Managing Emotions: Normalise Emotions

A starting point in managing emotions is to normalise and recognise emotions as part of our mind and body system. It is normal to feel and express emotions. Emotions affirm our humanity and can often be resourceful as they provide us with useful feedback that propel us into action or even change.
Some emotions are challenging to process, because they demand a lot from the mind-body system, for example anger, sadness and anxiety. This does not mean that we need to deny or avoid these emotions, we also need to recognise them as part of mind-body system.
What we need to be mindful of is the extremes in how emotions are experienced and expressed and how these extremes affect our mental health and our actions. We then need to learn to manage these emotions. We discuss this more next time on the blog.

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The impact of Stigma on people

Stigma is when we blame, judge, prejudice and discriminate people because of characteristics that they have or situations that they are going through. People are often stigmatised for situations that they already find challenging to deal with and sometimes it is situations they cannot change or have temporarily lost control over (i.e. mental health diagnosis like depression, diagnosis of HIV and people living with disabilities). So when we stigmatise people we place an extra burden on their already difficult journey. The following points highlight the impact of stigma on people. 1. Impact on mental health Stigma results in feelings of isolation, rejection and guilt for people and it can contribute to the development or worsening of mental health challenges like depression and anxiety. 2. Obstacle in help-seeking When we stigmatise people, it becomes more challenging for them to openly seek help because they fear judgement. As a result they either do not seek help at all or i...

Part 2 of Stress Management: Beyond Self-Awareness

When you are aware of how stress affects your thoughts, emotions and behaviors then you are better positioned to manage it. Stress management is also a journey where you learn to manage your life through self-training. In the process be patient with yourself. Below are a few points to consider as you learn to manage your stress: 1. Thought management: We are all wired to think, therefore thinking is a very normal and an important process in our brains. However a challenge happens when we overthink, over-interpret, generalize and personalize situations. This tendency can negatively affect our emotions and behaviors and it can increase our stress levels. Therefore learning to discern and manage our thoughts is important in stress management. Overthinking can be resolved by distracting yourself through engaging in healthy behaviors i.e. writing down your thoughts for a few minutes and closing the diary and engaging in something else, with plans to go back to the diary and writing at ...

On adjusting to working from home during the lockdown

The lockdown period during COVID-19 came with an unexpected and unplanned working from home set-up for some of us. Although this transition was not a planned event, it is possible to manage it well, through implementing the following: Structure It helps to keep a diary, set weekly and daily work goals that are aligned to your work responsibilities. Time and boundaries Allocate time for work activities, breaks and knock off time and strive to keep to your allocated time. Separate time for home activities from work activities, avoid doing home chores during "work time" and vice versa. Time-off from work should be strictly adhered to. Physical Space In your house have a corner or space on your table where you strive to create a work-like set-up that you work from. If you have an office strive to work from the office everyday. Negotiating with family members Many of us share our spaces with family members who also work or study from ...

Dr Sibu Qhogwana

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