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Life

How Your Family Can Cope With Trauma and Build a New Normal After an Accident

03/27/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

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More than 50% of U.S families have experienced some disaster, and two-thirds of children encounter a traumatic event by age sixteen, according to SAMHSA. If you or a family member is involved in an accident, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable, confused and stressed. However, individuals react differently to traumatic events, and that may lead to disruptions in the family, including a lack of proper communication and lapse in daily routines. Luckily, your family can overcome post-traumatic stress by practicing daily habits that put your life back on track. The key is to ensure the entire family is committed to building a new healthy lifestyle.

Seek Legal Assistance

When dealing with the aftermath of an accident, it is easy to overlook the importance of hiring a personal injury lawyer. Keep in mind an accident of any nature will not have a psychological impact only, but also hurt your finances. According to the professionals at https://personalinjuryattorney-fresno.com/, if the injuries you or a loved one experience following an accident are due to someone else’s negligence, you are entitled to compensation.

Legal experts at JJS explain that if you have a high-stake personal injury case, an experienced attorney will assist you to hold the party at-fault accountable and seek a fair amount of settlement. Although filing a personal injury claim will not alleviate the pain and suffering, it will bring financial relief to settle medical expenses and compensate for lost wages. That way, your family can focus on healing.

Stay Active, Together

Physical activity promotes the production of feel-good hormones to reduce stress, speed recovery, and improve appearance. Simple activities like playing soccer, basketball, swimming, and dancing with the kids enhance mood. Nonetheless, it is essential to learn how to exercise after an accident to ensure the injured person does not strain. Make sure to consult a physician about the best workout routine to keep your family healthy and safe.

Encourage Communication

It takes time to recover from post-traumatic stress, but you can help your family cope by creating a supportive environment. Your children, for example, may not feel comfortable talking about current events. In that case, encourage them to draw, write, or paint to express their feelings. Self-expression is particularly important in dealing with traumatic experiences, so encouraging your family to work through their emotions in whichever way works for them is key.

Engaging in activities with loved ones is another excellent way to enhance communication. Start dialogues that are less serious and stressful. Then listen to your family’s concerns, do not judge, and reassure them it’s not their fault for the accident. But most importantly, manage your stress to achieve positive outcomes.

Going Healthy, Health, Life, Lifestyle

How to Make Your Days Off Count

03/17/2020 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

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We all lead incredibly busy lives, and sometimes it can feel like you never get a proper, full day off, especially if you are a parent. Even when they do happen, once in a blue moon, it’s so easy to feel like you’ve wasted them – sleeping in, rushing around doing chores, eating rubbish food because you haven’t had time to cook – and before you know it, you’re waking up on Monday morning feeling even more tired than before.

When these amazing days arrive, perhaps when the children are at the grandparents, or away with school, and you are off work – whether that is a weekend, or you work different days – it’s important to know you’re making the most of your valuable time. Follow these simple steps to help yourself feel rested, rejuvenated, and like you’ll never let your day off slip through your fingers again.

Getting Up

Sleeping in is undoubtedly one of the best aspects of a day off. However, it’s very important not to take this too far, or you risk not only wasting your day, but also damaging your sleep patterns for the next week. Scientists recommend adults have between 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Any more than this can actually be almost as bad as not getting enough sleep, as it can cause increased feelings of fatigue and even depression.

A nice compromise is to limit your lie-in to an extra hour (two at the most) – and perhaps even keep your alarm, but use the extra time to doze or read in bed before starting your day. If you’re really struggling to get up on those days off, a great incentive is to promise yourself an extra-special breakfast. Nothing tends to get people out of bed better than pancakes…

Activities

Now, your perfect idea of a day off might be to do absolutely nothing all day – and that’s completely fine! However, the idea that idle hands are the devil’s tools definitely has some truth to it. A day will always feel longer and more worthwhile if you have at least one activity planned. This can be as simple as a walk, a coffee or drink with friends – even just a craft activity at home, or finishing that book you’ve been meaning to get through. Something as small as this can give you a great sense of accomplishment, and actually help your mind relax even more than just sitting in front of the television.

Lunch and Dinner

Here is where your day off can really give you an opportunity to treat yourself. You don’t have to be eating meal-prepped dinners, or stuffing yourself with anything you can find between work and other commitments. Cooking can be an incredibly soothing and de-stressing activity for a day off, without you having to worry about time or complexity. It is now even being used as a therapy technique for people suffering from stress and anxiety, which just shows how valuable it can be. Perhaps try out some gourmet dishes you haven’t made before, or even invent your own meals without any pressure or expectation – and then you get to eat some delicious food afterwards, which is always a bonus.

Relaxing

Here we get to the most important part of your day off: sheer relaxation. You have so many options here, so don’t always fall into the Netflix trap whilst the hours pass you by. Reading a book, playing a video game, or even choosing a specific film rather than a TV series are all brilliant options. A top tip is to do any of these things under a weighted blanket. Now, many people might think these are purely for bedtime, and why use a weighted blanket if you’re not trying to sleep? There are so many benefits to spending your relaxation time under a top-notch blanket – they are proven to reduce stress and help you feel secure, which will maximize your chill-out time as much as possible.

A Good Night’s Sleep

This might seem obvious, but the worst thing you can possibly do after a wonderful day off would be to stay up until the early hours, and wake up the next morning feeling exhausted. It might be tempting to make the day last as long as possible, but getting that good night’s sleep at the end of your day off is the best way to really make it count. Encourage relaxation with an appropriate CBD oil and then, try to get an early night. If this is difficult, try banning technology from your bedroom – or if that’s not possible, have a look at blue light filters for your devices so you can give your eyes the break they deserve.

Following all these tips will help you relax in the most productive way possible, and feel like you’ve made the most of those rare, wonderful days off.

Going Healthy, Health, Life

Support Someone Through Illness

03/15/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

When friends or family fall ill, it can be a very upsetting time for everyone. It is important that you find out what is expected of you during this period. Some people are happy to take on the responsibility of looking after a loved one, and others take it on because it is the right thing to do. Whichever category you fall into doesn’t matter because the outcome is the same. Taking care of someone during their illness.

Usually, when someone is ill, there is more to it than just their illness to help them deal with it.

illness, health, sickness, prevention, healthy, support — Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash

Research

The more you know, the more you can help. Depending on the illness or infection, from an insect bite to cancer treatment, research is your best friend. It will enable you to monitor them at home, to understand what the doctors and nurses are talking about and understand what your friend or family member is going through. It might be that in the end, you can only provide mental support and no hands-on care, or it might be that there is more physical care required than you had initially realized. Research the illness and the best ways that you can help.

Comfort

Recovering from an illness, or being in the middle of something that is incredibly painful can have both a physical and mental impact. Being aware of the mental health implications of the illness will help you be able to communicate and listen to your friend or family member to the best of your ability.

Things like clean towels, bed sheets, and soft pillows are a great ideal. On from that thing like ice chips, straws, blankets and bed pads might be a consideration too. Medical staff will be able to help you make a list of the things you are likely to need.

Most illnesses come with the added issue of dehydration, so whenever you’re around, make sure there is water too.

Entertainment

When you have a lot of hours to fill, it pays to think about some things that your friend or family member can do during that time. In the end, there are only so many times you can play cards. Keeping their mind active is one of the most important things that you can do to help them.

Depending on the circumstances you might need to read a book to them or make their move in chess. And when you really want to, Netflix and Amazon have so many series you won’t be pushed for something to fill the hours.

Sometimes though what is most needed is to listen to your loved one. Talking can often help them process what is going on and gives you an opportunity to provide the best form of support.

More often than not, your friend and family member will feel supported simply by knowing that you are there if they need you and that they can rely on you for simple things like watching a movie, picking up some groceries or some supportive words when they are most needed.