How many of you find that when you are stressed out, your memory is not quite as sharp, you become more indecisive, and your brain goes into a loop of worrying about all the terrible things that might happen? After going around this loop time and time again, you feel drained, your energy is depleted, yet you feel wired, but tired. It is, unfortunately, not uncommon to feel this way. Given the demands and pace of our lives today, and multiple stressors that are pulling us in many directions, it is no surprise that Americans are among the most stressed people in the world. Mental health disorders are common globally – 1 in 6 individuals have one or more mental or substance use disorders, anxiety being the most common condition.
Chronic stress can lead to mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, not to mention heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Now imagine that you can control how you respond to stress. I invite you to remember a situation that may have been stressful, but you navigated it with ease, mental clarity and decisiveness. You recovered quickly from the stress, and continued to be effective and efficient, and your mood remained stable.
Fortunately, there are a number of effective stress reduction tools you can use to master stress reduction so that it is no longer negatively impacting your health and brain function. In How to Reduce Stress Part 1 and Part 2 I discuss nourishing, easy practices you can start today.
I also wanted to share with you a practice that you may have not heard of before. It is called neurofeedback. My colleague, Natalie Baker, a psychotherapist and neurofeedback trainer, integrated this tool in her practice 9 years ago. Here, she shares with us what neurofeedback is, what it can do for you and how you can integrate it into your daily routine.
To Your Health,
Dr. Bojana
