Blog

By Audrey Schroer, MPH – Employee Assistance Program Coordinator

As we begin a new year, promoting a culture of self-care can improve team collaboration, productivity, and performance.  While self-care is a powerful tool, it continues to be underutilized in the workplace. Self-Care is a preventive health strategy involving actions and behaviors that improve, restore, or maintain good health as well as overall personal satisfaction. The good news is as a work community, a new tone, pace, and culture can be established. Below are some concrete initiatives that can aid in creating a community of self-care where you work.

The opioid epidemic has hit every corner of our state, from large urban centers to rural communities where resources like addiction treatment centers and mental health providers are few and far between. Since 2005, the opioid epidemic has claimed the lives of more than 200 Iowans, a number that sadly continues to rise.

Asking for help can be hard—that’s especially true when it comes to confronting addiction. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to find excuses to put off treatment.

We get so busy with our daily lives that we learn to live with the fallout from destructive behaviors. And we feel so obligated to our jobs, our families, and even our own addictions that we don’t see treatment as the priority it really is. As a result, dread surrounding treatment builds, and it becomes harder and harder to take the first steps to make a change.

Now that it’s summer, the air is a little lighter and the mood is too. The season is all about renewal and growth—now’s the perfect time to start a treatment program and begin your journey to recovery.

Need more convincing? Consider these five reasons to start a treatment plan this summer:

Children who live in homes with clear expectations and rules are less likely to make high-risk choices like using drugs and alcohol. While children are out of school this summer setting clear boundaries around screen time can be a positive step towards preventing high-risk choices.

The week of May 14-20 Prelude is observing National Prevention Week, promoted by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).  National Prevention Week is held each year during the third week of May—near the start of summer. According to SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, adolescents and full-time college students most often use substances for the first time during June or July. The timing of National Prevention Week provides an opportunity for schools and organizations to host prevention-themed events before the school year ends, raising awareness about this important issue among students and their families. 

The Super Bowl is the biggest annual sports event in the US and the most bet-on game of the year. And for the six million Americans who struggle with problem gambling, the days leading up to the Super Bowl can be filled with anxiety and dread.

A couple months ago, we wrote about managing addiction during tailgating season. While the same advice holds true for controlling your impulses on Super Bowl Sunday, the hype and the extra pressure surrounding the occasion can make you feel like you’re starting from scratch 

It’s always OK to take a pass if you’re invited to a party, a bar, or anywhere you might feel tempted to slip back into old habits. But remember, avoidance isn’t the only trick you have up your sleeve. With a little bit of planning and support, you can build new, healthy Super Bowl traditions that revolve around the game—not the odds. 

What Is SAD?

SAD is a fitting acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder, a seasonal depression that coincides with the shortened days, colder temperatures and the lack of sunshine from November to February.

But SAD is more than just a simple case of the winter blues—it changes your brain chemistry, your mood, your appetite, and importantly for addicts, it can reduce your ability to control impulses. 

Stress and addiction go hand-in-hand. Studies show that common symptoms of stress—including a loss of impulse control, the inability to inhibit inappropriate behavior, the delay of gratification, and impaired memory—are well known to support addictive behaviors. And for recovering addicts, stress can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.