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Mental health is a crucial aspect of our overall well-being, but we often don't pay much attention to it. Often, even when we feel bad, we let it go thinking that it is something temporary without giving it importance or taking into account that there are things we can do to improve our emotional well-being.
Signs You Need to Work on Your Mental Health
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The most important thing to start improving mental well-being is to learn to identify the signs that the body sends us warning us that something is not right. From the Salut comprehensive health center to the Quadrat in Barcelona, they list those signs that indicate that you need to work on your mental health. They are as follows:
- Sudden mood swings: If you notice yourself quickly transitioning from deep sadness to excessive irritability or any other mood, it could be a sign that your mental health needs attention.
- Social isolation: Having less and less desire to interact with people, whether it's avoiding social situations or even not feeling like being with your friends and family, is something you should pay attention to:
- Insomnia or other sleep disorders: Trouble falling asleep or constantly waking up during the night can be signs of stress or anxiety.
- Constant fatigue: If you feel exhausted all the time, even after getting plenty of sleep, your mental health could be influencing your energy.
- Changes in eating habits: Emotional problems sometimes manifest themselves in the form of an increase or decrease in appetite.
- Difficulty concentrating: If you struggle to do tasks that were previously easy for you, you may suffer from stress or anxiety.
- Feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness: You should start worrying about your mental health if you've gone from being a positive person to having negative thoughts about yourself or your future.
- Loss of interest in activities you enjoyed: A red flag may be that you stop doing things you once enjoyed.
- Obsessive or compulsive thoughts: These can be indicative of anxiety disorders.
- Unexplained physical problems: Stress and anxiety often manifest through symptoms such as headaches, contractures, or gastrointestinal problems.
Keys to Improving Your Mental Well-Being and Why They Work
Our lifestyle habits often determine our emotional health. That's why it's essential that they're healthy for us to feel good. In this sense, psychologist Patricia Ramírez tells on her YouTube channel the keys that will help you improve your mental well-being and details why they work.
A good night's sleep will help you improve your mental health
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It's not about sleeping a lot, but about getting up every morning with the feeling of having rested and without fatigue. In addition, rest does not only refer to the night, but also to the times of the day when we need to disconnect on a cognitive level. It is impossible to work or study for hours and those moments of relaxation will help us feel better, as we will recharge our batteries.
Eat a healthy diet to feel better
"There are a number of neurotransmitters and foods that are related to our mental functioning," says Patricia Ramírez. Certain minerals or vitamins can help us feel better. Similarly, when a diet is too strict it could also cause us sadness. Dietitian and nutritionist Mónica Acha highlights the basic rules of healthy eating on the Simple Blending YouTube channel.
Key to Improving Your Mental Well-Being: Meditation
Meditation techniques, like relaxation or visualization, support your emotional well-being. Any activity that serves to calm our nervous system and our mind generates an inner peace that will benefit us during the day. The popularizer Jorge Benito teaches how to start meditating from scratch.
Getting tangled up in your thoughts will give them courage and drain you of energy
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We have a lot of thoughts that are useless and worries that we can't control that we pay too much attention to. We believe that this will solve them, but what we really achieve is to waste energy and make them more valuable. That's why we shouldn't get entangled with them. To eliminate useless worries, psychologist Miriam Rocha advises avoiding dwelling on what has already happened and can't be changed, what isn't certain to happen, what you think will happen and can't control, and what you think other people think.
Lack of order negatively affects mental health
Making lists, using a planner or controlling schedules are very beneficial habits. Lack of order affects mental health and leads to anxiety. That's why you should write down all the work and personal activities you have to do. Follow the advice of Samuel Gavilán, content creator about habits and minimalism, to declutter your life.
Delegating is key to taking care of emotional well-being
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It's impossible to cover everything, so you must learn to delegate to take care of your emotional well-being by reducing stress. You can lean on your partner, your kids, your co-workers, and you may also need to hire someone or give things up.
Enjoy the little things
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A chat with friends, having coffee with co-workers or going for a walk are activities that we don't give importance to when they have a lot of value. Enjoying the little things and verbalizing it will help our mind feed off those good feelings. "Allow yourself to enjoy yourself and find satisfaction in your routine," recommends psychologist Saray Valle.
Exercising, a habit you need to get into to feel good
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Physical exercise is related to mental health. It increases our ability to focus, improves self-esteem and reduces stress and anxiety. "Physical activity is a great therapeutic contribution," says psychologist Marcia Tabárez.