Topping Up Your Mental Health

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Self-care has a bad reputation as a buzz-word that we use to excuse an opportunity to do a face mask and watch an entire season of RuPaul’s Drag Race in one sitting – but why is that a bad thing? The act of self-care is about topping up and looking after your own mental health and well-being, and it’s a vitally important aspect of your daily life, especially as reports show that a quarter of UK workers are on the verge of a mental health crisis. Here’s some of our tips for self-care that you can integrate into your days without hassle.

Top-up Your Mental Energy

Try to ensure that you’re doing one thing every day that’s exclusively for you, and tops up your mental energy. It should be an activity you enjoy, or one that allows you to enjoy a state of mindfulness, and it doesn’t have to be for a long time! Five minutes of an app like Calm, half an hour of cooking dinner, or an hour of needlework at night can all count towards topping up your mental energy and giving you a mental escape from the stresses of your day.

Accept Help When You Can

It’s not always easy for us to accept help, but letting others step in to alleviate the burden that’s on you so that you can concentrate on maintaining good mental health. You might hate asking for help, but it’s nothing to feel guilty about – your mental health is just as important as whatever task it is you require help with. Don’t sink when there’s someone in front of you offering you a life preserver.

Eat and be Merry

It goes without saying that eating is a vitally important part of anyone’s day. If your mental health has taken a dip, it might be a good time to get snacking. Eating will raise your blood sugar level, which will, in turn, contribute positively to your mood. That doesn’t mean you should just grab some chocolate and get on with your day – that’ll only help in the short run. Foods that release energy slowly, like cereals and pasta, are the way to go. It’s also wise to, every so often, treat yourself to something. That could be a big bowl of ice cream or something that’s not necessarily the most healthy, but that feel like a really nice treat.

Get Exercising

A classic “easier said than done” example of a mood-lifter right here, but we can’t argue with the experts: exercise is really good for you and has a positive effect overall on your mental health and wellbeing. There’s no need to run a triathlon though, a brisk walk will do you the world of good if your mental health takes a dip. Sometimes it’s great just to get a change of scenery too, and if you’ve got a friend to go with, it’s a great opportunity for socialising. You can even walk somewhere – like to get a massive bowl of ice cream.