How to Take Effective Steps to Maintain Good Mental Health
The first thing that comes to my mind is whatever you are doing, slow down. We live hectic lives, with significant demands, which have become increasingly more overwhelming.
Worry is our brain’s way to protect us from uncertainty by trying to plan ahead, doing as much as possible to anticipate possible scenarios, except that the brain wants to solve absolutely everything, which makes the worry spiral worse.
The COVID pandemic has exacerbated these demands, due to multiple factors that are not within our control, thus making worry worse. Slowing down will help us to determine and to reflect on what we can be in control of.
I cannot emphasise how important it is to focus on the basics:
Slowing down. Sleep and eat well and exercising on a regular basis are the essential steps to create a space where our health can become an essential ongoing focus. Being well is not just a chore, it is an ongoing action that we owe to ourselves and to people we love, to feel empowered and flourish.
Ditch goals. They can be very rigid and create pressure. Goals are used in therapy to maintain a therapeutic focus. They can be used in life, except they can become overwhelming if they are based on something that is beyond our control ( such as acheiving an A in exams, or obtaining the promotion we want. These goals may not always be achievable).
Focus on your valued sense of direction and what you would like to work towards instead, allowing yourself to develop this over time.
Once this is done, create a focus on meaningful activities, based on what you can control and what your values are and then reward yourself. There is a lot of science about how the brain benefits from this involving dopamine and how it activates the reward centre in our brain.
Connect with people and nurture meaningful relationships and values.
These steps are necessary and my best hope is that whatever you are doing, you find a way to built these steps in a meaningful way for life.
