Promoting Your Own Mental Health

I feel its really common nowadays for us to take a day off of work to literally WORK on something else. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken a day off (and my coworkers too) just to get caught up on chores at home! Having this blog too means I pretty much use all of my vacation time and days off from my day job to work on this blog / projects on the house. Its almost impossible nowadays to do much more than work 40 hours a week, keep caught up on house chores, do anything else and manage to enjoy some free time too! Every now and again, simply for our own sanity, I think we all need to take a day off and give ourselves permission to do absolutely NOTHING.

(This is a contributed post, for more information about my compensation please read my disclosure policy)

Do you feel in a rut? Are you beginning to feel a little rundown? Overtired? Overworked? It’s time to stop, take a break and really focus on your mental health. Sure, mental health is a word that features in headlines, social media feeds, advertisements and so much more nowadays.

This is great. It means that societal taboo is disappearing around the subject and people are able to more openly and freely understand and discuss the topic. But you do need to take action to improve your mental health if you are on a journey to leading a better quality of life.

Here’s some further information on mental health that can help you better understand the topic, as well as some suggestions, tips and tricks that can help you to get on a good path towards helping your own!

What Is Mental Health?

First, let’s consider what mental health actually is. Nowadays, it’s a term that’s thrown around a lot, but some of us don’t actually know the ins and outs of what it covers and includes. Mental health is an element of your overall health and wellbeing that includes your emotional, psychological and social well-being.

Your mental health can have a big impact on your life in general. It has a big effect on how you think, how you feel and, often, how you act.

Your mental health can also impact how you handle stress, whether or not you can relate to others and can hold a lot of jurisdiction over day to day choices that you make – both big and small. Your mental health can change over time, so it’s absolutely essential that you pay it the focus and the attention that it deserves over the entire course of your life, from childhood to adolescence and through the entirety of your adulthood.

Why Is Mental Health Important?

Your mental health plays a pivotal role in your health, wellbeing and happiness.

Your mental health can impact daily behaviours and relationships with others, which means that it can hold a lot more weight than you might originally ascribe to it. When you have good mental health, it’s much more likely that you’ll be able to play a productive role in society. You’re more likely to be able to hold down a job and support yourself financially.

You’re more likely to be able to maintain happy and healthy relationships with others, ranging from romantic relationships to friendships, professional relationships and more. You are also more likely to feel good in yourself.

When you have poor mental health, you may find that various elements of your life begin to spiral out of control. You could struggle at work, putting your financial stability at risk. You could damage relationships with others, leaving yourself feeling isolated and alone or more. Mental health is important for you to live a full and healthy life.

Getting Into Good Habits

You don’t have to be struggling with your mental health to prioritize and focus on it. It’s important for everyone to do what they can to promote their mental health and to lead the happiest and most fulfilling daily lives that they can. There are various ways that you can give yourself some TLC when it comes to taking care of yourself and your mental well being. Here are a few suggestions that you might find useful.

Doing What You Love

Often, people begin to feel dragged down or negative when it comes to doing things they don’t enjoy. Of course, you can’t spend all day every day immersed in hobbies, as you have to support yourself financially. But you should make sure to make time for the things you love, as well as finding a form of work that you enjoy, or at least don’t mind.

Make some positive changes to seek a role that you will feel brings value to your life and then incorporate your own activities into your schedule too.

Taking Time to Disconnect

When people go on a journey to improve their mental health and emotional wellbeing, they may overload themselves, packing too many activities in. Even if things are enjoyable, you’ll quickly burn out if you have no down time. Make sure you have time to disconnect and simply do nothing.

Sitting with a hot drink, taking a nap, sitting in nature, disconnecting with Delta 9 THC Gummies… some real unwind time can really make all the difference.

Getting Rest

People underestimate the sheer importance of rest. All too many people nowadays experience burnout, as we push ourselves to perform and be our best at all times.

We are all only human and we do need to make sure that we’re giving ourselves a break and not overpushing ourselves or trying to exceed our limits. Make sure to get plenty of rest. You should definitely be getting eight hours of sleep a night, but you may also want to incorporate relaxing activities into your routine, such as a spa day or deep massage.

Warning Signs That You Might Need Support

There are countless warning signs out there that you might need support with your mental health. These differ from one person to another and can even differ within one person over time. While these symptoms and warning signs aren’t indicative of mental health in that they always indicate mental health conditions, but they can sometimes show that you need to seek some support. As you can imagine, it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for them. Some include:

• Social withdrawal
• Changes to eating routines (overeating or undereating)
• Changes to sleeping routines (oversleeping or undersleeping)
• Not wanting to get up in the morning
• Feeling low
• No energy
• Unhealthy coping mechanisms (drinking, drug use, excessive smoking)
• Mood swings
• Inability to perform daily tasks
• Thoughts of harming yourself or others

Seeking Support

If you feel that you need support with your mental health, it is absolutely essential that you know that there is plenty of support out there for you. Countless people want to help and can help you to lead a better quality of life. The first port of call should be your doctor.

Your doctor will be able to discuss your experiences with you and determine whether you are experiencing any sort of mental health condition. If the answer is yes, they will then be able to help you on a journey to understanding, managing and helping you with your condition.

There are various routes that this could go down, but the most common tend to be use of medication, therapy or a good combination of the two different approaches. You will be able to go through a process of trial and error until you find what specifically works for you. Even if you don’t have a mental health condition, but do feel like you’re struggling, it’s important to be aware that there is support for you too.

There are many counsellors and therapists who you can open up to to discuss issues you may have difficult with understanding or overcoming.

They are patient and will be able to give you the advice, support and guidance that you need. Another option that could benefit you is a support group or helpline. These operate in most locations and at most times, so you should be able to find one that works for you. If you find that you have turned to unhealthy coping mechanisms that you’re struggling to get out of or kick to the curb, there are also means of support out there, ranging from rehab to support groups or assistance from your doctor.

Hopefully, some of the information above has helped to better inform you on the topic of mental health, as well as providing you with some useful suggestions that can help you on your own journey! Keep all of the information in mind, as you never know when it might come in useful!

(This is a contributed post, for more information about my compensation please read my disclosure policy)