AADCC Recognizes Mental Health Month and Arthritis Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and here are some ways to improve your mental health. It is estimated that 20% of people aged 55 years or older experience some type of mental health concern. The following tips are from the ANA Healthy Nurse “Calm the Inner Chaos Challenge."
Anxiety often accompanies stress. When you feel anxious, there's a good chance you have racing thoughts, a fast-beating heart, dry mouth, light-headedness or a stomachache.
Instead of avoiding how you feel when you're anxious and stressed, give yourself grace and accept it. Sit down and take a few moments to notice all the sensations and emotions you experience when you're stressed. As you think about how you feel, do this breathing exercise to help you concentrate and calm yourself:
- Take a deep breath in for 4 seconds
- Hold your breath for 4 seconds
- Breathe out for 4 seconds
- Hold for 4 more seconds
Repeat this process five (5) times. Do this exercise the next time you feel stressed or overwhelmed by difficult emotions. Reconnecting with your breath will help you feel more balanced in the present moment, and it's a great way to anchor yourself.
Research has shown that humor and laughter have many positive physiological effects. When you laugh, the amount of stress hormones like epinephrine and cortisol in your body decrease. At the same time, laughter increases the activation of the mesolimbic dopaminergic reward system, which allows you to feel pleasure and motivation. Try some of these ideas:
- Boosting the immune system
- Evoking memories
- Improving cognitive skills
- Lowering stress
- Reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety
Let's take advantage of the feel-good effects and cognitive benefits of music. Take a few minutes to play your favorite song while sitting quietly. As the music plays, concentrate on how it makes you feel and what memories it brings to mind. Sit with those feelings for a few moments.
The NIH has numerous resources to help you maximize your mental health. The NIH Emotional Wellness toolkit is a way to keep you healthy by giving suggestions on how to manage your feelings, sleep, resilience and relationships.
Another resource at NIH is the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), available for staff to receive up to six individual sessions or obtain information about resources in the community. In addition, the ORS Resource & Referral Services program can provide all staff, trainees and contractors with information on community resources nationwide for them and their families. As of July 2022, 988 is the suicide hotline number that is manned 24/7 if anyone is having thoughts of self-harm. The NIMH and NIA have a variety of videos and other material specific to mental health and aging; https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/topics/mental-and-emotional-health
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/older-adults-and-mental-health.
May is also Arthritis Awareness Month. There are many types of Arthritis, the most common type as we age is Osteoarthritis. It most commonly affects our hands, knees, hips, neck and lower back, but can affect other joints. With the weather warming and more opportunities to get outdoors, the best way to help keep Osteoarthritis at bay is to exercise and live a healthy lifestyle. More information about Osteoarthritis can be found at https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/osteoarthritis/diagnosis-treatment-and-steps-to-take
Both Arthritis and Mental Health have an increasing impact on us as we age. The good news is that through research we have gained a lot of knowledge that has led to new therapies and resources that can help us live a better life as we age. The NIH has institutes dedicated to researching arthritis (NIAMS), mental health (NIMH) and aging (NIA). These institutes are great resources for information on learning more about the multiple types of arthritis and mental health.
