So today is mental health day. Happy mental health day lovelies! Now if you don’t already know, World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on the 10th October and it is aimed at raising awareness about mental health. Today, I’ll be sharing 8 ways to improve your mental health.
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What is mental health?
The World Health Organization (WHO), defines mental health as a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.
The mental health is important as it is a crucial part of our wellbeing and our overall existence. The past year has been tough and a lot of people have found themselves struggling with their mental health. It’s mental health day today and so I decided to share a few ways to improve your mental health. What are some ways to improve your mental health?!
Keep reading: Ways to improve your mental health.
8 Ways To Improve Your Mental Health
1) Practice self love: It is very important to practice self love. Loving yourself is one of the keys to living an overall healthy life. When you love yourself, you’ll be kinder, more compassionate and more loving to yourself.
Start everyday with self love. Value yourself, treat yourself with kindness and respect, avoid self-criticism and make time for your yourself and the things you love. Practicing self love is one of the many ways to improve your mental health so start practicing self love.
2) Practice gratitude: The importance of practicing gratitude can never be overemphasized. Studies have even shown that practicing gratitude can help ease mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. Start acknowledging the bright side/positives everyday. Like me, you can even keep a journal where you write down something you’re grateful for every day.
Remember that gratitude is not the absence of challenges and problems but the decision to focus more on the positives than the negatives. And no matter how bad things are, even on our darkest days, there will always be things to be grateful for. We just need to dig harder to find them.
3) Walk away from certain situations: See, you know what I do, whenever I find myself in a situation that could have a negative impact on my mental health, I just walk away. It’s crazy how much walking away can do. Walking away from unhealthy situations that may have a bad effect on your mental health can preserve your mental health and save you so much stress. Anything that is going to affect your mental health negatively is honestly not worth it.
Keep reading: Ways to improve your mental health.
4) Stop caring too much: I know this is not easy. It is easier said than done but the truth is the things we don’t care about cannot affect us. Stop caring about things you have no control over. Stop caring about people that only want to hurt you. Stop giving a fuck about haters. The less you care, the happier you’ll be.
5) Do not compare yourself to others: Like I always say, comparison is the thief of joy. It’s so terrible how much of a negative effect comparison can have on us. Though studies have shown that social media is one of the highest sources of comparison, a lot of people compare themselves to others even outside of social media.
You can’t be the best version of yourself if you are constantly comparing yourself to others because comparing yourself to others will only make you feel like you are not doing enough meanwhile you are doing just fine. The truth is no matter how well you’re doing, comparing yourself to other people will take your eyes off your goals and make you feel like you are not doing enough and it can severely impact your mental health in a negative way.
So you know what, stop comparing yourself to others. Everyone is on a different journey and everyone is running a different race. Focus on you. It’s should always be you against you not you against someone else. You should always strive to be better than you were yesterday.
Keep reading: Ways to improve your mental health.
6) Do something kind: Here’s a thing! Doing something kind and putting a smile on someone’s face has a way of making you feel better. I have tried it and it works. Making someone else happy will make you feel happy too. So do your best to spread cheer and kindness everywhere.
You never know what someone’s going through and a little act of kindness could end up making someone’s day. Also, after this past year, if there’s anything we learnt it’s that the world could definitely use some more kindness. The world needs more kindness.
7) Take care of your body: Taking care of yourself physically can improve your mental health. So:
- Eat good food: Eating well is very important for our mental health. The food we eat can improve our mental health or make it deteriorate and so it’s important to have a balanced diet.
- Avoid alcohol: While some people see drinking as a way to forget what they are going through for a period of time, drinking is not always good and it can impact your mental health negatively. The aftermath of drinking is not always pleasant as having a few drinks can make you feel more depressed and anxious when you get sober. Alcohol can increase stress and make it harder to concentrate and control your emotions. Also excessive drinking can put your health at risk.
- Go outside and get enough sunlight: Did you know that going outside can improve your mood and energy? Sunlight is a great source of vitamin D. Vitamin D is really important as it helps our brains to release chemicals which improve our mood. Getting at least 30 minutes of sunlight each day can go a long way in improving your mental health and making you feel better.
- Get enough sleep: Sleep is very important and getting enough sleep can help alleviate anxiety and depression. Also, studies have shown that lack of sleep contributes to depression.
- Exercise: Exercise is not only important to get fit. Exercising helps maintain mental health as well. Studies have shown that exercising helps us feel good, puts us in a good mood, and can help reduce anxiety. Also, exercising helps improve your life span.
8) Get help when you need it: Seeking help does not make you a weak person. Seeking help is a sign of strength not a weakness. Believe me, admitting that you’re struggling can be very hard, but there’s no shame in it. There’s no shame in asking someone for support if you’re feeling low. Everyone goes through tough times. Talk to someone (a trusted person). Talking to someone about your problems can help you understand your feelings better and it will help reduce some of the burden you’re feeling. You can also seek help from a mental health professional.
Keep reading: Ways to improve your mental health.
Roundup || Ways to improve your mental health
Above are 8 ways to improve your mental health. To all those struggling with their mental health, respect. You are way beyond strong and you are going to get through this. I hope you enjoyed reading – Ways To Improve Your Mental Health.
Yes I agree these are great steps to improve mental health. I need to care less about things I cannot change.
Problems are part of life, one must practice gratitude and focus on the good. In difficult times, we should just remember that “This too shall pass”. Our main concern is to get out of it stronger than before.
I love these ways of improving your mental health Ruth. It’s always important to ask for help if and when you feel comfortable enough to x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Outstanding post! I am so guilty of not walking away from bad situations, caring too much, and comparing myself to others. To preserve my mental health, I need to stop doing all these. Thanks for sharing this post!
Michelle – https://Michellescrazybusylife.net
Time used for comparing ourselves to others should be saved for other things like finding a good broadband provider or a new home contract not for sizing yourself up against other people. Comparing yourself to others never leads to good mental health.
These tips are great and they will really help a lot of people. I have been trying to take care of mental health more since my breakdown, because I realized that I really need to look after myself.
This is such an important post, thank you so much for sharing. I myself am trying everyday to practice self-love and writing down what I’m grateful for daily. It’s hard to focus on the positives sometimes but it really is worth trying too as it defiantly makes you feel better! xo
These are all great ways to improve your mental health, and I couldn’t agree more with all of these tips being crucial to good mental wellbeing. I particularly resonate with the one about comparison. So many young girls are fixated on comparison, and it’s really not healthy. It can lead to an unhealthy body image leading to poor mental health; thank you for bringing this into the equation.
My favourite piece of advice here is to do something kind. Walking away, not caring so much, not comparing yourself to others, are great tips but sometimes easier said than done. Doing something kind is easy and can be accomplished with very little effort. Thank you for sharing this, Ruth! x
This is a good self-care tips. I love tip no. 4, 5 & 6 the most. Thank you for sharing.
Great tips, especially number 7. Our lifestyle affects our mental well-being.
These are wonderful suggestions! It’s so important to focus on improving your mental health. Taking care of yourself first allows you to be at your best for others and I think we forget that too often. Thanks for sharing these tips.
These are all really fantastic tips and advice to follow. There are a number of things we can do (even when we believe there isn’t) so it’s so good to put these things into practice (we should even do this before we’re struggling and just as an everyday thing in our lives). I love how encouraging you are and it’s so great to read this and feel seen and supported — thank you!
Great suggestions! Practicing gratitude has been a massive coping mechanism of mine over the past few years in terms of mental health. It makes such a difference!
mia // https://beautiful-inspiring-creative-life.com/
It’s amazing how doing a small act of kindness improves your day so much! I love helping people out. Getting help when you need it is a reminder I needed to hear, thank you x
These are great tips. I definitely think taking the time to care for yourself is so important.
All great tips to keep on top of your mental health. Comparison can have such a negative impact x
Some lovely tips! I definitely am one to encourage being kind to those around me. And I definitely agree with getting help when you need it. It is never an easy thing but taking that first step will benefit in so many ways x
I love doing things for other people and making them smile. It makes me feel a lot better. During the colder months, it’s especially important to practise self care and look after your body. Thanks for these great tips! Em x
These are all great suggestions Ruth! Sometimes I do care too much but it’s not in the way you describe – it’s more that I have a lot of empathy for others’ situations. Especially those close to me, which in turn increases my own stress. Thanks for sharing.
Amazing tips! I really need to work on walking away when I need to, too often I end up forgiving people and letting them hurt me over and over again. And asking for help when you need it is always so important! Thank you so much for sharing x
Love your practical suggestions, Ruth! Mental health is as important as our physical wellbeing, but things like self-love, exercise, and eating well can help both our bodies and our minds so they are doubly powerful. 🙂
Super helpful post. Each point you mentioned is a great way to improve your mental health. I particularly love taking care of your body, doing something kind, and practicing gratitude.
These are all such good and important suggestions! I try and do all of these things. Exercise has been such an important thing for me this year. I just started doing it more regularly and it has made such a difference!
This is an awesome list – you’ve packed it with great examples of what can be done to help our mental health each day. For myself, walking away and trying not to care as much are two really big things for me, I see the most impact when I do these. I also love going for walks and soaking up that Vitamin D! Thanks for sharing this awesome list for World Mental Health Day!
It is good to always have or see a reminder on how to take of yourself physically and mentally, with all the daily stress and rushing you somewhat forget these things. I always say keep bringing up self care because we need it! Thank you for this lovely post 🧡
These are some really great and honest tips, I love this post! Being kind is the most important thing x