With the pandemic continuing for almost a year now, I felt it was a good time to talk about a common topic for parents struggling with teens in isolation. Adolescents often crave peer relationships, and that can be tough to manage when we are all expected to stay at home. In this article, I will discuss the benefits of increasing your teen’s time with friends, as well as some options that have worked for other families who are facing this same struggle. However, keep in mind what unique challenges your family may need to balance when deciding how to best address this important issue.
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Do you struggle to find fulfillment in your life? Do you find it hard to recognize the positive amidst chaos and uncertainty? Sometimes we feel as though we must constantly search for what’s missing in our lives, but what if what’s missing is gratitude?
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Happy New Year, dear HSPs! I wish you all the best that this year can bring, even as I know that we continue to live in a difficult time. As we embark on 2021, we may have conflicting feelings of hope, frustration, overwhelm, uncertainty, anger, excitement, or even despair. While there are some indicators of change for the coming year, there’s still a LOT we don’t know and can’t really plan for.
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The term “Mental Health Day” has grown in popularity over the past few years. This typically means taking sick time off work to treat our mental health with the same care and attention as our physical health. Whether the intention is to take care of a family member (or just spend some extra quality time), relax and sleep in to relieve stress, or to regroup after a long week, taking care of our mental health is now more important than ever.
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We all know what a difficult year this has been. Our lives have changed in some ways we didn’t even realize was possible, our privilege or reminders of our lack thereof have been revealed over and over again, and the losses continue to add up. As highly sensitive people (HSPs), we may feel grief, confusion, anger, disappointment, frustration, sadness, disgust, overwhelm, and heartbreak. It’s a lot to cope with, and of course, we feel all of this very deeply and intensely.
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For effective communication, it is often advised to use “I” statements. “I” statements are pretty much exactly what they sound like - they comprise a way of communicating that focuses on the thoughts and feelings of the person speaking, rather than the person listening. For example, someone might say “I feel disappointed when you cancel plans with me” rather than “Why can’t you ever follow through on your promises! You’re always flaking on me”. The former phrase allows for accountability for one’s own experience, while the latter incites blame and criticism, which are not helpful in interpersonal conversations.
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We’re living in a time of heightened anxiety, and it’s no wonder with this year we’ve been through! There’s a reason why the number of people seeking therapy has skyrocketed. When the entire world shut down and our lives changed seemingly overnight, it put most of us in a heightened state of alert. What was going on? Would we have what we need? How serious is this? How long will it last?
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As many of us continue to work from home this winter, you may be looking for creative ways to stay productive during the colder months. Before, we were able to take advantage of the warmer weather, go on a quick walk outside, and had plenty of sunlight pouring into our home office setup. But as the sun begins to set earlier and the cold temperatures are here to stay, staying motivated may become more of a challenge. The good news is, there are plenty of ways to combat the winter gloom and boost your productivity as you work from home.
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We all know that being highly sensitive can really drain our energy. It makes sense that anyone who is highly attuned to their environment and the feelings of others would feel exhausted after absorbing so much sensory information. But, one of the things I’ve been paying attention to recently is the balance of input versus output. We take in all this information all day every day, but where does it go?
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The holidays can be hard in an average year, and of course, this year has been anything but average. You and your family might be looking at a very different scenario this year, in terms of travel and spending time with family. As the days get shorter and colder, you and your kids might be spending more time inside, and after months and months of being in close quarters, this can be stressful for everyone.
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Do you ever feel like you just give and give and never receive the acknowledgement or the gratitude you deserve? Do you continually pour your heart and soul into what you do only to find you have nothing left for yourself?
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You realize that your teen has been spending even more time alone in their room lately. You wonder if this is because of how their lives are different with the pandemic. You practically have to drag them out for dinner, and you’ve given up on wishing they would just voluntarily play on their phone in the den, much less actually hang out with the family. You know they’re spending the day doing distance learning, but why do they insist on always being in their room? When you ask how they are, you get a shrug and “fine” as they walk away. You notice they haven’t asked to get together with friends lately either. When you do see your kid, they always seem so low energy and tired.
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Our relationships with loved ones can be some of our main sources of joy, connection, inspiration, and even healing. However, I think many of us can agree that relationships often can incite tension, communication challenges, and general emotional difficulty. Relationships need to be nourished, and effective communication is a skill set that takes practice and effort. Here are three principles to improve and maintain quality interaction in your close relationships.
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These are such tough times we’re continuing to live in, especially for sensitive souls who absorb so much of what happens around us. I keep saying this again and again, yet it’s still true. Those of us in California have been even more impacted in the past month with the horrific wildfires and terrible air quality. As someone who finds a lot of solace in getting outdoors and moving, it’s been incredibly challenging. It can feel like we’re on house arrest--can’t go outside and can’t go inside anywhere. Damned if we do or don’t.
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I don’t have to tell any of us what a difficult year this has been. Many people are struggling in one way or another, and teens are certainly included. Like all of us, their lives have been turned upside down since March.
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