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The First Five Steps to Better Mental Wellbeing

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Better mental wellbeing begins with you. There are professionals who can help. But you must be willing to recognize and address your situation in order to move forward with your health.

Man on sofa comforting a crying woman - Image Courtesy of Pexels - mental wellbeing

Man on sofa comforting a crying woman – Image Courtesy of Pexels

Reach Out to Professional Services

There are a lot of professionals who can help you with mental health problems. There is always help for mental health problems, from mild ones like anxiety to serious ones like personality disorders. For instance, the trained and caring therapists at the Toronto and Ottawa Psychotherapy Centre can help with a wide range of mental health problems. All you have to do to get the help you need is call, send an email, or send a text message.

Spend Time with Other People

Studies have shown that having good relationships at work is good for your mental health. By keeping in touch with friends and family and making those relationships stronger, you can build a group of people who can help you. Maslow says that this helps people feel like they belong and have value, which is high on the list of needs. Also, you can be honest with the people you trust the most and talk to them about your problems for the emotional support you need.

Learn Something New for Better Mental Wellbeing

You might think you don’t have time to learn something new. Or that you can’t do it or are afraid to try. Getting out of your comfort zone slowly is another way to deal with pain and mental health that can be used in many different ways. Also, learning a new skill can help you feel better about yourself and connect you with people who like the same things you do. You could do something like a do-it-yourself project, learn how to cook or sign up for a local college course.

Be Aware of Your Situation

Your mental health can get better if you pay more attention to the present. This would include your thoughts and feelings, your body, and the rest of the world. This is called “mindfulness,” which you might know if you’re a Star Wars fan. But being more aware can help you enjoy life more and find out more about who you are. It can change the way you see the world and help you solve problems in a positive and logical manner rather than ruminating into depression.

Use Your Time to Help Others

Recent studies have shown that about 40% of people help people around them on a regular basis. This could be done by listening, being a friend, or even giving money and food. But other studies have also shown that helping other people is good for your own mental health. It does this by making happy feelings a reward, mostly because of a balance of serotonin. But it can also make you feel like you have value to other people and help you connect on a human level.

Summary

Better mental wellbeing isn’t out of reach for anyone because there is always help available. But it begins by taking steps such as contacting professionals, learning new skills, or helping others.

Being The Emotional Support Your Teen Needs

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In case you’ve forgotten, going through your teenage years can be tough. There are all of the physical changes of puberty, the plethora of effects hormones can have, as well as social and lifestyle changes to accommodate. Stress, anxiety, and even depression can become a lot more common during these years. So, what can you do to be the emotional support that they need?

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Talk about it

It might sound simple enough, but there are so many topics that can go unaddressed or under-addressed in the average family home, and mental health is one of them. Learn how to talk to your teen about mental health. Check in with them on a regular basis, and make sure that they know that you are a safe place to confide in. Most importantly, listen to them and take the time to verbally acknowledge their emotions. You shouldn’t always try to “fix” what is wrong, even if you feel like they are thinking or doing things you don’t like.

Establish healthier patterns of living

There are many lifestyle factors that can help improve mental and emotional health. It’s not as simple as finding the right band-aid for the job. However, helping them find a workable schedule and routine for school life, encouraging them to join you in getting active more often, and setting a bedtime to make sure that they get enough sleep. Of course, don’t mistake these healthier patterns of living as a working treatment if they are in real emotional distress.

Know when to get some help

There’s a lot that you can do to create a home that is a lot more emotionally healthy for your teens. However, you can’t always be the only help that they’re going to need. Whether they are dealing with things that are a little more than you’re able to handle or you simply acknowledge that they could use help with their emotional health, you should always consider youth psychotherapy to be a valid option. A confident, practiced hand can do a lot of good in helping your teen address their issues in a healthy way that they might not learn otherwise.

Mind yourself too

You want to be a pillar of support for your teen, but it can be difficult if you’re not firing on all cylinders. If stress, anxiety, or other worries are getting to you, then you need to ensure that you’re taking care of yourself. Putting a strong front to help your kids is only going to get you so far. Make sure that you’re aware of when you need help, or when you need to pause, re-evaluate and take some action to get things back on an even keel.

Awareness of mental and emotional health, and taking steps to work through them, is an important part of raising a family and it’s not one that a lot of us talk about enough. Hopefully, the tips above can help you be a little more mindful and helpful where your teens are concerned.