Mental Health Wellness
With the new year comes new resolutions. One good goal to help your focus in the new year is to work on improving your mental health. With mental illnesses, like anxiety and other mood disorders, on the rise, it is important for people to take care of themselves more than ever before and realize when they need to seek professional help. Here are some tips and tricks for you to stay in tune with yourself and promote your mental health for the new year!
1. Spend time with people
A plethora of research has come out citing the benefits of connecting with others and forming strong, good relationships. This can take lots of forms; people might consider spending more time with their family, friends, neighbors, or acquaintances. Spending time with people and building significant relationships gives you a net of people that you can reach out to in times of need. This also promotes a sense of belonging and a source of encouragement. Another way to spend more time with others is to volunteer or join an activity that you are interested in.
2. Keeping track of gratitude and achievement
It is easy for us to get bogged down in our responsibilities and obligations, but taking just a few minutes to keep track of the things that are most important to us and appreciating our accomplishments. There are multiple journal-like apps that can make this even easier.
3. Focus on your strengths
When faced with difficulties, it can help to build self-confidence by doing something familiar before tackling a challenge. One doesn’t always have to seek out new things to do, sometimes doing the things that we already enjoy and know how to do is sufficient. Doing something you are confident in can help boost your morale and encourage you to step out of your comfort zone more often.
4. Taking care of yourself.
This has many facets to it, including focusing on eating nutritious meals, getting exercise, drinking water, and getting enough sleep; taking care of your physical health can improve mental health. Therefore, it is important to be mindful of the habits you may have to change for the better; it is okay to occasionally indulge and take breaks, as a matter of fact, they are often necessary in order to maintain changes and positivity.
5. Be Active
While it is common for people to enter into the new year in pursuit of exercising more for their health or weight loss, your mental health can also benefit. Contrary to what you might think, it doesn’t have to be a difficult workout. Being active can entail anything from a 10 minute walk, to playing a game of soccer with friends.
6. Seeking professional help
Knowing when you need to seek professional help for anything is a strength rather than a weakness. It is important to know when you just cannot help yourself any more and need some extra guidance. Some symptoms that you might experience when you might need to seek professional help are if you or people around you see changes in mood or appetite. Abusing drugs or food can often be a go-to method for people looking to cope with their issues. Feeling as though you are not yourself, whether due to a loss, traumatic event, or for seemingly no reason, can be a reason to seek help.
If you are struggling with your mental health, or you know someone who might be struggling, please feel free to contact the professional team at Lifeline Connections for help! Getting yourself help, whether it is through self-help or by reaching out to professionals is an important part of recognizing that you are struggling; it is also a good step forward in getting the help you need. You can visit Lifelineconnections.org or call 360.397.8246 for more information.
