Getting Ahead of Seasonal Affective Disorder

Have you noticed the weather getting cooler in the mornings? The end of summer is quickly approaching; it’s getting darker a little earlier, the mornings are foggier and cooler, and you might begin to notice the advent of fall themes and flavors at your local establishments. As we begin to look forward to the excitements of Halloween, pumpkin spice, and a warm fleece, we might also begin to notice feelings of melancholia or sadness, and maybe even begin to anticipate the complicated emotions associated with the upcoming holidays. As the ‘late summer-scaries’ begin to creep up, I’m here with a much-needed reminder that you are not alone.

Broadly, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of mood disorder related to change in seasons. It is often characterized by low and depressed mood, loss of interest in activities, difficulty getting out of bed, feelings of dread, changes in eating patterns, reduced energy and fatigue, and irritability. If this sounds like you in the colder months, you might enjoy this episode of the NPR Life Kid Podcast focused on coping with Seasonal Affective Disorder.

In this episode, Dr. Norman Rosenthal, a clinical psychologist, provides some tips to help us get ahead of seasonal affective disorder which are briefly discussed below.

  1. Recognize symptoms – Noticing your symptoms is the first step to coping ahead. Seasonal Affective Disorder can vary in severity, and symptoms often occur incrementally making it easy to brush them off. Journaling can help you keep track of your mood to notice patterns or fluctuations.
  2. Finding Light – I mean this literally. Inadequate exposure to light can influence our mood during the cooler months. One way to get ahead of this is by prioritizing access to natural light by going outside more frequency, or by investing in a lamp or light source.
  3. Eating Habits – Seasonal Affective Disorder may interrupt our circadian rhythm and contribute to changes to our typical eating habits.
  4. Coping with Movement – Whether it is taking short walks outside, stretching in our homes, or completing short exercise circuits in a gym, you can ahead of Seasonal Affective Disorder by prioritizing movement.
  5. Stress Management – Stress management involves all of the various strategies we can implement in our routine to mitigate stressors. Some people might benefit from practicing meditation or mindfulness exercises, spending time with loved ones, or engaging in pleasurable hobbies and activities. If you find that you need additional support with managing stress, you may also consider seeking professional help from mental health professionals.

As a reminder, you can listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about Seasonal Affective Disorder and how to cope with symptoms.

Healthy Conflict

Recently, the New York Times lead health and science reporter Jancee Dunn took a look at the role confrontation plays in our daily lives and in our overall wellness. In her article, which can be read at nytimes.com, she interviewed Karen Osilla, an associate professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford Medicine. She posits that not only are disagreements inevitable, they can have benefits. Research suggests that resolving conflict in healthy ways increases your well-beinglowers stress and improves self-esteem. Productive disputes, for all their challenges, “are pathways to a bigger life,” she said.

They offer the following tips for ways that even the most conflict avoidant among us can navigate their way through healthy conflict:

Start with people you trust: If confrontation puts you on edge, practice disagreeing with people you trust, said Seo, “because honest, open-minded disagreement requires psychological safety.” Try getting comfortable saying, “I actually disagree with that,” she said. Think of healthy dissent as a muscle you can build over time, she added.

Ease into the discussion: First, take a deep breath, Dr. Osilla said, which reduces anxiety and helps you stay calm. Next, in a polite tone, concede that you don’t know the other person’s intentions. People often waste time imagining the other person’s motivations, she said, but these are impossible to know for sure. “Either way, the impact of their action is the problem you want to solve,” she said. Then, calmly share your concern, focusing on how the situation has affected you. You might say something like, “Hey, you may or may not be aware, but I’m cleaning up after your dog regularly in my yard.”

Describe your emotions: After you express the effects of their actions or words, communicate your emotions, and invite the other person to share theirs. An example would be, “I’m frustrated,” she said, or, “That comment you made stung.” Don’t bottle up your feelings, because they can manifest as passive aggression, or translate into anger or accusations, she said. “Better to name emotions,” Heen added, instead of using them to “blame and attack.”

Shift to a “learning conversation.” Once you’ve shared your feelings, have a “learning conversation” to trade perspectives and solve the problem together, Heen said. She suggested asking, “What worries or concerns you most about this?” and “What do you think I’m missing?” Listen, ask follow-up questions and suggest possible solutions, she said. If, for example, a friend keeps canceling plans, you could discover that the person has had a major life event. From there, you can brainstorm other ways to stay connected.

Remember that you can only control your actions: Even if we say everything right, we don’t have any control over how the other person will react, Dr. Osilla said. “In those moments, be compassionate with yourself,” she said. “Tell yourself: ‘I’ve said my piece. I’ve done what I can.’

Your Brain on Music

How is your summer playlist looking? According to researchers, a good list of tunes can be an important contributor to your sense of wellbeing.

In a recent NPR article, Rob Stein interviewed a team of neuroscientist at McGill University. They shared that music can evoke a sense of wonder and awe for humans by stimulating pleasure and reward centers in the brain, specifically the amygdala, ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens which, in turn, produces dopamine and endogenous opioids. They share that “neurons in the brain even fire with the beat of the music, which helps people feel connected to one another by literally synchronizing their brain waves when they listen to the same song.”

As all of this happens, music can produce a calming effect, slowing our heart rate, deepening our breathing, and lowering stress hormones. This makes us feel more connected to other people as well as the world around us, especially when we start to dance together. It can even “counter the epidemic of our times, which is loneliness,” according to researcher Dacher Keltner.

So what are you listening to this summer? Need some inspiration? Below is one of Spotify’s recent top playlist. Turn it on, call over a friend, and sing along!

Trust Your Gut

The number of publications describing the brain/gut connection has increased significantly in recent years. There are consistent findings that he connection between our mind and gut isn’t just metaphorical. The mind and gut are in constant communication via the brain-gut axis, a “information superhighway” that provides updates on what’s going on at both ends. That sinking feeling you get when taking in bad news or the way your gut twists when you’re anxious or stressed is the superhighway at work.

The folks over at Calm.com recently published a full article describing this connection as well as giving some advice on how to take advantage of this connection, but also how to become more attuned to and make use of our instincts. Some of this is summarized below, but be sure to read the full article at Calm.com.

  1. Get in touch with your feelings – Research shows that the quality of your gut instincts depends on your overall emotional intelligence (EQ) aka your ability to recognize, understand and manage your emotions and the emotions of those around you. Luckily, it’s possible to strengthen your EQ, which in turn, will strengthen your intuition. In order to build your EQ, you’ll need to get more in touch with your emotions. Use the Feelings Wheel to expand your emotional vocabulary. Learn how you experience emotions with the Emotions Series and use this information to help you Label Your Emotions. Try this meditation to Check-in with Your Emotions each day, helping you stay connected to your feelings.
  2. Tune into your body – Most of the time, gut feelings express themselves through a range of sensations in the body. That may look or feel like: “Butterflies”, nausea, or turning in the stomach Clammy or sweaty palms Muscle tension or tightness Increased heart rate Tightness or sense of calm in chest Goosebumps or prickling on skin Sometimes they are faint, sometimes they are strong, but either way if you don’t take the time to slow down and tune into your body you may miss the signs. Practices like a Body Scan help you build your body awareness so you’re able to recognize (and listen to) your gut feelings in the moment. 🔹 Let Jay Shetty teach you about Sensations vs Emotions. Learn to tune into your body and raise your EQ at the same time
  3. Find small opportunities to practice – Taking the time to practice listening to your gut, especially when the stakes are low, is a great way to strengthen your intuition. When faced with a daily decision like what outfit you want to wear, where to go for lunch, what type of workout you want to do, or even what tv show you want to watch at night, pay attention to: Your first thought: what is the first thing that comes to mind when you approach this decision? How you feel about the choices: how does your body feel when you consider different choices. Tight or loose? Excited or Shut down? How you feel after: once you make a choice and have followed through, notice how it plays out and if it feels like the right decision after the fact.

Again, be sure to read the full article and learn more tips at Calm.com!

Wellness Basics: Finding a Therapist

Finding a therapist pre-2020 was difficult and, for many, finding one now feels almost impossible. Factors include geographical limitations, accessibility of telehealth options, insurance coverage and overall cost, and goodness of fit for your concerns. That is why Andrea Muraskin at NPR create a step-by-step guide to finding a therapist. The full story can be read at https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/02/1185661348/start-therapy-find-therapist-how-to, below is an abbreviated version of her recommendations.

Step 1: Figure out what you need help with: There are lots of reasons to consider seeing a therapist. Maybe you feel depressed, or unlike yourself. Maybe you’re feeling burnt out or under pressure with family obligations. Knowing this helps you seek out a therapist who matches your goals.

Step 2: Assess your financial resources: Therapy can be expensive – or not, depending on where you go for care or whom you see. Know your coverage options and budget before deciding where to look for a therapist. If you have health insurance, your insurer will typically provide a directory of covered therapists on their website. However, bear in mind that payment often works differently for mental health providers than medical doctors. Instead of a copay, many therapists will ask for the full payment at the time of your appointment. Then it’s up to you to submit your receipts to your health insurer for reimbursement.

Free and low-cost therapy: Some county mental health departments and non-profit organizations like Mental Health America provide free and low-cost therapy for people on Medicaid. Some health centers that receive funding from the federal government also offer low-cost or free mental health care. Find federally-funded health centers in your zip code using this searchable directory. If you are employed, another free option worth exploring is if your workplace offers an EAP, or employee assistance program. EAPs are time-limited, typically five to six sessions. Cooper partners with Carebridge for this, more info at https://wellness.cooperhealth.org/carebridge/. Finally, many local universities offer free or sliding scale services with their mental health trainees. These include Temple, Drexel, and La Salle among others.

Step 3: Do some searching – and understand credentials: Now that you know the lay of the land cost-wise, start hunting. The directory at psychologytoday.com and goodtherapy.org are useful for learning about the therapists in your area and targeting your search. Many share bios, photos or short videos about themselves. You can search by issue, like “depression,” “addiction” or “marriage counseling,” or by type of therapy. You can also search by age, gender, ethnicity, language, sexuality, and insurance accepted.

Step 4: Assess if they’re a fit for you, personally and culturally: While it can be meaningful to work with a therapist from a similar background, Nguyen recommends prioritizing matching goals over race or ethnic group in your search – especially because the demand for therapy is so high right now.

Step 5: Reach out, and persist: It can be a struggle to find a provider with availability because therapists have been overwhelmed with demand since the pandemic. If you feel comfortable asking around your social circle, you might get some valuable recommendations. And if you have friends or relatives who work in mental health, consider telling them you’re looking. They might be able to reach out to their professional network, or point you to a resource you hadn’t considered. It’s an irony of the system that at a time when you need help, dogged effort might be required to find it. And when we are feeling distressed and overwhelmed, we don’t have the energy. It can actually be a great idea to ask for help finding help, she says. If you have a trusted friend who’s able to make some phone calls for you, even just to find out, you know, this clinician doesn’t have any availability, that can be a reasonable way to go. And if you are a friend or family member of somebody who’s really struggling, and if that’s something that you’re willing to offer to do, that may be really, really helpful to someone.

Step 6: Interview a prospective therapist: There’s a limit to how much you can learn about a person online or second-hand. Some therapists offer brief consultations for free, typically about 15 minutes. You’ll probably want to know about their past experience and expertise, and their experience dealing with the kinds of issues you’re facing. Questions can be open ended, like ‘Can you tell me about your experience working with adult ADHD?’ You may also ask questions about length of therapy, or number of sessions, if you can expect to see gains after a certain amount of time, what might therapy look like, and so on.

Step 7: Try at least three to five sessions: After a first appointment, if you think you might be able to work with this therapist, give it three to five sessions to see if the fit is right. Some discomfort is normal, especially if this is your first time in therapy. But early on you can kind of tell, is this a person that I can slowly let into my life? Do I feel like I can be honest with myself and be honest with them?

Promoting LGBTQIA+ Wellness Year Round

As we close out Pride Month 2023 it is important to drive home the point that, as for all people, but especially those who are consistently discriminated against which harms wellness, we should be promoting wellbeing and health year round. As such, we are including here a list of resources compiled by Main Line Health aimed at not just those in the LGBTQIA+ community, both those who seek equality along side them.

American Psychological Association – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health
The information and resources provided on this page represent an ongoing effort by the APA’s Office on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity to bring together recent and ongoing policy and advocacy work in LGBT health disparity areas, and both in government agencies and the non-profit health care community to address these issues.

Centers for Disease Control – LGBT Health
In addition to considering the needs of LGBT people in programs designed to improve the health of entire communities, there is also a need for culturally competent medical care and prevention services that are specific to this population. Social inequality is often associated with poorer health status, and sexual orientation has been associated with multiple health threats. These pages provide information and resources on some of the health issues and inequities affecting LGBT communities.

GLMA – Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality
GLMA’s mission is to ensure equality in health care for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals and health care providers. Through the expertise of its members and in collaboration with other LGBT civil rights and health organizations as well as with health associations and policy-makers at all levels, GLMA is a major force in the effort to ensure the health and well-being of LGBT individuals and families. 

National Alliance on Mental Illness – Find Support for LGBTQ
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) community faces mental health conditions just like the rest of the population. However, you may experience more negative mental health outcomes due to prejudice and other biases. Knowing what challenges you may face as a member of the LGBTQ community and how to find and work with LGBTQ-inclusive providers can help ensure more positive outcomes.

PFLAG
PFLAG reaffirms that unity and inclusion and a shared commitment to human dignity of all people are critical to fight discrimination and bigotry in any form so that all families can live free of fear. We commit to fight for fairness inclusive of people’s sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, socioeconomic position, religion, level of mental or physical ability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other perceived or actual characteristic. 

The Fenway Institute
The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health works to make life healthier for those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), people living with HIV/AIDS, and the larger community. The Fenway Institute is an interdisciplinary center for research, training, education, and policy development, focusing on national and international health issues. Its mission is to ensure access to quality, culturally competent medical and mental health care for traditionally underserved communities, including LGBT people and those affected by HIV/AIDS.

The National LGBT Cancer Network
The National LGBT Cancer Network works to improve the lives of LGBT cancer survivors and those at risk by educating the LGBT community about its increased cancer risks and the importance of screening and early detection; training health care providers to offer more culturally competent, safe and welcoming care; and advocating for LGBT survivors in mainstream cancer organizations, the media and research.

William Way LGBT Community Center (Philadelphia)
The William Way Community Center seeks to encourage, support, and advocate for the well-being and acceptance of sexual and gender minorities through services, recreational, educational, and cultural programming. The center serves the LGBT community of Philadelphia and its allies 365 days a year. From social groups, networking events, and counseling and support services to art exhibitions and cultural experiences, the Center consistently strives to provide new and innovative programs for the LGBT communities of Philadelphia.

World Health Organization – HIV/AIDS Topics
This section contains comprehensive information on key topics related to the work of the WHO HIV Department, including HIV in key populations HIV in key populations such as men who have sex with men, people in prisons and other closed settings, people who inject drugs, sex workers, and transgender people. You’ll also find resources about prevention and treatment, such as HIV testing, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)
This is a non-profit, interdisciplinary professional and educational organization devoted to transgender health. Its mission is to promote evidence based care, education, research, advocacy, public policy, and respect in transgender health. Its professional, supporting, and student members engage in clinical and academic research to develop evidence-based medicine and strive to promote a high quality of care for transsexual, transgender, and gender-nonconforming individuals internationally.

The GLBT Helpline: 888.340.GLBT (888.340.4528)
Fenway Community Health’s GLBT Helpline and the Peer Listening Line provide information, referrals and support with issues such as coming out, HIV/AIDS and other relevant topics. Open every evening.

From https://www.mainlinehealth.org/specialties/lgbtq-inclusive-care/resources

Mental Health America: Pride and Mental Health

As we continue to observe Pride Month we are invited to continue to understand the relationship between Pride and mental health, and what we can do about it. As such, Mental Health America has put together a useful guide on this issue. The full resource can be found at https://mhanational.org/lgbtq/pride, and a summary is provided below. We encourage everyone to continue to explore these resources to promote equality and good mental health for all.

“Pride Month is a time for LGBTQ+ folks to gather and celebrate their freedom to live authentically. The LGBTQ+ community deserves affirmed, safe, supported, joyful, and mentally healthy lives. Anti-trans legislation, hate-based crimes, and discrimination shouldn’t overshadow Pride, but they can’t be ignored. We hope those struggling with their identity or living in unsupportive environments find these resources helpful to living a life of well-being and resilience.”

Exploring and affirming your gender

Affirming your loved one’s gender exploration and identity

Providing gender-affirming mental health care

Pride Month: Offering Good Support

Recently, Allison Young, MD and Kaitlin Sullivan at Everyday Health set out to offer some advice on ways to support those who just came out as trans. They shared that for queer people who are transitioning — which can mean many things — getting support throughout their lives is critical, especially specific inflection points of transitioning. The authors spoke with José A. Romero, the director of community advocacy, research, and education for the Pride Foundation in Washington and Corinne Votaw, PsyD, a psychologist and gender diversity advocate based in Denver. Their advice is summarized below, and can be read in full at https://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/ways-to-support-a-friend-whos-transitioning/

  1. Respect Their Identity: Romero says that the first thing you can do is believe them. When they tell you they are becoming who they truly are, respect their identity as their truth. “Trust the person who is transitioning. Believe that person. There are going to be a lot of people who do not,” says Romero, who is nonbinary.
  2. Learn About the Trans Community: If you don’t know where to turn first, Romero suggests that people reach out to education-focused LGBTQ+ organizations such as the Pride Foundation. Romero also recommends looking through the Digital Transgender Archive for historical information and resources on transgender folks.
  3. Decide What Kind of Support You’re Willing to Offer: Your role as the friend of a person transitioning may be decided by that person, but there are some considerations you need to contemplate yourself, Romero says. He says to ask whether you are willing to drive your friend to another state to support their physical transition. Are you willing to donate money or meet with legislators? Decide what it is and commit.
  4. Don’t Over Apologize if You Make a Mistake: Each person has their own preference for how they’d like to transition socially, which includes that person’s name and pronouns. Ask — never assume — what they’d like to be called. Then do your best to incorporate those choices into your vocabulary. Be sensitive, acknowledge your mistake, move on, and work to adopt the person’s true name and pronouns into your language.
  5. Drive Change: Supporting a friend who is transitioning often doesn’t just involve being there for that person one on one. It can also take the form of working to create a safe, supportive environment for queer and transgender people. This will depend on where you live and who you are, but driving change should start by looking at your own life and beliefs. “What’s important, more than external advocacy on behalf of whatever counterpart they came out to, is a period of reflection of what you do that might be harming the trans or gender nonbinary community,” Votaw says. “Start to look into your own life and look at what is not in harmony with being a supporter or family member or friend or even coworker.”

Read the full article at https://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/ways-to-support-a-friend-whos-transitioning/

Relief Through Forgiving

Some time ago Archbishop Desmond Tutu began writing extensively on the transformative power of forgiveness. He reflects on his role as an anti-apartheid and pro human rights activist during some of the most difficult years in South Africa’s history and the role forgiveness played in moving things forward. So Archbishop Tutu would not be surprised by the findings offered by the International REACH Forgiveness Intervention, a multi-site randomized controlled trial that, amongst other things, explored what forgiveness can do for us in terms of, among other things, reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

Ready to learn more? Check out this recent article from the New York Times or visit the REACH website at https://osf.io/8qzgw/.

The Buddy System

Matthew Solan is the executive editor of Harvard Men’s Health Watch. Recently, he and Howard LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor at Harvard Health Publishing, produced a piece examining how friendships can help you stay socially active, the health benefits of this, and how to make new friends while maintaining old ones. This can be a challenge for everyone, though compared with women, men especially struggle with making and keeping friends as they age. The full article can be read at Harvard Health, but three good places to start to get your friend journey on the right track include:

  • Get into group dynamics. Join a group activity, such as a walking club; a golf or bowling league; a card, book or chess club; or a continuing-education class at an adult education center. Or ask a current friend to join you so you both can expand your friend circle.
  • Schedule time together. If you already have friends but don’t see them regularly, take the initiative and schedule a set time for get-togethers. Choose a designated day, time and place for coffee or lunch, ideally a setting designed for easy conversation. Begin with a weekly or every-other-week schedule to help everyone ease into the new outing without feeling overwhelmed.
  • Work on a project. Another way to stay connected with existing friends and meet new ones is to launch a group project. Schwartz knows of a group of retired fishermen from Gloucester, Massachusetts, who, once they retired, decided to build a boat together.

Autism and Wellness Week 4: Our Job

As we close out April where we have focused on Autism Acceptance and wellness we are left asking, what practical things can we do to promote acceptance and wellness. Today you are tasked with reflecting on that questions, but you are not alone! Here are some practical things you can do to promote acceptance and wellness in the Autism community.  

Instead of dismissing, try educating. Many folks have been in an awkward situation in a public setting where they or a family member stares at someone who looks different from them or behaves differently from what they typically see. It is completely normal to want to tell yourself or others to stop staring or be quiet because the situation makes you feel uncomfortable. Instead of dismissing that reaction, use this as an opportunity to educate about differences and build understanding. If you see someone with ASD, engage in motor and/or vocal stereotypy such as spinning in circles while humming repetitively, you could say, “Sometimes people do different things when they’re feeling different emotions. It looks like she’s feeling happy. What do you do when you feel happy?” 

Offer support through advocacy. While those with ASD are often able to receive support at school or work either through special education services or 504 accommodations or federal programs, the same supports are not necessarily guaranteed in the community, such as extracurricular activities (e.g., baseball games or birthday parties) or places of worship (e.g., churches, mosques, synagogues, etc.). If you see that another person is trying to advocate for accommodations for their child with ASD, such as creating a sensory-friendly religious service, then have their back. This means offering support through listening to them and learning from them, as well as personally reaching out to the individuals in charge who can make accommodations happen. 
 

Use language appropriate to the individual. While person-first language (e.g., “person with ASD”) is commonly used among professionals and parents, many self-advocates within the ASD community prefer identity-first language (e.g., “autistic person”) as they view ASD as something that cannot and should not be separated from their identity. There is much debate about what terminology to use; however, it is important to use language most appropriate to an individual with ASD in order to show acceptance of their individual identity. This could mean asking individuals or their family members what language they find to be the most respectful and appropriate.

Focus on strengths, not just challenges. Though many children and adults with ASD face challenges, it is important to identify and recognize the strengths that also accompany ASD. For instance, many individuals with ASD exhibit highly focused interests, such as technology or animals, which could make it difficult to form and maintain relationships if these interests dominate their lives. However, if that individual can participate in an activity or group that involves that interest, it becomes a pathway to form friendships. Further, that individual might pursue employment in line with their interests, promoting individual self-determination. Focusing on the unique abilities of an individual will strengthen their sense of self and achievement.
 

Expand your social circle. Many with ASD are socially excluded from a very young age because they engage in behaviors that that are viewed as falling outside societal norms. Expanding you and your child’s network of friendships and activities to include individuals with different abilities, such as ASD, is not only the kind thing to do, but it can also provide opportunities for you and your child to connect with and learn from others from different backgrounds and experiences. This in turn broadens perspectives of the world and teaches open-mindedness to new ideas, beliefs, and values. This includes learning that differing abilities are, as Dr. Temple Grandin has famously said, “different, not less.”

Provide meaningful opportunities for individuals with ASD to be included. Beyond inviting individuals with ASD to social gatherings, you can make a difference by helping to promote and create opportunities to include teens and adults with ASD in the workplace. As noted in President Biden’s Proclamation on World Autism Awareness Day, the Department of Labor’s recent apprenticeship initiative focuses on developing career paths in information technology, healthcare, and other fields for individuals with ASD and other developmental disabilities. Talk to your employer about why it is important to employ differently-abled individuals and how your workplace can do a better job of recruiting, supporting and retaining individuals with ASD as valuable team members. 

Autism and Wellness Week 3: In Their Own Words

This month’s wellness series has so far focused on building awareness and fostering acceptance to promote wellness in the Autism community. But, as is the case for any group, it is often most helpful to hear directly from the lived experiences of those who are members of that community. So for this week’s Autism Acceptance wellness post we are sharing an article in which different folks from different places on the spectrum share their experiences of what it is like to navigate wellness in a world that often runs contrary to their ideals and needs. This piece was written by Marianne Eloise in collaboration with Dana Glauser, LCSW, and Anna Harris.


In my ideal world, I’d live inside a spa—only leaving to buy necessities like snacks. In my current, more realistic life, I put a lot of effort into making my bedroom and bathroom feel a sanctuary. Every aspect is designed for maximum peace and comfort. Think: cotton sheets, scented candles, warm lamps, and new products. Every single day I make sure to spend as much time alone in these spaces as I can, diligently following a nightly routine of stretching, bathing, acupressure, and skincare in an environment designed just for me. While all of these behaviors fall under the overused buzzword of “wellness,” for me, as an autistic person, they’re necessary.

Autism spectrum disorder encompasses many ways of experiencing the world, but something we all tend to share is sensory processing issues.1 This can mean extreme sensitivity to some stimuli, like certain textures or sounds. We struggle to process things in the same way someone else might, which can lead to sensory overload and meltdowns, but we’re also driven to seek out positive sensory experiences to enjoy with a unique intensity.

In recent years, tools designed to help keep autistic people stimulated—like fidget spinners—have been assimilated into everyday life. More recently, weighted blankets, designed to help prevent autistic meltdowns, have found their way into more common usage for everything from anxiety to feeling nice. While this could de-stigmatize the use of these tools, it also makes it difficult to explain why you need something that everyone else finds to be a fun novelty. Similarly, a cultural fixation with the ever-growing industry of “wellness” has made it so the significance for those who need curated sensory experiences to function is lost.

Autistic people need structure and often engage in repetitive behavior, so we thrive on routine. Tom, 35, has a number of elaborate sensory rituals. He owns 10-15 different types of lighting which he uses along with a projector or VR while he’s in the bath every day. “A comfortable environment filled with the kinds of sights, sounds, and smells to help you relax can go a long way in allowing a neurodivergent person to focus without distractions and triggers. It gives us a level playing field to think and emotionally respond to things in a much more natural way,” he says. Many autistic people have dopamine processing anomalies,2 but by building up these coping mechanisms, Tom creates an environment that makes it possible to function: “Our bodies don’t naturally react well to a lot of the stimuli in the world, but these are things we do react well to and have control over. It makes sense for us to seek them out and work them into a routine to improve our general moods,” Tom says.

A cultural fixation with the ever-growing industry of “wellness” has made it so the significance for those who need curated sensory experiences to function is lost.

I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 27—but growing up, I had frequent meltdowns and burnouts as a result of overwhelming stimuli. I didn’t understand why everything felt so bad. All I knew was if someone came near me with an itchy sweater I would scream, lashing out at them and insisting that it hurts. That’s how it felt, and how it still feels to me: a wrongness, an itch that is so deep it burns my skin. I will not eat anything outside my limited selection of “good” foods and I have extreme reactions to noisy environments. The only thing that really ever felt good was swimming. I knew once I was underwater, the world became silent and dark and my body was wrapped in water. I didn’t want to get out.

As I got older, I began to understand the link between my senses and wellbeing. I gained new awareness that I was different and started to orient my life around my sensory needs. For example, I only wear certain materials and comfortable clothes, which means most of my wardrobe is loungewear and the rest consists of the same American Apparel skirt in five different colors. I only surround myself with colors that feel “right,” struggling to look at anything bright. My home is quiet, I eat what I want, I wear earplugs and an eye mask to sleep, and I avoid situations I know will send me into meltdown. As a result, I have a much easier time being who I am. In the absence of these negative triggers, I fill my life with carefully curated sensory experiences to put me back in touch with myself. 

Lindsay, 37, was only recently diagnosed as autistic but has always known she had different sensory needs, and created rituals to fulfill them. “I got really into wellness for a while but it didn’t feel like a ‘spiritual’ expression for me. It felt more like a way to understand and manage the unique energy I had that I didn’t totally understand,” she says. On a daily basis, Lindsay “stims,” a term for the movements that autistic people do to seek stimulation. She uses tools like Chewlery, adult jewelry that you can chew on, fidget toys from Black Girl Lost Keys and handmade stimulation toys from A Sense of Self. Being able to use these tools is integral in preventing Lindsay from shutting down. “I find it pretty strange that ‘wellness’ stimming is seen as socially acceptable and ‘autistic-type’ stimming is not,” she adds.

What is Stimming?

A self-stimulatory behavior that is marked by a repetitive action or movement of the body.

Lindsay puts her wellness rituals into two categories: “preventative” (things that allow her to start with a good sensory baseline) and “rescue” (things to be brought back down from sensory overwhelm). Her preventative behaviors include a morning tea ritual. The movements of scooping and pouring, the way the tea smells, and the feeling of steam put her in a good place. Her rescue behaviors include baths, lights, and candles. “The salt bath is usually unscented salt. I like to soak in the water and enjoy the splashing water sounds. It’s calming and centering,” she says. She also uses a dim-colored light in her bedroom and sound baths to recover from meltdowns. Without these behaviors, Lindsay says she either has a meltdown or just feels “off.”

While these rituals are likely to improve anyone’s mood, they can be essential to autistic people’s wellbeing. We may not have interoception, which is the internal sense of what a person feels or what they need.3 Throughout the day, without intervention, I will forget to eat, drink, or even go to the bathroom. My body feels completely separate to my brain, and I don’t even know that I’m in pain until it’s too late. While I can’t fake having a sense of interoception, what I can do is have time daily to deliberately get in touch with my body. I force myself to finish work and I go to do some stretching and yoga in a dark room with a nice-smelling candle, drink lots of water, and have a long bath. Without that routine, I’m much more likely to burnout, lose the ability to speak, or have a meltdown (if not that day, then soon). 

What Is Interoception?

Interoception is the perception of sensations from inside the body and includes the perception of physical sensations related to internal organ function such as heart beat, respiration, satiety, as well as the autonomic nervous system activity related to emotions.

Chloé, 23, is an autistic influencer and advocate who goes by Princess Aspien. Her daily sensory rituals are diverse depending on her needs. “When I need more input, dancing, singing, and stimming help me to gain that,” she says. “When I need less input, allowing myself to retract from the world is incredibly vital for me to be able to continue to function, be settled, and be happy.” Without the ability to sensory seek in a way that she needs, Chloé shuts down. “Allowing myself both the time and understanding of what I need is absolutely vital to me as a neurodivergent person,” she shares. However, she also finds joy in her sensory-seeking activities. “As a neurodivergent person, my body needs more help with sensory input than someone who’s neurotypical,” Chloé says. “It’s so important we reduce that stigma both within our own community and as a society, and create the understanding that sensory differences and sensory seeking are a normal, vital thing.” 

Tom has found that by occupying and overwhelming all of his senses with good stimuli, he can take his mind off everything else and be present: “Our external environments have more of an effect over us in getting to a place of internal calm,” he says. Basically, the same principles as mindfulness or wellness for anyone apply, but to an extreme extent. While these things reduce pain and the risk of meltdown, they are also incredibly enjoyable for us. “These behaviors activate our senses and our bodies respond to them more intensely, so we are drawn to them,” Tom says. 

Conversations around sensory-seeking behaviors are often negative and geared towards parents to make their kids stop “stimming,” as it’s often considered “inappropriate” or “embarrassing.” What people miss is not only the necessity of these behaviors, but how much joy and comfort can be found in them. Without the ability to control my own sensory experience, like Chloé, I do shut down. But exploring new ways of feeling good, whether it’s through bath products, new candles, massages, acupuncture, playing with my dog, or swimming, is the baseline for both my wellbeing and my happiness. Autistic people exist on a spectrum of extremes, but for every painful, difficult extreme, there is something that we enjoy so much more than someone else can.

The Science of Kindness

Yesterday we wrapped up our formal Random Acts of Kindness initiatives, but just because the formal time of recognition is over does not mean our kindness should stop! Want more proof of how important kindness is? Check out this video detailing the Science of Kindness and its benefits to all involved:

February is Random Acts of Kindness Month

For the month of February, we are celebrating random acts of kindness (RAK) at Cooper. Scientific evidence shows us the positive effects of doing kind acts for others as well as receiving or even witnessing kindness.

Wondering how to participate? It’s easy! Check out RAK Calendars for inspiration:

In service of this initiative, the C.A.R.E. Team is acknowledging Cooper Team Members engaging in acts of kindness with a kindness coin!

If interested in participating, reach out to the C.A.R.E. Team to request a small bag of kindness coins.

We ask that everyone please be mindful of hand hygiene and use hand sanitizer before sharing!

Freudenfreude.

There is a new term making it’s way around the social science circles: freudenfreude. Freudenfreude is a term inspired by the German word for “joy” and it describes the bliss we feel when someone else succeeds, even if it doesn’t directly involve us. In a recent New York Times article professor Catherine Chambliss says freudenfreude is like social glue in that it makes relationships more intimate and enjoyable.

The same article cites Erika Weisz, an empathy researcher and postdoctoral fellow in psychology at Harvard University, who shared that this feeling closely resembles positive empathy — the ability to experience someone else’s positive emotions. A small 2021 study examined positive empathy’s role in daily life and found that it propelled kind acts, like helping others. Sharing in someone else’s joy can also foster resilience, improve life satisfaction and help people cooperate during a conflict.

So, that challenge for you today, where can you experience a little Freudenfreude? Need help? Check out Dr. Chambliss’ Freudenfreude Enhancement Training!

More Than a Feeling

Saleem Reshamwala hosts “More Than a Feeling”, a podcast on emotions from the meditation and mindfulness platform Ten Percent Happier. Recently she published a piece on NPR sharing five practices for managing that nagging feeling of impending doom. She encourages us to recognize that the list of things we dread is almost endless, from the Sunday scaries and climate change to deadlines, the holidays, simple errands, and more. So what do we do about this? You can read the full article at https://www.npr.org/2022/11/22/1138759124/transform-the-way-you-deal-with-dread but a quick summary is offered below:

Rewrite your dread – We often struggle to talk about dread because it can feel so heavy. Poet and clinical psychologist Hala Alyan has a suggestion: Write down the things you’re concerned about. She shares a journal prompt to help you emotionally distance from your dread.

Draw your dread – What happens when we express our dread without words? Art therapist Naomi Cohen-Thompson and meditation teacher and writer Jeff Warren explain why reframing our attitudes toward dread nonverbally can help us accept what scares us.

Find the joy in dreading – Fear of death may be the ultimate type of dread we face, but clinical psychologist Rachel Menzies and death doula Alua Arthur say that facing death can be a joyful exercise. They make a compelling case for why remembering we will die – instead of trying to forget – can help us accept the inevitable.

Schedule your dread – This is how my dread works: I dread something. I try to avoid thinking about it. I fail. Before I know it, I’ve spent an entire day stuck in an endless loop of worry. Mattu shares some tips around this conundrum, including the benefits of carving out “worry time” to keep dread from becoming too overwhelming.

Notice your surroundings – After speaking with More Than a Feeling listeners, it became clear that one of the biggest issues they’re worried about right now is the state of our planet. I spoke with therapist Patty Adams, who helped me understand how connecting to the environment can help us build emotional resilience — so that even if we feel paralyzed by “eco-dread,” as it’s called, we don’t stay there for too long.

Aging Joyfully

What if instead of seeing aging as something to defeat and conquer, we were to embrace what gets better with age, and work to amplify these joys while mitigating the losses of youth? Ingrid Fetell Lee, designer and the founder of the blog The Aesthetics of Joy, recently asked herself this question. Ms. Lee outlined her thoughts on this in her article “Aging is inevitable, so why not do it joyfully? Here’s how” which can be read at TED.com. Briefly, though, she outlines the following 8 areas of emphasis. Those interested should read the full article at TED.com.

  1. Seek out awe – In a study of older adults, researchers found that taking an “awe walk,” a walk specifically focused on attending to vast or inspiring things in the environment, increased joy and prosocial emotions (feelings like generosity and kindness) more than simply taking a stroll in nature. Interestingly, they also found that “smile intensity,” a measure of how much the participants smiled, increased over the eight-week duration of the study. These walks were only 15 minutes long, once a week, and are low impact, so this is an easy way to create more joy in daily life as we age.
  2. Get a culture fix – A 1996 study of more than 12,000 people Sweden found that attending cultural events correlated with increased survival, while people who rarely attended cultural events had a higher risk of mortality. Since then, a raft of studies (a good summary of them here) has affirmed that people who participate in social activities such as attending church, going to the movies, playing cards or bingo, or going to restaurants or sporting events is linked with decreased mortality among older adults. One reason may be that these activities increase social connection, deepen relationships, and reinforce feelings of belonging, which are positively associated with well-being. Cultural activities also help keep the mind sharp. While the pandemic has made this one challenging, as things start to open up again, getting a culture fix can be an easy way to age joyfully.
  3. Stimulate your senses – The acuity of our senses declines with age. The lenses of our eyes thicken and tinge more yellow, allowing less light into the eye. Our sense of smell, taste and hearing also become less sharp. So, while you don’t have to recreate setup camp in your local Yankee Candle Shop, enriching your environment with color, art, plants and other sensorially stimulating elements may be a worthwhile investment not just for protecting your mind as you age, but also your joy.
  4. Buy yourself flowers – As if you needed an excuse for this one, but just in case, here you go. A study of older adults found that memory and mood improved when people were given a gift of flowers, which wasn’t the case when they were given another kind of gift. Why would flowers have this effect? One reason may link to research on the attention restoration effect, which shows that the passive stimulation we find in looking at greenery helps to restore our ability to concentrate. Perhaps improved attention also results in improved memory. Another possibility, which is pure speculation at this point, relates to the evolutionary rationale for our interest in flowers. Because flowers eventually become fruit, it would have made sense for our ancestors to take an interest in them and remember their location. Monitoring the locations of flowers would allow them to save time and energy when it came to finding fruiting plants later, and potentially reach the fruit before other hungry animals.
  5. Try a time warp – There’s something joyful about a mini time warp. Maybe it’s revisiting a vacation spot you once loved, and steeping yourself in memories from an earlier time. Maybe it’s a getaway with friends where you banish all talk of present-day concerns. Maybe it’s finding a book or a stack of old magazines from back then and reading them while listening to throwback tunes.
  6. Maximize mobility – Exercise is often touted as a way to stay healthy and vibrant at any age, but one finding that makes it particularly relevant as we get older is that movement has been shown in studies to increase the size of the hippocampus, a part of the brain that plays a vital role in learning and memory. This is important because the hippocampus shrinks as we age, which can lead to memory deficits and increased risk of dementia. In one study of older adults, exercise increased hippocampus size by 2 percent, which is equivalent to reversing one to two years of age-related decline.
  7. Refeather your nest – Once you start looking at negative tropes around aging, you start seeing more and more of them. Take the phrase “empty nest,” which carries strong connotations of loss and deprivation. One Lee-Anne Ragan offers up as a joyful process in the wake of children going off to start their own independent lives. She points out that the idea of an empty nest suggests that there’s nothing left, while refeathering takes a more ecological lens, imagining a kind of regeneration that happens as the home, and the family, transforms into something new. A refeathered nest is a place of possibility, creativity and delight.
  8. Stay up on tech – While technology is often blamed for feelings of isolation, some studies show that for older adults, being technologically facile can offer a boost to well-being. One reason is that internet use may serve a predictor of social connection more broadly, and social connection is one of the most important contributors toward mental health and well-being throughout life, but especially in old age. Other studies suggest that when older adults lack the skills to be able to use technology effectively, it leads to a greater sense of disconnection and disempowerment and that offering training to older adults on technology can promote cognitive function, interpersonal connection and a sense of control and independence.

Upcoming Carebridge Sessions

Carebridge Corporation, Cooper’s employee assistance program, is offering several free, online support sessions and live webinars in October.

Virtual Support Groups:

    • Learning How to Open Up to People
    • Getting the Legal Stuff Done Now
    • Responding to Your Child’s Report Card Constructively
    • Myths about Grief and Grieving

Live Webinars:

    • Strategies to Improve Your Mental Health
    • I am Enough – learn to quiet your inner critic and increase self-confidence

For additional information and to register for a session, click here.

Show Your Friends You Love Them!

In a recent NPR interview, psychologist and friendship expert Marisa Franco details going through a rough breakup in 2015 and her attempts to learn on her friends for support. They did yoga, cooked and read together. As she and her friends grew closer, she realized they were a deep well of love, community and healing. And she began to understand the importance of non-romantic, non-family relationships.

Franco’s professional work now focuses on helping others experience that same profound level of friendship. Her latest publication offers tips on how to improve the quality of our platonic relationships. Some of these tips are below, but you can read the full article at

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/01/1120550646/how-to-show-your-friends-you-love-them-according-to-a-friendship-expert:

  • Say it – Tell them how much they mean to you. Tell them when you think of them in passing. Remind them you are grateful to know them. These simple acts provide a layer of security in the relationship. It shows your friends that you genuinely care for them and lets them know it’s safe to invest in your friendship.

  • Show them – “Think about what your skills and talents are and find a way to turn that into a generous act,” she says. For example, when she found out that her friends wanted to learn more about how to set up investment accounts, she used her research and analysis skills as a psychologist to put together a presentation on the topic for them. You can share acts of generosity like this with your friends, too. If you’re great with kids, you might offer to babysit for your friends who are parents. If you’re a gym rat, you could help your friend train for a race they have coming up. Or if you got a raise at work, treat your friends to a fancy dinner to celebrate.

  • Be Honest – We feel a deeper connection to our friends when our vulnerability is met with validation and support, says Franco. It means they accept us for who we really are, the good and the bad. So don’t be afraid to share your struggles with your friends, whether it’s an ex you’re having trouble getting over or a new job you’re having second thoughts about. They’re not going to judge you — and it may bring you closer. If you’re looking for a way to let your guard down without divulging your darkest secrets, Franco suggests sharing something positive, like a personal achievement — maybe you just finished sewing your first quilt, or you broke your own time record on a run.

  • Fight – But being able to deal with conflict with friends in a healthy, constructive way can strengthen your friendships, she says. It might be painful at first, but it shows you want to be authentic with them — and that you want to make your relationship better. Start by telling your friend how much you value them, says Franco. It signals that the reason you’re bringing up the issue is because you’re invested in the friendship. Use “I” statements when explaining your concerns so your friend doesn’t feel like you’re blaming them. For example, if you’ve noticed they’ve been canceling plans at the last minute since they started a new job, you might say: “I feel hurt when you bail on our plans without giving me any notice.” Ask your friend for a different behavior you want to see in the future. For example, “It would be great if you gave me a heads up a few hours in advance if you know you’re not going to be able to make it.”

Trauma: Reaction & Recovery

    • It is normal to have strong reactions following a distressing or frightening event. Such stress reactions are normal and not weakness. Most people recover in time.
    • People can experience a range of physical, mental, emotional and behavioral reactions.
    • There are many things you can do to cope with and recover from trauma.
    • Seek professional help if you don’t begin to return to normal after three or four weeks.

Reactions to Trauma

All kinds of trauma create stress reactions. People often say that their first feeling is relief to be alive after a traumatic event. This may be followed by stress, fear and anger. Trauma may also lead people to find they are unable to stop thinking about what happened. Traumatic events can create a high level of arousal—or feeling alert or “on guard”—as well, which causes people to react strongly to sounds and sights around them.

The way a person reacts to trauma depends on the type and severity of the traumatic event, whether the person has any previous relevant experience or training, if they are active or helpless, the amount of available support following the incident, other current stressors in the person’s life, their personality, natural levels of resilience, and any previous traumatic experiences.

Common reactions can include:

    • Losing hope for the future
    • Feeling distant (detached) or losing a sense of concern about others
    • Being unable to concentrate or make decisions
    • Feeling jumpy and getting startled easily at sudden noises
    • Feeling on guard and alert all the time
    • Having dreams and memories that upset you
    • Having problems at work or school
    • Avoiding people, places and things related to the event

You may also experience more physical reactions such as:

    • Stomach upset and trouble eating
    • Trouble sleeping and feeling very tired
    • Pounding heart, rapid breathing, feeling shaky
    • Sweating
    • Severe headache if thinking of the event
    • Not keeping up with exercise, diet, safe sex or regular health care
    • Smoking more, using alcohol or drugs more, or eating too much
    • Having your ongoing medical problems get worse

You may have more emotional troubles such as:

    • Feeling nervous, helpless, fearful, sad
    • Feeling shocked, numb, or not able to feel love or joy
    • Being irritable or having angry outbursts
    • Getting easily upset or agitated
    • Blaming yourself or having negative views of oneself or the world
    • Being unable to trust others, getting into fights, or being trying to control everything
    • Being withdrawn, feeling rejected, or abandoned
    • Feeling detached, not wanting intimacy

Making sense of the traumatic event

Once the distressing event is over, you may find yourself trying to make sense of the event. This can include thinking about how and why it happened, how and why you were involved, why you feel the way you do, whether feelings you are having indicate what kind of person you are, whether the experience has changed your view on life, and how.

Helping resolve traumatic reactions to trauma

There are a number of strategies that can help a person resolve traumatic reactions.

    • Recognize that you have been through a distressing or frightening experience and that you will have a reaction to it.
    • Accept that you will likely not feel your normal self for a period of time
    • Remind yourself daily that you are managing – try not to get angry or frustrated with yourself if you are not able to do things as well or efficiently as normal.
    • Don’t overuse alcohol or drugs to help you cope.
    • Avoid making major decisions or big life changes until you feel better.
    • Gradually confront what has happened – don’t try to block it out.
    • Express your feelings as they arise – talk to someone about your feelings or write them down.
    • Try to keep to your normal routine and stay busy.
    • When you feel exhausted, make sure you set aside time to rest.
    • Help your family and friends to help you by telling them what you need, such as time out or someone to talk to.
    • Relax – use relaxation techniques such as yoga, breathing or meditation, or do things you enjoy, such as listening to music or gardening.

Healing and recovery process after trauma

Any event that places a person’s own life or the lives of others at risk results in the human body going into a state of heightened arousal. This is like an ‘emergency mode’ that involves a series of internal alarms being turned on. Emergency mode gives people a lot of energy in a short period of time to maximize the chance of survival.

Most people only stay in emergency mode for a short period of time or until the immediate threat has passed, but sometimes people keep going into it afterwards when unexpected things happen. Being in emergency mode uses up vital energy supplies and this is why people often feel tired afterwards.

The normal healing and recovery process involves the body coming down out of heightened arousal. The internal alarms can turn off, the high levels of energy subside, and the body can re-set itself to a normal state of balance and equilibrium. Typically, this should occur within approximately one month of the event.

Seeking help from a health professional after a traumatic event

Traumatic stress can cause very strong reactions in some people and may become chronic (ongoing). You should seek professional help if you:

    • are feeling very distressed after the event
    • are unable to handle the intense feelings or physical sensations
    • don’t have normal feelings, but continue to feel numb and empty
    • feel that you are not beginning to return to normal after three or four weeks
    • continue to have physical stress symptoms
    • continue to have disturbed sleep or nightmares
    • deliberately try to avoid anything that reminds you of the traumatic experience
    • have no one you can share your feelings with
    • find that relationships with family and friends are suffering
    • are becoming accident-prone and using more alcohol or drugs
    • cannot return to work or manage responsibilities
    • keep reliving the traumatic experience
    • feel very much on edge and can be easily startled.

Summing It All Up

Right after a trauma, almost every survivor will find it hard to stop thinking about what happened. Stress reactions—such as fear, anxiety, jumpiness, upsetting memories, and efforts to avoid reminders—will gradually decrease over time for most people.

Use your personal support systems, family and friends, when you are ready to talk. Or, be a support for someone you care about who has been through a trauma. Recovery is an ongoing gradual process that takes time. Don’t look for a quick “cure” or assume that you will forget what happened. Most people will recover from trauma on their own. If your emotional reactions are getting in the way of your relationships, work or other important activities, you may want to talk to a counselor or your doctor. Good treatments are available.

To learn more, check out the resources below:

For resources available for CUH team members,
check out our Well-Being Services page.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Canadian writer David Sax has written for the New York Times about virtual kindergarten, Zoom Thanksgiving, and other failures of digital technology. Most recently, he penned an article discussing why strangers are good for us. He contrasts the not-too-distance past in which it was impossible to go through life without speaking, in some way, to a variety of strangers in your life to present day wherein one can spend a week in place as crowded as New York, shopping, traveling, eating and working, and never utter a sound to another human being, or even take your headphones off. He argues that strangers are actually one of the richest and most important resources we have because they connect us to the community, teach us empathy, build civility and are full of surprise and potentially wonder. In particular he cites a study published last fall that showed that despite our fears of awkwardness, deep, meaningful conversations with strangers are not only easier than expected but also left participants feeling better about themselves. Mr. Sax highlights his points by observing that connection still possible as evidenced by his son’s propensity for going to the playground, being near other children, and walking away a short time later calling them friend, without ever knowing their name.

Read Mr. Sax’s full piece, Why Strangers Are Good for Us, at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/12/opinion/strangers-talking-benefits.html?referringSource=articleShare

Read the study he cites, Overly Shallow?: Miscalibrated Expectations Create a Barrier to Deeper Conversation, at https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspa0000281.pdf

Or just head to the caf, sit down next to someone you don’t know, and make a new friend!

Pride in Wellness: Week 03

The concept of Intersectionality is key in understanding wellness for all, especially members of the LGBTQIA+. Briefly, this is the concept that the many, interrelated systems that exist in our world and that often influence power and autonomy impact those who are most marginalized in society. To promote wellness, it is important to look beyond a person’s individual identities and focusing on the points of intersection that their multiple identities create to try to better appreciate their lived experience. To be a health care provider, or simply a good friend, family, or ally, an intersectional lens is needed.

You can learn more about Intersectionality, how it manifests, and how we can use what we learn from taking this perspective to promote wellness at http://www.lgbtiqintersect.org.au/learning-modules/intersectionality/. Some key take-aways are reflection questions are below.

Key Points

  • Part of taking an intersectional approach is recognizing people’s lives are multi-dimensional and complex; we expect multiple stories
  • Human lives cannot be explained by single categories, such as gender, race, sexual orientation etc. Lived experience is an interactive process that goes beyond individual labels
  • Lived experience is shaped by the interaction of identities, contexts and social dynamics
  • People can experience privilege and oppression simultaneously
  • Structural inequity interacts with contextual factors and social dynamics, increasing marginalization, inequity, and health disparity
  • To understand someone’s experience, we must also understand structures and systems
  • Relationships involve power dynamics and power imbalances are inevitable. The question is how we acknowledge and negotiate power, particularly in institutions
  • Reflexivity can support service providers to increase their awareness of their positions of power
  • Urges transformation and collective work towards social justice

Reflection Questions

  • How do your own race, gender, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other identities intersect to form your experiences? Do you experience any forms of inequity or discrimination due to your identities? Are some more privileged? Are some less so?
  • What power dynamics do you experience in your occupation, family life, and other social contexts? Are there times in which you hold more power due to the nature of the relationship (e.g. between a doctor and their patient) or vice versa? In what ways do these power dynamics affect your interactions with other people and services?
  • What are some ways in which you can support people to share the complexity of their lives?

Pride in Wellness: Week 02

Coping strategies can buffer the impact of identity-related stigma and decreased psychological well-being. As such, there has been increased interest in the ongoing coping strategies used by LGBTQIA+ people to promote their wellness, especially over the last several years as threats to their identity and emotional and physical wellbeing have increased. Accordingly, some guidance is offered below from psychologists Kirsten A. Gonzalez, a Latinx, heterosexual, cisgender woman; Roberto L. Abreu, who identifies as a first-generation Latinx gay cisgender man; and Lex Pulice-Farrow, a counseling psychology doctoral student who identifies as a White queer nonbinary person. Their recommendations are summary of what was shared by 335 LGBTQIA+ individuals who have been negatively impacted by a variety of discriminatory and threatening events in recent years. Complete details are offered in their article “In the Voices of People Like Me” at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00110000211057199

Mental Health Awareness Month – Week 04: Going Beyond May

Sign the Pledge

Having a month dedicated to raising awareness to a cause can be helpful, but that is only a starting point. We need to be called to sustained action going forward to make real, permanent change happen. For mental health, part of that involves every day efforts to eliminate the stigma of mental health conditions and seeking treatment. As outlined by NAMI, “the need to eliminate stigma is nothing new. Fifteen years ago, a U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health—the first and only one to date—identified stigma as a public health concern that leads peoples to “avoid living, socializing or working with, renting to, or employing” individuals with mental illness.” So as we wrap-up mental health awareness month, will you consider taking NAMI’s pledge to work toward eliminating the stigma of mental health and mental health treatment? Learn more and take the pledge below…

Sign the Pledge

Mental Health Awareness Month – Week 03: We’re In This Together

While the emphasis on addressing the growing mental health needs of our country is often placed no the role professionals play, we often lose site of what it is we can do for each other.  As shared on their website, this is the focus of mental health month at National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI). As part of this they are seeking to amplify the message of “Together for Mental Health.” They are using this month and their platform to bring our voices together to advocate for mental health and access to care through NAMI’s blog, personal stories, videos, digital toolkits, social media engagements and national events.  In this they feel that we can realize our shared vision of a nation where anyone affected by mental illness can get the appropriate support and quality of care to live healthy, fulfilling lives.

Ready to learn what you can do to help those in need? Check out NAMI’s “Together for Mental Health” resource page at https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Mental-Health-Awareness-Month

Save It for a Rainy Day

Even when the sun is out sometimes it can feel like there are clouds following us around. But that does not always need to bring us down. We can embrace literal or metaphorical rainy days, which is the goal of the below mindfulness exercise. Enjoy!

Jakoś to Będzie

The following was written by Olga Mecking of BBC Travel. It captures what many of us having been grappling with for a long time, especially over the last two years. Many of us feel, as Ms. Meckling describes, that we have been through one of the greatest trials imaginable and have little fuel left in the tank to go forward, but we must. Enter the Polish concept of Jakoś to Będzie.

Growing up in Poland, Ms. Mecking describes hearing people people say ‘Jakoś to będzie’ (pronounced ‘Ya-kosh toe ben-jay’). The phrase means ‘things will work out in the end’ – but “it’s so much more than that” the author says. Rather than sitting around and hoping things will work out by themselves, ‘Jakoś to będzie’ is acting without worrying about the consequences. It’s reaching for the impossible. It’s taking risks, and not being afraid. It is a phrase born out of a country that was the focal point of conflict and upheaval from 1772 to 1795, disappearing from the map for 123 years, and after World War II was left destroyed and its population decimated before shifting to Soviet control in 1981. And still, the people say “Jakoś to Będzie.”

Read more about the author and the phrase “Jakoś to Będzie” at the full article “The Polish Phrase That Will Help You Through Tough Times” at https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-polish-phrase-that-will-help-you-through-tough-times

4 Steps to Fun

Prioritizing fun may feel impossible right now, but science journalist Catherine Price offers a four-step plan to help you rediscover how to feel more alive. In a recent New York Times column, she summarizes some of the key points from her book “The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again.” These include findings from five years or research into the question of what makes us feel the most engaged and alive. She feels that many people radically underestimate how important fun is to their resilience, happiness, and mental and physical health, and offers these four starting points to help change that. You can read the full article at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/well/mind/having-fun-suceeding-coronavirus-pandemic.html

Carpool safety: COVID and beyond

As the COVID pandemic finally begins to recede and Americans emerge from their homes, parents, guardians and caregivers are returning to the carpool line. While children are undoubtedly excited to see their friends, return to school and rejoin their favorite activities, this newfound freedom does come with some risk. Despite ongoing vaccinations, coronavirus has not been entirely defeated. We have put together some extra preventative and safety measures you can take during carpools to keep your children safe and healthy. Learn more about this at https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/carpool-safety/

How Nurses Can Combat Compassion Fatigue

Day in and day out, nurses provide empathetic, compassionate care for patients experiencing some of the most difficult times of their lives. This kind of work takes an emotional toll on nursing professionals over time, potentially leading to compassion fatigue, or a decline in the ability to provide empathetic, compassionate care.

Many nurses experience this problem. Compassion fatigue reportedly affects 16% to 39% of registered nurses, with most reports coming from nurses working in areas like hospice, oncology, and emergency care. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of compassion fatigue is reportedly far greater among nurses.

Recognizing and addressing the signs of compassion fatigue may allow nursing professionals to seek the help they need to provide the best nursing care possible.

Read more about how to address compassion fatigue at https://nursejournal.org/articles/combating-compassion-fatigue-in-nursing/.

Four Critical Pathways of Environmental Wellness and How to Make an Impact

April 22nd is Earth Day. The health of our beautiful planet is the health of our patient. As healthcare providers, we must recognize the link between environmental health and wellbeing and our patients’ health and wellbeing. The environmental impact we have can be categorized within four critical pathways: Shelter and Energy, Transportation and Travel, Food and Water, and Consumer Purchases. Each of these pathways contain habits, actions, and behaviors that can affect our global and local impact. While none of the pathways exist in isolation, individual changes to one pathway may have drastic implications to the impacts of an individual’s sustainable footprint. By exploring each pathway, you can identify your impact, how it relates to the global sustainability challenge, and what you can do to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

Here are some practical steps you can take. You can also join the Green Team and get involved within Cooper by contacting ward-john@cooperhealth.edu or cerceo-elizabeth@cooperhealth.edu.

Ecological Footprint Calculator

What’s Your Water Footprint: Water Footprint Calculator Home Page (watercalculator.org)

FOOTPRINT CALCULATOR (henkel.com)

The Study.com Mental Health Guide for High School Students

High school is tough and a lot of teens struggle with mental health issues as a result. In fact, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in five teens (aged 13-18) are experiencing a mental health condition. For LGBTQ teens, this number is three times higher. And these mental health issues can become chronic (meaning they follow you into adulthood); 50% of chronic mental illnesses develop at age 14. COVID as amplified all of this.

To see some places where students themselves, parents, and health care providers might intervene check out The Study.com Mental Health Guide for High School Students.

Coping with Societal Stressors

This is a summary of the article “What to do about that pit in your stomach in this terrifying American moment” from USAToday.com.

If you’re scared and anxious, you’re not alone.

Maybe you’re afraid about what happened last week, what will happen today, or maybe you’re afraid because you’re playing the tape even further forward.

There does not seem to be a single word to describe what we are experiencing.

“This is an unprecedented moment and people have every right to feel the way that they’re feeling, but we have to take care of ourselves even when things are bad,” said Vaile Wright, senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association. “It’s about focusing on what’s in your control – your thoughts, your feelings, your behavior – and it’s about doing a check-in with yourself and asking, ‘how am I doing and how can I assert some control in a situation that feels out of control?'”

How to Cope During Turmoil

Focus on what you can control
Anita Kanti, author of “Behaving Bravely: How to Mindshift Life’s Challenges.”
This moment offers both uncertainty and opportunity to continue to navigate a new normal in which we recognize how tenuous it all is. How tenuous it always was. The only certainty we have is around our own attitudes and behaviors. This perspective, can help us not feel disempowered with outward chaos.
Look at the Big Picture
Afton Kapuscinski, director of the Psychological Services Center at Syracuse University˜

Watching the chaos on TV, the chilling images on loop, it’s easy to catastrophize, in those moments it can be helpful to look at the big picture. The justifiable emotions we feel can leave us paralyzed or overwhelmed and contribute to hopelessness and mental health difficulty at a time when we are already dealing with so many challenges as a nation. We feel stuck. A pitfall that often increases the likelihood of being ‘stuck’ is failing to look at the full picture and focusing more narrowly on a single event or series of upsetting events. There is a way to acknowledge the magnitude of this moment while also taking into account other data points that suggest things like our democracy are still functioning – courts have found our election processes are fair and counts are accurate, and most lawmakers desire to uphold the will of the people.  “If you are struggling emotionally today, try to ‘zoom out’ and see if you are neglecting any important hopeful, positive indicators,” she said.

Take a Break
Vaile Wright, senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association
When stressful situations begin to impact basic functioning, it’s important to enforce limits. If you’re having a visceral reaction to watching or reading the news – that pit in your stomach, for example – consider shutting down. Take a walk. Read a book. “You should take breaks from watching the news, especially now because what we’re seeing are the same images over and over again,” Wright said. “Even if you feel you’re going to learn something new, you’re probably not. This includes social media too.” Also be mindful of activities you engage in right before bed. If you want to check the news one more time, make sure to give yourself at least an hour to calm down.
Ground Yourself
Mary Alvord, a licensed psychologist in Rockville, Maryland
This will look different for everyone. It can be breath work, holding your breath in for a full count and letting it out for a full count. It can be dinner with family, a watch party with friends, or a phone call to someone you know will make your feelings a priority. Reach for what centers and de-stresses you. “You need to calm down, so that you can come back and have some perspective,” Alvord said.
Practice gratitude
Afton Kapuscinski, director of the Psychological Services Center at Syracuse University
This may seem counterintuitive in the midst of multiple national crises, but research indicates gratitude practice improves well-being in the face of adversity and distress. “Examine your life and context at micro and macro levels and identify what is going well rather than what is going wrong,” she said. “Gratitude is not about minimizing tragic or difficult events, rather, it is about elevating and enjoying the positive ones.”

This is a summary of the article “What to do about that pit in your stomach in this terrifying American moment” from USAToday.com.

New Resource! COVID-19 Child Care Tuition Assistance Program

New Jersey Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson announced that applications are now open for the new COVID-19 child care tuition assistance program the Murphy Administration has created to help families with child care costs as schools open remotely.

The $150 million program will provide child care tuition assistance to New Jersey families with incomes up to $75,000 that are in need of either full or part-time child care due to their child’s remote learning schedule.

Learn more at https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/20200921a.shtml

Mindfulness Mondays – 5 Minute Breathing Exercise

Every Monday, the Daily Dose is dedicated to starting your week right with a brief guided mindfulness exercise. For those of you who have jam packed schedules and feel that it is difficult to fit mindfulness in, today we offer a very brief and very effective exercise. The goal of this activity is to notice when the hectic nature of the day is seeping in and to hit reset – spending a few minutes focused on your breathing. This exercise comes courtesy of the app Stop, Breathe & Think.

Twist Out Cancer National Resilience Campaign

Resilience is about utilizing our inner strength, and drawing from the lessons of others to simply survive and persevere. It is not about finding our way back to where we were but rather it is about seeing this as an opportunity to chart a new course. Twist Out Cancer has launched their own resilience campaign, which includes such activities free weekly art therapy sessions. Details at https://twistoutcancer.org/resilience.

Crowne Plaza Cherry Hill open and discounted to first responders / medical professionals

Crowne Plaza Cherry Hill is open and providing discounted lodging services to any first responders or medical professionals who would rather work away from their families for safety reasons. Any essential personnel seeking housing, please reach out to our Director of Sales, Kristin Stahl at 856-665-6666 extension 6127 or by email at kristinstahl@cherryhillcrowne.com to discuss special rates.

https://www.facebook.com/cherryhillcrowne/photos/a.725040930846864/4006934565990801/?type=3&theater

Need for Plasma

During the global crisis brought about by COVID-19 many of us have aspired to contribute in as many ways as possible. One ongoing area of need is plasma donation for those infected with this virus. Specifically, the local and global health community are seeking those who have officially tested positive for COVID-19 and have been symptom free for 14 days to donate blood plasma at specific locations. Such donations can be general, or “direct donation” earmarked for Cooper. This may benefit patients admitted to this or other ICUs who have been designated as critical. To learn more, visit https://www.vitalant.org/Our-Organization/Locations.aspx. You can also learn more about blood/plasma donation at https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/investigational-new-drug-ind-or-device-exemption-ide-process-cber/investigational-covid-19-convalescent-plasma-emergency-inds

Exercise away the coronavirus blues

Washington officials are turning to strong social distancing measures, likely our best shot at curbing transmission, giving our health-care system and infrastructure time to adapt, and protecting those most vulnerable to severe COVID-19. But without its own mitigation plan, this new way of life could also have harms, by diminishing social contact and disrupting daily life. Losing daily routines, along with Washington’s now-shuttered recreational facilities, could also worsen the physical inactivity crisis, already contributing to nearly 1 in 10 U.S. deaths. The CDC recommends 150 minutes of at least moderate-intensity activity and two days of strength training weekly, a benchmark too few of us achieve.

Read More at SeattleTimes.com

Compassion and the Coronavirus pandemic

Yes, it’s official. Covid-19 is now a pandemic. But even as this disease spreads from country to country, infecting people and taking lives, it is also robbing countless others their peace of mind, livelihood, and humanity. Covid-19 is a scary disease, made scarier by the reactions it is eliciting in the public psyche. You can read more about managing distress regarding this situation at Thrive Global.

Training: CBT for Chronic Medical Conditions

This workshop, taught by Allen Miller, PhD, offers practical tools useful for planning and implementing treatment for patients with a variety of chronic medical conditions. Participants will learn to conceptualize clients according to the cognitive model, use motivational techniques, develop treatment and action plans, integrate relaxation and mindfulness techniques, and encourage clients to make healthy lifestyle choices. Techniques will be presented to help patients respond to dysfunctional beliefs related to hopelessness, discouragement and unfairness—and other cognitions that undermine their motivation and sense of self-efficacy. This interactive workshop includes case discussions and experiential exercises. This workshop is designed for mental health and allied health practitioners, including physicians, nurses, and psychiatrists who treat patients in a medical setting.

Details at https://beckinstitute.org/workshop/cbt-for-chronic-medical-conditions/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=FB_Chronic_Medical_Conditions_March_2020

Participate in the Wellness Incentive Program!

Cooper is pleased to offer a Wellness Incentive program to all employees enrolled in the Cooper Basic, Core or Standard PPO plans. To be eligible, you must complete all the steps in the program listed below between November 1 and October 31. Upon successful completion, Cooper will waive one bi-weekly medical premium deduction by the end of the calendar year. Details are available at https://wellness.cooperhealth.org/wellness-incentive-program/

National Random Acts of Kindness Day – February 17th, 2020!

Celebrated on February 17th, National Random Acts of Kindness Day has grown in popularity each year. It is celebrated by individuals, groups and organizations, nationwide, to encourage acts of kindness. It is a favorite day to many, as people everywhere are enjoying doing these acts of kindness. YOU’RE A WORLD CHANGER. WE CAN TELL. JOIN THE #RAKTIVIST MOVEMENT

So, you want to be a RAKtivist™? Your awesome status and street cred just skyrocketed. RAKtivists are the limbs of our organizational body. You are the daily doers, movers and shakers; reaching out to others and not just talking the talk, but using those limbs to walk the walk.The world needs more people like you.

Office of Student Affairs Wellness Events for Early 2020

The Office of Student Affairs sponsored several events to ensure the CMSRU community starts off 2020 on the right foot!

  • On Thursday, January 2, students were welcomed back to classes with free coffee or tea in the lobby from 7:30 -9:30 a.m. This is for students, faculty and staff.
  • Students had the opportunity to earn Advisory College Cup Challenge Points during “Family Feud” on Thursday, January 2, 12:30-1:30 p.m., and Friday, January 3, 3-4 p.m. This is a student-only event.
  • Fitness classes are returning in in 2020! 
    • Beginning the week of January 6, “Fitness with Emelia” will take place Mondays at 3 p.m. and Fridays at 2 p.m. 
    • Zumba with Shalanda” also returns that week and will be on Thursdays at 5 p.m. Fitness classes are open to all students, faculty and staff

Wellness Website is Live

The Cooper Wellness website is now live! This site will be a repository for all materials related to the Cooper Wellness Initiative. In addition, you will find links to helpful resources, including articles and videos to help you extend your own wellness efforts. Stay tuned for more!