Each year, 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in the UK. These statistics are real and show just how much mental health affects everyone, and that you are not alone.
This article will give tips on how to improve your mental health and gain a positive insight to life.
An exact definition for mental health is difficult as it is such a vague word and has many different aspects relating to it. Our mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social-wellbeing. It affects how we handle stress, relate to others, how we act, think and feel. It can affect our everyday life, and so this page will be sharing small changes that you can make to your everyday life in order to improve it.
Stay active
If you stay active and healthy, you will see an increase in happiness and positivity. This is because exercise has been scientifically proven to produce the hormones endorphins which cause changes in your brain chemically that impact your mood positively. These exercises or activities don’t have to be strenuous; you do not need to run for hours or do anything competitive! It can just be a stroll in the park with your friends or dog. Activities like these keep you distracted and is very rewarding for your mental and physical health.
Get enough sleep
Lack of sleep puts you in a bad mood and this leads to increased mental health problems like high anxiety and stress. So, getting enough sleep (recommended 8 hours each night) will decrease the likelihood of getting anxious and stressed throughout the day. If you are struggling to sleep at night, there are many ways of helping this! There are various apps or sounds that are used to relax yourself and put you in a sleepy state, or if these don’t work then visit a doctor. It is very important you are getting the full 8 hours of sleep in order to improve your mental health.
Learn a new skill
Learning a new skill doesn’t sound like it would help your mental health, but it’s actually very useful! It keeps you and your brain active and busy. It is also very rewarding once you have finished this new project or learnt this new skill. Some people find it very relaxing and therapeutic and so do it to destress and wind down. It can be as simple as learning a new recipe or as difficult as learning a whole new language! It keeps you busy and is very rewarding.
Take a break from social media
Multiple studies have found that there is a strong relationship between social media usage and increased risk of depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. There are a lot of things on social media that are false and there are a lot of trolls who say harsh stuff about people, so a lot of social media is negative. Nowadays, we are so use to social media and have a high exposure to it, it has become part of our everyday lives. But it is getting more harmful every day. So, by taking breaks off social media, it decreases your exposure to this negative stuff, and so your mood will be more positive. Even by taking an hour or two each day off social media, it adds up and you will start to see an affect.
Overall, there are little changes you can make to your everyday lives, but they make a huge impact. Mental health is becoming more spoken about nowadays which is also so important, we need to talk to each other in order to help ourselves. There are so many charities and helplines if you are really struggling (like Mind). So if you are really struggling please get into contact with these charities as there is always an answer and you are not alone!
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