Anxiety and Stress in America is Rising to all Time High.

With all the tragedy occurring in the news lately, you may have found yourself thinking, how do I make sure my children grow up in a better world, my nieces, nephews? How do I go about teaching them about equality and unbiased love? There are many great resources out there and we care to help. Small steps can make a huge difference.

If you are struggling, please contact your healthcare provider, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or Stepping Stone Community Services at 330-577-4099.

 #Together #United #Love #mentalhealth #ravennaohio

Angry Is Okay? – The Myths and Truths About Anger.

There’s a lot to be angry about these days – politics on Facebook, traffic jams, heated family gatherings,

dropping your free taco and it shattering to bits on the rocky ground and never to be eaten. The list is

endless. What do you do with your anger? How does it come out? Or does it come out at all? What’s

healthy and not healthy in all of this? Below are some myths – and the correlated truths – about seeing

red.

MYTH: Being angry is wrong.

Truth: Anger is an emotion just like anything else. It’s okay to experience emotions, even ones that

might seem scary, like anger. What’s most important with anger is how it’s expressed and processed.

Action: Take notice of what makes you angry and how you react to it.

MYTH: The best way to “let out” anger is by being physical – hitting or smashing something or even

letting out a good scream.

Truth: Processing your anger doesn’t have to be physical, and sometimes it’s even unhelpful. The

physical part helps to release that immediate adrenaline rush, sure, but it doesn’t get to the meat of the

anger and can even potentially build a pattern of immediately reacting every single time you get angry.

Action: Brainstorm ways you can process anger without getting physical – can you talk to someone?

Write it out? Meditate?

MYTH: When I get angry, I’m mad at what just happened and that’s it.

Truth: Anger is a secondary emotion, which means it’s your body’s knee-jerk reaction to something

deeper, like feelings of fear or pain or vulnerability. Even being angry at something like being stuck in

traffic has an underlying emotion. Maybe there’s fear that you won’t make it home in time for

something important or you’re feeling raw after a rough day at work and just want something

comforting at home.

Action: The next time you get angry, take a minute to go through your day or remember what you were

just thinking about. This will give you some insight into where your anger might be coming from.

MYTH: Being angry isn’t helpful and solves nothing.

Truth: Because anger is a secondary emotion, it also acts as a protective factor. Take, for example, this

analogy of a snake:

Once upon a time, there was a snake in a deli mart parking lot. Every evening, a group of

kids would hang out in the lot and antagonize the snake. It started out as making fun of

its stripes and nudging its tail, but soon the kids started throwing rocks at the snake and

poking it with sticks. The deli owner began hearing reports of kids being bitten by the

Angry Is Okay – The Myths and Truths About Anger

snake, and decided to try and reason with it. He asked the snake if it was biting people,

and when the snake said yes, the deli owner asked it to not bite the kids anymore. Being

a reasonable snake, it agreed. The deli owner didn’t hear anything about snake bites for

the next week. One evening, though, he saw the snake lying still on the ground. It

looked cut and bruised. The deli owner took the snake to the vet and asked why it didn’t

protect itself. The snake’s response? You asked me not to bite the kids.

The snake’s natural reaction to being hurt was to react in anger and bite the kids. Once it could no

longer bite, but also had no other way of protecting itself, it got badly hurt. Anger can protect you from

hurt and act as a signal that something within you is under attack. For example, you and a couple other

friends are invited to a party, and when you get there, you find out everyone else has been there for

hours without you, and you get angry. You were left out, ostracized. If you react out of anger, you don’t

have to feel that pain of vulnerability.

Action: Think about the last time you lashed out in anger – what sort of hurt or pain do you think was

being protected in that situation? What other ways could you have reacted?

MYTH: Anger just happens and there’s no way of telling it’s coming until you snap.

Truth: Your body gives you warning signs to tell you that you’re getting angry. Maybe your heart rate

increases, or your fists start to clench, or your face gets hot. By training yourself to pay attention to

these cues, you can pause and process what’s making you feel angry before you reach your boiling

point.

Action: The next time you feel just a little frustrated, freeze and see what your body is doing. Do you

notice tension in your face? A rapid heartbeat? Something else entirely? These could be your warning

signs, ones you’ll want to start paying attention to.

Whether it’s traffic or a taco, you can practice these truths every day to get a better understanding of

anger’s role in your life and how you can process it in a healthy way.nded to diagnose, treat, or cure any physical or mental illness. If you are struggling, please contact your healthcare provider, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255, or Stepping Stone Community Services at 330-577-4099.

Gun Violence in America: How to Cope With The Insanity.

Author: Lynda Benigno

America; we have a problem, a sickening, emotionally exhausting, gun problem. When I try to contemplate the loss of life, physical injuries, trauma, and grief, my head spins. Seeing hundreds of " thoughts and prayers" posts on social media makes me nauseous. I imagine many others feel the same as I do. We as a country are perfectly comfortable with a level of violence that seriously injures or snuffs out lives in one foul swoop. Where has our humanity gone?

The memory of coming home from school on April 20, 1999; seeing kids my age, terrified and crying outside their school, is still fresh in my mind. At the time, it did not occur to me that this event would become commonplace. More than ten years later, gun violence touched my family, as did the realization that no one is immune to becoming a statistic. This year marked the 20th anniversary of Columbine, and I have developed a mental list of places I associate with mass death. Grocery stores/shopping malls, bars, clubs, concerts, movie theaters, churches, and office buildings. Perhaps it's my way of coping with the endless stream of human slaughter and suffering that lays itself bare on the television screen and in my news feed. How long before there are memorials on every street corner in our country? Why are we cowering in the face of the disintegration of basic human decency?

Statistics on gun violence in America are grim.

·    The U.S has had 249 mass shootings in 2019.

·    The U.S has six times the gun homicide rate as Canada, and the gun homicide rate in the U.S. is 25 times that of other high-income countries.

·    Firearms are the second leading cause of death in American children and teens and the first leading cause of death for African American children.

·    4.5 million American women have been threatened with a firearm by an intimate partner.

·    52 American women are shot and killed by an intimate partner each month in the U.S.

·    Gun homicide rates are higher in racially segregated neighborhoods with high poverty rates.

·    58% of American adults or someone they care for has experienced gun violence.

·    Three million American children witness gun violence a year.

We can debate the broadly defined term, mass shooting, until we are all blue in the face. I have no interest. I have no interest in talking about good guys with guns, second amendment rights, or extra security measures in buildings or at outdoor events. I will say this. I believe having a president who incites violence with racist and sexist rhetoric is not helping. Easy access to firearms is a problem. The unwillingness of Congress to ban the sale of assault weapons, the most favored weapon of mass shooters, is a problem. Entitled, misogynistic, racist white males are a problem ( and the one common thread in all mass shootings). Access to mental health services is a problem. However, it should be noted that statistically, those with mental illness are more likely to be a target of gun violence than a perpetrator. Calling shooters crazy when the reality is they are methodical is a problem. Poverty, substance abuse, and domestic violence are a problem as they are contributing factors. The fact that shootings are inevitable, and the loss of life is acceptable is a problem.

Do I have any easy answers for stopping the current insanity? No. Do I hope you will talk about it, call your congressional leaders, and organize discussions in your community? Yes.

Whether you are a victim of gun violence, a witness, or just emotionally drained from the imagery and talking heads on the news, I have a few suggestions to help you cope.

1.   Practice Self Care- Eat healthily, sleep, exercise, and do your best to maintain a routine. It may seem selfish to think about yourself; however, you can not pour from an empty cup.

2.   Recognize when you or those around you need support- There is no shame in getting help. If you notice changes in eating habits, sleep patterns, mood swings, or low energy levels, seek advice from a therapist. If you see these changes in someone you love, do your best to be supportive and suggest therapy. After a traumatic event, having someone to talk to who is understanding will make all the difference.

3.   Limit Media Exposure- The medias portrayal of mass shootings have been shown to cause acute stress and trigger PTSD. While it is essential to stay informed, the constant barrage mass death is not good for anyone. Turn off the tv and your phone whenever possible.

4.   Check-in with your kids- For children directly impacted by gun violence, increased anxiety, fear, depression, and difficulty expressing their emotions may occur. Witnessing news reports on mass shootings will challenge your children's sense of safety. Have a conversation with them by letting them openly express their fears, concerns, and questions without injecting your own two sense. Stay calm and validate their feelings by telling them what they are feeling is normal and rational. Limit their exposure to the 24-hour news cycle as much as possible.

The opinions expressed in this article are of the author and not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any mental or physical condition. If you are struggling, please contact your health care provider, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255, or Stepping Stone Community Services at 330-577-4099.