8 signs your work-life balance is in poor health—and how to fix it

From the United Arab Emirates to the United Kingdom, countries across the globe are testing out four-day work weeks. But who could possibly accomplish everything they need to do in four days? Besides, what would you do with all that free time? Probably sneak back into the office to do more work.

Things in the United States are very different. In this post-pandemic age of technology-enabled remote working, we have access to work at all times. There’s no punching a clock at 5pm and leaving your job behind. Not when your boss, co-workers, clients, and teachers can reach you at any time. So many of us aren’t just working from home—we’re actually living at work.

Here are eight habits common among people who need better work-life boundaries. See how many you have adopted over the years.

Routinely working 40+ hour weeks.

You’re staying late after everyone else has left the building and sneaking in to work on weekends—or doing work at home late at night after your family has gone to sleep. You look up from your desk or your laptop and you’re all alone.

Becoming a human camel.

You don’t take a bathroom break all day and end up sprinting to the toilet as soon as you get home.

Having a spartan office.

There’s maybe one picture of your family on your desk. It’s a silent sign of commitment to your job. You think you won’t seem as dedicated to your bosses if there’s any evidence that you have a life outside of work.

Sitting. All. Day.

You’re chained to your chair for Zoom meetings and phone calls—usually while answering emails or doing other work on your computer. By the time you do finally get up out of your chair, you’re so stiff you can barely walk normally.

Going it alone.

You never ask for help or admit when you’re struggling with a task. You mask your true feelings at work.

Not socializing outside of work.

If the only parties you attend involve celebrating a birthday in the conference room, you’re not living life.

Never taking a vacation or sick day.

You’ve got weeks’ worth of time off accrued with zero plans of using it.

Forgetting what day it is.

You occasionally wake up and start getting ready for work on a Saturday morning—only to remember after you’re ready to go that it’s the weekend. But it doesn’t really matter because you were planning on working over the weekend anyway.

Hands down, work-life balance is going to be one of the hardest vitals for you to get control of. For some of us, work is life. But remember: We’re looking to change that. Start building firmer work-life boundaries and everything changes. Your sense of self-worth won’t be tied to your performance and you won’t look up from your desk one day at 60 wondering what you did with your life.

Here are two small goals to get you started.

Leave on time.

The most important thing for you to start doing is cutting back on your work hours. Start small. Pick just one day a week that you commit to leaving on time and then outsource some of the discipline required to make it happen by planning an event or activity right after work hours: volunteering at a shelter, attending a workout class with a friend, etc.

Take mental health days.

Policymakers and business owners need to start giving employees ample time off from work for any kind of major surgery, family loss, mental health issue, or trauma (including pregnancy and giving birth). On top of that, we all need a bare minimum number of mental health days to de-stress or simply catch up on sleep. I give my employees nine to twelve mental health days every year—no questions asked—and they’re not allowed to work more than 40 hours a week. That adds up to much happier employees. Until all business heads take measures to advocate for their employees, we have to advocate for ourselves.

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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How to Cope with a Uncontrollable Anger

Anger is an emotion that everyone will experience at various points in their lives. In fact, it’s a feeling that’s necessary to experience because it acts as a form of protection against potential threats. However, if you find yourself frequently developing clear signs of pent-up rage within you, it might mean you have what’s commonly referred to as a "short fuse" or a hot temper. So perhaps you’re frustrated with a service provider who messed up your order, or with the driver in front of you in traffic who simply refuses to move, or maybe you even tend to "lose it" when your favorite team loses—either way, such outbursts could indicate something more serious. Having a quick temper is something that can negatively affect your well-being, both physically and mentally. Not sure if your passing irritability is natural or if you truly have a short fuse? Don’t know how to deal with the feeling? The following article will provide you with both the signs of a fiery temper and tips for coping with it.

Signs of a Fiery Temper 

 

There are many widely accepted and understandable ways to express your anger; for example, yelling, glaring looks, or even crying—these are all healthy and natural ways to express the distress a certain situation causes you. But if you’re characterized by a fiery temper and a short fuse, your anger might seem almost primal and could be marked by the fact that you: 

 

Get irritated easily 

 

 Experience shortness of breath when you get upset 

 

Feel your vision blurring 

 

Experience a rise in blood pressure 

 

Your pulse races when confronting the source of your anger. 

 

An outburst of a fiery temper sometimes comes without any warning; it’s an explosion of emotions. At times, it can certainly cause embarrassment for the person experiencing it.

How Does a Fiery Temper Negatively Affect Quality of Life? 

If you’re prone to unpredictable and uncontrollable outbursts of anger, this behavioral pattern could leave you vulnerable to several negative and problematic social, physical, and even psychological consequences. 

 

A. Can Cause Blood Pressure Issues 

If you frequently feel anger, you might eventually find yourself in a situation where your blood pressure keeps rising. In fact, rage is so effective at raising blood pressure that it can undo all the work your body does to lower it while you sleep. Moreover, since anger causes an increase in the production of catecholamines and corticosteroids, which affect the body’s stress response, repeated feelings of rage can lead to heart rhythm disturbances and blood vessel issues. These effects are responsible for the common link between anger and ischemic heart disease. 

 

B. Can Lead to Poor Health Choices 

A fiery temper and constant anger can also affect your lifestyle; if these are prominent traits of yours, other negative characteristics might emerge as a result. Perhaps in an attempt to calm your nerves after an outburst or out of guilt for losing your temper again, you might develop problematic and blatantly unhealthy habits, such as smoking, excessive caffeine consumption, eating calorie-laden foods, or overindulging in alcoholic beverages or drugs.

C. Can Increase the Risk of Bulimia and Eating Disorders 

This might seem like a problem associated with adolescence, but in truth, it’s not. Eating disorders of various kinds, particularly bulimia, can develop at any age, and heightened anger can certainly act as a catalyst for this. The negative emotions stemming from anger can lead to a need for continuous, unregulated eating followed by intentional vomiting. This connection is more prevalent with impulsive personality traits—and it can definitely manifest even in later stages of life beyond adolescence if you’re prone to excessive anger. 

 

D. Can Increase the Risk of Traffic Accidents  

It’s pretty normal to get annoyed at the irresponsible driving of others on the road or to wonder why the slowest driver is the one right in front of you. But when a bit of caution isn’t mixed into our feelings toward others on the road, and uncontrollable anger builds up while driving—the results can be devastating. If you regularly experience what’s known as "road rage," research shows a link between this behavior and an increased risk of traffic accidents. This might happen because you’re too focused on your raging emotions rather than driving, leading to insufficient focus on the road itself—and even loss of control over the vehicle, causing accidents. 

 

E. Can Cause Feelings of Anxiety 

If you’ve already experienced anxiety attacks in your life—a phenomenon that’s neither rare nor insignificant—you’re surely familiar with the physical sensations that take over during such moments, like excessive sweating, trembling, and rapid breathing. To some extent, this isn’t all that different from anger outbursts, and if, in addition to anxiety, you also find yourself frequently losing your calm over trivial or significant reasons alike, there’s a good chance that your anger and anxiety are intertwined. Various studies have found that the appearance of heightened and frequent anger can be linked to the physical symptoms of anxiety.

How to Cope with Anger? 

 

4 Helpful Methods

 It’s entirely possible that after understanding the particularly negative implications of a hot temper, a short fuse, and excessive anger outbursts, it no longer seems appealing to you or like a natural part of life you just have to accept. True, just like joy and sorrow, expressing anger in response to things like a broken promise or a missed opportunity is completely normal, but when anger episodes become more frequent—it’s time to start dealing with it and addressing it. In this area, we have some good tips that can help you begin managing your anger more effectively.

A. Try Positive Self-Training Techniques 

 When you start feeling the unmistakable signs that anger is building up inside you, try focusing on positive self-training methods like deep breathing to calm yourself down. Pairing breathing with calming self-affirmations that help ease the anger can also contribute to controlling the rage and gradually distancing it. Repeating this practice until the feeling softens and your mood stabilizes can help you prevent outbursts, as well as the negative consequences that come with them. You can try performing these 7 breathing exercises to relieve stress, and also press on the pressure points outlined in this article—which help reduce and eliminate feelings of anger. 

 

B. Talk to Your Loved Ones  

Just as you’d turn to the people you love and value when painful things like heartbreak or joyful events like a promotion happen in your life—so too can you call them and talk to them when you feel a loss of control and a fiery temper starting to seep in. It’s a good and healthy way to cope with this feeling, and there’s no need to be ashamed of exposing this vulnerability to them—you know they’ll support and contain you so you can calm down and ease the anger. Your friends and family can absolutely serve as a "support group" and calm you until the worst passes. 

 

C. Keep a "Mood Journal"  

A good way to cope with anger and identify how often you adopt this feeling is to keep a journal where you track your emotions. In such a journal, which can be entirely personal to you, note the events that trigger your outbursts, as well as the thoughts running through your mind when it happens. This will help you better understand your emotions in order to deal with them more effectively and ultimately overcome them. 

 

D. Seek Professional Help 

Ultimately, if your emotions are too intense and volatile, and it feels hard to contain and control them through self-help, there’s no shame in seeking professional assistance to help you take matters into your own hands. Professional therapists—whether psychologists, psychotherapists, or specialists in anger management —can help you start identifying negative emotions and controlling them, thus suppressing anger outbursts. Through such therapy, you might learn different, healthier ways to cope with the triggers that spark your fiery temper outbursts.

 

In Summary 

As mentioned, under normal and controlled circumstances, anger is a logical and acceptable part of life. However, when it spirals out of control and becomes your defining trait, it’s harmful, destructive, and requires addressing. While a fiery temper and a short fuse are powerful feelings, it’s important to remember that anger is something you can ultimately manage; with breathing techniques, support from loved ones, and professional help if needed—you’re capable of overcoming it. Keep in mind that the goal isn’t to completely eliminate anger from your life but to prevent it from overpowering you and defining your mental well-being. Adhering to the anger management methods we’ve recommended can help you bring those feelings under control.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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1 in 3 Covid patients who recovered have neurological, mental health disorders

At least one-third of Covid-19 patients received a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis within six months of infection, a study of over 2,30,000 patients has said. Thirteen per cent of these had never received a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis before, it added. 

The study,  claims that the SARS-CoV-2 virus causes serious disorders that affect the nervous system, which leaves patients in poor health months after they have recovered from Covid-19.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been reports that those diagnosed with Covid-19 are at increased risk of neurological disorders.

Researchers have also reported that Covid-19 patients are likely to develop mood and anxiety disorders in the first three months after infection.

However, the Lancet study is the first to analyse the health records of 2,36,379 patients from the US-based TriNetX network — a global health research network — for a period of six months.

The study included patients older than 10 years who were infected with the virus after 20 January 2020 and were still alive on 13 December 2020.

The data was compared with that of 1,05,579 patients diagnosed with influenza and 2,36,038 patients diagnosed with other respiratory tract infections.

Study conclusions

According to the study, 34 per cent of the Covid-19 patients examined had been diagnosed with a neurological or mental health disorder in the six months after infection. For 13 per cent of these, it was their first recorded neurological or psychiatric diagnosis.

Of the patients studied, 17 per cent were diagnosed with anxiety disorders, 14 per cent with mood disorders, 7 per cent with substance misuse disorders, and 5 per cent with insomnia.

The incidence of neurological outcomes was found to be lower — 0.6 per cent for brain haemorrhage, 2.1 per cent for ischemic stroke or brain stroke, and 0.7 per cent for dementia.

“These are real-world data from a large number of patients. They confirm the high rates of psychiatric diagnoses after Covid-19, and show that serious disorders affecting the nervous system (such as stroke and dementia) occur too,” Paul Harrison, lead author of the study, from the University of Oxford, said in a statement

“Although the individual risks for most disorders are small, the effect across the whole population may be substantial for health and social care systems due to the scale of the pandemic and that many of these conditions are chronic,” added Harrison.

‘Severe Covid increases neurological risk’

The study also identified distinctions within the severity of the infection.

For instance, it was found that those who had severe Covid-19 were at a higher risk of a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis — 38 per cent — as opposed to 34 per cent overall.

The risk further increased to 46 per cent for those who were admitted in intensive care, and 62 per cent for those who suffered delirium during the infection.

The team also looked at people who experienced flu and other respiratory tract infections over the same time frame to help understand whether these neurological and mental health complications were linked specifically to Covid.

They found that there was a 44 per cent greater risk of neurological and mental health diagnoses after Covid-19 than after the flu.

“Our results indicate that brain diseases and psychiatric disorders are more common after Covid-19 than after flu or other respiratory infections, even when patients are matched for other risk factors,” Max Taquet, a co-author of the study, from the University of Oxford, said.

“We now need to see what happens beyond six months. The study cannot reveal the mechanisms involved, but does point to the need for urgent research to identify these, with a view to preventing or treating them,” Taquet added.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Smoking, obesity can negatively impact your health

A recent study has examined if obesity and smoking, which are known to impact negative effects on bone health, can also affect healing in patients, who had surgery for fractures of the wrist or the distal radius.

For the study,  the investigators analysed data on patients surgically treated for a distal radius fracture between 2006 and 2017 at two trauma centres.

The 200 patients were divided into obese and non-obese groups (39 and 161 patients, respectively) and were also characterised as current, former, and never smokers (20, 32, and 148 patients, respectively) based on self-reported cigarette use.

The recent study is led by a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre (BIDMC).

At three-month and one-year follow-ups after surgery, both the obese and non-obese groups achieved acceptable scores that pertained to patient-reported function in the upper extremity -- close to those of the general population.

The two groups were also similar in regards to the range of motion and bone alignment.

At three months, smokers demonstrated worse scores related to arm, shoulder, and hand function and a lower percentage of healed fractures, but these effects improved over the course of a year. Complications were similar between groups.

"Overall we found that we can achieve excellent clinical and radiographic outcomes with surgery for displaced wrist fractures in patients who are obese and in those who smoke," said senior author of the study.

"Our results show that treatment for distal radius fractures in obese and smoking patients is safe, and these patients may be treated as the general population with similar long-term results. Their short-term outcomes, however, demonstrate higher disability and, in the case of smokers, slower fracture healing," added the researcher.

The researcher stressed that obesity and smoking are currently considered among the two most important preventable causes of poor health in developed nations, and both are modifiable risk factors.

"As such, we believe that lifestyle interventions focusing on weight loss and smoking cessation should be emphasised whenever possible," she said.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
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Negative mood may signal poor health

Negative mood, such as sadness and anger, is associated with higher levels of inflammation and may be a signal of poor health, according to a study.

Researchers found that negative mood measured multiple times a day over time is associated with higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers.

This extends prior research showing that clinical depression and hostility are associated with higher inflammation.

Inflammation is part of the body’s immune response to such things as infections, wounds, and damage to tissues.

Chronic inflammation can contribute to numerous diseases and conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers.

The study, is the first examination of associations between both momentary and recalled measures of mood or affect with measures of inflammation.

Participants were asked to recall their feelings over a period of time in addition to reporting how they were feeling in the moment, in daily life.

These self-assessments were taken over a two-week period, then each was followed by a blood draw to measure markers that indicated inflammation.

A researcher found that negative mood accumulated from the week closer to the blood draw was associated with higher levels of inflammation.

Additional analyses also suggested that the timing of mood measurement relative to the blood draw mattered, he said.

Specifically, there were stronger trends of association between momentary negative affect and inflammation when negative mood was assessed closer in time to blood collection.

This work is novel because researchers not only used questionnaires that asked participants to recall their feelings over a period of time, they also asked participants how they were feeling in the moment, he said.

In addition, momentary positive mood from the same week was associated with lower levels of inflammation, but only among men in this study.

“We hope that this research will prompt investigators to include momentary measures of stress and affect in research examining inflammation, to replicate the current findings and help characterise the mechanisms underlying associations between affect and inflammation,” he said. 

 

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