Insomnia

Insomnia, according to American psychiatric association (APA), is the disorder in which people have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. It is the most common sleeping disorder. The conditions of insomnia can be short term and long term. The short term insomnia, also called acute insomnia, is most probably caused due to stress upsetting automatic events changes in sleeping habits. It lasts for one night to a few weeks. Whereas, Chronic insomnia lasts for at least three months. It is mainly caused due to medical conditions (arthritis, heartburn, cancer, back pain), psychological issues (anxiety, depression), and substance abuse.

Insomnia is most common in people who have high level of stress, lower income, emotional disorders, changes in working hours, night shifts, or are struggling with cardiovascular disorders and obesity. Insomnia affects women and older people more than men and young individuals.

SYMPTOMS OF INSOMNIA :

Waking up too early in the morning
Unrefreshing sleep
Trouble falling or staying asleep
Irritability
Fatigue
Mood changes
Difficulty concentrating on tasks
Daytime tiredness and sleepiness

There are two types of insomnia:

Primary insomnia : sleeping problem not linked with any other health condition or problems.
Secondary insomnia : sleeping troubles because of other health issues.

Causes of primary insomnia :

Stress related to significant life events (concerns about work, school, finance, family relationships, death of a loved one, shifting to a new place, divorce, job loss, etc)
Surroundings (light, noise, temperature)
Changes in sleep schedule (jetlag, night shift)

Causes of secondary insomnia :

Mental health issues like depression, anxiety or post traumatic stress disorder.
Pain or discomfort at night
Medications (certain antidepressants aur medications for asthma, blood pressure, pain, allergy or cold)
Sleep related disorders like sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome.

ANXIETY AND INSOMNIA

According to Australia’s sleep health foundation, anxiety and working are the leading cause of insomnia. Short term anxiety can be caused due to worrying frequently about the same specific events, work, relationships, etc. This anxiety usually goes away when the issue is resolved and are sleep returns back to normal.

WHAT CAN WE DO ?

Acute insomnia may not need treatment. Lifestyle changes and good sleeping habits helps us fight and prevent it.

If it’s caused due to stressful events, it is better to share them with someone. Sharing our feelings always helps us feel less stressful and light. Infact, when we share, we tend to find solutions which we were not able to think of. The person might help us find our way back. Talk to someone you trust and rely on. If you don’t want to talk to them, you can also talk to people on some apps like WeHeal. It is an app available on Android, where you can share whatever you are feeling, anonymously. You can share your issues through open letters or talk privately on personal chats. You will always be anonymous. The app has many healers, who are basically the users. The healers will read your open letters and reply to them with possible solutions. You can vent or even confess anything. You can discuss any issue related to work, studies, career, relationships, family, disease. You can also help someone with any advice related to their issues. You can download the WeHeal app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weheal.weheal

Good sleeping habits like : going to bed at the same time daily, no use of phone or laptop for at least an hour before sleeping. Follow relaxing routine before bed like reading a book, listening to soft music or taking a bath before going to sleep. Drink warm milk or herbal tea before sleeping. Don’t drink caffeinated drinks before going to sleep.
Exercise daily. Never exercise just before going to bed. You can exercise either in the morning or at least 3-4 hours before sleep.
Meditation is also one of the most helpful way. It calms our mind and relaxes our body. You can find meditation commentary or music online and even on the WeHeal app, along with more features of happiness quiz, mini patience game and inspirational stories and quotes.

Know more about WeHeal here – https://youtu.be/Ei3ooL2nblg

https://youtu.be/ybLLVFma2Gg

Insomnia is not just a small thing. It is a real sleeping disorder and is totally treatable. The above given methods are helpful in preventing insomnia. It’s important to take professional help if you are dealing with chronic insomnia, or if the above mentioned methods are not becoming helpful to cope with even the acute insomnia.

Getting help against bullying online

Over 1 million young people are affected by bullying every year. When someone intentionally does or says something hurtful and keep doing it even when you tell them to stop show them that it’s making you upset, that’s bullying. There are some common types of bullying :

Physical bullying : it is harming someone or someone’s thing in a physical way (hitting, tripping, kicking or breaking another person’s thing)
Verbal bullying : it is harming someone with spoken or written words such as name-calling, writing hurtful comments, threatening someone, making rude or inappropriate comments.
Emotional bullying : harming someone by trying to damage their reputation or relationship by ignoring or excluding them, spreading rumours and embarrassing them, controlling the person to do what the bully wants.
Cyber bullying : cyber bullying is harming someone using technology such as social media, e-mail, posts or text messages. Targeting you online and often anonymously. It can include posting inappropriate photos, sending threatening messages which can ruin their image or even creating a fake account.
Racist Bullying : bullying someone because of their skin colour, race, ethnicity or culture.
Sexist bullying : when someone repeatedly harms or make comments on person of opposite gender intentionally just because they are not behaving as per the stereotypical social norms decided for their gender.
Homophobic bullying : when someone bullies you based on your sexual orientation. A person does not necessarily have to be lesbian, gay or bisexual to experience such bullying. They can be a victim even if they are just different from others.

Bullying can make a person feel worthless, lonely, anxious, frustrated, etc. Which can lead a person to isolation and can destroy their confidence and self esteem. Bullying can even lead to suicidal behaviour and many mental health problems like depression,anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder and eating disorders. It’s really important to fight it. Ignoring it and suffering it alone will not make it go away or do any good to you. Share it with your parents or someone trusted. You can even get help through various helplines.

Bullying can take a toll on mental health. It’s really important to share your problem with someone. They may help you get through it. If you don’t know what to do, then you can take help online. You can discuss it on an app called WeHeal. It is a a social app available on Android. It provides a platform where people can share and discuss their problems and feelings and find solution for them. You can discuss your problems anonymously through open letters. The healers who are basically the users of the app provide you answers to your situations. You can even talk personally to the pillar of your choice if you don’t feel like discussing your problem openly.

You can also discuss other problems related to issues like peer pressure, studies, relationships, career, love, etc. Since the app keeps you anonymous, it becomes easy for you to share your problems without the fear of being judged. If you don’t have someone to lean on or share what you’re going through, you can rely to this app. Anonymous chat feature will help you to talk personally about your situation. There are also short inspirational stories, quotes and experiences written by the users which may encourage you.

Bullying is a serious problem that can dramatically affect a person. It’s really important to share what you’re facing. No one needs to be the victim of bullying. Things will be fine if one gains courage to face and fight them. Also if you’re witnessing someone being bullied, stand against it and discourage the act. Everyone deserves to live in a safe environment and no one has the right to snatch it away. Bullying thrives on silence and sillence must be broken.

Feeling sad? Here are 5 things you can do

No matter how hard we try, it’s impossible to control emotions, and sadness is one of them. There can be many reasons to feel sad,

Loss of someone or something we loved
Fight with someone close
Problems at home, workplace, school etc
When someone we love is sad
When things don’t work as per our expectations
Illness
Missing someone, etc.

There are many more causes, different for everyone.
Unhappy events and stressful situations makes us feel this way. As humans, it is normal for us to feel sad sometimes. It is a normal emotion, just like happiness, anger,fear. These feelings are never permanent, unlike long term sadness which is a symptom of depression.

5 THINGS WE CAN DO :

Go out for a walk or run : walking or running help us to shed out negativity. You can do other physical activities too, like exercise, or play any sports you like, or go to a gym, if you enjoy that. Physical activities helps body to release endorphins. Endorphins are the feel-good hormones. They help us lift our mood. Try to do these things in a natural environment.
Cry it out or write it down: it’s OK to cry and in fact it only helps us. Crying has a soothing effect and helps us to calm ourself . It also releases oxytocin and endorphins, which makes us feel good and helps reduce pain. You can even write what you are feeling. Writing helps a lot. Write everything you are feeling. You will feel a load off yourself.
Share your feelings with someone : talk to someone you trust, who will comfort you and listen to you instead of judging you. Talking to someone is one of the best things you can do. It helps you to release what you have bottled up. If you don’t have anyone to talk about it or you fear that they will judge you, then you can talk on any app. I know an app that can help you with this purpose. It is the WeHeal app. It’s available on Android. This app helps you discuss your feelings anonymously either openly through open letters or by talking personally to the healers of the app. The healers are the users of the app reply to your open letters with probable solutions. They listen to your problems, understand them and help you go through it. You can discuss anything on this app, whether its about issues like heartbreak, studies, career, relationships, love or any other problem, or even confessing anything. The app ensures the safety of the users as no one can take screenshot or screen record your chat. Talking to someone helps you to release pent up emotions and make you feel better.

Meditation and breathing exercise : while you’re reading this, give it a pause and take a long deep breath. Meditation and deep breathing helps your mind and body to release stress and other negative emotions like sadness. It helps to calm down and relax. The WeHeal app also provides meditation sessions to help you relax. It also has happiness quiz to detect mood and a mini game to improve patience.
Do do something that makes you happy : do something that you love, maybe any hobby, or watch or listen to anything you love. I personally watch my all-time favourite friends and the office or some cheesy rom-com. Treat yourself with love and care. Dress up and hang out with friends or family if you love that. Even give them a hug. Hugging someone health release oxytocin which is associated with happiness and helps release stress. If you don’t have anyone to hug someone, then give a tight hug to yourself. It works and it will make you feel happy. Even playing with animals help making you happy. Volunteering helping others also makes us happy. You can even help people to heal on WeHeal app, by becoming a healer and helping others through their problems with your support, understanding and experience.

Whatever the reason maybe, just remember that things will get better. Healing takes time sometimes. It is never impossible to find happiness amidst of bad times. Focus on positive things and remember the good times. Be grateful for that. When we appreciate the good things, the sad ness becomes smaller. It’s OK to experience sadness to teach us the value of happiness. Remember there is no Joy without sadness.

Fighting depression caused by pressure to excel in Studies

Students face all types of pressures, challenges and situations causing stress. Successful situations may cause negative emotions such as sadness, frustration, hopelessness, etc. These emotions usually pass within a few days. If not, then it can be an indication of depression.

There are many potential causes for stress faced by students, which, if not treated timely can lead to depression.One of the main cause can be fear of failure, also known as achievement anxiety. It is not only common among the low achievers, but also the high achievers. They might have enormous pressure to succeed constantly. Pressure from parents to be the best sometimes turns out to be dangerous for children. It’s normal for every parents to want their child to excel in every field, but sometimes the pressure to perform well makes the children suffer some serious consequences. High pressure parents may constantly insist their children to keep on practicing and performing well in every competition. This much high amount of pressure and stress makes way for anxiety, depression or other serious mental health issues. Parents might pressure their children by comparing their results with other children or cousins and rebuking them for low grades. Some parents even might be abusive not just physically but also verbally. This constant pressure can lower their self esteem and make them feel like they are worthless. Pressure of upcoming exams, sleep deprivation and unmanageable workload can give a lot of stress to students. Pressure to succeed prevents students from relaxing and enjoying their student life.

Prejudice and biased behavior by teachers on the basis of grades can add to the cause of depression in students. It lowers their confidence thereby making the weaker lot hesitant in putting up questions. Not only this, some students also develop inferior complexities while also struggling to maintain their grades. Teachers biased attitude also leads to unhealthy competition among the students whereby the lot with lower grade undergoes an uninvited struggle to raise their academic standards.

SIGNS OF DEPRESSION IN STUDENTS :

Depression altogether affects the thoughts, actions and behaviour a person.

Constant anxiety
Feeling hopeless and helpless
Overeating for eating too little
Suicidal thoughts
Sleeping too much or too little
Fatigue
Frequent headaches, nausea and unexplained physical pain
Feeling of sadness and guilt
Not showing up to classes

The students may start feeling that they are worthless, and that they might not amount to anything. They may feel that they are a failure and that they can’t achieve anything in life. They feel like no one understands fore care about them and their feelings. They might feel that everyone just cares about their academic results.Depression is not just caused by chemical imbalance in brain or other biological factors, but psychological and social factors also plays a huge role. Facing tons of pressure of studies, biasness on the basis of marks and lack of social and emotional support can contribute largely to depression.How To Overcome :

Talk to someone : it’s important to share your feeling with people you trust or you think might understand. If the parents are abusive in anyway or due to any other problem you are not able to share your feelings with them, then it’s alright to seek help from a school/College councellor. There is nothing wrong in asking for help. In fact it is a courageous thing. If you just want to talk and you don’t have anyone then you can even take help from an app called WeHeal.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weheal.weheal

It isn’t social app which is available on Android. Through this app people can share their current feelings and concerns anonymously either in a personal chat or through open letters. The solution to the problems will be given by the healers of this app who are currently the users and have dealt with or experienced the same situations. The healers will listen to you, understand you, and give you possible solutions to your problems. If you just want to be heard and understood, then this app might be helpful. Privacy is respected in this app, since you will be kept anonymous. The app also prevents everyone from taking screenshot or screen recording. Anonymous chat feature will help you to talk personally about your situation.There are also three inbuilt features which provide you with meditation sessions, happiness quiz that will detect your mood, and a mini game to improve your patience level. There are also short inspirational stories, quotes and experiences written by the users which may encourage you.But if you are experiencing symptoms like constant worrying, sleeplessness, unexplained emotional changes, losing interest in everything and feeling of worthlessness or helplessness, for 3 weeks or more, you should make an appointment to see a counselor or a psychologist.

Stay away from toxic people : stay away from people who make you feel unworthy. Spend time with people who encourage you and care for you.
Get involved in activities you enjoy used to enjoy : do things that make you or used to make you happy, even though it seems impossible. Opt for a new hobby aur watch any funny series or comedy movie.
Healthy habits and self care : Eat balanced diet, take at least 8 hours of sleep, do any physical activity like exercise, walking, yoga, running or join any sports. These activities release feel-good hormones called in endorphins, which lifts one’s mood.
Take some time out : make friends and don’t shut yourself out. Spend some time with them. Force yourself to go out with them relax and try to have fun.

Whether its parents wanting their children to excel or students desire to be the best, both have dire consequences. If you’re dealing with this, you can share their problems, talk to the healers and feel light, understood and happy, through the WeHeal app.

Dealing with Heartbreak

“The heart will break, but broken live on.” – Lord Byron

Heartbreak is something terrible and unfortunately we all experience it at some times in our life. The feeling of heartbreak usually accompanies us when we lose someone or something we loved, may it be a romantic relationship, friendship, a family member, job or a pet. Whatever the reason maybe, the pain is real and we all want to avoid it. For me personally, I was heartbroken when my dogs were taken away from me. I was really close to them. The first 2 weeks were terrible for me. Though I still can’t get over the fact that they are gone, it was much more difficult when it happened. I couldn’t sleep or eat properly and I just used to cry everytime remembering and seeing everything related to them.

Heartbreak can cause a lot of stress, which can affect us both emotionally and physically. It may take days, weeks, months or even years to recover from it.Heartbreak can even trigger psychological shock, also called emotional shock and acute stress reaction. Emotional shock is when you experience a rush of strong emotions and the corresponding physical reaction in response to a stressful event like heartbreak. Emotional shock doesn’t just cause anxiety and fear but also physical reactions like sleeplessness, racing heart, headache, upset stomach, nausea, shortness of breath, restlessness and lack of energy. It causes both mental and physical exhaustion.

Heartbreak can have serious effects which may immensely affect our daily life. Heartbreak can even lead to mental health disorders like anxiety, chronic stress, depression or even post traumatic stress disorders. If you’re having symptoms like thinking about it all the time , blaming yourself for everything , suicidal thoughts (thinking you can’t live without them) , feeling worthless and unlovable after a breakup from a romantic relationship , avoiding loved ones (friends and family) , stopped enjoying things you used to love , sleeplessness, etc even after a long time of the heartbreaking event, then you may seek help.

DEALING WITH A HEARTBREAK

“Of course! It takes a lot of strength to mend a broken heart. Channelising energies into your work helps, but also to be able to accept situations for what they are instead of questioning them helps immensely.” – Deepika Padukone

It’s not easy to deal with a heartbreak, but it becomes less difficult when you accept it, and decide to take care of yourself, the situation and your life. The saying “time heals everything” is true, but you need motivation, self care and proper emotional support simultaneously.

Understand and accept your emotions : Do not bottle up your feelings inside and try to carry on a brave face. It’s Okay to feel sad and hurt and it is okay to cry. If we keep on avoiding these emotions, it’ll keep on giving more pain.
Social and emotional support : surround yourself with positive, understanding and supportive people. Higher the level of social support, lower the level of pain. Spend time with family and friends, who make you feel loved and worthy.
Vent out (share your emotions) : It’s important to get things off your chest. Talk to a trusted friend or a family member and tell them how you feel. Vent the anger and frustration. It’s good to pour your heart out. If you don’t have that person, then take help of some apps. WeHeal is an amazing app , which helps to anonymously share whatever we are feeling and going through. It is available on android.

You can download it – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weheal.weheal

WeHeal aims at helping people to heal, just as the name suggests. It is an anonymous chat platform where we can share anything that is making us feel heavy and stressed. This app basically provides help to people who are facing some issues and troubles in their life. This app allows you to anonymously share your problems through open letters. The healers who are the users of the app will read them and reply to them. They help you see things through a different perspective and to find solutions. Since the app keeps you anonymous, it becomes easy for you to pour your heart out without the fear of being judged. If you don’t have someone to lean on or share what you’re going through, you can rely to this app. This app allows people to share anything that is troubling them, whether it is related to career, jobs, relationships, or you’re feeling demotivated and confused. Anonymous chat feature will help you to talk personally about your situation.

There are also three inbuilt features which provide you with meditation sessions, happiness quiz that will detect your mood, and a mini game to improve your patience level. There are also short inspirational stories, quotes and experiences written by the users which may encourage you.

Write it out : write what you’re feeling. It helps you process emotions and think clearly.
Exercise : Indulge in physical activities. Join sports or go for a walk or a run . Do exercise and yoga. They boost mood and energy.
Healthy diet : eat a healthy and balanced diet as a good diet boosts immune system and it helps in fighting stress.
Help others : doing something for others helps boost your self esteem and it also distracts you. Doing good also releases feel-good hormones, which is something you would want right now. So volunteer and find ways to help people. With WeHeal app, you can also help others by replying to their situations and help them find solutions and ways to go through it.
Don’t blame yourself : it’s not right to blame yourself for everything. Don’t attach negative qualities with yourself. Think and write positive things about yourself.

We all experience heartbreak and it’s important to know how to deal with it. One should never lose hope and belief in oneself. We cannot avoid heartbreak but we can prepare ourself to cope with it.

What does being depressed actually feel like?

People usually confuse depression with feelings such as loneliness, sadness or misery. Depression is not similar to feeling down or to be sad. Although they are symptoms of depression, but it is much more severe. We experience these normal emotions (sadness, frustration, anger, guilt) as a response to life events. They last for a few hours, days or even for a week but not more than that. Where as symptoms of depression lasts for months or even years. Depression is a serious mental health disorder which disrupts a person’s life. If one is feeling at least 5 of the symptoms of depression such as low mood, loss of interest in everything, feeling of worthlessness and excessive guilt, restlessness or tiredness, recurrent feelings and thoughts of suicide and death, disturbed sleep (too little or too much), loss or increase in appetite, change in body weight, inability to think clearly, agitation, loss of energy, greatly slowed behaviour, for at least two consecutive weeks, then it will be characterized as depression.

The symptoms, causes and experience of depression is different for every individual. Even though the the experience varies from person to person, there are some experiences which are common to all.

Some people feel like there is no Joy left in their life. He or she may not enjoy the things that once give them pleasure. They face difficulty in making decisions, reading or even watching movies or series (they may not understand what is going on in it). They not able to concentrate or focus on anything. This may even strain their work and relationship.

Some feel devoid of hope and happiness, like there’s nothing left. Depression make people feel like there’s no way left to make them feel better again. They may feel worthless and useless, like a complete failure. The main find negativity in every event and are unable to see positive qualities in themselves. Some people feel so exhausted that even getting out of bed seems impossible. The feel drained even after getting enough sleep. For some people it’s impossible even to sleep.

Although, some people with depression don’t feel like eating anything, others can’t stay away from it. They overeat and keep on craving for unhealthy food. For some depression feels like they are living in a state of fear and grief, but there is no origin of these feelings. Sometimes they may feel like screaming and crying out loud and sometimes they feel like they can never speak again. In depression you feel like a half alive ghost. You don’t feel like a normal living thing. Some even become suicidal, thinking of death as an escape.

Dealing with depression is something terrible, if you ask those who have experienced it. Sometimes you feel like talking to people and share what you are experiencing, but the fear of being judged stops you from doing that. This creates a feeling of suffocation. You feel like people will laugh at you or may not understand you, so you think that it’s better to be quiet and suffer alone. It’s okay to have such fears and it is important to know that you are not alone. For situations like these, you can even take help of apps. There is an app called WeHeal.

It is a social application, which has an intention to help people heal, just like the name suggests. It is an anonymous chat platform, we can discuss what ever is troubling you. The healers who are basically the uses of the app, will listen to you, understand you and help you with your situation. Since you are anonymous, it will become easier for you to say what ever you want to, share everything you are experiencing, without the fear of being judged. You can confess anything that is killing you inside or ask anything regarding to issues related to studies, career, relationships, heartbreak or any other problem. It’s really not healthy to keep things inside you. Sharing our feelings and emotions is one of the most important thing which helps in preventing stress and fighting depression. There is nothing wrong in asking for help. There is nothing to be ashamed of in sharing your feelings which can trigger depression or make it worse. Sharing emotions help us to restore equilibrium and to let go of negative emotions that bottles up inside us and cause more harm to us.

It’s important to let your emotions out and this app may help you in that.

You can download WeHeal – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weheal.weheal

There are also three inbuilt features which provide you with meditation sessions, psychological quiz that will detect your mood, and a mini game to improve your patience level. There are also short inspirational stories, quotes and experiences written by the users which may encourage you.

Normal people also feel sad and lonely, not to the extent that a depressed person feels but yes they do. The app is there with you. It also gives you the opportunity to help other people who are facing troubles by replying to them and providing solutions to their issues with the help of our experience. Research shows that helping others and making others happy, gives more pleasure and boosts mood. It’s sad that inspite of such terrible experiences, depression is not taken seriously. It’s time to normalise it and make it easier for the person who is actually going through it. Timely treatment is required, but just because of the stigmas and judgements attached to it, people don’t come out and share it. The WeHeal app has initiated a great service for normalising mental health issues.

Peer Pressure

Isn’t it difficult to keep on pretending to be someone else just to fit in? Doesn’t it bother you that you cannot act or show who you really are? Why do we pretend? What is this? And most importantly what can we do? Peer pressure is something that is often not noticed but has a great impact on a person’s life. It is something very common in in teenagers and young adults. It affects the thinking and behaviour of youth to a great extent. It can impact there dressing sense, music, choices, even life decisions. We all need acceptance and importance. The fear “what if I don’t fit in?” rules are mind. We often forget that everyone is different and that’s what makes us special. We usually behave according to the expectations of the other group members. This is called “conformity”. And this makes us do things that we necessarily don’t want to. The reason maybe that people feel uncomfortable if they are considered “different” . This “different” may lead to disapproval and dislike by others, which none of us desire. Wanting to be a part of something and to feel accepted can put pressure on us and make us act in a different way. This leads us to do things that we don’t want to do, and not do things that we actually want to do.Peer pressure can be both negative and positive. It is positive when it leads to your growth, when your friends stop you from doing something that you will later regret, when you participate in competitions or join an internship, started working hard because your friend asked you to. That is positive peer pressure. To cite my own personal example, during my high school my friends used to you ask me to study and scored good and forcefully made me participate in in cultural functions. Is benefited me as I scored the highest marks in my whole life and I gained more confidence.But not everyone experiences positive peer pressure. Some might choose to do things that normally they wouldn’t be interested in like smoking, drinking, experimenting drugs, stealing, bullying and teasing, skipping school or bunking college, dieting or body building, taking part in sexual activities, breaking rules, wearing clothes that you don’t prefer, buying something you can’t afford, wearing only designer or branded clothes, etc.Studies show that peer pressure or influence is strongest in early to middle adolescence and that Boys are more likely to give in to peer pressure than girls. People with lower self esteem, and who think that they can never have friends are more likely to be negatively influenced by peers. But they need to believe that they are important and they don’t deserve these toxic friends.Now that everyone has mobile phones and accounts on social media platforms, we can also witness a rise in online peer pressure.

The 5 kinds of peer pressures that happen online:

Sending nude photos or “body shots”
Sexting
Moving a conversation from an approved app to another, sometimes encrypted, app
Portraying a “perfect” image of your life

These have led to more serious problems.There’s a big difference between being yourself and fitting in. Doing things just to fit in will never make you happy, cause excessive stress and lower your self esteem. It’s not right if it starts disrupting your mental health.SOME WARNING SIGNS ARE :

low mood, feelings of hopelessness
Feeling unwanted
Frustration and unnecessary aggression
sudden change in behaviour, often for no obvious reason
trouble falling asleep, sleeping too much or too little
loss of appetite or over-eating
reluctant to go out with friends
withdrawal from activities that you used to like
You feel like you want to give up, or you start feeling that life is not worth living.

If you happen to witness changes in your behavior or actions as stated above, it indicates that you are succumbing to the peer pressure. It’s a wake up call for you . It’s never too late.WHAT CAN YOU DO?

First of all love, accept and respect who you are.
Secondly, Learn to say NO. It’s difficult but it’s important. Say it calmly and in a way that convinces them. If your “friends” are not able to understand that, then it’s time to change them. Hang out with people who share your interests or those who accepts you the way you are, in a group where you do not need to pretend to be someone else. Learn how how to be assertive.
Lastly, Talk to someone about your situation . If you are feeling threatened, hurt or pressured, talk to a family member or someone you think will understand and help you. If you think that they will not understand you, or react negatively to yours situation, then you can help from apps where you can share your problems and get solutions. WeHeal aap is one of them.

WeHeal is an Android app which aims to heal people. The services provided by the app justifies the name. This app allows you to anonymously share your problems through open letters. The healers (who are the users) provide solutions to your problems. You can even have one to one personal chats with the healers where you can talk about your situation with them. You will be kept anonymous. No one can even take screenshots or do screen recording, which makes it safer to have your chat. It becomes easier to deal with problems when you have someone who understands them. If you’re dealing with overwhelming feelings of pressure, loneliness, stress or anxiety due to peer pressure, it’s important for you to know that help is available to you. This app also allows you to confess something or talk to someone if you need some emotional support or need help to deal with a heartbreak or are having issues in studies, career, relationships or are burdened by problems. Sharing problems and having someone to listen and care, will make you feel light and happy.The app also has three inbuilt modes which provide you with meditation sessions, happiness quiz that will detect your mood, and a mini game to improve your patience level. There are also short inspirational stories, quotes and experiences written by the users which may encourage you.You are brave enough to deal with it, maybe you just need a little push and support. If You need help. You need to free yourself and You need to talk about it, then you can take help from WeHeal app.Remember that peer pressure is something normal and you are not alone.Download the WeHeal app – http://tinyurl.com/weheal

LONELINESS DURING LOCKDOWN

Stuck in your home alone? Feeling lonely while social distancing? Missing your family and friends? Well, you are not alone. Millions of us are experiencing this during the coronavirus pandemic. Being apart from family and friends for such a long time has become difficult for all of us. When the lockdown was ordered, I myself didn’t get the chance to get back to my family and stay with them. I tried to, but all the interstate transportation was cancelled. It’s been more than a month now that I have been living in my flat all by myself. I am really grateful for the technology in our times that is helping us to stay connected with our loved ones. Zoom calls, skyping, WhatsApp calling etc. have greatly helped us to go through this daily. But it’s not the same. Explain difficult to adapt to this “new normal”. I always loved the “me time” as it helped me to clear my head, explore myself and love myself more, but this much amount of me time is doing no good. Well, excess of everything is bad. I’m now realising how free I was.

Missing those get togethers, chit chats while eating together and outing with friends and family is something we all are experiencing. These feelings are completely normal but can immensely affect our mental health. This feeling of loneliness can increase stress and anxiety and can be worse for someone who is dealing with depression. Loneliness can give way to further more feelings like helplessness, sadness, hopelessness,etc. Yes, the circumstances have affected our loneliness, but the thoughts prevailing in our minds and how we are handling it, affects it more than the circumstances itself. These thoughts determine our loneliness. These negative thoughts increases our insecurity and make us feel unlovable and unwanted. These thoughts makes it more difficult for us to reach out and call others for help, increasing the feeling of loneliness. We can reduce our loneliness to great extent if we deal with these negative thoughts. We can do this by making ourselves believe that we will get over these hard times and that things will get better.

SO, WHAT CAN WE DO?

Communicate regularly with your friends and family through calls, video calls, and sms.
If you are feeling anxious, helpless and suffocated , talk about it with your friend or a family member you trust. If you feel that you may make them worried about you, then you can also take help of apps like WeHeal.

http://tinyurl.com/weheal

WeHeal is an Android app which aims to heal people just as the names suggests. The services provided by the app justifies the name. This app allows you to anonymously share your problems through open letters. The healers (who are the users) provide solutions to your problems. You can even have one to one personal chats with the healers where you can talk about your problems with them. You will be kept anonymous. No one can even take screenshots or do screen recording, which makes it safer to have your chat. It becomes easier to deal with problems when you have someone who understands them. Whether you need to confess something or you need some emotional support or if you need help to deal with a heartbreak or are having issues in studies, career, relationships or are burdened by problems, need someone to listen and care, and make you feel light and happy, you can take help from this app. If you’re dealing with overwhelming feelings of loneliness, stress or anxiety, it’s important for you to know that help is available to you. The app also has three inbuilt modes which provide you with meditation sessions, happiness quiz that will detect your mood, and a mini game to improve your patience level. There are also 6 inspirational stories, quotes and experiences written by the users which may encourage you.

Stay away from stress: Don’t make yourself indulge in activities that will give you more stress. Limit watching news and reading about the pandemic as you may feel overwhelmed.
Practice yoga, exercise and basic workout routines. Our mind and body are connected and that is why physical health will contribute a lot to our mental health. Go for little walks either on your roof or around your neighbourhood.
If you are feeling useless, like you have lost your purpose, find a new hobby (painting, dancing, writing, etc) , online courses, or apply for any internship. This may provide you with a sense of purpose.
Play online games with friends and family or even strangers.
Do something that makes you happy. Staying away from things and people that irritates you and make you feel bad is the best option, not just during the pandemic but in every stage of your life.
Distract distract yourself from the negativity. Start reading a new book, watch movies of the genre you love or start a new series. Binge watch friends or the office if you want to feel stressfree. If you if you haven’t watched any of this, then now is the best time to start. Watch TED talks or other interesting videos on YouTube.
Practice gratitude : even in midst of great difficulties, we can always find things for which we are truly grateful. Appreciate and thank every person who are helping you through this situation, your family, friends and the doctors and nurses and every other person who are risking their lives just to save ours. Give gratitude for every little thing that you are blessed to have. Studies have proved that when you thank others you love yourself more, you feel happy and contented with yourself.
Take at least 8 hours of sleep.
Help others : you may know other people who’s mental health is affected negatively during this pandemic. Talk to them and provide your support to them. Through WeHeal app, you can even help other people by replying to them and helping them get through their tough situations through your experience. It is proved that we feel more positive when we help someone. We feel happy about what we are doing and that we are making a difference in someone’s life.

It can be extremely difficult to stay positive with so much going around you, but it’s not impossible to do so. This coronavirus pandemic is filled with challenges and uncertainty. We have no idea when all of this will get over. All we can do is deal courageously with it. It’s a great time to explore ourself more and learn some new things. This time period has also made us realise the importance of our family, friends and our freedom, which we take for granted. This will get over soon. Just remember that a dark night can never defeat a sunrise.

DEPRESSION, the word which is often misunderstood

“Depression”- a term which is casually used by most of us. “The lecture today was so depressing”, “my boyfriend is not talking to me properly, I’m feeling depressed” etc. In day to day life, we often use the term depression to refer to normal feelings after significant loss, breakup of relationship or failure to attain a significant goal. While you think that it’s just a “word”, you don’t realize how serious it is. The term depression is casually used by us to refer to grief, frustration, sadness, loneliness or disappointment. Yes, these negative feelings should be taken seriously, since there is a possibility that they can lead to depression, but not everyone with these feelings has depression. Casual use of this term is sometimes because of lack of knowledge about it. People need to understand the difference between the two, these negative feelings that we go through most of the time, may go away in a few days but not depression. Depression is a serious mental illness. According to WHO, more than 264 million people of all ages suffer from depression globally. It is different from our short lived emotional response to daily stress. The person dealing with depression suffers a great deal of mental and physical exhaustion. Up to 15% of patients with severe depression die from suicide. It is something that should not be taken lightly. It is a mental health disease which results from complex interaction of biological, psychological and social factors. It is not something that someone can just get over with.
We sometimes confuse depression with feelings of grief or sadness. We are all humans and it’s normal for us to feel sad, disappointed or frustrated due to certain situations, weather its failing in an exam, losing a job, having argument with spouse, monetary problems etc. We do get over these feelings when we witness a change in our circumstances. It can take a few hours, few days and sometimes, even a week, but not more than that. Whereas in depression, these feelings become overwhelming, cause physical symptoms, and last for a long period of time (for 2 consecutive weeks and more). Depression keeps you from leading a normal, active life. It interferes with your work, relationships, and other daily tasks. It does not get over just because you wanted it to. Depression is more than just sadness. People with depression may experience symptoms like :

• Low mood

• Loss of interest in everything

• Feeling of worthlessness and excessive guilt

• Restlessness or tiredness

• Recurrent feelings and thoughts of suicide and death

• Disturbed sleep (too little or too much)

• Loss or increase in appetite

• Change in body weight.

• Inability to think clearly

• Agitation

• Loss of energy

• Greatly slowed behaviour

According to psychiatry guidelines, if you feel like you have at least 5 of these symptoms, you qualify for a diagnosis of depression. Depending on the number and extremity of these symptoms, depression can be categorized as mild moderate and severe. According to National institute of mental health, it takes the average person suffering with mental illness over 10 years to ask for help. The good thing is that depression is totally treatable. there are various effective treatments like therapies, medications which usually go side by side. Medications usually increase the amount of serotonin in our brain. Some studies shows that less amount of serotonin or the feel good chemical in our brain is one of the biological cause of depression. They have been many researches but none have been successful in finding the main cause of depression.
Talking about depression can help a lot. Research shows that asking someone about suicidal thoughts reduces their suicide risk. The cause of the stigma attached to mental illness it becomes difficult for people suffering from it to talk about it and ask for help. Open conversation about mental health is something really important to be discussed about.

THE FIGHT

It is possible to prevent another episode of depression. Dealing with depression is difficult since you become completely devoid of energy, hope and motivation. You start feeling drained and empty. Just thinking about these things seems tough but it’s not impossible. There are a few ways that could help you to fight depression and maybe prevent them :

• Indulging in exercising and yoga : when you exercise you release chemicals like endorphins, which can boost mood . Yoga helps you to stay calm and bring more positive feelings. You can also join some sport.

• Eating healthy : when you eat a balanced and nutritious diet, your mental and physical health experiences a boost. Eating foods with high fat and sugar can increase stress and symptoms of depression.

• Staying away from stress : stress is a common cause of depression. There are many ways to reduce stress like meditating, exercising, eating healthy and being socially connected. Having a strong social support system is important in dealing with stress and other mental health problems. Regular interactions with family and friends is really important. Learning to let things go also helps in reducing stress.

•Sharing how you feel : sharing our feelings and emotions is one of the most important thing which helps in preventing stress and fighting depression. It’s always better to share your problems with someone who you think will understand you and provide you with help. There is nothing wrong in asking for help. There is nothing to be ashamed of to share your story or experiences triggering depression. Sharing emotions help us to restore equilibrium, think clearly and most importantly, to let go of negative emotions that are bottling up inside us. There is always this fear, what is the person doesn’t understand us, makes fun of our situation, judge us, or not able to provide us with what we need in return. It’s okay to have these fears and there is a solution to every problem. There is a social application WeHeal which has an intention to help people heal, just like the name suggests. It is an anonymous chat platform, we can discuss what ever is troubling you. The healers who are basically the uses of the app, will listen to you, understand you and help you with your situation. Since you are anonymous, it will become easier for you to say what ever you want to. This app provides a non judgement environment. You can confess anything or ask anything regarding to your studies, career, relationships, heartbreak or anything. It’s really not healthy keep things inside you. It’s important to let them out and this app may help you in that.

You can download WeHeal – http://tinyurl.com/weheal .

Give it a try. Maybe you’ll find the answers.
There are also three inbuilt features which provide you with meditation sessions, psychological quiz that will detect your mood, and a mini game to improve your patience level. There are also short inspirational stories, quotes and experiences written by the users which may encourage you. It also gives you the opportunity to help other people who are facing troubles by replying to them and providing solutions to their issues with the help of our experience.

• Keeping the giant hand difference from toxic people : people who lower self esteem, make us feel bad about ourselves, doesn’t care about us should be thrown out of life.

• Avoid alcohol and smoking

• Getting at least 8 hours of sleep

• Dealing with triggering situations: like death anniversary , or coming across a particular person or a group. Prepare yourself for the situation and make yourself believe that you will get through it. Take help from a friend or a close one .

• Seek a therapist when needed : no when your symptoms have increased and take help of a mental health counselor or your therapist.

It’s high time that we take depression seriously. It’s really sad that despite its immense impact on individuals, depression is not taken seriously. Depression has no cure but it is treatable especially when it’s recognised and properly diagnosed. Timely help is needed and it can only be done if the person does not feel ashamed and seek help. For this we need to talk more openly about mental health. It’s a great step by the WeHeal app to break this stigma and talk about mental health.

DEALING WITH STRESS

Living life can be hard, confusing, weird and well, stressful. Stress is basically our body’s response to certain situations . Hans Selye, the father of modern stress research, defined stress as “the non specific response of the body to any demand.” A situation that is stressful for you, may not be stressful for me. Stress is totally subjective. Everyone’s response to a stressful situation depends on his/her experiences and how he perceived the event (positively or negatively). If one has a positive attitude and social support to deal with the crisis he or she will feel less stressed. Let me give you an instance from my life, a situation which is very common to us all. I had an exam the next day and I did not study really well for it. I studied till 2 a.m. in the night but was unable to concentrate anymore because my brain was literally exhausted, I decided to sleep. I set an alarm of 6:00 a.m. in the morning thinking that I will wake up and start studying so that I would at least pass my exam. But stress of the exam didn’t let me sleep. I started to think about situations that if I will fail or not get the required marks, what will I do then. I started blaming myself for fooling around the whole day and for not studying anything before. My alarm rang at 6:00 a.m. I woke up stressed, I didn’t feel like eating, my stomach got upset which made me more tense. I barely made it in time to my college and It turned out that I have forgotten my admit card. I started crying not knowing what to do. Basically when you are stressed your thinking gets cloudy and that is what happened with me. So I just sat there for a minute, took some deep breaths and called my mum and asked her to send the photos of my admit card. I went to give my exam 15 minutes late and when I opened my question paper my heart pounded, my hands started sweating and my mind went blank. I felt so angry with myself at that moment but I realized that I needed to calm down and think about the answers. It was not like I have not studied at all. I did study a bit. Turns out I knew half of the answers and it made me a feel less stressed. I promised to not do this for the next exam. But these type of promises are meant to be broken, right? By giving this example from my life, I explained how badly stress can affect our mind and body. We all go through such situations in our life. In some cases when we are exposed to a stressful situation for a long time and are not able to cope with it, it becomes a gateway to serious mental health problems like anxiety, depression, etc. I recently read about a study which showed that younger people who routinely face heavy workloads and extreme time pressure on the job are more likely to experience major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

Life poses challenges all the time – losing someone close, not having anyone to care for us, being in an abusive relationship, night time jobs, shortage of money, examinations, etc. All of us try to meet these challenges in our own ways. Some of us succeed while others get stuck in such life situations. Much of it depends on how we view and handle these challenges. If handled properly, stress increases the probability of one’s survival. It’s just like electricity. It gives us energy, increases our arousal and affects our performances. And if it’s too high, it may damage appliances (body) and fuse bulbs (exhaust our mind). Let’s see you have a dance performance in an hour. You see the crowd of the audience and experience a certain amount of stress. If you take it positively and it made your performance better, then it’s positive stress, also known as eustress. If it ruined your performance because you got anxious on seeing the crowd, then its negative stress, which we feel most of the time. Some most important sources of psychological stress are frustration, conflicts, internal and social pressures, heartbreak, losing a loved one, moving away from home, daily life hassles, noisy and quarrelsome surroundings, traumatic events etc. Stress can also be caused because of lack of nutritious diet and when we fail to get enough sleep. Stress ruins our sleeping patterns, increases skin problems, heart rate and blood pressure, and messes with our digestion causing heartburn, indigestion, vomiting, nausea and diarrhea. Stress decreases our confidence, increases mood swings, tension and erratic behavior and cause some serious emotional problems.

So now the question arises how can we manage stress?

Stress is a silent killer and there are a few ways to tackle it :

• First of all start eating a healthy diet and performing daily exercise and yoga. A balanced diet can lift one’s mood and give more energy. It strengthens the immune system and make one feel better to cope with stress of life. Exercise can provide release of negative energy is caused by stress.

• Practice meditation and relaxation techniques. It is a skill that reduces symptoms of stress and relaxes the body. Whenever in a stressful situation, try taking deep breaths which is used to calm the mind and relax the body.

• Lastly, being socially connected helps us to deal better with stress. Everyone need some social support without being judged in any situation. No support makes the situation worse and difficult to cope with. I recently read a study which said that people who have supportive relationships have lower levels of stress than people who have cold and unsupportive relationships full of conflicts. It’s also better find someone experienced to talk to you. We can feel light after sharing our stressful situation with someone.

If we feel that people will judge us for the situation that we are in instead of helping us, then there is an app – “WeHeal”.

It is a social app with an intention to help people to heal, just as the name suggests. It is an anonymous chat platform where we can share anything that is making us feel heavy and stressed. This app basically provides help to people who are facing some issues and troubles in their life. The person is free to share whatever problem he or she is facing. Whether they need to confess something or they need some support or someone has gone through a heartbreak or are having issues in studies, are burdened by problems, need someone to listen and care, and make them feel light and happy. He/she can share the story with a community of users of the app who are the healers. The healers provide solutions to their problems and the way to cope with them. The application keeps them anonymous and this makes it easy for them to pour their heart out without being judged. There are also inspirational short stories, quotes and experiences to encourage them. There are also three inbuilt features which provide you with meditation sessions, psychological quiz that will detect your mood, and a mini game to improve your patience level. If one doesn’t have someone to lean on or share anything with someone, but you want to clear your mind and feel less stressed and want some answers to your conflicts, then you can lean on to this app and it’s healers who will help you go through your stressful situations. However, that can be so overbearing that it seems impossible to move on, like, the death of a loved one or overwhelming feelings of anxiety, it’s important you know that help is available to you. For serious problems , it’ll be the right decision to seek a councellor or a therapist.

It is better to share our burdens with someone than carrying those burdens alone. A stress-free mind leads to a happy life.

Follow WeHeal

Instagram – https://instagram.com/heal.weheal?igshid=url56ab0qn3i

Facebook –http://facebook.com/weheal

Download the app –http://tinyurl.com/weheal