Take Care of Yourself

MAY is Mental Health Awareness Month, so we want to ensure we recognize the truth: According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five Americans lives with a mental health condition.

That includes any mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder, such as Depression, Anxiety, Mood disorders, bipolar disorder, Personality disorders, and Psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia, Trauma, Eating disorders, and Substance -use disorders.

A recent statement by President Joe Biden on Mental Health Awareness Month mentions isolation, sickness, grief, and job loss as contributing factors to declining mental health and lack of access to mental health services during difficult times.

But it’s important to remember that you are not alone.

Experts stress that now is the time to focus on healing, reaching out, and connecting safely by acknowledging that it’s okay not to be okay.

Mental Health

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. 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 essential at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood and aging.

Have you ever driven the same route and felt like you got there almost on autopilot upon arrival? That is like how thoughts and actions travel along neural pathways in our brains. Repeating a particular idea or action often reinforces that neural pathway and the thinking can become automatic. When it comes to thought or action patterns that are causing us trouble (anger, aggression, sadness, hopelessness), we can learn the routes and pathways we're inadvertently reinforcing. Too often, we act, speak, and think automatically when troubling decisions or stressful events come our way. However, trying a new mental fitness routine can help reroute these pathways to serve us and our mental health better.

Fitness Routine

Physical Activity

Being physically active releases those feel-good endorphins and dopamine and promotes the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), enhancing your sense of well-being and reducing stress. Consider making time for your physical well-being by sticking to a healthy sleep schedule, picking nutritious meals, or taking part in stress management techniques such as meditation or yoga.

Social Interaction and Support

Find a resilient role model that you feel is mentally strong; this could be a friend, family member, or even a co-worker. Spend time with them and learn how they respond to challenging situations. If you feel comfortable, ask for advice on your difficulties.

Strengthen your growth skillset.

Learning through adversity or failure is critical to training your brain for the next challenge in your life. If you can recognize, accept, and aspire to grow, you’re inadvertently helping yourself for future situations. This is called strengthening your growth skillset. For example, purposely identifying something you could fail at – like trying a new recipe or skill –and testing your ability to be agile. Practicing failure will allow you to be mentally nimble and regulate your brain’s flight or fight response when challenges come your way.

Exhibit realistic optimism.

Having realistic optimism means confronting, rather than avoiding, the situation you may be in. You can think of this as the converse of learned helplessness, in which a person feels powerless to change a stressful situation independently. This requires reframing your outlook and could be aided by stress management techniques such as meditation or functional or adaptive mental health techniques.

I'd like you to focus on your life purpose.

Help to remind yourself of the meaning of your life and the lives of others through purposeful activity. You can inadvertently help reset your thinking by actively pursuing an intentional action. For example, participate in a community event with a common purpose or goal rather than passively scrolling social media or a newsfeed.

Consult Health professionals.

Keeping up with your mental fitness routine takes time and discipline. If you don't feel you're making progress — or you feel like trauma is getting heavier and lasting more than a month — consider learning about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and talking to a mental health professional.

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Reference: Mayo Clinic