Tips for better mental health

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Introduction

This pandemic has made all of us health-conscious and we all are striving in different ways to take care of our body. In this current scenario, be it with or without Covid, it’s high time, health is given priority as well. Most of us do take care of physical health, but often mental health is neglected or not given due importance. 

What is the definition of mental health? Mental health means an individual’s psychological, social, and emotional well-being. It relates to how we feel, ponder, and act. Mental health is not just vital during middle or old age, but it is equally important at all stages of life.

Your mental health is good when you can work productively, realize your potential, be able to cope with normal stresses of life, experience all kinds of emotions, be satisfied with your life, and be able to contribute to the community. One might be struggling with a bad mental health state but it does mean that they are suffering from mental illness. Mental health and mental illness are dissimilar to each other.

A mental illness means a condition or an illness that affects the way we feel, behave, think, and interact with others. There are many types of mental illnesses, and each of them has different symptoms that impact people in different ways. 

Along with physical health, we need to equally maintain mental health as well. It is recommended to consult a psychologist online who will hear you out and suggest tips for good mental health

Mental health important for overall health

Mental health is quite crucial to living a balanced and healthy life. It impacts your emotions, thoughts, and behavior. If you are healthy mentally you can promote productivity in your day-to-day activities. Good mental health provides the zest to live, laugh, and have fun. It directly affects your relationships, helps you to sail through the changes in your life, and muddles through any kind of adversity. Poor mental health will negatively impact immunity. It may also lead to social issues like broken families, poverty, unemployment, and crime. The importance of mental health is most often snubbed. 

How to Assess Your Mental Health

When we are physically unwell, we normally would check our temperature to see whether we have a fever or not or check our blood pressure. But have you ever thought, how would you check the status of your mental health? The best thing that can be done is to look out for symptoms of mental health such as mood swings, insomnia, and difficulty in concentration, sadness without any tragic event, hypersensitivity, social withdrawal, appetite changes, and suicide thoughts. If you experience any of these symptoms for a prolonged period, immediately seek medical assistance; opt to consult a psychologist online. In the same way that it is necessary and acceptable to opt for a treatment for any kind of physical injury, one should not feel ashamed to seek help for issues related to mental health as well. 

Ways to Improve your Mental Health

You can improve or rather cultivate habits to improve your mental health for this the first course of action should be to list out things that will lead to a healthy mindset such as the ones mentioned below: If the below suggested ways doesn’t help it becomes vital to immediately consult a psychologist online or offline. 

Value Yourself 

First and foremost is self-care. Avoid self-criticism. It’s important to understand self-love psychology.  We are all different from one another and we should accept that we are unique rather than comparing ourselves with others. If you feel good about yourself, it will boost your confidence to visit new places, make new friends, and learn some new skills. Good self-esteem helps to cope with life in trying times. 

Modify your diet. 

Diet is a trivial, yet important aspect that may affect your mental health. Diet and mental health are co-related. Lack of nutrition leads to poor mental health. Avoid junk foods. Opt for fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fish, and others that lead to a healthy lifestyle which in turn promotes positive mental health. Keep in mind good food, good mood

Spare time for Physical activity

Exercise for mental health can be a total game-changer. Being physically active is a verified natural mood elevator that has positive ripple effects in many facets of your life.  You do not have to spend hours on these; rather you can simply begin with an exercise routine for just 30 minutes a day. What kind of activity you do does not matter at all. . How does working out help you mentally? When you exercise, chemicals like serotonin and endorphins are released, these hormones improve your mood. Exercise pumps blood to the brain that helps one to think better. 

Do note that, the next time you are feeling low, stressed, or worried, just try a walk outside, and feel the difference. Walking is the easiest and fastest way to instantly feel better about things. Walking or any other activity, just ensure that you enjoy what you are doing, this will help you to stay motivated to continue with it.

Get an adequate amount of sleep

Sleep is one of the most crucial aspects related to mental health. Stress and Sleep are interrelated. When we sleep for an adequate number of hours, we can concentrate, think positively, cope with stress, handle problems, and remember things. Though the requirement of an exact number of hours of sleep varies from person to person. To achieve a good night’s sleep, calm down, relax, try to indulge in a warm bath, or read under a soft light, or listen to peaceful music before hitting the bed. Stick to a daily wake-up-sleep schedule even during weekends, as this will help to optimize the quality of your sleep and also set the body’s internal clock. 

Avoid alcohol, smoking, and drugs

Though smoking and drinking are not the things that we normally associate they do cause some impact on your mental health. Alcohol affects mental health, drinking excessively for prolonged periods may lead to thiamine deficiency. Thiamine is quite important for our brain function, and its deficiency may lead to many memory issues such as confusion, eye problems, and coordination. If you are a smoker, your brain and body may face withdrawals that make you anxious and irritable. 

Break up the monotony:

Our daily routine indeed makes us more efficient, but a little change of pace may perk us up. Exercise boosts mood so any form of activity will do, like instead of the treadmill, go for a walk in the park, or change your jogging route. Try gardening, take time for your hobby, opt for a dance class, change the decor in the house, or try a new restaurant. Mood-boosting foods such as bananas, dark chocolates, coffee, and other foods are helpful as well.  Just try different ideas to break the monotony, and do something new and different. 

Get plenty of Sunshine

We are aware that sunlight is an eminent source of vitamin D, which is very crucial for our brains and bodies. Vitamin D alleviates the brain to release chemicals like serotonin and endorphins that improve our mood. Vitamin d for mental health acts like an elixir. Go out in the open, under the sun, especially the morning sunlight. It’s quite refreshing and soothing to feel the light morning breeze and soft sunrays. 

Acquire gratitude

Develop or acquire gratitude, you must surely try this to alleviate your mental health. To start a habit to write down all the things that went well with you during the day. It can be as simple as a piece of cake you ate or as big as some major milestone that you would have achieved. Gratitude benefits mental health in a big way. List down all the things that make you happy, cultivate a habit to write a gratitude journal, you will develop gratefulness, which eventually leads to positive mental health. 

Meditate. 

Irrespective of your religious and spiritual beliefs, mediation can still be an effective way to improve your mental health and reduce stress. Try prayer or mindfulness, and meditation. The benefits of meditation for stress and anxiety include putting things into perspective to make better decisions and cope with complex situations. Relaxation exercises too can help to improve your state of mind. You can opt for simple breathing exercises, listen to meditation music, or you can also opt for a workshop or download an app, or any other resource to train you to calm down and relax mindfully. Meditation for anxiety is one of the most recommended approaches. 

Meet up friends and family

In this tech-savvy world, online messaging and phone calls have created their place, but nothing can beat the mood-boosting power or stress-busting power of a quality face-to-face connection.

When you are suffering from poor mental health, you would want to retreat from everyone, but rather in such a case it is important not to isolate oneself. Socializing reduces stress, meeting with friends and family, or having any kind of social interaction. The goal is to interact with a person who is a good listener – he or she won’t judge, interrupt, or criticize you for your thoughts. 

Help others

 One of the ways to rejuvenate your headspace is by focusing on others. Help others. By helping others you would not just be doing good to them but to yourself as well. This deed will make you feel good about yourself. Opt for volunteering. By doing so, it will not just add a difference in other people’s lives, but it will also increase your self-worth. 

Have fun!

In this fast-paced routine life, guess we have forgotten or maybe don’t find time to have fun. Filch out some time to do the things that will distress and make you happy. We should do things that we enjoy. When we are tense or sad, we generally stop doing things that make us happy, and this all the more makes us feel worse. Take out time to do things you enjoy. Try out different fun activities to reduce anxiety. Opt for painting or watch a TV show or a film, either go for a walk or any other thing which you enjoy. If we don’t take out time to do things we enjoy, we may become unhappy and irritable. 

Seek help

If you are finding it hard to cope with everyday life, feel happy, find meaning or feel connected to others, you should not delay consulting your doctor. To seek help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. We are not superhuman. We all would sometimes get quite overwhelmed when things don’t go as planned. If things get out of hand and you can’t cope up, it is recommended to discuss with friends and family or seek medical assistance. All of us go through some patches in life when we don’t feel as good as we should be. Try to speak to your family or friends, and if you still feel things getting out of hand, it’s about time to consult a psychologist online. Do not be reluctant or feel ashamed to ask for support or help when you feel stressed out. 

Mediflam: 

In this pandemic, when we have to be cautious and should stay home, it is an advisable and most convenient way to reach out to your doctor or a psychologist online, rather than meeting him or her face to face. For this, the best option would be to register yourself on the Mediflam website, and seek medical consultation either through audio or a video call, discuss your issues with the doctor, and begin your treatment without losing out on time. The best part of being a registered member on Mediflam is that you would have options of various doctors, with different language options, plus you can save all your medical reports and details in your account as well. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Mental Health:

What can cause mental health Problems?

The causes of mental health problems are several. Many mental health issues arise due to a combination of emotional, biological, and environmental factors. Although several other lifestyle factors such as diet, work, lack of sleep, and drugs may affect your mental health. 

What is the best treatment for mental illness?

The treatment of mental health varies a lot depending on the individual’s diagnosis and the severity of symptoms. In some cases, the person responds well to medications, in other cases, talk therapy would help, in all cases, it’s quite important to consult a psychologist online or offline, he or she will identify the exact cause and suggest the right treatment for the patient. 

What activities improve mental health?

Activities that improve mental health to a large extent: getting plenty of sleep, enjoying little things in life, helping others, breathing exercises, yoga, and petting a dog. 

How can I improve my mental health?

Tips to Improve Mental Health are to maintain a gratitude journal, try new things, take out time to laugh, pet a furry friend, eat omega-3 fatty acid foods, walk in nature, get some sunshine, and spend some time with family and friends. 

What are the five stress management techniques?Stress management techniques include meditation, breathing exercises, eating a nutritional and balanced diet, practicing yoga, and seeking the support of family and friends.


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Nikita

Nikita

A woman who tries to live by the philosophy of Hakuna Matata. A travel trade professional in the past and at present, a content writer by sheer coincidence. Discovered my knack to articulate thoughts, expression, research, or data into words, be it for travel, medical, technology, or emotional health. To put these contents in a simplified manner that resonates with the reader and ultimately unravels the purpose of the write-up. When not busy with writing, loves to hone my gardening skills.

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