Telehealth available in Idaho, Utah, and Oregon. Covered by most major insurances.

Simple Ways to Look After Your Mental Health besides Therapy and Medication

lifestyle

Simple Ways to Look After Your Mental Health besides Therapy

 

Therapy and medication are some of the best ways to keep your mental health issues in check. When you're dealing with depression, anxiety, PTSD, or some other disorder, it helps to consult a licensed psychiatrist or counselor, talk about your issues, and stay on prescriptions. But that's not all you can do.

There are simple ways to care for your mental health -- practical things you can incorporate into your lifestyle.

Let's highlight them.

 

1.     Talk about your problems

The truth is, talking isn't only effective when you're speaking with a therapist. Talking about your problems can help you relieve pent-up pressure, regardless of who you tell it to. It's why experts developed talk therapy.

Whether you're angry, sad, or troubled, expressing how you feel to someone almost immediately reduces such feelings. It's how you feel less mad after discussing it. Even when you consider suicide, talking can help you change your mind.

 

2.     Stay active

Exercising is good not only for physical health but your mental health as well. It promotes the release of happy hormones. But it's not all about lifting weights.

Going out for a walk and catching up with friends are great ways to stay active. Whenever you feel lonely, sad, and hopeless, it would help if you break through it and make a bold move to step outside. The brightness of the day can help brighten your mood; seeing nature can even change your outlook on life.

All of these can help you manage stress, anxiety, and depression.

 

3.     Have a good diet

There's a relationship between your digestive tract and the brain. This pathway is known as the gut-brain axis. When you eat certain foods that promote healthy microbiomes in your gut, they send signals to the brain to release serotonin, the calming hormone. As a result, such foods can help you deal with stress and anxiety.

Foods containing high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C are good for your mental health.

 

4.     Ask for help

We all need help, don't we? One of the foremost thoughts you'll have when battling a mental disorder is that you're alone and no one can understand you. But none of us is Superman, and we can't fight it alone. We only sink deeper.

Call out for help when you feel the walls closing in on you. It could be a family member, friend, or relative. It could even be a mere colleague at work. Also, remember that local social services are there to help you.

 

5.     Do something that makes you happy

Is it singing? Is it journaling? What about embroidery and painting? Doing something you're good at can help you feel a sense of worth, thereby countering depression, low self-esteem, and anxiety.

Enjoy yourself. Get out of your daily corporate routine and do something you enjoy, not what you're told to do. This will boost your self-esteem and lower stress.

 

6.     Never forget that you're different

Accepting that you're different is a healthy way to look after your mental health. This knowledge is crucial because it prevents you from wishing you were someone else. We're all different, and even the most mentally healthy person battles his own demons daily.

Even as you know your weaknesses, find your strengths; this will help you cope through life no matter what it throws at you.

 

7.     Finally... Care for others

Again, no one is Superman, and no one is too inadequate to help. No matter your mental condition, you can also be there for someone. It's a cycle. Uplifting someone else will also uplift you.

Author
Satu H. Woodland, PMHCNS-BC, APRN Satu H. Woodland, PMHCNS-BC, APRN Satu Woodland is owner and clinician of Hope Mental Health, an integrative mental health practice located at Bown Crossing in Boise, Idaho. She sees children, adolescents, and adults.  Ms. Woodland with her background in nursing, prefers a holistic and integrative approach to mental health care that addresses the mind and body together. While Ms. Woodland provides medication management services in all her patients, she believes in long-lasting solutions that include a number of psychotherapies, namely cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention therapy, attention to lifestyle, evidenced based alternative psychiatric care and spirituality. If you’d like to gain control over your mental health issues, call Hope Mental Health at 208-918-0958, or use the online scheduling tool to set up an initial consultation.

You Might Also Enjoy...

Depression and gut bacteria: how gut health affects your mood

Researchers have recently discovered how gut health can impact mental health. There is an intestinal immune cell that impacts the gut microbiota (total microorganism in the gut), which consequently affects brain functions associated with stress-induced beh

Children's mental health is declining: here's why

A new study suggests that the rise in mental health problems in school-aged children and teens is associated with a decline in opportunities for them to engage in independent play unsupervised by adults.

New Blood Test for Detecting Anxiety Discovered

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have developed a new blood test that can objectively determine a person's risk for developing anxiety, the severity of their current anxiety, and which therapies would work best for them.