Think Cultural Health

Day by day mental health is becoming less of a taboo subject; suffering from mental health issues no longer means that you are ‘crazy’. Not only this, but mental health is now broken down into so many categories, that you can now get specialized help for what you are experiencing, from clinical depression, to sleep deprivation, to psychosis; you can get help for whatever you need.

In most cases mental health issues would not become issues if we spotted the signs early, or took measures in our daily lives to look after our mental health. The following are a few easy ways to make sure that your take good care of your mental health:

1.

Feel what you feel: many people can sometimes feel ashamed of their feelings, and so they try to hide them and pretend that they feel differently. This may happen where you think that what you are feeling is not what you are expected to feel by others. For example, if you are a new parent and you feel overwhelmed by the responsibility, or unhappiness in a marriage, or job. You should not concern yourself with what other people will think of your feelings, instead acknowledge how you feel and try to determine why you feel that way. Sometimes part of the discovery process is talking to someone about the way that you feel; whether this is a trusted friend, family member or medical professional.

2.

Eat well: a diet that is good for your physical health is also good for your mental health. Your brain needs a good balance of foods in order to keep it healthy and give it the energy and nutrients to perform well. Make sure that your intake includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts dairy, meat and fish and a lot of water.

3.

Relax: taking a break does not have to be a long vacation, it could be a 5 minutes rest before continuing to work, or a short walk to de-stress and have a change of pace. Forcing yourself to work when you are tired could make a bad situation work, and chances are the work that you will produce in that state will not be very good.

4.

Play: a lot of the time exercise is considered to be another chore that has to be done, but it doesn’t have to be. Doing a bit of gardening, playing with your children, taking your dog for a walk, doing an activity with friends, all of these things can count towards your daily exercise. Recent studies have shown that being active releases the ‘feel good’ hormones known as endorphins that general improves your outlook on life, so it is definitely worth playing a little bit every day.

5.

Lend a helping hand: many times people get so wrapped up in their own lives/problems that they don’t see what is happening around them. Caring for someone can, not only help you to put your problems into perspective, but helping also make you feel valued and can help boost your self-esteem.