You are never alone – 5 tips to help curb Mental Health

Written By Amy Bridges

Mental health has always been something that I have struggled with and I know I am not alone. In one of my classes the discussion post suggestion for the week before reading week was to write about mental health.

Most of the people in my group decided to write about mental health versus the other option and it was not only comforting but alarming to see how many of us struggle with it. We all comforted each other while also talking about our own struggles. This small conversation helped a lot for most of us, seeing that we weren’t alone and getting tips from each other on how to deal with it make a large difference. Since that week we have started to be more candid with each other about mental health and it not only has helped the class to feel more like a community then just people in the same room but I think it is also helping us to cope by struggling together.

Since not everyone is in this class, I wanted to put some of the tips here incase you needed them.

Talk about it!

Talking about it with other people even for just the little blurbs we had in our discussions helped significantly. Even if there is no solution or tip just saying “I’m struggling” and having someone hear you or acknowledge it can help you to feel not alone and help break through some of the darkness.

Watch something that isn’t too heavy or thought provoking, just something you can get lost in

Nostalgic cartoons or movies are perfect for this. I always tend to go to comfort films or TV shows while sometimes aren’t super relaxing like Buffy are still something that I can just get lost in the show without having to think about it too much. It’s just something that makes you forget about reality for 30 minutes.

Make time for yourself

Even if its just 30 minutes, do something you enjoy and that is just for you. Those 30 minutes will revive you much more than you think and even if you think you don’t have time, 30 minutes really isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things. Watch a show, play a video game, draw, go outside do something that makes you smile.

Take care of yourself physically

I know when my mental health is a mess, I don’t take very good care of myself physically. I forget to drink water, I don’t do my hair and I need to start pushing myself to do it. I just need to force it and so do you. Even if you don’t want to take 10 minutes to do your hair and you will be surprised how much that little effort can help change your mood or mental state.

Take a day off

Take a full day off of responsibilities, no work, school or laundry or any responsibilities. Do absolutely nothing. Sometimes this one day of nothing can be the best thing you do for yourself and the next day you can do 3x more then you would have if you hadn’t of taken that one day off.

I hope this helps and don’t forget there is always someone to talk to either here at Trent, your friends or professionals. You are never alone.