How to Improve Mental Health
What is mental health?
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being (Visit Us). It affects how we think, feel, and act as we cope with life. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood and aging.
Why is mental health important?
Mental health is important because it can help you to:
Cope with the stresses of life
Be physically healthy
Have good relationships
Make meaningful contributions to your community
Work productively
Realize your full potential
How can I improve my mental health?
There are many different things you can do to improve your mental health, including:
Staying positive. It’s important to try to have a positive outlook; some ways to do that include
Finding balance between positive and negative emotions. Staying positive doesn’t mean that you never feel negative emotions, such as sadness or anger. You need to feel them so that you can move through difficult situations. They can help you to respond to a problem. But you don’t want those emotions to take over. For example, it’s not helpful to keep thinking about bad things that happened in the past or worry too much about the future.
Trying to hold on to the positive emotions when you have them
Taking a break from negative information. Know when to stop watching or reading the news. Use social media to reach out for support and feel connected to others but be careful. Don’t fall for rumors, get into arguments, or negatively compare your life to others.
Practicing gratitude, which means being thankful for the good things in your life. It’s helpful to do this every day, either by thinking about what you are grateful for or writing it down in a journal. These can be big things, such as the support you have from loved ones, or little things, such as enjoying a nice meal. It’s important to allow yourself a moment to enjoy that you had the positive experience. Practicing gratitude can help you to see your life differently. For example, when you are stressed, you may not notice that there are also moments when you have some positive emotions. Gratitude can help you to recognize them.
