Mental health is losing its stigma and rightly so. It wasn’t so long ago that being told to ‘man up’ or ‘cheer up, it might never happen’ was seen as an acceptable response to someone who was suffering from stress, anxiety or depression. Nowadays, we understand that mental health is as much of an affliction to the person suffering as physical health is. You can see a broken leg but you can’t see a PTSD sufferer. This doesn’t make the ailment any less valid.
Mental health has come a long way in the past decade. More and more celebrities are opening up about their experiences with mental health issues. Sportsmen are also opening up dialogue channels to encourage fellow males of the species to open up about worries and problems. The idea of talking to share issues and open up a discussion about mental health has only had a positive effect on society. However, we also need to be proactive in looking after our own mental well being. Read on to discover what you can do to ensure that you protect your mental health.
Talk
It’s vital that you use the support network around you to vent, rage or cry about any issues or problems that you might be having. Bottling up our emotions leads to high blood pressure and heightened levels of anxiety. Slipping into a depressive episode could see you struggling to function. You might not get up out of bed, you might not eat, you might not shower, and you may end up isolating yourself from your nearest and dearest. Don’t shut people out and keep talking to people. While you might not want to see people, you can send a quick text or Whatsapp. Perhaps you might fancy meeting over coffee on neutral ground and talking about what has been getting you down.
Talking to friends and family can be too much for some people. If this is the case, talk to a more objective person. A professional who is qualified to help people suffering with mental health issues is someone you don’t know and who can listen in an unconnected way. This can help you to open up a little more freely and work on employing strategies to help you overcome your anxiety or stress.
Career
In the twenty first century our lives are busier than ever before. Your job may lead you to working for an overbearing boss, with the challenge of meeting unrealistic targets, and with the threat of dismissal hanging over your head. This heightened level of stress can do untold damage to your mental health. You need to take a step back and reassess what is really important to you. Take the holiday you are owed and spend it away from work. Go on vacation, take a road trip to somewhere peaceful and forget about your current targets.
Instead, you need to consider what it is that you want from your career. Is money the be all and end all of your job or is professional satisfaction more important to you? If you do want to change jobs, don’t be fearful and go for it. The chances are that you will have to face rejection, but everyone does. Don’t take it personally, and keep applying for other roles. Make sure that you apply with a bespoke cover letter for every role. Any employer can spot a generic template letter from a mile away. Address a named recipient and talk about what you can bring to your new potential company rather than talking about what they can do for you. Brush up on your resume and undertake a training course or two to show how committed you are to continual learning.
When you get to interview, this is your time to shine. Follow the STAR method of answering questions. Detail the situation you found yourself in, the task your undertook and explain your action and the result. This prevents waffle and keeps your answers concise and relevant. With any luck you can find yourself in a new a more fulfilling role, whether this is linked to your current profession or doing something totally different.
Treat Yourself
As an individual, it can be hard to find time for yourself. It’s all too easy to lose your identity when you are trying to be a good mother, wife, friend and daughter. You need to find time for you, otherwise you can feel shackled by your responsibilities. Ask your partner to look after the kids once a week while you embark on your own hobbies or treat yourself. Consider heading to a place like Borgata to have a reiki massage, a facial or a mud body float. These spa treatments can have you feeling refreshed, relaxed and totally stress free for a short while.
You may prefer to embark on a passion that you’ve always wanted to explore. If you want to book yourself onto a beginners scuba diving course, do it. If you want to learn the piano, book yourself a free taster lesson. And if you want to have a go at playing table tennis, join a local club. By taking time out for ourselves, we are finding our identity once again. This is vital to look after your mental wellbeing.
During the day, you also need to find time for yourself. Being cooped up in an office for eight hours a day may mean that you don’t get to spend time outdoors at all. However, you need to find ten or fifteen minutes to head outside and go for a short stroll. Being in the natural sunlight can help restore our body clock and is good to lift our mood. Sunlight is full of Vitamin D and is crucial to good health. Being outside also give us time to clear our head and forget about the particularly stressful meeting that we just had with a colleague. Just sitting away from your desk to have a spot of lunch can help us to unwind and relax a little bit.
Social Media Detox
You will probably be surprised at just how long you spend scrolling through your Facebook feed each week. If you spend your hours on the sofa when you return from work mindlessly looking at other people’s Instagram pictures and feeling jealous of their aspirational lives, you are not alone. Social media has created a seemingly unattainable set of lifestyles that we know are fake but that we still aspire to have. Amaro, Lo Fi and Sierra filters can make even the most dull beach scenes look like something out of the Caribbean. So, why do we become so angsty over them? Because we are always measuring ourselves against other people – many of which we have never even met.
It’s time to take a social media detox. Wave goodbye to Facebook et al. for a little while and do something else with your time. Come back into the real world by phoning a friend, having a pal over for a movie night and by heading out for dinner with your sibling. Do something more real and constructive with those hours that you usually spend on Twitter. By being more present and appreciative of what you do have, you begin to worry less about what you see on social media.
Being present and mindful of who you are and what you have is key to good mental health. Your mental well being is as important as your physical well being. Be proactive and follow this guide to ensure that you protect your mental health and live your life to the fullest.
