Author: Colony Care Behavioral Health

With the challenges of daily life, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Financial stress, social isolation, and general uncertainty can take a toll on mental well-being. While there’s no single solution to managing mental health, one of the most well-documented and accessible ways to improve mood and resilience is regular physical activity.

The Science Behind Exercise and Mental Health

Scientific research has consistently shown that exercise plays a significant role in mental well-being. Engaging in physical activity can help reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, improve cognitive function, and enhance overall emotional resilience. The connection between physical activity and mental health is rooted in biological and psychological mechanisms, including the release of endorphins, the regulation of stress hormones, and improved sleep quality.

How Exercise Supports Mental Health

Exercise benefits mental health in several key ways:

• Regulation of Brain Chemicals – Physical activity influences levels of serotonin, endorphins, and stress hormones, which play crucial roles in mood regulation.
• Improved Sleep Patterns – Regular movement can lead to better sleep, which is essential for emotional and cognitive health.
• Enhanced Self-Esteem and Coping Skills – Setting and achieving fitness goals can foster a sense of accomplishment and self-efficacy.
• Distraction from Stressors – Exercise provides a break from negative thoughts and worries.
• Opportunities for Social Connection – Group activities or outdoor workouts offer a chance to build social support, which is a protective factor for mental health.
• Healthy Emotional Outlet – Physical activity can serve as a constructive way to channel stress and frustration.
  Getting Started with Exercise

You don’t need to spend hours at the gym to experience the benefits of exercise. Simple activities like walking, jogging, swimming, gardening, or dancing can make a meaningful difference. The key is to choose activities you enjoy and aim to engage in them at least three times per week. Even small changes, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or stretching during work breaks, can contribute to improved mental and physical well-being.

For more information on building healthy habits, or to find personalized strategies for those struggling to implement them, contact Colony Care Behavioral Health. To get started, request an appointment through our secure online form today.

We all deal with worries, anxieties, and feelings of fear and dread at times. A panic attack is a severe reaction to a fear that may or may not be real or have a trigger. Maybe you or someone you know has only had one panic attack, or maybe it happens frequently with recurrent attacks. Regardless, it is important to know how to recognize a panic attack and what to do.

What Happens During a Panic Attack?

Someone experiencing a panic attack not only has emotional reactions but physical ones as well. Their heart may start pounding, or they may become flushed or develop the chills. There is often no real threat to health or safety, but the attack feels very real to that person.

The Two Worst Parts of a Panic Attack

You never know when you will get a panic attack. They come without any warning and can occur in a second. You might be sitting in a business meeting, relaxing at home, waking up from a nap, or driving your car. You may never know when it will happen.

Panic attacks can cause worry and fear as someone wonders if or when it will happen again.

How to Recognize a Panic Attack

Everyone is different but there are some common symptoms of a panic attack.

They include the following:

• Fear of death
• Feeling of impending doom or danger
• Rising heart rate
• Chills or hot flashes
• Dizziness, vertigo, lightheadedness
• Sweating
• Trembling and shaking
• Headache
• Chest pain
• Nausea or abdominal cramping

How to De-Escalate a Panic Attack

De-escalation is best accomplished with another person–particularly a professional–yet you can try these skills yourself.

If You Are Having the Panic Attack

If you are the one having the attack, focus on the following:

• Slow your breathing down and recognize you are experiencing a panic attack. That may help ground you.
• Tell yourself it will pass and try to br on this idea.
• Focus on something in the distance. Look at fall leaves out the window, rain falling, or cars driving by. Keep looking without moving your eyes away.

If You Are Witnessing a Panic Attack

If you are helping someone else having an attack, the following can help:

• Stay as calm as possible. You don’t want to intensify their fears.
• Do not be judgmental, criticize, or be condescending.
• Encourage them to breathe, and do it slowly together.
• Encourage them to focus on something else they can see. Have them name five or six objects and repeat them.
• Whatever you are asking them to do, do it yourself with them.
• Lastly, when symptoms have passed, encourage and support them to seek help.

If you or a loved one is struggling to manage panic attacks, contact Colony Care Behavioral Health for treatment options and help in Massachusetts. We have clinics in Wellesley, Yarmouth Port, Arlington, and Weymouth and offer telepsychiatry for patients throughout Massachusetts. To get started, request an appointment through our secure online form.

Do you know the power of play for youngsters and teens? Promoting mental health through recreation and leisure is even more relevant now than it has ever been with the epidemic of smartphones, the internet, and handheld devices to keep kids inside, preoccupied, and by themselves. It’s time we encourage our kids to go outside to play, be with others, and enjoy life.

The Power of Play: You Are Their First Playmate

As a parent playing with your child, you can reap endless benefits not only for your little one but also for you. Being joyful with your child will bring you closer together. In addition, you are laying a foundation for their future wellbeing.

The Power of Play and Stress

When your child sings, dances, and plays games, their body releases endorphins which promote a feeling of wellbeing. It can help protect children from stress and encourage physical and mental health.

The Power of Play and Working Through Difficult Emotions

Children can express many different emotions through their play. They may not be able to talk about it, but can play it out with dolls or other figurines. Witnessing an argument between two people may stay with them until they play it out. Losing a loved one like a grandmother can help them cope in their playtime through creative expression.

As a parent when you play with your children, you can learn what is bothering them, scaring them, or worrying them.

The Power of Physical Play

Not only does physical play outside help them develop motor skills, it also helps prevent obesity, along with building confidence. Sliding down a playground slide for the first time by themselves builds self-confidence, and they can learn teamwork when introduced to organized sports.

Playing outdoors:

• Improves a child’s attention span
• Lets children use their senses to learn balance
• Studies show the more outside play time, the more academic success

The Power of Play and Extra-Curricular Activities

Teen recreation in nature helps the brain to de-stress and encourages endorphins to stimulate the brain.

Teens who participate in after school activities like sports and art (especially girls) have better mental health while spending less time online, on phones, and social media. A study stated taking part in these activities and other leisure activities is associated with higher levels of optimism and life satisfaction. It also promotes lower levels of depression and anxiety. Consequently, they will be less likely to become involved in risky behaviors.

The Power of Playing Team Sports

It’s true, playing sports boosts mental health. Taking part in team sports has a higher impact on mental health than playing individual sports.

More thoughts on this topic:

• A study in Norway found that teens who played team sports were less likely to smoke cigarettes or marijuana.
• Exercise improves symptoms of depression. In some circumstances, it can be comparably effective to some medications.
• Playing team sports can lower rates of stress, anxiety, and depression.
• Team sports can enhance resilience, empathy, and confidence
• Some studies show children and teens have improved sleep, which is essential for mental health, after participation in team sports.
• Whether a child is playing tag or a teen is playing sports on a team after school, these are all beneficial activities to promote mental health through recreation and leisure activities.

Mental Health Therapy for Children and Teens in Massachusetts

Contact Colony Care Behavioral Health if your child or teen is showing symptoms of anxiety or depression. Certain clinicians are specially trained and offer play therapy for children and adolescents. We can help. To get started, request an appointment through our secure online form. We have clinics in Wellesley, Yarmouth Port, Arlington, and Weymouth and offer telepsychiatry for patients throughout Massachusetts.