Caregiving and Mental Health

What really is caregiving? Sometimes we’re not sure what it really is. It’s such a simple concept, the idea of providing care to another person. But when we talk about specifically being a caregiver it’s usually a set of tasks that one provides for someone who is disabled or elderly. There is a lot that goes into being a caregiver. There are financial, physical, and emotional commitments one often takes on for that other individual.

What is Caregiving?

Often, we associate being a caregiver as an adult child caring for their older parent. The stereotype is of the daughter caring for a mother or father. Usually by taking care of all of their needs, such as household chores, feeding, medication, etc. However, any person can be a caregiver to someone if they routinely take on an important function of their daily lives that they are unable to do because of a medical condition.

For example, if you pop by your sister’s home to do her laundry for her every week because she has a disability that keeps her from being able to go up and down the stairs, you are in a caregiving role for her. You may not be taking on everything she needs, but you are providing care for her daily needs.

What Kind of Impacts Can Caregiving Have on the Caregiver?

There are some obvious ways caregiving can impact people. For example, there is a significant time investment. Some caregivers may also invest financially in their loved ones. However, an aspect we don’t talk about enough is the mental health impact. Often, caregivers are under a lot of stress. There can also be physical impacts because of caregiving.

More often than not, caregivers are not trained in the proper way to move individuals who may need help getting out of bed or into a chair. This can sometimes result in injuries to the caregiver over time.

Chronic stress can also impact someone’s immune system, making it more likely that a caregiver can get sick more often. This can be compounded by frequent visits to doctor’s offices or hospital waiting rooms, which often have more germs from other sick people.

What Other Mental Health Impacts Are There?

Anticipatory grief is a large component of the mental impact of caregiving. The psychological toll of watching a loved one become less independent and more ill can be very difficult to deal with. There is also the loss of freedom the caregiver themselves often deals with. The time commitment that one sometimes has to make to caregiving can encroach on other aspects of a caregiver’s life. Many caregivers are also in dual roles. For example, many women are caring for their adult parents while also having dependent children in their home.

Depression, anxiety, and burnout are common with caregiving. It’s important to reach out for help if you’re feeling as if things are becoming too much. Sometimes talking with a therapist can help someone cope with all of the difficult and complex feelings they may be experiencing as a result of being a caregiver. Our clinician, Bianca Burns, is facilitating a virtual Caregiver Support Group. Referrals can be made here.

March 28, 2025March 25, 2025

Practicing Gratitude

Everyone knows about gratitude. Many of us talk about it pretty often, especially around the holidays. Of course, around Thanksgiving here in the United States is when many focus on it However, gratitude can and should be practiced year-round. It’s important for many reasons. Not just for the benefits it can give to us but also to those around us.

Why Practice Gratitude Regularly?

Practicing gratitude can have many important positive outcomes in our lives. It can help make us happier and can even help protect against depression symptoms. It can improve our relationships with those around us, improve our self-esteem, and can also improve our physical health. Focusing on this daily can be something that we see benefits from for the rest of our lives.

Practicing it regularly also makes it easier to be grateful. The more we practice any skill, the easier it is to implement that skill in our lives. Sometimes it can be hard at the beginning to set it up as a new habit. Or maybe it can be difficult to think of anything we’re grateful for, especially during hard times. However, the more you stick with it, the easier it becomes and eventually it will be second nature.

How Can I Practice Gratitude?

There are many different ways to implement gratitude in our lives. These things can be small or big. Stopping to think about someone in our lives that makes us happy or supports us is an act of practicing gratitude. We can think about why we really feel thankful when we say “thank you”. Thinking back on difficult times can help us appreciate our current lives more.

Keeping a journal once or twice a week about the things we’re grateful for can be especially helpful. You don’t want to overdo this particular step because it can make it easier to become acclimated to the feeling of gratitude which would then make it less impactful. Another way we can do this is to keep a gratitude jar. This can be a very visual reminder of our gratitude.

Meditating with gratitude in mind can be helpful, too. This can be a more traditional meditation where you sit quietly somewhere and focus on gratitude. Or this can be a walking meditation where you go out for a nice walk and let yourself take in your surroundings while also focusing on the good things around you.

What if it Isn’t Helping?

Sometimes, things are hard and no amount of gratitude will make them seem better. In these instances, it can be helpful to reach out to someone for help. This can be a trusted person in your life who you know can help support you. Another option is to reach out to a therapist to get you through this difficult time. A therapist can also help you with implementing gratitude throughout your life once you’ve gotten through this moment.

March 21, 2025March 20, 2025

How to Set Healthy Boundaries

An important part of having healthy relationships with other people is to have healthy boundaries. When we say relationships, we mean relationships of any kind! Romantic, friends, family, coworkers, everyone. Having health boundaries is the key to making and maintaining healthy relationships.

What Are Boundaries in Relationships?

When we’re discussing these types of boundaries, we really are discussing how we interact with others. This means how much of ourselves we give to others and how much time we devote to them. Boundaries are going to be ever changing and shifting according to who we are around and at what point in our lives we are. For example, we’re more likely to say yes to a favor from a close friend than we are an acquaintance.

Setting up healthy boundaries is easier from the beginning of a relationship than trying to implement them later on. However, it can still be done in already long-standing relationships! Sometimes this may cause some friction.

What Makes a Boundary Healthy or Unhealthy?

Think about how you feel when something happens or you have an interaction with someone. If saying “yes” to something makes you feel stressed, like you don’t have enough time for you, or like you’re being stretched too thin, then it’s possibly an unhealthy situation. There are times when we have to say yes to things, even if we don’t want to. For example, most people have to work. However, not everyone has to or is able to work long hours or overtime. A healthy boundary is setting how many hours you can work a week that still meets your financial needs and fulfills the contract you have set up with your employer.

Another example is with friends or family. Of course, we want to be there to listen and be emotional supports for our loved ones. However, we can’t always do that. Sometimes, our own mental health is stretched too far to offer that kind of support to another person. As much as we may want to help, we can’t always do so. An unhealthy boundary would be continuing to give and give while neglecting our own needs. A good boundary would be to let that person know we still support and are there for them even if we can’t give as much as we usually do.

How Do I Set Healthy Boundaries?

To set healthy boundaries you first have to analyze what your values and goals are. How much time and energy do you have to dedicate to different aspects of your life, including other people? How do you want to feel at the end of the day? There are so many things that go into determining healthy boundaries that it’s impossible to give an easy guide for it. It’s a very individualized process!

One bit of important advice in this area is to make sure that you take things slow. It can be really overwhelming to set a lot of these boundaries at once, especially if they involve advocating for yourself. If this is something you’re not used to doing, it can be really hard. So start small and work your way up.

What if the People Around Me Respond Poorly?

If someone pushes against reasonable boundaries you have set, it may be time to reevaluate the relationship you have with that person. Depending on the importance of the relationship, it may be worth it to be patient with them and keep enforcing your boundaries. This would involve reminding them of when they’ve crossed a boundary. However, even in the most important relationships, it’s necessary that the people around you respect you and your limits.

What If I’m Still Struggling With Boundary Setting?

Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start or it can just be overwhelming. If you’re struggling with boundaries, then it may be a good idea to reach out to someone. Usually, a therapist can help you through therapy to identify your boundaries. Then you’d be able to work together with that therapist to work towards enforcing your boundaries.

March 14, 2025March 10, 2025

What is Toxic Positivity?

Our most recent blog post discussed radical acceptance and how it’s used. Not only in therapy but how it can be used in daily life. One important thing to keep in mind is that it is very different from toxic positivity. But sometimes it can be hard to understand that difference. This post will be focused on what exactly toxic positivity is. More importantly, we’ll discuss why it’s a bad thing.

So, What IS Toxic Positivity?

There’s being optimistic and then there’s toxic positivity. Optimism is good! It’s an adaptive response to difficult situations in our lives. A healthy dose of optimism can be what helps us get through things. However, optimism is not neglecting negative emotions or difficult feelings and thoughts.

Toxic positivity pushes a “good vibes only” mantra. It requires that we do not accept negative feelings and that we don’t let ourselves feel them. Difficult thoughts should be pushed away for “positive vibes”. We must “choose” happiness. Often this means not accepting that bad things happen and there is no positive spin to it. This is especially harmful when pushed on other people who are trying to confide in someone.

Why is it Considered Harmful?

By not accepting negative things, we put ourselves in a difficult space. This space does not honor our feelings about situations. It does not respect that not everything that happens to us is good or a “blessing in disguise”. Sometimes, bad things happen. And that’s it. Toxic positivity does not allow room for that.

When we’re not making room for our feelings, we’re bottling them up or pushing them away. This can contribute to long term depression or anxiety, which then gets exacerbated by the “good thoughts only!” and “choose happiness!” mantras.

It can also greatly impact human connection. Other people’s pain is uncomfortable. That’s just a fact. But the best thing you can do for someone you care about is to sit with them in that pain. Not cheer them up (unless that’s what they ask you for!), give them advice to get out of it (again, unless they ask), or tell them that “things happen for a reason” or “maybe there’s a silver lining to this”. Because often, there is no silver lining.

By not sitting in that pain, we are telling them their pain is unacceptable and a burden to us. This then forces them to bottle up what we can’t handle dealing with. This is not only unfair to them but can harm their mental health.

How Can I Respond Instead?

If it’s your own feelings, give yourself the space to feel them. It’s okay to feel sad, angry, disappointed, anxious, etc. You can still actively problem solve while feeling those feelings, if there is a solution to what’s causing you to feel like that. You need to remind yourself that you should embrace the human experience. And that means, the FULL human experience. Pain is part of that.

If it’s the feelings of a friend, remind them that you’re there for them. Tell them you’ll sit with them in their feelings. You’ll listen. You’ll be someone they can safely experience their pain with. Sometimes that is the greatest gift you can give to someone.

February 7, 2025February 4, 2025

Therapy 101: EMDR

If you’ve ever looked into getting therapy, then it’s likely that you’ve heard a lot of different terms thrown around to describe it. There are many different therapy techniques and modalities out there. This blog post is part of a series that is meant to explain some of the more common forms of therapy you’re likely to encounter as you look into potential therapists.

What is EMDR?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy. This is a form of therapy that is used primarily for treating PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and specific phobias. It essentially works as a way of reprogramming the brain to not trigger a physical sensation (like rapid heart rate, sweating, tight breathing, etc.) usually associated with panic and anxiety. It helps allow individuals to view their past experiences without large levels of distress.

The theory behind EMDR is that the brain cannot process the memory in a logical way and store it successfully because of the high levels of distress. By removing the physical and emotional distress associated with the memories, the brain is then able to store the event away. This allows for psychological healing.

How Does It Work?

This form of therapy involves using some form of bilateral stimulation while the client focuses on their traumatic memory. Usually the stimulation is having the client follow the hand movements of the therapist with their eyes. However, some therapists use audio bilateral stimulation, such as tapping or headphones with audio cues. There are other forms of stimulation that can also be used, like lights. By focusing on the memory and the cue at the same time, it can help the vividness of the memory fade. This allows the brain to store the memory in a healthier way.

EMDR is usually carried out in stages and the client is encouraged to work through one specific memory at a time.

What are the Stages of EMDR?

There are eight stages or phases to this type of therapy.

Phase 1: The therapist does the intake and takes the history of the client.

Phase 2: This phase involves preparing the client for what EMDR entails.

Phase 3: The therapist and client work together to assess which memory the client will be processing in therapy.

Phase 4-7: This is where the bulk of the work is done. These phases involve working through the memory using bilateral stimulation in order to reprocess it.

Phase 8: Evaluating the results. In this phase, the therapist and client work together to assess how successful the previous phases were. If successful, the client either ends treatment or the stages begin again with a new memory to process.

But is it Effective?

There have been studies done that have shown the efficacy and effectiveness of EMDR therapy. It’s not only shown in the short-term but seems to have lasting benefits for clients. This is a short-form therapy that helps many people with their PTSD symptoms and other trauma related problems.

How do I Find an EMDR Therapist?

Here at Compassionate Counseling Company, we do have an EMDR trained therapist! Lis works with clients using EMDR to help work through their traumatic memories. You can also use your insurance company’s database to find a therapist.

January 31, 2025January 31, 2025

Therapy 101: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

What Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?

Acceptance and commitment therapy, better known as ACT, is a 3rd wave behavior therapy that has been gaining momentum. In recent years there have been studies looking into the effectiveness of ACT for a variety of uses.

Whereas CBT focuses on changing thoughts ACT focuses more on accepting thoughts and distressing feelings as part of life. Acceptance and commitment therapy is about learning skills on coping with distress, like DBT.

How does ACT Work?

ACT has 6 primary processes that it works on. The concept is that ACT is about increasing psychological flexibility, which is meant to help with coping with negative experiences. Naturally, one of these processes is acceptance.

Acceptance is exactly what it sounds like, it means coming to accept the negative things that happen and the negative feelings, emotions, or thoughts we may be having. ACT does not encourage avoidance of these things or trying to change negative feelings into neutral or positive ones.

Cognitive defusion is another component of psychological flexibility. When we talk about defusion in this sense, what we mean is altering how we think about negative things. Instead of trying to avoid them or change them, the focus is on changing the negative impact they have on us.

Being present, something that is rooted in mindfulness, is also an aspect of ACT. It encourages individuals to be present in their feelings and the current moment, even when it’s unpleasant. It encourages non-judgemental evaluations of the world around them and the world inside of them.

Mindfulness is also part of self as concept. This is something that in ACT is used to foster a sense of self that recognizes that events occur but they do not have to define the self. This is part of acceptance and tolerance of distressing things we may be experiencing.

Values are one of the cornerstone components of ACT in that clients are encouraged to find meaning in their lives through values that they identify. These values are used to explore clients’ behaviors. This lets them see if these behaviors line up with the values they wish to live.

Finally, committed action is a pattern of thinking that links all of the previous concepts together. It’s using the skills learned through therapy to formulate long-term goals for living in a way that will help them live up to their values.

What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Used For?

ACT can be used in a variety of mental health contexts. It is often used for individuals with specific phobias, mood disorders, anxiety, and substance use disorder. ACT is also used for individuals who are experiencing high levels of stress, such as work stress, and life transitions. These transitions can include grief and loss, moving, marriage (though happy, this can still cause a lot of stress!), etc. There is also some research that has been exploring the use of ACT for individuals with chronic illness and pain.

How do I Find an ACT Therapist?

Many therapists incorporate some form of ACT into their work. Here at Compassionate Counseling Company, we have a few! Emily, Niah, and Theresa all incorporate ACT into their work with clients. Also keep in mind that many therapists use core principles of ACT without listing themselves as using ACT. At the end of the day, it’s about your connection with a therapist and making sure your goals are aligned.

Another way to find a therapist is to use your insurance’s provider list. You can look up the therapists in that database online to see what modalities they use with their clients!

Resources:

https://contextualscience.org/the_six_core_processes_of_act

https://positivepsychology.com/act-acceptance-and-commitment-therapy/#hero-single

https://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/090208p36.shtml

January 24, 2025January 24, 2025

Therapy 101: Dialectical Behavior Therapy

What is DBT?

DBT stands for dialectical behavioral therapy. It’s quickly becoming a very common form of therapy used by many clinicians and has many clinical studies to back up its effectiveness. Dialectical refers to the idea of reconciling two opposing thoughts, such as knowing someone has harmed you while also acknowledging they are not a bad person.

This form of therapy was originally designed to help individuals with borderline personality disorder. BPD often comes with intense emotions and risky, usually self-destructive behavior as a result of emotional dysregulation. DBT is meant to help individuals tolerate distress more effectively and thus regulate their emotions more successfully. This in turn helps to reduce harmful behavior, such as self-harm and suicide attempts.

When followed strictly, DBT uses a combination of one-on-one therapy with a client and a trained therapist and group skills sessions. There is also a “light” form of DBT that removes the group skills sessions and involves only the one-on-one therapy.

Can DBT be Used for Other Purposes?

DBT has been shown to be effective in treating eating disorders (especially binge eating and bulimia), bipolar disorder, PTSD, and schizophrenia. It can also be used with those who have major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and other similar mental illnesses.

How Does It Work?

Dialectical behavioral therapy approaches clients’ problems with the idea that there is some sort of skills deficit that is making it difficult for clients to cope with their emotions and things that go on. Harmful behaviors stem from high levels of distress as a result of this. Through this idea, DBT focuses on skills building and also on increasing distress tolerance in clients.

There are four basic skills that therapists work with clients on: mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Therapists will use a variety of activities and help teach clients different ways they can work on these skills outside of the session.

In more traditional DBT there are four stages that therapy proceeds in. It starts with helping to stabilize the client if they’re in crisis and allowing them to feel safe. The second stage focuses on exploring emotional pain. In the third stage, clients work on setting SMART goals and maintaining healthy behaviors. Finally, in the fourth stage, clients look at the big picture and work towards achieving them.

How do I Find a Therapist?

There are many ways to find a DBT therapist. Right here at Compassionate Counseling Company we have clinicians who integrate DBT into their sessions (Niah, Kelly, Jessica, and Emily). However, if you’re looking for the more traditional form of DBT, then the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification is the best place to find one. If you plan to use insurance, make sure the provider is covered under your plan! You can use your insurance company’s provider search to check.

Resources:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22838-dialectical-behavior-therapy-dbt

https://dialecticalbehaviortherapy.com/

https://eddinscounseling.com/dbt-101-dialectical-behavior-therapy

https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/dbt

https://www.verywellmind.com/dialectical-behavior-therapy-1067402

January 17, 2025January 17, 2025

Therapy 101 : CBT

What is CBT?

Cognitive behavioral therapy, better known by the acronym CBT, is the most popular form of therapy used today. The focus of CBT is to address how people react to their thoughts and feelings and how these reactions then cause them to behave. The thoughts are the cognitive part and the behavior reaction is the behavioral part of CBT.

The belief of CBT is that when we have distorted thoughts we can then have maladaptive reactions to them which then make us unhappy. These reactions and behaviors then go on to contribute to worsening mental health symptoms.

There are also many third-wave therapies based on CBT which we will cover in later posts, like DBT and ACT.

What is CBT Used For?

CBT is used to treat a large variety of problems. It is often the first line of treatment for depression and anxiety. It has also been successfully used in individuals with bipolar, schizophrenia, eating disorders, OCD, and many more. It’s generally considered a short-form treatment, with many people finishing their sessions within a few months.

You don’t need to have a mental illness to go to therapy and get CBT, however. It’s also been used for those with self-esteem problems, life transitions, grief and loss, relationship issues, and insomnia.

How Does CBT Work?

One of the core focuses of cognitive behavioral therapy is distorted thinking or more formally known as cognitive distortions. These can be broken down into 15 main categories. By addressing these different types of distortions, therapists work together with their clients to form healthier thinking habits.

These thoughts can be addressed in a variety of ways. For example, many therapists employ having the clients journal about negative thoughts in order to work on them in therapy and at home. Many therapists also assist clients in setting SMART goals, which is something we discussed in a previous post about New Year’s Resolutions.

How Can I Get This Therapy?

The majority of therapists today use either CBT or a combination of it and other modalities. Often on their profiles either on their websites or on online databases, they will list which disorders or concerns they specialize in and which modalities they use to do this.

Finding a therapist who can help you using CBT is easier than you would think! For example, many of the clinicians working here at Compassionate Counseling Company use CBT with their clients.

Resources:

https://www.healthline.com/health/cognitive-behavioral-therapy#takeaway

https://positivepsychology.com/cbt-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-techniques-worksheets/#hero-single

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-cognitive-behavior-therapy-2795747

January 10, 2025January 9, 2025

Make 2025 The Year To Focus on Mental Health

Mental health. It’s something we all need to take care of and thankfully something our society is starting to take more seriously. However, it can still be difficult to put a focus on this important aspect of our health. Things get in the way, maybe we’re embarrassed, or maybe we just don’t know where to begin. It can be intimidating to know how to focus on improving or maintaining good mental health.

I Don’t Have a Disorder, Why Should I Care?

You don’t need to have a diagnosable mental health disorder in order to care about this aspect of health. Our physical health and our mental health are very closely linked. Neglecting one can often cause issues in the other. Staying ahead of that by putting a focus on maintaining mental health or improving it can help also maintain physical health.

Poor mental health can also contribute to developing a diagnosable disorder. You may not have one now, but if your mental health starts to suffer and you don’t have any way of improving it, you could go on to develop depression or anxiety. Prevention in this case would have been the key.

When our mental health is suffering, we can often let other areas of our lives slide. Relationships with others, sleep, work, these things and more can all be impacted by difficult stretches.

How Can I Focus on Mental Health?

There are a lot of ways we can work on improving mental health. It’s important to sit down and really think about what areas of life you feel good in currently and which you think you could use more help with. For example, do you find that you have great relationships but you tend to feel overwhelmed or stressed at work? Then focusing on maintaining those relationships and improving your work stress would be a route to go down. Without knowing how you’re really doing it can be difficult to know what needs improvement and what just needs some regular maintenance.

Some people work well with lists, be that on paper or digitally, and others work better just thinking things through or talking out loud. Whatever method works for you, use it to evaluate your current mental health strengths and weaknesses so you can build a plan going forward.

What Are Things I Can Do?

Maintaining healthy routines like exercising regularly, getting good sleep, and eating balanced meals can be a great start. It can also be good to try and work on things like breathing exercises or other grounding techniques in order to help get you through stressful moments.

Make sure to keep your relationships strong. Technology can help a lot with this but try not to rely on it entirely. When it comes to improving mental health, face-to-face time can often be more beneficial to talking to someone through text or video call.

If you have a pet, consider spending more time with them. Pets can help reduce blood pressure and loneliness. If you don’t have one, don’t worry! This is just one method of reducing loneliness. You can volunteer, pick up a new hobby that involves spending time with others, or just focus more on your friends and family.

Try being more positive. This doesn’t mean to only be positive or to deny negative feelings or experiences. That’s toxic positivity and it’s usually counterintuitive. Instead, try being more positive in the sense of when good things happen, hold onto those happy feelings. Use that to try and combat small annoyances or upsets in your life and soften the blow of negative experiences.

Practicing gratitude every day can be helpful, too. It doesn’t have to be big things that you’re grateful for. Sometimes just being grateful for your favorite kind of weather can have a positive effect on. It’s about taking the time to notice the small things in life that make it better, easier, or just more pleasant.

What if These Things Don’t Work?

If you’ve tried every improvement trick in the book, then you may need outside help. This can be either seeing a therapist or a psychiatrist for medication. Seeing a therapist can help us with improving mental health by giving up a place to talk about the difficult things with someone who is a neutral party.

Another option, usually best done in conjunction with therapy, is seeking medication from a trained professional in psychiatric medication management. Some mental health problems need the chemical changes that come with medication in order to best manage them. If working on things on your own and with a therapist haven’t been enough to help manage your symptoms, then medication may be necessary.

Resources:

https://www.family-institute.org/sharing-our-expertise/50-ways-improve-mental-health

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/caring-for-your-mental-health

https://medlineplus.gov/howtoimprovementalhealth.html

https://www.mhanational.org/31-tips-boost-your-mental-health

December 27, 2024December 26, 2024

The Mental Health Consequences of New Year’s Resolutions

The year 2024 is coming to an end. Through everything, we have made it here! This is the time of year when we start reviewing how the year has gone and we start looking towards the new year. There are things we want to change or things we want to have stay the same. Many of us make resolutions to achieve these things. But are New Year’s Resolutions always the best answer?

Why We Make Resolutions

Usually, we’re inspired to make these changes in our lives for some reason or another. Maybe we want to get healthier in some way or change habits we feel are holding us back. For some of us, we want to set some kind of goal in a skill we already have. For others, they want to gain a new skill.

We make resolutions because we want to better ourselves in some way. But we also make them so that we can look back on the year and note if we’ve made positive progress towards something. It’s important to many people to feel as if they’ve done something good for themselves or pushed to become a better version of themselves.

However, we also put a lot of pressure on ourselves because of the social importance of New Year’s Day.

Why Many of us Fail

That pressure we put on ourselves is a big contributing factor! We focus less on why we made the goal or resolution in the first place and more on how we’ll feel at the end of the year if we fail. This just sets us up for failure because we’re being motivated by fear and shame instead of something positive.

Another reason is that many of us set vague resolutions and not measurable goals. What does “get healthier” really mean? This is so difficult to measure and understand that it can seem as if we’ve made no progress towards this goal, even if we have! It’s important to set specific goals because of this. The seeming lack of progress can be really disheartening for someone who is working hard towards something.

Negative Mental Health Consequences of Resolutions

When we “fail” at fulfilling our New Year’s resolutions, it can feel as if we’re just stuck. Some of us can feel as if we’ll never achieve anything, never fix a bad habit, or never realize our dreams. This is incredibly difficult to deal with, especially year after year, and it can lead to anxiety and depression in some people. These negative feelings and thoughts can be really detrimental to many people.

If we’ve failed at these same resolutions before, the anticipatory failure can also contribute to greater anxiety and depression. It can be something we dread every year and yet we still set the same goals and approach them in the same way. This generally isn’t good for most people’s mental health and it’s why many of us feel so badly by mid-March.

There’s also an issue with the “new year, new me” approach. This encourages us to make so many changes all at once that it becomes overwhelming. This isn’t a sustainable or long-term way of approaching making positive changes in our lives. Small, incremental changes make for much better and long-lasting effects in our lives.

Is it Possible to Set and Achieve Resolutions?

Of course! Not only is it possible in general, but it’s also possible to approach them in a healthier way that can contribute to better mental health, not worse. In next week’s blog post, we’ll be discussing how to go about setting New Year’s Goals as opposed to New Year’s Resolutions. Not that you need to set goals around a specific time!

That’s another important thing to remember. Sometimes the best time to start working towards a new goal is June 27th, May 18th, or even December 3rd. The point is that the best time to start working towards goals is the time that you’re ready to. Trying to push yourself to set and achieve goals based on a certain day of the year is just setting yourself up for trying to achieve something you may not be mentally ready for, which sets you up for failure.

Resources:

https://centerstone.org/our-resources/health-wellness/how-new-years-resolutions-impact-mental-health/

https://www.choosingtherapy.com/new-years-resolutions

https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/are-your-new-years-resolutions-faltering

https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/why-not-to-make-a-new-years-resolution

https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/2020/01/realistic-new-years-resolutions-for-your-mental-health/

https://www.nami.org/people/mental-health-resolutions-for-the-new-year/

https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/americans-top-5-new-years-resolutions