Self Help Daily

Inspirational and Self Help Blog with a Save the World Complex...

You are here: Home / Archives for Self Help / General

General

Why Hitting Rock Bottom Can Be the Best Thing That Ever Happened to You

by Leave a Comment

There’s a reason why it’s impossible to change another person. Each of us has to recognize that the pain or discomfort we’re feeling is greater than our resistance to change. And that’s when we’re ready, willing, and able to make changes in our own lives.

Unfortunately, this is also known as “rock bottom.”

Everyone’s rock bottom is going to look different because everyone has a different tolerance for pain or discomfort. One person may be willing to become homeless before they realize that they have a problem with substance abuse. Another person may have to file bankruptcy or have a foreclosure before they realize they’re living beyond their means. And some people never seem to learn the lessons no matter what happens.

But when someone does get to that rock bottom moment, that’s when amazing things can happen. It feels like the worst moment of your life, but in many ways, it can be the best. It can be the turning point that transforms your life from hopeless to amazing.

Here’s why hitting rock bottom can be the best thing to ever happen to you.

1. There’s accountability

When someone hits rock bottom, it’s usually after they’re forced to take some accountability for their actions. It may be after drug addiction or an arrest. Or it may be after a close friend or family member turns their back. This moment is always going to look different for everyone, but it usually involves some level of accountability. When other people recognize your problem, it becomes difficult to ignore.

2.  Your pain or discomfort feels immense

You may be sabotaging your health for years, but when the doctor says you need to change your lifestyle or you may die, the pain will likely be greater than the idea of change. Dying is scarier than eating broccoli, so that may be the moment you cut junk food and unhealthy things from your life. And even with the same health issues, some people get to rock bottom sooner than others. Some hit their transition point when the doctor tells them they either need to take medication or change their lifestyle. For that person, the idea of taking medication with all its side effects is more uncomfortable than changing their habits.

3.    Your entire life stands to improve

More and more people recovering from substance use disorders are finding that there are deeper issues at play. In fact, they may have been self-medicating a mental health issue they weren’t even aware they had. The dual diagnosis of mental health issues and addiction is becoming increasingly common in our society, and dual diagnosis treatment can address more than the problem that led you to seek change.

And this isn’t just the case with addiction. When you start fixing the problems in your life, you may find that these positive changes have a domino effect. You can make one positive change where you have the greatest pain and it can improve other areas of your life.

For example, if you seek treatment for a gambling problem, you may end up saving money and making wiser decisions. And without all the time at the casino, you may smoke less and drink less alcohol. For this, your health may improve in addition to your financial status. And without the stress of gambling, your relationships are likely to improve.

One positive change can have a ripple effect that improves your entire life. And it all started with that painful rock bottom moment.

No one wants to hit rock bottom, but the truth of the matter is that some of us need to get there before we’re ready to make the difficult changes in our lives.

 

 

How to Maintain Your Physical and Mental Health if You Lack Health Insurance

by Leave a Comment

by Brooke Faulkner

Healthcare is a necessity for most individuals, however, not everyone can afford health insurance. For a number of those who are able to get insurance, they still can’t afford to pay for the level of coverage they need. This puts people at risk in the event of a medical emergency.

In a medical emergency, people often end up having to opt for emergency medical care. This can be financially exhausting for hospitals and also put extra pressure on emergency rooms. To demonstrate how financially exorbitant it is, during the year that the Affordable Care Act was passed, hospitals provided around $40 billion worth of care they weren’t paid for. In some cases, hospitals will still try to bill a patient who seeks treatment but doesn’t have insurance.

If you don’t have insurance or what you do have isn’t adequate, looking after your health should be a priority. Preventative care is a way to lower the likelihood of you ending up in the emergency room because of a preventable illness. Here are a few ways that you can improve your health and hopefully, stay out of the hospital. You’ll also find tips regarding what you can do in the event that you need care and don’t have insurance.

The Importance of Preventative Care

You can’t predict what direction your health will go in, but you can influence the chances of a positive outcome. A way of doing this would be by taking preventative measures. This is something that should be considered whether you have insurance or not as poor health can negatively impact all aspects of your life. For those without insurance, in particular, leading a healthier life could mean worrying less about how you can fund a sudden or recurring illness.

Lifestyle Changes You Can Make

No matter how old you are, there are several things that you can do to improve your health. Below, you’ll find a few suggestions that could increase your chances of staying healthy and avoiding the emergency room.

Exercise

Health and exercise are somewhat synonymous. For this reason, it’s difficult to have a conversation about health without touching on the importance of being active. If you’re wondering why exercise is always recommended, it can combat health conditions as well as diseases. For instance, being active boosts your “good” cholesterol, thus preventing conditions like high blood pressure.

If you aren’t keen on physical activity, the good thing is that you don’t have to dedicate hours on end to fitness every day. Doctors suggest that you do at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day. However, if you can handle intensive exercise, then it goes down to 15 minutes daily. So that you’re exercising consistently, consider incorporating it into your daily routine. For instance, you could jog to work if it isn’t too far away or use the gym during your lunch break. In addition to helping prevent health conditions, exercise is also a way of managing existing ones.

Healthy Eating

Healthy eating is another way to keep your body in shape that could be obvious to some. What you eat greatly influences your health, so make a conscious effort to choose nutritious foods. This doesn’t mean denying yourself of your favorite foods completely. It means finding healthy alternatives to ones that could cause issues in the long-term. For instance, you could decide to grill your chicken instead of frying it or start buying fresh foods instead of processed ones.

Don’t forget to include carrots in your diet so that you can maintain healthy eyes. Millions of Americans have some form of vision problems and it can be pricey to treat if you’re uninsured. Other ways to look after your eyes besides eating carrots are to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

In addition to watching what you eat, cut back on high-risk behaviors like smoking and drinking. These habits can cause illnesses longterm that could affect your lungs, veins, and liver. You should note that there is free health screening available so you can check to make sure you don’t have an undiagnosed illness.

Look After Your Mental Health

Your mental health counts as part of your health too, so don’t neglect it. If you aren’t sure how to take care of your mental health, it is about learning to take care of your emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

That said, one way to look after your mental health is by learning to manage stress. To manage stressors in your daily life, try finding healthy distractions like keeping a gratitude journal or volunteering. These are things that could help remind you of the good happening around you and the things to be thankful for.

Not finding effective ways of managing stress can lead to sleep deprivation. It can also increase the chances of you suffering from sleep disorders like insomnia. This can have negative effects on your mental health as you may often feel depressed and on edge. For this reason, you should seek the advice of a doctor as they can offer appropriate advice and treatment. Sleep disorders aren’t something to take lightly as if left untreated, they can result in behavioral issues, heart attacks, high blood pressure, or strokes.

When you look after your body, you’re also looking after your mind. This is why watching what you eat is a form of preventative mental health care as well. Eating junk food can lead to inflammation in your body which affects your brain’s stress levels directly. Likewise, exercise is vital to keep endorphins flowing and your emotional health balanced. A final tip for looking after your mental health is to take a few minutes a day to meditate. It can help ward off negative thoughts and give you a more positive outlook.

Alternatives to Insurance

If you’re wondering what you can do if you can’t afford insurance, know that there are a few options for you to explore. Firstly, if you’re in urgent need of care, you have the option of emergency care. This means you can walk into any hospital and they cannot refuse to treat you.

In less severe cases where you have a minor illness or injury, you can always visit a free clinic. This will come at no cost as it’s funded by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Program. There are almost 12,000 in the U.S., District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories, so check to see if there’s one near you.

If you can afford to pay something for healthcare, an option is a retail walk-in clinic. There are almost 3,000 operating in the U.S. and they offer treatment services for 30-40% lower than if you went to the doctor for treatment. Retail clinics are also suitable if you have an emergency and you’d pay up to 8% less than you would if you went to a hospital. Similarly, urgent care centers offer non-emergency care at relatively affordable rates too.

For those that are adamant about getting health insurance, Medicaid gives low-cost insurance if you’re a low-income family, have a disability, are elderly, or are pregnant. You could also try short-term health insurance that provides coverage for up to 364 days depending on what state you’re in. Supplemental insurance products can be taken into consideration too if you’d rather choose from standalone products.

We don’t yet live in a country where health insurance is something that is easily accessible to everyone. In the meantime, you can make efforts to look after your health and make the most of the options available to you.


What to Do if You Slip and Fall in a Store

by Leave a Comment

by Maggie Hammond

If you slip and fall in a store, it can be an extremely stressful experience. We never expect them to happen, but sometimes, accidents do occur and they’re not necessarily your fault. If you do happen to slip and fall in a store, then there are some important steps you should follow.

The most important thing is that you’re OK and it’s safe for you to continue about your day, but if you do happen to be injured, this can have a big impact on your life. If this is the case, then you want to make sure your legal rights are protected, and the best way to do this is to speak to an attorney.

1.    Seek Medical Attention

When you’ve suffered a fall, the most important thing is your wellbeing. When you’ve been in an accident, your body produces extra adrenalin, which can help to mask pain. You might not feel in pain, but there can still be some hidden injuries that need to be treated.

The best way to ensure you haven’t suffered any serious damage is to get some medical attention. If nothing else, it can put your mind at ease, and allow you to continue on with your day.

2.    Document Your Memories of the Accident

Being involved in a fall can be particularly stressful, which makes it difficult to remember all the important details about the incident. These details can be important if you do end up making a claim, so it’s useful to write the pertinent details down.

Inspect the area where you had the fall and write down all the details you see. Any extra information you can put down can help you further down the line, so get as much detail as possible.

3.    Take Witness Details

If there were witnesses to your fall then it can be helpful to get their contact details to help your case further down the line. These people can back up your story and even add extra details that you might have missed.

Even if the person didn’t see the accident but was there in the aftermath it is worth taking their details. The better you can piece together the story, the better it looks if and when you come to make a claim.

4.    Speak to An Experienced Attorney

Whenever you’re involved in an accident, it’s important to have an experienced attorney on your side to protect your rights, and ensure you’re looked after.

Even the smallest accidents can have a huge impact on your life if you get injured, and the law is there to help protect you in these cases. However, the process of making a claim isn’t always straight forward, so having an experienced attorney is essential.

You shouldn’t have to suffer financially if you’re involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault, so make sure you’re looking after your interests by getting a good personal injury lawyer.

Myths About People Who Drink Black Coffee

by Leave a Comment

Black Coffee

by Mila

There is almost no one who can imagine beginning the day without the morning coffee and its intoxicating scent. After water, coffee is the most consumed drink in the world – more than 1.6 billion cups of coffee are consumed daily. Some drink it without sugar, some with milk; the Italians like to consume it with a slice of lemon, and in Morocco with different spices. Most people like their coffee with milk, sugar or flavors like vanilla and chocolate. There are various different types of coffee, and anyone can find its favorite one. But those who like it black are in minority, and there are tales about us. What do people believe about us who love a cup of black coffee, and are there any truths to that?

“We don’t understand other coffees”

Well, we’ll have to disappoint you. Preferring black coffee does not mean that we do not enjoy those other types. Most people who drink black coffee have also tried the cafe latte, cappuccino, espresso, mocha, and maybe even the Irish coffee. Most of us do like to make informed decisions. And we love those options – really! But going back all the time to that essential black coffee just means that we may love our complicated lives, but we like our coffee simple and strong.

“Minimalist fashion style”

When it comes to our clothing, it is mostly stated that we like a minimalistic style. There are numerous articles on the internet in which it is written that most of our wardrobe features clothing pieces in black and white. Is it like that? Maybe black coffee seems too “stern” for everyone, but that doesn’t mean we are too. Not liking unnecessary flavors and “details” in our preferred drink doesn’t mean that we don’t surround ourselves with all colors of life.

“We only drink it when we have to”

Most people think black coffee is something that is brewed exclusively when you need to stay awake when you have to study for exams or to complete a big project at work. Well, we have news for you – it’s not a caffeine energy drink, it’s a delight in a cup. People just don’t fully grasp what a charm black coffee is. We drink it not out of necessity, but out of pleasure.

“Those who love it want to be ‘sober’ from life”

It is said that fans of this drink do not like the chaos of life. But just because we like our coffee to be a little more “straightforward”, it doesn’t mean that our life is. We’re just a little more focused on substance instead of semblance, at least regarding our favorite drink. We don’t need coffee to “sober us up” from life, and no, we are not “sober” already. We just love its full flavor just like we love having a full life.

“We only drink it in the morning”

There is this view that black coffee is some secret way of waking up and focusing, not just in the morning but in times of crisis too. Well, that is not the whole truth. It is a great drink to have at any time, but we do have our preferences. Not every black coffee is the same; there are varieties of taste, aroma, and process of preparation. A good cup of coffee has the perfect taste and aroma that seduces. Although simple, strong and heavy, it fulfils all the senses, every time. Not just in the morning. But it’s not for everyone’s taste.

“Simple life asks for a simple cup of coffee”

Most say that people who love black coffee do not like this complicated world. They see us as artists, individuals; whimsical and quiet. They think we are practical and believe solely in logic. It is also believed that people who drink it are a little nervous, and have frequent mood swings. Well, they may have guessed one thing – most of us like to start the day with no chaos and no-nonsense. But it seems that is true for the majority of people on this planet, so… The truth is: black coffee doesn’t give us any superpowers (that is all us).