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 ABOUT

Psych Central was established in 1995 and has a

relationship with dozens of professionals in the
behavioural healthcare field. Psych Central is the
Internet’s largest and oldest independent mental health
social network. Since 1995, our award-winning website has
been run by mental health professionals offering reliable,
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Psych Central, whose daily operations are overseen by Dr.

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in mental health, psychology, social work, and psychiatry.
We also developed the popular Sanity Score, a free online
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Psych Central is owned and operated by Dr. John Grohol.

Psych Central is inspired by the loss of Dr. Grohol’s

childhood best friend due to suicide and his search for
meaning of this loss.
 RELEVANT INFO

Stress is unique for every person and at the same time,

it’s also different things at different times to the same
person. In other words, stress is very individual, and
whether something becomes a stressor to you depends on a
selection of variables, according to Richard Blonna,
Ed.D, a nationally certified coach and counsellor.
Stress is a piece of our lives and there’s no running
from it. But as much as we all live with it, many of us
mistake some of the fundamentals about stress and its
part in our lives. It has been indicted in many research
studies in worsening real physical illnesses — the whole
thing from heart disease to Alzheimer’s disease. Reducing
stress can not only aid you feel better, but also live a
longer, disease-free life. Stress isn’t always bad for
us. Being stress-free makes us happy and healthy. But
this is wrong — stress is the human condition like what
tension is to the violin string: too little and the music
is dry and raspy. Stress in and of itself is not bad
(especially in small amounts). So while stress can be the
kiss of death or the spice of life, the key is to
understand how best to manage it.
 relevant info

There are five ways to help cope up with stress.

The first is to reorganize. There is a need to reorganize

the healthy habits and do more than what has been
practicing. The next is to rethink. Humans should make the
past experiences as the stepping stone and not serve as
the barrier to not make a progress of one. The third is to
reduce. Reduce the nonsense activities and thinking that
isn’t helping one’s self and focus to what must have been.
The fourth is to relax. After going through a tremendous
exercise, one must know how to relax his muscles. And the
last one is to release. Release all the energy from mild
to extreme activities and also the negative aura and vibe.
One must learn these to lessen the stress.
 relevant info

By its nature, distress is “great pain, acute suffering

and extreme misfortune,” as what Ms. Casey Radle said,
LPC, a therapist who specializes in anxiety, depression
and low self-esteem. This serious pain “can hijack our
ability to think straight.”

And here are some ways to deal with this.

You should first know what you need because if you’re in
distress then you need something and it might or should
be something concrete. Then focus on what you want, not
on what you don’t. Because when thinking about your
needs, it can be more helpful to focus on what you need,
instead of what you don’t need. The third is to honor
your needs. “If you don’t clearly communicate your needs,
no one will know how to support you.” We can’t expect
people to read our minds, she said. “That isn’t fair to
them nor to ourselves.”
relevant info

The fourth is to get moving. “When we’re highly stressed

moving can help pump more blood and oxygen to the brain
and shift into our senses and surroundings to feel
grounded and safe,” Rachel Eddins said, a counsellor of
the Psych Central. Then we have to develop a nurturing
voice. You also might create a compassionate figure after
a kind person you know, a spiritual guide or a fictional
character, Eddins said. Turn to this figure when your
thoughts are judgmental or self-critical, she said. The
next is to reverse the “Golden Rule.” Radle suggested
reversing the Golden Rule, which states that we should
treat others the way we’d like to be treated. Then to
practice a soothing gesture and different perspectives,
in order to calm yourself and understand people more.
Lastly, ground yourself. Dealing with distress isn’t
easy. However, you can turn to many healthy,
compassionate strategies for support.
reflection

With this website I have seen and read, I would gladly

say that it helped me a lot. I am experiencing stress and
slight distress almost on a daily basis and it greatly
helped me to have an idea on how to handle it. I am not
really good at handling myself through these situations
and I’m glad I had the chance to know it. With this too,
I attained knowledge that all people experience it and it
isn’t that not normal nonetheless, we experience it
differently. We have our own way of stressing ourselves
and feeling stressed. I am just not quite fond of
distressing because of the actual pain it causes the
sufferer. And also, it isn’t so bad to be stressed
because sometimes it can be a way to having ourselves be
better than what we are right then. So after acquiring
ideas and such, I can start reorganizing my life and
leaving stress bit by bit because I feel it’s already a
part of me – part of me that suffer every day.