The fall season is here, and with it comes cooler weather, new classes, and a lot of holidays on the horizon. This can be a very stressful time, thanks to the time spent with family at holidays, dealing with longer commutes now that people are back from vacation, and busier seasons at both work and school. You don’t need to have seasonal affective disorder to be off your mental game during this time of the year!
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious about the next few months, use these self-care tips to help you keep tabs on your mental health and give yourself a boost when you’re feeling down. Remember: you can’t help anyone if you’re not able to help yourself.
“Think about the oxygen mask example on an airplane,” said Rio Salado College Counseling and Personal Development Faculty Co-Chair Melanie Abts. ”The instructions tell you to put your own oxygen mask on first before helping someone else. That is not selfish. You have to take care of yourself so you have the strength and energy to continue taking care of others.”
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Get Enough Rest
Few things have as holistic an effect on our overall physical and mental health as sleep. When you’re experiencing sleep deprivation, it can throw multiple parts of your internal processes out of balance, leading to the development of chronic health issues like high blood pressure, depression, brain fog, diabetes, increased inflammation, kidney disease, and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Try to get six to eight hours of sleep every night.
If you’re wondering if you get enough sleep, be mindful of these symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Anxiety
- Impaired memory
- Muscle weakness
- Difficulty concentrating
- Diminished ability to ward off infections
- Reduced libido
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Garbage In, Garbage Out
There’s an old adage computer programmers like to use: “garbage in, garbage out.” What you take in is often what you put out. That holds especially true for our diets. If you find yourself feeling stressed, anxious, and lashing out at others, look at what you’re eating. Are you eating a healthy, well-balanced diet? Nutrient deficiencies like a lack of vitamin B or D can lead to depression. Low levels of magnesium and zinc can reduce your ability to handle stress. A folate deficiency can also trigger depression, so make sure you have an adequate amount of folic acid in your diet.
Hydration is also crucial for maintaining your mental well-being. Dehydration can increase your stress levels, foment anxiety, and impair your cognitive functioning, making it harder to retain information or even do everyday activities due to a decrease in executive functioning. Make sure to drink plenty of water every day to stay hydrated (remember: if you’re feeling thirsty, you’re already dehydrated).
If you have pre-existing mental health problems, you should also avoid consuming alcohol, nicotine, or other drugs as those can often exacerbate existing health issues.
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Work It Out
If you’re feeling down, pick yourself up with a workout. Exercise and physical activity can be a great way to get in shape and help improve your mental health. Regular exercise can help decrease depression and anxiety symptoms. Rigorous physical activity can trigger the release of neurochemicals like dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins that can reduce your stress levels, relax your muscles, and release pleasurable feelings that encourage social trust and bonding with others. Exercise can also help alleviate loneliness if you take classes or get a gym buddy or accountability partner.
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Celebrate Your Wins
It can be easy to get hung up on our failures, so it’s important that we take the time to recognize and appreciate our wins. Set milestones for yourself and reward yourself when you achieve them. Get a promotion or complete a tough class? Treat yourself to a nice dinner with friends. Keep a gratitude journal and make a short list (3-5 items) every day of the things in your life you are thankful for. This regular exercise can encourage you to develop a more positive mindset, compelling you to look for what’s working in your life rather than focusing too much on what isn’t.
One way to give yourself more wins and increase your ability to follow through on accomplishing your goals is to break up your projects and ambitions into smaller, more manageable tasks. This sub-dividing can give you a feeling of progress and accomplishment as you work bit by bit toward your larger goal.
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Ask for Help
We live in an individualistic society that places a high premium on self-reliance and not over-burdening others. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing at times: self-reliance is good! It can, however, make it hard for people to ask for help. It can put us in the headspace that asking for help is a form of weakness or putting a burden on others. We over-value being stoic at the expense of actually getting the help we need.
If you want to improve your mental health, you need to accept that humans are a social animal and that you can’t do everything alone. There will be moments in your life when you need help. That help could be seeing a professional; it could be reaching out to a friend to ask them to lend an ear. Whether it’s talking to a counselor, seeking out a mentor, or being more open and honest with close friends and family, there’s no shame in admitting that you’re struggling and need help.
Article by Austin Brietta
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