Why “I don’t feel like it” should be a valid reason.

Let us talk about the sudden withdrawal from the plans you make, activities you enjoy, and conversations you adore with your loved ones.

The reasons can be many- physical, emotional, or hormonal, but accepting “Not feeling like doing it right now” per se and not using another excuse to cover up your lack of interest at the moment should be normalized.

We often use other excuses like being busy, being down the weather, or running behind schedule to camouflage this weird emotion which shouldn’t be weird anymore.

It becomes burdensome configuring the emotional mayhem inside and thinking of a reason to give to the world.

▪️It is alright if you are not feeling up for it.

▪️It is completely OK if you made the plan and you are now forcing yourself for it.

▪️”Not feeling like it” and avoiding situation/confrontation once in a while can be a representation of your underlying anxiety.

▪️Rather than beating around the bush and giving excuses, it should be a reason enough for others to understand.

Just remember,
It’s OK!
🙂
Let’s prioritize #mentalhealth as we prioritize our physical well-being.

Is stress affecting your jaw joints?

We are all stressed out in multiple ways. Stress at the workspace, fear of losing your job, stress that comes from the financial crisis, stress from aging parents, managing children, struggling every day to meet ends, meeting deadlines, working relentlessly to prove yourself to name a few.

There is absolutely no alternative or no profession that guarantees a stress-free life. There has been a spike in people turning up to therapy for their mental health-related problems. There has also been an increase in awareness in this realm.

But like everything said and done, dress affects it in a million ways. Apart from all other physical and mental ailments, it affects our Jaw Joints or the TMJ aka the Temporomandibular Joint in a lot of ways.

The TMJ is a complex joint that connects our lower jaw or the Mandible to the Cranium/skull. It has several muscles attached to it and together they cause the opening and closing of the mouth, chewing, smiling, yawning, etc. Our teeth and the way they close also have a direct impact on these joints.

When a person is stressed- 2 things happen

• The teeth tend to be diverted away from our natural closing position and remain in a tensed bite all the time. (We inadvertently do this).
• The muscles of our face are clenched and under tremendous stress. These muscles are attached to the joint and together they evert a force.

Some people also have a habit of nocturnal clenching of teeth while sleeping aka Bruxism. This again generates a lot of occlusal forces and stress to the joints.

What it looks like?

With the above pathophysiology, a concoction of the following symptoms appear

• Headache
• Joint pain
• Pain around ears and neck
• Difficulty chewing
• Pain while opening mouth
• Clicking sound while opening/closing
• Muscle soreness around the cheek

These symptoms are together known as TMD or Temporomandibular Joint Disorder. Many reasons contribute to it and stress is one of them.

Yes, your stress might be the reason you experience pain sometimes around your ears or have unexplained headaches, pain while chewing with no visible dental reasons, etc. Researches have shown stress to be a contributing factor of TMD or may aggravate an existing injury to the joint.

With so much said and done about mental health and stress management, it is not wrong to say that it has crept into our day-to-day lives and affecting us in the most serious ways. Stress can have debilitating effects and jeopardize our quality of living.

What do I do?

Seeking help is always best when done at correct time. Continued stress to the joints can lead them wearing away or ‘jaw lock’. Plus your teeth might need help with the continued clenching and grinding.

• Visit your dentist if the pain and other symptoms persist for a long time
• Consult your mental health provider for the root cause and ways to tackle it.

Yes, mental health problems are real, gnawing away our well being slowly and presenting as physical ailments. Prevention is always better than cure, but realisation is the first step of self care.

Take care, stay healthy!

Abysmal Situation of the Students.

When a country claiming to have developed the COVID-19 vaccine first, wants to administer the initial doses to two groups of people- Teachers and Doctors, they had a vision. While the latter saves hundreds of lives the former influences, molds, and creates thousands which in turn would reform the future.

This kind of vision is exemplary. It embarks on the importance of education. Education is the key to several gateways. I need not stress upon this as we all are aware of it. The only thing that holds our budding future is- Students.

Students are like our fixed deposits. We invest in them, save them, nurture them so that they become future leaders, doctors, engineers, philosophers, philanthropists, artists, thinkers, scientists, and everything on the face of the earth and the universe. Students are our assets.

The pandemic situation has already taken a toll on all of us unbiased. People from all walks of society have been affected. While the poor and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are the worst hit, students are no exceptions.

Over 91% of world’s student population have been affected by the pandemic, recent survey by UNESCO reveals.

https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse

A pioneer B school in India- IIM, Rohtak conducted a survey namely “COVID-19 Blues” which states one in three workers maybe feeling heightened anxiety due to the pandemic.

In India alone 32 crore students hit as schools and colleges remain shut.

The United States decided to open its schools resulting in infecting 97000 of the students.

While as per UNESCO data 27 of 28 states and 5 of 8 union territories have closed their schools, students across the country shudder while thinking of their future.

Online classes- a novel way of education during tough times came in handy but to what extent?

There are several areas of our country that face more than 12 hours of power failure thereby forcing students to miss the classes. This is just the tip of the iceberg. With people losing their jobs and small businesses shutting down, one has nothing but to not be able to afford the education of their children among other expenses. There are several remote areas which do not have access to technology like wifi or mobile internet.
With 2.77 million cases in India till now and almost 53000 deaths, students are among the worst hit groups.

Several exams have been cancelled and others postponed. While CBSE, ICSE and others postponed their remaining board exams in March several states like Kerala conducted their state boards successfully. Now amid COVID-19 cases on the rise several competitive exams are to take place next month onwards.

Despite submitting a petition, the Supreme Court rejected the plea saying “precious years of students can not be wasted and life has to go on”.

The insensitivity has lead to mixed reactions amongst students preparing for these exams. A 19 year old girl, a NEET aspirant from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu committed suicide as per reports.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dnaindia.com/india/report-19-year-old-girl-preparing-for-neet-commits-suicide-in-tamil-nadu-s-coimbatore-2838374/amp

With conducting of all India exams like NEET and JEE which lakhs is students appear every year are we not risking the lives of not only students but also everyone associated with smooth conduction of these exams? Jeopardising a bottleneck situation and risking the lives of students is sheer apathy.

There has been a sharp rise in terms of suicide rates across India several students had earlier committed suicide as their parents could not afford a smartphone and they lagged behind in studies. A postgraduate student from IISc, Bengaluru ended his life fearing he might have COVID-19 infection.

There have been self harming tendencies and therapists all over the world are overwhelmed. As per a Guwahati based child and family counsellor the lockdown and COVID-19 has pushed the tendency to take ones own life further especially those in between 16-25 years of age. Obviously the reason for members of this age group is different- mostly disappointment over something or shame.

With several states coming up with unique and innovative ideas like 3D digital classes in Kerala and teaching via pre recorded videos in Maharashtra are proving to be successful but its still a long way to go.

The only probable solution is reopening of the schools but are we really equipped enough? With already an overload on our medical infrastructure and strained economy are we ready to open schools and risk life of children.

What probably can be done during these times for students to enable running somewhat smooth education with minimal loss-

• Subsidise wifi and internet services
• Setting up of free wifi zones in areas where people cannot access internet individually (social distancing protocols to be followed)
• Collaboration with telecom companies regarding innovative data packages for maximum benefits to students.
• Hiring software developers and other suitable professionals to assist schools to ensure proper uploading of curriculum. This will come handy for teachers who are not so well equipped with technologies of today.
• Setting up study centers for students who have problems of power failure or those who do not have access to smartphones or computers.
• Financial aid in form of loans, subsidies etc to those wanting to upgrade themselves in accordance to the requirement of the digital classes.
• Setting up of helplines exclusively dedicated to smooth implementation of the new challenges.
• Collaboration of schools with learning applications for teaching videos and mass circulation and availability of lectures.

Whether it’s the pandemic or riots, exams were either postponed or cancelled this year which has affected their grades, mental health or both.

While it’s absolutely necessary to protect our doctors, paramedics, critical health groups, important recognised people, protecting our young minds is like saving a sapling. Children of today will one day grow to be renowned, distinct, beneficial to humanity and may develop vaccines to something even more deadly than what we are facing today.

Because the future of the world is in its classrooms.

P.S.

The views expressed are of the author exclusively.

What does it mean to live with Anxiety ?

Anxiety has become a common phenomena in today’s lifestyle. Everyone suffers from some degree of anxiety owing to our stressful jobs and never ending deadlines. We have set such unrealistic and difficult to achieve targets for ourselves that we are always on the run to attain them.

But what actually is to have/live/deal with anxiety ? It’s not always sweaty palms and frothy mouth. Anxiety not necessarily is pounding heartbeat and racing pulse. Often it is just a feeling. A choking and sinking feeling. It’s like being caught in a whirlpool where you find impossible to escape. It’s a heavy weight kept on your chest that can be felt by no one but you. It’s an excruciatingly uncomfortable inward twisting of your chest. That’s the best I could describe what I go through.

While talking about mental health and well-being is still averted, I feel it’s extremely important and apt in today’s scenario because we’ve become so goal oriented, career driven and outcome specific that most of us tend to take toll on our mental health. Not only professionally but also our personal lives are at stake.

Anxiety does weird things to you. It is often accompanied by a stimulus usually a situation we dislike or fear the most. Strangely, sometimes it precipitates without a known cause. You are alright and suddenly you start feeling weird/funny/strange/off for no reason at all. It’s like someone suddenly has switched off a button somewhere inside you. Once this feeling sets in motion you keep falling down the trap.

This weird feeling of discomfort leads to sudden lack of interest in whatever you were doing, a withdrawal and all of a sudden you are all trembly, shaky and sweaty.

However simple it may sound, dealing with anxiety is not easy. Most of us don’t realize what we are going through for years. Most of us dread this “strange” mood of ours without realising the precipitating factors. While some of us do realise what it is and what leads us to this- we don’t know how to help ourselves our simply feel too embarrassed to admit.

• Identify

  The best way you can help yourself is by first identifying what you’re actually going through. Until and unless you know what it is, you will always brush it aside as a mood swing or a pms symptom.

• Talk to Someone

  It is not a gory crime to suffer from anxiety. Before seeking professional help talk to someone whom you can trust. A friend, confidante, parents, sibling whoever you think will understand or atleast try to help you. Sometimes talking to someone often helps in identifying and analyzing your situation better.

• 

• Understand your Precipitating Symptoms

  It’s a blessing to identify what precipitates your anxiety. Many of us still live with it without actually knowing what leads to it. For e.g. in my case I’ve noticed of late being unproductive for too long gives me a weird sense of dissatisfaction and incompetence which propels the idea of how unsuccessful I am which leads to over thinking and contemplating all bad decisions of my life and comparing myself to my other successful and better off friends on Facebook. To avoid this unproductivity bred feeling of incompetence I try to suck every inch of knowledge I can gather from any kind of source available. I voraciously read, watch educational videos, stay updated in poltics and current affairs and actively research about my areas of interests. This gives me a feeling of completeness and a strange calm. Weirdo !

• Do something about it

  Once you know what you’re going through and you’re lucky enough to identify your causative factors- do something to help yourself. Anxiety is a disease which relapses whenever it finds a way, so it’s going to be a long battle. If your symptoms are not too severe you can calm yourself down by just talking to a friend or parent, a cold glass of water works wonders and sometimes a stroll in the park is miraculous. If not alleviated seek medical help. Try to engage in activities that engross you. Develop a hobby, create your personal space, journal about it or join speaking clubs. Trust me venting out helps a lot. ( It was in one of those anxiety attacks and need to vent it out I started writing this article !)

• Stay Positive

  This is the key. No matter what you do, how you feel or where you go to help yourself, if you’re not positive (or wishful atleast !) nobody can help you. The journey to help yourself begins with a step which you take towards a better you. So stay positive. Cliche but useful.

• It’s OK to be NOT OK

  No matter how hard it is, what everyone says always remember it’s completely alright to feel anxious or depressed. Don’t pester yourself with constant need to be positive or cheerful all the time. Sometimes it’s ok to snap out of everything, stay in bed the entire day, cry your heart out, finish an entire series overnight and re-watch a million times watched movie. But make sure you come out of that zone to help yourself be a more compassionate, empathetic and more self aware person. Be kind to others.

Stay healthy, physically and mentally !

🙂