Health Net Offers Tips to Reduce Stress at Home
April 01 2014 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
April is Stress Awareness Month
As many Americans will attest, “home, sweet home” isn’t always a
stress-free zone. With April being Stress Awareness Month,
Health Net, Inc., (NYSE:HNT) is offering tips designed to reduce
stress at home. Homegrown stress can be traced to numerous sources
– a noisy environment, an unhappy spouse, financial worries, or
even mundane domestic duties such as doing the laundry or mowing
the lawn.
Stress is not a subject to be taken lightly. As Patricia Buss,
M.D., medical and health care services operations officer for
Health Net, Inc., explains, “Stress has been linked to a broad
range of psychological and physical disorders.”
In fact, according to the American Institute of Stress, studies
have uncovered a connection between stress and depression, anxiety,
heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, common colds, rheumatoid
arthritis, multiple sclerosis, rashes, irritable bowel syndrome and
ulcerative colitis.
Symptoms of Stress
Recognizing that you’re experiencing stress is the first step
toward managing stress. The following are some common
physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms associated
with stress:
- Physical signs – headaches,
light-headedness, rapid breathing and heartbeat, sweaty palms, dry
mouth, stomachaches and trouble sleeping or concentrating;
- Emotional signs – depression,
anxiety, nightmares, crying spells or feeling unable to cope;
- Behavioral signs – irritability,
impatience, anger, aggression, social isolation, lack of energy,
changes in appetite, loss of interest in activities previously
enjoyed, boredom, significant alcohol or drug use and diminished
sex drive.
Ten Tips to Make your Home a Haven
Health Net’s behavioral health subsidiary, Managed Health
Network, Inc., offers the following strategies designed to help
make your home life happier and healthier:
- Express yourself – If you feel
in any way mistreated by a member of your household, you need to
speak up and diplomatically express what’s bothering you. Doing so
can serve to strengthen your self-esteem while simultaneously
lowering your stress level;
- Slim down your schedule – Having
an overflowing home to-do list almost invariably leads to stress.
Don’t take on too many projects or commitments at once. Learn to
prioritize and say “no;”
- Select a stress-management
activity – Find a relaxation-inducing activity and weave it
into your daily routine. Examples include meditating, doing yoga,
knitting, listening to music or gardening;
- Take action – For many people,
financial pressures are a major source of stress. Taking action to
address the issue can help you feel more in control of the
situation, and this – in turn – could help lessen your stress.
Possible action steps include creating a budget, increasing your
savings and exploring ways to earn more income;
- Accept what you can’t control –
There are many situations in life that simply are out of our
control, and if you fail to recognize such situations, your stress
level is likely to skyrocket. By learning to distinguish between
those instances in which you can have an impact and those in which
you cannot, you may feel both more productive and less
overwhelmed;
- Surround yourself with supportive
people – The people you consider to be your “inner circle”
should be sources of solace, not stress. If this isn’t the case,
it’s time to re-examine just who should be in that circle;
- Get organized – Living in an
organized, tidy house – coupled with creating a feasible,
prioritized home to-do list – brings with it a sense of control;
and that sense of control may be accompanied by a decrease in
stress. Additionally, by developing a system that corrals household
items – such as keys, sunglasses, and cell phones – you may avoid
that frazzled feeling that comes with constantly being in search
mode;
- Make time for fun – Simple
activities can make for a home steeped in happiness, not stress.
Consider these simple but fun pastimes – reading to your child,
playing with a pet, or making a meal with family or friends;
- Create a personal space – It’s
important for each of us to have a physical space where we can
spend time away from others. This doesn’t have to be a formal
space; it can simply be a lounge chair in the backyard or a couch
in the basement – anywhere that enables you to relax and quiet your
thoughts.
- Infuse your home with calm –
Your home’s physical surroundings can contribute to creating a
sense of calm, so integrate natural elements such as stone, wood
and plants. It’s also recommended that walls be painted in cool,
calming colors such as light greens and soft blues. Another
suggestion is to integrate soothing lighting by using lamps with
dimmer switches.
While stress can never be completely removed from any
environment, these tips will help keep the “sweet” in “home, sweet
home.”
Medical Advice Disclaimer
The information provided is not intended as medical advice or as
a substitute for professional medical care. Always seek the advice
of your physician or other health provider for any questions you
may have regarding your medical condition and follow your health
care provider’s instructions.
About Health Net
Health Net, Inc. is a publicly traded managed care organization
that delivers managed health care services through health plans and
government-sponsored managed care plans. Its mission is to help
people be healthy, secure and comfortable. Health Net provides and
administers health benefits to approximately 5.3 million
individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare
(including the Medicare prescription drug benefit commonly referred
to as “Part D”), Medicaid, U.S. Department of Defense, including
TRICARE, and Veterans Affairs programs. Health Net also offers
behavioral health, substance abuse and employee assistance
programs, managed health care products related to prescription
drugs, managed health care product coordination for multi-region
employers, and administrative services for medical groups and
self-funded benefits programs.
For more information on Health Net, Inc., please visit Health
Net’s website at www.healthnet.com.
Health Net, Inc.Lori Rieger,
602-794-1415lori.rieger@healthnet.comwww.twitter.com/hnlori
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