What are the characteristics of strong mental health?
Amid the coronavirus pandemic we are being warned of a “second wave” of mental health problems that threatens to overrun an already weakened mental health service.
As we emerge from this crisis, while some people may need specialist help with treating mental illness, everybody can benefit from strategies to improve mental health.
This is because mental health is more than just the absence of mental illness. Positive mental health is a combination of feeling good and functioning well.
How can I cultivate my mental health?
Your mental health is shaped by social, economic, genetic and environmental conditions. To improve mental health within society at large, we need to address the social determinants of poor mental health, including poverty, economic insecurity, unemployment, low education, social disadvantage, homelessness and social isolation.
Your mental health is shaped by social, economic, genetic and environmental conditions. To improve mental health within society at large, we need to address the social determinants of poor mental health, including poverty, economic insecurity, unemployment, low education, social disadvantage, homelessness and social isolation.
On an individual level, there are steps you can take to optimise your mental health. The first step is identifying your existing support networks and the coping strategies that you’ve used in the past.
There are also small things you can do to improve your mental health and help you to cope in tough times, such as:
- helping others
- finding a type of exercise or physical activity you enjoy (like yoga)
- helping others
- getting good sleep
- eating healthy food
- connecting with others, building and maintaining positive relationships
- learning strategies to manage stress
- having realistic expectations (no one is happy and positive all the time)
- learning ways to relax (such as meditation)
- counteracting negative or overcritical thinking
- doing things you enjoy and that give you a sense of accomplishment.
Regardless of whether you are experiencing a mental illness, everyone has the right to optimal mental health. The suggestions above can help everyone improve their mental health and well-being, and help is available if you’re not sure how to get started.
However, when distress or poor mental health is interfering with our daily life, work, study or relationships, these suggestions may not be enough by themselves and additional, individualised treatment may be needed.
If the answer to RUOK? is no, or you or your loved ones need help, reaching out to your local GP is an important step. If you are eligible, your GP can refer you for free or low-cost sessions with a psychologist, exercise physiologist, dietitian, or other allied health or medical support services.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.