guilt after this period.
Eating excessively when not feeling hungry.
Eating secretly due to feeling ashamed.

The disorders mentioned above are some of the most common eating disorders. There are also categories of eating disorders that are less common.

Pica is characterized by an appetite for non-nutritive substances for at least one month.
Rumination disorder is a condition in which a person regurgitates the food they have eaten voluntarily for a period of at least one month.
Restrictive food intake disorder is characterized by restriction of food intake to a level that prevents a person from eating enough nutrients, disinterest in foods or eating, avoiding the sensory properties of food (e.g smell), anxiety about the unwanted consequences of eating.

Night Eating Syndrome

Night eating syndrome is characterized by eating in the middle of the night or excessive eating after dinner. Individuals with this disorder might have reduced appetites in the morning due to excessive eating the night before, and they might try to reduce the amount they eat during the day, knowing they are going to consume excessive amounts of food at night. Sleep problems are common, especially for the patients who wake up during the night to eat. This condition decreases the sleep quality of the person and causes them to be in a more depressed mood during the day. They may also experience a significant decrease in their daily life functionality.

How Do I Know If I Have an Eating Disorder?

Do you often think about your weight, your body shape, or food?
Do you try to restrict the amount you eat to lose weight, or do you stop eating for long periods?
Does your overthinking on food and calories often affect your concentration on other issues in daily life?
Do you feel a desire to have an empty stomach or a completely flat stomach to lose weight?
Do you have any fears about losing control of overeating or gaining weight?
Are there times that the amount of food you eat is more than most people can eat and do you feel that you have lost control at such times?
Do you often feel overweight?
Do you have a strong desire to lose weight?
Does your weight affect your thoughts about yourself too much? (For example, “If I am thin, I feel successful and beautiful, but if I eat more than I want and gain weight, I feel unsuccessful and ugly.”)
Do you vomit, use laxatives and exercise excessively to prevent weight gain after eating too much?
Do you hide from other people to eat?
Does it upset you to weigh yourself on a scale?
Do you feel guilty because you eat a lot and think you will gain weight?
Do you feel uncomfortable when other people see your body?

If these questions seem familiar to you, or if you often encounter these conditions in your own life, you may have an eating disorder. If you suspect that you do, seek help from a qualified medical professional.

Risk Factors of Eating Disorders

Negative Body Image

Body image is a person’s feelings about their own body and how they see themselves. If a person has a negative image of their body, they see their bodies differently from how they are, feel ashamed of their own body, and may give extreme importance to the thoughts of others. A negative body image is a very common risk factor for eating disorders. Anorexia patients especially tend to perceive themselves as overweight. Their perception of their bodies does not reflect the truth. Bulimia patients generally perceive their bodies as they are, but show a high level of dissatisfaction towards them. They constantly make negative judgments about their bodies.

Socio-Cultural Factors

With the widespread idealization of beauty in the media, many people have increased awareness about their bodies. The comments of relatives, friends, and partners about weight gain and loss can have devastating effects on individuals. All of these factors may contribute to the development of eating disorders and play a role in their continuation.

Emotional Factors

Low self-confidence and low perception of self-worth may be some of the causes of eating disorders. Being a perfectionist and having an excessive need for control are also seen as risk factors. These issues not only contribute to eating disorders, but they complicate the treatment as well.

The Family Doctor

There is no one “a family structure that causes eating disorders”, but studies indicate that there is certainly a frame. Some experts claim that children who grow up in families that are overprotective, strict, perfectionist with limited capacity for dealing with problems or have very close or very distant relationships are more prone to develop these illnesses. Taking a close look at family relationships will provide important information about the cause and progression of eating disorders. In addition, family relationships should be a part of the treatment of eating disorders. The family should be involved in the treatment.

Knowledge of family disorders will have a positive effect on the treatment process of the person who is suffering from eating disorders. Otherwise, it will be quite difficult for the individual. They may feel constantly criticized and accused of being the main reason for their illnesses, making it difficult for them to deal with both the disorder and this sense of guilt.

Medical Complications in Eating Disorders

Eating disorders not only cause psychological difficulties but also affect the body of the patient in many ways. Even though these conditions usually improve as the disorder is treated, the recovery of bodily damage is still a very difficult process, especially in chronic cases with long-standing illnesses. Although the disease with the highest death rate among these eating disorders is anorexia, behaviors such as vomiting, binge eating, and using laxatives also have various consequences.

Mouth and tooth problems may occur due to vomiting in some eating disorders. Dental cavities caused by acid due to vomiting are one of the most common issues. Weight loss, vomiting, and the use of laxatives increase the possibility of heart problems. One of the most common conditions is digestive system problems. We can observe symptoms such as celiac, irritable bowel syndrome, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bloating, and constipation. Amenorrhea (the absence of a menstrual period) in women is a common issue, especially in anorexia. Conditions such as fatigue, weakness, and energy loss are also quite common. It is very important to talk with the patient about these problems as they can be overcome by healthy weight gain and proper nutrition.

Treatment of Eating Disorders

A multidisciplinary team should deal with the treatment of eating disorders. The internal diseases specialist deals with the physical part of the disorder. In addition to treating the deficiencies in the body, they have an important role in detecting the damage caused by the disease. The psychiatrist can diagnose the disease and recommend treatment options, including condition-specific drug therapy. It is very important to start a therapy process with a clinical psychologist who specializes in the field of eating disorders.

The goal of therapy is to provide the necessary help to make it easier for the patient to deal with the eating disorder rather than eliminating it. Follow-up with dietetic professionals at the beginning of the disease is not always effective. They help add the nutrients that the body needs to the diet to reverse the damage caused by anorexia. Regular meals are planned in bulimia and binge eating disorder. These treatments take place simultaneously, not consecutively. Treatment plans are prepared with the cooperation of all these disciplines and according to the needs of the patient.

What Are Eating Disorders?

February 26 2020/5 Comments/in Nutrition /by Vivoo Team

Eating disorders are seen at first glance as a condition that involves food and excessive occupation with weight, but they are, in fact, quite complicated disorders that consist of long-term psychological, physiological, and social conditions. Individuals with eating disorders often use foods or their control over foods to deal with their emotions. The desire for intense control can lead an individual to behaviors. It aims to form a control mechanism over their body, and these behaviors create obstacles that are both physiological and psychological.

There are many psychological, interpersonal, and social issues underlying eating disorders. Research shows that factors such as low self-confidence, depression, loneliness, difficulty in expressing emotions, and physical or sexual assault are prominent reasons. It is inevitable for some individuals to become obsessed with their bodies, especially when the media equates being thin with being beautiful, and societies place greater value on physical appeal than on inner beauty. However, not all individuals exposed to these factors will develop eating disorders. Saying that eating disorders develop in all individuals who are exposed to these factors would be misleading, of course. Psychological and genetic predisposition, family structure, social environment, and traumatic experiences constitute an important part of this condition.