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Mental health expert answers questions about coping strategies for managing mental health

There are a lot of new stressors in our lives right now. This week on #TheQandA we’re reaching out to mental health experts to help us work through managing it all.

WASHINGTON — There are a lot of new stressors in our lives right now, from extended time with spouses to home schooling children to not knowing when to stop answering work emails. 

This week on #TheQandA, we reached out to mental health experts to help us work through managing it all.

Punita Mangat is a wellness coach based out of Arlington. She developed R.A.I.N. – a coping strategy for managing our constantly changing home and work life dynamics.

"For [a] short period of time, you have to readjust and rewire yourself to do things differently now than how you used to do them," says Mangat.

But as we know, change is hard. That’s where R.A.I.N. comes in.

Credit: WUSA9
R.A.I.N. - coping strategy for managing mental health stressors

First, Mangat says, you have to RECOGNIZE the problem or stressor in your life and identify it.

"Everything else that we’ve been used to doing you kind of have to throw that out the window and you have to look at this as a very brand new spectrum," Mangat said.

While things will, in some ways, return to how they used to be, Mangat says you have to ACCEPT those differences now so that you can INVESTIGATE how you’re going to manage them going forward.

"Recognize, accept and then investigate," said Mangat. "[You have to] look into [the problem] and say – I have to do things differently now. That’s fine. I can do that."

Then comes NURTURE.

Mangat says you need to be easy with yourself while you're navigating how to manage this change. 

"You’re not going to create this massive stress on yourself and put all of this pressure," she said. "I’m just going to do things differently than I used to do, and that’s OK." 

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