Did you know that Mental Health America (MHA) has celebrated Mental Health Month every May for the past 70 years? Each year, they have chosen a theme to help our country have better resources for a specific aspect of mental health. This May, MHA has chosen to dive even deeper into last year’s theme of #4Mind4Body by incorporating topics like work-life balance, humor, recreation, spirituality, and animal companionship. On this week’s Canyon Park Blog, we’d like to take a minute to explore ways in which a few of these topics might help you to improve your mental health this month! Consider implementing some of the following suggestions into your life in your Puyallup, WA apartment:
Work-Life Balance
Do you ever feel like your job is sucking you dry? If so, there’s a good chance your work-life balance is a bit off kilter. When work starts to consume the time you spend that helps you feel refreshed and maintain healthy habits, it often starts to negatively affect your mental health and take a toll on your productivity at work, too. This month, identify something outside of work that will improve your well-being — like getting enough sleep or eating balanced meals — and prioritize doing it, just like you would prioritize work. It may seem silly to treat something inherently good for you like an obligation, but it just might help you remember how beneficial it is in your life.
Recreation
Just as maintaining healthy life habits is a contributing factor to overall better mental health, prioritizing recreation is equally as beneficial. Without designated time for hobbies, passions, and physical activity, it’s easy to feel more bored or even more depressed than before. However, a little bit of recreation each day can go a long way in helping you sustain a well-rounded lifestyle. Do you have a favorite activity to do outdoors or a hobby you haven’t practiced in a while? Try doing it more often this month! It will be fun, and it will positively affect other areas of your life.
Humor
Last but not least, being able to look at life with humor and laughter can help make some rough times feel a little better. While it is certainly not possible to laugh away depression or anxiety, and humor can often be used as an unhealthy coping mechanism, an appropriate ability to find elements of humor throughout your day and in your life can be a positive thing. Whether you watch a comedy to get you laughing, or you have a conversation with a friend that is really comical, consider finding a way to reincorporate humor into your life this month.
While these suggestions may help some people, please remember to seek professional health if your mental health is unmanageable. There are plenty of mental health professionals who can help you change your situation for the better!