Steps to Take to Strengthen Your Mental Health

Steps to Take to Strengthen Your Mental Health

Three years after COVID-19’s arrival, public health authorities agree that Americans’ growing focus on mental health is among the few silver linings the once-in-a-century pandemic left behind. While the COVID crisis has all but passed, there remains plenty of reasons for people to strengthen their mental health as we move through an era of invasive technology, bitter partisan politics, economic uncertainty and accelerating climate change.

Federal, state and local governments, as well as private employers, as a result are channeling unprecedented resources toward mental health services. While those initiatives are both overdue and admirable, here are some steps you as an individual can take to support your own emotional well-being.

Get Some Sleep: Sound physical and emotional health is directly related to the quality of your sleep, so the first step is to establish an effective sleep routine. This will help you take on the day with energy while reducing irritability and brain fog and increasing your capacity to work efficiently and communicate well with friends and family. The best sleep routines involve waking up at the same time each day; avoiding large amounts of substances right before bed, including alcohol and caffeine; and exposing yourself to light immediately upon waking.

Time for Yourself: This might sound like a no-brainer but we all know how difficult it can be to carve out quality me-time given the persistent demands of family life and the workplace. How best to build meaningful self-care into your schedule? One strategy is to keep reminding yourself that you will not be able to meet the needs of others if you have not first addressed your own.

The Company You Keep: In this increasingly virtual world, it’s easy to lose touch with people, be they old friends or even family members. This can pose a real challenge to your sense of well-being, as studies show that regular contact with loved ones has a vital role to play in enhancing an individual’s overall mental health. The answer is to make time for those connections, whether it’s a 10-minute FaceTime call or an afternoon excursion to the park with the grandchildren. The result will be a much-need jolt of positivity you might not otherwise experience.

Prioritize Gratitude: We all have so much to be grateful for and, unfortunately, just as much we take for granted. You can break that cycle by simply writing down one or two things each day that you are grateful for, the more specific the better. Research reveals this one activity significantly eases feelings of depression and anxiety while bolstering productivity and personal resilience. Try starting a gratitude journal or just keeping a list on your phone.

Free Time: Modern life is nothing less than hectic for many of us, with in some cases every hour of every day scheduled well in advance. That’s all the more reason to embrace the rare unscheduled days. It might feel like your playing hooky but in truth there’s nothing wrong with taking a day to do nothing but calming self-care. Read a book, take a long walk, draw a hot bath or binge-watch a show.
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At Harmony Communities, we feel strongly that each resident has a sense of home. That they come home from work and feel pride in their environment and in their place in the greater community. That families are comfortable raising children in our neighborhoods, and that couples and singles know that they belong to something bigger than their four walls. In other words, we seek to create harmony within each community, making our communities not just passable, but peaceful, safe, functional, and beautiful.