Family Practice Associates of Lexington Blog

Hot Temperature. Hot Temper?

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 17:38:00 GMT

Hello FPA friends and family! We have arrived in the month of August. We're gearing up to send our kiddos back to school and resume some of our normal rhythms. We're also on the edge of a changing season, shifting away from the heat of the summer into the crispy cool of the fall.

You may have noticed (I'd be shocked if you didn't) that our summer came with some intensely high temperatures. I stay curious about the relationship between external environment and internal experience. The heat waves of the season made me wonder about the impact of hot weather on irritability, mood, and relationships.

There are some real implications of abnormally hot weather on our physical, emotional, and relational well-being. You might notice during heat waves that you have a shorter fuse, you tend to snap back at others, you might have difficulty concentrating, some general restlessness or an antsy feeling, your baseline frustration might have risen. This is all directly correlated with temperature.

Research tells us that higher temperatures impact serotonin levels in the brain, which directly contributes to a lower mood and increased stress. Serotonin is one of a few neurotransmitters that regulate mood as well as regulate body temperature. Heat causes our bodies to work harder to keep the internal temperature safe, which in turn increases our levels of cortisol in the body. Cortisol is a stress hormone that acts as an internal fire alarm. Heat can impact sleep quality or quantity, which cycles us into a higher baseline of physiological stress and reduces our capacity to manage the minor irritations of daily life.

So my friends, if you've found yourself extra grumpy or generally impatient this summer… it's not just you. This is a collective experience and a natural physiological response to an extreme environment.

My advice for you is this: keep it cool.

Get yourself to a cooler environment, stay indoors as much as possible when the heat waves strike.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Your body needs it. Water and electrolytes are your best friends here, caffeinated and sugary drinks are going to further dehydrate your body and your body is not going to thank you for it.
Take some deep breaths. Seriously, take some deep breaths. Deep breathing resets our nervous system so that we can act more thoughtfully and think more clearly.
Practice healthy stress management. Take up an indoor hobby for these hot days.
Be nice to yourself and to the people around you. If you snap at your loved ones, notice where your irritability level is, make a concise and sincere apology, and go do something cooling!

Vacation Mode- But I'm Still Stressed

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 12:24:00 GMT

Unspoken: (The Hidden Crisis of) Men's Mental Health

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 12:08:00 GMT

Hello to FPA as we welcome the month of June! You might not be aware that June is designated as Men's Health Month , which is why I want to share some thoughts with you specifically about men's mental health. You'll notice as I write that I make some generalizations about both male culture and female culture, and I want to note up top that of course these things are not true for all individuals and that my language choice of men/man is not exclusionary to other masculine gender identities.

So why am I writing about this and what's the problem here? Men don't talk about things that need talking about. What outcome does that yield? Men suffer. They suffer in silence. They feel alone. They are at much higher risk of death by suicide. What are we going to do about that? Talk to our men. Men, talk to each other.

The conversation is truly just beginning about men's mental health and how it intersects with our cultural ideas of masculinity and the expectations we place as a culture on the men in our lives. Why don't men talk about their mental and emotional struggles? That's an easy question for me to answer.

First-

Stigma is a huge hurdle in the tending of men's mental health. How many of you heard or have even said to someone you love things like: Man up. Stop crying. Handle it yourself. Take it like a man. Don't be a * insert derogatory term here *?

Men historically haven't been given the freedom to express themselves openly. Our expectation is one of strength, stoicism, emotional repression, apathy, and radical independence. Somewhere along the way we started equating strength with a lack of vulnerability. Vulnerability is weakness, and weakness is failure. The men who've bought into this belief wind up suffering in isolation, alone and hiding. Their pain gets boxed up and packed away internally, where it becomes a pressure cooker only to result in either an explosion on the people around them or an implosion on themselves.

Second-

Presentation of mental health concerns looks different in men. Depression might not look like depression, it might look like irritability, anger, loss of interest in work or hobbies, emotional numbness, relational disconnect, sexual disinterest, high risk-taking or reckless behavior. Anxiety might present as workaholism, insomnia, lack of focus or productivity, or perfectionism. Both depression and anxiety could manifest as a substance abuse problem, using alcohol or other drugs as an attempt to cope.

Third-

Missed warning signs are one of my top concerns when it comes to men's mental health. Men in America constitute 80% of deaths by suicide. That's four times higher than the death by suicide rate for women. Our men are suffering, and they are dying because of it. In American men under the age of 45, suicide is the second leading cause of death behind accidental death due to unintentional injury.

Fourth-

Lack of opportunity or access is another significant contributor to the mental health crisis men face. There aren't a lot of resources specifically for men to manage their mental health, and the large majority of mental health providers are women which can create a barrier due to assumptions or biases. Men- have some real talk with your buddies. Have some real talk to your brothers. Check in on each other. Be honest with yourselves, and be honest with one another. Encourage each other to go to therapy to deal with issues like depression or anxiety or substance abuse. If you get up the courage to seek therapy for yourself, tell your friends you've taken that step. It doesn't need to be a secret. If you find a therapist you like and trust, send your friends to them as well.

What can we do to support and encourage the men in our lives?

I talk sometimes about meaningful cultural change needing to come from inside the circle. What I mean is, women telling men how they need to take care of themselves isn't as effective as men supporting men from within the culture of masculinity. Lots of guys I know don't really talk to the guys in their lives. They talk to their female partners. Which is helpful, and healthy, but not enough. All of us need more than one person in our lives that we can share our struggles and our hurt with, rely on when things are tough, and celebrate with when life is good. Women are blessed with the privilege of female friendships, which are culturally encouraged and celebrated. Women are allowed to take girls' trips with their friends, call their sisters and chat on the commute, cry together and hold each other. The same freedom hasn't been given to our men. How many men in your life call a guy friend of theirs and just chat for an hour on a regular basis? How many men cry together (especially when they're sober)? How many hug and embrace each other? If you're a man who suffers from depressive episodes, have you ever said out loud to another man "I'm depressed or I'm not doing well or I'm really struggling right now."?

Men, hug your buddies. Tell them you love them. Check on them when they seem off. Let them know its ok to struggle, that it isn't weak to ask for some help when life feels like it's too much to handle. Be gentle with one another. Build each other up. Don't bottle everything up inside.

To the men in my life and the men brave enough to come work with me:

I admire you, I'm proud of you, and I'm so grateful to be alongside you as you grow into the men you're meant to be .

More Than Sick: Chronic Illness and Identity

Fri, 09 May 2025 18:34:00 GMT

Hello FPA! Today I want to share some thoughts with you about how we can untangle our identities from our medical and mental health illnesses.

Getting Older, Getting Wiser?

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 18:11:00 GMT

Hello FPA and happy April! This month I want to share a few thoughts with you about aging. If you're one of my patients, you've seen my face and probably noticed I'm one of our younger providers.

The Science of Being Happy

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 18:53:00 GMT

All I know About Love

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 19:02:00 GMT

When the Trees are Bare

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 18:44:00 GMT

Less Can Be More

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 15:03:00 GMT

Hello friends of FPA!December is in full swing. The holiday season is upon us. With the holidays often comes an increase in stress. We manage the expectations of ourselves and our loved ones around traditions, gatherings, gifting, and events.This is your gentle reminder to be honest with yourself and others about what matters to you during the holiday season.Less can be more.Doing less can lead to having more- more bandwidth, more quality time, more patience, more presence, more gratitude, more joy.Less pressure can mean more ease with your loved ones. Less gifting can mean more security for your family finances. Less hosting can mean more patience during times of togetherness.If you find that the holidays put you in a funk, get curious with yourself about why. You might be grieving the loss of an important person, celebrating without them for the first time. You might be stressed about finances and anxious about how you're going to afford everything expected of you. You might get irritable when you feel obligated to attend events and gatherings where you're socially uncomfortable. You might feel resentful or bitter about the time and effort you put into decorating or cooking or shopping without being acknowledged for your work.If the holiday season is bringing you down, look for creative ways to minimize that negative impact. Set some limits for yourself, ask your family to support you in taking good care of yourself. Delegate tasks to your partner or parent or child. Make sure you actually rest if you're afforded time away from work and other responsibilities.Order a meal or organize a potluck instead of cooking. Put up the decorations that mean the most to you, and leave the rest in storage. Draw names for family gifting instead of everyone buying for everyone.Do less if doing less brings you more. - Rae Holliday, LMFT

Hard Talks

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 14:12:00 GMT

Harvesting

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 12:17:00 GMT

Happy October FPA! It’s harvest season! The weather is turning, the leaves are changing, fall is arriving. What does it mean to harvest? To gather the fruits of your labor? To dig up the product of your hard work and enjoy and rest and celebrate? The harvest season means many things to many cultures, but the themes of harvest season tend to be abundance and joy. This is a season to celebrate and be at ease.So many of us aren't familiar with peace and rest. We stay busy. We stay busy with kids and family and work and friendships and hobbies and communities. We forget how important resting is, how vital a harvest season is to the goodness and fullness of our spirits. Abundance and joy.Close your eyes for a mindful moment and reflect on the words abundance and joy. Think hard about the last time you really felt joyful, about the last time you really felt at peace. Picture yourself in that moment, just content. A moment when there was nothing to do and nowhere you needed to be, just still and at ease and comfortable.Where were you in that moment? Who were you with? What was on your mind? What was happening in your life at that time? Can you pursue that feeling with intention? Create more moments for yourself in which you can really take in the goodness? Peace is accessible to us, if we only take the time to sink into it. This harvest season I invite you to celebrate, I invite you to rest. Gather the goods of your efforts and enjoy yourself. Find some ease. Acknowledge your hard work and persistence by relaxing and resting and indulging. - Rae Holliday, LMFT

Making Friends with Your Feelings: The Grief Edition

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 12:14:00 GMT

Transition Anxiety Anyone?

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 14:36:00 GMT

Hello FPA friends, and happy August! It's back to school season! Let's talk about getting back into the swing of things and how to ease the anxieties that might come with transitional times.

If you have small kiddos (like me), or even big kiddos, or work in the education system, you're preparing for a familiar transition in the next couple of weeks. Summer is coming to an end, which for the youngers is a very sad reality and for the parents is probably a reason to celebrate! Structure and routine are so helpful and for all the fun that summer is, structure usually lacks. It can be hard to shift back into a regulated sleep schedule, a routine that might include homework or after school activities, and adjusting to the social and intellectual demands of being a student. Maybe your little is starting kindergarten this year! What a mixed bag of emotions. Maybe your big is returning to college in a few weeks, and you know it'll be strange to have them out of the house for months at a time.

Transition anxiety is a phenomenon associated with change. Our bodies and our brains have 'adjustment periods' when our daily routines shift. Our minds are trying to predict what will happen next in order to keep us safe and healthy. Transition times come with unknowns, and unknowns are scary for a lot of us.

If you or your little (or your big) is having some anxiety about the upcoming school year, try adopting some of these practices to ease the angst.

Routine and Stability

Keep some elements of your routine stable as you move into a new schedule. Take time to enjoy that morning cup of coffee without a screen or a distraction. Adopt a nighttime ritual of reading a chapter or two with your kids. These practices can provide consistency amidst change, which helps us manage anxiety.

Seek Support

Talk with your friends and family about the changes! Find some mom friends to cry with when you send your baby off to school for the first time. Share with your spouse that you'll miss your college student while they're away. Encourage your kids to talk about how they feel when new things are happening. If the transition is hitting you extra hard, consider talking with a therapist about how it's impacting you.

Do the Basics

Oftentimes when anxiety increases, basic self-care decreases. Be sure to eat food that fuels your body well, drink enough water, get enough sleep, move your body every day, and engage in the activities that make you happy just because they make you happy. Give your kiddo some quiet time to come down from the day when they arrive home from school. Make sure you put snacks in their backpacks! Being fed, rested, and watered makes dealing with any tough emotion a thousand times easier.

I'll be thinking of you as we move into this next season together! Let's take good care of ourselves and each other, especially in the seasons of transition and anxiety.

Rae Holliday, LMFT

Good News

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 12:09:00 GMT