10 Smart Ways to Look After Your Mental Health
“Sometimes the strongest people are the ones who love beyond all faults, cry behind closed doors, and fight battles that nobody knows about.”
By nature, we humans are very strong and emotional creatures. We are driven by our emotions and activated by the way we think.
When you think happy, your decisions are positive.
But when you’re sad, you have the tendency to make poor decisions.
How you act and decide lead you to become either a better person or someone that needs more room to grow.
Aside from your physical well-being, your mental health should be looked after and prioritized just like everything else, especially when mental exhaustion creeps in.
These are 8 signs of mental exhaustion that you shouldn’t ignore:
- You’re losing more patience. If you’re mentally exhausted, you get worked up even at the littlest things.
- You’re having difficulty sleeping. Mental exhaustion increases your cortisol levels, which affects your body’s normal functions such as metabolism and sleep cycle.
- You become easily irritated. Your body is more tense, which leads you to become easily irritated. And because of this, you might lose your focus and concentration.
- You experience frequent indigestion & tummy troubles. When you’re mentally exhausted, you feel sick often, which leads to poor appetite and tummy troubles.
- Anxiety, depression, and panic attacks hit you hard. Even the smallest details can worry you too much, and that can trigger your anxiety and panic attacks.
- You feel unmotivated and unconfident. You suddenly lose sight of who you are, you question yourself more, you become lazier, and you have lower self-esteem.
- You become more emotional and you cry a lot. You suddenly burst into tears out of nowhere, you become more emotional, and you cry easily.
- You feel detached even from the closest people in your life. Suddenly you feel empty because you always want to be alone, you lose grip of reality, and you don’t want to talk to anyone.
Discovering these signs is very important. It lets you know that your mental health needs closer attention, and you need to do something about it immediately before these signs progress to something worse.
Now, it’s time to look after your mental health with these 10 smart ways:
Don’t be shy to talk about your feelings
Ask for help. Talk to someone at times you feel troubled and lonely. This is not a sign of desperation, rather a sign of bravery. Because sometimes the person, who’s been there for everyone else needs someone to be there for them - and that could be you!
Cry if you feel the need to. Always remember that a strong man cries; it is the weak man who holds back his tears. Crying is a healthy way to let go of the negativity without hurting someone back or making unhealthy decisions.
After you talk to someone and cry, you’ll feel stronger.
Be more active
Exercise, work out, clean the house, do household chores, or walk outside. All these can boost your body’s normal functions, which can help you concentrate more and sleep better.
Sweating it out is also good for mental health since it is the healthiest way to fight depression and mood swings.
Eat healthy and well
One of the best ways to take care of your mental health is to feed your body with lots of nutritious foods.
Your brain needs a healthy combination of nutrients to stay healthy from head to toe. Gut supplements play a very important role in making sure that all the nutrients you eat will be distributed properly to your mind and body.
Drink gently and moderately
No one is stopping you from drinking alcoholic beverages. But make sure you’re drinking moderately and not too often because you don’t need to intoxicate yourself with alcohol. Be gentle with your body.
You may think that drinking alcohol will change your mood so you can easily forget your problems. For a moment, yes. But once the effect of the alcohol wears off, hangover, headaches, and dehydration kick in. And these are not good for your mind.
Know that drinking is never a solution to manage your difficult times.
Sleep well
Insufficient sleep leads to poor mental health, since your body is not receiving enough rest to rejuvenate itself.
Without enough rest, you’re at high risk of having a weakened immune system and mental health issues such as lack of concentration, focus, depression, and anxiety.
Get enough sleep as much as you can. Sufficient sleep and rest also contributes to graceful aging.
If you’re having sleeping disorders, try this 5-HTP supplement. It supports serotonin and melatonin levels and enhances brain function so you can sleep and rest better.
Always keep in touch with your family and friends
Whether you have problems or for no special reason at all, talk to your family and friends. Go out and socialize every once in a while because it’s good for you!
Talking to someone and socializing is one of your ultimate keys to longevity and wellness. It also enhances your communication and social skills, boosts your cognitive function and makes you happier.
Pause and take a break
Routines can sometimes either be too exhausting or too dull. Instead of being unproductive, pause for a while. Because if you don’t, your body might experience fatigue and your brain might have mental exhaustion.
A few minutes of break can be enough to relax and destress you.
Do something you’re good at
Every time you do something you’re good at, you become proud, happy, and fulfilled. These can all beat stress and boost your confidence.
You also get more creative and productive each time you excel at something, which is an excellent exercise for the brain.
Care for others
Even the smallest act of caring for others can make a difference. You’ll never know how bad someone might be feeling until you show them how much you care.
Keep in mind that you can also be at your happiest when you care for others.
Practice self-acceptance
Accept who you are and stop comparing yourself to others. We’re all unique and different in many ways. You might have what others don’t have, and skills that others lack. So what’s the point of comparing?
Rather, do things that your future self will thank you for. Improve and learn so that you won’t have much time comparing yourself to other people.
Feeling good about yourself is healthy for your mental health.
A reminder of bravery:
A strong body is a good asset; a strong mind is a very good asset. Your strongest “muscle” is your mind, so train it well.
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