Anxiety is a serious condition that can worsen over time. When it flares up, your entire day can feel ruined, and panic can ensue. Yet, your anxiety might not come from a source that you anticipate. Here are a few triggers that may surprise you:
Continue reading “What Causes Anxiety? These Sources May Surprise You”Category: Articles
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How Working In The Gig Economy Can Boost Your Mental Health
For millions of Americans, living with a mental health disorder can get in the way of so many things. Work and relationships often suffer, and it can be difficult to find a job that will allow you to focus on your needs and make a living at the same time. This often means that individuals who should be taking care of themselves are working twice as hard to prove their value and to keep stress and anxiety at a minimum, and often those two things don’t go hand-in-hand.
Fortunately, there are some things you can do to boost your mental health while you work. Many people are finding the benefits of working in the gig economy, which means either part-time work or freelance. This translates to more flexible hours, calling the shots and doing something you enjoy rather than working at a job simply for the pay. There are tons of options, too, meaning you can choose the right job for your needs and skill level.
Keep reading for some tips on how to get started and to find out why so many people are turning to the gig economy to make a living.
Stay close to home
For many people, much of the appeal of working in the gig economy is being able to stay close to home. Whether you want to start freelance writing — which can be done from the comfort of your own home — or need to integrate some fresh air and exercise into your daily routine with a job as a dog walker, there are several ways you can get a paycheck without straying too far from home. You can even offer your services as a dog boarder, which will allow you to work with animals that can help boost your mood and even lower your blood pressure.
Set your own hours
For those who suffer from severe anxiety or must take medication, it’s always important to have a job that allows for flexible hours. With the gig economy, you can find employment that will allow you to work when you want, without having to sacrifice your health. From working online to starting your own business, there are many ways you can make money without clocking in at the same time everyday.
Reduce stress
Working for yourself can significantly reduce your stress and anxiety levels, since you’ll be your own boss. Setting your own hours can help, as well, but only if you create a schedule that allows you to focus on your needs. Think about what will work best. If you have other responsibilities such as a family or another job, it’s important to make sure you sit down and work out a routine that will help you stay organized.
Boost your self-esteem
Working for yourself takes some hard work and a lot of careful planning, in part because there’s no one to hold you accountable. Once you get into a good routine, working in the gig economy can boost your self-esteem and confidence because you’ll see exactly what you’re capable of, which can help you in other areas of your life as well.
It can be difficult to find ways to keep your mental health in good shape, but with the right job, you can focus on your needs while making extra money. You might even discover a new career while you’re at it! Start with a good plan and look for ways you can stay organized in order to reduce your stress levels.
Five Stages of Grief After Suicide
Warning: The following content may be a trigger to some, as it refers to the five stages of grief after suicide . Reader discretion is advised. Continue reading “Five Stages of Grief After Suicide”
Suicide and Substance Abuse: How You Can Help a Loved One
According to recent studies, individuals who have been treated for alcohol or substance abuse are about 10 times more likely than members of the general population to die by suicide. The news is often filled with stories of celebrities and others in the public eye who battled a very private addiction and then ended their lives, leaving their loved ones wondering how it could have happened. The link between suicide and substance abuse clear, but what can we do to help?
Continue reading “Suicide and Substance Abuse: How You Can Help a Loved One”
Internet Safety Tips
Please read through our Internet Safety Tips. We do our very best to keep our chat room safe. You can safely click on URLs we have posted on our website, but we can’t guarantee that URLs posted from chatters are safe.
- Avoid posting any personal information online, like your address, email address or phone number.
- Before you click on a URL, check what the URL says. Be sure that it is a URL from a domain you can trust, or use a tool to check if the domain is safe.
- Never give your password to anyone. No matter if it’s a friend or a family member.
- Be careful when posting pictures or videos of yourself online. Once a picture is uploaded to the Internet, it will stay there forever.
- Don’t befriend people you don’t know on social media, like Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat.
- Remember that not everyone online is who they say they are. Always be careful about trusting people you don’t know online.
- If someone is making you uncomfortable online, block the person or leave the website. Our chat room has an ignore function that you can use to block members who are making you feel unsafe.
- You can contact one of our hosts if someone makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, or you can contact us through email.
- Think before opening email attachments. Do not open email attachments from people you don’t know, or companies you don’t trust.
- If something sounds too be good to be true, it probably is.
If you get an email from Depression Sanctuary, make sure that the email domain is @depressionsanctuary.org. We will never send you an email from any other domain.
Useful websites
Snopes.com – A fact checker website.
Scamadviser.com – Check if a website is safe.
Nomoreransom.com – A website that can help you if you get a “Ransom Virus”. Is a project by Europol and other international law enforcements.
Whois.com – Let you find out who owns a domain
Facebook.com/safety – Facebook’s Safety Center
Suicide and Men: Risks and Resources for Help
Suicide is a tragedy that impacts all types of people in the United States. While it can impact all different kinds of families, there are some characteristics that can signal those who are most at risk of considering suicide. Those who are having suicidal thoughts need to know that there are resources that can provide help immediately and there are some long-term prevention strategies that can help those at risk transition to a healthier life.
Continue reading “Suicide and Men: Risks and Resources for Help”
Meet our new chat!
We are proud to introduce you to our brand new chat room software. The new chat room have all of the old features, and some new.
# Chat everywhere – Our new chat works in the same way on all computes, tablets and phones.
# Friend list – You can now make your own friend list. This allows you to send messages to your friends even if they are offline.
# Private chat – We are reintroducing one of our previous functions; private chats. You can now have a private chat with other chatters.
# Chat rooms – You will find all our current chat rooms; main room, chit chat and sensitive topics.
# Profile picture – You can now upload your own profile picture. It will be displayed in your profile, and will be visible next to your username.
# Text settings – You can now personalize your messages even more! You can now add text color, background color and more!
.. and much more!
If you need help using the new chat, feel free to contact our technical support.
Introducing: Chit Chat
Dear Members,
You may have noticed that we have added a new chat room: Chit Chat. We realize that people have many different needs. Sometimes, you need to discuss very serious topics and know that you have the full support of the room. And, sometimes, you need to simply be around other people and distract yourself with lighter conversation. Most of the time those two things coexist with each other quite well. But, sometimes the room topic becomes too heavy or triggering. Or you just don’t feel like talking about depression, but want to be around people. Or you’re having a good conversation with someone that’s off-topic, but you really want to continue it without disrupting the support that’s going on. Now, when these situations come up, you can grab a friend and head over to the Chit Chat room.
We hope you like it!
Tips for Helping Someone With an Eating Disorder
Not every person with an eating disorder is underweight. It has more to do with the mindset than that actual weight itself. Yes, by definition, anorexics are clinically diagnosed once they reach below a certain percentage of their appropriate body; however, here its best we help all eating disorder thoughts, not just their weight. Continue reading “Tips for Helping Someone With an Eating Disorder”
New features
There are some new features on Depression Sanctuary, and we hope you will like them!
What’s new?
Private messages – You can now send private messages with other users on the main site. It doesn’t matter if the user is offline or online. Don’t want the private messages-feature? No worries! You can easly turn them off in the settings.
New profiles – We have freshened up the profiles. You can now write a short biography, select gender, country and languages you speak. Don’t want anyone to see your profile? You can change your privacy setting in the settings.
Notifications – If someone messages you, you will now get a email notification. You will only get this notification if you haven’t been online in one week. You can turn notifications off in the settings.
Verified profiles – Not sure if a user is a host/staff? Users that are hosts/staff now have a verified profile. After the username there is a blue icon!
Contact a Host – Do you want to send a private message to a host? No problem! You can now see a list over all the hosts, and send them a private message. Click here to find the list.
Have you seen our other features?
Questions & Answers – Did you know we provide a “Questions & Answers”-service? No questions are too big or too small. Our staff and members are answering your questions – and it’s free!
Ask a question – Something you want an answer to? Try to ask us a question. Our staff and members are answering your questions – and it’s free!
Calendar/Schedule – Sometimes the chat room can be empty. You can check out our calendar to find out when a host will be online in the chat. Every time we update our calendar you will get a notification on our website.
In need of technical support? Click here, and we’ll help you.