Hello Everyone,

I hope this week has treated you well. Today, the new day equals a new year. I hope that 2016 brought you good opportunities, even better health and happiness that 2017 will have to try hard to rival.
To those who have had an unfortunate 2016, I hope you are positive that better will come in the New Year. In 2017, our/others mortality, fears, some opportunities and unfortunate events will still be uncontrollable but our attitudes, behaviour towards ourselves and others as well as our own perceptions will be. It is obvious why we celebrate the New Year. Much like birthdays, we rejoice because we made it to another year in these hard times- Time to our raise our glasses and toast our survival!
My favourite thing about New Years has always been resolutions and the hope and determination that comes along with them. I’m aware (based on my own actions as well as those around me) that most resolutions only last until the end of January. We tend to give up on these easily for various reasons- they may have been unrealistic, unimportant or maybe one felt pressured and just didn’t really want to do it. To solve this- the answer seems obvious. Choose resolutions that you are able to do, that you want to do and most importantly, that improves your overall quality of life. For a tip, I researched some scientific studies conducted on individuals who made resolutions. Those who planned theirs in detail were 22% more likely to succeed. For example, aiming to lose 10 pounds in 2 months rather than just having the resolution to ‘lose weight’. Additionally, those who told their friends and families about these resolutions were 10% more likely to succeed than those who did not.
When you decide on a resolution, it is important to identify both the advantages and possible disadvantages of them. I have two New Year’s Resolutions this year. My typical ones have always been simple and measureable- to lose weight or get more jobs etc. This year however, I am more focusing on mental health and self-development. Resolutions that revolve around your character are much harder to measure and are not clear-cut. For example, how does one know if they are improving or for a lack of a better term- becoming a better person? In order to attempt these kinds of resolutions, there needs to be high self-awareness of both personal strengths and weaknesses. My resolutions are to adapt healthier coping strategies for my stress levels and more importantly, practice only positive thinking. I hate to admit it but I am quite the negative thinker and I do hope this changes in 2017. I will examine the benefits of this as well as how I will go about doing this. I hope you will do the same for your own resolutions. If you do not have one, try mine.
It takes time but it is possible to change the way we feel by changing the way we think. Positive thinking makes a huge difference in our lives. There are so many mental and physical health benefits to this. It results in lower rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms, cardiovascular diseases, stronger/ more effective coping strategies, and just an increased lifespan due to a general healthier lifestyle. We all know the mental stress that comes with constantly worrying about the unpleasant situations in our life and all the while, always imagining an even worse outcome. How much better would life be without this crippling and unproductive habit?
First, identify which kind of thinker you are. How would you know whether you are a positive or negative person? There are a common types of negative thinking. There is filtering. This happens when you ‘filter’ out all the positive and focus only on negative factors. For example, you could have had a great day at work- been super productive, made new friends or received a raise. Then, on the way home, you hit terrible traffic and branded it a bad day, ignoring all the good that previously happened. There is catastrophizing which happens when you over analyse a small situation and believe it is going to determine how the rest of your day is going to go. Polarizing occurs when the individual sees things in black or white- good or bad. There is no middle ground and no room for error. Finally there is personalizing, which I believe is the worst. This occurs when we blame ourselves for whatever bad thing happens around us or we take things too personally. For example, a co-worker is rude to you and you automatically think you must have done something wrong.
I believe this is the worst as it encourages negative self-talk. A lot of people tend to confuse positive thinking with head in the clouds ignorance – it’s really not. It’s simply believing that things will work out for the best and it starts with self-talk. How do we speak to yourselves? For a lot of us, the answer is not very well. Self-talk is the unspoken thoughts that run through our head. They are automatic, different for each individual and can be either positive or negative; kind or cruel. They can come from basic logic and reasoning or from our emotions. A common example is what we might think about ourselves when we look in a mirror. It’s quite simple though- if your thoughts are mostly positive, then you are optimistic; if they are mostly negative, you are pessimistic. Sadly, I am pessimistic but not anymore!
How can we improve our self-talk?
I believe I am more critical on myself than anyone else can never be on me. Is that a good thing? No, it’s really not. The first rule to follow is to never say anything to ourselves that we wouldn’t feel comfortable saying to anyone else. Be as kind to yourself as you are the others, even if you feel it might not be the truth.
Here are a few examples of how to change negative self-talk to positive ones. A lot of us feel frustrated when faced with something unknowing. Rather than saying ‘I don’t know how to do it’, say ‘it’s an opportunity to do something new.’ ‘I do not have what I need to do something so I can’t do it’ turns into ‘Necessity is the mother of invention.’ You need to identify when you use negative self-talk and twist it into your own, relevant positive one.

What else can we do?
Practice positive thinking every day!! It won’t come naturally right away but keep at it and it will over time. As always, begin and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Eating/ sleeping well and exercising positively effects our attitude, body, mental state and just overall well-being. Avoid making self-critical comments at all costs- be careful what you say to yourself as you are listening. Instead, remind yourself of all that you have achieved; give credit to your strengths. Keep positive people around; those that lift you up rather than bring you down. Finally, as always- keep a journal. Write down these resolutions and your progress to achieve them every day. My avid readers know how much I believe in making lists and ticking them off. This strongly encourages and reinforces productivity.
I believe we can all benefit from healthier coping skills and positive thinking to reduce stress. When researching this, I stumbled upon “10 Commandments to Reduce Stress”. I hope this helps you as much as I believe they will help me.
1. Thou shalt not be perfect or even try
2. Thou shalt not try to be all things to all people
3. Thou shalt leave undone things that ought to be done
4. Thou shalt not spread thyself too thin
5. Thou shalt learn to say “NO”
6. Thou shalt make time for thyself
7. Thou shalt learn to switch off and do nothing regularly
8. Thou shalt be boring, untidy and unattractive at times
9. Thou shalt not feel guilty
10. Thou shalt not be thine own enemy

I urge you all to write in to my email below and tell me what your resolutions are. I can discuss them in the upcoming weeks. I hope this will benefit you as well as encourage others to choose and maintain their own resolutions.

Thanking you for reading. Please keep sending any topics you’d like to talk about to caitlinvieira@gmail.com Or come in to see me at:
Georgetown Public Hospital: Psychiatric Department:
Monday- Friday – 8am- 12pm

Woodlands Hospital: Outpatient Department
Drug and Alcohol group meetings – Mondays 4:15
Good mental health group meetings- Wednesdays 4:15
Suicide Prevention Helpline numbers: 223-0001, 223-0009, 623-4444, 600-7896

Say Yes to Life and No to Drugs! Always