People hear the word mental health and they want to hide. But mental health is simply part of your health and caring for it is simple. So we want to share 7 simple ways to care for your mental health. The thing about these is that they are so simple, they often get overlooked.
This month (October 10th to be precise) was world mental health day! So we are not done with you on mental health. On girl child day, we shared with you 5 things that can impact the health of the girl child and how to help. If you have not read it do so now!
- Love yourself: Start by placing value on yourself. All of it- the good, the better and the best. When we start to see even the parts we do not like as part of us, and LOVE it, we are actually better motivated to do something positive to help us be better. That way, we do not use give access for it to impact our mental health.
- Mind your body: The basics to have good physical health: exercise, eat healthy, drink lots of water, go out in the sunshine, sleep well. Lack of sleep (and good one) is a high stressor. Limiting or avoiding alcohol and other cigarettes might help too. Over all, listen to your body and take good care of it.
- Identify your stressors and manage them: Some of us know the things that cause us extreme stress, which then impacts our mental health. But few of us prepare to deal with those stress as they come. For example, if you know leaving the house in the morning is a mad rush that stresses you, plan to wake up earlier. This might mean cutting back on TV to sleep a bit earlier.
- Surround yourself with positive energy: we all need hype people, prayer partners, fun-filled persons. Bottom line, whoever you have around you, make sure they are positive energy.
- Listen to music: sometimes, just sitting in the beauty of music you love (I always do gospel, could be rap, slow songs or soft rock) goes a long way. Other times, you may need to turn up the volume and scring (SCREAM +SING) at the top of your voice. Good for the soul!
- Pray and Meditate: Most people say prayer is the last thing on your mind when you are depressed. I used to think so too until God made me realize prayer is simple- talking to God and listening to Him talk back to you.
In my darkest moments, my prayers were: “God help me”, “God I can’t anymore, just give me strength for one more day”. Guess what? It got better! - Get help if you need it: If you feel seriously ‘out of it’, then seek professional help. There is no shame in that and the sooner we admit the better. It is no different from seeing your doctor. We tend to schedule ‘check-ins’ with our doctor. Do the same for your mental health.
Takeaways
There is no health without mental health. And sometimes caring for our mental health, is quite simple. It is in our nature to complicate things as humans, and I have made it a point of duty to simplify it for us. I hope you have enjoyed reading about these 7 simple ways to care for your mental health.
Which of these resonates the most with you? Share with us in the comments. Do not forget to share this with someone. You might save a life.
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