7 Overlooked Habits for Mental Health

The best way to think about your mental health is learning what to do to prevent being in a negative mental space. When life gets busy, or when we have too many things on our plate, we tend to overlook simple things we can do to prevent poor mental health. We can even forget just how important it is to ensure that you stay happy, healthy, confident and secure.

Simple habit changes can help manage anxiety and depression while taking charge of your own mental wellbeing.

Here are 7 often overlooked habits to maintain good mental health:

1.Getting Good Sleep

Sleep is really important for your physical and mental health. Getting consistently good

rest will improve everything from your immune system to your mood. The secret to

getting good sleep is to make your sleep routine as predictable as possible.

2. Eating Well

Eating well is important for your body and your mind. A healthy, well-balanced diet can help us think clearly and feel more alert. It can also improve concentration and attention span. Your brain and nervous system depend on nutrition to build new proteins, cells and tissues and having a poor diet and eating too many processed foods can lead to fatigue, impaired decision-making and potential depression and anxiety.

3. Avoiding Alcohol, Smoking, and Drugs

Alcohol, smoking, and drugs can all cause low moods and anxiety. All of these elements are depressants and can effect emotional, physical and mental wellbeing. People who drink, smoke and consume drugs are more likely to develop mental health problems as they can by used as coping mechanisms and self-medication.

4. Exercise

Exercising can be a great pick-me-up to get the blood flowing and elevate our mood. Not only can it cancel stress, allow you to get better sleep, get you more in-tune with nature, ease anxiety and even reshape your brain. A small does of exercise can make a world of a difference.

5. Doing Things That Make You Happy

Finding the fun and joy in the things that you do promotes overall well-being and success. These leisure activities boost energy, distract you from life's difficulties, boost confidence and broaden your perspective while giving you a much needed emotional lift.

6. Being Social

Socializing is another way to indirectly increase overall well-being and sense of happiness. By eliminating the feeling of loneliness, having both a healthy in-person and virtual social experience can sharpen your memory and train your brain in a positive direction.

7. Asking For Help

Seeking help can often be misinterpreted as a sign of weakness, but it is quite the opposite. Asking for help reduces the perspective that we all have to struggle alone. A negative mental state can be isolating and feel like it will go on forever. Asking for help not only help build better relationships with others, but overall improves your quality of life.

Habit changes can help people manage anxiety and depression, and take charge of their mental wellbeing.

The funny thing about change is we often don’t know it’s happening, yet we keep growing in the right direction.