It’s mental health awareness week, and mental health whether you are concerned about it or not, is vital for your ability to withstand the rollercoaster of adulthood. Unfortunately, unless you have the freedom to use your resources the way that makes your life feel fulfilled, it does fluctuate a lot during life.
Because of the amount of fluctuation, you can go through in a day, (let alone a year) it’s important to prioritise your mental health as an adult. In some privileged childhoods, you might have had mental health days with your parents, and the opportunity to catch a break form the overwhelming things in life. As an adult, it’s your own responsibility to give those to yourself, and if it’s not something you’re prioritising, it makes tolerating the traumas of everyday life so much harder. It might even make them seem impossible or like you can’t overcome them.
Not prioritising your mental health can lead to various outcomes, and I encourage you to look out for yourself, and seek assistance whether its through your own network or externally.
How to prioritise your mental health?
I would first like to disclaim I am not a mental health professional. What I describe is purely based on my experience, and the examples are what I have tried for myself. There is no one size fits all way to prioritise your mental health. We are unique and what might work for me, might not work for you and that’s fine. Breathe, pause and remember it’s ok to try something new.
And with that let’s continue…
Be physical
There are so many ways to be ”physical” (haha). Without being explicit, anything that gets you heart racing and your body moving, will get those endorphins flowing through your veins. The best thing about that is that you feel accomplished when you finish whatever you do. I also find having a set amount of time, trying to achieve something distracts you from what’s messing with you in life. I’m not saying channel yourself in sports to avoid dealing with your mental health. But the opportunity to take a breather from the stress, can provide some clarity, solace and a break.
For a long time I was very self-conscious about going to the gym, so I started going to sports clubs first. However, I joined sports I knew and felt comfortable with, Badminton or Gymnastics or anything dance involved. These sports were where I felt comfortable to challenge myself and enjoy being active. This helped until I tried out a gym and realised how people really don’t care about you, and that they are busy focussing on their own gains. There might be someone admiring you, or the odd creep, but most of the time everyone keeps themselves to themselves.
I am more comfortable being a gym, and just focussing on myself and my own gains gives me the motivation to keep going. I took a 6-month break because my work timetable wasn’t allowing it, and I missed it so much that when things got back to normal, I jumped back into my routine. Lost a little bit of my gains but surprised at how much I had retained.
The environment
I don’t just mean about the trees and nature and being out there, I mean your surroundings. Your room, your space, your town, and your job contribute to this. Is there something about your surroundings that is not right for you? It’s fine. Change it. It won’t change immediately if it’s something more drastic like your location/job, but if there is a piece of furniture that you don’t like; why keep it?
If you have read my first few posts, I mention my nightmare house. I lived in it for 8 months, and I hated everything about that place. The lettings agent, the landlord and the building. I hated finishing work because it meant I had to go that house, and it was messing with me so much. The life events that happened in that time, felt a whole lot worse because I had to do them in a place where I just didn’t feel happy being in. I managed to move at a financial cost, and I am way happier with my place of residence. Now I am working on improving other things that can be changed, because improving my mental health is an iterative process, and I will fully rest, when I look back on my life in my final seconds.
Your diet
What you consume really affects you on the inside, more than you might think. I’d definitely recommend researching a bit more, but if you don’t want to read, Chat GPT, can be a good starting point. Not only eating enough meals, but also incorporating some healthy food items can contribute to you feeling accomplished in yourself, as well as help you generally. Giving your body sufficient and good fuel, will give you what you need, and I am realising that now, 18 months into my adulting journey.
I have been borderline anaemic for 3 years. At one point they gave me supplements and told me to eat specific foods like spinach, kale and oranges. I was not very serious about this, despite the signs from my body, let alone mentally. Recently I have started to look at ways to incorporate healthy “superfoods” into my meals and to maintain that consistency. These contribute to prioritising my mental health because I feel happy and accomplished when I incorporate them into my meals. Also, it turns out fuelling your body, goes a long way. It doesn’t have to be every meal, I focus on breakfast and lunch, since I am awake and the most energetic. This means I can spare some cash on fresh, quality produce, which I can incorporate in my meals, and help me withstand any mental backlash life wants to give me.
Social Life
As much as isolation and being alone sounds good (mentioned that in a previous post), it’s not always healthy. Having it to re-calibrate is necessary, but all the time can also seem a little self-destructive. Having a social-life is very handy for your mental health. You don’t have to open up completely if you don’t want to, but having the opportunity to talk can really help with that uncomfortable feeling.
If talking to someone in your network is daunting, as I found it at first, maybe someone from the outside might help, like a therapist. There are many sources to look from, I personally used this source to look from a more diverse pool of counsellors. I have been in therapy for a year now, and it has helped me be more comfortable with myself, my thoughts and sharing what I am comfortable with, to my close network. Not everyone will think a therapist would count as a social life, but anyway involving communicating with others is what I call a social life.
Moral of my story
- Mental health is important – Prioritise it when you can, just like your physical health
- Be physical – Moving your body can bring you some peace, and maybe some clarity
- Look at your environment – If it sucks, make the steps to change it. It might be hard, and might take some time, but surely staying there longer is not going to help you.
- Fuel yourself – Need I say anymore?
- Chat to someone – Anyone. There are many options to do it, just do whatever is comfortable for you, you can even chat to AI in some cases.
