How well do you understand how to protect your mental wellbeing? These are trying times, unless you take positive action to take care of your emotional and psychological wellbeing, you could be at risk.
This is not as dramatic as it may sound. Mental health has moved up the agenda recently, for good reason. But, because we are more aware, and ‘mental health’ is beginning to lose some of its stigma, that doesn’t doesn’t mean that we all recognise the risks we can easily be subjected to (overwork, stress, too little social support, for example). Nor do we understand what to do if we do begin to develop symptoms that disturb our balance and equanimity.
Where to go?
Should someone start to notice signs in themselves that give cause for concern, where can they go for help? Mental health resources everywhere are severely stretched, and if you do know where to turn there is likely to be quite a waiting list.
However, we are not powerless. There is a lot anyone can do to protect their mental wellbeing, and it starts long before you start to worry about symptoms. Learning how to protect your mental wellbeing should be top of the fitness agenda.
Overall, it is much more important than career, personal wealth, and even love; if you want to be fit for any of these, you need to be in resilient enough to deal with whatever life throws at you. Despite what you see in the movies and on social media, in reality, life is fraught with disappointments, failures, and rejections. How you respond in the inevitable trials that anyone will encounter, will determine how well you are able to live your life.
What to do?
Ensure that you have a healthy lifestyle, for a start, but also self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and the ability to self-monitor and take steps to build resilience and lead a balanced life.
The obvious habits to check are to eat healthily and take regular exercise. But there are less well known factors that often go overlooked.
How about the all-important human need for appreciation and validation, or the vital support you get from friends and family? These don’t just happen by themselves. Unless we look after the habits that protect our mental health they can quickly become ‘things we used to do’, rather than the daily habits that protect us.
What do you think? How do you keep yourself mentally fit and resilient? Please share, I’d love to hear.
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