Better Mental Health
Looking to boost your mood, handle your emotions better, or build resilience? These six life-changing strategies for improving mental health and well-being can show you how.
Good mental health
Your mental health influences how you think, feel, and behave in daily life. It also affects your ability to cope with stress, overcome challenges, build relationships, and recover from life’s setbacks and hardships.
Being mentally or emotionally healthy is much more than being free of depression, anxiety, or other psychological issues. Rather than the absence of mental illness, mental health is all about positive characteristics.
Mentally healthy people have:
· Sense of contentment.
· Ability to laugh and have fun.
· Ability to deal with stress and bounce back from adversity.
· Sense of meaning and purpose.
· Flexibility to learn new skills and adapt to change.
· Balance between work and play.
· Ability to build and maintain fulfilling relationships.
· Self-confidence and high self-esteem.
Resilience
Having solid mental health doesn’t mean that you never go through bad times or experience emotional problems. We all go through disappointments, loss, and change. And while these are normal parts of life, they can still cause sadness, anxiety, and stress. But just as physically healthy people are better able to bounce back from illness or injury, people with strong mental health are better able to bounce back from adversity, trauma, and stress. This ability is called resilience.
People who are emotionally and mentally resilient have the tools for coping with difficult situations and maintaining a positive outlook. They remain focused, flexible, and productive, in bad times as well as good. Resilience also makes them less afraid of new experiences or an uncertain future. Even when they don’t immediately know how a problem will get resolved, they are hopeful that a solution will eventually be found.
Boost your mental health
Anyone can suffer from mental health problems. However, despite how common mental health problems are, many of us make no effort to improve our situation.
We ignore the signs, we bottle up our problems in the hope that others won’t notice. We hope our situation will eventually improve on its own. Or we simply give up—telling ourselves this is “just the way we are.”
The good news - there are practices you can adopt to elevate your mood, become more resilient, and enjoy life more. But it requires effort to build and maintain good mental health. We have to work hard to achieve strong mental health.
Reasons we neglect our mental health needs
Mental health issues are seen as less legitimate than physical issues. A sign of weakness or somehow as being our own fault.
Mental health problems as something we should know how to “snap out of.” Men, especially, would often rather bottle up their feelings than seek help.
We can be obsessed with seeking quick, simple answers to complex problems. We look for connection with others through social media instead of reaching out to people in the real world. Or to boost our mood and ease depression, we’d rather pop a pill rather tackle the underlying issues.
Many people think that if they do seek help for mental health, the only treatment options available are medication or therapy.
But there are simple steps you can take to improve the way you feel and experience greater mental and emotional well-being. And you can start today!
Social connection
No matter how much time you devote to improving your mental and emotional health, you will still need the company of others to feel and function at your best. Humans are social creatures with emotional needs for relationships and positive connections to others. Our social brains crave companionship—even when experience has made us shy and distrustful of others.
Face-to-face connection is important?
Nothing can beat the stress-busting, mood-boosting power of quality face-to-face time with other people.
The key is to interact with someone who is a “good listener”—someone you can regularly talk to in person, who will listen to you without their own conceptions of how you should think or feel. A good listener will listen to the feelings behind your words, and won’t interrupt, judge, or criticize you.
Reaching out is not a sign of weakness and it won’t make you a burden to others. There are great benefits to interacting face-to-face with acquaintances or people you encounter during the day. Make eye contact and exchange a smile, a friendly greeting, or small talk.
Quick Tips
Call a friend or loved one now and arrange to meet up.
If you don’t feel that you have anyone to call, reach out to acquaintances.
Get out from behind your TV or computer screen.
Join networking, social, special interest or community groups that meet on a regular basis.
Don’t be afraid to smile and say hello to strangers you cross paths with.
Staying active for your brain
The mind and the body are intrinsically linked. When you improve your physical health, you’ll automatically experience greater mental and emotional well-being. Regular exercise or activity has a great impact on mental health; relieving stress, improving memory, and helps you sleep better.
You don’t have to exercise until you’re soaked in sweat!
Take a walk at lunchtime through a park, walk laps in an air-conditioned mall while window shopping. Walk the dog, or have a dance to your favorite music, play activity-based video games, cycle or walk to appointments.
Modest amounts of physical activity can make a big difference to your mental health—and it will boost your energy and outlook and help you regain a sense of control.
Quick Tips
Aim for 30 minutes of activity every day. If it’s easier, three 10-minute sessions can be just as effective.
Try rhythmic exercise that engages both your arms and legs, such as walking, running, swimming, weight training, martial arts, or dancing.
Add a mindfulness element to your workouts. Instead of focusing on your thoughts, focus on how your body feels as you move—how your feet hit the ground, for example, the rhythm of your breathing, or the feeling of wind on your skin.
Keeping stress levels under control!
Stress takes a heavy toll on our mental health. Stress management strategies can help you brings things back into balance.
Talk to a friendly face. Face-to-face social interaction with someone who cares about you is the most effective way to calm your nervous system and relieve stress.
Appeal to your senses. Does listening to an uplifting song make you feel calm? Or smelling ground coffee or a favorite scent? Or maybe squeezing a stress ball works quickly to make you feel centered? Experiment to find what works best for you.
Make leisure time a priority. Partake in your favorite activities for no reason other than that they make you feel good. Go to a funny movie, take a walk on the beach, listen to music, read a good book, or talk to a friend. Doing things just because they are fun is no indulgence, it is a mental health necessity.
Make time for contemplation and appreciation. Think about the things you’re grateful for. Mediate, pray, enjoy the sunset, or simply take a moment to pay attention to what is good, positive, and beautiful as you go about your day.
Take up a relaxation practice. While sensory input can relieve stress in the moment, relaxation techniques can help reduce your overall levels of stress—Yoga, mindfulness meditation, deep breathing, or progressive muscle relaxation can put the brakes on stress and bring your mind and body back into a state of balance.
Get a brain-healthy diet to support better mental health
An unhealthy diet can take a toll on your brain and mood, disrupt your sleep, sap your energy, and weaken your immune system. A wholesome diet, low in sugar and rich in healthy fats, can give you more energy, improve your sleep and mood, and help you to look and feel your best.
People respond slightly differently to certain foods, depending on genetics and other health factors, so experiment with how types of food change the way you feel.
Foods that adversely affect your mental health
Caffeine.
Alcohol.
Trans fats or anything with “partially hydrogenated” oil.
Foods with high levels of chemical preservatives or hormones.
Sugary snacks.
Refined carbs (such as white rice or white flour).
Fried food.
Foods that improve your mental health
Fatty fish rich in Omega-3s such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, tuna.
Nuts such as walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts.
Avocados.
Flaxseed.
Beans.
Leafy greens such as spinach, kale, sprouts.
Fresh fruit such as blueberries.
Sleep—it’s important!
When it comes to your mental health, getting enough sleep is a necessity, not a luxury. Skipping even a few hours here and there can take a toll on your mood, energy, mental sharpness, and ability to handle stress.
Adults should aim for seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night. Importantly, brain also needs time to unwind at the end of the day. That means taking a break from the stimulation of screens—TV, phone, tablet, computer—in the two hours before bedtime, putting aside work, and postponing arguments, worrying, or brainstorming until the next day.
Quick Tips
To wind down, calm the mind, and prepare for sleep, try taking a warm bath, reading by a soft light, listening to soothing music, or practicing a relaxation technique before bed.
To help set your body’s internal clock and optimize the quality of your sleep, stick to a regular sleep-wake schedule, even on weekends.
Make sure your bedroom is dark, cool, and quiet. Curtains, white noise machines, and fans can help.
Purpose and meaning in life!
Everyone derives meaning and purpose in different ways that involve benefiting others, as well as yourself. You may think of it as a way to feel needed, feel good about yourself, a purpose, or simply a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
In biological terms, finding meaning and purpose is essential to brain health. It strengthens your immune system, alleviates pain, relieves stress, and keeps you motivated to pursue other steps to improve mental health.
Achieving meaning and purpose!
Partake in activities that challenge your creativity and make you feel productive, whether or not you get paid for them. Some ideas are gardening, drawing, writing, playing an instrument, or making something.
Spending quality time giving of yourself to people who matter to you - friends, family, or people in the community - can support both your mental health and theirs, and provides a sense of purpose.
Pets are a responsibility, but caring for one makes you feel needed and loved. There’s no love quite as unconditional as the love a pet can give. Animals can also get you out of the house for exercise and expose you to new people and places.
We’re hard-wired to be social and give to others. The meaning and purpose derived from helping in the community can enrich and expand your life—and make you happier. There’s no limit to volunteering opportunities you can explore. Schools, churches, nonprofits, and charitable organizations of all sorts depend on volunteers for their survival.
Speak with professionals!
If you’ve made consistent efforts to improve your mental health and still aren’t functioning optimally it may be time to seek professional help. Caring professionals and support workers can often help motivate you.
Abridged/edited by Spence Black based on work by authors: Melinda Smith, M.A., Robert Segal, M.A., Lawrence Robinson, and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D.
See full article here - https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/building-better-mental-health.htm
