Why don’t we take care of our Mental Health?

The news cycle about health is focused on every imaginable health issue.People look for the latest diets and weight loss medications and diet shotsPeople get Gym memberships to tone up lose weight or get “buff”People are barraged with advice for what foods to eat and not eatPeople are looking for a “pill” to fix everything including mental health problems

What’s missing? Caring for our mental health.People can “take care of their mental health” if they take these simple steps and turn them into everyday habits.  

Step One- Self Awareness: don’t ignore troubling emotions or thoughts, take notice of them- they wont get worse if you notice them, in fact acknowledging them lets you take some steps to manage them.

Step Two- Take a short break even a minute or two- less than the time it takes to use the bathroom- to step away from whatever you are doing

Step Three- Do something else to “break the spell’ that the troubling thoughts have held over you. Do almost anything else, washing your face, stepping outside for some fresh air, start a conversation with someone you are comfortable talking to.

Step Four- Notice that troubling thoughts and emotions lead to stress that builds up in our muscles and joints. Free up some time away from technology or entertainment to walk preferably outside.

Finally- it surprising how hard it is to convince my patients to make these steps into new “mental health habits” but when they do, all my patients tell me they can't believe how much better they feel with these “habits to take care of their mental health.”