2020 saw a 93% increase in adults looking for support for anxiety, according to Mental Health America. Living through times of crisis, like a global pandemic, are sure to exacerbate existing mental health conditions. It’s perfectly understandable why more people will be looking for support.
If you have found yourself worse off mentally recently, then you might also be on the lookout for some mental health tips. There’s no shame in asking for help. Read on for nine health tips to help you get by and feel yourself again.
1. Use Your Support Network
Sometimes, the best people you can ask for help are the people already around you. It can sometimes feel intimidating to seek help from friends or family, but think of it as if it were the other way around. Wouldn’t you want to help your loved ones if they needed it?
Often, simply sharing a problem or talking about how you’re feeling can be half the battle. Many of us bottle things up by instinct, which only increases our stress levels and makes the matter worse. Open up to a trusted individual, and you’ll likely feel as though a weight has been lifted.
2. Eat Well
Another means of how to improve mental health is to make sure your body is fuelled right. Our bodies and brains can’t function properly when we aren’t taking care of ourselves.
If you find it hard to cook or eat regularly when you’re going through a bad mental health period, get microwave meals with vegetables and protein in them. Another alternative is to bulk-cook a meal you like and freeze portions in advance.
Once you have plenty of food stored up, you can just heat them up quickly and still feed yourself well, even if you’re not well enough to cook.
3. Stay Active
Many experts also agree that exercise is an excellent way of how to boost mental health. Scientists say that just three or more sessions of 45 to 60-minute sessions of cardio per week can help to treat and manage even chronic depression.
It’s important to find an activity or sport that you like so that you’ll want to do it even when you’re feeling down. Find a friend who you can play a game of tennis with, or go swimming in a pool that you like.
4. Develop a Routine
When it comes to mental health ideas that will work for the long-term, consistency is key. Developing a healthy routine is vital for making sure you can improve your mental health over time.
If you don’t find a way of keeping up good mental health practices regularly, you’ll end up stopping and starting different plans and routines over and over again. That won’t help your mental health long-term. We need stability for truly strong mental health.
5. Trust Professional Mental Health Tips
If you’re still looking for more answers on ‘how to better mental health’, sometimes it’s a good idea to reach out to a mental health professional. There’s no shame in seeking advice from a therapist or a counselor, especially if you’re going through a real crisis.
Look for help from organizations that are there to support you, such as your school, college, or workplace. Many organizations have funds or resources in place to support their members where possible, so don’t be afraid to reach out.
6. Stay on Top of Medication
If you’ve been prescribed certain medications to help you manage your mental health, it’s vital that you take them when you need to. Remembering when you need to take your medication can be tricky, especially if your mental health is not at its best.
For a tool to make sure you get the right dose on time, every time, look here. It’s the perfect tool to help you manage your medications.
7. Know When You Need a Break
Every day, we have to manage so many different strains on our time. Work, education, socializing, household tasks – the list goes on. It’s okay to need a break, so give yourself the excuse to take one.
Even if it’s just a day where you order in food instead of cooking, or a day when you turn off your phone and don’t check any emails, you’ll be amazed at how much it can help you reset your energy.
8. Develop Coping Mechanisms
When it comes to how to reduce anxiety, it’s a good idea to learn some coping mechanisms that suit you. For some, grounding techniques are a good way forward. For example, you can count everything that’s the color red in the room, or how many things that start with a certain letter.
Focusing on your surroundings can help pull you back to the present and reduce anxiety about what might happen. Exactly what works for you will be different from what works for others, but once you have something that works, make sure you remember it.
You can even write down good mental health practices for yourself. Alternatively, tell a trusted friend so they can remind you when you’re in a bad mental health patch.
9. Be Your Own Guardian
Finally, it’s important to back yourself. You know yourself better than anyone else. When you know that you’re at the end of your tether and need some space, don’t be afraid of setting boundaries.
No one else can help you with your mental health until you acknowledge what help you need. Once you identify how you’re struggling, only then can you start taking steps to fix the problem.
Keen to Learn More?
It’s not enough to just read these tips through. You really need to put them into practice for them to work. What’s more, they’re most necessary when you’re struggling with your mental health, but that’s often when it’s hardest to remember.
Put visual cues for any of these tips around your home, to remind you that you need to take care of yourself, even and especially when you’re unwell. For more mental health tips, browse through our other health and wellness articles.
