General Health

 

Psychological Health
If there is a single factor that affects health the most strongly, that factor is the mind. Some thoughts, memories and images makes us feel good and are relaxing, yet other thoughts make us feel bad because they cause feelings of worry or fear that are destructive to health. If you are angry or depressed a lot of the time because of what you are doing or how you are living, is it really worth it if you know that these states of mind increase the risk of illness? You may need to consider ways in which your lifestyle could be changed for the better. Obviously, it's better to increase the positive, pleasure-producing thoughts and images in the mind.

Dealing With Stress
Situations that disrupt mind-body harmony are stressors. Prolonged interaction with a stressor can impair functioning of the body’s immune system and result in illness. There are several ways we can deal with stressors. We can avoid a situation or person that causes us stress. For example we can change jobs or change who we spend most of our time with. We can also try to alter our own response by changing our beliefs, attitudes and goals. If we become stressed at the thought of trying to achieve an unrealistic body type, the solution need not be to decide we're destined to be overweight, but to emphasize a healthy lifestyle and body weight. It may be difficult to change the way another person acts, but if we are more assertive in telling them how their behavior makes us feel, they may be more willing to change. We may need to learn how to adapt to certain situations. If we frequently become angry due to waiting in long lines, we can teach ourselves to become more patient. Another option to dealing with a stressor, is to accept the situation. We know that it takes 30 minutes to drive home from work every day, so we sit back, relax with our favorite music and enjoy the peaceful time alone. The University Counseling Center, located on the 2nd floor of the Student Life Building, offers individual counseling and stress and time management group instruction and support. For more information you may contact 644-2003 or visit their website.

Another way of dealing with stress is to use a stress reduction technique. These techniques produce the relaxation response (naturally relieving the body of stress hormones), and include autogenic training, yoga, exercise, meditation, progressive relaxation, and hypnosis.

Autogenic training achieves relaxation as the person learns to concentrate on a specific phrase for a few minutes each day. The phrase may be, "my arms and legs are very heavy," or "my heartbeat is calm and regular." Each of these repeated over and over can have profound effects on body physiology.

Yoga incorporates relaxation of the physical, mental and social sides of the body.

Exercise also incorporates the physical side and is a way to naturally release stress hormones that increase due to stress.

Meditation is another technique people can use to relax mind and body and seek spiritual enlightenment. It usually includes keeping your mind focused on a particular sound or phrase that induces relaxation and stress-reducing physiological changes.

Progressive relaxation requires sitting or lying in a comfortable position, breathing deeply with eyes closed, and progressing through each muscle group contracting then relaxing every major muscle of the body.

Hypnosis has been used to reduce stress because many diseases and disorders can be cured by a change in our mental state. Hypnosis allows the mind to relax and go where it chooses, similar to daydreaming.

Harmful Behaviors
Smoking tobacco and drinking excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages are two of the most destructive habits in U.S. society today as far as maintaining health and preventing accidents, suicides and disease are concerned. The responsibility for preventing death and disease resulting from excessive smoking and drinking is the personal responsibility of each person. Some reasons as to why people smoke and drink to excess even when they know how destructive these substances can be include stress reduction, the need to escape from worries, persistent and persuasive advertising by manufacturers, and social pressures. When all arguments have been presented, the fact still remains that the decision to smoke or drink alcohol is made by each individual. Each individual can decide that his or her health is more important than the need to smoke or abuse alcohol. Many people will also have the opportunity to experiment with other kinds of recreational drugs, such as marijuana, amphetamines or cocaine. Many become addicted to legal drugs - tranquilizers to reduce anxiety, antidepressants, and sedatives for pain and sleep. A few experiences with these substances will not destroy a person’s health, however, repeated or excessive becomes a dangerous habit, which eventually can result in loss of health.

 

Check out these websites for places on-campus to excercise: Campus Recreation: http://fsu.campusrec.com Leach Center Group Exercise: http://fsu.campusrec.com/leach/ FSU Exercise and Relaxation Courses: http://apps.oti.fsu.edu/RegistrarCourseLookup/SearchForm (Look under Sports Management, Recreation Management, and Phy in Department for a listing)