Can we avoid anxiety?

Mental health issues are escalating. Can we avoid anxiety in these stressful times?

A recent survey states, “59 percent of us in the UK sometimes, often or always try to avoid the news with two-thirds of respondents saying this was because it has a bad effect on their mood”.

These days we have 24 -hour television news so we can hardly avoid it and it is a proven fact that bad news has a negative effect on our mental health, even affecting normally cheerful people whose attitude is that the cup is half full not half empty.

Exhaustion and anxiety are triggered by stress hormones which are released when perceived threats are experienced.  Our ancestors reacted to predators in the same way.  Our immune systems become weakened by repeated stress, leading to mental health problems and nervous breakdowns.

 

Advice offered to combat stress includes:

1)    Listen to the news only once a day for no more than ten minutes.

2)    Listen to the headlines on TV news and ignore any subjects which do not interest you.

3)    Try to focus on facts rather than emotive content and choose a website such as http://www.positive.news which is dedicated to uplifting news stories.

 

Another study found that approximately one-quarter of us have turned to our pets for mental health support during the last year.  This may be particularly helpful to those living alone assuming, of course, that they would like the responsibility of looking after a pet in the first place.

Written by Anita McGhee

can we avoid anxiety