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Every online ad, radio announcement, and TV commercial insists that the holidays are a wonderful time of year, full of friends and family, good feeling and great gatherings, fine food, and merry spirits. But for many people, and for many reasons, the holidays are a time of stress and anxiety.

So how can you best deal with holiday anxiety?

Pinpoint The Pressures
For those with generalized anxiety, the high expectations of the season can naturally heighten levels of anxiety. The prospect of party after party can be daunting for someone for whom socialization is a strain. The additional worries of the season, such as finding the right gift, getting the shopping done on time, cooking for a large group, and budgetary issues can pile onto the usual worries and make you feel overwhelmed.

Even for those who aren’t usually afflicted with anxiety, the prospect of the busy days to come can bring some of the same troubling symptoms. These include excessive worry, irritability, insomnia, bellyaches, nausea, restlessness, fatigue, and fear, among others, which can leach the joy from the season.

If you can pinpoint the pressures that cause particular worry, you may be able to make a few adjustments to ease the stress. For example:

• Plan Ahead. If you feel time pressure when shopping, consider doing your holiday shopping throughout the year instead, to spread out both the expense and the stress.
• Be Crafty. If you cook, knit, sew, or cast pots in clay, consider saving your budget by baking or making handcrafted gifts for friends and family.
• Share The Load. Delegate some holiday tasks to your spouse or children, such as buying mums or decorating your home. Turn Thanksgiving into a pot luck so you only have to make the turkey.
• Pace Yourself. You don’t have to say ‘yes’ to every invitation, it’s a busy time for everyone.
• Shop Online. If venturing into a crowded mall is just too much, do your shopping in your pajamas and let the packages be delivered to your doorstep.
• Go Electronic. More and more people have opted to send personalized holiday eCards to friends and family. This will save you time, postage, and the cost of cards.

Pamper Yourself
It’s impossible to avoid stress and anxiety entirely, but you can anticipate and minimize it. Check out these tips:

• Stick with your usual daily routine as much as possible.
• Avoid excess in food and drink.
• Avoid excess spending.
• Maintain your exercise and sleep regiments.
• Accept that things will occasionally go wrong.
• Accept that this will be a stressful time but it won’t last forever.
• Spend time with someone who makes you laugh.
• Spend a little time in the sun, or under a sun lamp, especially if you suffer from SAD.
• Take time to de-stress yourself, through meditation, a massage, or just some time relaxing with a cup of tea.

Stress and anxiety are inevitable in life, but you can manage your response to it. With a little planning and self-care, your holidays might just turn out to be as joyous as can be.

Manhattan never sleeps, so it’s said. You could spend every waking moment taking advantage of everything the Big Apple has to offer: Broadway shows, world-class opera, thirty-two museums, Yankee games, Madison Square Garden concerts…and the list goes on. But what if the bright lights of the big city start to wear thin, and all you want to do is chill?

Check out these seven places to relax in New York City.

Central Park
Two and a half miles long and a half a mile wide, Central Park is Manhattan’s premier green space. Every weekend you’ll find skateboarders, bikers, and walkers sharing the many paths, kids navigating remote-control sailboats on the reservoir, picnickers basking on the 55-acre Great Lawn, and a world-class busker or two. Head to the North Woods to dodge tourists and enjoy some real peace and quiet.

The New York Botanical Garden
Located in the Bronx, the New York Botanical Garden offers 250 acres of gardens you can peruse on foot or discover by tram. Find your Zen in the garden’s native forest, river, and waterfall.

Sailor’s Snug Harbor Cultural Center
Just a charming ferry ride away, the Sailor’s Snug Harbor Cultural Center is a National Historic Landmark District that covers 83 acres of northern Staten Island full of 19th century buildings, a botanical garden, and park.

The New York Public Library
The stunning Fifth Avenue midtown library is flanked with the iconic lion statues, Patience and Fortitude, and the awe-inspiring interior is blissfully hushed. The library holds rotating exhibits and the North Hall is an official quiet zone.

Greenwood Cemetery
Brooklyn’s 478-acre graveyard may seem to be an odd place to find peace, but this bucolic National Historic Landmark has hills, ponds, and paths amid the graves of some of the most famous people of the 19th century, including Boss Tweed, Henry Steinway, Louis Tiffany, Leonard Bernstein, Lola Montez, and plenty of Civil War generals. It’s a lovely, quiet place for history buffs and bird watchers.

The Frick
Located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the Frick is one of those cozy, intimate museums created from the collection of the rich turn-of-the-century industrialist, Henry Clay Frick, and exhibited in his former residence. Kids under ten years of age are prohibited. Sit in the sky-lit garden court for a moment of meditation.

The Cloisters
Overlooking the Hudson River in the Fort Tyron Park section of Manhattan, this offshoot of the Metropolitan Museum of Art houses mostly western medieval art in cloisters that form the heart of the building. The whole museum, off the beaten path, is a hidden, and peaceful, gem.

Most big cities boast about the raucous vitality of their thriving communities as well as the multiplicity of services, venues, and events. But for many people, big cities can be intimidating, a sensory overload of noise, smell, color, light, and unending activity. Some studies suggest that, because of the stress involved in city dwelling, urban residents may have a 20% higher susceptibility to anxiety and mood disorders than those who live in rural areas.

So what can you do to deal with anxiety in big cities?

Crowd Control
By definition, big cities are densely populated. Tens of thousands walk the streets, eat in restaurants, and pack the buses and trains. Even those who are not usually uncomfortable in crowds may feel some anxiety navigating the swift stream of pedestrians in midtown Manhattan at lunch time.

Many psychiatrists believe that anxiety in crowds stems from a deeper sense of helplessness. Bumped on all sides, you feel restricted in movement and sense that your options to retreat are limited. It’s this perception of lack of control that induces the anxiety, and often makes ordinary events, such as walking a crowded city sidewalk, seem dangerous in a breathless, heart-stopping way.

If you’re living or working in the city, you may be able to map a better route from one point to another to avoid the more populated streets, or plan a series of retreats into local retailers, a municipal building, or other public space to give you time to breathe. City living is done at high speed, so whether you’re a visitor or a resident, be sure to take advantage of green spaces to grab an opportunity to decompress.

Know Your Surroundings
Big cities are, well, big. It can take years to really get to know all the neighborhoods and their culinary and cultural delights. The sheer size of the buildings, the distances necessary to travel, and the overwhelming amount of entertainment choices can be intimidating, especially if your living space consists of an 800 square foot studio apartment.

One way to reduce a sense of being overwhelmed is to expand your idea of home into the immediate neighborhood in which you live. Make a point to visit the local shops, trade banter with the shop owners, and try out nearby restaurants. Familiarity breeds comfort, which may help lessen anxiety over time.

Tinker With Transportation
Boarding a morning train in any major city can make anyone feel like a sardine in a can. It can be panic-attack disastrous for those who suffer from claustrophobia. Yet driving in a big city is no better, as frequent traffic lights, aggressive cabbies, heedless pedestrians, and determined cyclists make even the coolest drivers grip the steering wheel tight. In fact, the morning commute is one of the most stressful times of most people’s day. For big city dwellers, this can mean constant anxiety.

Consider your options. Can you shift your work schedule to avoid the worst of the rush hour crush? Are the local buses less crowded than the trains? Do you live close enough to walk or bike? Is it worth hailing a cab or a ride-share once or twice a week? Can you divide up the driving responsibilities by carpooling with others? If commuting anxiety is affecting your quality of life, it may even be worth considering a move closer to your work place.

It’s a fact that city living can affect the way your brain deals with stress. If you find yourself having difficulty coping, or experiencing rising levels of anxiety, never hesitate to discuss your situation with a mental health professional.

New experiences are necessary for people to learn and grow. Very few of us could forget our first date, our first car, or our first job. But new experiences can also be stressful. Learning how to handle that stress is a vital life skill that may begin, for most kids, on their very first day in the classroom.

So what can you do to help your children if they’re stressed about starting school?

Watch And Listen
Many children, especially young ones, are just learning to identify the emotions they’re feeling. They may not be able to articulate their fright, anxiety, or uncertainty. As parents, it’s our job to pay attention not only to what the child says but also how he or she behaves. Take note if he or she is exhibiting any of these signs of stress:

• Clingy or whiny behavior
• Complaints of stomach or headaches
• Interrupted sleep, nightmares
• Anger, tantrums
• Change in eating habits
• Self-comforting, such as thumb-sucking, hair pulling, etc.

If your child is showing signs of stress, set aside some uninterrupted, unhurried time to gently encourage them to articulate what’s at the root of the nervousness. He may be worried about something as simple as wetting himself, or something as complex as not knowing any of the other children. Addressing smaller issues can often alleviate a portion of the stress, if you can drill down to them. Even if you can’t, there are tactics to help alleviate general first-day-of-school anxiety.

Prepare And Practice
Change is scary, and so is being in a new and unfamiliar situation. It helps to wear away the edges of anxiety by preparing and practicing for what’s coming.

• Familiarize your child with the new space by calling the school and see if you can arrange a visit to the building, the classroom, or even a quick meet-and-greet with the teacher in the weeks before school starts.
• Prepare for the new rise-and-shine schedule by adjusting bedtimes at least a week before school, so they won’t wake up cranky and out-of-sorts.
• Practice the get-up-and-go so that the transition routine is familiar and runs without a hitch.
• Practice or create a good-bye ritual, perhaps one you’ve used when leaving your child with a grandparent or caretaker.

Calm And Control
Dealing with the negative is important, but so is emphasizing the positive. Talk to your child about recess, the school playground, the toys in the classroom, the songs he’ll learn, and the games he’ll play at gym. Try to lift his spirits by:

• Allowing him, within reason of course, to choose his first-day outfit, in order to give him a sense of control.
• Make school-supply shopping fun by letting him pick out the funky pencils, superhero notebooks, and quirky lunchboxes.
• Allow him to bring along a small comfort-object like a stuffed animal or a small toy.

Keep in mind that if your child is particularly sensitive, your own natural hesitancy or uncertainty about this transition may add to their stress. It’s important to behave calmly and confidently about what is to come in his new big-kid schedule. Your children will follow your lead.

If you’ve ever experienced a migraine, then you know it’s a lot more than just a really bad headache. Along with throbbing head pain, migraines encompass a myriad of other symptoms, such as light, sound, taste, and smell sensitivity, visual experiences like auras, and physical symptoms like nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and even numbness or tingling in the extremities. For all the research that has been done on them, medical scientists still haven’t come up with a cure for migraines.

Medication is available, but not perfect. Check out these five ways to help when you’re experiencing a migraine.

Find A Retreat
When you feel a migraine coming on, a good first move is to retreat to a quiet, dark, comfortable place to rest. Minimizing sensory assaults may help stop the migraine from progressing into severity if you catch it early enough.

Use An Ice Pack
If you’re a migraine sufferer, you should always have an ice pack ready in your freezer. A bead-filled pack works best, as do bags of frozen corn or peas, because they can be molded as needed. Place the ice pack on your head or on the back of your neck to bring a measure of relief by dulling or numbing the pain.

Get Some Sleep
Research has shown that good sleep habits tend to reduce the intensity as well as the frequency of migraines, so logging in a solid eight hours is a good first defense. Several types of sleep interruptions, such as work-shift changes, jet lag, lack of sleep, or even too much sleep, have been associated with some sufferers as triggers for their migraines.

If you’re in the midst of a migraine, taking a nap is a great medication, if you can manage it.

Eat Regularly
Anybody who skips a meal might develop a headache, but migraine sufferers are particularly sensitive to drops in blood sugar. Going without food for more than five hours can trigger a debilitating episode.

Make sure you eat regular meals and keep healthy snacks on you at all times to keep that migraine at bay.

Keep A Migraine Diary
Migraines often have very specific triggers. Menstrual migraines are triggered by a particular hormone fluctuation during a woman’s monthly cycle. Certain foods, like caffeine, alcohol, and chocolate, can bring on a migraine. Other triggers include:

• Stress
• Bright lights
• Strong smells
• Changes in barometric pressure
• Certain medications
• Food additives
• Physical or sexual activity

To better manage your migraines, it helps to keep a journal. Keeping track of your migraines as well as your sleeping, eating, menstrual, and exercise patterns may help uncover a trigger of which you were not previously aware.

There’s no place like the Big Apple in the summertime! Full of parks, musicals, museums, opera, art, landmarks, and outdoor events, New York City is a visual and intellectual feast for parents and kids alike. Your kids might get the biggest kick out of just wandering around the various neighborhoods, straining to see the skyscraper tops, or soaking in the multicultural, international impact of one of the greatest cities in the world.

But if you’re on a tight schedule, check out these three fun summer activities for kids.

Central Park
The biggest green space in Manhattan, this is where Manhattanites go to jog, skate, bike, walk, and bask in the summer sun. For kids, there’s Central Park Zoo, a 57-horse carousel, a kiddie amusement park on the Wollman Ice Skating Rink, a Marionette Theater, an ancient playground inspired by the Egyptian wing of the Metropolitan Museum, and a pond where your child can rent a model boat to sail. If your child gets bored with all that, they can work off extra energy in a playground with a water area as well as tunnels, moats, and bridges. Consider climbing Belvedere Castle, a whimsical folly sitting atop Vista Rock. From the ramparts, enjoy a lovely view of the city.

Broadway In Bryant Park
Who would visit Manhattan and not attend a Broadway show? Your kids, perhaps, especially if they’re too young to sit still for three hours. Fortunately, NYC has an option for that. Broadway in Bryant Park performs snippets of popular musicals at 12:30 pm outdoors on select days all through the summer (make sure to consult the online schedule before you plan).

The program is free and located in midtown right behind the gorgeous public library. After the music, consider checking out the front, flanked by two famous stone lions, Patience and Fortitude.

Museum of Natural History
The site of the movie “A Night At The Museum,” NYC’s Museum of Natural History is a wonder for any child. If you can tear them away from the life-size T-Rex in the cavernous entrance way, there is room after room of fascinating interactive exhibitions, including a replica of a blue whale, Egyptian mummies, meteorites and gems, continually new exhibits, Hayden Planetarium shows, giant-screen 2- and 3-D movies, and dinosaurs galore. It’s a perfect place to escape if the summer heat is oppressive, or rain precludes outdoor events.

No one wants to change their outdoor exercise routine just because summer’s here, but when the thermometer tops ninety degrees and the humidity is so thick that it feels like you’re walking through soup, it can be dangerous to push your limits. So before you strap on your exercise monitoring device and head out to get sweaty, check out these nine safe ways to exercise in the summer heat.

Timing Is Everything
It’s hard to break old habits, but if you usually run a few miles during your lunch hour, you may want to make a change in deference to the weather. In the hot, muggy days of July, it’s a smart move to run in the early-morning or early-evening hours, when the sun is closer to the horizon and not blasting as much heat.

Dress For Success
High summer is not the time to wrap yourself tight and “sweat it off.” Be sure to wear lightweight, pale-colored clothing, preferably made of a fabric that offers a wicking effect to keep you cool, and loose enough to allow air to circulate.

Take It Easy
If you’re on a rigid schedule to get fit, and you’re determined to increase the intensity of your workouts, consider doing at least a portion of them inside an air-conditioned gym. Try a rowing machine, an elliptical, or add indoor strength training to the mix.

Variety Is The Spice Of Life
If your workout mostly consists of walking, jogging, or biking outside, consider trying out something new during the dog days of August. Swimming laps in an outdoor pool will exercise muscles you don’t usually use, and an indoor yoga or Zumba class will keep you flexible and fit.

Change The Scenery
If your usual three-mile jog takes you over hardtop exposed to the full force of the sun, consider switching your path for something shadier, like a graveled trail through a nature reserve or a tree-lined path in a local park.

Have A Drink
Of water, of course. Exercise makes you sweat, and so does heat and humidity, so your body loses more fluids during heat waves. Drink plenty of water before and after your workout to avoid the dangers of dehydration.

Slather The Sunscreen
It doesn’t take a lot of summer sun to burn your skin and increase your long-term risk of skin cancer. Always lather on a hardy sport sunscreen with a high SPF before you venture into the outdoors.

Get Wet
Have you ever jogged in the rain? You may find it refreshing, so long as there’s no thunder or lightning. Taking a dip in a pool or through a sprinkler right before starting your outdoor workout can also help, as the water on your skin and hair will evaporate, wicking off heat, during exercise.

Knowledge Is Power
If, during your outdoor workouts, you get cramps, or feel tired, dizzy, nauseous, weak, or disoriented, it’s time to STOP. Especially during the summer, it’s wise to avoid mistaking the first symptoms of dehydration or heat stroke for athletic resistance. Heat stroke can be fatal, so respecting the signs can save your life.

It’s a scientific fact: What you eat has a measurable effect on your mental health. Studies have shown that eating healthy reduces your risk for mood swings, depression, and other mental health issues.

Check out these five healthy treats that boost your mood and suit the steamy weather.

Fruit Smoothie
A cold fruit smoothie isn’t just a refreshing treat for a sweaty summer day. A recent New Zealand study showed that consumption of certain fruits and vegetables correlated with distinctly lower levels of depression and anxiety compared to those who did not share the same eating habits.

Of the ten best raw eatables chosen, six of them were fruits: bananas, apples, grapefruit, citrus fruits, berries, and kiwi fruit. Whip them up with a little ice and protein powder for a perfect afternoon refresher.

A Plate Of Crudité
In the study mentioned above, raw vegetables and fruits had a stronger positive effect on mental health variables than vegetables and fruit that were processed, canned, or cooked. The authors speculated that cooking and processing methods might degrade the nutritional composition, limiting (but not eliminating) their beneficial effect.

Since eating your vegetables raw offers the greatest benefit, what could be better than a raw dark-leafy-green salad with a lemon vinaigrette, or a plate of cut carrots, cucumber, and sweet yellow peppers?

Go Nuts
You know that omega-3 oils are great for your heart, but did you know that they’re also associated with a lower risk of depression? With the blessing of doctors, some folks who suffer with depressive disorders take regular supplements of omega-3 as supplementary treatments.

Grab a handful of walnuts, hazelnuts, and cashews for a healthy dose of omega-3 oils and mineral nutrients.

Avocado Toast
Avocado toast may be the latest trendy snack, but this staple of urbane breakfasts also offers a powerful nutritional boost. Avocados and whole-grain bread are both rich in B-vitamins, like thiamine, which is a co-enzyme necessary in the synthesis of amino acids, basic building blocks for neurotransmitters. Some of those neurotransmitters, like dopamine and serotonin, are powerful mood regulators and the targets of many a mental-health prescription strategy.

Frozen Yogurt
Foods with active cultures, like yogurt, help balance the bacteria in your gut, but they also have a measurable effect on mental health. A 2017 study out of the University of Virginia revealed that a probiotic in yogurt has a positive effect on mood levels, lessening depression. The study even found a specific metabolic link between the presence of a certain bacteria, blood metabolic levels, and mood.

Now you can enjoy your frozen yogurt with a positive mental boost.

When summer is here, few activities are more relaxing than lounging by the pool under the bright sun. Yes, you probably know that too much exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet light can increase your risk for skin cancer as well as give you a nasty sunburn. But bathing in the sun also provides real benefits, like boosting the production of Vitamin D in your body, which helps strengthen bones, improve your immune system, and even fight depression.

So how much sun is too much? That determination depends on three things: Your location, the time of day, and your skin type.

Location Matters
All other things being equal, you know there’s a big difference between sunbathing in Copenhagen and slathering up in Cancun. The closer your location is to the equator, the more intense the sun, thus the more ultraviolet radiation that will bathe your body.

But it’s not just latitude that matters. Australia and New Zealand are located close to a hole in the ozone layer. A thinner ozone layer allows in more ultraviolet light, attributing to higher radiation levels in these areas.

Altitude can make a difference, as well, with higher elevations receiving higher radiation indexes.

Measuring UV Radiation
To take into account these different exposures, an international standard has been developed for measuring UV radiation at a certain location. The UV index for your area is available with a quick internet search.

• UV index 0-2 is considered low exposure
• UV index 3-5 is considered moderate exposure
• UV index 6-7 is considered high exposure
• UV index 8-10 is considered very high exposure
• UV index of 11+ is considered extreme exposure

The general rule of thumb is that when the UV index is 3 or above, you should use sun protection for any length of exposure, including sunglasses, protective clothing, and sunscreen.

Time Of Day
Your mother was right when she told you to come out of the sun at the height of the day. Because the sun moves across the sky, the UV index will vary by hour. Note that most sources report the UV index of your location for twelve noon, the theoretical time of full exposure. Early mornings and late evenings will have a lower UV index, allowing you more healthy time in the sun.

Keep in mind that sand, snow, and water also reflect UV light. If you’re at the beach or a sunny lake, be sure to take that increase into account when determining how long you want to bask.

Skin Type
Fair-skinned, freckled people prone to sunburn have to take more care when it comes to sun exposure than those with olive-tone or darker skin. Those with darker skin and who are more prone to tan than to burn can enjoy up to thirty minutes before they really need to slather on sunscreen. The fairest among us shouldn’t spend more than ten to fifteen minutes a day exposed to direct sunlight without some sort of protection.

Fortunately, even these short time spans suffice to gain the benefits of sun exposure. Scientists have reported that twenty- to twenty-five minutes of careful daily exposure, like a quick walk in the park in short-sleeves, will get your body producing all the Vitamin D it needs.

The rest of the time, be sure to protect yourself by slathering up well.

Like most people, you’ve probably experienced a certain level of social anxiety. You may not always feel comfortable socializing in large groups. You may prefer to spend time alone or one-on-one with a longtime friend. You may find your palms sweating before you speak before a crowd or your heart racing in case you’ll be called to answer a question in class or in the workplace.

But if the anxiety you feel in social situations is so intense that you’re overwhelmed to the point of avoiding social interaction altogether, you may be experiencing a social anxiety disorder.

What Is A Social Anxiety Disorder?
Social anxiety disorders are the third most common mental health issue in the U.S., behind depression and alcoholism. People who suffer from what used to be called “social phobia” often feel as if they’re being evaluated and judged in a negative way by everyone around them. This can give rise to feelings of:

• Inferiority
• Humiliation
• Embarrassment
• Inadequacy
• Depression

Social situations can become so stressful that sufferers take great measures to avoid person-to-person contact. They’ll often have trouble making and keeping friends, communicating with colleagues, and maintaining romantic relationships.

Shyness Vs. Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is not your garden-variety shyness. Shyness can be a matter of temperament, and it can usually be overcome. Social anxiety, on the other hand, is debilitating and requires the help of mental health professionals to diagnose and treat.

Suffers are so afraid of putting themselves in the spotlight that they experience physical symptoms of extreme stress, such as:

• Nausea
• Trembling
• Blushing
• Racing heart
• Sweating
• A mind that “goes blank”

They also tend to avoid eye contact and speak softly, as if they could wish themselves smaller and unnoticeable.

Treatments For Social Anxiety
Treatments for social anxiety tend to fall into three categories.

• Psychotherapy, in particular Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), can help sufferers learn techniques to modify their thinking and behavior to cope better.
• Support Groups, where suffers can listen to others who have similar anxiety issues and discuss methods of handling the condition.
• Anti-Anxiety Medications, as a way to give immediate relief until behavior modification and other methods can be learned and implemented.

It takes consistent work and persistence to overcome social anxiety, but with the help of experienced mental health professionals, you’ll be well on your way to a less stressful life.