Why Super Bowl XLVI is Improving Mental Health in Indianapolis
02/03/2012
Brooke Randolph, LMHC
 Excited and proud is the best way to describe how I am feeling about Indianapolis turning into a Super City. I have been watching football practically my entire life. I grew up watching the Chicago Bears, then after they moved to Indianapolis, the Colts. I still watch both teams, and I often watch at least one other game every week. Writing several articles for Diets in Review about the Super Bowl and serving as the local reporter for a national media outlet has only helped build my excitement. I don't think I'm the only one feeling excited and proud either. Twitter is full of tweets about the Super Bowl especially from the Indianapolis crowd. Last Friday, we had a spur of the moment tweet up lunch on Monument Circle to sample the trucks and spend a little bit of time walking around as they finished preparing the Super Bowl village. And who in Indy doesn't have a picture of themselves in front of the on Monument Circle?
I am thrilled that it's not just Indianapolis locals talking up the benefits of the circle city, but also how other major news outlets, like CNN and Forbes have mentioned all that we have to offer. And I think the campaign for us to host another Super Bowl is already in the works. Not only does such recognition instill a sense of pride, it is also reminding locals of those things we might not have been taking advantage of about our city. We are out and about, enjoying Indianapolis and the Super Bowl events; it's almost like all of Indianapolis is on a staycation.
 A break from your normal routine can often introduce hope and fun, benefiting your mental health. Having something to anticipate is one of my favorite mental health tips. I often encourage people to celebrate several holidays and find things to look forward to as often as possible. As soon as Christmas was over, I started making plans for New Year's, then epiphany, then Chinese new years before the Super Bowl. Yesterday was Groundhog day; I am ready for Valentine's Day, and I still have Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s Day before Easter and Springtime. All winter long I have menus and celebrations to plan which make the season seem faster.
Another small tip is to expose yourself to beauty. I absolutely encourage you to check out the free IDADA exhibit TURF while you can. I really like this blog at roundpeg with several pictures from their trip to see it (and a similar theme to this article)
While Hoosier hospitality is well known, my friend Kenan Farell commented the other day how hoosiers seem to be experiencing a lot more touchy-feely self reflection and everyone is acting like counselors. I think it’s because Indianapolis is simply happier. We are excited and proud, and that energy is contagious! We are not complaining about traffic or crowds, in fact, I see people joking about actually paying for parking. I prefer to wear my tennis shoes, park a few blocks away at a meter which I can feed from my phone (Indy, you really are fancy), and walk - good for my body, my budget, and my mental health. Even if you choose to pay to park at Circle Centre mall, you will likely be walking several blocks to see Monument Circle, Super Bowl Village, and the NFL Experience, and nearly all of us will experience an emotional boost from increased physical activity.
Whether this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity or just the first of many Super Bowls to be hosted by the Circle City, take advantage of the opportunity and allow yourself to be absorbed by the excitement. Have fun with it. Enjoy the activities and see the sights. This therapist said you could.
Also, please take a minute to check out my other Super Bowl XLVI articles on Yahoo and Diets in Review.
photo credit: Kyle Lewis
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Finding The Right Stress Management Tool
01/26/2012
Brooke Randolph, LMHC
 It was about 8:50pm the other evening when I left the office. I started my commute home, sitting in silence for a while to decompress. My mind was not turning off quickly, so I distracted myself with an audio book. I started deep, diaphragmatic breathing, focusing on how physical calm lapped like waves on a beach as I breathed in and out. After I arrived home, I let the dog out, changed into comfy clothes, let the dog in, and cuddled with my Big Blue Dog. (Nothing feels better than the pure excitement of a loving pet when you come home.) We played in the living room for a while before I spent time catching up with my brother. What do you do to manage stress after a long day?
Don't get me wrong, I had a good day. I enjoy teaching Adoption Preparation Education courses for MLJ Adoptions, Inc. I am pretty passionate about helping parents prepare to welcome a child into their home through adoption, which is probably why I allow classes to go late so everyone's questions can be answered. It is simply exhausting, probably because I am passionate, to convey so much information in a short period of time and try to ensure that every individual in the room is understanding it fully. This week I had several new students, so I had a lot of information to integrate, although it was nothing like the information my clients had to consider. As our class about the stress of the adoption process ended, I encouraged everyone to practice stress management techniques that evening. Teaching these courses are eustress for me, not distress. I enjoy it, and I am constantly becoming a better teacher. Even if I am not experiencing distress, I still need to recover from the stressor.
How do you transition and/or decompress after a long day? Does your family feel the impact of your workday when you arrive home? Do you know how to induce physical calm for yourself? Stress management is a skill that you can practice and improve on just like riding a bike or making an omelette (I’m up to about a 50 percent success rate on that one). The important thing is to practice, practice, practice. Pay attention when you are doing things that make you feel more calm. Pay attention to how you feel when you do them, then do those things more often. Sitting in silence seemed like a good idea, but when I paid attention to how I felt, I knew I need distraction more than silence. It helps to have more than a few stress management tools in your tool box.
For more ideas to better manage stress click here
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Sunshine Will Again Break In Upon Your Mind
10/23/2011
Brooke Randolph, LMHC
"Do not hope wholly to reason away your troubles; do not feed them with attention, and they will die imperceptibly away. Fix your thoughts upon your business, fill your intervals with company, and sunshine will again break in upon your mind." - Samuel Johnson
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Measure yourself by your best moments...
10/17/2011
Brooke Randolph, LMHC
"Measure yourself by your best moments, not by your worst." - Robert Johnson
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Indiana Jones and the Dream Analysis Adventure
09/16/2011
Brooke Randolph, LMHC
 Dream analysis is fun, but it is not often a part of modern therapy. At least in my masters program, it was not even mentioned. Freud loved dream analysis, but he is not so popular today, especially with the insistence of the medical model. It is rare that my clients ask me about a particular dream, but I am always glad I have done my own research into dream analysis when they do. If you are concerned about a dream, you don't want to wait for an explanation.
Most of the time, my first question is about the dreamers mood during the dream; this, alone can explain a lot to the dreamer. If there are important themes or symbols that are reticent in the dreamer's conscious memory, we may discuss general themes of dream symbols. One of my quick and dirty references is the site dream moods. It once helped me come to peace with a very disturbing dream, but only select clients will ever hear about that dream! Overall dreams are your brain's way of continuing to process the things most pertinent to your life. Many times, your dreams will in some way reflect the events of the previous day. If you are trying to avoid thinking about and processing something disturbing, your brain may force you to deal with it (for your own good) while you are sleeping.
  This morning on twitter, my friend Scott posted that he had an unusual dream about being a part of a Starbucks barista training/pep rally. As we chatted about his dream, I started thinking about the Indiana Jones-esque dream that had awoken me much earlier than the Big Blue Dog ever does.
In the Indiana Jones adventures, everything always works out in the end for the good guys. The bad guys are always willing to hurt vulnerable people in their quest for whatever they believe will satisfy their issues and ambitions. In Indiana Jones movies, one of the protagonists must face the thing that scares them the most. There is always a cultural experience. Rather than the image of a heart being ripped out of a chest, the threat was castration (yes, in this case the power has been given to a judge). In the dream, I was told not to worry and he always gets out of these things (also very true). The most vivid image of the dream was being in a truck that confidently drove off the edge of a cliff, falling hundreds of feet before landing safely on the road below. In the dream, I was able to calm my concern through my confidence in those guiding me through this adventure. Once we landed safely and amazingly smoothly, I awoke.
  I'd known I'd had a nutty dream as a result of the previous day's activities, but recognizing each of the elements helped in several wasy. I was able to dismiss the dream. I was now able to find humor in the dream rather than stress. My feelings about the situation became more clear. Even a therapist can run into life events that require some time to process through. Luckily, I have awesome mentors for those moments, so it does not distract me from assisting my clients. My friend Scott had a similar experience when he analyzed his own dream.
Do you have any repetitive dreams? What is the strangest dream you have ever had? Can you interpret it for yourself?
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Food Impacts Decision Making in Judges
09/15/2011
Brooke Randolph, LMHC
 Ever had an important decision to make and been told to “sleep on it”? I bet you’ve never been told to “eat on it”, but after reading about this new research, you just might consider it. The graph below illustrates the likelihood of a favorable decision from a judge based on when he or she takes a break to eat. At the start of each session, Israeli prisoners were likely to be granted parole 65% of the time, but that certainly was not true right before the judge decided to take a break. In this study, the results of 1,112 Israeli parole board hearings in a ten month period were analyzed.
Looking left to right on the graph, you observe the order the cases were heard each day. The higher a point is plotted on the graph is equal to a higher percentage of prisoners granted parole. The dotted lines are the points in the day when each judge decided to take a break, either for a morning snack or for lunch.
 It was clarified that “the judges treated the prisoners equally regardless of their gender, ethnicity or the severity of their crime,” and the judges decisions were also influenced by the evidence of rehabilitation and the chance the prisoner could offend again. This is probably why even those professionals who were observing this trend day after day had not recognized it. It is also important to clarify that the Israeli judges have no control over their daily schedule other than when they choose to take a snack or lunch break.
It was noted that there have been other studies in other professions that illustrate that when we are mentally or physically taxed, we tend to make the default (read: requires less thought) choice. In this research, the default choice would be to not grant parole. Perhaps “sleeping on it” would restore physical and mental energy enough to help you make an important decision, but that is not always an option in the middle of a work day.
How do you restore your energy throughout the day? Do you eat breakfast? Do you skip lunch because you’re trying to get more done? When I was an intern, my supervisor would take a 15 minute nap every afternoon and run on his lunch break to restore himself mentally as he expended some physical energy. He has always been a mentor in keeping all forms of energy (physical, emotional, mental, and existential) at peak performance. Are you really making good decisions if you are mentally or physically drained?
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One of the smartest things you can do is to ask for help
09/14/2011
Brooke Randolph, LMHC
"People want to help you. One of the smartest things you can do is to ask for help. People can't say yes, if you don't ask." - Peter Dunn aka Pete the Planner
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