Your lifestyle and mental wellbeing
Keep active
Exercise helps keep vital organs healthy and can really support your mental health without you knowing it. It could be taking a walk out in the fresh air, doing an online yoga class to focus your mind on working out, doing a live workout class to relieve stress and introduce some socialising or even doing some simple exercises in your garden and taking some time to enjoy your own company.
Diet
All advice generally points out that eating a healthy, balanced diet will help maintain good mental health. Whilst this is important, we all need a little bit of indulgence so having a big bar of your favourite chocolate is also good to factor in too. But the main point is to incorporate a balance. Sometimes, it might even be small tweaks such as switching to de-caffeinated tea or coffee that can help us more than we realise.
Do something you’re good at and enjoy
What’s the main thing you love to do? Read a book? Listen to music? Spend time painting? Doing a jigsaw? Cooking and baking? We all have something we love to do, so even if you can’t be bothered sometimes or don’t have much motivation, it’s so important to try and make the effort to do the things you love on a regular basis. We all have busy lives and sometimes it may feel like a bit too much effort, but it’s important to do something for you.
Sleep
It may sound obvious but we as humans need sleep to recuperate and grow. There’s lots of guidance which recommends about seven to eight hours of sleep a night, but we all know that may not be possible. If that is the case, doing something that calms your mind before bed, such as reading or meditation can help with a better night’s sleep. Those few extra minutes can really help improve mindset for the next day ahead.
Dealing with mental health difficulties
Talk about how you feel
Sharing how you feel with a friend, family member or colleague at work can really help you stay in a positive frame of mind and help you deal with times when you feel troubled. There will be lots of people willing to listen and you may find other people who have been in a similar situation and are able to provide support. Straight away, sharing the burden that you’ve been keeping shut away inside could make you feel a lot better.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
We often feel like we might be failing if we have to turn to someone for help, or we might feel embarrassed to open up about how bad we’re really feeling. But we’re not super heroes and from time to time we all need to ask for help. Whether that be in the workplace or at home, it’s ok to reach out and ask others for support. There’s also lots of mental health services out there that can help too.
Acceptance
Self-esteem is a massive factor in mental health, and in this day and age we all have ways to compare ourselves to others. But remember, we’re all different and we all need to accept that. We need to embrace who we are and love ourselves. Once we learn to accept ourselves and the situations around us for who we are and what they are, that's when our mental health starts to improve. Feeling good about yourself boosts confidence and can have a knock-on effect to make it a little bit easier to cope when life is feeling difficult.
Its important to remember, slow progress is still progress and it’s ok not to be ok!
Helpful links:
To seek guidance on mental health support whilst staying at home, please see this helpful resource from the NHS: Mental health and staying at home.
Also, to find some guidance on supporting co-workers or family and friends with their mental health, please visit; Mental Health Foundation
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