Most people understand the importance of physical health and taking care of themselves physically through healthy eating and physical exercise each day. But far fewer people recognize the equal if not greater importance of mental health and taking care of themselves mentally.
Your mental health is your state of well-being. It’s the way you feel about yourself, about others, and about the rest of the world. Even if you are in excellent physical shape, being in a poor mental state can still ruin your overall quality of life.
Being in a poor mental state means that you are more at risk for a variety of other negative things, including mood swings, excessive stress and anxiety, or even addictions.
“Addiction and mental health disorders might be seen as two sides of the same coin,” Northeast Addictions Treatment Center notes. “Mental health problems affect substance abuse and substance abuse affects mental health disorders.”
Fortunately, just as there are steps you can take to improve yourself when it comes to your physical health, the same exists for your mental health as well.
Here are the top simple ways to improve your mental health this week:
Practice Healthy Habits
People who practice healthy habits each and everyday tend to be in a more positive mental state and live higher quality lives.
There are a number of healthy habits that you will be able to integrate into your daily life, including having a list of realistic goals and reading them each day, working out, eating healthy foods, getting enough sleep at night, going for calming walks outdoors, practicing gratitude (more on this in a little bit), doing a hobby each day you like, or taking cold showers.
Surround Yourself With Positive People
The old saying goes that you are the average of the five people who spend the most amount of time with. So if you’re in a poor mental state, maybe it’s because you’re surrounded everyday with negative, depressed, or angry people.
The remedy for this will be to instead surround yourself with good people. If you don’t know very many people who make you feel positive when you are sound them, you can meet such people in support groups or activities/networking events in your local community.
Practice Gratitude Whenever You Feel bad
One of the best healthy habits you can use to improve your mental health will be to practice gratitude everyday. Scientific studies have repeatedly showed that practicing gratitude can instantly alleviate stress and anger.
Make it a habit to say three things that you are grateful for each morning and in the evening, and your reasons for why you are grateful for them. It’s also important to truly feel grateful and not just say it.
Additionally, whenever you start to feel anger or stress at any time in the day, you can instantly alleviate those emotions by thinking of something that you are grateful for. Practice gratitude for just one week and see if there’s any positive results.
Improving Your Mental Health
Mental health is a serious subject and taking care of yourself mentally just as you should physically definitely needs to be one of your top priorities in life.