When Summer Vacation Is Far From A Vacation

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Also Included In: Mental Health
Article Date: 18 Jun 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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The kids are playing in the backyard and enjoying their break from school. Your husband is enjoying the day on the golf course. And you're cleaning up the house, folding laundry and cooking three meals. Sound familiar?

Although summer is a time known for enjoying the sun, most women continue on with their normal routine of caring for their family and do not treat themselves to a break. Summer is the ideal time to channel the energy normally used to help others into a vacation, private time and break from daily responsibility. This technique can aid in preventing physical and emotional struggles that occur when a woman makes caring for others her top priority and neglects herself.

Jacqueline Dawes, founder and owner of Brookhaven Retreat, a multidisciplinary treatment facility for women, says that women must adapt their daily routine to focus on their own needs, and find the time to nurture themselves.

"I have recently encountered several women who sought treatment following an emotional breakdown, all of whom were hesitant to leave their daily family responsibilities," said Dawes. "There must be a healthy balance between caring for your family and caring for yourself."

Studies show that most emotional breakdowns are caused by stress and that women are more likely than men to experience said struggle. Women tend to experience anxiety due to work responsibilities, finances and family stresses. The breakdown typically occurs following an ongoing emotional fight during which the body crosses a threshold.

"If a woman sets in place healthy, adaptive strategies and goals that create an environment in which she is relaxed, she can then further care for herself and her family, and happily," said Dawes. "A woman needs the foresight to break from daily practice and enjoy some time off in order to prevent against emotional breakage."

A few suggestions for relieving stress during the Summer months:

- Treat yourself to a weekend getaway
- Dine out instead of in
- Indulge in a manicure, pedicure or massage
- Enlist family and friends to pitch in on routine tasks
- Plant a garden with your favorite herbs and vegetables
- Go swimming, hiking or running
- Sip some freshly squeezed lemonade

Brookhaven Retreat is a premier dual-diagnosis facility specializing in individualized treatment that links women with the appropriate support needed to begin healing. It is a fully-accredited facility with both a mental health and a substance abuse license.

Source
Brookhaven Retreat