Mental Health Awareness: Not Just A Week, But Forever
May 25, 2022
Raising awareness about adult loneliness
Loneliness is a tough one to crack, because there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Feeling lonely for a prolonged amount of time can really put our mental health on the line, so it’s good to address it early and try and figure out ways that we can improve our mental health not just for a week, but forever!
It’s better together
Don’t worry, we’re not going to whack out a guitar and start serenading you with Jack Johnson. We WILL, however, highlight the importance of spending time with other human beings as a means of benefitting your mental health. Being social is ingrained into the fabrics of human nature and we can’t survive without human interaction.
Start off small. Say ‘hello’ to a passer-by, or ask how your cashier’s day is going. It’s difficult to interact when you’re feeling a bit introverted, but micro interactions like these can really change your day and give you little dopamine hits.
Feeling a bit socially awkward? Don’t worry, when I came for an interview as a writer at MOBU, I took a sip from my water bottle, and a load of water splashed me in the right eye. It streaked all of my mascara down my face and I looked like a hysterical panda that had just been in a water fight. I’m still not sure why they hired me.
Online forums and mental health awareness communities are a great safe place. Try and find some mental health awareness communities where you can interact with other people who have similar interests to you, or are also feeling lonely. After COVID, online communities became super popular, with many enthusiast groups initiating zoom calls as a platform of interaction and making friends. And if it all gets a bit too much, or it’s not for you, all you have to do is leave the call with a click of a button.
Write to yourself. It might sound a bit weird. But write to last week’s version of yourself. What have you achieved? Whether it’s simply getting out of bed, or whether it’s making yourself a 10/10 dinner, pinpoint all of your achievements and congratulate yourself for every single one of them.
The Importance of Health
Everyone is always going on about health and nutrition as if it’s the secret elixir of life.
Plot twist: well, it kinda is.
Mental health is essentially one big balancing act, and looking after our bodies is 50% of that balancing act. Now we don’t want to sound all zen-master, but the body and mind are well and truly interconnected. Our brain is the most powerful muscle we have, and looking after our health can really help to strengthen that muscle. By maintaining physical health, it’s easier to keep our mental health in check.
Exercise really does have medicinal properties. It releases endorphins which go straight to your brain and give you that ‘exercise high.’ It’s one of the best drugs that you don’t need a prescription for, and giving yourself nutritious food helps you to glow from the inside.
Meditation, yoga and breathing exercises are great baby steps you can take to become more aware of yourself, your mental health, and your physical health. Yoga can help release cortisol-based tension in the neck and back, whilst meditation can help you find your happy place without any distractions. Yoga and meditation are quite the iconic duo that can help melt away any negative thoughts. There’s also loads of free meditation apps offering short 10 minute audio meditation. Try doing one in the morning before you get up, or perhaps listen to one as you start catching Z’s.
If you’d like more information about mental health and wellbeing, here are some useful links.
