Western Tidewater Community Service Board Blog
Benefits of Caring for Our Mental Wellness
Mental health requires care. When we avoid caring for our mental health, we can rob ourselves of emotional, psychological, and social well-being. People often avoid taking care of mental wellness after reaching out to others and being told to “just suck it up,” or, “you shouldn’t be depressed because you have it better in life,” or some other idiom that simply does nothing to support mental health. Despite the naysayers, we must take care of ourselves. There are multitudes of benefits that we can derive from caring for our mental wellness, and mental self-care is an essential factor in preventing a mental health crisis.
Making Prevention Part of the Family
Whether it be depression, substance use disorder, or anxiety, mental illness affects us all – not just those who are diagnosed. Fortunately, while it’s not always possible to prevent mental health concerns altogether, there are a number of things you can do in order to increase the resilience of your family members. Increased resilience and protective factors can help make sure that those of us who face mental health concerns are able to “bounce back.”
Autistic Burnout as an Autistic Adult With Responsibilities
Autistic burnout can impair every aspect of life, including the ability to accomplish everyday tasks. Burnout can be disabling, and can last for months at a time, is especially problematic for autistic adults who need to go to work or school, manage their finances, care for themselves and their families, and generally get through life.
5 Ways Family Members Can Promote Mental Wellness
When we experience mental wellness, we feel good, resilient and functional, and feel that we have positive relationships and contribute to society. Mental health is only one part of mental wellness, and mental wellness is critical for good mental health.
Self-Reflection and Opportunities for Self-Improvement in the New Year
New year resolutions usually do not work. They typically consist of goals that we set without much introspection, and when we fail to meet up to our goals we feel let down. But, as we flip our calendars to a fresh new year, there is hope. Through deep self-reflection, we can identify and shift our mindset towards opportunities for self-improvement for not only the upcoming year but for our future. This may sound ‘easier said than done’ to you, and you may be wondering how to get started. The best way to get started is to engage in self-reflection questions.
Is a Residential Home the Best Option for My Loved One With Intellectual Disability?
There are several housing options available for adults who are living with ID. Which option is best for your loved one will depend on their strengths and challenges, their preferences, and the resources available to your family.
How to Cope During the Holidays
The Holidays Aren't Always Jolly - And That's Ok! With all the parties, decorations, and cheerful music, not to mention everyone posting on social media about how happy and thankful they are for all the great things going on in their lives, the holidays can be a tough...
Prioritizing Self-Care During the Holiday Season
The ‘holiday blues’ are short-term feelings of depression or anxiety that are experienced during the holiday season, usually during November and December. In a 2014 survey by NAMI, 64% of people with mental illness reported that the holidays make their condition worse, and in 2021, 3 in 5 Americans reported feeling that their mental health is negatively impacted by the holiday. So if you’re feeling down this holiday season, you’re not the only one.
Balancing Optimism and Realism: The Dangers of Forced Gratitude
Life is tough, and we all find ourselves in the muck of feeling negative from time to time. Finding things to be thankful for can help us snap out of it, at least temporarily. Today, the term grateful is slathered with a hashtag across social media, home décor, clothing, and more. While this can be a good reminder for people to shake off the negative and adopt the positive, telling people to just be grateful can be problematic for mental health.
Why Living in a World Made for Neurotypicals Makes Autistic Individuals Feel Overwhelmed, Worthless, and Hopeless
The way we do everything in our society – how we socialize, how we work, how we learn, and how we are expected to react to our environment – is based on how the neurotypical (NT) brain functions. We know that most NT people have no major problems with making eye contact, participating in small talk, or understanding other peoples’ emotions, and that they don’t get overwhelmed by their environments, but autistics and other neurodivergent (ND) people often experience challenges when it comes to functioning in our complex world, making each work or school day harder than it is for their NT counterparts.
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Who We Are
Western Tidewater CSB is the leading authority in mental health and developmental services in Franklin, Suffolk, Isle of Wight County, and Southampton County. Learn more about what truly sets us apart.
