Throughout the world today the rate of anxiety and suicide has grown exponentially. This is due to the pandemic, increased use of social media, and economic stress – what some are calling “the perfect mental health storm.” Although we can’t change what’s happened already, we can make improvements for the future of our mental health.
Take a Break From Technology
While social media has a lot of positive aspects (e.g. staying connected, finding employment, learning from others) it also has a lot of downsides, especially when you engage with it too much. For instance, it can make you feel inadequate in comparison to others. It can also result in self-absorption, depression, and cyber-bullying.
Of course, it’s up to you to choose how much you engage and how frequently you do so. Make sure that these are results that you’re happy with – something that builds you up. If not, it’s time to try to break away from things that are causing you anxiety even if that means disengaging for an hour a day. Slowly you’ll be able to do more and eventually, you’ll be able to feel in control of your consumption.
Talk Nicely to Yourself
Thought patterns can become so established that you may not realize you’re not talking to yourself nicely. Pay attention to your inner voice (a.k.a. self-talk) as it’s powerful enough to cause depression. This usually happens when we experience too much anxiety and negativity in our daily lives. You have the opportunity to change this though. After all, you’re in charge of deciding what you think about.
When you’re battling depression it can be difficult to talk to yourself nicely. This is something we all face sometimes. Making the choice to be more positive is difficult to start but eventually, you’ll notice how good it feels so it’ll become a habit.
Invest in Your Health
Your physical health directly impacts your mental health. This is why it’s important to get enough sleep, eat well, and exercise. Otherwise, you’re more likely to face mental health challenges like depression and anxiety.
Sleep
You’ll want your bedroom to be calm, quiet, and cool. You don’t want things like TV or your smartphone in there. In fact, you should turn these things off an hour before going to bed. Instead, take a soothing bath or enjoy a cup of tea.
Diet
There are two important things you can do so your diet supports healthy sleep, including:
- Remove alcohol, sugar, and simple carbohydrates from your diet and eat lots of leafy greens and lean proteins instead
- Don’t eat after 8 PM so your body has a full 12 hours to detox before breakfast.
Exercise
Exercising cleanses your body from toxins, increases your blood flow, and maintains muscle strength. These things alone are big enough goals you don’t need to set any others.
Step away from technology, talk nicely to yourself, eat healthily, exercise, and get plenty of sleep to help improve your life. However, may fall short sometimes. When you do, it’s important that you’re gentle with yourself. Simply recommit to doing better tomorrow than you did today. Recognize that you’re still making progress even when you have a mild setback.
Things won’t always be easy. When you find yourself in need of some help dealing with depression and anxiety in Clearwater and Tampa Bay, FL, make sure you reach out to Advantage Mental Health Center.
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