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Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The Power Of Gratitude
I love celebrating Thanksgiving, and I think it's a vastly underrated holiday! I understand that it's only an American holiday, so it doesn't have the momentum of worldwide celebration, and it's not traditionally a gift-giving holiday, so it doesn't have the push of consumerism behind it, like Christmas and, to a lesser extent, Hanukah. (I roll my eyes when I'm shopping for Halloween supplies in October and I invariably find them alongside a smattering of Christmas supplies from overzealous merchants.) Still, for everything we can gain from giving thanks, I'd really like to see more celebration of this wonderful holiday, in the form of increased acts of kindness and greater gratitude from people in their daily lives. What we gain from gratitude is more than just warm fuzzies from people who appreciate what we do for them--gratitude is like love, where the person giving it gains even more than the recipient. Gratitude leads to a sense of wellbeing that's good for physical and emotional health. And, while some people are born with a greater propensity toward feeling grateful, and some people develop it as a by-product of their upbringing or certain life experiences, gratitude can also be cultivated by anyone who wants to experience more of it in their daily lives, with some simple exercises.
The following gratitude resources can help you to understand the benefits of gratitude, and develop more gratitude in your life. Be truly thankful this Thanksgiving--and let these feelings stay with you throughout the holiday season and into the new year!
What are you most grateful for? How do you cultivate a sense of gratitude? Share your thoughts in the comments or on Facebook--we'd love to hear!Get Stress Management on Facebook and Twitter.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Survey: American Families Are STRESSED!
The American Psychological Association released research findings of a 2010 study on stress in America, and the results may surprise families across the nation. The findings are surprising not only because they show that stress is more prevalent and more serious than one might expect, but they show that American parents may not even realize how stressed they and their children are--but the children know!
Here are some of the study's findings: Stress Levels Are Extreme
One-third (32 percent) of parents report that their stress levels are extreme (a level of 8 - 10 on a 10-point scale) and parents overall --more--say they are living with stress levels that exceed their definition of healthy (parents report an average stress level of 6.1 on a 10- point scale while the average healthy level of stress reported by parents is a 3.9). Stress Management Is "Important" But Unsuccessful:
While many feel it's important to manage their stress (69 percent say managing stress is extremely or very important), few are being successful in their efforts (only 32 percent believe they are doing an excellent or very good job of managing their stress). Parents Are Unaware, Children Are Painfully Aware:
Parents underestimate the impact their stress has on the family as a whole, which could have far deeper health implications then they realize. More than two-thirds (69 percent) of parents of teens and tweens say that their stress has slight or no impact on their children, yet only 14 percent of children report that their parent's stress does not bother them. In addition, one-third of children (34 percent) say they know their parent is worried or stressed out when they yell. Stressed Parents Have Stressed Children:
Children who say their parent is always stressed are more likely to report having a great deal of stress themselves than those who say their parents are never stressed (17 percent vs. 2 percent). Teens and Tweens: Sad, Worried, Frustrated:
Nearly half of tweens (47 percent) and one-third of teens (33 percent) say they feel sad; one third of tweens (36 percent) and 43 percent of teens say they feel worried; and one-quarter (25 percent) of tweens and 38 percent of teens say they feel frustrated when their parents are stressed. Healthy Coping Is Difficult For Everyone:
More than half of parents say that it takes some or a great amount of effort to get their families to eat healthy foods (56 percent) and to get their families to be physically active (54 percent). At the same time, tweens and teens report that they turn to sedentary behaviors to make themselves feel better when they are really worried or stressed, such as listening to music (36 percent of tweens and 66 percent of teens), playing video games (56 percent of tweens and 41 percent of teens) or watching TV (34 percent of tweens and 30 percent of teens).
"Even though children know when their parents are stressed and admit that it directly affects them, parents are grossly underestimating the impact that their stress is having on their children," says psychologist Katherine C. Nordal, PhD, APA's executive director for professional practice in a press release. "It's critical that parents communicate with their children about how to identify stress triggers and manage stress in healthy ways while they're young and still developing behavioral patterns. If children don't learn these lessons early on, it could significantly impact their physical health and emotional well-being down the road, especially as they become adults."
Do these findings ring true for you? When you look around, do you see stressed children and parents? When you try to help your own family manage stress, is it hard to get them out of their sedentary coping activities? Share your thoughts in the comments section or in the Facebook group, and see the resources below for help. Stress management is important for families everywhere in America and worldwide, and if we start taking steps now toward healthier coping, we'll have healthier, less stressed families in the future.
Coping Resources:
Get Stress Management on Facebook and Twitter.
Source: www.stressinamerica.org
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Survey: Overweight Children and Stress
The American Psychological Association recently completed a nationwide study with Harris Interactive that measured stress levels, coping habits, and other stress-related topics in America's families. The findings were concerning in that they showed that America's parents and children are experiencing heavy amounts of stress, children are suffering more than parents realize, parents are more stressed than they may realize (though children are very aware of this stress), and the coping methods used may actually be perpetuating the problem. (For more specifics on those findings, as well as resources you can use to relieve stress in yourself and your children, see this.)
Another set of findings in the study centered around overweight children and adults. The study showed that many families have trouble staying active and living a healthy lifestyle, and stress can compound that. Emotional eating, sedentary behavior, and other less-healthy responses to stress are more common than families would like, and healthy eating and exercise are challenging habits to maintain, especially in the face of stress. This contributes to the negative cycle of overweight and stress. Here are some of the specific findings of the study: Overweight Adults and Children Feel More Stressed:
The Stress in America survey results show that children and adults alike who are obese or overweight are more likely to report that they feel stress, and overweight or obese children report that their parents were often or always stressed over the past month. Overweight Children Worry More:
Children who are overweight are more likely to report they worry a great deal or a lot compared to children of normal weight (31 percent vs. 14 percent). Overweight children are also significantly more likely than normal-weight children to report the way they look/their weight as something they worry about (36 percent vs. 11 percent). Overweight Children Often Have Stressed Parents:
Children who believe they are overweight are more likely to report that their parents are stressed out always or often than children who believe they are normal weight (39 percent vs. 30 percent). Children Manage Stress In Less Healthy Ways Have Other Problems:
Children who are overweight are more likely than children who are normal weight to report that in the past month they have experienced physical and emotional symptoms such as trouble falling asleep (48 percent vs. 33 percent), headaches (43 percent vs. 28 percent), eating too much or too little (48 percent vs. 16 percent) or feeling angry or getting into fights (22 percent vs. 13 percent), all symptoms commonly associated with stress. Overweight Children More Often Cope In Less Healthy Ways:
Children who are overweight are also more likely than children who are normal weight to report eating (27 percent vs. 14 percent) or taking a nap (26 percent vs. 15 percent) to make themselves feel better when they are really worried or stressed about something. These findings are troubling, but not entirely surprising. So many adults find themselves dealing with emotional eating. We also deal with self-sabotage and have difficult making healthy habits stick. It's not surprising that these patterns start earlier than we may realize. If you or your family members are dealing with these issues, the following resources can help.
Get Stress Management on Facebook and Twitter.
Source: www.stressinamerica.org
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Power Of Gratitude
I love celebrating Thanksgiving, and I think it's a vastly underrated holiday! I understand that it's only an American holiday, so it doesn't have the momentum of worldwide celebration, and it's not traditionally a gift-giving holiday, so it doesn't have the push of consumerism behind it, like Christmas and, to a lesser extent, Hanukah. (I roll my eyes when I'm shopping for Halloween supplies in October and I invariably find them alongside a smattering of Christmas supplies from overzealous merchants.) Still, for everything we can gain from giving thanks, I'd really like to see more celebration of this wonderful holiday, in the form of increased acts of kindness and greater gratitude from people in their daily lives. What we gain from gratitude is more than just warm fuzzies from people who appreciate what we do for them--gratitude is like love, where the person giving it gains even more than the recipient. Gratitude leads to a sense of wellbeing that's good for physical and emotional health. And, while some people are born with a greater propensity toward feeling grateful, and some people develop it as a by-product of their upbringing or certain life experiences, gratitude can also be cultivated by anyone who wants to experience more of it in their daily lives, with some simple exercises.
The following gratitude resources can help you to understand the benefits of gratitude, and develop more gratitude in your life. Be truly thankful this Thanksgiving--and let these feelings stay with you throughout the holiday season and into the new year!
What are you most grateful for? How do you cultivate a sense of gratitude? Share your thoughts in the comments or on Facebook--we'd love to hear!Get Stress Management on Facebook and Twitter.
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