Improve Mental Health and Wellbeing

October 12, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

One in four people will suffer with a mental health problem in their lifetime. Rates of anxiety and depression are rising, especially amongst young adults and teenagers. It’s a sad fact that so many people are suffering and not getting the support they need or know other ways of supporting their mental health and wellbeing themselves.

There are lots of ways to help your mental health, lift your mood, overcome the symptoms of anxiety and depression, and get back to feeling like yourself again. With a bit of TLC, motivation and dedication, you can find natural ways of getting yourself back on track.

mental health

Here are some top tips to helping your mental health and wellbeing.

1. Exercise

It’s hard when you’re feeling low or anxious to leave the comfort of your home or your safety zone, but going for a brisk walk, a run or heading to the gym is a great way of helping your mental wellbeing. When you exercise, chemicals in your brain (such as serotonin) are released and these chemicals greatly improve your mental wellbeing. Even if you don’t feel like going for a run, moving around the house, dancing to your favourite song or even just running up and down the stairs a few times will make a difference.

2. Meditate

Meditation is one of the best ways to improve your mental wellbeing. Panic attacks are worsened by a change in breathing patterns. Sometimes it may feel like you can’t breathe or your finding it difficult to breathe in deeply, but meditation helps you to correct your breathing, thus reducing the panic attack. Mindfulness meditation is also a great way of reminding yourself to live in the present and not worry about what has happened or what one day might happen. If you can’t afford to go to a professional class, YouTube has many great mediation videos and phone apps such as Mind Space are great forms of free/cheap meditation.

3. Reduce Coffee Consumption

Yes, coffee is great in the morning! The caffeine gets you up and it gets you moving, however, it also increases anxiety. Caffeine is a very strong stimulant and the side effects of drinking too much coffee are very similar of those to anxiety. It can increase nervousness, make you jittery, keep you awake and can even cause paranoia. If you are anxious it’s best to avoid caffeine in any shape or form, be it coffee or coke. If you do want a good cup of steaming coffee then get a decaf, it tastes just as good but it spares you the anxiety attack.

4. Positivity Notes

It’s so much easier to focus on the negative things in your life, but this is a quick fire way to ruining your day. Get a big pad of colourful sticky notes and write down lots of positive notes. “I have a wonderful family”, “I am beautiful”, “I am healthy”, “I am going to have a wonderful day!” Writing positive confirmations and placing them on household items you use the most – the fridge, your box of tea bags, your jewellery box, your mirror – is a good little reminder and pick-me-up for when you are feeling a little down.

5. Journal

Journalizing your feelings is a great, cathartic remedy to helping your mental wellbeing. If you feel like you can’t talk about how you are feeling, writing it down can help you get all your feelings out and into the open. It’s important to express your emotions and not hold them in. If you are anxious about something in particular, write it down in your journal, go away for an hour and focus on something else. After an hour has passed, re-read what you wrote in your journal and a lot of the time, you will realize that what your worried about isn’t worth ruining your day

6. Talking Therapy

Mental health isn’t something everybody loves talking about because, sadly, a lot of people are embarrassed or ashamed of it, but this shouldn’t be the case. It’s important to talk to your family or a close friend and explain how you’re feeling. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel afterwards. You might even find that the person you talk to has been there as well.

7. Acceptance

This is probably the most important tip on mental health that this article has to offer, but it is also the hardest self-help technique. Accepting that you are anxious and not fighting a panic attack, accepting that you are depressed and not letting it consume you, accepting that your mental health isn’t where you want it to be is the best thing you could do. Life becomes a lot better when you accept who you are instead of being ashamed or embarrassed. Love yourself, no matter what you struggle with.

Conclusion

Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean that your mental wellbeing isn’t as important as your physical wellbeing. Your body is a machine, if one cog isn’t functioning well the rest falls behind, too. Remember – mental health isn’t something to be embarrassed about. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

James Kelly

http://www.learnhandyhealthandwellnesstips.com

High Wycombe, Western Australia, 6057

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Filed Under: Health and Wellness, mental health · Tagged: , , , ,

Dealing With Depression

February 17, 2015 by · Leave a Comment

Depression is the most serious disaster in terms of your journey towards the negative realms until you are left with no desire to live.  The true cause of depression is not yet known, but researchers believe that serotonin level in your brain can be attributed to depression and negative thoughts. There are several factors like stress, inferiority complex, negative thoughts, emotional setback or deep-rooted  trauma and lifestyle-related  issues that can lead to depression. Unfortunately, these factors reinforce one another to create a trap like situation. In this article, we will discuss the topic of ‘dealing with depression‘ and how we can get out of a depressed state of mind and lead a happy life.

dealing with depression

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are 5 tips for dealing with depression:-

 

1. Seek Medical Support.

When you feel sad, alone or perturbed by emotional or psychological issues like inferiority complex, relationship issues, breakups, and other crying / depressing situations for a few days, you should seek the support of a qualified physician for dealing with depression, and if he or she recommends, fix an appointment with a good psychiatrist. Several studies have confirmed that our emotional well-being is directly related to certain chemicals in the brain, and its deficiency can lead to serious depression.  Unfortunately, people don’t understand the importance of seeking medical support when they go through the heart-breaking  trauma and emotional stress.

As I have already mentioned, the factors contributing to depression reinforce each other. For example, if you are depressed or suffering from any emotional trauma,  you are more likely to spend sleepless nights. Obviously, waking all night and hardly sleeping in the day can play havoc with your overall health. Depression and sleeping disturbances then start reinforcing each other creating huge health stresses.

2. Change Your attitude.

People are more likely to get depressed when they try to change the environment as per their own values and preferences, and expect their loved ones or friends to accept these values and beliefs. You must acknowledge that you cannot change your environment as per your preferences. You should learn to respect the decision of your loved ones without feeling hurt. Stress, agony, ego, inferiority complex, betrayal or other emotional issues have to be seen in different perspective. A positive approach in life can go a long way to dealing with depression.

3. Believe in God, if possible.

Having a pagan faith is more likely to get you depressed because it feeds the belief that you are in control. Faith plays a very important role in pacifying negative thoughts. When you are ready to accept what the almighty God has to offer, you are ready to adjust to your environment rather than changing it. On the other hand, if you belief that religion is a matrix to control people, you are creating a conflicting situation. This is the reason why many brilliant scholars end up in depression.

4. Lead an Active Life and join Yoga, if possible.

Physical activity is very important for leading a healthy life. Human beings are not supposed to lead a sedentary life in nature. Clinical trials have proven that physical activity restores the serotonin balance within the brain. Yoga or meditation is a special kind of physical activity that relieves stress and restores the perfect balance between your body, soul and mind. Yoga has nothing to do with any religion or cult. The scientific principles behind this traditional physical activity have been proven by the modern researchers.

5. Connect with your friends and community.

The tendency to avoid social interactions or leading a lonely life is a very important sign of depression. Loneliness and depression are mutually reinforcing. You should try to connect with your friends, family and mingle with the community. You should acknowledge that your family members or friends are not responsible for your emotional setback, and true friends will always pray for your good health and well-being. When I say to connect with friends and community, I mean real people not strangers on the Facebook. Social media sites are more suitable for connecting with your existing friends.

SUMMARY

Good mental wellness and emotional health is very important to have in this modern day society where too often people have unrealistic life goals the non attainment of which can often lead to depression. I do hope that you will find the above tips useful for dealing with depression.

James Kelly

http://www.learnhandyhealthandwellnesstips.com

High Wycombe, Western Australia, 6057

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Filed Under: depression, Health and Wellness · Tagged: , , , , , ,