12 ways to take care of your mental wellbeing in tough times
As the city of New York recovers from the devastating impacts of the recent floods, it’s more important than ever to be intentional about looking after ourselves. Here are 12 actionable steps that you can take to care for your mental health and build resilience in a stressful period:
1- Connect with friends and family
Staying connected with loved ones can be a source of strength in difficult times, and can help you feel less isolated. Try to make a point of calling a family member or meeting up with a friend on a regular basis
2- Talk to someone
Sharing where you’re at with someone you trust (a good friend, a family member or a therapist) can help you find perspective and feel supported. Sometimes there’s value in venting, which can alleviate stress in the short term, particularly if that person can empathise with you. By hearing you and accepting your feelings, you’ll find validation – which can help you develop better emotional regulation, making it easier to find calm and resilience.
3- Limit your intake of news
Media outlets have an overwhelming tendency to focus on the most dramatically negative stories with click-worthy headlines (positive stories rarely make the news). Try to avoid consuming news unnecessarily, as this is likely to increase your anxiety levels. If something is important, it will probably reach you.
4- Get enough sleep
It used to be thought that sleep disorders were a result of mental health difficulties, however the science of sleep is showing that the relationship between sleep and mental wellbeing goes both ways. Getting good sleep can profoundly improve one’s mental and emotional health, as the brain does a lot of emotional processing during REM sleep. If you have trouble sleeping, try incorporating relaxation techniques (including yoga, mindfulness mediation or deep breathing) at bedtime. This podcast with Dr Matt Walker (author of Why We Sleep) is an accessible resource on sleep science.
5- Get regular exercise
Whether it’s yoga, running, swimming, dancing or weight-lifting, regular exercise can improve your mental wellbeing by boosting your self-esteem, sharpening your memory and cognitive functions, reducing anxiety and helping you sleep better.
6- Nourish your body
Along with good sleep and regular exercise, giving yourself the gift of good nutrition can help your body be in the best possible position to work with the difficulties that life throws at you. A healthy body can help you gain resilience and enable you to make better decisions in uncertain times. Eat an immune-boosting diversity of vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains, stay hydrated, and avoid alcohol consumption (which might induce a mood depression or disrupt your sleep).
7- Reach out to your local community
If you’ve covered your own bases and looked after your own needs, consider reaching out to charities in your area that are working to help others in difficulty. History shows us that adversity often brings out the best in people. Helping others can bring about a profound sense of solidarity, and can help you feel empowered even when external factors are out of your control.
8- Keep a routine
When everything feels upside down, a routine of some kind can be tremendously helpful to find a sense of stability, if not normality. Whether it’s returning to your workout schedule, sticking to that weekly catchup with a friend, or reading every day – try to find something that was a regular feature in your ‘normal’ life, and stick with it.
9- Practice finding calm
As any yogi will attest, breathing exercises are a good way to find calm and stillness. Practice breathing slowly and deeply, focusing your attention on your breath, and the sensations in your body.
10- Focus on what you are able to control
While there are some aspects of your current circumstances that you can’t do much to change, try to focus on those things that you can change. You can also take control over how you respond emotionally, empowering you in a positive and productive way. Accepting that change is a normal part of life can also be a helpful shift in perspective.
11- Set something to look forward to
Having a goal of some kind, and moving towards that goal a little bit every day, can really help you to enable a more optimistic outlook as you work to achieve that reality (however small). Visualise that positive goal, instead of focusing on the present difficulties that are out of your control.
12- Try to view this time as an opportunity for growth
As you come through this difficult time, you might find that you develop positive growth in a few different ways, what psychologists refer to as post-traumatic growth (PTG). The positive changes that come about following a tough period can include stronger relationships, a deeper appreciation for life, increased resilience, an openness to new possibilities, or a deeper spirituality. In pockets of calm, try to focus on how this period might help with your personal growth, and remind yourself of your own resilience as you persevere through this – as you have through other difficult life events.