Best Mental Health Tips

May 12th - 18th is Mental Health Awareness Week!

For this years Mental Health Awareness Week, The Mental Health Foundation has provided a guide with their best tips on how to look after your mental health - backed by research. Take a look at the top tips below:

1. Get closer to nature

   Some people say nature helps them feel calmer, more hopeful and less alone. Infact, research by The Mental Health Foundation found that going for a walk was UK adults' favourite way of coping with stress during the pandemic in 2020.

2. Get more from your sleep

   For many people, sleep is often the first thing that suffers when we're struggling with our mental health. Adults need between 7 and 9 hours' sleep a night, including enough dreaming sleep and enough deeper sleep.

   If you're someone who struggles with your sleep, think about trying a few simply changes:

   • Develop a relaxing bedtime routine to help you wind down before going to sleep.

   • Avoid TV, mobile screens, alcohol and caffeine before bed.

   • Go to bed and get up at around the same time every day, including weekends.

     
     

3. Keep moving

   Our bodies and minds are connected, so looking after ourselves physically also helps us prevent problems with our mental health (it works the other way around, too).

   Moving our bodies - with sport, gardening, dancing, cycling, walking the dog, cleaning or going to the gym, for example - are all great wats to improve out physical and mental health.

4. Eat healthy food

   Food and drink affect our bodies, brains and mood - for good and bad.

   Sugary snacks and drinks can give us a temporary 'high' or sense of comfort. But they soon leave us feeling exhausted and jittery. A balanced diet with lots of vegetables and fruit is essential for good physical and mental health.

5. Be kind and help create a better world

   Research shows that being kind is good for both sides. Being kind can boost our mood, help us feel more capable, strengthen our connections with others and even make us cope better with stress.

6. Plan things to look forward to

   Life throws all sorts at us, and during hard times, we may feel hopeless and not have the energy to plan for the future. But, having things to look forward tom including fun activities, can help us cope with difficult situations. Making plans for things we enjoy can increase our sense of hope, which is important for our mental health. This could be anything from small pleasures, like a cup of tea or your favourite TV programme, to a trip with family or friends.

7. Learn to understand and manage your feelings

   Feeling very upset can interfere with our lives, making it hard to think clearly or work, relax, study, slee or deal with other people. Many of us will know when we're upset but not be sure what we're feeling. Is it sadness, fear, shame, loneliness, anger or something else?

   It often helps to give our feelings our attention without judging them, without telling ourselves we're stupid or wak to feel the way way do.

   
   

8. Talk to someone your trust for support

   Many of us have learnt to bottle things up inside us and try to ignore painful feelings. It can take a lot of courage to tell someone else how we're feeling or what we're finding hard, especially if we don't usually do that kind of thing. But, just talking things through with a person we trust can help and feel like a relief.