Take a Mentally Healthy Vacation
Mental Health Association of Colorado would like to offer the following tips to make your vacation mentally healthy. Where you go on vacation, what you choose to do and how long you stay tell a lot about the kind of person you are -- and the kind of person you'll be when you return. Before you make any plans, here is some advice about taking vacations:
- Shorter vacations taken more frequently are better than long ones. Don't look to vacations as a solution to your problems; you'll only end up taking them with you and feeling worse.
- Taking a vacation away from home brings a greater sense of freedom than the same amount of time spent at home.
- Not taking vacations from work can result in psychologically caused accidents and increased tension.
- The best vacations come from understanding your inner drives and selecting activities to match those needs.
A good vacation is one which lets you "get away from it all," and leave the responsibilities, routines and demands of everyday life behind. The more vacations and long weekends you can take the better. The most mentally healthy aspect of vacations is the release of pressure, rather than the duration. Vacations also bring opportunities to discover new experiences, see new sights and gain new perspectives on your life, family, job or school.
Even if you can't take a trip away from home, take a few days off at home to give yourself a break. Take a day off work and have a picnic. Get a babysitter and spend all day catching up on your reading. If there's someone who needs constant care in your home -- a sick child or elderly parent -- make other arrangements for them for a day or two and give yourself a break. However you spend your time off, use it to enhance your own mental health.
The Mental Health Association of Colorado (MHAC) is a non-profit education and advocacy organization committed to promoting the mental health of all Coloradans, increasing public understanding and acceptance of people with mental illnesses and fostering the delivery of the most appropriate and effective services to individuals in need.
The preceding information was provided as a public service, compliments of:
Mental Health Association of Colorado, Inc.
6795 East Tennessee Ave., Suite 425
Denver, CO 80224
Phone: (303) 377-3040
FAX: (303) 377-4920
Topics:
The techniques you use (or don't use) to unwind can have a tremendous impact on your mental health. Here are a few tips on learning to unwind:
- Relax by trying something new and different. If you think you'll enjoy an activity -- whether it's needlepoint or mountain biking -- don't be afraid to try something just because it's new. Take a night course at a community college. Learn to dance. Swim, jog, play golf. Be a gourmet cook. Shoot some hoops. Go for walks. Try yoga. Learn to play the piano. Take a bubble bath.
COLORADO RESOURCES:
Mental Health Association of Colorado
6795 E. Tennessee Avenue, Suite 425
Denver, CO 80224
Phone: (303) 377-3040
FAX: (303) 377-4920
The Colorado Psychological Association
1660 S. Albion Street, Suite 712
Denver, CO 80222
(303) 692-9303, administrative offices
(303) 759-6124, referral line
Colorado Chapter of The National Association of Social Workers (N.A.S.W.)
6000 E. Evans, Suite 1-121
Denver, Colorado 80222 USA
(303) 753-8890
Colorado Psychiatric Society
4596 E. Iliff Avenue, Suite B
Denver, CO 80222
(303) 759-6045
A substantial percentage of professional working people will experience burnout at some point in their lives. Don't let it happen to you! Take action before you place yourself at risk.
Set priorities in your own life
Identity your core values, and develop your schedule accordingly, making time for people and activities most important and meaningful to you.
Share your feelings with others
Bed rest is no vacation. Activities you normally enjoy are limited. As a result, you risk the following physical, mental, and emotional effects, according to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's Fetal Medicine Division:
Physical Effects. Reclining for long periods causes muscle cramping, stiffness, and numbness. In addition, pregnancy discomforts such as heartburn, reflux, constipation, and low back pain increase in severity. And bed rest is known to cause muscle and bone loss.
When we think about medical diagnosis, we usually think in terms of science. The conventional (and accurate) wisdom is that diseases are named and classified on the basis of scientific research. For example, the roughly decennial revisions of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD) partly reflect advances in scientific understanding of diseases and injuries.
It was 7 AM. My husband whisked himself out of bed and hopped into the shower. Trying to make up for lost time, he skipped his usual shave. Meanwhile I laid in bed for the next 20 minutes with my hips hiked up to what felt like the ceiling. Maybe, this time would be the month.
Stethoscope: How can we define mental illness or disorder?
Professor Firoz: A mental disorder is an illness with psychological or behavioural sign associated with impaired functioning due to a biological, social, psychological, genetic physical or chemical disturbance. It is measured in terms of variation from some normative concept. Each illness has characteristic sign and symptoms.
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