While unfortunate, mental health issues and illnesses are incredibly common all over the world. In fact, the stats show that there are hundreds of millions of people around the world struggling with mental illness every year. Some mental illness stems from traumatic events or life circumstances, but a lot of it does not. Many people struggle with stress, anxiety and depression with seemingly no cause or trigger. Dealing with these issues can be incredibly debilitating, and tiresome. While it’s not always easy, there are some mental health hacks you can implement to help improve your mental health over time. It might take a while, and what works for someone else might not always work for you, but it is indeed possible. With that in mind, this article is going to look at 5 useful tips and hacks to help you improve your mental health.
Mental health hacks for wellbeing
Practice Mindfulness
Over the years, it has become more and more obvious how much meditation and mindfulness, in general, can help us and our mental health. It can help decrease stress, slow breathing, lower blood pressure and even help us sleep. It is very easy to do, as well. Even something as simple as sitting in silence and controlling your breathing and thoughts for 5 minutes when you wake up can help.
If you struggle with being mindful, there are plenty of online resources that can help. Also, there are dozens of different apps that can run you through a guided meditation or offer you unique things to try depending on what’s on your mind. If you have never tried practising mindfulness to help with your mental health, we recommend that you do.
Surround Yourself With Great People
While what you think and feel on the inside is important, so are the people around you. If you surround yourself with negative individuals, it is only going to make your mental health issues worse. As a result, try and surround yourself with good people who build you up, not tear you down.
If you have trouble relating to those around you because of your mental health issues, you can always go online as well. There are many online communities that you can go to share your story, talk to others struggling with similar issues and form close bonds. Many of these communities are very accepting of newcomers, as well.
Utilise Your Health Insurance
While many people are quick to use their health insurance for a doctor or dentist visit, very few use it to deal with their mental health. The best health insurance plans out there often offer coverage for therapy, medication and other things to help those struggling with mental health issues. While a huge population around the world suffers from mental illness in some capacity, very few actually seek help for it.
Despite how much it can help, there are still a ton of people not getting the help they need from professionals. There are many different reasons why people avoid getting treatment, but we hope the continued and increased awareness of mental health issues will hopefully help this change.
Set Goals For Yourself
One of the most common things people will feel when struggling with mental health is a feeling of emptiness, boredom and generally lacking motivation. That is why setting goals for yourself can be beneficial. If you set goals for yourself, ones that really matter, it should help you to get past that lack of motivation. Of course, be sure that these goals are attainable, without being too easy. No matter how big or small the goal is, striving to reach it can help improve your mental health.
In addition to setting personal goals, it also couldn’t hurt to set some professional goals. Whether this is to finish your university degree on time or get a promotion at work, giving yourself actionable goals that mean something to you can help you get back on the right path, at least a little bit.
Take Care of Your Body
While it is called “mental health”, how you treat your body can certainly have an impact on your mind and mental health. The food you eat not only nourishes the physical body you have but also your brain. Eating healthy and well-balanced meals can help your mind in a variety of ways from improving your mood to boosting serotonin and dopamine.
In addition to eating well, exercising can also have huge benefits to your mental health. Exercising often can relieve stress, boost our moods, and generally just make us feel good about ourselves. While an actual workout is always best, even something like going for a walk or taking the stairs can help improve your mental health.
Mental health is something that everyone should take incredibly seriously, and you should take some time every day to try and improve it. In addition to the above mental health hacks, you can also try to lighten the load with a brain dump – taking every thought from your mind, writing it down and doing something with it. Read about it here and download the free worksheets below.
