Lesson 3 Preventative measures
We all know the feeling that our lungs get tight and our air is cut off when we get scared or panic. Therefore, breathing exercises are an important part of treatment and self care. You can use this breathing exercise anytime and anywhere, even in the moment when you realize: Attention; the tension is rising.
- lie flat on your back on your bed or the floor.
- bend your knees slightly.
- place one hand on your chest, the other on your stomach.
- now breathe in slowly and deeply.
- imagine the breath slowly flowing down to your hand on your belly and finally lifting your hand.
- you can control it: Which hand moves the most? Deep breathing raises your hand on your belly higher than the one on your chest.
- now exhale just as slowly. Imagine how the breath flows slowly from the belly over the chest back out over the nose.
- concentrate on how your hands sink back down one by one.
- repeat this exercise slowly for 5-10 minutes.
- practice several times a day.
- Relaxation vs. tention
- Find a comfortable position.
- Take a few deep breaths into your belly. Do you feel the first relaxation?
- Clench both hands into fists as tightly as you can. This can even be sparse. Tense your upper arm muscles and hold the tension for a few seconds.
- Then let go. Don’t forget any of your muscles – the fingers, the hands, the arms. Can you feel the tension release?
- Concentrate on this sensation.
- Let your slightly bent fingers, your open hands, your arm fall to the side.
- Continue to breathe in and out calmly and deeply, in and out…. and feel the warmth and heaviness that comes with the feeling of relaxation.
- Repeat this as much as you want (go to other muscle partys or include the whole body).
Further reading: Progressive muscle relaxation (pmr), meditation, autogen training (find more in “further reading section)
Other factors that may lead to poor mental health: Harassment – Violence - Bullying
- This topic covers violence in the workplace, which is consistently one of the leading causes of job-related injuries and fatalities.
- It can range from threats, intimidation, verbal abuse, to grave harm done to a worker.
- Harassment can consist of a single or several incidents over a period of time that creates a negative or hostile work environment which interferes with job performance and may result in being refused a job, a promotion or training opportunity. Harassment can be any type of offensive or abusive communication including telephone, social media, text, email, correspondence or in-person, aggressive or intimidating approaches to another individual, attempts to goad or incite anger in others.
- In simpler words, anything that can make an employee feel unwelcome, excluded, picked on, uncomfortable, looked down upon, or undermined.
- The harassment and abuse often comes outside of the workplace.
- While the obligation of the employer to create a work culture in which any type of harassment or abuse is unacceptable, the situation gets trickier when the abuse comes from the outside.
- Many municipality workers have expressed discomfort with the negative connotation that comes with the work that they do from the general society that surrounds them.
- Civilians may use derogatory language towards the municipal workers during their work hours.
These incidents are severe and should be reported.
Pandemic and mental health
The Centre for Social Innovation did a report at the beginning of the pandemic asking 221 participants a single question:
What do you believe your mental limits will be like after you exit quarantine?
- More work
- More pressure
- Less socialization
- More confined spaces
- More stress about the future
- Worry about your health and loved ones
- Financial stress
- Constantly getting bad news
- Feelings of hopelessness
The pandemic became an additional stressor in our lives.
Things changed very suddenly and there is no “deadline” of when things will go back to normal.
It is fundamental to acknowledge that some things are out of our control and just take it one day at a time.