The Gen XY Lifestyle
How to Improve Our Mental Health
Mental health is very vital for our well being because it determines how we think, feel, and act. It largely determines how we relate to other people. Our social well-being is highly dependent on our mental well-being. There also are diseases that are triggered when mental health is being compromised such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart diseases, hence affecting our physical well-being.
During the Coronavirus pandemic season, statistics show a rise in the number of mental issues among people. This is due to the effect it has on our economy, people losing jobs, businesses closing down, and nobody seems to know for sure what lies ahead among others. As hard as it could be, we have to find means of improving our mental health.
There are signs and symptoms which show when mental health is at risk. They include:
- Feeling sad and sorrowful most of the time.
- The urge to be a loner, especially if you are not a natural introvert.
- Inability to cope with stress and mood swings.
- Eating disorders.
- Always feeling angry and sometimes getting violent for no good reason.
- Sleeping disorders.
- Tiredness and low energy.
- Regular suicidal thoughts.
Some of these mental problems can be controlled and reduce the risk of being affected through the following simple tips.
1. Exercise and more exercise
Exercising is not just about keeping physical fitness, losing weight, and building muscles. It also helps in improving moods and averting sleeping disorders. For instance, biking with electric bikes can be of great help to relieve stress and get your moods high. You also feel energised after some hours of biking.
2. Focus on the positives of life
Whenever you step out of the house, always learn to focus on the achievements of the day rather than concentrating on what didn’t go as planned. Appreciate your achievements and stay positive you will surely live another day to accomplish what you couldn’t today. Learn to be the driver of your own happiness, appreciate yourself once in a while, treat yourself to ice cream or chocolate, and just enjoy life without much concentration on what is not working for you.
3. Create a good sleeping environment
Sleeping disorders are one of the most common causes of mental disorders. To ensure a good sleep, always ensure you create cool weather, that is not too hot or too cold for you. How do you regulate the temperature in your home or office to promote productivity? To control these extreme temperatures, you need to install thermostats and HVAC systems. Cold Air Central is one of the companies that supplies cooling and heating systems for use in various places. Sleeping plays a very big part of our lives, and when we don’t sleep well, we often have a very bad day the next morning. It is important to always have a good sleep.
4. Put to writing what you feel
Writing down the things that weigh you down mentally is actually therapeutic in that it helps in reducing symptoms of depression and stress. It is so important to keep track of your emotions and writing subconsciously is one of the best things that we can do. Writing a couple of morning pages really helps, especially if you don’t give it a thought about what you are trying to say, but you rather just write whatever comes into your mind. It doesn’t have to make sense. You just express yourself!
5. Improve your relationships
Keep close and helpful friendships. Share your love with other people. It is a sure way to a happy and healthy life. If you’re holding on to a grudge, it is important to forgive and let go. Life is pretty short and pretty anonymous. In this life, some things or some people will certainly hurt you. Learn to let go and avoid the burden of carrying a lot of anger in your heart. Shed off that hatred towards people.
If life gets extremely hard for you and you start having suicidal thoughts, then it is time to talk to a professional counselor. That is a good platform for you to talk about your experiences and fears.
6. Organize your time perfectly
Plan what you need to do for the day and avoid leaving space for idleness. Remember, idleness is a gateway for stress and overthinking. Having a schedule for everything that you do, or being organized is a very good skill to maintain. Working on yourself more about this is very important since if we have a disorganized schedule, we never know where our time goes and we usually procrastinate.
7. Be cautious with your diet
Our overall well-being is highly connected with what we eat. Good eating habits include taking in enough fruits and vegetables, avoiding a lot of fat, avoiding saturated sugar and fat, drinking enough water, etc. Having a healthy diet is very important since it has a big impact on our mental health. Now, during COVID-19 it is very important that we use Vitamins as well, especially Vitamin C since it makes our immune system stronger and stronger.
8. Be thirsty for knowledge
As the saying goes, knowledge is power. You are in a better position to handle different situations of life if you are wise and open-minded. Reading a lot of self-love books is very important during this time. We all know that a book is a human’s best friend. Not only won’t you feel alone, but you will for sure improve your mental health by learning new information on how to work on your emotions and feelings.
Life will surely have its ups and downs.
There are times you will feel so low and unable to continue. Situations will come that will swipe your inner peace off. Life without problems is not guaranteed. That is why how you respond to problems and your ability to handle them is what will determine how well you shall be. Identify what you are good at and put more and more effort to bring the best out of it. Always make sure what you do; you do to your level best.
Article contributed by Luke Grainger. He is a camp lover and he believes that nature is therapeutic and it can change a person’s mindset. He loves to keep a healthy lifestyle and he loves to share his experiences with others. He is a #TechGuy and he loves everything related to technology He has more than 10 years of experience in biking and is a huge fan of electric bikes and mountain bike races.
Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
