{"id":111957,"date":"2024-05-24T01:58:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T06:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=111957"},"modified":"2024-05-23T12:11:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T17:11:01","slug":"take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\">\n<p><em>May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the UNMC wellness team \u2013 Steve Wengel, MD, Sarah Fischer, PhD, and\u00a0Priya Gearin, MD \u2013 will be discussing mental health topics weekly in UNMC Today. <em>Dr. Fischer is an assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Psychiatry and psychologist at the Aspire Clinic.<\/em><\/em> <em>Dr. Wengel is UNMC\u2019s assistant vice chancellor for campus wellness and a professor in the UNMC Department of Psychiatry.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We all have times when our mood could use a little TLC. If you sometimes feel a little low or anxious, join the club!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s very common for people to want to do something to make their lives better, even if that\u2019s not seeing a mental health provider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is: A number of simple steps are within our power to make us feel better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Exercise is one of those proven strategies. A good deal of research shows the benefits of exercise on our emotional health. Even small doses of activity, such as walking, bicycling or swimming, can make a big difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other strategies that are proven to enhance our mental health include:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Spending time outdoors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staying connected socially.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keeping a gratitude journal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Getting enough quality sleep.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A good book on why these steps work \u2013 and how to get started doing them \u2013 is \u201cThe Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time\u201d by Alex Korb. Korb offers a practical guide, even exploring how to use biofeedback principles without spending money on electronics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the do-it-yourself route isn\u2019t for you, other options are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In treating common mental health conditions, the mainstays of treatment are psychiatric medications and psychotherapy. Many older and newer medications can help with the symptoms of depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But psychotherapy is an option, possibly in addition to medication but sometimes instead of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psychotherapy can benefit anyone experiencing intense distress or fear, having mood problems that are affecting work or relationships, or when people feel unable to cope with difficult thoughts and emotions in a healthy way and those thoughts, emotions and behaviors are causing you harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Various types of mental health professionals \u2013 including counselors, clinical social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists \u2013 can provide psychotherapy. Different therapists often have their own specialty areas that they focus on, which can help you find a therapist that\u2019s a good fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many types of evidence-based psychotherapy that are backed by decades of research. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy are the most common models for many mental health concerns. But many other treatments are effective for issues such as depression, anxiety, trauma, other mood disorders and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you or someone close to you needs professional help, check out the resources on the right side of this page. UNMC cares about you \u2013 free, confidential counseling services for students, staff and faculty are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are looking for more resources for yourself or someone you care about, you can call Behavioral Health Connection, a free service of Nebraska Medicine for anyone in the community. That phone number is 402-836-9292.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter what, help is available to start feeling better.<\/p>\n<a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"\/secure-location.php\" style=\"display: none;\" title=\"VPjLM\">VPjLM<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are some proven strategies to help you feel better, along with some guidance if you need something more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":111960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"67434,78054,71141,50833,110905,56436","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-wellness","department-psychiatry","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines","author_override-sarah-fischer-phd-and-steve-wengel-md-unmc-department-of-psychiatry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here are some proven strategies to help you feel better, along with some guidance if you need something more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are some proven strategies to help you feel better, along with some guidance if you need something more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-24T06:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FischerWengel052424.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Robb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Robb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeffrey Robb\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c\"},\"headline\":\"Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-24T06:58:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/\"},\"wordCount\":534,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FischerWengel052424.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/\",\"name\":\"Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FischerWengel052424.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-24T06:58:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Here are some proven strategies to help you feel better, along with some guidance if you need something more.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FischerWengel052424.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FischerWengel052424.jpg\",\"width\":2250,\"height\":1500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/unmc\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Robb\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals","description":"Here are some proven strategies to help you feel better, along with some guidance if you need something more.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals","og_description":"Here are some proven strategies to help you feel better, along with some guidance if you need something more.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","article_published_time":"2024-05-24T06:58:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2250,"height":1500,"url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FischerWengel052424.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeffrey Robb","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@unmc","twitter_site":"@unmc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey Robb","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeffrey Robb","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c"},"headline":"Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals","datePublished":"2024-05-24T06:58:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/"},"wordCount":534,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FischerWengel052424.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/","name":"Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FischerWengel052424.jpg","datePublished":"2024-05-24T06:58:00+00:00","description":"Here are some proven strategies to help you feel better, along with some guidance if you need something more.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FischerWengel052424.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FischerWengel052424.jpg","width":2250,"height":1500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/05\/24\/take-care-self-help-and-help-from-professionals\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Take Care: Self-help and help from professionals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization","name":"University of Nebraska Medical Center","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","width":500,"height":153,"caption":"University of Nebraska Medical Center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","https:\/\/x.com\/unmc","https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c","name":"Jeffrey Robb","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111957"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111961,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111957\/revisions\/111961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}