

Between now and Dec. 31st, The Patriot Ledger will bring you stories about South Shore people in need this holiday season.
The money you give will be used to help meet the needs of the people they write about and of many other of our neighbors who are struggling this holiday season. The Lend a Hand fund will share your donations among long-established and wide-reaching community service agencies. Partners again this year are Quincy Community Action, South Shore Community Action and South Shore Mental Health.
Individuals and families whose stories you read have been chosen by the agencies as representatives of their hundreds of clients who live, work and attend school on the South Shore.
You can make a Lend a Hand donation online, or with the Lend a Hand coupon for you to print out and send in with your donation to those in need this holiday season.
Plan: Take control of the Holidays. With proper planning we can minimize the impact of stress. It is alright to discontinue old traditions that no longer meet our needs and start new family traditions.
Understand Your Feelings: All of us are under pressure to be happy during the Holidays. It is important to understand that we have myriad feelings, including some sad feelings, during the Holidays.
Communicate and Compromise: Discuss Holiday plans with family members. Be assertive but recognize that family members also have needs.
Take Care of Your Health: Enjoy yourself but be careful to eat well, continue to exercise, get quality sleep and moderate alcohol use.
Be Generous: The true meaning of the season is to be generous. Think of others during the Holidays.
With appropriate planning we may not be able to eliminate the stress in our lives caused by the holidays but we can reduce the impact of stress and create a memorable holiday season.
Stress management is not just for the holidays. Set a goal to live a less stressful life in 2010. Before implementing your 2010 Stress Management Program, consider the following:
Personal Inventory: Take a personal inventory and look for the sources of stress. Is your stress coming from your Job, Family, Environment or Your Personal Life Style?
Personal Stress Response: How do you respond to stress? During stressful times do you experience stress Physically (i.e. backache), Emotionally (i.e. feel sad), Cognitively (i.e. think bad things about yourself) or Behaviorally (i.e. eat or drink alcohol more)? Understanding your personal response to stress will help you recognize when you are under stress!Change your health habits. Eat healthier, less processed foods. Stay away from high fat, greasy fast foods. Remember, healthy foods increase energy, fast foods reduce energy. Avoid excessive alcohol use.
Exercise more. Aerobic exercise (walking, jogging, dancing and swimming) for thirty minutes a day approximately four times a week increases our ability to resist stress. Work out with weights. When we strengthen our muscles, we look better and feel better. Remember it is important to stretch before we exercise and do not forget to consult your primary care physician if you have not recently exercised.
Make it a point to relax. Practice relaxation, meditation, yoga or self- hypnosis. We have spent our lives learning how to be tense, so spend a little time learning to relax.
Mini stress breaks. Several times a day stop what you are doing; take a deep breath and think of a relaxing scene. For example visualize a relaxing beach scene or a relaxing mountain vista. Also think positive thoughts about yourself. We have to create positive affirmations to counter a potentially stressful or negative situation.
Develop a hobby. Do something that you always wanted to do. Join a book group, take a course, learn how to use the internet etc.
Have fun. Plan at least one fun thing each week. Learn to balance work and play.
Socialize More. Call or email new friends and old friends. Plan to get together with friends and family on a regular basis.
Plan ahead. If you have a major change coming in the future, plan ahead. Make sure you balance work and relaxation and ask for support or help from friends, family members or co-workers.
Remember The Three S’s. Stress, Solution and Strategy. While we need to employ a short term Solution to any Stressful situation, we need a long term Strategy to actually solve the problem.
Meet Madison – A little girl who has benefited from early intervention. Click here for her story
South Shore Mental Health is embarking on an exciting initiative to expand the Step One Program so that we can help more children with developmental delays each year. In order to do this we will be renovating two buildings, the Mollie Hirshberg and Hilda Mahoney Learning Centers located in Squantum, Quincy MA.
The new campus will enable us to expand our services and increase the quality of care we provide. Children will now be able to play, and interact with their peers in four new classrooms. A music room and indoor and outdoor play areas will help children develop and exercise their motor and sensory skills. There will also be a family training room and consultation areas for parents to meet with clinicians.
Click here to read more . .