Health and Wellness 32

Tips for Managing and Minimizing Stress

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Americans experience varying levels of stress for a wide variety of reasons and many struggles to find healthy ways to manage it. Minimizing occasional stress is important as it can affect overall health and well-being. Stress can feel overwhelming at times but setting aside time to unwind each day to focus on your physical and mental health can help you manage those feelings. To better manage occasional feelings of stress, consider incorporating the following into your daily routine:

Prioritize exercise

Research has found that exercise in any form can help reduce occasional stress and provide a natural distraction from other thoughts and worries.[1] Taking 30 minutes a day to focus on movement, whether going for a walk, taking a yoga class or practicing high-intensity training, can support moods and help manage stress. Just don't forget to hydrate!

2. Safeguard sleep

Sleep is important for your overall well-being.[2] A survey conducted by the American Psychological Association found that many adults report that their stress increases when the length and quality of sleep decreases.[3] To help you fall asleep and stay asleep, try limiting or turning off distracting devices like the television, computer or cellphone before bed and getting into bed earlier to encourage achieving a full eight hours of rest. With these changes, the quality of sleep should improve, leaving you feeling happier, more refreshed, and better able to accomplish tasks on your to-do list.

3. Appease stress with passion

A study published in The Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that finding a passion to pursue not only reduces stress levels but also contributes to greater happiness overall.[4] Finding passion in a hobby or activity you love is a form of self-care and can make life feel a little less heavy. Setting aside time each day to focus on projects like decorating, painting, joining a book club,

or whatever inspires you can offer a sense of excitement and something to look forward to. It can even be an opportunity to reset your overall outlook and mood. Acting on something you are truly passionate about is sure to keep stress levels at bay, so don't hesitate to start a new project today.

1 2 4 3

4. Wellness support with botanicals

According to a poll from the American Psychological Association, more than half of Americans experience feelings of stress during their days.[5] Managing stress is important to our overall health and immune system, so choosing products that support both of those aspects of wellness is equally important. With a dietary supplement like Emergen-C Ashwagandha, you can reduce occasional feelings of stress*^ and support your immune system*. [6] For more information visit www.emergenc.com.

Focusing on how we can reduce occasional stress and finding ways to manage it on an ongoing basis offers a variety of wellness benefits. Simple everyday changes such as being active, getting a good night's sleep, actively participating in passion projects and incorporating a daily supplement that supports the immune system are habits that can all add up to support well-being.

[1] https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/indepth/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469 - US, Mayo Clinic, 2020 [2] https://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/need-sleep/whats-in-it-for-you/ health - US, The Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, 2008 [3] https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/sleep - US, American Psychological Association, 2013 [4] https://www.ucmerced.edu/sites/ucmerced.edu/files/documents/ zawadzki-paper-2015.pdf - US, The Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2015 [5] https://www.stress.org/daily-life - US, The American Institute of Stress, 2022 [6] *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

^Antioxidants† for immune support and Ashwagandha to help reduce occasional feelings of stress*.† Vitamin C, Zinc & Manganese

Source: BPT

EPA Administrator, Michael S. Regan, Focused on Clean Air and Water for Communities of Color

By d-mars.com

Provider

.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan remains on a journey to justice.

He said President Joe Biden’s historic bipartisan infrastructure bill provides an opportunity to finally rid

Replacement, $4 billion to the Drinking Water SRF for Emerging Contaminants, and $5 billion to Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Grants to address emerging contaminants.

There are still 6 to 10

longer have to fear the harmful health effects caused by lead and other pollutants in their water, Regan asserted.

He recounted a visit to Lowndes County, Alabama, where he found disturbing facts about water in communities of color.

Regan said he witnessed homes with malfunctioning septic systems that discharged untreated sewage into backyards.

“Where little children play,” he added.

“There also was straight piping into lagoons and to have to see children walk around delicately so that they don’t sink or get bogged down into their own front yards. This is not the America that we all know it should be.”

He continued:

“This is unacceptable. Safe drinking water, safe sewer systems, you know, this is a basic right. These individuals deserve what every American deserves: clean water and a safe environment.”

On a visit to Wilkins Elementary School in Jackson, Mississippi, Regan recounted another difficult-to-stomach experience for young children of color.

City officials declared a citywide mandate to boil water as Regan arrived because of the discovery of toxic

Regan said he had scheduled time to speak with second and third graders and found port-a-potties stationed outside the school.

“It looked like a worksite, and many of the kids had already been sent home because they couldn’t prepare food because of the water,” Regan remarked.

“This is on the heels of a pandemic. But the kids who remained behind were so excited because they got to see someone who looked like them in my position and someone who cared.”

Regan said in each location he visits, he’s sure to invite the national media to accurately report what’s going on in communities across the nation.

“The bipartisan infrastructure provides resources for our communities. There are matching grants and forgivable loans, which means more of our communities have an opportunity to compete for these grants,” he stated.

“We are also making $50 million available for technical assistance to help our communities to become more competitive. I’ve written a letter to every governor in the country outlining the criteria by which we believe those resources should be spent.”

News

Water

Regan continued:

“I’ve traveled and met with mayors because a lot of this action starts at the ground level.”

Regan said he developed a passion for public service as a young person.

His father graduated from North Carolina A&T and served in Vietnam, working as an agricultural extension agent and with the national guard.

For 40 years, Regan’s mother worked as a nurse.

“I grew up with the desire to contribute to society because of what I saw in my home,” he exclaimed.

Regan studied environmental science and earth science.

Notably, he said Biden’s proposed 2023 budget request for EPA provides $11.9 billion to advance key priorities, including tackling the climate crisis, delivering environmental justice, protecting air quality, upgrading the nation’s aging water infrastructure, and rebuilding core functions at the Agency.

Regan said EPA continues to prioritize addressing climate change with the focus and resources the crisis demands.

“At EPA, we know both climate mitigation and adaptation are essential components of the strategy to reduce the threats and impact of climate change,” Regan said.

“We will invest in programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including an additional $100 million for air quality grants to states and tribes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a local and regional scale.”

Regan further acknowledged that the communities hardest hit by pollution and climate change are most often communities of color, indigenous communities, rural communities, and poor communities.

“For generations, many of these vulnerable communities have been overburdened with higher instances of polluted air, water, and land,” Regan said.

“This inequity of environmental protection is not just an environmental justice issue but also a civil rights concern. Neither an individual’s skin color nor the wealth of their zip code should determine whether they have clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, or healthy environments in which their children can play.

“I am not afraid to enforce the laws on the books to make sure our children are breathing clean air.”

Source: National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)

Medicaid and CHIP Give Children Access To Behavioral Health Services

By d-mars.com News Provider

Over the last two years, the mental health crisis in the United States has gotten worse. A major reason for that is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has contributed to a rise in anxiety and depression among young people. But even before the pandemic, as many as one in six children in the United States between the ages of 6 and 17 had a treatable mental health disorder, a 2019 JAMA Pediatrics study found. For parents, it’s a stark reminder that mental health and support for children are crucial.

Young people are facing unprecedented stress. Increasing access to high-quality pediatric mental health services is a critical step to addressing the youth mental health crisis,” said Dr. Aditi Mallick, chief medical officer, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“As a physician and mother, I have seen firsthand how foundational mental health is to the overall health and wellbeing of our country’s children, and Medicaid and CHIP can help families access the care they need.

If you think your child may need mental health services, you have health coverage options. One of those may be free or low-cost coverage through Medicaid and CHIP. Below are some frequently asked questions about these services.

What types of mental health services are covered under Medicaid and CHIP?

With Medicaid and CHIP coverage, children have access to a number of services to prevent, diagnose, and treat mental and behavioral health disorders, including:

• Autism spectrum disorder

• Attention deficit disorder

• Anxiety disorders

• Depression

• Substance use disorder

Does my child qualify for Medicaid or CHIP?

Eligibility generally depends on your income level and household size, and varies by state. You’ll find that some programs offer coverage to your entire family. Medicaid and CHIP enrollment is open year-round, and the process to apply has gotten faster. Many families can apply and find out if they qualify on the same day. To learn more about state-specific coverage options or to enroll, visit InsureKidsNow.gov or call 1-877-KIDS-NOW.

Take charge of your child’s mental health

Mental health care for children is an important part of their development. So, take time to explore your health coverage options, including Medicaid and CHIP. Looking for more mental health resources for children? Visit CDC.gov to learn more about children’s mental health.

Information provided by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Source: StatePoint

The Stigma Around Male Domestic Violence

How do we discuss this issue and what can we ultimately do to help?

How Male Abuse Is Minimized

By Brianna Patt The Dallas

In an op-ed by Neffer Kerr titled, “Strong & Silent: Breaking the Stigma of Abuse Because Black Men Are Victims, Too,” by Ebony Magazine, Kerr recalls learning that her male friend, who was over six feet tall and gave off a facade of confidence, was being abused. All of these issues entered the forefront of her mind when Yasmine Elder killed Darius Ellis in 2017, forcing him to drink bleach. Kerr went on to express the dichotomy that male victims face due to how we view Black men, as well as calling for the creation of safe spaces for them to seek the help they need.

We need to make sure we are open to what someone is saying and not negating their experience by telling them they are allowing it to happen or laughing at them because of their gender. The most detrimental thing you can do to someone who is attempting to share their pain is to minimize, ridicule, or call them names. We always claim we want the men in our lives to be honest with us, but that cannot happen in an emotionally hostile or dismissive environment. Abuse knows no color, race, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or gender. Kerr said.

According to Analysis of Family Violence Fatalities in 2020 found that of the 228 Texans killed by their intimate partners, 40 women killed their male partners, a 28% increase from 2018 and 2019, with 30% being Black.

The downplaying and ridicule male abuse victims face is something, according to Ryan Thomas, Community Education Program Manager at Hope’s Door New Beginning Center, linked to how children are socialized.

“From a young age, girls are taught to disregard their boundaries, or you have to let boys cross if it’s because of love or affection, and boys were told, “stiff upper lip, don’t cry, you play like a girl.” So, we’re taught from a young age to devalue women. Society wants us to be in the

“man box.” So, men are supposed to be dominant and aggressive and all this stuff. That sets up a hierarchy already where one gender has power and control over the other. Essentially one’s dominant, one’s submissive and that’s the exact power and control dynamics of an abusive relationship. Society tells us that men should be dominant and women submissive. So, this doesn’t line up with the reality, that oftentimes men are abused. So, those gender stereotypes- we know that the more than someone adheres to them more strictly, the more likely they are to be accepting, abuse or violence in a relationship both as the abuser and as the victim as well,” Thomas said.

In an article done by the World Economic Forum, Vanita Sundaram stated that among the young people she spoke to about whether or not violence was unacceptable provided a variety of responses, with them stating that men are innately violent. Women hitting men was seen as “unproblematic,” with people arguing that women are physically weaker and frail (thus, their use of violence was less significant).

“This distinction between different forms of violence makes wholesale prevention difficult. Given that gender appears to be a primary influence on young people’s views on violence, schools should prioritize teaching about equality between the genders in order to effectively challenge the acceptance and justification of some forms of violent behavior,” Sundaram said.

The Effects of Domestic Violence on Men

Thomas points out that while the physical scars of the abuse men face will inevitably dissipate the deeper wounds are emotional.

“The pain is temporary but being made to feel stupid, ugly, worthless, lazy. That lasts a whole lifetime. And so that’s also minimized as men are not allowed to show emotions. So being made to feel stupid or to wear this and lazy, doesn’t just show on the outside,” Thomas said.

In a paper titled, “Black Men’s Intimate Partner Violence Victimization, HelpSeeking, and Barriers to HelpSeeking,” Meagan A. Stewart explains that for Black men, there’s pressure to maintain “hegemonic masculinity” (the masculine ideal that society tells men to aspire to and the standards against which men are compared). However, due to white supremacy, they can’t get these masculine ideals and are instead stereotyped. Stewart argues that this leads to an environment where Black men are less likely to be believed about their abuse.

“Men of Color are often unable to reach hegemonic masculine ideals due to white

supremacy embedded within these ideals (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005; Romero, 2017). Black men specifically have been stereotyped to be aggressive, hypersexual, routinely labeled as criminals (Collins, 2009; Roth, 2004), and have a history of police, legal system, and medical maltreatment (Griffith et al., 2011; Jaiswal & Halkitis, 2019). These contexts create an environment where Black men may not seek IPV-related help when needed, and if they do, they might experience disbelief by professionals and systems, and encounter police brutality as assumed perpetrators (Fugate et al., 2005; Graham et al., 2020; Jaiswal & Halkitis, 2019),” Stewart said.

According to Thomas, the effects of intimate partner violence on men range from physical issues like a shortened life expectancy to mental health issues.

“Devastating losses to life expectancy and health, all sorts of physical ailments like Alzheimer’s, and of course, cortisol and adrenaline, pumping through a system that can have not only those physical effects which could be stomach issues. It could be complex PTSD, anxiety, depression, and self-destructive behaviors. I think the emotional toll that it takes, often, the deepest and then the things that we can you know when we’re young filter, you know, forever retained a kind of, you know, how we are going to react in future situations and so, the real tragedy of the year and so, that gets passed down generations,” Thomas said.

As for what we can do both systemically and individually to help work against intimate partner violence, Thomas states we should work to stop using gendered reasons for how we treat others. He also states that when helping victims, we should focus on offering concern and validation.

“The goal for anybody should be to show concern and validate. Hey, I see you, and I’m concerned, I’m worried about your safety. Then how can I help you explore options and resources? How can I support you in that endeavor, rather than saying, “you need to get out.” Because what makes somebody a victim of abuse is that somebody is constantly telling them what to do with that power and control. So even if we’re trying to be helpful to a loved one, and say, “You need to get out, we’re disempowering them.” So really, it’s about understanding that anybody can be a victim of abuse, it doesn’t discriminate- grandson’s abuse grandmother, males abuse males. We don’t have to be experts in it. We just have to be compassionate human beings,” he said.

The Mend Project refers to this as harmful, and backs Thomas’ statement, arguing that it can be beneficial to the well-being of the victim.

“On the other hand, providing

much-needed emotional validation is easy to do and will go a long way in helping the victim. Emotional validation is the process of learning about, understanding, and expressing acceptance of another person’s emotional experience. You do not need to understand their emotional experience, agree with it, or know the facts behind it in order to validate it.”

Thomas also states that women are not the main assailants, which leaves a gap in the abuse that women perpetuate against men, which goes unnoticed.

“It’s more likely that for the women who do perpetrate violence against men, they’re not the primary aggressors. That does leave, of course, this gaping hole of women who do use and are violent towards men, right. They’ll oftentimes that’s not noticed, or it’s overshadowed because of you know, the stigma. But I always just like to say, women do suffer disproportionately more,” he said.

Hope for Change and Understanding

Hope for Change and Understanding

While Thomas hopes the recent Depp vs Heard defamation trial can shine a light on this issue, he still does not see much change on the horizon.

“I think if any positive that could happen is that the recognition that thiswhether it did or not happen to whomever-it could happen to men, right? It can have just the same social, psychological, emotional, and social consequences. For the children, we cannot forget about the kids who are witnessing this is going to be much more likely to grow up to be abusive or victims themselves. But the short answer is no, I haven’t seen that stigma change much yet,” he said.

Thomas states that we can better understand intimate partner violence than men are afflicted with, we must better understand abuse as a whole.

“I think to understand that domestic abuse is about power and control and that it’s not about why you stay or reasons to stay. It’s what are the barriers to leaving, right? Because only when we can understand the whole power control dynamic, can we then understand the barriers? And then can we find a pathway out of that forest,” he said.

Resources

for Black Men Facing Domestic Violence

Resources for Black Men Facing Domestic Violence

• Hotline Resource: thehotlineorgwhat-toexpect-when-you-contact-us

• Shelters for Male Victims: FamilyPlace.org

Source: National Newspaper Publishers Association

Weekly

The Effects of Domestic Violence on Men

Understanding of Postpartum Depression

Tami V. Allen, MS, LPC Contributing Writer

Waving a baby is one of the most precious gifts of life but it’s very natural to feel overwhelmed after the birth, having to adjust to a new way of life. But what if you are, eventually, not able to move beyond the feelings of being overwhelmed, sleep deprivation, anxiety, unexplained crying spells, irritability, and wanting to disconnect from others? Could this be depression or postpartum depression? Understanding the difference can give you better insight and help you to know when to seek professional help.

Occasionally, you feel angered with no obvious trigger. There is also a feeling of intense sadness and hopelessness which may eventually lead to suicidal thoughts. An alternative to postpartum depression is postpartum psychosis which is rare but more severe than normal depression. These symptoms usually appear within two weeks or a few months and you begin to lose touch with reality. That may include hallucinations where you hear or see things that others do not. Delusions (false beliefs), paranoia, confusion and disorientation, and episodes of mania (extreme raid changes in mood and emotions) can lead to aggression towards others, and extreme changes in appetite, weight, and sleep habits. These symptoms require immediate medical and psychiatric attention to help reduce and manage these symptoms.

Experiencing postpartum depression is unique for every woman, however, there are symptoms they all have in common which can appear within four weeks of delivery. In addition to the ones mentioned above, the most tell-tale signs are after you have this beautiful baby that you’ve waited so long to arrive, when you look at the baby, there is no feeling of joy as expected.

Postpartum depression is treatable with intensely personal and cognitive behavioral therapy, bright light therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, and medications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug to treat postpartum depression in 2019. Brexanolone is the generic name given as an infusion for 2.5 days/60 hours. Many women worry about the side effects of breastfeeding, which is a conversation to have with your medical professional.

Some immediate self-help strategies include asking for help from others, sleeping as much as possible especially when the baby is sleeping, saving time to indulge yourself, getting some exercise and making sure to eat properly, focusing on deep breathing when feeling anxious and overwhelmed, and lastly, get some sunlight and let the natural light come through the windows when you are not sleeping.

For more information, you can talk to your medical professional, join support groups, and do your own research.

You can visit Allen Counseling Group on the web at www.AllenCounselingGroup.com. For questions, email Tami@AllenCounselingGroup.com or call 713-597-4499.

Like and follow the Allen Counseling Group on social media:

FB: @AllenCounseling2017

IG: @AllenCounselingGroup

Twitter: @CounselingAllen

References:

You feel disconnected and detached from the baby and may even have thoughts of hurting the baby. You may pull away from your partner and family and feel lonely or neglected by them at the

same time even when they are around.