5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Mental Health

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Mental health is something so many of us struggle with, it is something that personally I don’t ever remember being stable. However, as the years have gone on I’ve tried to come up with ways to help myself when times get hard. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t always manage it, however building a plan of what to do when times are hard when you aren’t struggling too much can help. 

With mental health awareness day here I have put together some simple ideas to help your mental health.

Create a Crisis Box

I’ve spoken before about creating a crisis box, they are something that has many different names and it is worth picking the one that resonates with you. For instance, Hope Box, Anxiety Box, Self-Soothe Box, and Calming Box are all other names for a box which performs a similar task.

This type of box can be a space to store things which will remind you of things to do when you are mentally struggling. Ideas for such a box can be; a list of music which uplifts you, a favourite treat, something you love the smell of, feel-good quotes, a favourite teddy, photographs or a list of people to phone.

The content of your crisis box is something really personal and it can take weeks and even months to build one up. It can always be an ongoing project, something you often add to. Some people also make a mini one for on the go.

Mindfulness

Many years ago I remember believing mindfulness was all about visualisations, which for some works really well. However, as someone who can’t visualise anything in their mind, it didn’t work for me. I also found that the tense and relax exercises left me feeling tenser than when I started.

However, these days mindfulness offers a much wider range of things to do. From mindfulness colouring books to simple tasks such as the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique which asks you to think of; 5 things you see, 4 things you feel, 3 things you hear, 2 things you smell and 1 thing you taste.

I also find doing things like jigsaw puzzles can help me create a sense of calm and wellbeing as I am concentrating on something other than what is making me tense and upset.

Spend Time In Nature

For me, there is something calming and relaxing about being in nature or around animals. For many years Sally dog helped calm me at some of my worst moments. These days we don’t have a pet, so I sit and watch the birds, or perhaps spend time at Alrewas Alpacas.

It doesn’t just have to be about spending time with animals though, with so many ways to spend time around nature. For instance, you could decide to go for a walk, or you might bring plants or flowers into your own home, while many natural objects can be used to make art.

Listen To Your Inner Child

Most of us have an inner child that pops out at times, for me you most likely see mine when I see any animal.

Sometimes when your mental health isn’t at its best it is a great time to listen to your inner child. What would they like to do? Build a fort and hide, watch a favourite Disney film, eat your favourite sweets, or catch up with your Mum?

Let them take charge and just try and enjoy being a big kid.

Connect With Others

When you are feeling low it is a good idea to try and connect with others. This could be chatting with friends or family or reaching out to a support service.

One thing I remember being suggested as well while I was doing DBT, was asking a friend how they are?Seeing if you can do anything to help them. This can give you something else to focus on and while it might not work for everyone, it can be an interesting idea at times.

When your mental health is getting you down long term, it is worth reaching out to a specialised service such as The Awareness Centre. They will be able to help you look at if something such as therapy could help you out and give ideas on the type of counselling which might suit your situation. This also allows you to speak to someone who is trained to help, and offer an unbias assessment of how your mental health is.

Remove Any Lingering Health Worries

One thing that certainly contributes to poor mental health is worries over serious health issues. Whether you are relatively calm or you are a hypochondriac, the nagging thoughts in the back of your mind regarding your health can really affect you.

They can have a huge impact on what you eat and how you live your daily life. One of the best things to do is to see a professional and get everything cleared up. Regardless of the outcome, you will feel a lot better due to the clarity and the removal of uncertainty.

You could head to your local doctor or you could even use services such as Check My Body Health in order to get to grips with things. It might seem like a huge step at first, but it will save plenty of stress in the long term. 

These are of course only a handful of ideas of things you can do when your mental health is bad. There are many other options and ideas out there, and not every idea will work for everyone. More resources are available at www.betterhelp.com.

I would love to hear what your techniques are when it comes to having a bad mental health day.

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