October 10 was World Mental Health Day. An opportunity to make visible and raise awareness of the mental health problems that exist around the world and to join forces, among all countries, to make mental health care a reality for all people, regardless of their resources.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have experienced and witnessed how some groups have been particularly affected, such as health care and other service workers, students, people living alone, and those with pre-existing mental health conditions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact because, among other consequences, it has revealed that all people can be vulnerable and are likely to suffer mental health problems during their lifetime. That is why good prevention is essential.
PREVENTION AND CARE OF MENTAL HEALTH
1. Exercise
Practicing physical exercise on a regular basis has mental health benefits, as it helps to improve mood. If practiced indoors, it is recommended to combine it with some outdoor activity such as walking or cycling.
2. Food
A balanced diet with all the necessary nutrients helps maintain good mental health. It is advisable to avoid sugar, alcohol, and caffeine, as they can aggravate emotional health problems.
3. Sleep hygiene
Getting proper rest is vital for mental health. Sleeping about 7-8 hours daily and being very consistent with your sleep routine directly helps your emotional well-being. When we dedicate the necessary time to quality rest, we provide the body and mind with time to suspend the activity and emotions of the day.
4. Leisure activity
Incorporating one or more enjoyable activities into our daily lives is a positive way to give us moments of pleasure and relaxation. Focusing attention on reading, dancing, playing an instrument, writing, painting, cooking, or learning something new that stimulates, is a way to take care of mental health while having fun.
5. Communication
Maintaining contact with other people and having conversations can help keep our thinking skills in good shape and reduce cognitive decline as we age. But also, sharing experiences, giving your point of view, and listening to others’ improves the mood.
6. Relax
Trying to remain calm and giving ourselves moments of relaxation, trying to reduce everything that generates stress in our lives, helps to maintain mental calm. There are relaxation techniques through exercise, breathing, or Mindfulness, among others, that can help us deal with daily stress.
7. Goals
It is useful and interesting to set daily, medium-term, and long-term goals that can be achieved. In addition, you set priorities in what you want to achieve with these goals. These should be a stimulus that generates desire and interest, never a source of pressure that causes stress, as this would be counterproductive.
8. Identify emotions
Stopping and paying attention to what we feel, asking ourselves the question “how do I feel at this moment?” and trying to give it a name, allows us to recognize our emotions. Doing this exercise helps us to know ourselves better, to be able to express our feelings and to coexist better with the people around us.
9. Accept and validate
Once we have identified what we feel, the next step is to accept it, even if we do not feel good. This is an important step in learning to manage our emotions. Another important part is to be aware that there are no good or bad emotions per se, but rather that they are part of processes and represent touches of attention to which we must pay attention.
10. Support network
In situations where we feel vulnerable, having a safe network around us that can listen to us can be a great help. Spaces where we can freely express our feelings. Because expressing one’s emotions is very beneficial to take care of mental health and it does not always have to be verbal, since crying with someone or giving a hug is also a form of expression.
11. Limits to technology
Technology is a double-edged sword and we must identify how far it helps us and when it has a negative effect on our mental health. Digital hyperconnection has detrimental consequences such as mental block, which prevents us from enjoying our personal lives and can lead to self-esteem problems.
12. Ask for help
As we said before, there are no good or bad emotions by themselves, but when they remain for a long time they can affect our quality of life, causing serious problems in our mental health. There are complicated stages in which it is necessary to ask for help from professionals who can help us identify and manage our emotions.