Being part of the military is very challenging and taxing on your body and mind, making it more important to take care of yourself. Self-care differs for each person, and some methods won’t work well for you as a veteran. You may find yourself hitting a wall and not being able to manage your physical and mental health. 

You’ll have to try different self-care methods to figure out which will work for you and if you require professional help. Here are some tips to help you get back on your feet and strengthen yourself. 

Work Out Frequently 

Physical fitness is paramount to a healthy life. As such, you should make time to incorporate exercise into your schedule. Exercise has countless benefits for your body and mind, and it’s a vital part of military training, so you should do your best to continue working out and keep your body in shape. Workouts help reduce stress levels and improve sleep quality. A lot of your problems can be relieved this way. 

Exercise isn’t limited to gym equipment, and you can opt for swimming and yoga if you’re not into high-intensity activities. Alternatively, if you prefer explosive workouts, you might enjoy boxing and martial arts. Some other ways to keep yourself in shape are walking, cycling, stretching, weightlifting, etc. 

Utilize Resources Specifically Available For Veterans

Many resources, such as health insurance for veterans, are available for you to live comfortably. However, very few veterans have health insurance, most likely because of a lack of awareness of programs and how to access them. 

Some programs have unique clauses to cover insurance for active-duty officers and veterans and their families. These programs offer comprehensive healthcare facilities, and they have inpatient and outpatient services, mental health therapy, nursing, etc.  

Even when veterans don’t require treatment, they could learn a lot from health programs. Veterans will learn more about mental health and how to maintain it well, telehealth services, and other aspects of health education centered toward veterans. 

Consume A Balanced Diet 

Food is among the most crucial aspects of a healthy lifestyle. It’s well understood that poor nutrition and an unbalanced diet can lead to health problems, but did you know they can even impact your mental state. Vitamins and minerals help convert amino acids into neurotransmitters and carbs and fatty acids into brain cells. Not consuming the right amount of micronutrients has been linked to depression and difficulty concentrating. 

It would help to create a weekly meal plan. Your meal plan must contain five portions of fruits and vegetables for each day, dairy products, wholegrain, rice and bread as a base for your meals, and beans and lentils. Eggs, fish, and lean meat are excellent sources of protein, and you can boil or bake them to minimize the use of oil in your diet. 

Drink as much as you can. Water isn’t your only option. You can make yourself fruit and vegetable smoothies for the flavor and extra nutrients. There are healthy options for when you feel like ordering food or going out to a restaurant, so do your best to avoid unhealthy, greasy fast food as much as possible. 

Have A Good Night’s Rest 

Everyone needs adequate sleep to function properly because your body and brain are repaired when asleep. Poor sleep leads to exhaustion, difficulty in learning and concentration, and mood swings. A tip to ensure good quality sleep IS not looking at your phone or anything with blue light at least two hours before bedtime. Blue light messes with your internal clock and delays slumber. 

Going to bed on a heavy stomach is a terrible idea because it increases your chance of acid reflux and often leads to indigestion. It would help minimize your caffeine and alcohol intake and avoid having any of the two post-afternoon to eliminate lingering effects. 

Socialize With Other People 

Social interaction is vital for human beings. It would be best if you frequently spoke with friends and family. Even small talk with the cashier can do wonders for your mental health. If you’re stationed away from home, you can video call your loved ones, join some club, and participate in club activities. 

If there aren’t any groups in your community that interest you, or you still feel isolated, try joining online groups on social media. You’ll find many army veteran groups where members understand what you’re going through and provide a safe space for you to interact. 

Invest In A Hobby Or Adopt A Furry Friend 

There are many hobbies to try out, ranging from cycling to painting. You can go for leisurely activities like baking, crocheting, knitting, gardening, etc., if you want a relaxing hobby for your downtime. If you want your hobby to be intense and more like something that wakes up your body and mind, you should look into boxing, dance classes, and sports.

Adopting an animal from the shelter helps both the animal and you. Having a pet significantly relieves stress and anxiety and removes feelings of loneliness. Studies show that pets help you become more active and encourage you to go outside and get fresh air.

Get Some Fresh Air

Your health improves the more time you spend outdoors. Going outside isn’t limited to going to the market to get groceries. You can spend some time walking in the park, hiking, or visiting the beach or lake if it’s near you. You can go for meals and a cup of coffee outside, attend online meetings on the go if possible, and even read a book outdoors.  

Let Loose Every Once In A While 

Sticking to a schedule and rules the entire time is exhausting by itself. It’s good to take a break once in a while and unwind yourself. Treat yourself to a cheat meal at a fancy restaurant, eat that dessert you’ve been craving for some time, or get yourself a massage. 

There are a bunch of ways you can splurge on yourself. Schedule a time to watch a movie or show you’ve been trying to get into but never got the chance. You can also take yourself shopping and buy something nice. However, everything must be done in moderation. There’s no need for you to max out your card or lose sleep to enjoy life. 

Conclusion 

Maintaining good health has a few basic rules. You need to work out consistently, eat a nutritious, balanced diet, and spend time outdoors. If you require professional help, you should look up health insurance schemes made explicitly for army veterans. Allow yourself breaks to prevent burnout, hang out with friends or start a new hobby. The following tips can be quite helpful in managing life after having served your country in the army.

The psychological needs of a person, when left unfulfilled, keep on nagging their mental well-being, slowly pushing it to the brink of a breakdown. The issue becomes paramount, especially when it hits youngsters, such as college students, who hold the reigns of future progress and growth in society. In a stage of life when responsibilities slowly dawn and constant pressure to develop a thriving career weighs down on the shoulders, getting preyed upon by mental health issues is common. These factors are often coupled with personal problems and constrain the student’s ability to go through day-to-day life smoothly. As a result, every aspect of life is deeply affected, including social and academic life.

The mental health issue rates are alarming among the young population. If you are a college student struggling with hidden symptoms you cannot decipher, watch out for these mental health issues looming over your head. 

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

As a college student, anxiety would not be a stranger to you that follows in day-to-day chores like an unwanted companion. However, where general anxiety is just about getting nervous, anxiety disorders, such as PTSD, extend beyond that. This condition usually follows a traumatic event you may have encountered, for example, a death of a dear one, an accident, or sexual harassment and sexual violence. The latter seems to contribute massively to PTSD cases since college students are prone to it, and many experience sexual harassment and abuse. If you or your fellow student has gone through this traumatic experience, do not hold back and report violence to campus officials to put an end to it.

The symptoms of PTSD include recurrent flashbacks of the traumatic event, extreme anxiety, nightmares, fear, avoidance of social gatherings, and mood changes. These psychological changes also lead to physical discomforts, such as palpitations, sweating, fatigue, nausea, and frequent headaches. If you find yourself in a similar situation, do not hesitate to reach out for some professional help to mitigate the symptoms.

Depression:

Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders among college students. The stress of academia, an abusive household, failed relationships, financial debts, etc., mount up to drag the students into constant pessimism and sadness. Along with that, moving away from home and adjusting to a new environment can be overwhelming. If unable to adapt, homesickness can further worsen the situation. 

The symptoms of depression include feeling worthless, empty, hopeless, and never being well-rested. The sleep cycle is seriously disturbed due to its lack or excess. It may lead to irritability, loss of appetite, and losing interest in things you once enjoyed doing. The depressive feelings will elude you into believing that things will never get better, and you may refrain from seeking help. The worst-case scenario includes dropping out of college and discontinuing studies. So watch out for falling into this pit and take things one day at a time to handle them in a humanely possible way.

Bipolar Disorder:

This disorder usually surfaces in the late teens or early twenties. Therefore, it is essential to give the concerned college students access to mental health facilities and resources to understand and manage bipolar. However, college counseling centers usually can not provide a diagnosis for this disorder, and it goes untreated, causing it to aggravate. Bipolar includes extreme mood swings from highs, i.e., hypomania, to lows, i.e., depression. It can seriously hinder a person’s ability to think, causes irritability, and affects sleep and judgments. A change in lifestyle after moving to college, adjustment issues, and loneliness can especially target students genetically vulnerable to this disorder.  

Substance Abuse Disorder:

College life is the first taste of independence, where a family would not be present to monitor your activities, and you would be on your own to navigate life.  As appealing as it sounds, things sometimes take a wrong turn for various reasons. It may be social and physical problems or peer pressure due to which college students often resort to illicit drug or alcohol use. It is the most tragic mental health issue of all. The body and mind become so addicted to substance misuse that leaving it for good is no more a matter of only choice or willpower. 

The consequences of substance abuse include legal and financial problems, a downfall in academic progress, and loss of physical coordination. So while you are at college, be on guard and distance yourself from all the negative influences that can steer you in the wrong direction.

Eating Disorders:

To achieve an acceptable and culturally attractive body type, or due to stress and anxiety to perform academically well, college students unknowingly fall prey to unhealthy eating patterns. The situation often begins with genuine concerns about eating healthy and maintaining weight, but when unaddressed, the symptoms of eating disorders soon start to surface. They have the highest mortality rate out of all the mental disorders.

Anorexia nervosa is one such disorder in which fear of gaining weight abstains a person from eating even when the weight falls dangerously low. It, in turn, affects other organ functions causing heart diseases, bone weakness, electrolyte imbalance, and kidney problems. On the other hand, bulimia nervosa includes excessive eating. However, the person resorts to unusual behaviors for compensation, such as induced vomiting, fasting, and using laxatives. 

If you are diagnosed with an eating disorder, there is no way you can proceed alone after moving away from your family. So choose a college that provides counseling and medical services for such cases.

Conclusion:

College life is one of the most exciting times of life. Moving away from home and living independently, making new friends, and following your heart is like a journey to self-identification. It is adventuresome and nerve-wracking at the same time. However, how your college life turns out depends on your choices. Whether the fun-filled side dominates or topples under the weight of wrong decisions is something in your control. So if you have moved to a college, be aware of all the difficulties you would face and take things into your hands before they slip away from your grasp. Moreover, as a college administrator, destigmatizing mental health issues, encouraging the students to voice their problems, and providing sufficient counseling services will help curb the problem.

Your employees are what make or break your business. You don’t want any worker to put their life at risk for work each day. High-risk jobs like industrial and manufacturing jobs are among the most dangerous professions globally. As a business owner or manager, you ought to understand that and ensure employee safety accordingly.

If your employees are overexerting themself, there is a high risk of workplace injury. Businesses lose over $14 billion a year in injury cases, so you could lose more money than you make if there are frequent accidents on site. If you don’t have a proper plan in place, your business can suffer high costs for accidents and compensations, affecting the employees’ productivity and health. To help you out, here are some tips to keep the workplace incident-free. 

Create A Culture Of Workplace Safety 

Before you employ some safety policy, first look at the conversations happening in the factory about workplace safety. Are they taking it seriously? What is their knowledge regarding safety protocols? Then focus on how often and in what ways you’ve conveyed the importance of workplace safety to your employees. Are they aware of possible injuries to avoid? Do you have safety drills monthly? Or annually? What would work better for your factory? Of course, knowing what workplace safety is or what is needed is the first step to having a protocol or handbook in place.

Then, you can either outsource the burden of creating SOPs or hire/upskill employees inside the company to develop a robust safety plan. An industrial hygiene masters online program is a smart way to enhance internal resources for a more long-term approach. Motivated employees can upskill flexibly and will be well-equipped to improve the work environment’s health and wellness with well-researched and scientifically sound strategies. 

Partner With Occupational Clinicians

One surefire way to avoid workplace injury is to prevent it entirely. But for that to happen, you have to have valuable insight into workplace injury and prevention. Consulting an occupational clinician can do wonders in that regard. They help you prevent work injuries by visiting your worksite and identifying possible spots for damage.

The clinicians will collaborate with physical and occupational therapists to improve workplace ergonomics when they have the necessary data. This way, they can help you devise a good safety plan and give you human performance evaluations to screen candidates for physical and mental demands during recruitment.

Make A Rule About Wearing Safety Equipment 

Almost all manufacturing jobs require their employees to wear personal protective equipment when in the field. This can range from a helmet, safety goggles, respirators, etc. The key is to ensure all your employees follow the rules and wear the appropriate PPE.

Several factory incidents can easily be prevented if employees wear protective gear as instructed. So, hire safety assurance officers who ensure everyone is well-equipped before starting work and put up signs around the worksite that remind workers to be mindful of wearing PPE. One extreme measure can be fining them if they don’t wear the equipment during a job.

Provides Safety Training

Do not expect your worker to know how to take safety measures in YOUR factory. Companies should be training their employees on workplace safety policies before expecting them to follow them. Teach them workplace ergonomics, a safe way to use industrial equipment, how to wear PPE properly, and conduct drills to handle emergencies. Hire health consultants to conduct seminars explaining the company’s health policy and how workers can take care of themselves if their jobs are physically demanding or if they work in dangerous areas.

Employees must also receive regular and specific training if they are stationed in dangerous areas to understand how to keep themselves safe. If you’ve bought new machinery, they need to be given proper instructions and training on safely operating it.

Schedule Routine Checkups For Equipment 

After you’ve bought machinery, add routine checkups for it to your calendar. Make a timetable for all of your equipment and align checkups for them routinely. It can be extremely dangerous for your workers to use equipment that might be faulty, and leaving that to chance is a disservice on your part as an employer. Plus, that is a lawsuit waiting to happen! Ensure the checkups follow a routine service to ensure machines stay in their best shape and that everything is running smoothly and efficiently. 

Follow Instructions On Equipment Handling 

After receiving any equipment, the first order of business is to read through the manual. Always follow proper procedures when you’re using machinery. Are all the machine parts in appropriate places? Have you missed any instructions? Ensure that the tool guards are correctly adjusted and hand gloves are worn when building the equipment.

If you think the machine is making a noise it shouldn’t, or something feels incomplete to you, seek a professional right away to look at the situation. Ideally, call a professional from the company you bought the equipment from. They are likely to know what the issue is better than a third party. Also, train your employees to report issues right away and use the equipment for the purpose it’s built, don’t try to make something multi-purpose when it is not. Issue a severe warning against moving heavy pieces of machinery by themselves. Always use a forklift or a lift table. It will keep your employees safe, but your materials will not be mishandled. 

Keep An Open Channel For Dialogue 

Your employees should be able to come to you for any health and safety concerns. If they feel overworked or too tired on the job, often this can lead to neglect of the work and their safety. This is especially relevant for industrial workers who have a present mind and body while operating machinery and working in the field. What if they slip and make a mistake that can have irreparable damage?

It worsens if you aren’t aware of what is going on because you haven’t promoted a culture of openly communicating what is amiss to the employers. Working in the factory will be easy if workers can report hazards right away and identify safety concerns for you. 

Conclusion

The safety of an employee should be your top priority at work. With the correct safety measures in place, you can reduce the number of accidents, and giving your workers the proper knowledge and information about workplace injuries will empower them. Healthy employees and safe working conditions will eventually improve the company’s bottom line.