Activities to improve mental health (13+)
By
OptimistMinds
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Author bio
The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
This article will be based on the question “what are the activities to promote mental health?”. It will discuss and elaborate various techniques that are resources for promoting mental health among individuals. Each activity will be related to gaining positive outcomes on mental health.
What are the various activities to improve mental health?
Following are the various activities that can be done to improve mental health:
Adequate sleep cycle
Maintaining adequate sleep is of immense importance for mental health. Sleeping too much affects our daily routine while sleeping less is related to anxiety and stress.
Often insomnia and hypersomnia are the sleep conditions that affect our mental health.
If a person feels having a troubled sleep, try to connect to a good psychiatrist to help get supporting medicines for an adequate sleep cycle.
Also connect to a psychologist or a counselor for getting help with any underlying stressors that are disturbing the sleep cycle.
Adequate eating patterns
Eating patterns are much related to mental health. Not eating anything at all due to tension and stress may result in malnutrition that causes unpleasant effects on our health and takes away all energy to perform the routine chores.
On the other hand, eating a lot or binge eating has its own adverse effects that may often lead to various eating disorders including bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa.
Connect with other people
Since mental health is greatly concerned with socialization and interpersonal skills. It is always recommended to get involved with people and interact with peers and acquaintances to develop mental health.
Connecting with people fosters socialization skills and intrapersonal skills that are inlink with developing mental health.
Deep breathing exercises
Deep breathing exercises are a very effective strategy to promote mental health and well being among individuals. Breathing exercises help individuals to distract themselves from the source of stress and calm themselves down.
Deep breathing involves inhaling in the air through the nostrils and exhaling through the mouth with greater force.
Yoga
Yoga is involved with a connection with mind and body. Yoga heals the individual’s disturbed focus and improves concentration. Mental health of people is positively influenced by getting involved into yoga and meditation.
Walk
Getting involved in brisk walking 30-40 minutes a day is associated with developing positive mental health. Walking influences mental health by releasing positive hormones that induce positivity and pleasure among the individuals.
One kind act a day
Getting involved in one kind act a day is a good activity to promote mental health. It keeps individuals away from having a negative approach in life and enhances positivity. Kind acts of helping someone in need and supporting someone to calm through the difficult times instill compassion and empathy.
Practice Tolerance
Practicing tolerance is greatly related to minimizing reactions in response to triggering events. Patience and tolerance are related to developing mental health among individuals.
Tolerance prevents us from reacting unpleasantly to a negative or unpredicted event.
Practice living in the present moment
Mental health is positively associated with living in the present moment. When individuals worry alot about the past moments in life or are fearful and apprehensive of future life, they tend to miss out the positive events and joys of present life.
Register small positives each day
Recognizing and registering small positive events that happen because of you or that are happening to you enables an individual to keep a positive perspective on life and minimize their negative thinking. Thus mental health is promoted among individuals with a more positive approach towards life.
Relieve your stress
Stress is directly associated with low mental health. Inorder to achieve mental health and enjoy psychological well-being it is recommended to get rid of the stressors. For that, knowing what makes your stress go away is important. Make a list of pleasurable activities and utilize it to get away with your stressors in life. Further learning healthy coping strategies is also recommended to get away with stress.
Avoid isolation
Avoiding isolation and enhancing social interaction is a key to positive mental health. Sitting idle and isolated often induces negative thoughts in the individual’s mind. Inorder to keep up one’s mental health, socializing with others and effectively communication one’s ideas, opinions and feelings with them is highly recommended.
Advocacy campaigns
Advocacy campaigns for creating mental health awareness and imparting knowledge about importance of mental health at all platforms and across various community level is recommended to promote mental health.
Psychoeducation
Psychoeducation related to mental health, the adverse effects of not maintaining mental health and the positive effects of mental health upon your subjective well-being are important activities to promote and develop mental health.
Emotional well-being, social well-being and spiritual well-being are taught through psychoeducation to have a crucial role in a person’s psychological well-being.
De-stigmatization
De-stigmatization of mental health and the related issues is an important activity to promote mental health and create awareness about it. People are made to learn that mental health is not only related to being mad or categorizing a person as being psycho or insane.
Love yourself
At the core of having a sound mental health is loving and accepting yourself with all the positive and negative aspects of your personality. Acceptance about oneself and the various unpleasant events that have happened to an individual is achieved through radical acceptance.
Radical acceptance promotes mental health by making a person accept one’s self with all the unpleasant emotions and thoughts without being judgemental about them.
Value your needs
Mental health calls for effective communication of your needs and your desires to the related people and getting them fulfilled without being selfish.
Need expression and fulfilment creates a satisfaction in the individual as he gets to develop feelings of being attended to and being heard.
Accepting your pleasant needs and working upon the resolution of unpleasant needs and desires is conclusive of mental health and psychological well-being.
Try new things in life
Experiencing new positive aspects of life, visiting new places, trying new dishes and getting involved in new activities is linked to breaking the monotonous routine of life. Thus pleasant experiences promote mental health among the individuals and boost their confidence.
Know what pleases you
Knowing what pleases an individual and getting involved in the same activity to feel relaxed promotes mental health among individuals.
Utilizing the five experiences and identifying what to eat that pleases you, what to touch that pleases you, what to smell that pleases you, what to watch or witness that pleases you and what to listen that pleases you; is an experience that makes an individual relax himself well.
Play with friends
Getting involved into play activities indoor and outdoor is highly recommended and suggested for promoting and enjoying a sound mental health. Friends serve the purpose of a social support group that provides help and care in times of distress.
Getting involved in play activities channelizes a person’s negative energies and helps them learn to focus on the positive aspects of life.
Write a diary
Diary writing helps individuals to express their unaddressed and unfulfilled desires, thoughts and emotions. Writing a diary promotes mental health by not letting a person keep all the negative and unpleasant emotions and feelings to himself/herself.
Make a gratitude journal
Gratitude journaling is related to counting blessings and the positive experiences in life daily and writing them in a diary. Thus seeking positive aspects of life and recognizing them as blessings in life promotes mental health through this activity.
Limit screen time
Screen time and the time a person spends on social media is related to negative feelings, irritability, frustration, aggression and jitteriness. Limiting one’s social media and technology use results in engaging in more positive activities that enhances mental health among individuals.
Avoid substance abuse
Substance use and dependency leads to addiction to a substance and declines a person’s mental health.
Inorder to enhance a person’s mental health, avoiding any sort of addiction and use of recreational drugs is highly recommended.
Talk to a professional counselor or therapist
Getting connected to a specially trained and professional counselor for overcoming any stressors that are difficult to get managed by one’s own self is related to promoting mental health.
BetterHelp: A Better Alternative
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Conclusion
The current blogspot was based on a list of various activities that promote mental health among the individuals. We learned that getting engaged in positive activities and maintaining social connections are essential to maintaining mental health. Further, maintaining personal care, valuing yourself, getting involved into healthy eating and sleep pattern aid in promoting mental health.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs): Activities to promote mental health
What activities promote mental health?
Activities that are based on enhancing emotional regulation, socialization, and physical activity are linked to promote mental health.
How do you promote mental health?
Mental health can be promoted through:
Psychoeducaiton related to the importance of mental health
Mental health awareness campaigns
De-stigmatization of mental health disorders and related features
Advocacy of mental health across all platforms
What are the examples of activities that promote mental health?
Activities that promote mental health include:
Walking
Swimming
Connecting with people
Mindfulness meditation
Living in here and now
Deep breathing
Taking adequate sleep
Citations
https://www.reidhealth.org/blog/mental-health
https://www.who.int/westernpacific/activities/promoting-mental-health
https://www.mhanational.org/31-tips-boost-your-mental-health
https://healthywa.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/Fun-activities-to-help-improve-your-mood
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