What is mental health, its importance, and how to build the right routine
What is mental health?
Mental Health is our emotional, psychological and social well-being that can be affected by factors such as family history, life experiences and biological factors. It affects how we think, feel and act. Your mental health can affect your stress levels, how you respond and relate to others and how you make choices.
Why mental health is important?
One in four people suffer from mental illness but most people will suffer with their mental health at some point in their life. Mental health is just as important as your physical health and the two can affect one another.
For example, depression can lead to health issues such as heart disease and stroke just as diabetes can cause depression. Everyone has good days and bad days, but when your mental health is declining, what can we do to help lift ourselves back up?
How do we build the right mental health routine?
Just like the same medication does not necessarily work for everyone, the same mental health routine may not work for everyone either. We have all heard that yoga, meditation and aromatherapy are great concepts to work into your mental health routine but what if they don’t work for you?
When planning your mental health routine start with thinking about what YOU enjoy. What makes you happy? What relieves stress? Build off these passions when you are forming your own mental health routine. Some ideas to work into your daily mental health routine could be anything from heavy metal music to taking a run in your favorite nature area near you.
Examples of self-care activities:
- Get out into nature
- Get your body moving, but do not focus on weight loss or body image but rather try to focus on how your body feels
- Read a book
- Go roller skating or skateboarding
- Listen to your favorite playlist and dance it out
- Give yourself an at home spa day
- Play an instrument, or work on your air guitar moves to your favorite song
- Write about how you are feeling and reflect on where these feelings are coming from
When does mental health turn to mental illness?
It is important to be mindful of how you feel and if your feelings begin to turn negative. Sometimes we don’t realize our mental health is slipping until we are in a full-blown crisis.
Some signs to look out for are excessive worry or fear, feeling excessively sad, sleeping too much or too little, not eating, confusion or issues concentrating, extreme mood changes and avoiding activities and social activities you once enjoyed.
Contact University Behavioral Center
If you or a loved one is in mental health crisis, University Behavioral Center is here to help with 24/7 free and confidential assessments. We are just a phone call away: 407-281-7000. We provide a full range of program options, including inpatient treatment to child, adolescent and adult patients, as well as addiction treatment to adults.
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