What Is Mental Health Hygiene?
“It is up to you today to start making healthy choices. Not choices that are just healthy for your body, but healthy for your mind. “
What Does Mental Health Hygiene Mean?
What does mental health hygiene mean? It is the practice of caring for your mind and body the same way you would care for your physical health.
Mental health hygiene includes eating well, getting enough sleep, managing stress, and taking time to exercise and relax.
Just like regular hygiene practices help you maintain good physical health by washing your hands and keeping yourself clean.
To promote good mental health hygiene, focus on these habits that promote mental wellness in your daily life.
Why Mental Health Hygiene Matters?
If you want to keep your physical health in tip-top shape, you likely take daily care of yourself.
You wash your hands, eat right and exercise, right? Why do so many people slack on mental health hygiene when it is just as important to maintain your well-being?
A good way to think about it is using what you know about basic preventative healthcare while some medical problems are better caught early (e.g., cancer), others can be treated at any stage (e.g., heart disease).
Mental health is similar. Addressing a problem early on can help reduce symptoms or lessen their impact and severity over time, however, even if you are already experiencing symptoms like stress or anxiety, don’t ignore them.
Physical exercise is important for mental health.
Exercising has been proven to reduce depression and anxiety.
There are many different exercises that can help your mental health, including walking, running, hiking, swimming, playing sports and dancing.
Different kinds of exercises provide different benefits so try a few out to see what works best for you.
You don’t have to be a professional athlete or be super active every day but taking some time every week or every other week to do some form of physical activity can help improve your mental health as well as your physical health.
Make Time for Mindfulness Practices
Mindfulness practices meditation, yoga, and prayer, for example-focus on mental clarity and well-being.
While stress relief is nice, that is not their primary goal. These practices can help you develop a healthier relationship with yourself and thus better manage your self-destructive tendencies.
Finding time to engage in such practices also signals to yourself (and others) that you are taking responsibility for your health and happiness.
Practicing Self-Compassion
Let’s face it, we are all human. We make mistakes and bad decisions on a daily basis.
So, rather than beating yourself up about a mistake or any choice you feel was wrong (e.g., I should not have eaten that donut, I want to start exercising more but I can never get myself to do it), start practicing self-compassion.
Empathize with your actions and feelings in times of stress.
Set yourself up for success by being kinder toward yourself not in an unhealthy way, but in a way that will help you practice mindfulness as well as take time to care for your physical and mental health by practicing positive habits like exercising or meditating every day.
Protect Your Relationships
Maintaining a healthy relationship is one of your most important roles as an individual, yet it is often one of our most overlooked priorities.
Humans are social creatures. We depend on each other for happiness and well-being.
If we don’t protect and nurture our relationships, all other aspects of wellness can fall apart in no time.
You should try to maintain positive relationships with your friends, family members, colleagues, and everyone else you interact with on a daily basis
Sleep Better and Reduce Stress
Perhaps you have tried everything to lose weight and nothing has worked so far.
If that is true, then it may be time to turn your attention to another factor, mental health.
In addition to achieving a healthy weight, maintaining a healthy mind is one of the keys to overall wellness.
Poor mental health not only makes you more likely to gain weight but can also undermine your ability to maintain an active lifestyle and achieve lasting results when it comes to losing weight or keeping it off long-term.
Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take right now in order to promote good mental health and reduce stress and they would not cost you a dime.
Watching Out For Danger Signs From Others Around You
If you have concerns that someone around you is struggling with mental health issues, a good first step is to talk to them directly.
If they are open to it, share your own experiences or advice on how they might get help.
Alternatively, another approach would be to make an appointment for them at your local clinic, so they don’t have to go through it alone.
Either way, simply talking about what’s going on can be helpful in itself and will give you both a chance to vent and learn from each other.
Once you feel like things are getting serious between you and your partner or someone else in your life, follow up by calling their doctor for more information or advice on how best to support them.
Originally published at https://www.nirajhealth.com on June 15, 2022.
