For quite a long time, conversations about mental health were shunned and if they happened, they were done in hushed tones as if it was a taboo subject.
Talks about health revolved around physical healthy: how to prevent and avoid diseases and son on. Mental health never featured anywhere but that’s changing. An increasing number of people including celebrities are opening up about their mental health struggles.
People are beginning to understand that mental health is as important as physical health and this has encouraged a lot people to speak out and seek help.
Here are tips to maintain your mental health.
Sleep soundly every night
Doctors recommend at minimum of seven hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. Sleep deprivation affects your cognitive functions, makes it difficult to control your emotions and hinders your judgment, affects your memory and is generally bad for your mental health. This is in addition to the harmful effects it has on your physical health.
This is why you are more prone to outbursts when you stay up late and your memory also fails you more often than it regularly does. The brain needs uninterrupted sleep to store new information and skipping sleep to prepare for a presentation or exams will more likely have the opposite effect.
Lack of sleep in itself is a symptom of mental illness and it’s advisable to seek medical help should you have difficulty in sleeping.
Keep your brain active
Reading is nourishment to the brain as food is to the body. Keeping your brain active is important in warding off age-related mental diseases like memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease.
The trick is to keep on learning. Know why Jupiter is referred to as the Stormy Planet, read newspapers, fill crossword puzzles and you are never too old to play a board game.
Socialize
Having a close circle of friends is essential for longevity as well as maintaining a healthy mind. Having a friend in whom you can confide helps alleviate stress. Unresolved stress over a long period of time can lead to depression and other mental illnesses.
Moreover, socialization and chatting with people requires the working of your brain and also helps keeping you from feeling lonely. Feeling loved and cared for is important for your mental wellness and also keeps you from engaging in risky behavior which might endanger your life.
Seek professional help
There is absolutely no shame in seeking professional help with your unresolved issues emanating from your childhood or a traumatic incident.
Similar to seeing a physician for your physical health needs, a mental health practitioner is best placed to help you with your mental health struggles.
You can either go to your general practitioner who can then refer you to a specialized doctor or you can take yourself to a professional therapist to help you out.
Exercise regularly
Regular exercise is as important to your physical wellness as it is to your mental wellbeing.
You should incorporate exercise into your lifestyle, as it will improve your health by increasing blood and oxygen flow to your brain as well as stimulating the release of endorphins. These endorphins are the body’s feel good hormones.
Increased blood flow is important in retaining your cognitive abilities and endorphin help alleviate depressive symptoms.
Leave a Reply