Your mental health is an important part of your well-being. This aspect of your welfare determines how you’re able to operate psychologically, emotionally, and socially among others.
Considering how much of a role your mental health plays in each aspect of your life, it's important to guard and improve psychological wellness using appropriate measures.
Because different circumstances can affect your mental health, we’ll be highlighting risk factors and signs that may indicate mental distress. But most importantly, we’ll dive into all of the benefits of having your mental health in its best shape.
Whether young or old, the importance of mental health for total well-being cannot be overstated. When psychological wellness is affected, it can cause negative behaviors that may not only affect personal health but can also compromise relationships with others.
It is easy for parents to identify their child’s physical needs: nutritious food, warm clothes when it’s cold, bedtime at a reasonable hour. However, a child’s mental and emotional needs may not be as obvious. Good mental health allows children to think clearly, develop socially and learn new skills. Additionally, good friends and encouraging words from adults are all important for helping children develop self confidence, high self-esteem, and a healthy emotional outlook on life.
Love, security and acceptance should be at the heart of family life. Children need to know that your love does not depend on his or her accomplishments.
Mistakes and/or defeats should be expected and accepted. Confidence grows in a home that is full of unconditional love and affection.
To learn more about mental health and why it is so important, click here.
Talking about your feelings isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s part of taking charge of your wellbeing and doing what you can to stay healthy.
Talking can be a way to cope with a problem you’ve been carrying around in your head for a while. Just being listened to can help you feel supported and less alone. And it works both ways. If you open up, it might encourage others to do the same.
It’s not always easy to describe how you’re feeling. If you can’t think of one word, use lots. What does it feel like inside your head? What does it make you feel like doing?
You don't need to sit your loved ones down for a big conversation about your wellbeing. Many people feel more comfortable when these conversations develop naturally - maybe when you're doing something together.
If it feels awkward at first, give it time. Make talking about your feelings something that you do.
Resources
Here are some quick resources Click on the images for more information
Breathing Exercises
Controlled breathing can be a valuable tool in regulating emotion and stress Here are some videos you can check out!
Guided Imagery
Imagery can be a relaxing way to calm down in stressful situations Check out the videos below to learn more
Brain Breaks (Younger Kids)
Need a break from school or life? These are fun activities desgined to give you time to relax and calm down!
Brain Breaks (Older Kids)
Need a break from school or life? These are fun activities desgined to give you time to relax and calm down!
Words of Encouragement
Sometimes we all need a little uplifting Focus on trying to eliminate that negative self-talk!
As we go about our daily lives, we constantly think about and interpret the situations we find
ourselves in. It is like we have an internal voice that determines how we perceive every situation.
We call this inner voice our “self-talk,” and it includes our conscious thoughts as well as our
unconscious assumptions and beliefs. Identifying self-talk can sometimes be tricky because it’s so
automatic, you might not even be aware of what’s going on in your own mind. However, whenever you
find yourself feeling depressed, angry, anxious or upset, use this as a signal to reflect on your
thinking.
A challenge with negative self-talk is that what you think or say to yourself might seem true.
You might assume that your thoughts are facts, when in reality they are based on your perceptions.
If you are feeling down on yourself for some reason, this can lead to your thoughts being especially harsh.
Negative self-talk can also affect your self-esteem. When you feel down, it is likely that you’re hard
on yourself, and you might criticize and judge yourself unfairly. The worse you feel, the more negative
your self-talk is likely to become. It can be helpful to put a more positive perspective on things.
For example, challenge your self-talk by imagining it’s a friend in your situation and reframe it based
on what you’d say to them. We’re often nicer to friends than we are to ourselves!
