Presented by
Dr. Krysia Mossakowski for
Mental Health America of Hawai‘i
Live Your Life Well
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Mental Health America’s “Live Your Life
Well Program” is designed to help all of
us improve our mental health
(psychological well-being)
No matter where we are on the mental
health spectrum
We all need to cope with stress
Today, we will discuss stress and ways
to cope with it
Why Should We Try to
Improve Our Mental Health?
Because we have too much stress
in our lives!
• Research indicates that one-third of people rate their
stress level as extreme
• Fifty-one percent say a mental health professional
could help
. . . . . but only seven percent have sought help!
• Eight out of 10 say the economy is a significant cause
of stress
American Psychological Association, Stress in America survey, 2008
How Do Mental Health Problems Affect
Workers & Our Economy?
• Depression itself has led to lost productive time among
American workers which has been estimated to be in
excess of $31 billion per year (Mental Health America,
2012).
• Untreated and mistreated mental illness in general costs
the United States $150 billion in lost productivity each
year, and U.S. businesses foot up to $44 billion.
• Workplace stress causes about 1 million employees to
miss work each day.
• Mental health conditions are actually the second leading
cause of absenteeism.
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Many of Us Feel Stress
at Work
Unreasonable or unrealistic demands
Feeling a lack of control over your job
Being micromanaged
Change at the workplace without your input
Personality clashes with co-workers and/or your manager
Gossip
Not feeling supported by your manager
Discrimination, sexual harassment, and bullying
Job insecurity and competition for promotions
Boss is stressed out! 
Long hours
How Stress Hurts Us
• Chronic stress increases
levels of cortisol “the
stress hormone,” which
can damage the body
and mind
• Prolonged stress can
cause serious physical
health problems:
• high blood pressure
• heart disease and
stroke
• decreased immunity to
disease
• cancer
• stomach problems
• poorer brain functioning
• Stress can also lead to
serious mental health
problems, especially
depression and anxiety.
Are You Experiencing
Stress Overload?
Some signs:
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Do you have fatigue or trouble sleeping?
Headaches?
Loss of concentration?
Feel anxious, worried?
Problems with memory?
Difficulty making decisions, problems concentrating?
Inability to control anger; irritable; easily frustrated?
Increased use of alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes or drugs?
Increased or decreased eating?
Thinking often, repetitively, about what you need to do
(worrying)?
– Feel overwhelmed?
Stress Is Not Your Fault
• Stress is a normal part of life (if you don’t have
any stress, you’re dead!).
• Stress in our daily lives and at work is inevitable.
• What matters is how you cope with stress.
What Is
“Live Your Life Well?”
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A program of 10 action steps that each of us
can take to protect and improve our mental
health.
Our mental health affects our energy,
productivity, and our overall health, and
improves our ability to cope with every day
problems.
• Just as we brush our teeth or get a flu
shot, we all must take care of – and
pay attention to -- our mental health
regularly.
10 Ways to
Live Your Life Well
These 10 action steps are based on
extensive research.
Your life may feel too busy to add just one
more thing!
But even taking only one of these steps can
reduce your stress and help you cope
better with your busy life.
Live Your Life Well
Tool 1: Connect with Others
Research suggests
that connecting
with others:
– Fights stress
– Increases
happiness
– Improves physical
health (and may
even lengthen
one’s life)
Tips for Connecting with Others:
• Create new social ties: Reach out to make
friends at work, in the neighborhood, or online
• Strengthen existing personal
relationships: Make (and keep!) more dates
with friends or family, and focus on developing
and maintaining supportive relationships with
coworkers
• Join support groups or social/activities
group: take hula, join a chorus, form a book
club, join a sports team, take up paddling, find a
support group for problems you are facing
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 2: Stay Positive
Research
suggests that
thinking
negatively can
affect our
mood, actions,
and even our
physical
health.
• Foster optimism…. Think ahead to something
good that’s going to happen . . . Enjoy the
rainbows. . . Practice seeing the positive rather
than the negative. . .Every night, think of three
things that made you happy that day
• Practice gratitude .... Be thankful for what
you have - your job, a roof over your head, your
family, your friends, your pets, the ocean
• Try to avoid dwelling on worries and selfcriticism
• Try to spend time with people who make
you feel good about yourself
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 3: Get Physically Active
Exercise not only helps your body but
helps your mood – i.e., your mental health
• Decreases stress, anger and tension
• Reduces anxiety and depression
• Provides a greater sense of well being
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 4: Help Others
Research indicates that
those who help others:
– Have less depression
– Are calmer
– Enjoy better physical
health
Helping others can:
• Remind you that you're
relatively lucky
• Help you feel connected to
others, i.e., less isolated
• Help you feel needed, effective,
generous – good about yourself!
• Take your mind off your own
worries
• Add more meaning to your life
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 5: Get Enough Sleep
Research shows poor
sleep is linked to:
How to tell if you’re not
getting enough sleep:
– Increased depression and
anxiety
– Increased heart disease
and stroke
– More accidents
– Obesity
• Am I often tired?
• Am I using caffeine to get
through the day?
• Do I sleep well?
• Do I wake up feeling refreshed?
• Do I get drowsy while driving or
watching TV?
Live Your Life Well
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How to Get Enough Sleep
– Set regular bedtime
– Decrease caffeine
– “De-Stress” yourself before
bedtime
– Exercise
– Get help for insomnia –
medication and/or therapy
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 6: Create Joy and Satisfaction
Research suggests that
positive feelings can:
– support your
resiliency -- ability
to “bounce back”
– boost your ability
to solve problems
– help you fight
disease
• Laughing is good for you! It actually
decreases pain, helps your heart and
lungs, promotes muscle relaxation and
reduces anxiety.
• Positive emotions can decrease stress
hormones and build emotional strength.
• Leisure activities distract us from our
problems and can make us feel more
competent (by being good at them)
Live Your Life Well
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How to Create Joy and Satisfaction
– Read funny books, watch comedies, bring comedian to
workplace (major companies have done that)
– Play games
– Use music, art, nature to increase your joy
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Visit an art museum or a public garden
Take a walk on the beach or a hike in the mountains
Play with pets or children
Go hear some music, see a play
– Get a massage (lomi lomi) – perhaps from a friend or
family member
– Try other relaxation techniques (meditation, yoga)
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 7: Eat Well
• Research indicates that eating
well can:
– boost your energy
– lower the risk of
developing certain
diseases
– provide fuel to your brain
– Positively affect moodrelated body chemicals
– Counteract the negative
effects of stress on your
body
• Ingredients for a healthy diet
– Follow USDA
recommendations
– Don’t skip meals
– Snack well – healthy, not too
often
– Limit alcohol
– Reduce caffeine
– Don’t over-diet
– Not too many plate lunches
(never mind fast food)
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 8: Take Care of Your Spirit
Taking care of your spirit
means connecting to whatever
you consider meaningful or
that you can deeply believe in.
Research shows that this
– can combat stress
– can improve mental and
physical health
– may help you live longer
A sense of gratitude is also
good for the soul
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Taking care of your spirit
can give you. . .
Beliefs that make you feel
better
A sense of purpose and
meaning
A way to understand suffering
Connection with others
Reminder of the good in the
world and in people
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 9: Deal Better with Hard Times
Research has
found that people
who are able to
do successful
problem-solving in
a stressful
situation feel less
depressed
-- Write about it! Writing about a
difficult event reduces depression &
improves physical health
– List your problems, identify the
solutions, select a reasonably good
(not necessarily perfect) solution,
break it into concrete chunks, and
make a plan.
– Get support. Talk it out.
– If it’s a workplace issue, talk to
someone at work who can help.
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 10:
Get Professional Help If You Need It
• You may be experiencing various mental health
problems – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, eating
disorder, anger management problems,
depression, alcohol dependence, anxiety, suicidal
thoughts
• Treatment is effective –
– For example, 80 percent of people treated for
depression improve!
• Successful treatment may involve –
– Counseling . . . as well as
– Medication to treat the symptoms
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 10:
Get Professional Help If You Need It
If you believe that you or someone you know could benefit from
professional help (medication and/or counseling):
– Your Employee Assistance Program
– Call your insurance provider to see what kind of
professionals they cover, what services, for what length of
time; ask for referrals
– Go to the Hawai`i Psychological Association website and
check out their directory of psychologists
– Go to your doctor and ask for medication and/or a referral
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 10:
Get Professional Help If You Need It
– Go to a Community Health Center if you can’t find a mental
health provider
– Call Mental Health America of Hawai`i to find out where
you can get help, 9-4:30 daily: 521-1846
– Go to the MHA website that has a Phone List of human
services programs and agencies www.mentalhealth-hi.org
Live Your Life Well
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Tool 10:
Get Professional Help If You Need It
If you or someone you know gets in a severe & perhaps
dangerous mental health crisis and/or could be suicidal:
– Call the Access Line and request a Mobile Crisis
Outreach Team to come out to do an assessment
(832-3100 on Oahu; 1-800-753-6879 Neighbor Isl.)
– Go to Queens or Castle Emergency Department
– Call the police if you feel there is any risk of harm
Live Your Life Well
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Don’t even think about doing all (or a lot)
of these 10 action steps!
Thinking about doing all – or even just many - of these
is overwhelming….
Choose one or two that feel do-able
And take it from there!
Live Your Life Well
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www.mentalhealth-hi.org Mental Health America of HI:
• Help Line 9-4:30 daily
• Local Finding Help Phone List with websites of human services agencies
• “Finding Help Consumer Guide to Mental Health Services in Hawai`i”
booklet available from MHA of Hawaii and on our website
• Youth Bullying and Suicide Prevention
• G.R.O.W. A. R.A.I.N.B.O.W. – creating safe spaces for gay/lesbian youth
http://www.liveyourlifewell.org (national Mental Health America)
• Tips for beating obstacles to making lifestyle changes
• Success stories
• Links to additional sources and resources
• Sign up for newsletter or updates
Contact Mental Health America of Hawai‘i
for more information, to find out how to get help for you or
someone you care about, to find out more about our
programs:
521-1846 info@mentalhealth-hi.org
We also have a branch office on Maui: 808-242-6461