Why Is Even Good Change Sometimes So Hard?

Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:

• Why Is Even Good Change Sometimes So Hard?
• Good Change Can Produce Negative Effects
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

Why Is Even Good Change Sometimes So Hard?

Even good change can be hard. To feel things like stress, anxiety, and depression in the wake of any change makes sense. After all, people need routine for optimum mental health and wellbeing. When change disrupts the life pattern we're accustomed to, we feel it physically, emotionally, and behaviorally. (Take our online stress test.) But is this okay, or does it mean there's something wrong with us for being so upset and out-of-sorts even when change is good?

Good Change Can Produce Negative Effects

Events such as a new job, a move, the birth of a baby, or a child becoming an adult are, in many cases, wonderful life events. But despite the fact that they can be joyful, they can bring upheaval and distress. Positive change can feel negative because the stress wreaks havoc on our mental health. It can make existing mental illness worse, and it can lead to mental health problems like depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorder in people who are susceptible to these conditions. When struggling with either good change or difficult change, reaching out to a therapist can help. Chatting openly with a therapist can help people shift perspective and develop strategies for coping with the change.

Related Articles to the Difficulty of Positive Change

• Facing Change? Anxiety Can Be Related to Adjustment Disorder
• Fear Change? Seven Ways to Quiet Anxiety of the Unknown
• Change Often Incites Fear in PTSD Recovery

Your Thoughts

Today's Question: Has good change ever affected your mental health? How did you deal with it? We invite you to participate by commenting and sharing your feelings, experiences and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. How To Handle Trauma Triggers Caused By Domestic Abuse
2. What is Happiness? And How Do You Find It?
3. Talking to Your Kids About Drugs and Alcohol

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• Overcoming Trauma: How To Face Life After Residential Treatment (Mental Health Treatment Circle Blog)
• Nighttime Anxiety and Getting Back to Sleep (Anxiety-Schmanxiety Blog)
• Three Steps to Stress Relief (Living A Blissful Life Blog)
• Bipolar Triggers You Can’t Control (Breaking Bipolar Blog)
• How Community Service Affects Psychiatric Symptoms (Recovering From Mental Illness Blog)
• Why Animals May Help With Depression (Coping with Depression Blog)
• The Link between Traumatic Brain Injury and Combat PTSD (Understanding Combat PTSD)
• Self-Medicating: The Link Between PTSD and Substance Abuse (Trauma! A PTSD Blog)
• Parenting a Child Who Has Low Self-Esteem and How to Stop Being a Perfectionist (Building Self-Esteem Blog)
• How to Stop Stress from Taking Over Your Life (Your Mental Health Blog)
• Dealing with Mental Illness Stigma is Manageable (Surviving Mental Health Stigma Blog)
• Body Shaming My Old Binge Eating Disorder Body (Binge Eating Recovery Blog)
• Living With People Who Don’t Understand Your Anxiety (Treating Anxiety Blog)
• How Do I Know if I Have Depression? What Is Depression? (Mental Health for the Digital Generation Blog)
• Mental Illness and Relationships With Our Parents (Relationships and Mental Illness Blog)
• How Recovering Alcoholics React to Normal Alcohol Use and Maintaining Addiction Recovery on Vacation (Debunking Addiction Blog)
• Medication Changes for Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder (Creative Schizophrenia Blog)

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network (like facebook, stumbleupon, or digg) you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week:

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