Category: Mental Health

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General Health & Fitness Mental Health

5 Self Defense Strategies Every Woman Should Know

Trust Your Instincts

Self defense isn’t karate or martial arts, it’s the simple art of defending yourself. You don’t have to learn a high kick or an eagle claw to do that. All you have to do is know your strengths and weaknesses, make precise movements and be alert, at all times. If you’re one who’s expecting us to give you tips on how to rip out an attacker’s heart or intestines, how to crush every bone in their body, you’re in the wrong place. Our job here is to tell you exactly what will work for you in a vulnerable situation, and how you must react without harming yourself. 

Trust Your Instincts

Trust Your Instincts

Nothing, we mean absolutely nothing, is louder than a woman’s instinct. If you have a bad feeling, it’s probably not paranoia. And even if it is, putting some distance or finding shelter in a crowded place for the time being will not do you any harm. But never disregard your instinct. Most women who join self defense courses do so after they’ve been attacked or witnessed someone be attacked around them. And every time you’ll hear the woman go, ‘I had a bad feeling’. Listen to the voice that’s in your head and don’t delay your response just because you don’t want to act/ sound crazy because crazy is better than being assaulted, any day. 

Practice Target Denials

Self defense isn’t about fighting your opponent when they attack you. More often than not, it is about avoiding your targeting from getting to you. If you ever find yourself in close proximity with another person who seems pervasive, or gives you the creeps, it is best to put some distance between the two of you. This could mean walking over to the other side of the road, finding a group of people to stand with, or simply enter any cafe or restaurant that you find nearby. If you’re in a building waiting for the elevator when a presence disturbs you, do not get on the elevator. Do not take the fire escape. Wait for the next elevator, this will not only save you from getting into a compact space with the person but also clarify your doubts about them. You can also contact the building’s private security London to escort you to your house if you still do not feel safe. 

Be Confident

Be Confident

Even when you aren’t, even when you’re shaking on the inside, don’t let your attacker know they’ve got some kind of control over you. But this does not mean that you must exude overconfidence or provoke them with your words or actions. Instead, be a target they do not want to pursue. It is usually the meek, easily frightened and fumbling women that attackers target. When you’re out, ensure that you walk confidently and are aware of your surroundings at all times. 

Maintain a Non-Confrontational Stance

You’re not equipped to be in a fight, nor can you win one if your opponent is bigger and stronger. Then how do you defend yourself? With the element of surprise. If you assume any fighting stance, your attacker will be more persuaded to attack you in a fight you cannot win. Instead, stay composed, assume a relaxed stance with your hands up and open that might make your attacker feel like you’re going to fight back. This is when poking your fingers directly into his eyes or nose can give you the right opportunity to get out of there. Run, do not look back. 

Opt for Simple Techniques

Opt for Simple Techniques

You do not want to fly and kick your attacker. You do not want to beat him till he bleeds. What you want is to get out of the situation with minimal damage to you. This is why following through with any martial art moves will not work in this scenario. Instead, it is crucial to keep your movements small but effective. One such move can be striking the nose of your opponent with the heel-palm of your hand. This won’t hurt your hand but will definitely break his nose or make it bleed if done with the right force. You can also strike two fingers right into his eyes or drive your knee right into their groin. 

Apart from these, staying vigilant, and keeping a safe distance from creeps is extremely important. 

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Health & Fitness Mental Health Pets

Why An Emotional Support Animal Is Good For Your Mental Health?

A study found that people with pets face stressful situations better than the ones without them. So someone always on the borderline of hypertension or high blood pressure should adopt dogs from a shelter and see how in a few months the health issues decline significantly. Let me explain how.

When someone plays with dogs, the serotonin and dopamine levels increase, the chemicals responsible for calming down. Moreover, people staying alone should keep a pet to get unconditional love and enjoy the valuable companionship. The emotional support animal can learn about your emotional state after looking into eyes just like a human friend. They’re quite good at interpreting your voice tone, body language, and responses to various activities.

Apart from snuggling with this furry friend and the immediate joy that these pets get, they have several physical and mental health benefits that we’re completely unaware of. Let’s explore some of them.

Produce Neurotransmitters

With love and bond, there is an increase in neurochemicals associated with pleasure. The boost in serotonin and dopamine levels relaxes and also increases the humans’ capacity to care for others. This makes them feel safe and less depressed. Besides this, they can bond with humans well when they are confident.

Moreover, neurochemicals help in reducing stress-induced pain as the ESA keeps the patient distracted. They give them proper care and attention to ward off the symptoms by providing an enormous amount of emotional support.

Helps in Anxiety

The number of people being diagnosed with anxiety issues is increasing in the U.S. from the past few years. An ESA can help you to deal with such excruciating situations. Be it a funeral, flight, going out to buy flowers, or medical treatment, they act as perfect support. Even the presence of an ESA makes a lot of difference to help people travel without being anxious.

Although doctors provide medicines to control the fear of people, they have many side effects. While the ESA cares for you, it can add years to life by boosting your immunity and happiness. Even touching the wagging tail or purring cat can calm you down. They walk you through troubles and help in handling depression symptoms. Interestingly emotional support animals use a lot of new tricks, to stimulate your curiosity and move your focus towards something positive. They act as a source of relaxation in every situation, where before going you had to pop some pills.

You’ll notice a change in your interactions after staying with an emotional support animal. There’ll not only be an improvement in the human interactions but with time, you’ll also develop a bond with other pets.

Mental Illness

ESA is quite helpful for people with any health issues and supports them to deal with mental health conditions without being overwhelmed. When patients are focused on them, they don’t have any self-doubt.

Emotional Support Animal For Mental Health

They provide them the love and appreciation required after a big loss. The quality of life improves when people have an ESA by their side. They are called a miracle cure for providing the comfort to live a happy and healthy life. However, if you’re not an animal person, they won’t be able to improve your life in any way. And, people who adore animals will get unconditional love from emotional support animals that will help them to deal with mental health issues.

They acknowledge your emotions and warm the heart of the toughest person. After receiving love daily, the good feelings  will improve your efficiency. Such therapies are being suggested by the psychologist to treat severe mental disabilities. They bring much-needed comfort to the people in need. There has been awareness about the emotional support of rabbits, horses, and dogs in the last decade for their cheering presence. Due to this, there was a growth in the ESA to help people with mental disabilities. The vast improvements in their overall health led to more people taking aid from the emotional support animal.

Closing

If you’ve identified the symptoms and prescription medicines are not helping, then consider getting an ESA. The unconditional love you receive from them dramatically improves mental health. And, they encourage you to re-engage in various activities and with people to live a meaningful life. They are not the treatment themselves but help you in dealing with emotional high and low. It’s a good method to stabilize your living situation and improve mood. Their constant presence helps you regardless of the day or time.

Always, take your counselor’s advice to get an appropriate emotional support animal for your disability. The counsel may guide you on how to get a letter to live with an emotional support animal in the home. And, add some general information about how the ESA helps in alleviating the symptoms of the disability. This documentation will allow your ESA to accompany you to various places.

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Health & Fitness Mental Health Pets

Use Positive Reinforcement To Train Your Pet

There is a long term discussion that has been going on between two different schools of thought that exist between dog owners. One that believes in punishment and the other is positive reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement refers to instead of punishing your dog; you ignore the behavior you do not like and reward the ones you appreciate. Rewards can be any form of treats, life rewards(walks, games, etc.) or walks. The idea is to eliminate the violence and instead focus on the right behavior.

Clicker training is another effective way of teaching positive reinforcement, but if you don’t want to use the clicker, you can still use treats for your pet.

The punishment is often not very useful in disciplining as it can make your dog aggressive — a very unbecoming quality for an emotional support animal.

Below we have outlined some essential points that can help you discipline your dog via positive reinforcement.

Involve Everyone

Positive reinforcement is a collective effort. This means every member of the family has to contribute towards the training. Considering you don’t need to speak in a firm tone, use force, or be in the danger of hurting your pet, getting the family involved shouldn’t be too tough.

If its other methods of training like leash correction, your child might not be able to control the situation, but with positive reinforcement, all you need to do is give your child a couple of treats and teach them the commands that you are following and voila! You have an assistant.

 

Keep Your Communication Clear

For positive reinforcement to work, you need to communicate clearly. You have the decision making power and are telling the dog what you want him to do. If they do it, they get rewarded otherwise not.

When they get rewarded, it is clear to them what it is that they are doing right. Punishing, on the other hand, is slightly complicated.

The message of the scolding is never clear, and all you could end up doing is teach your dog that they should avoid the accident when they are with you. This is why if you have a defecating dog, it is very tough to catch them in the act.

Due to this, a lapse in communication punishment is a highly ineffective way to train a dog.

 

Teach Multiple Behaviors

Training methods like leash correction and punishment are a very messy way to teach your dog anything. In the case of behavioral issues, it can worsen the situation even further.

Aggressive dogs can get even more aggressive, and shy dogs might never come out of their shell.

Dogs also have anxiety issues, and living in the constant fear of not knowing when your next punishment is going to be dealt is no way to live.

 

This is also where clickers have proven to be the most effective, according to multiple studies. For fearful as well as aggressive dogs, clickers bring about a sense of peace.

 

Encourages Mental Stimulation

A bored dog is the worst; all of us know that. It is often because of boredom that animals develop other behavioral issues like inflicting considerable scale damage on the house.

 

Training keeps that boredom contained and offers a good outlet for energy.

 

Once you have decided to give your training through positive reinforcement, you might be surprised at the amount of energy that they manage to burn off just by learning how to follow commands.

 

Keep It Light

Training sessions aren’t supposed to be a drag. They are short, upbeat, and positive. These sessions don’t have to be dragged out. Once the dog starts to associate the session with good things in their life, they too will begin to enjoy it.

 

You dog is bound to become eager to learn, even if it is just for the prize at the end.

 

Foster a Stronger Bond

Dogs are more than pets for most people. They are an integral part of the family. Positive reinforcement strengthens the bond both of you have. Other methods to train your emotional support animal might be useful for correcting behavior (barely ). Positive reinforcement goes a step ahead.

 

It corrects behavior while ensuring that the dog has a certain amount of trust in the actions you take for it.

emotional support animal

Think of it in your case. Would you like to be beaten up every time you did something wrong, or would you like to be talked through an issue?

In a supportive environment, it is much easier to thrive and create a bond.

 

Other training methods might not make your dog love you less, but for sure, they will never be able to showcase their personality.

 

Dealing With Issues

Positive reinforcement works through a steady chain of consistency and patience. It might be a slow method as your dog might jeep doing the wrong thing over and over again. You might get frustrated and want to snap; it is only human nature. But remember it is not worth it.

 

They might not get the words, but they get the vibes. So, try and be positive, and your dog will pick up on it.

 

Fear might be a stronger teacher, but it isn’t a way to live. When was the last time someone was happy under a dictator? The answer is never.

 

You get a dog into your house in the hope they will become a part of the family, but if you can’t take out the time or find the patience within you to treat them well, you may as well not get one.

 

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Emotional support animal letter Mental Health Pets

Doing The Best You Can For Your Dog

Best You Can For Your Dog

No pets can compete with a dog when it comes to loyalty, love, and affection. Dogs can be great family pets or great pets for people living alone. To ensure that you’re caring for your dog properly, use the tips below.

Keep Em Healthy

An annual checkup at the vet is a great idea for your dog. Your dog can’t talk, it might be difficult to find out what is wrong if there is an issue. Bringing your dog to the vet each year can help stop these health issues from becoming a huge problem.

Do not feed your dog “people food”. This can make your dog not want to eat his dog food, and it will promote begging. A dog fed on table scraps will be prone to unhealthy weight gain, disruptive digestive problems, and other health issues. Train your dog to remain in another room while the family eats so no one is tempted to slip something to him under the table.

Guard Your Dog Properly

Guard Your Dog Properly

Keep your dog on leash any time he leaves your fenced yard, regardless of his gentle nature and good behavior. Something could distract him, like a squirrel or a cat, causing him to leave your side. Your dog is your responsibility, so treat him right.

Rather than merely using verbal commands, it is wise to utilize hand signals when training your dog. When provided with signals of this type, dogs tend to pick things up faster. Give both methods a shot, and see what your pet prefers.

Develop Good Eating Habits

Speak to your vet about your dog’s eating habits. While some individuals give their dogs food by following the package, sometimes these guidelines are inappropriate for your dog. The vet will know what is best for your pet.

Trim your dog’s nails on a regular basis. It can be quite painful for your dog if his nails start curling under. You can buy clippers in a pet store and do them yourself. If you don’t feel comfortable trimming them yourself, a groomer can do it for little money.

Never Let Them Off The Hook For Training

Your dog has to be leash trained. Your dog should walk beside you, not lag behind or run ahead, and should obey the command “heel.” Your dog will be safer in this position, and you’ll both enjoy your walks more this way. Understanding that command is great, even if you choose to still walk with a loose leash periodically.

Get your dog’s hair trimmed around its paws so that hair doesn’t get matted up. Use a comb first, then start cutting. If this scares you, have a professional do it.

It’s not that unusual for dogs to cut themselves after stepping on discarded debris or broken glass. If your dog happens to get a cut, wash it thoroughly and put a bandage on it. If the cut seems very deep, take him to the vet.

Research On The Dog You Want To Get

Research On The Dog

When you are finding out what kind of dog you want to get, you might want to introduce the prospective pet to your current pet. Just like people, dogs can have a personality clash. If you find two dogs that can get along, you’ll save yourself some trouble.

Some vitamins can be bad for your dog’s health. If your dog’s already getting the nutrients that it needs, you won’t need to add vitamins to its diet. Too much of some vitamins can cause injury to the bones, joints and blood vessels. Speak with a vet before starting your dog’s vitamin regimen.

Even a properly contained, outdoor dogs need a lot of attention. Your dog will acquire poor habits like digging or barking if it’s left isolated for too long. There is also a chance me may become aggressive. Be sure to play with your dog and show him friendship and affection so he will feel happy.

If you feel that your pet is providing you with the emotional support that helps manage any mental disorder then you can talk to a mental health specialist and get an emotional support animal letter today. With an ESA letter you can live and fly with your pet without having to pay any extra fees or pet deposit.

Also Read: 8 Reasons Why Your Cats Don’t Like Each Other

Love Them Well

When thinking over what you’re dog is eating, you have to look over their diet carefully. You can give a puppy a high calorie diet because this will help him grow. When they reach adulthood, these same foods can lead to obesity and health problems.

Taking care of a dog requires a lot of knowledge. It’s harder than just walking him or feeding him. Give the proper affection to your dog, and show him a lot of compassion. You will have many great years with your dog if you learn how to care for them properly.