10 Tips to Stay Mentally Healthy
1. Connect with others
2. Take time to enjoy life
3. Participate in and share interests
4. Contribute to your community
5. Take care of yourself
Avoid unnecessary stress
It is not healthy to avoid a stressful situation that needs to be addressed, but you may be surprised by the number of stressors in your life that can be eliminated.
- Learn how to say NO!
- Avoid people who stress you out
- Take control of your environment
- Pare down your to-do list
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Tip 7. Deal with Stress
from the series 10 Tips to Stay Mentally Healthy
There are unhealthy ways of dealing with stress such as smoking, using pills or drugs to relax, drinking too much, withdrawing from family and friends, bingeing on junk or comfort food, procrastinating, zoning out for hours looking at your phone, filling up every minute of the day to avoid facing problems, sleeping too much and taking your bad feelings that emanate from stress out onto others.
When dealing with stress, firstly you have to identify what the stress is. Is it a particular thing, event, task, or is it your thoughts and attitude to that particular thing, event or task. Sometimes identifying the stress is not that easy.
Update your coping strategies
Replace the unhealthy coping strategy with healthy ones. If your method of coping isn’t contributing to your greater emotional and physical wellbeing it is time to find healthier ones. No single method works for everyone or every situation, so focus on what works for you at that time that makes you feel calm and in control.
6. Challenge yourself
7. Deal with stress
8. Rest and refresh
9. Notice the here and now
10. Ask for help
Alter the situation
If you can’t avoid a stressful situation try to alter it. Often this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life.
- Express your feelings – don’t bottle them up
- Be willing to compromise
- Create a work/life balance.
Change how you handle your world
- Get moving – exercise
- Connect with others
- Make time for fun and relaxation
- Manage your time better
- Maintain balance with a healthy life style.
A helpful resource
www.helpguide.org
If at any time you would like someone to help you through the process of Dealing with Stress, call Margaret Wheat at EveryDay Counselling to make an appointment on 0403 728144.
Adapt to the stressor
If you can’t change the stressor, change yourself.
- Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective.
- Look at the big picture – how important is this?
- Adjust your standards
- Practice gratitude
Change how you view your world
- Accept the things you can’t change
- Don’t try to control the uncontrollable
- Look for the upside
- Learn to forgive
- Share your feelings