Six Ways to Improve Mental Health

Since 1949, the United States has observed Mental Health Awareness Month in May. This is a time to not only raise awareness and educate the broader public about mental health issues such as depression, anxiety disorders, and grief but also to create awareness of the everyday realities of doing life with these various concerns.

It is important for everyone, not only for those with mental health challenges and their loved ones, to know about the strategies that can be used to promote mental health and wellness. It is imperative that we, as a whole of society, address and reduce negative attitudes and misconceptions that surround mental illness, because when people feel free to receive the help they need without any stigma attached to it, it’s better for everyone.

Why mental health matters

A person’s mental health is crucial for their overall well-being and productivity. One’s mental health matters regardless of their age or stage in life. That’s because, at every stage, maintaining emotional, psychological, and social well-being is critical to wellness.

Mental health affects how we think, feel, and act. As a result, it affects our relationships, work performance, and overall life satisfaction. When we are in good mental health, it helps us to handle stress, promotes helpful ways of relating to other people, and places us in a position to make healthy choices.

Positive mental health allows us opportunities to reach our potential, be productive, do our best work, and to better cope with the inevitable stressful events that mark our lives. It also allows us to be positive forces in our communities and make meaningful contributions in those spaces.

Alternately, when we are in poor mental health, we may suffer from depression, and anxiety, and may experience increased risk for many types of health issues, particularly chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke.

Additionally, poor mental health can pose massive challenges for initiating and maintaining relationships and impact our ability to sustain in jobs. The term “mental illness” or “mental health disorder” refers to a wide range of mental health concerns such as disorders that affect one’s mood, thoughts, and behavior. A mental illness is a diagnosable condition that affects a person’s health.

There is a distinction between poor mental health and a mental illness: one does not necessitate the other. A person with a mental illness may have mental health strengths, and a person with poor mental health may not necessarily have a mental illness. Several factors may contribute to a person developing mental illness, such as:

• Experiencing loneliness or isolation.
• Negative childhood life experiences such as neglect, bullying, trauma, or abuse.
• Physiological factors such as having abnormalities in the brain.
• Experiences related to ongoing medical conditions such as cancer or diabetes.
• The use of alcohol or drugs, or a parent’s use of alcohol or drugs when in utero.

Improving your mental health

mental health is important as it sustains every aspect of life, so promoting it makes sense. Below are six ways to improve your mental health.

Take care of your body and mind

Our bodies take strain and wear, and when we don’t give ourselves time to rest as well as time to decompress from daily stress, that “mileage” adds up and erodes mental health. Have you ever noticed that you’re happier and better able to handle conflict and minor stressors when you’ve had a good night’s rest?

When we sleep, our bodies and minds do many amazing things that allow us to overcome the wear and tear of everyday life, including breaking down cortisol in our system. Getting good sleep and exercise reduces stress levels and helps us to create emotional capacity to deal effectively with relational problems.

Try this: Make time to meditate and regulate yourself throughout the day, whether through prayer, going on a walk, or reflecting on scripture. When you take care of your body and mind, they work better for you and better promote your mental health.

Build and lean on your support networks

We were never meant to do life solo, even though relationships can be difficult. Good, healthy relationships create room for us to be fully human and to share our pain and anxieties with others. We simply do better when we do life with other people, and that bodes well for our mental health.

When we speak of doing life with others, we are referring to real-world relationships, not social media. Social media has its place, but it can also be a profoundly dark place. To connect in ways that are meaningful for our mental health, it is much better to unplug from social media and connect with a friend in person. If the recent pandemic taught us anything, it is that meaningful human contact and intimacy are crucial components of maintaining good mental health.

Try this: Meet with a friend for coffee, tea, or a walk. Initiate a play date for your children or pets. Host a game night with friends. Join in with others for group exercise, a book club, or Bible study.

Know your limits and work within them

One of the causes of stress, anxiety, and depression is when we push ourselves, and when we are put under pressure we struggle to sustain ourselves. There are many reasons why we push ourselves beyond our capacities, including pride, fear of incompetency, perfectionism, and comparison, which can leave us feeling discontent and depressed.

Whether regarding work or our relationships, it is good to know ourselves and our limits and to work within them. This doesn’t mean that we can’t improve ourselves or grow beyond our previous limits, however, God also made us for contentment.

Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. – 1 Timothy 6: 6-10, NLT

Social media, in particular, makes contentment difficult. When we engage in social media, we often compare ourselves with the lives of others and fall into despair because we feel we are falling short.

Try this: Turn off your television and put down your phone. Practice mindfulness exercises, such as mindful eating or walking. Meditate on your blessings.

Practice grief and gratitude

There’s a lot that’s not right in our world. For all of that, we need to grieve, and the Bible gives us guidelines for how to bring these overwhelming types of problems before the Lord, particularly in Psalms. Learning to grieve and release things into God’s hands is a helpful way to unburden ourselves and accept that we are the creation, and God is the Creator.

The weight we often bear on our shoulders due to our desire to resolve things ourselves, when God has availed Himself as our help in times of trouble. Scripture says:

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. – 1 Peter 5:7, NLT

Grieving allows us the space to recognize the gravity and depth of the issues we face without being overwhelmed by them. As His creation, we aren’t in control of the things that happen to us, but we can entrust our experience to the One who is. Grieving also makes space for us to recognize what parts of our story we do have control over; it makes space for reflecting on our mistakes, and shortcomings, and making plans to improve in the future.

Gratitude helps us to appreciate the many things and people in our lives that are flourishing and going well. When we practice gratitude, that allows us to recognize the amazing things in our lives and provides room for us to celebrate these and Him who provided them. Gratitude helps us cultivate a more positive outlook on our lives, and it also curbs comparisons and discontentment, which helps develop positive mental health.

Try this: Journal the things you feel sad and/or hurt about. Pray about these things. Ask for wisdom to know and courage to do better in the future. Go for a walk or hike, plant a garden, and keep a gratitude journal. Give thanks to God for the blessings in your life.

Look outward

Helping other people not only helps you to think beyond yourself, but this is one of the things we’re here on earth to do. When asked what the greatest commands from God are, this is what Jesus said:

Jesus replied, ’You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. – Matthew 22: 37-40, NLT

So, whether we are helping by volunteering or coaching, assisting an elderly person, a single parent, or a widow, donating our blessings to others in need, or helping others demonstrates our willingness to “love your neighbor as yourself” while promoting our mental health.

Lastly, another important way to improve mental health is to get help from a therapist. A therapist can support you, encourage you, and hold you accountable as you practice these skills. While we may get checkups for our physical health, we don’t always take our mental health concerns to professionals.

If you suspect that something may not be quite right with your mental health, or you perceive that you are struggling to manage on your own, don’t hesitate to speak with a mental health professional to get the help that you need. Let us match you to a faith-based mental health professional by calling us today.