Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. It is the body’s physical response to a real or perceived threat, demand, or danger.

Everyone experiences stress at different levels. Even when the same stressors are present, our experiences can be different. Certain groups experience higher levels of stress, for example, communities of color, LGBTQIA+, women, and parents.

Stress isn’t always harmful. For example, think about the motivation you feel to study for your next exam, or the urge to make a to-do list on a Sunday. These are positive ways that stress can help you focus and complete tasks. But when stress is frequent and intense, it can affect your overall health, resulting in a reduced quality of life.

This is why we want to help you get to the root cause of your stress, understand the ays it manifests for you, and learn preventative tools for coping with stress. Because you deserve a healthy, happy life.

Has a trip to the grocery store ever sent you home in a panic? Was it the fluorescent lights buzzing? The sticky feeling of your sneakers on the floor? Maybe it was the squeaky wheel on your grocery cart or the strong smell of fresh paint? Maybe it was the awkward small talk with an old friend you saw or the interaction you had with the cashier. Or, maybe, it was all of it.

If you’ve ever experienced being overwhelmed like this, you might be a highly sensitive person and you aren’t alone. Nearly 20% of people are highly sensitive and face the same common issues. And while highly sensitive people might experience similar challenges, let me be clear that sensitivity is in no way a character flaw.

Being a highly sensitive person is not a diagnosis, and we discourage the use of it as a negative label for yourself and others. The list we are sharing today is intended to help highly sensitive people feel validated and understand why they may feel a certain way. This list can also be a helpful tool for friends and family of highly sensitive people.

Being sensitive has a negative connotation for a lot of people, especially if they have been accused of or labeled with it in the past. We hope we can help reframe the way people see sensitivity.

In our last blog about ADHD, we discussed what ADHD is, how it typically manifests in women, information on diagnoses, and resources. Today we’re digging in deeper and sharing real, meaningful ways you can combat the symptoms of ADHD. From time management to emotional regulation and sorting paper chaos, these research-based strategies will provide you with straightforward approaches to ease stress and overwhelm so you can live a better, more satisfying life. Before we get started, let us remind you that you don’t need to do all the strategies mentioned to be productive and successful. Find what techniques resonate with you and leave the rest. Honor your humanness. It’s important to be gentle with yourself on your mental health journey.

PRACTICAL TOOLS AND INTERVENTIONS FOR ADHD MENTIONED:

• The Pomodoro Technique

• OHIO Technique

• Evening Rituals

• Four-Field Strategy

• Bullet Journal

• Mindfulness Techniques

• Working from home – STACC

• Pragmatic and Concrete Tips

Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, dread, and uneasiness typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Social anxiety is a feeling of worry or nervousness focused mainly on social interactions. To better understand social anxiety, let’s start by learning the main components that anxiety is created and sustained by:

1. Physiological

   • Rapid heart rate

   • Sweaty palms

   • A lack of appetite

2. Cognitive

   • Anxious thoughts

   • Predictions

   • Judgments

3. Behavioral

   • Avoiding certain people, places, or situations

   • Difficulty saying “no” and honoring boundaries

   • Tendency to snap at others with little warning

Most people with anxiety experience all 3 parts together. If your professor emails you and asks to speak after class tomorrow, you might experience your heart drop, and your hands begin to sweat (Physiological). Then you might notice yourself starting to worry, and creating scenarios about what they will tell you (Cognitive). Then you might put it off by skipping your next class and finally struggling to make eye contact once you’re there (Behavioral).

When we struggle with anxiety all three components happen almost automatically. That’s why to challenge social anxiety, we must also challenge the three components. The following daily hacks utilize these components.

Most people have struggled with feeling like an imposter or fraud at one point or another. The feelings of self-doubt and fear of being “found out” are much more common than you’d think. When you’re in the depths of imposter syndrome, it can feel like you’re the only person who has ever felt this way, but you aren’t alone! I promise you, other people have felt this way too.

If you’re questioning whether you’re deserving of accolades, if you’re worried about whether you belong somewhere or not, or if you’re inner perfectionist is too loud, try these 3 journal prompts for navigating imposter syndrome.

For most people, the holidays look very different this year. As we continue to adjust to our current reality, it’s important that we also work to maintain our mental health. From fears of the pandemic, the isolating effects of social distancing, confronting and relearning racial injustice in the U.S., natural disasters, financial struggles, and the stress of the presidential election, it’s no surprise that anxieties are high for many of us. Even without the pandemic to consider, we have to acknowledge the inevitable stress, anxiety, and depression that can come up for many people during the colder months and the holidays. This time of year is hard, and if you’re struggling right now, this is for you. Today we share 5 tips to help protect your mental health during and after the 2020 holiday season.

Humans are social creatures, and many of us find comfort in staying connected. When we are deprived of these deep social connections, we have a tendency to feel lonely or isolated. The longer this isolation and loneliness last, the higher our risk is for mental, emotional, and physical problems. Typically, loneliness is a signal to a depressive episode and is seen as an individual problem treated with things like exposure therapy. Now, isolation is a lot more nuanced. Because we are social distancing due to a global pandemic, “treating” loneliness and isolation behaviors takes a little more creativity.

Isolation makes you think that you are the only one, and you’re the only one who’s feeling alone and that’s not true. This is NOT a normal situation, and you’re already handling it – however that looks like for you. As this pandemic continues, we want to give you a few tools for coping with these hard feelings, because you really are not alone in this.

2020 has been a difficult year for many of us. People are experiencing higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression related to Covid-19, racism, and the presidential election, among other things like the environment, lack of stability, healthcare, and the economy. That’s why we want to talk to you about finding emotional balance as we near the end of 2020.

A misconception about depression is that the person experiencing it must show obvious symptoms, like having a difficult time getting out of bed or struggling to work, go to school, or shower. This is “low functioning depression,” and refers to when depression gets in the way of every day functioning. Today we’re covering the signs and symptoms of high functioning depression, or dysthymia; a form of depression that allows for most every day functioning. We’ll talk about how to spot it, and tips for the future.

Feeling like a fraud is human, but that doesn’t mean you have to live in that feeling always. Here are some of the ways that help me to shake off imposter syndrome: