How Can I Improve My Mental Health?

Our mental health is just as important as our physical well-being. Both go hand in hand in order to lead a healthy, present, and positive life.

However, once we’re faced with increased stress, the fast pace of reality, and challenges, our mental health is found to first slip.

Each year, around 1 in 4 adults experience mental health problems. Yet the concern is, is that many will ignore their symptoms, will self-medicate, and will aggravate their initial vulnerabilities.

Instead, to avoid such escalation, there are ways that we can all improve our mental health, through both day-to-day life and crises. If you’re wondering ‘how can I improve my mental health?’, here’s some tips focusing on physical activity, self-care, and education.

We at Step One Recovery are here for you if you or someone you care about is suffering with poor mental health. Reach out for some advice and for some potential mental health treatments, if necessary.

Self-help is highly effective. See how you can help yourself through daily mental health worries.

Why is mental health important?

Our minds control our behaviours, outlooks, choices, and personality. A balanced, healthy mind will ooze happiness, motivation, energy, rationality, and positivity, all improving quality of life. The opposite of an unstable mind will reduce our quality of life, resulting in negativity, sadness, fatigue, illogical thinking, uncontrollable actions, and common mental health conditions.

What we put into and associate with our bodies impacts their balance and wellbeing. For example, a balanced lifestyle of nutrition and exercise helps to protect and elevate the body. This is the same for our minds, impacting how it functions, processes information, and works as a part of the central nervous system.

This is why the addiction, compulsive behaviours, poor choices, and health concerns are linked to poor mental health, by disrupting usual systems and relationships.

Our mental health can be very unpredictable and can change from 0 to 100 without any notice. Nurturing our mental health, similarly to our physical health, is very important, as crises, lasting symptoms and life-limiting conditions can develop, such as suicidal thoughts, chronic depression, and panic.

Although specific triggers will motivate such diagnoses, a lack of care, positivity and of nurturing can diminish mental health. Here are some tips on ‘how can I improve my mental health?’ to either avoid, reduce, or manage possible health concerns.

How can I improve my mental health?

Whether you’re looking to manage any ongoing symptoms or hope to work on yourself and your mind, here are some ways to improve your mental health. Reasonably, some tips will work better for you than others. This is a learning process, to find what works for you when managing good mental health.
 

Talking about your feelings and emotions

Whether good or bad, your feelings and emotions should be talked about. Many people who suffer from poor mental health tend to bottle up their feelings. It’s understandable why, as it can be challenging to open up and be vulnerable, especially when considering the taboo of mental health issues.

Yet with a trustworthy network of personal and professional support, you’ll be in a safe place to be vulnerable. Talking therapy, to a professional level, is highly effective when recovering the mind. You can experience this either consistently or through crises to improve your mental health.
 

Keeping active

Physical activity is highly associated with good mental health. Movement helps to produce happy chemicals in the body, including serotonin and dopamine. Both help the mind function to its optimal state, offering feel-good outlooks and hormones.

Keeping active can help to stabilise the production of such chemicals, while also keeping on top of a balanced routine.
 

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle

A significant tip in response to ‘how can I improve my mental health?’, focuses on lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle of eating well, of movement, of balance and of rest will help to energise the body, will help to feed the brain, and will help to maintain positivity.

Our health is invaluable to keep our bodies and brains ticking by. Opting for healthy choices throughout your lifestyle will help to improve and maintain mental health.
 

Responsible drinking

Alcohol is found to trigger poor mental health. It impacts how the brain operates, clouds judgment, and can aggravate all-around health. Unless you’re struggling with a dual diagnosis, it’s encouraged to drink responsibly.

Responsible drinking will offer the balance of a healthy lifestyle. Whilst alcohol is used as a coping strategy through mental health issues, it’s an unhealthy one to rely on. If you are struggling, it will be encouraged to avoid all addictive substances and to instead opt for holistic ways of self-help.
 

Keeping connected

Your support network is there for you, to help you through the bad and the good. Keeping in touch with family and friends, keeping in touch with support groups and keeping in touch with professional teams will help you stay on track.

As we’ve shared above, opening up about your emotions and feelings can help to digest them easier and put them into perspective.

If you are struggling, it’s encouraged that you ask for help, as guidance and support will be beneficial.
 

Practicing mindfulness

Mindfulness helps to increase presence. It helps people live in the moment, be grateful and fully clear. Practising mindfulness can improve mental health, by offering mental clarity, and by helping people remain grounded.
 

Self-development

Developing yourself will improve your choices, routines, and connections. Self-development can be experienced through various forms, whether that’s by partaking in new hobbies, aiming for a new career or qualification, or even just working to care for yourself a little more.

Investing into health, wellbeing and lifestyle is found to improve mental health and stability. Do something you enjoy or that you’re good at as a focus.
 

Taking some time out

It can be easy to burn out whilst leading a busy lifestyle. Instead, it’s important to take some time out, to practice self-care, to listen to your body and mind, and to prioritise your feelings.

Taking some time out, whenever you feel necessary, will be important for your mental health. Yet within those moments, it’s also important to remain on track, by prioritising your mental health.
 

Caring for others

Caring for others is highly rewarding. Focusing on those around you, giving back and offering mutual support can go a long way. Nurturing relationships and taking some responsibility can offer purpose and structure, which are both beneficial for mental health.

Treating poor mental health

Self-help is invaluable to maintaining mental health. Yet if you’re suffering from a condition, which is yet to be treated, professional treatment will firstly be encouraged. From here, self-help will offer a plan of action to heal your mind.

Via mental health rehab, a range of treatments and therapies can be experienced. Working towards anxiety and depression recovery, treating personality disorders, and rehabilitating from behavioural problems are all expected through rehab.

Mental health treatments will consider your lifestyle, will offer emotional support and opportunities to be vulnerable, will offer safety and privacy, and will also offer guidance on a post-rehab basis.

At Step One Recovery, we can help you access initial treatment, to stabilise your mental health. From here, you’ll be equipped to self-manage your symptoms and recovery.

Reach out for more information on our rehab services, or for further tips on ‘how can I improve my mental health?’. We’re here to support you, to support your loved ones and to support your mental health.