MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health can take a huge toll on someone physically and mentally. It plays a role in how we think, feel and act so it’s important to take our mental health seriously since it’s a huge factor of our daily lives. Mental health can worsen due to many reasons but there’s many different ways to try and improve your mental health for a better day.

Before we talk about different methods to help your mental health, how would you even identify how your mental health is being affected? There’s many signs that can indicate a significant change which can seem to be normal to people but these are early signs of poor mental health. Isolating yourself lately from friends or family constantly because you just want to be alone, eating too much or eating too less throughout the day without any balance, always having low energy or feeling exhausted, having negative thoughts or feelings, always feeling down or hopeless are all signs that your mental health is worsening.

There’s different things that can cause poor mental health which are social isolation, long term stress, panic attacks, overuse of drugs and alcohol. Those are a few examples of causes but many factors leading to poor mental health are depression, anxiety, stress and abuse.

One effective way to help improve your mental health is by having a support system which can be professional help, self help groups or turning to family or friends whom you trust. There are many hotlines and resources available or even getting a therapist can help you improve. Always having a support system makes you feel loved and cared for instead of feeling alone and feeling more down. A support system is a great way to be encouraged and motivated to face the world.

Another way to improve your mental health is by journaling, this may seem pointless or funny to people but it helps. Always talking about your feelings is important and writing them down can help you track your symptoms which can help in controlling them. Journaling about anything in your day that happens is a healthy daily thing which helps with managing anxiety and stress which are factors of a bad mental health. It’s a great way to get things off your chest if you don’t want to verbally say something, you can just write it down for yourself!

Being physically active is also crucial in improving mental health since it reduces stress and anxiety. Being physically active doesn’t necessarily mean working out or doing intense or time consuming activities, it can be a 30 minute walk somewhere peaceful or a jog. Any form of physical activity improves your mood by boosting endorphins which produces happiness, reduces stress by producing neurohormone and increases self esteem.

Meditation or relaxation techniques are one of the biggest ways to improve your mental health which can be put into your everyday routine. Meditation helps with focusing your attention and calming your nerves down so your mind can be clear. Relaxation techniques slow down breathing, lowers blood pressure, and reduces tension and stress. All these are positive and simple ways to clear your mind and increase self positivity.

Mental health is very important and should be looked after. It’s a challenging issue to deal with for everyone but there are many ways to cope with mental health problems and improve it. Some ways may not help everyone but there are other ways that can be ideal for certain people and should definitely be tried. Always having purpose and meaning can go a long way in terms of positivity. Poor mental health is definitely not something that can be solved very quickly but having hope and motivation is the key.

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Author:

Medha Sarker

A Little Bit About Myself!

Hey! My name is Medha Sarker and I identify as she/her. I’m currently a 16 year old living in Toronto, Canada so a junior in high school! Writing and reading is my passion, I’m constantly writing and reading something and continue to improve myself. Other than that, I deeply adore the beach and during the summer, I always go a few times during the months and just sit on the rocks with total silence and admire the water. I also enjoy playing badminton and listening to music in my free time. Fun fact about myself, I can speak 4 languages fluently :) I am very excited to learn new skills with this organization as well as contribute my skills and get to know my peers!