To encourage mental health wellness, here’s a list of four practices to improve your mental health.
Get more sleep
Getting more sleep helps overall mental health by making you feel more energized the next day and helps your brain focus. According to a study by Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry, sleep helps you process emotions and daily stressors and maintain your cognitive skills. Many students don’t sleep at night because of how busy they are with school work, or they stay up on social media or playing video games, but they don’t realize the drawbacks of it. The day after, they feel sleepier or less concentrated, as well as grumpier or less emotionally available. It isn’t crucial to just sleep, but the amount you get. The average teenager needs to get 8-10 hours of sleep, while an adult should be getting around 7 hours daily. Getting less than the required amount might lead to moodiness and not being able to focus. Sleeping is a way to recharge your body and energize yourself for tomorrow.
Exercise
Getting any type of physical movement regularly can help with mental health. According to the National Library of Medicine, aerobic exercises, like jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, gardening and dancing, have been proven to reduce anxiety and depression. It increases the blood flow to the brain and releases endorphins, which improve your mood as well as reduce the stress hormone cortisol. It also helps with improving self-esteem and cognitive function. Exercising can help with thinking better and processing information. It helps you stay fit and physically healthy. Many times, you find yourself more stressed out than ever, when you can simply exercise.
Cut down on social media use
Social media has worsened people’s mental health significantly over the years. Research done by the American Psychological Association found that people who limit their screen time to around 30 minutes a day are happier and show significantly lower feelings of loneliness, anxiety, depression and body negativity. Many people, especially teens, often find themselves comparing their lives and bodies to influencers and people who show their lives on social media. This perpetuates negative imagery for teens and children as young as 8 years old. It leaves an effect on the rest of their lives. It causes their perspective on the world to be distorted and often harmful.
Spending time with a community
Being part of a community can provide you with a sense of belonging, improve your mood and better your social interactions. As a human, you are meant to socialize every day. When you isolate yourself, you often find yourself moodier or grumpier as well as feeling lonely. According to a study by the Mental Health Foundation, social interactions reduce your heart rate and calm you down in stressful moments. In tough times, you may feel alone, but when you are in a community, you find other people to talk to about your problems and situations.
