What We Can Learn from Disaster Mental Health

Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:

• What We Can Learn from Disaster Mental Health
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
• Video: Hurtful Misconceptions about Bipolar Disorder
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• Mental Health Quote

What We Can Learn from Disaster Mental Health

Disaster mental health services are a component of organizations, such as the American Red Cross, that respond to catastrophes. As hurricane Florence devastated the Carolinas and surrounding areas recently, trained response teams arrived to help with immediate mental health needs in the face of a calamity. Some components of their programs can also be applied to ordinary life.

Principles of disaster mental health services are similar to what we need in everyday life to nurture our emotional health. Try this disaster menta health approach for your mental health:

• Meet physical needs first. Make sure your basic needs for shelter, healthy food, and water are met. Ensure, too, that you have access to, and take, any medication you’ve been prescribed.
• Attend to emotional needs. Approach yourself, loved ones, and any situation with patience, understanding, and acceptance. Remember that life can be challenging and frustrating. Trying to fight them won’t change problems and will keep you stuck.
• Limit exposure to news and social media reports. These exaggerate and catastrophize to draw attention. Such exposure to tv news and social media is harmful to emotional health.
• Plan small action steps. What things can you do, day by day or even hour by hour, to heal?

Whether you’re in a disaster zone or just living your life, following these steps can enhance emotional health.

Related Articles Dealing with Disaster Mental Health and Emotional Health

• When Tragedy Strikes: How To Emotionally Handle Disaster
• Ways to Keep Your Sanity in a Natural Disaster
• Managing Anxiety During Natural Disasters
• A Natural Disaster. No Bipolar Medications. Crisis Time
• What is Emotional Wellness?

Your Thoughts

Today's Question: When you are struggling with your mental health, what is your top priority? We invite you to participate by sharing your thoughts, knowledge, and experiences on the HealthyPlace Facebook page and on the HealthyPlace Google+ page.

From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• Helping Our Family Understand Our Bipolar Mind
• The Gray Area of Suicide: Suicidal Ideation
• 7 Suicide-Related Words to Avoid
• Keeping a Regular Sleep Cycle with Schizoaffective Disorder
• Top 10 Ways to Cope with Depression
• Suicidal Thoughts, Anxiety, and Relief: What You Must Know
• How Money Affects Self-Esteem
• Mental Health First Aid for Suicide Prevention
• Anxiety and Laziness: It's Okay to Be Lazy When You're Anxious
• Self-Compassion Practices as Self-Care
• Self-Harm and Feeling Lonely: A Cycle of Self-Injury

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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From HealthyPlace YouTube Channel

I'm Hannah. I Have Bipolar 2

Hurtful Misconceptions about Bipolar Disorder

In truth, those hurtful misconceptions about bipolar disorder are just another form of bipolar stigma. And the media has a lot to do with it. This includes movies, television shows and news outlets that give a negative portrayal of people with bipolar disorder. (Watch Hannah and subscribe to the HealthyPlace YouTube channel for more great mental health videos.)

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Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. Morning Anxiety Causes: Why You Feel Them and What to Do
2. Coping with Internal Conflicts in DID When Parts Disagree
3. Leaving a Verbally Abusive Partner: What's the Breaking Point?

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Mental Health Quote

"What's broken can be mended what hurts can be healed and no matter how dark it gets, the sun is going to rise again."

Read more mental health quotes.

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That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network (like facebook, stumbleupon, or google+) you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week, circle HealthyPlace on Google+, follow HealthyPlace on Twitter or become a fan of HealthyPlace on Facebook. Also, check out HealthyPlace on Pinterest and share your mental health pins on our Share Your Mental Health Experiences board.

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