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Stronger Together Topics May-June, 2025

Here are the topics recently explored in our mental health discussion group, Stronger Together:

May 1: Mindfulness
This week let’s talk about Mindfulness as a tool for managing mental health.   We all hear about it, but what is it and how do we do it?  Let’s talk about it and watch these videos: What is Mindfulness and A guided Mindfulness meditation.

May 8: The Anxious Generation
This week our discussion will be about “The Anxious Generation.” As it says at that link, “We rewired childhood and created an epidemic of mental illness. After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures.” That site also shares some evidence that you might like to look at before the discussion.

May 15: Emotional Coping Mechanisms
We all have emotional coping mechanisms, many are not helpful in the long run but make it possible for us to deal with impossible situations or pain. Denial, repression, and suppression are three layers of a coping mechanism. What are they, and how do we help others who are experiencing them? Let’s talk about it. Our first video discusses what is denial, repression and suppression, and the second one discusses how to help others deal with these issues. Denial, Repression, Suppression: Intro Psychology, Personality #2 and Dealing With Denial – Dr. Brian Wind.

May 22: Supporting Those with Suicidal Ideations
This week in Stronger Together, we’ll be addressing supporting individuals with indications of suicidality.  This week’s discussion is a step toward normalizing conversations within our community about issues surrounding suicide. Please join us. Here are some videos to watch: Preventing Suicide and Coping with Loss” by the World Health Organization, and Preventing Suicide: What Families Need to Know” by Seattle Children’s Hospital

May 29: Happiness!
What is happiness? Do we just know it when we see it? This week we will explore what happiness means to each of us. Please join us for this “happy” discussion. We’ll watch this video.

Stronger Together Topics Through April, 2025

Here are the topics recently explored in our mental health discussion group, Stronger Together:

March 27: Nutrition and Mental Health
https://experiencelife.lifetime.life/article/3-ways-to-eat-for-mental-health/
https://experiencelife.lifetime.life/article/3-supplements-to-support-your-mental-health/

April 3: Panic Attacks
Panic attacks are real and scary, and many of us experience them at some point.  What are they and what do they look like?  What can we do to manage them?  Let’s talk about it. We’ll watch and discuss this video on what causes panic attacks and ways to try and manage them.

April 10: Music and Mental Health
Music is so much a part of our emotional state including expressing and sharing our feelings, helping us cope with our thoughts, and connecting us to a community, among other things. What is the relationship between mental health and music? Let’s watch this video and talk about it.

April 24: Panic Attacks
Panic attacks are real and scary, and many of us experience them at some point. What are they and what do they look like? What can we do to manage them? We’ll watch and discuss this video on what causes panic attacks and ways to try and manage them.

Managing Anger

Hello Stronger Together folks,

This week we’re talking about anger management.

Maybe the political turmoil we are currently experiencing is making you mad. How do we manage anger productively, since there is really no way we won’t get angry at times? Let’s talk about it. We’ll watch this mindfulness video on anger.

Warm up question: What is something that many people consider a modern-day convenience that you, quite frankly, consider a pain in the neck?

Forgive and Forget?

Hello Stronger Together folks,

Join us on Thursday, March 13, at 7 p.m. This week’s topic is Forgiveness.

We want to forgive those who do bad things or wrong us personally, but that is easier said than done. Let’s talk about the struggle. We’ll watch this short video on the complexity and personal cost of “forgive and forget (or not).”

Warm up question: What is your favorite way to help people less fortunate than you?