Ways To Improve
& Maintain Your Mental Health
wednesday, january 29, 2020
💙🙏🏾 Just remember - It gets better 💙🙏🏾
Dealing with mental health issues isn’t easy. Especially when no one takes it seriously.
In the age of social media, working double jobs, trying to support yourself through a time where every necessity cost major bank - it’s tough to stay sane. One thing I’m glad about, is the conversation about mental health is becoming less taboo & much more normalized in daily conversation. It’s brought up online, through chats with friends, and even brought up as topics in the work place. People are talking about it more, instead of hiding it under a rug. And that’s awesome.
I’ve personally dealt with a lot of mental health issues in these past few years.
Even starting off the last decade in 2010, I dealt with my first mental health issue, that I didn’t know would impact me years to come. Being in College, I encountered my first episodes of anxiety, which was tough for me to handle because growing up, I had zero signs of anxiety, ever. So now, being an adult & supposedly ‘having it together’, it was something new & very challenging for me. Dealing with mental health can be really tough, especially when you feel like you’re going through it alone. But I’m so glad & fortunate that I had such great friends to help me through any mental health issues I’ve faced, as well as had resources available to help me through them.
As today marks the 10th anniversary of the start of #BellLetsTalk, I wanted to share some ways to help improve & maintain ones Mental Health. Life can be really hard. Especially when you feel alone. But I want you to know that whatever it is you might be
facing - you’re not alone.
Check In With Yourself
Not feeling like yourself lately? Longer than just lately? It may be time to Check In With Yourself. What I mean by that is, take a step back & look at your actions, behaviour & thinking patterned as of late. Have you you been a little more restless than normal? Have you been canceling plans you made with friends? Have you been skipping meals or not getting enough sleep? Take a moment to think how you’ve truly felt these past weeks, or maybe even the past few months.
If you’ve felt a shift in your normal behaviour, it’s more than likely something is up & something has changed.
Talk With A Friend You Trust
For me, I generally try to get a consensus from a close friend if the way i’m feeling is normal or not. If they’ve felt the same way previously, or if maybe there’s a deeper root to the way i’m feeling. If there’s a close friend you trust & can open up to a little bit more, this may even help you analyze what might be going on with you. Or, talking with a friend might even be the first time you talked about it with yourself! Sit down with a friend, in a safe environment where you feel comfortable opening up.
Also, make sure you choose a friend that is open to conversation. Don’t pick a friend that is too busy to chat, or a friend that might not pick up that you’re reaching out to them for help. Some people might not pick up on that right away, and you don’t want that to shelter you from talking to anyone ever again. Pick a friend that you are close enough to, to chat openly & honestly about how you’re feeling.
Seek Further Help
The hardest, but bravest thing you may ever have to do is Seek Further Help. And I get it - it’s hard to admit, even to yourself. But wanting to get better & be that better version of yourself starts with getting further help, whether it’s:
Talking to a friend you trust
Calling a mental health healthline
Consulting a doctor
Calling a crisis hotline
Reaching out to a health consultant
All of these are great ways to reach out for help. NEVER feel weak for reaching out for assistance. It actually takes a really STRONG person to do that! And you’re a lot stronger than you think you are!
Plan To Build Yourself Back Up
It’s time to make a change! It’s time to start over & get back to the basics! In other words, it’s time to work on conquering the daily essentials in life:
Sleep (Getting up to 8 hours of rest)
Food (Eating minimum 3 meals in day)
Social Life (Committing to hanging out with friends)
Stress Management (Taking the time to breath & be calm)
Physical activity (Exercising or working out)
Relationships (Connecting with friends, family or a significant other)
Working on these will be the baby steps in helping you get back on track. It’s hard for anyone to balance these & have them all in great condition. But not being in control of one or all of these, can really imbalances all other aspects outside of your life. As a result, making yourself unstable & contributing negatively to your overall mental health. Try focusing on one at a time & once you feel like you’ve conquered or got the hang of one of them, work on the next one.
Example: Finally sleeping for 8+ hours? Awesome! Work on fitting in 3 solid meals into your day. Conquered that?
Great! Try fitting seeing some close friends into the mix, and so on and so on! You got this!
Surround Yourself With Positive Support
The company you keep really makes a difference in how you feel & act. Try surrounding yourself with people you feel your best self around. Whether that be a close family member, childhood friends, even one of your closest besties! Surrounding yourself with people you can really trust & be honest with can be really important. Hanging out with friends that can be a great influence on you can really help you mentally.
Be Patient! Don’t Rush The Process
One thing that I have to constantly remind myself is to be patient with myself. Especially when i’m trying to get myself into a better place, eating right, sleeping well, working out & I either slip into old habits, or fall back to square one, I go right back to blaming myself. Getting mad at myself for not trying harder. But, it’s not an overnight process. It takes time to get back to the old you, or rebuild yourself from bad habits. You’ve got to set goals & improvements for yourself at a steady pace & not beat yourself up when something goes wrong. You’ve got this!
Know, you’re not alone!
For me, the worst thing I can do when I’m feeling low or going through a tough time is think that i’m alone. When I start to remember the great support system I have with my friends & family is when I truly feel better about what I might be going through & how I can make a plan to get better. When you find out you’re not alone & can open up on how you feel with others, you start to hear stories of people similar to you, going through a similar situation. It really helps me feel less isolated & helps me get through whatever I might be going through
And those were my tips & suggestions on Ways To Improve & Maintain Your Mental Health. No matter what you’re going through, know you’re not alone & there’s many resources out there to help you & different outlets to get help as well. Below I’ve also linked a few different Men’s Health websites you can view if at anytime you need a helping hand.
With today being #BellLetsTalk it’s important to have the conversation, but it’s also important to keep the conversation going. Whether you’re a person going through a mental health situation, or you notice signs of someone close to you struggling with their mental health, it’s important to educate yourself on the best ways to help someone struggling, as well as ways to help yourself. As speaking on Mental Health becomes more normalized, keep the conversation going by tweeting #BellLetsTalk & help spreading awareness for Mental Health. Make your action count!
I hope you guys enjoyed today’s post. Remember, I always love hearing from you guys! Feel free to TWEET me, write me on Facebook, or shoot me a DM on Instagram! Let’s chat!
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