Between the COVID-19 pandemic and the election, it’s easy to get stressed and overwhelmed; Dallas County Public Health recommends taking mental breaks throughout the day.

According to The American Institute of Stress, prolonged stress can cause insomnia, weakened immune system, heart disease, and other critical health problems. Dallas County Public Health Public Information Officer Ann Cochran tells Raccoon Valley Radio it’s as important as ever to make sure you’re taking care of yourself mentally and physically, “Lots of people don’t realize the close relationship between our physical health and our mental health. If you’re stressed, you’re much more prone to catching and having an adverse effect of some kind of bug that’s in the air. If you’re managing your mental health well, feeling fine psychologically, you don’t have such a tendency to get sick. So I would encourage everyone to just take care of yourself in a lot of ways. This is really important heading into the flu season as well.”

Cochran recommends taking advantage of the warmer weather this week by spending time outdoors. You can hear more from Cochran during today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program on KDLS and RaccoonValleyRadio.com.