Your mental health directly influences how you feel, think, and even act every day. It has a direct impact on your work performance and even on personal relationships. For instance, when you are stressed out, you may project it on your friends, family, and even colleagues which could in turn strain your relationships with them.
That is why it’s critical you take steps to improve your mental health. Discussed below are five ways you can do so to get you started.
How to Improve Your Mental Health
Whether you are struggling with something currently or not, here are some steps you can take to improve and safeguard your mental health:
1. Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is as important to your mental health, as it is to your physical health. This is because it regulates brain chemicals that transmit information as well as how we feel.
There are two sleep cycles in every 90 minutes. During the first cycle, an individual experiences quiet sleep and the body temperature, breathing rate, blood pressure and heart rate decrease. In the second cycle, known as REM, is when you dream. Your body temperature, heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure increases.
This second cycle is the most important because it has been proven to enhance learning, boost memory, and even contributes to emotional and mental health. Getting enough shuteye has a positive impact on how you feel mentally when you wake up in the morning and throughout the day.
2. Start Each Day on a Positive Note
A slight inconvenience, mess or discomfort in the morning can ruin your entire day, and affect your mental health negatively the entire week. Try to start each day on a positive note.
Instead of opening up your social media as soon as you wake up, take some time to complement yourself, say words of affirmation, or acknowledge how grateful you are for someone or something. In other words, promote positive feelings in the morning so you can have a better day.
3. Talk about How You Feel
Holding onto your sadness, anger or any other feelings only jeopardizes your mental health. Find a close friend you can confide in or get a professional therapist so you can have an avenue to let the negative emotions out.
It’s not always easy to express how you feel at first, but once you start talking about it with someone you feel safe with, it becomes much easier and beneficial because you’re no longer carrying the emotional burden alone.
4. Take a Break
A change in scenery is incredibly beneficial to your mental wellbeing. Even if you are not going through a rough patch, simply taking a break from your job and going on a solo getaway can do wonders to your mental health.
Note, a break can be something as simple as a five minute coffee break from your job, or a week-long vacation on an unknown destination. Whatever works for you, just ensure you take a break every once in a while and enjoy some “me time”
5. Remember everyone has Bad Days
While working on your mental health, remember that even the strongest, most put-together people have bad days. So don’t beat yourself up whenever you are struggling mentally.
The tips above apply to everyone, and whenever you need professional help, Maryland Primary Care professionals are just a click away.