Improve Mental Health and Wellbeing

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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