The “Break Your Stress Cycle” campaign is the result of community members in Southwestern Wisconsin coming together to share strategies for managing stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are all experiencing heightened anxiety right now, and we are all exhausted from being anxious all the time. Unmanaged stress can become a cycle of stress and exhaustion that may seem never-ending. There are things you can do to #breakyourstresscycle.
These six simple steps can be done every day to Break Your Stress Cycle. Based on evidence from medical professionals, these activities have been shown to reduce anxiety and boost your mood. Please explore all six topics below.
If you need help now, contact one of our local crisis lines:
Northwest Connections- 888-552-6642
Iowa-Grant Crisis Line (Unified Community Services)- 800-362-5717
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline- 800-273-8255
National Crisis Textline- 741741
National Disaster Distress Helpline- 800-985-5990
If you are looking for treatment options, find local providers at the Southwestern WI Network of Care site.
Decrease Stress by Using Your Breath by Lauren A. Peterson, RN
Stress Management: Breathing Exercising for Relaxation by Healthwise Staff
Stress Relief from Laughter? It’s No Joke by Mayo Clinic Staff
Healing Through Humor by Northwestern Medicine
Hugs and Kisses: The Health Impact of Affective Touch by Maria Cohut, PhD
Hugging for 20 Seconds a Day May Reduce Your Stress by Shanti Das
Exercise and Stress: Get Moving to Manage Stress by Mayo Clinic Staff
Exercising to Relax from Harvard Health Publishing
Here’s How Creativity Actually Improves Your Health by Ashley Stahl
What Are the Health Benefits of Being Creative? by Maria Cohut, PhD
Social Support: Tap this Tool to Beat Stress by Mayo Clinic Staff
What Are the Health Benefits of Being Social? by Maria Cohut, PhD
How can I be involved?
Please join us for our media campaign!
These flyers and images are free to download. You can print the PDFs and post these flyers in essential businesses in your area to promote simple ways to relieve stress and anxiety within your community. You can post the images to your organization’s social media page to spread the messages virtually. You can print them out on card stock and give them to important people in your life, or use as bookmarks. You can share them on your personal instagram account- please use the hashtag #breakyourstresscycle.
Flyers
Cards (5″x 7″)
Radio Ads
Social Media Graphics
Newspaper Ads
Want to see one of these as an ad in your local paper? Contact Bridget at b.mouchon-humphrey@swcap.org to make a tax-deductible donation of the cost of a newspaper ad to our campaign. Any exposure of this information helps!
Check out our upcoming events page to learn about any related trainings in your area!
How can I learn more?
“BURNOUT is for anyone who has felt overwhelmed and exhausted by everything they have to do, yet still worried they weren’t doing ‘enough.’
We wrote it because it’s the book we needed ourselves. It contains the science and stories that helped us through some of the roughest times of our lives and even may have saved Amelia’s life – twice.”
Learn more here.
“Humans are social creatures: in this simple and obvious fact lies both the problem and the solution to the current crisis of loneliness. In his groundbreaking book, the 19th Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy makes a case for loneliness as a public health concern: a root cause and contributor to many of the epidemics sweeping the world today from alcohol and drug addiction to violence to depression and anxiety. Loneliness, he argues, is affecting not only our health but also how our children experience school, how we perform in the workplace, and the sense of division and polarization in our society.
But, at the center of our loneliness is our innate desire to connect. We have evolved to participate in community, to forge lasting bonds with others, to help one another, and to share life experiences. We are, simply, better together.”
Learn more here.
Thank You to Our Partners
Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
SWCAP Farm Well Program