When your body and your brain are out of balance, you sure know about it. One minute everything is fine and then the slightest inconvenience throws you out of whack. You can’t help it; the world is a place that affects you and your mental health and it’s a scary thing to deal with sometimes. In a world filled with a constant barrage of information and pressure, you need to be able to give yourself and your mental health a break. Things aren’t always going to be rosy and you know that, but that doesn’t mean that you have to let it become all consuming. There are always going to be some good days among all the bad ones, and it’s on these days that you can truly have the energy to work on things that are going to help your mental health and not hinder it.
You deserve to do whatever it takes to hold space for your mental health struggles. You also deserve all the mental health support that you can get, and that means doing whatever you can to help yourself. Whether you choose to look here for new wallpaper and make a room in your home a project in which to channel all of your energy, or you choose to workout more, you need to do all that you can to help your mental health. With that in mind, here are ten things to get you started.
1. Start valuing yourself. It’s a very hard thing to do when your mental health is wobbling into the side of the negative, but you need to start treating yourself with a little respect. Do you have things in your life, or about yourself you don’t like? Sure you do – most of us do. The thing to remember is that the unkindness that you’re showing yourself isn’t going to help anyone, let alone you! Instead, you need to broaden your horizons and make sure that you are making time to value yourself. Value yourself by valuing your time, your body and your mind. Do activities that enhance the things that you like and make time in your day to spend on honoring yourself. It’s so worth it.
2. Take care of your body. The first thing to go when going through a mental health slump is the way you treat your body. It’s often the same for anyone who is struggling to balance everything in life. Regular showers are no longer the norm because it’s easier to neglect all of that than try to keep up with it. You can really help your mental health by eating well, making sure that you get some fresh air and get moving. Exercising and cycling can be a good way to improve your mental health state. Riding a motorized bike can help boost your overall mood. You need to hydrate yourself and you need to sleep. It’s the hardest thing to do, taking care of yourself, but it’s a must if you hope to ensure that you are doing all that you can to support your mental health.
3. Why don’t you take the time to assess your friendships? You need to help yourself, and sometimes that means you cut off the dead weight in your life. This can be in the form of one-sided friendships, where you’re the one making all the effort but they’re not. This can also be in the form of those fickle friendships that sit on the sidelines and don’t make any effort with you. You need to surround your life with good, kind and positive people. You need supportive people in your life and if you don’t have any, then it’s time you assess who you’re keeping around. The right people are the ones who will always be there for you.
4. Give of yourself. Some of the best ways to feel good include taking the time to make sure that you feel good about yourself. You need to give of yourself to others to ensure that you are able to feel great about who you are and what you can offer. This can be one of the biggest mental health boosts that you give yourself. Not only are you improving the lives of other people, you’re ensuring that you are going out of your way to help and support – and that’s bound to feel fantastic.
5. Start learning to cope. We don’t mean that flippantly but when you’re going through life, stress is going to hit you hard in the face and you need to be the one to decide whether you can cope with it or not. Whether you do it with medication from the doctor or you learn a huge range of techniques that will help you to deal with stress, you need to work out how to cope with it. It’s not intended to sound harsh; just truthful! You have to remember to smile and that means being okay with stress relieving things to do to feel good!
6. Avoid taking on too much when supporting loved ones. It’s amazing that you want to help your nearest and dearest. However, allowing yourself to suffer from burnout will harm your mental health as well as your physical wellness. Experts like TheKey can provide personalized respite care to assist you as well as your friend or relative. This allows you to maintain your role as a primary carer while still leading a personal life. Perfect.
7. Learn to find the quiet. There is always noise in life, isn’t there? The noise around you, the noise in your brain telling you that you’re not good enough – it’s always there. Remember we talked about a project in the home that will keep you going? Well, it’s this project that can help you to find your quiet. You can really indulge in a project that does nothing but help you to find quiet. Think about your bedroom renovation, or the sunroom. They can be calming places, and you can create them to be that way. Finding the quiet is the quiet you find in your mind, too! You can find a calm space to relax and unwind, remembering that your sense of quiet may surprise you!
8. Set yourself some goals. A sure way to help your mental health is to have a goal in your life to help you along. Aim high, but make sure that you are as realistic as possible. You want to know that you are going to be able to reach your goals and feel good about it. The sense of accomplishment that you will achieve when you reach your goals is going to be life-changing for you. You’re going to be able to develop an amazing sense of self-worth as a result and you can talk to mentors, family, friends and teachers in your life to help you to stay on track with your goals. You deserve this.
9. Learn to break the boredom! Part of failing mental health is no way to occupy yourself. Routines are key but they can also become boring and tedious. You need a change now so that you can keep this going. Alter your usual walking routes and plan a road trip that’s going to get you to that beach you’ve been craving! You need to break up your boredom and however you do it, make sure that it’s the right way to do it for you!
10. Don’t rely on substances. Mental health professionals will give you regulated and safe substances that you can rely on. The worst thing that you could do otherwise is to rely on substances like alcohol and drugs to get you through. You don’t need them, so don’t use them! You need to avoid self-medication as these can often aggravate the issues. This can certainly be the case if you are dealing with co-occurring BPD and addiction, for example.
11. Always, always ask for help. Whether it’s with your comfortable space project or you need someone to kick a ball with to decompress you need help and you should always ask for it without embarrassment. You deserve support, but it’s only going to be there if you ask for it.
