Most of us have thoughts from time to time that we need to do something to get into better physical shape…”I should get more exercise,” …”I should drink more water,” …”I should get more sleep,” …”I should eat healthier.” Everyone knows that if you want to be physically fit, you need to do something about it. Good physical fitness is not simply going to happen without any effort (much to my own chagrin). These are things we may have even learned from various classes (Health, Human Biology, P.E., etc.) in high school. So, by the time we graduated, we knew what we needed to do in order to achieve and maintain good physical health.
Our mental health functions similarly in that it does not happen passively; you have to do something to achieve it and also to maintain it. But do what?
Here are a few things that you can do to work towards achieving and maintaining good mental health:
1) Ensure you are regularly doing something that you enjoy: Ideally, this would be daily. It may sound silly, but with the hustle and bustle of everyday life (work, school, kids, extracurricular activities, etc.), it can be hard to remember to have fun. This doesn’t have to be something big each day, but it must be something each day. Remember, you’re not going to achieve good physical health if you just exercise once; the same goes for good mental health. Doing something daily that you enjoy will give you a little boost of mood-enhancing neurotransmitters each day.
2) Have a solid social support network: This is your group of really close friends or family who really know you and whom you can rely on for steadfast support. Studies have consistently shown that people tend to be much more resilient and bounce back faster from tough situations when they have a strong support network in place.
3) Pay attention to how you are talking to yourself: We all have an internal monologue. It says things to us like, “Don’t forget to pick up the dry cleaning,” “Pizza sounds good for dinner,” “I wonder where I left my keys.” When you pay close attention to what this internal voice is saying, you may notice that it can be harshly critical of you. The rule of thumb is if you would not say it to someone else, don’t say it to yourself. Once you start to monitor how you talk to yourself internally, you can identify times when you may be overly critical and then choose to be kind to yourself instead.
4) Get plenty of regular, quality sleep: Just as with achieving good physical health, you also need good, regular sleep in order to achieve good mental health. Sleep deprivation affects both cognition and mood. According to an article by Gordon, A., PhD of Psychology Today, people with sleep deprivation tend to “feel more irritable, angry and hostile. Sleep loss is also associated with feeling more depressed. In addition, sleep deprivation seems to be associated with greater emotional reactivity –people who suffer from sleep loss are especially likely to react negatively when something doesn’t go well for them.”
Of course, there are many other ways to take an active role in achieving and maintaining good mental health, but these tips should help in establishing some good habits where your mental health is concerned.
