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My 20 Secret Tips proven to promote Mental Health
- Get Good sleep – it improves your mood and mind, concentration, productively. It’s vital for both your physical and mental health 6 – 9 hours of sleep is recommended.
- Talk to someone (family, friend, professional) – talking about how you are feeling has many benefits; it can help you cope with a problem; you may feel like a load has been lifted, can reduce feelings of loneliness, and improve your mental health and wellbeing.
- Spiritual self-care – tapping into your faith (listening to positive sermons, faith music, a little read of the Bible, Quran, any inspiring book). This can positively change your attitude to life and your attitude to difficulties.
- Connect with others – it will improve your mood and reduce isolation. This could be meeting in person, online (social networks) or by phone.
- Be active – enjoy outdoors, activity helps relieve built up anxiety and stress, it releases endorphins (mood-boosting hormones) to lift your mood and self-esteem and helps your physical health too. Increase your energy levels and promote relaxation.
- Eat well – a balanced diet provides your brain and body with the fuel it needs to function properly and keeps illnesses away. Most of the human body is water, with an average of roughly 60%. Dehydration will negatively impact your mood, drink at least 2 litres of water.
- Avoid drugs and over drinking – bin smoking, cut down on alcohol and caffeine, although these can have a positive effect on your mood, in the long run it will turn negative. Alcohol is a depressant. Drugs may lead to paranoia or psychosis and physical health problems; both are highly addictive and very expensive in the long run.
- Acts of kindness – giving evokes positive emotions, a sense of purpose, and self-esteem. Small gestures e.g give a listening ear, make someone a hot drink, can all have a positive impact on your well-being.
- Do something you enjoy – a hobby, learning a new skill, new recipe, play an instrument, take time to relax, do things that make you happy, it will boost your mood and esteem. It’s not a luxury but a priority.
- Be in the present – be aware of your thoughts, feelings, body, and your surroundings. Think about your thoughts. Notice the birds chirping, notice things that you have taken for granted.
- Reframe unhelpful thoughts – your thoughts, feelings and behaviors are linked. We at times develop unhelpful patterns of thoughts or behaviors, and so recognizing them, and taking steps to think about things differently, can boost your mental health and wellbeing.
- Get rid of the negative people in your cycle – negative people will bring you down and discourage you from achieving your dreams. Surrounding yourself with positive people with similar goals will make you happier and successful.
- Make time to laugh – watching something funny, a funny book, audio, hanging with funny friends will improve your mood, reduce stress, and boost immunity. Laugh is good medicine. It will make you feel good.
- Dancing – It’s a great way to improve your mood and reduce stress levels. Try it and you might be surprised by its impact. Not only is it a workout, but you might also be surprised how much fun it is.
- Try doing something that scares you – this can be quite therapeutic especially when you are feeling down. Facing your fears will leave you feeling empowered and give you that feeling of overcoming a barrier.
- Practice forgiveness – in the long run, holding onto anger and resentment can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety and will only hurt you. If a friend does something that bothers you, try to let them know, let it go.
- Prioritize your mental health – Find time for activities that reduce stress and promote relaxation (yoga, meditation, nature walks). There’s more to your life that the degree, Studying is not as important as you are!!
- Create a routine – (meals time, sleeping, waking up, fun, revising etc) and try sticking with it. It gives a structure and purpose to the day and can help you to cope with change and reduce stress levels. No matter what’s going on in your day, a routine can be an anchor knowing what you are doing, and it can be a real comfort.
- Self-care – treat yourself (new outfit, shoes perfume), drink herbal tea or hot chocolate. It is well reported that hot drinks are known to ease the soul (avoiding too much caffeine!). A warm bath can help reduce stress, soothing relaxing music with scented candles too.
- Journaling – if something is bothering you, let it all out on paper. This can reduce symptoms, and make you feel like a load off your shoulders has been lifted.
''Remember your mental health has an impact on every aspect of your life. Good mental health allows you to deal with the everyday challenges of life effectively.''
Axe throwing – Book with a friend(s) to go axe throwing as it can be therapeutic. It puts your body through a physical workout that is also beneficial to your mental health. It can help relieve built up anxiety and stress. Feel the tension quickly vanish as you hurl metal axes at wooden targets. Google nearest venue
Truly wonderful to read! The exact type of acknowledgment and support minority groups need. Especially great that you touched on the aspect of faith being something to turn to through the journey. It feels as though these days mentioning faith with mental health services is some what of a taboo, as if everything should be kept purely scientific, I’m glad faith is being acknowledged for those of us who cling to our beliefs as a hugely important aspect which filters into every aspect of our life, including our health and studies.
Great job Ronalds!
Thanks so much L Taylor for that feedback, very appreciated
Wonderful tips! Thank you for sharing them with us .
Thank you Elizabet
This information is very useful for me as a mental health student, as well as for helping friends and for my own mental health.
Thnk you.
That is great to hear, thank you Anuoluwapo
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Ohh thank you so much for that lovely feedback, I am glad you found it helpful.
Great tips here. Some of which I really need to work on myself. Such as getting enough sleep. My sleeping pattern is very irregular to say the least. I’m not to the point where I spend whole nights awake, but 5 hours is my max most of the time.
I have learned to prioritize my own mental health in the last few years and many steps you mention here are in that list.
Thanks so much for your comments, glad it was useful